VICIOUS HEART

Smoke, Mirrors and Liars

Blackthorn University loved scandals.

Not small ones.

Not cheating-on-a-test scandals.

Real scandals.

The kind whispered in bathrooms and posted anonymously online at three in the morning.

And by Friday afternoon, Anastasia Velez was becoming one.

Campus Feed — 8:03 AM

Every student at Blackthorn used THORN.

Officially, it was a campus social app.

Unofficially, it was where reputations went to die.

Anonymous confessions. Rumors. Sightings. Leaked photos.

Cruelty disguised as entertainment.

Bianca slammed her phone dramatically onto the breakfast table.

“Oh, absolutely not.”

Anastasia looked up from her coffee slowly.

“What now?”

Bianca shoved the screen toward her.

A new anonymous post glowed across the app.

THORN CONFESSION #7841

Why is Zane Moretti suddenly obsessed with the new girl?

Dark hair. Attitude problem. Looks expensive.

Give it two weeks before she cries and transfers.

Below it were hundreds of comments already.

— She won’t last.

— Nobody lasts around Moretti.

— Heard she slapped someone at a club.

— She thinks she’s special 😭

Anastasia sipped her coffee.

Unbothered.

Bianca stared at her in disbelief.

“How are you calm right now?”

“Because anonymous people online don’t pay my tuition.”

“That was weirdly inspiring.”

A chair scraped loudly against the cafeteria floor.

Then another.

The room shifted instantly.

Mason, Jude, Eli, and Zane walked in together.

The atmosphere changed so fast it almost felt rehearsed.

People straightened unconsciously.

Conversations lowered.

Eyes followed them automatically.

Blackthorn revolved around power, and unfortunately for everyone else, the Moretti group had too much of it.

Mason spotted Bianca immediately.

Then Anastasia.

Then grinned.

“Well, well. Our favorite campus controversy.”

Bianca pointed accusingly.

“Tell your psychotic fan club to leave her alone.”

Mason looked delighted.

“You think we control THORN? That’s adorable.”

Jude slid into the seat across from Anastasia.

“Actually,” he said lazily, “I’d pay money to know who runs it.”

Eli remained standing beside the table.

Quiet.

Watching.

He noticed the slight dark circles beneath Anastasia’s eyes immediately.

“You didn’t sleep.”

Bianca blinked.

“How the hell did you notice that?”

Eli shrugged slightly.

“She looks irritated.”

“She always looks irritated,” Mason said.

“That’s different,” Eli replied calmly.

Anastasia’s gaze flickered briefly toward Zane.

He hadn’t sat down.

Instead, he stood there studying her silently like he already knew something was wrong.

Annoying.

Very annoying.

“You look tired,” he said finally.

Anastasia leaned back slightly.

“And you look nosy.”

A corner of Mason’s mouth lifted immediately.

There it was again.

That tension.

That constant pull between challenge and attraction neither of them seemed willing to admit existed.

Zane’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Someone came to your room last night.”

It wasn’t a question.

Bianca nearly dropped her fork.

“How do you know that?!”

Anastasia’s pulse slowed dangerously.

Because she hadn’t told anyone.

Not even Bianca about the lighter.

“Did you?” Zane repeated calmly.

The cafeteria suddenly felt too loud.

Too crowded.

Anastasia held his gaze for a long moment before answering.

“Yes.”

Mason’s grin disappeared immediately.

That got everyone’s attention.

“What happened?” Eli asked quietly.

Anastasia hesitated.

Rare.

Then reached into her bag.

And placed the silver lighter onto the table.

Silence.

Pure silence.

Jude sat up straighter instantly.

“Well, that’s not good.”

Bianca looked between them.

“Someone explain before I develop anxiety.”

Zane picked up the lighter slowly.

His expression didn’t visibly change.

But something colder settled behind his eyes.

“Where did you get this?”

“It was left outside my room.”

“Inside a box?” Eli asked immediately.

Anastasia looked at him sharply.

“How did you know that?”

Eli exchanged a glance with Zane.

A bad one.

Mason leaned back slowly now, all humor gone.

“Okay,” he muttered. “That’s officially weird.”

Bianca looked deeply alarmed.

“I hate everything happening right now.”

Anastasia watched Zane carefully.

“You’ve seen this before.”

Not a question.

A statement.

Zane rolled the lighter once between his fingers.

Then finally answered.

“It belongs to my brother.”

Silence hit the table again.

Bianca whispered,

“You have a brother?”

Jude muttered into his drink,

“Technically.”

Before Anastasia could ask another question, someone approached the table.

“Heard you’ve been making headlines already.”

Female voice.

Smooth.

Sharp.

Anastasia looked up.

And immediately understood why people stared at Isla Hart.

She was beautiful in a polished, dangerous way. Blonde hair perfect even in bad weather. Dark green coat hanging elegantly from her shoulders.

The type of girl people underestimated because she smiled while destroying them.

Isla’s eyes moved slowly from Anastasia to the lighter.

Interesting.

Very interesting.

Then she looked directly at Zane.

“You should really stop bringing trouble home.”

Mason groaned quietly.

“And here we go.”

Anastasia studied her carefully.

“You’re dramatic.”

Isla smiled faintly.

“And you’re new. Trust me, you’ll learn.”

The insult was subtle.

Intentional.

Bianca immediately straightened like an angry cat.

“Oh, absolutely not—”

Anastasia touched Bianca’s arm lightly before she could explode.

Then looked back at Isla calmly.

“You seem emotionally invested in someone else’s business.”

Jude physically looked away to hide laughter.

Even Eli’s mouth twitched slightly.

Isla’s smile cooled.

“You think you’re different because Zane’s paying attention to you?”

Anastasia tilted her head slightly.

“I think you’re asking the wrong person that question.”

The table went dead quiet.

Because everyone understood what she meant.

Ask Zane.

Not her.

And for the first time since arriving—

Anastasia saw something dangerous c***k through Isla’s perfect expression.

Jealousy.

Small.

Sharp.

Real.

“Careful,” Isla said softly. “Blackthorn eats girls like you alive.”

Anastasia’s gaze never moved.

“Then it should choke.”

Mason whispered under his breath,

“I’m witnessing murder before noon.”

Bianca looked emotional.

“I’m obsessed with her.”

Isla finally turned toward Zane.

“You’re not going to say anything?”

Zane leaned back in his chair slowly.

Completely calm.

Then said the worst possible thing.

“No.”

Something dark flashed across Isla’s face before she masked it instantly.

Without another word, she turned and walked away.

But the tension she left behind stayed at the table.

Heavy.

Complicated.

Bianca looked between everyone wildly.

“So we’re all ignoring the psycho brother storyline?!”

Jude sighed dramatically.

“We were hoping to.”

Anastasia’s eyes stayed on Zane.

“Explain.”

For the first time since meeting him—

Zane hesitated.

Very slightly.

Enough to matter.

Then he stood.

“Tonight,” he said calmly.

“What happens tonight?”

“The Ashford party.”

Bianca whispered,

“Oh God.”

Zane’s eyes stayed locked on Anastasia’s.

“You wanted trouble?”

A pause.

Then:

“You just found it.”

Elsewhere…

Across campus, hidden inside an empty classroom, someone watched security footage on a laptop screen.

Paused directly on Anastasia’s face.

A slow smile spread across the darkness.

Then a message was typed anonymously onto THORN.

THORN CONFESSION #7859

The new girl has no idea what family she just involved herself with.

This is going to end badly.

Post.

Upload.

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And somewhere in Blackthorn University—

someone was already planning the next move.