by Ivy Clyde
“I’m going to be living in there?” I asked, staring out of the window as the car came to stop.
“Yes. I trust you’ve been given all the information regarding your dorm room.”
“Yeah. It’s somewhere in here,” I muttered, rummaging inside my new satchel bag. The man’s mouth curved into a slight frown as I took my time to figure out which floor and room number were allocated to me. He furiously typed on his phone.
A valet in a maroon uniform was already talking to the driver in the front.
“Your things will be taken to your room,” said my companion, looking up from his phone. “You can follow him.”
“I’ll get going then,” I said, opening the door to my side. He sat in his place, observing me as I climbed out. A warm afternoon breeze fluttered the hem of my dress as my gaze took in the tall dorm building. I spotted the valet in a maroon uniform walking through the glass doors with my suitcase. I hurried after him, without casting another glance at the people who’d brought me there.
An extremely neat, well-furnished lobby greeted me as soon as I stepped through the glass doors. Several plush couches surrounded the area. To the corner, three women and a man sat behind a glass counter. They looked like the admin staff.
I walked on clean carpeted floors, following the valet who carried my luggage. This was a far cry from the shabby, derelict building I called home two months ago.
Following the man, I entered inside a vast steel-walled elevator. He pressed ‘8’ on the keypad. With a light jerk, the elevator moved upward. I watched the numbers changing on the display panel, waiting for it to take us to our floor.
When the doors slid open, I walked out after the valet. The corridor was long and wide with closed doors on both sides. A few students in regular clothes walked past me. They didn’t spare me a glance as they headed toward the elevator.
I was taken into a room to the far corner of the hallway. The man placed my luggage by the door, gave a nod and walked away without a word.
I took out a keycard with the academy logo on it and used it to open the door, stepping further inside the room. “Wow,” I breathed, looking all around the vast, spacious suite. The place looked nothing like I’d imagined a dorm room to be. In my mind, I’d pictured a small bed with a cot and a desk in the corner. This…was a luxurious hotel suite with a large living room area and a small kitchenette in the corner. The couches set around a dark wood coffee table looked plush and inviting. I walked further inside the apartment, coming upon the bedroom.
The bed itself was big enough for two with neat covers on it. The curtains were light-colored with floral prints on them. A desk stood in the corner. Spacious shelves were carved into the wall beside it to hold books and stuff. This room was almost as big as the living room area.
I sat down at the edge of the bed, soaking in my surroundings. Even if the chances of me making out alive were nil, at least, I would be living like a queen until then.
A heavy sigh escaped me as I got to my feet to unpack my stuff. School started tomorrow. The time to get started with the job was here.
14
Skye
My eyes opened to the gray light of dawn filtering through the closed curtains at the windows. The small digital clock on the bedside table showed the time to be a little past six A.M. I’d barely slept through the night but felt wide awake.
Not bothering to go back to sleep, I moved the blanket away and sat up. School started in another three hours. Deciding to start preparing for the day, I climbed out of bed, slipping on the fluffy slippers that had been packed with my stuff. They were warm and comfortable, keeping away the chill as I padded across the cold marble floor to reach one of the windows.
A cool breeze blew in as soon as I opened the window, playing with the stray strands of my hair. The view from my eighth-floor window was spectacular, giving me a glimpse of the rolling green hills in the distance. Down below, the grounds stretched out, ending at the fringes of the woods that surrounded the school campus.
I took a deep lungful of the fresh, cool air. My lips moved in silent prayer, asking for strength and to keep my mom well.
A while later, I moved away, heading into the bathroom for a hot shower.
The citrusy fragrance of the body soap enveloped me, reminding me of Christian. I wondered if I’d see him today, whether it would feel odd to walk past him like he was nothing but a stranger and whether I could really act my part.
Switching off the shower, I walked out of the glass-walled stall and wrapped myself in a bathrobe. My uniforms were already hanging from the wardrobe, so I walked out and headed straight for them.
It didn’t take long to put on the neat white shirt and the dark, red plaid skirt. Paired with knee-high socks and black pump shoes, the ensemble made me look the part of an academy student that went to a school like Knightswood Academy. Next, I brushed out the long length of my jet-black hair, keeping it simple in its natural loose waves that flowed around my shoulders.
The only makeup I added was a pale pink lip gloss.
There was enough time to kill until class started but the sound of my grumbling stomach reminded me of breakfast. I still had to locate the cafeteria where the students ate their meals.
Picking up my satchel, I took one last look at myself in the full-length mirror in the corner. The old compulsion to stay hidden while going to school was overwhelming. I yearned to wear my usual overlarge black hoodie. It had been my armor for so long that the thought of going to a new school without it was making me anxious.
Knightswood didn’t allow for any add-ons to the uniform other than academy-issued stuff. So wearing a hoodie to school was out of the question. When my anxiety refused to calm down, I headed to the wardrobe and took out the next best thing I had. It was Christian’s black jacket.
I put it on, instantly feeling calmed by its warmth and the scent that still clung to it. I can wear this until it’s time for classes, I thought, picking up my bag. No one should have a problem if I wore it to the cafeteria.
Opening the door, I stepped out into the hallway outside. A few people were already walking toward the elevator. Covering my face with the hood, I followed after them.
I entered the elevator with the two girls I was following. While they chatted between themselves, I noticed the tiny length of their skirts that was barely covering their asses. They’d liberally drenched themselves in perfume, the thick fragrance almost choking me.
The elevator stopped a few times on our way down. Reaching the ground floor, I was able to follow a couple more boys and the girls. As I’d guessed, they were all headed toward the cafeteria. It was a glass-walled structure at the back of the dorm building. The heady aroma of coffee wafting through its open doors was enough to make me pick up my pace.
I was glad to have come here early. The place wasn’t crowded yet. Choosing one of the free tables, I sat down. Waiters and waitresses moved around, carrying trays of food, delivering them to the tables. I looked around but there were no counters taking orders.
Just as I was wondering how to ask for breakfast, a young woman in a white and maroon waitress uniform came up to me.
“What would like for breakfast, Miss?” she asked, her hand poised over her little notepad.
“What have you got?”
She glanced down at me for a moment. “Are you new here?”
“Yeah.”
“Every time you come here, take a look at the menu card,” she said, picking up a tall card that was lying on the table. “It will tell you what’s available at the moment.”
I took a look at the menu and found a long list of breakfast items on it. “Right. So can I have the pancakes and bacon platter, please? And some coffee as well?”
“Sure. I’ll be back with your order soon.”
I noticed some of the people staring in my direction. That old anxiety crept back inside me. Pulling the hood further down on my face, I wrapped my arms around my body.
It was a relief when
the waitress came back with my breakfast ten minutes later.
The food was delicious, distracting me from my surroundings for a while. The coffee was as good as the stuff they served in the Ivanov Mansion. As I ate, the crowd in the cafeteria swelled, filling up the vast hall with noise and chatter.
Thankfully, no one came to bother me at the table.
I was feeling unusually good after breakfast. Picking up my bag, I decided to head out and find the way to the first class for the day. I also had to keep an eye out for Andrei Romanoff and Dimitri Volkov. My heart raced with anticipation as their faces rose up in my mind. It had been two months since I last saw them and back then, they were both badly injured, fighting for their lives. Would they even remember me from that time? I shook my head at the thought. It didn’t matter if they remembered me. They were supposed to recognize the face of the dead girl, Maria.
“Hey, watch it!” a snarky voice shouted at me.
I’d merely brushed against a tall girl, trying to avoid a table on my way to the exit doorway.
As was my usual practice, I kept my head down and kept walking. Whether it was Kensington High or Knightswood Academy, my mantra was to avoid all unnecessary trouble.
“I’m talking to you!” the girl yelled after me. I quickened my pace, hoping she would forget about me and go her way. Instead, she raised her voice higher. “Stop, you freak!”
I hurried toward the doorway, wanting to get out of there but was too slow. Next moment, something hard and heavy collided with the back of my head. “Ow!” I gasped from the shock and pain as the sound of shattering china echoed around the suddenly quiet room.
“Get a hold of her,” the girl’s voice shouted from behind me.
Before I could turn around and attempt an apology, several bodies crashed into me, throwing me onto the floor. Hands gripped my arms and legs, keeping me from getting up.
“Who is this freak?” the stranger’s voice demanded, sounding close to my ear. My hood was roughly thrown back from my face and I stared into the face of a very pretty girl. Her mouth was twisted in a scowl while her dark eyes glared down at me. Thick, glossy waves of golden-blond hair cascaded past her shoulders as she leaned toward me. “I have never seen you around.” She looked around at the girls holding me down. “Any of you know who she is?”
“I don’t want any trouble,” I said in a low voice. “Please, just let me go.”
The girl’s face broke into an ugly expression. “Which grade are you in?”
“I am a senior.”
She looked closely at me, her dark eyes narrowing. “You’re new.”
“Yeah. If you could just tell your friends to -”
“No wonder,” she said, straightening up to her full height. Her black eyes glittered with malice as she stared down at me. “A new kid always needs orientation around here. How else will you know who rules over you?”
“Right. I am sorry. Now could you just -”
“Get a coffee pot,” said the girl. “She needs some caffeine to prolong her attention span.”
I struggled against the hands holding me down to the floor. It was quickly becoming evident that the pretty young woman was the resident queen bee of the school. I really didn’t need any lessons from her.
“Please, let me go. I’ll be careful next time.”
“It’s important to drive in the lesson,” she said, holding a coffee pot over me. The steam wafting from the spout was enough to tell me the beverage was still hot.
“Please. Let me off this once,” I pleaded. Gods! The day hadn’t even started yet and a mean girl was about to pour piping hot coffee on me. There wasn’t a single tattoo on display on her flawless skin, yet the manic glint in her dark eyes was enough to tell me she was more dangerous than any of the delinquents roaming the halls of Kensington High.
My gaze traveled around the room, desperately seeking Christian. He wasn’t there. The waiters and waitresses who were moving around before had disappeared. Everyone else simply watched. A few held their phones in my direction to film my humiliation, but no one made a move to stop the girl who was slowly tilting the pot.
My eyes squeezed shut as I braced myself to feel the scalding heat of the coffee.
A sudden gasp, followed by the sound of shattering glass made me open my eyes.
The coffee pot lay smashed on the ground nearby. The hands holding me loosened their grips and slowly they let go of me completely. My bully was staring at someone directly behind me with her lips slightly parted.
Sitting up, I turned around to look at my rescuer, hoping to see Christian.
My hopes died down as I stared up into the face of Andrei Romanoff.
15
Skye
“Isn’t it too early for this bullshit?” said Andrei, looking around at the girls ringing me. He stood taller than them all with a grim expression on his otherwise handsome face. No one said a word as he kneeled down before me. His brown eyes were warm as he looked at me closely. My breath got caught in my throat as his hand moved up to graze my cheek. “Can you stand up?” he asked, giving me a smile.
I stared into his face like an idiot for longer than was necessary. “Yeah,” I forced myself to blurt, feeling embarrassed as hell.
He helped me to my feet, keeping his arm wrapped around me in a protective embrace. Warmth flooded my cheeks as I looked up at his beautiful face. Honey-gold curls fell into his chocolate-brown eyes as a smile came on his luscious lips. Heart fluttering in my chest, I wondered how someone as good-looking and warm as him could be the heir to a mafia family, but the young man before me was really the same person who’d been dying from a slashed wrist at the mayor’s house.
“Let’s get you out of here,” he said, adding gentle pressure to my shoulder, making me turn toward the door. I glanced at the gang of girls who watched me with a mix of varying expressions. Some looked openly curious while others glared at me, promising me pain another time. Their leader sneered at me just as Andrei dragged me out of the cafeteria.
It was a relief to be breathing in the cool morning breeze. Andrei held my hand in his as he led me away from the cafeteria. I should’ve been scared to follow him but some deep instinct kept all fear away. Even though I knew who he was, I felt no fear from him.
He stopped when we reached the edge of the woods that lay behind the dorms. In this close proximity, I noticed his lean muscular body. He was dressed in a full-sleeved shirt and dark red plaid trousers, the boys’ uniform at Knightswood Academy. Dappled sunlight filtered through the treetops to shine down us. Andrei’s eyes turned a lighter shade as he gazed at me keenly.
“Do you remember me?” he asked.
“Yeah. Are you okay now?”
He nodded. “All thanks to you. If you didn’t call for help that night, I wouldn’t be standing here with you. You’re my savior.”
“It wasn’t that big of a deal,” I said, grinning awkwardly. My cheeks felt warmer. It was becoming difficult to look up into Andrei’s radiant face as he smiled down at me. I doubted I ever blushed this hard in front of a stranger.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“I am Skye. And you?”
He waited a moment before telling me. “I’m Andrei.” His expression turned grim. “I have been searching for you for a long time, Skye. Did you know that?”
“No,” I replied, despite being aware of the fact. “Why?”
“Do you really know nothing about Maria?”
The sound of that name from his lips was like a splash of icy cold water. It alerted me immediately, stopping the stupid feelings I was having for him. Of course, that’s why he’s interested in me, I told myself as I schooled my expression. He only cares about you because you look like the girl he loved. Focus on the job, Skye.
“Who is she?” I asked, feigning ignorance. “And why were you looking for me?”
“She was my closest friend,” he said in a soft voice. “You remind me a lot of her. When I saw you that night, I thought she’d
come back to me. Things haven’t been the same way since she died.” The lump in his throat bobbed. “Once I recovered, I had people look for you. I really wanted to know whether I dreamed the whole thing.”
“I haven’t been home for a long time,” I said, watching his reaction closely. Had it been he who forced Sergei into attacking me and Christian? If so, he would know I was lying. It was a gamble I was willing to take if it helped me get closer to the truth. The sooner I found out who was after the Ivanovs, the sooner I could get back to my old life.
“I know,” he said. “While you were gone, I had people look into you.” He looked sheepish for a moment. “That’s how I found out you weren’t a figment of my imagination, that you’d been living in the same city as Maria and me. We just never knew you existed.” Stepping closer to me, he pulled me into a sudden hug. “You have no idea how good it feels to finally meet you.”
I stood frozen as the scent of cinnamon and maple enveloped me in a warm embrace. My body molded against him easily. My heart raced in my chest, confusing me with its reaction. Why was I so wildly attracted to this stranger?
He loosened his hold on me after a while, allowing me to take a step back. His warm brown eyes stared into mine. “I’m sorry,” he said, running his fingers through the thick curls of his dark blond hair. “I just couldn’t help myself.”
“It’s okay,” I said, struggling to calm my heartbeat. “You saved me from those girls in the cafeteria. We’re even.”
His expression turned grim again. “Let me know if Miranda comes after you again.”
“Which grade is she in?”
“She’s a senior.”
I groaned.
He chuckled. “Are you a senior too?”
I nodded.
He laughed and moved forward to hug me again. It felt like he couldn’t stop doing that. Personally, I didn’t mind it. His hugs were gentle and warm, the kind that made everything feel better. I sighed internally. How the hell was I supposed to do my job if I kept falling in love with my target?