Dante barked a laugh and I turned to look at him in surprise. He winked at me like we were sharing a joke and I frowned in confusion before turning back to the front of the class.
“That’s it for now gang, catch you on the flip!” The announcement cut off and I rolled my eyes at our weird Principal’s attempt at being cool. I barely saw him around campus. He just appeared at assemblies or ducking through the hallways from time to time like some kind of weird ‘down with the kids’ ghost. And after our one and only meeting where he’d labelled me as a drug addict and a liar, I wasn’t in much of a hurry to see any more of him anyway.
“Right class,” Professor Titan called loudly to gather our attention. “Today’s challenge is going to be brewing an Enlightening Draft. The instructions are on your Atlas, please gather anything you need from the supply cupboard and start brewing, I’ll come round to check on your progress once you’re underway.”
Chairs scraped all around us as students got to their feet and I got up too, meaning to put some distance between me and Ryder. It didn’t work out as he stalked after me and I ground my teeth as I ignored him.
I grabbed a cauldron from the cupboard and Ryder started tossing ingredients into it without bothering to talk to me. As soon as he was done, I turned and walked back towards our desk but before I made it there, I was intercepted by Leon who had just arrived nearly ten minutes late.
“Hey, little monster,” he said with a grin as he ran a hand through his long, blonde hair.
“Hey, Leo,” I replied with a smile.
Ryder snatched the cauldron from my hands as I lingered and turned for our desk.
“I woke up and you were gone,” Leon said with a sigh. “I was hoping to wake you up with a surprise.”
I opened my mouth to reply just as the sound of a cauldron hitting the tiled floor clattered through the room. I turned and found Ryder snarling at the two of us, his gaze hard with rage.
“Are you shitting me right now?” he snapped. “You and him?”
I rolled my eyes and cast air magic at the mess he’d made on the floor, gathering all of the ingredients together and depositing them back in the cauldron.
“Yeah, it looks like she decided to go for a man who’s more suited to enjoying life. Sucks to suck, bro,” Leon joked as he headed away from the two of us at a casual pace.
Ryder took a step as if he was going to follow him and I planted myself in his way. “What difference does it make to you what I do anyway?” I asked him. “You don’t give a shit about me. Right?”
“Too fucking right,” Ryder growled.
“Then we don’t have an issue,” I bit out before grabbing the cauldron and heading back to our desk.
Ryder followed me and I released a breath as I sank into my chair.
He dropped into his seat and folded his arms angrily as I tried to sort out the mess of our ingredients which had all gotten muddled up in the cauldron.
A few of the bigger things were easy to separate but I cursed beneath my breath as I found a crushed whisper fig. The jar of pine essence was dripping all over the sprig of hawthorn too. The instructions specifically said to keep them separate until the final step so I headed away to fetch new ones for us while Ryder continued to scowl at nothing.
He was in the exact same position by the time I returned to the table.
“I just don’t understand why you fought so hard against what we had but you have no problem jumping into bed with that fucking hakuna matasshole,” Ryder snapped as I dropped into my seat.
I arched an eyebrow at him. “Shit, Ryder, you really do love The Lion King, don’t you?” I snorted.
“Fuck off. And answer my question.”
“I didn’t hear a question amongst your Disney based insults,” I replied.
“Why him?” he demanded, his voice breaking from angry to something that sounded a whole lot more raw on the last word and I looked at him more closely before replying.
“Leon likes me just the way I am,” I replied slowly. “He doesn’t want to cage me or change me or bind me to some way of life I have no desire for.”
“That way of life is all I am.”
“I don’t believe that. But if it’s true then I feel sorry for you,” I breathed.
“That’s how it is in the gangs. And you shouldn’t waste a second feeling bad for me over it. Your precious Inferno is just the same as me and he wouldn’t choose a different life either.” He glanced over my shoulder and I followed his gaze just as Dante ran past Leon’s desk and tossed something into his cauldron. Half a second later there was a loud bang and blue smoke poured out everywhere.
“Hold on! I’m coming!” Titan called from beyond the smog as Dante roared with laughter at Leon’s blue face.
Dante’s Wolf pack all started howling excitably, the room filling with the sound of them for a moment as electricity crackled through the air. Leon started laughing too and I couldn’t help but smile.
“You’re wrong,” I replied, turning back to Ryder. “Dante has joy and love in his life. His gang are his family, yours are just soldiers.”
A vision slammed into me so hard that I barely even registered what was happening until it had. I was in a cold alleyway with Ryder standing over me, a bloody knife in his hand as I bled out from wounds all over my chest. The pain of it felt so real that for a moment I couldn’t breathe, blinded by the agony he was imagining for me. He lifted me by the neck and slammed me against a brick wall so hard that my head rang from the impact.
“Don’t ever insult my gang again,” he hissed. “And if you ever fuck Inferno, I’ll kill you myself, slowly.”
The pain in the vision flared until I gasped and he released me from it.
The backs of my eyes pricked with unexpected tears as he looked at me like he fucking hated me and I got to my feet with my heart pounding in my chest.
“Fuck you, Ryder,” I snarled. “I’m so over this.”
I turned away from him and caught Professor Titan’s eye just as he finished clearing the blue smoke and managed to wave him over.
“How’s the potion going?” he asked as he reached us, leaning forward eagerly then frowning as he realised we hadn’t even started.
“I want a new lab partner,” I said, not bothering with anything else.
“Oh…” Titan looked between me and Ryder like he wasn’t sure what to say. “Well I did say no changes before the end of term-”
“I want a new partner or I’m leaving this class altogether,” I said firmly. “I’m sick of him abusing his Basilisk powers and being an asshole in general. It’s not a productive fucking learning environment.”
“She can pair with me, sir!” Leon called excitedly, obviously eavesdropping.
Titan hesitated again, worrying his hands together as he glanced at Ryder like he was gauging how he felt about this. I didn’t look his way because I didn’t want to look at his fucking face and acknowledge the fact that what he’d just done had actually hurt me. But he knew it had. He’d felt it. I just hoped that he’d mistaken it for the physical pain he’d faked with his illusion rather than the emotional flare I’d felt in response to his threat.
Professor Titan cleared his throat then finally nodded. “You can swap with Miss Pierce then,” he said. “I’ll just go and inform her.”
Titan headed away and I started stuffing my shit back into my bag. Ryder was frowning at me like he couldn’t quite understand what had just happened but I didn’t care. I was done with his bullshit. So fucking done.
Ryder snatched my wrist into his grip as I took a step away, his fingers biting into my flesh. “You’re really leaving?” he asked with a frown.
“That’s what you want, isn’t it?” I asked icily.
He held on for a beat too long, some emotion passing through his eyes for half a second before he stamped it down, clenching his jaw as he shoved my hand out of his grip like it burned him.
“Too fucking right,” he snarled.
“Well I’m pl
eased I can make you happy then,” I replied before striding away from him without a backwards glance.
Professor Titan was ushering me over to join Leon at his desk while the Mindy who had been there moved towards Ryder looking more than a little terrified. I felt bad for her, but I just couldn’t sit with him a second longer.
“Fuck!” Leon exclaimed as I approached him, a snarl of rage leaving his lips and stalling me mid-step.
“What’s wrong?” I asked in confusion.
He blinked sharply and raised his middle finger at Ryder over my shoulder. “Your old lab partner just sent me an illusion of him beating me to death with a rock,” he explained. “I guess he’s feeling jealous.”
Ryder hissed behind me and I turned to glare at him as I dropped into my new chair beside Leon. Ryder caught me in his hypnosis next, but I grabbed control of the version of myself within the vision before he could do whatever it was he had planned for me.
“This is a funny way to prove you don’t want anything to do with me,” I snapped.
“I’m just making sure you don’t come back,” Ryder snarled in response.
“No chance of that,” I replied coldly.
Ryder looked at me for long second before he broke off the illusion and a sharp pain shifted in my gut.
I turned to Leon as he grinned at me, his face still blue from Dante’s prank. “You just can’t keep away from me, can you, little monster?” he teased.
“I wasn’t the one bouncing up and down in my chair begging to be paired with you,” I reminded him.
Leon laughed as I mocked him and leaned forward like he was going to kiss me.
I turned my cheek to him at the last second and he groaned as he pressed his lips to my skin, his stubble grazing against my flesh in the best way.
“You’re not still playing hard to get, are you?” he begged. “Because I thought you were my girl now?”
“Where would you get a silly idea like that?” I scoffed.
“Because you…we…” His eyes clouded with confusion for a moment as he looked at me and I took pity on him, placing my hand on his thigh beneath the table.
“If you want to keep me, Leon, don’t try and cage me. I’ll only run.” I pulled my hand back and he let out a long breath as he relaxed into his chair.
“You’re hard work, you know that?” he teased.
“Too much work for one man alone,” I agreed, winking at him as I blew a bubble with my gum.
Leon huffed but he was half smiling too.
“Maybe I need some help then,” he teased and my smile grew.
“Yeah, maybe you do.”
***
By the time the evening rolled around, I was well and truly done with the day but unfortunately, it wasn’t done with me.
I sighed as I stood outside Professor Titan’s door, waiting for him to turn up so that we could get this Liaison over and done with and I could crawl back to my bed. I may have gotten over the effects of my Killblaze hit, but it had definitely done a number on me and I felt absolutely exhausted. I just hoped that getting a good sleep tonight would be enough to get me back to normal because I needed to be functioning during my evenings so that I could continue my investigations. So far, I felt like I’d turned up a big fat nothing and I was more than ready to get back to digging into the mysteries surrounding Gareth’s death and find the fucker who’d killed him.
“Sorry I’m late!” Professor Titan called as he jogged towards me along the corridor.
He fumbled in his pocket for his key and managed to drop the stack of paperwork he was carrying.
“Crap!” he swore as he dropped to his knees, trying to gather everything up again and I knelt down to help him.
I shoved pages into a stack and paused as the title of one caught my eye. How to assert control among the masses: a teacher’s guide to dealing with students with higher ranking powers to yourself.
Titan reached out to take the stack of papers from me, clearing his throat uncomfortably as he retrieved the pamphlet on asserting himself.
“Greyshine has given those out to all members of staff,” he explained as he stuffed the key into his office door.
“Okay,” I said.
“Because there are a few particularly powerful students in your class, as you may have noticed,” he continued, opening the door and heading on in.
“Yeah, the gang kings are kinda hard to miss,” I agreed, pushing the door shut behind me.
“Yes. And of course the Night family are renowned in the criminal network of the city too. And Gabriel Nox is really too powerful to be attending this particular academy…but anyway you don’t want to hear about the latest topic of conversation at the staff meeting,” he said, shoving the pamphlet into a drawer. “And rest assured, we are confident that we can deal with them. No need to fear them taking control of the school or anything.”
I snorted my amusement and Titan smirked at me, the embarrassment seeming to fade from his cheeks as he did.
“Anyway, how are you?” he asked, stacking his fingers across his stomach as he leaned back in his chair.
“Erm…fine,” I hedged.
The last faculty member I’d told about the fact that someone had tried to kill me at the weekend had totally blown me off. And with Gabriel turning out to be a lying sack of shit I’d decided to stop harping on about the dead boy in the woods.
Titan frowned as if he didn’t believe me. “I’ve seen the video of your altercation with Cindy Lou Galaxa,” he said slowly. “And Principal Greyshine mentioned what you told him in his office after the event…”
“Yeah, well…he didn’t believe me. So…” I shrugged.
“But you still don’t think you were hallucinating?” Titan pushed gently.
I pursed my lips, almost blowing him off. But keeping this secret was burning a hole inside my gut and I felt like I was ready to explode. I needed to say it. Spit it out and let him call me a liar if that was what he was going to do. At least I’d know he was wrong.
“I could tell the difference between the hallucinations and reality,” I sighed. “And I know that those people in hoods were there. I know that that boy killed himself and gave his power to the cloaked figure. I don’t care if you all want to call me a liar.”
I folded my arms and looked out of the window to the left of the room. The sun was setting in the distance, sinking beyond the Empyrean Fields where the penis I’d burned into the grass still stood out as a dark outline.
“I believe you,” Titan said softly and I turned back to face him in surprise.
“Really?” I asked, my heart beating faster at the thought of him having faith in me so easily.
“I feel we’ve gotten to know each other fairly well during these sessions, Elise. And though I don’t think you’re a perfect student or above playing pranks or causing havoc in your own way, I don’t think you’re a liar. In fact I’ve always found you to hold firm with your opinions and to speak your mind no matter who you may upset. Take today with Ryder Draconis for example. There aren’t many people who would call him out on his behaviour and specifically ask to be relocated away from him the way you did. You told him what you thought of his actions and you stuck to your feelings on the best way to deal with the situation despite the fact that he could pose a real threat to you. So no, I don’t think you’re a liar or an attention seeker.”
“Then what should I do?” I asked. “Greyshine doesn’t believe me about the boy so the FIB haven’t even been called and-”
“I’ll call them,” he said with a gentle smile. “I’ll tell them I’ve had a reliable tip off and relay what information I can. I’m sure they’ll come and search the grounds and look into any missing persons reports to try and figure out who that boy was. Can I give them your name if they want to interview you?”
“Okay,” I agreed, relief spilling through me. “I can write it all down for them if you like?”
“That sounds like a good idea to me. Get all the details down on paper
and I’m sure they’ll conduct an investigation and figure out what happened.”
I gave Titan a genuine smile as some of the weight on my shoulders eased a fraction. More than a few of the nightmares that had haunted me the last few nights had been about that boy’s family not knowing what had happened to him. At least this way there was a chance they’d find out.
Titan returned my smile then shuffled through the messy papers on his desk before finding what he was looking for and passing it across the table to me.
“I understand that you told Greyshine you were drugged but nonetheless, Killblaze is known to be powerfully addictive. Even taking it unwillingly may have given you a taste for it.” He removed his hand from the pamphlet and I held back my irritation as I read the title.
Drugs are bad! How to say no to peer pressure and avoid addiction!
“Brilliant,” I deadpanned.
“I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t give you this. Have you felt any urges to track down more of the drug?”
“Fuck no,” I replied firmly.
“Good.” Titan beamed. “That’s great. It sounds like it didn’t get a hook in you then.”
“It didn’t,” I agreed firmly. “But you’re still going to make me take that pamphlet aren’t you?”
Titan nodded sheepishly. “Miss Nightshade will no doubt bring it up in your counselling sessions too…”
“Peachy.”
Titan eyed me for a long moment. “You look beat, do you want to just call it a night? We’ve covered the important stuff so unless there’s anything else you wanted to talk to me about…?”
“I’m wrecked actually,” I agreed, getting to my feet. “So finishing up sounds like heaven. I’ll probably be asleep in my bed within ten minutes.”
Savage Fae (Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac Book 2) Page 9