“Just keep an ear open,” Crimson said. “Pay attention to people who seem unhappy with Randall’s decisions. I want their names.”
“Okay.” I rolled my shoulders, in need of getting away from him. “Is that it?”
“Rey, I want to be headmaster by the end of this semester,” Crimson said, his voice low. “You better find a way, otherwise … poor Erin.”
Losing my control, I closed the distance between us and loomed over him. “Stop threatening her. I’ll do what you ask; just leave her alone.”
A wide smile spread over Crimson’s lips. “That's all I want.” With a short nod of his head, he walked away.
I let out a long breath and started back to my townhouse, my mind reeling with half-baked plans. Crimson’s deal was simple: I had to either kill Randall, or implicate him enough so he would be dismissed as the headmaster of the academy. Then, Crimson would step in and take over. I had until the end of the semester to do that.
Otherwise, he would kill Erin.
Maybe I should kill Crimson instead. No, that was the many years as one of the underworld’s pawns speaking. I wasn’t like that anymore. Even if Crimson threatened Erin, I wouldn’t kill him. I could hurt him very, very badly, but I wouldn’t end his life. I didn’t need his fucking blood on my hands.
No, I just needed to come up with a plan and fast, before Erin got hurt on my account.
5
Erin
My first class of the day was demon anthropology. It wasn’t as boring as it sounded, but since every student except for Claire and Harper kept looking at me as if I was a bug to be squashed, I couldn’t focus on what the professor was saying.
After the prank on Tom, I thought Ava and I had broken through a barrier, but as soon as we went to the cafeteria, she left Claire and me to join her so-called friends, Stella and Ruby. I hadn’t told Ava that when she went missing last semester, Stella and Ruby didn’t seem one bit worried about it. Her friendships were none of my business.
Claire had forgotten about the prank, and stayed with me all day, even when some nasty students walked by us, clearly trying to push me to the side, and bumped into me and called me names.
That word again.
Mongrel.
I had heard it before, of course, but never used in such a derogatory way.
It was ridiculous, but it bothered me to the core.
I shook my head and glanced out the windows. The sun was already high, shining bright over the blackthorn tree in the center of the courtyard. It would be another hot day at the academy.
When I returned my gaze to the front of the class, I caught sight of Harper. Alone as usual, she was seated a row below Claire and me, and a little to the left. She kept stealing glances at Claire, who was oblivious to Harper’s feelings.
After what happened with Tanner, I didn’t think Claire was ready to let anyone in yet, which was a shame, because it was stamped on Harper’s face how much she liked Claire. I was sure Harper would treat Claire right.
Unlike a certain half-demon I knew.
And there it went. It didn’t matter what was going on in my life, my thoughts always went back to Rey. What could I do? He was my freaking soulmate, even if he pushed me away.
Sometimes, I wished there was a way to break this damn Soul Bond.
Class ended and I barely noticed the time passing. Claire and I picked up our things and headed out along with the other students.
Once we exited the Orchid building, we heard yells and loud chatter. As a giant, curious mass, all the students moved toward the voices, Claire and I included. We rounded the corner of the Aster building and saw a lot of people standing in front of the main doors of the building, some holding signs protesting the half-demons at the school.
“What’s going on?” I asked, trying to count how many people were there. At least two dozen. And they were all older than us. Among them, I saw Ava’s father. Parents. These people were all parents.
“I don’t know,” Claire whispered.
Remi, one of the campus security guards, walked up to us, his hands open wide. “Stay back,” he told us.
“What’s going on?” a student asked. Several joined in the query, demanding explanations.
Remi shook his head. “The parents are protesting.”
“What?” someone asked.
“This morning, headmaster Randall announced that the half-demons who are of age will be joining the academy as students,” Remi told us. Loud chatter and protests started from all around me. “Stay back, please, or I’ll have to use force. In fact, you should go to your next class before I report you all!”
Claire slipped her hand in mine. “Let’s get out of here.”
We weaved through the crowd, until we were around the back of the building. “I feel personally attacked,” I told her in a low voice as we walked by the side of the courtyard, going to the Gardenia building.
“You should.” She glanced around. “I think that is just the beginning. If what Remi said is true, I fear things will only get worse.”
I nodded. She was right. With this announcement, the headmaster had placed half-demons on the same level as the demon hunters. A lot of people would be furious.
We turned the corner of the Statice building, when a group converged on us.
“There you are,” Tom said, walking up to me. “The most famous mongrel of all.”
I puffed my chest. “What do you want, Tom?”
His friends surrounded Claire and me. Shit, this wasn’t going to end well.
“Let’s just say I learned you’re the one who fake-burned my car,” he drawled. What? How? Had Ava told him? He went on, “Also, I’m sure you’re the one who convinced the headmaster to let the half-breeds into the academy.”
“W-what?” I shrieked, because, well, how did he find out about the former, and how did he come up with a stupid idea for the latter? “That’s ridiculous.”
Tom poked at my arm. “Ridiculous is having your skinny ass parading across the academy as if you belong here.”
“S-stop,” Claire said, putting on a fake bravado. She didn’t fool anyone with the tremor in her voice, her wide eyes, and the shake of her hands. “Erin didn’t do anything wrong.”
Tom turned a nasty smile toward Claire. “Are you a pure blood, Claire? If so, why are you associating with the likes of her?”
“Tom, we can talk about this,” I started, fearing for my friend. “Just let Claire go, okay?”
He fixed his hard eyes on me. “Talk about this? No … I’m gonna beat it out of you, and your friend here gets to watch.”
“What?” A gasp ripped past my throat as hands closed around my arms, pulling them back.
Claire yelled, but someone grabbed her and pulled her back. Both of us were dragged to the side of the Gardenia building, behind the tall bushes and thick trees. The only way to be found out was to scream, but would anyone come? For a half-demon? For a demonic princess?
I doubted it.
Tom came at me and punched my stomach.
I gasped as the air flew out of my lungs and pain spread through my torso.
Holy shit.
On instinct, I called my magic. I rejoiced in the feeling of power as it traveled up and down my veins.
“Stop it!” Claire yelled.
Ready to punch me again, Tom hesitated.
And I dropped my magic.
If I fought back, if I used my magic on them, if I ended up hurting Tom and his friends, it would only make things worse. The ones against the half-demons would have proof that we were unstable and disturbed and angry, or whatever else they wanted to believe. Things would get blown out of proportion, and parents would have something to use against Randall’s rule. The half-demons would be expelled or killed, and I would be among them.
So, I braced myself when Tom pulled his arm back and punched me again.
The pain was excruciating.
I ended up calling my magic again, but instead of attacking, I used it as a
defense mechanism. I used my magic to numb my muscles so I didn’t feel as much pain while Tom punched my stomach and my face, and kicked my hips and my chest.
Like deadweight, I fell on the ground. No one was holding me now. There was no reason to. Even if I hadn’t been using my magic to shield the pain, I was sure I would be numb from being beaten.
But as it was, I was too weak to hold the magic. I could feel it rearing back and the pain spreading over my entire body.
Tom straddled me, his face inches from mine. “Now, you get what you deserve, you mongrel bitch.” His Dawnblade appeared in his hand.
Despair swirled in my chest. “W-what …?” I tried asking what the hell he was going to do, but the words got stuck in my throat.
“Say hi to your daddy.” Tom lifted his sword high.
The next second, he was on the ground beside me.
Harvey flew over me and landed a roundhouse kick to Tom’s face. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
I saw Peter, Ava, and Harper joining Harvey in pushing Tom and his friends back, before Claire leaned over me, blocking everything else. “Are you okay?”
“D-dandy,” I croaked.
She hooked her arm around mine and tugged. “Can you stand?”
I tried shaking my head, but that only brought on more pain. I tried calling my magic again, but I was too weak, too hurt to have control over it.
“Get out of my way before I kill you too,” Tom yelled from somewhere behind Claire.
“It was me, you idiot,” Ava shouted back. “It was me who pranked you and your car. You just beat an innocent person.”
“Innocent?” Tom snapped. “She’s a fucking half-demon. There’s nothing innocent about her.”
“Get out of here, man, before I beat you up,” Harvey warned.
“Let them come,” Peter said. “I would love to kick their asses.”
They argued more, but my mind was so out of it, it was hard to follow their exchange. But when they all surrounded me, I gathered they had been successful in getting rid of Tom and his gang.
Ava knelt beside me. “We’ll take you to the infirmary.”
“No,” Claire protested. “Cecile is against the half-demons too.” Cecile was the campus physician. She had always been so kind to me. Could she really hate half-demons too? Would she start treating me badly because I wasn’t like her?
“Then what?” Harper asked. “We take her to her dorm and treat her pain and wounds with ibuprofen?”
Claire shook her head. “I know where we can take her.”
I wasn’t sure if I had heard Claire’s plan, if I had dreamed it, or if I had missed it completely. All I knew was that suddenly I was in Harvey’s arms. To avoid being seen, he carried me around the back of the dorms, the Hyacinth building, and the training arena, all the way to Dahlia Villa, on the other side of campus.
I was sure they were delivering me to my mother when Harvey climbed the front porch steps of a townhouse and Claire knocked on the door.
“No,” I croaked. “She’ll finish killing me.”
“It’s not a she,” Ava whispered to me.
A moment later, the door flew open and Rey stared at us, his gray eyes wide and enraged. “What the fuck happened?”
“Tom and his friends beat her up,” Claire said.
“It’s my fault,” Ava said.
“It doesn’t matter,” Claire continued. “All that matters is that they almost killed her and they saved her.” She gestured to Harvey, Peter, and Harper. I was sure she was leaving Ava out of it on purpose.
“We wanted to take her to the infirmary—”
“It’s good that you didn’t,” Rey said, interrupting Harvey. “Cecile hates the half-demons.”
Claire nodded. “That’s what I said.”
Finally, Rey’s eyes found mind. A gentle shine covered them, giving them an almost silver glow. He stepped to my side and slid his arms under me. “Give her to me. I’ll take care of her.” Harvey let go, and suddenly, I was in Rey’s arms.
Despite the pain and numbness, I felt self-conscious. I tried holding my head up, or recoiling into myself. This was too much. The less I touched him, the better.
Rey took a step back and Claire advanced with him. “I’ll help you.”
“No,” Rey said, almost too quickly. “You all should go back to class right now before this gets blown out of proportion. With Randall’s announcement, things will be crazy for a while, and you all should act as normal as possible to avoid problems.”
He had to do some convincing, but finally my friends left.
And Rey carried me inside his townhouse.
6
Rey
Holding her gently so I wouldn’t hurt her anymore, I took Erin to my bedroom on the second floor. Although the townhouse had been given to me a month ago, I barely had any furniture here. The only bed in the house was mine.
So that was where I laid her.
She sank into the mattress with a long sigh and closed her eyes.
Holy fuck … my chest tightened as I looked at her. There were two purpling marks on her cheeks, a scratch on her chin, and she had a split lip. With trembling hands, I sat beside her and unbuttoned her white shirt. This was the first time I had seen Erin without a shirt, and despite the thrill that seeing her lace white bra over her plump breasts should have given me, my stomach sank at the sight of the red marks right above her chest, and on her stomach.
Channeling my magic, I hovered a hand over her bruises and checked if there was more damage hidden on the inside. My magic was dark and far from having healing properties, but I was sure that if something was wrong, I would know. My magic didn’t spike, which made me believe her bruises were all external. With the right amount of rest and pain medicine, she would be fine.
Unlike my heart, which was being ripped to shreds right now.
Holy fuck.
This was torture.
Seeing her like this was torture. The rage in my veins spiked, and I clenched my fists. I wanted to go after the responsible ones right this instant and kill them with my own hands.
But I also wanted to hold her, to care for her, to heal her, to make sure she was forever safe.
I scoffed. I had been so afraid Crimson would be the one to hurt her, but so sure he wouldn’t because he needed me that I had lowered my guard. Look where that had gotten me?
I hated myself.
I stared at her some more, at how her chest seemed to be moving up and down in a slow fashion. She was sleeping. I wanted to wake her up to make sure she was okay, to give her some medicine, but she seemed so hurt and out of it, perhaps it was best if she slept.
I reached up and smoothed her long black hair away from her face. Her beautiful face was now marred by bruises. My rage stirred again and I clenched my teeth, trying to keep it in. Exploding now would only make everything worse.
I pulled my hand back and noticed her clothes were dirty and the sleeve of her jacket was ripped. I would need to get her some clean clothes, but for now, I could make her more comfortable.
Gently, I removed her boots and socks and covered her up to the waist with my blanket.
I had imagined Erin in my bed many, many times, but in my head, she had been smiling and happily writhing under me. Never in a million years would I have thought she would end up in my bed in this situation.
With a long sigh, I rose from the bed and went to the kitchen downstairs, where I hunted for some medicine and made chamomile tea. I didn’t know when she would wake up, but I wanted to have it ready for her. I remembered having some magical healing herbs stored in the pantry. I picked some up and put them in the tea. This would accelerate the healing process.
I glanced at my phone, which had been charging in the kitchen. It wasn’t even noon yet. Erin had two more classes this afternoon. I hoped Claire would tell their professors that Erin was sick, because if I contacted them, it would look suspicious.
I also had one class to teach this afternoon. If Er
in remained sleeping, I could go, but I certainly didn’t want to. Perhaps, I too would lie I wasn’t feeling well, and stay here with her.
Carrying a small tray with the medicine and the tea, I went back to my bedroom. Since I didn’t have any other furniture upstairs, I put the tray on the floor beside the bed and sat on the edge of my bed.
Afraid Erin could have been more hurt than I thought, I rested my hand over her forehead. Her temperature seemed normal enough.
As if she had felt my touch, Erin stirred slightly. A moment later, she groaned. Next, she whimpered and her body jerked. She either was having one of those nightmares again, or she was remembering what had happened to her.
“Erin.” I held her arms. “Wake up.” She jerked against my hold, her head thrashing side to side as she uttered ineligible words. “Wake up, Erin.”
“No!” she shouted.
In a flash, her eyes shot up and she scooted closer to the edge of the mattress. I held her wrist, before she fell off the bed. “Careful.” I smoothed my thumb over her skin. “You’re okay now.” Golden eyes on mine, her body sagged. “You’re fine now.”
She pressed her hand to her stomach and groaned. “What happened?” She glanced around. “Where am I?”
I frowned. “You don’t remember?”
She shook her head once, but then her eyes widened and she inhaled a sharp breath. “Tom and his friends.” She glanced down at herself. I hadn’t buttoned up her shirt and she pulled the blanket to cover herself. “Ow,” she muttered before bringing her hand to her face.
“You must be hurting.” I fluffed my pillows so she could rest against them, then grabbed the pain medicine and the cup of tea from the tray. “Here. Take this. It’ll help with the pain.”
Wary, Erin leaned back on the propped pillows and took the medicine and tea from me. She was visibly weak, but she resisted it well. “I thought I had been delirious.”
“About?”
“Being brought here. You allowing me in.” Averting her eyes, she took the medicine and drank some of the tea. She handed me the tea back and sat up. “I should go.”
The Soul Bond (Rite World: Blackthorn Hunters Academy Book 3) Page 4