Raith lets out a heavy sigh. “Knox, don’t—” he starts, but he stops speaking when Knox shoots a glare his way.
Professor Yevar looks pleased, like he’s gleefully waiting for me to get punished.
“No, I don’t think that,” I blurt, hating having everyone’s eyes on me again. That was one of the best parts about being a crow. No one really paid much attention to you. Except, you know, if I was about to peck someone’s eyes out. Gross, I know, but sometimes a crow had to do what a crow had to do.
Knox’s dark gaze is unwavering. “You don’t think what?”
“Well, you’d all finished, so I thought it was time,” I explain. “Look, I’m sorry for whatever I did wrong, I was just hungry.”
There are sniggers around the room, and Satine is beaming like someone’s told her the best news.
One of the students murmurs, “New girl is such an idiot. No wonder they put her with Kenzie. You’re right, Satine, the rejects deserve each other.”
Kenzie looks like she wants to sink into the floor, and Knox’s expression becomes smug. Ishouldlet it go. That’s what a smart girl would do, but hey, I never claimed to take that title. I’m not sure if it’s the Kenzie comment that really sets me off, combined with the fact that I’m still seriously hungry, but the apologetic expression falls from my face. And then, proving the girl right, I do something stupid.
Lifting the remainder of my chocolate bar, I shove the rest into my mouth. I have to work my tongue hard to make sure I don’t choke, but I manage, and I stare at Knox the entire time, watching his eyes darken with every passing second. A hush falls over the room as everyone watches me, and Kenzie sinks lower in her chair.
I swallow my mouthful and lick my lips like I’m savoring every last bit of chocolate. When I’m done, I speak up. “Look, I get you want everyone to be your good little followers, but while you’re sitting there with your bellies bursting, we’re over here starving.” ByweI really meanme,but I figure I don’t need to tell him that.
Kenzie tugs on my hand, no doubt trying to get me to shut up, but the words keep flowing. In all fairness, I did try to warn her about what I’m like when I’m hungry. “Come on, as if you really make everyone sit there watching while you all stuff your faces? I don’t know about?—”
“Sit. Down.” Knox doesn’t yell, but his words crack across the room like lightning, and a wave of power fills the air, making the hairs on my arms stand up. Bonfang lets out a rumbling growl that makes the plates rattle and the walls tremble.
Oops.
I shouldsit down, that would be the logical thing to do, but I’m so startled that I just freeze in place and stand there, my expression slack as Knox’s dark gaze holds me hostage.
A heartbeat passes, and shadows explode from Knox, spearing across the room. Before I can register what’s happening, the shadows wrap tightly around my arms and legs, lifting me into the air and holding me in place. Panic thrums through my system, a surge of adrenaline reminding me how to use my limbs, but it’s too late. I can’t run. All I can do is struggle like a fly caught in a web.
“Oh, what a foolish girl she is, angering the shadow lord like that,”Elgen reprimands in my mind.
“Mhmm,”Tarlaz agrees, a thread of disappointment in his tone.
In my panicked state, I forget I’m trying not to reply to them. I can feel the connection with the shadows in my mind, like there’s this smoky thread tying us, and I concentrate before replying,“Instead of judging me, couldn’t you say something useful? Helpful advice, maybe?”
There’s a beat of silence before Elgen replies,“Oh, so now she speaks when it’s already too late.”
I struggle, trying to yank my arms free, but Knox’s shadows only tighten, pressing against my skin.“What do you mean too late?”
“He has a temper that one. Ever since the curse,”Tarlaz replies.
“Such a pity you had to open your mouth, child,”Elgen adds.“Never had a student who could speak with us before.”
“Yes, a pity,”Tarlaz agrees.
I want to ask them more about this curse they’re talking of, because maybe they can tell me something that will help me now, but there’s no time. Bonfang bares his teeth, standing by Knox’s side, and the cruel flash in Knox’s eyes is my onlywarning before his power crashes into me with startling force. Pain envelopes me, sinking into every part of me like thousands of claws are burrowing into my skin, and I gasp, my whole body tightening at the onslaught of agony. Galen, Raith, and Thane lift to their feet, their creatures pacing behind them, tails flicking in agitation, but none of the men speak, nor do their creatures try to stop what’s happening. Not even Kazer. For all I know, they couldn’t stop it even if they wanted to.
Raith and Galen watch on, their expressions hard and their eyes just as dark as Knox’s. If anyone was going to stop this, I’d think it might be one of those two. Out of the four, they seem the most open to accepting there’s some connection between us, but they simply stand there, their gazes not leaving me.They’re my fated mates. Aren’t they?The statement feels true, but fated mates wouldn’t do this to their matched mate. The idea that I could be wrong makes my heart ache, even though I hardly know the professors.
The rejection stings, and as the pain from Knox’s power intensifies, agony makes my back curl and my body twist. I’m not sure why, but a memory from weeks ago when the head librarian had caught me eating multiple chocolate bars in the library pops into my head. She’d said,“Eat too many of those, and they’ll kill you one day, you know. That’s why it’s better to stick with books.”At the time, I hadn’t thought she was being literal, and a strangled laugh chokes from my throat.
Once I start, I can’t stop and my laughter becomes louder, tears leaking down my cheeks.
This only makes Knox angrier. “Something funny?” he snarls.
The students start to whisper, but I can’t focus on them right now. The pain intensifies again, and my laughter dies as I cry out instead, unable to stop myself.
“Foolish, foolish girl,”Elgen says in my head, but her voice is faint.
