“You have Fire immunity?” Amos asked, curious.
“I don’t think so,” I mumbled. I thought the same, but everybody else said it was impossible unless it was my Unique.
“Ah, yes, I remember a report of a group of second years mishandling Fire magic and almost hurting a new student, burning her dress in the process,” Winston replied smoothly, as Compton looked uncomfortable. “Those students weren’t expelled, but they were punished.”
“She also likes to pick fights with other students, even those in higher years. Like Lady Cecilia,” Compton proudly exclaimed as if it was agotchamoment. I could kind of understand; LadyCecilia Valonde was, for a time, the would-be Crown Princess. Surely Winston had a soft spot for her.
“On the contrary, I have reliable reports telling me it was the other way around. The dining hall has many eyes and ears,” Winston countered, and I knew immediately Samuel reported that incident to him after all. The man beside me muttered “amateur” with a low, chiding laugh.
I laid my head on his chest, and he froze.Heh.Still winning.
“Let’s cut to the chase, shall we?” Winston spoke again when Compton lost his composure with the previous statement. “I will once again ask: why did I receive news that you had ordered to have this lady taken out of the academy?”
“I only wanted to scare her so she stops her foolishness,” Compton returned to acting smug. Hereallydid believe he was the bigger man here, didn’t he? “I thought I was doing you a favor, Your Highness.”
Even from this distance, I could see Winston clenching and unclenching his hands on his lap. Interesting. “And what favor might that be, Lord Compton?” His smile was sweeter than ever.
“She’s tarnishing your name and the Champions’ for gallivanting with so many men. It’s disgraceful and shameless. Disgusting.”
Oh.
It wasn’t the first time someone had called me disgusting, and I suspected it wouldn’t be the last, too. Wasn’t the first to shame me for my preferences and interests. Wasn’t the first to make me feelwrongfor my life choices.
“I’m going to fucking kill him,” Amos growled as he paced the room, burning his restless energy.
“Can’t kill a noble or there will be questions,” Uriel responded evenly, and if not for the slight narrowing of his eyes would I be able to tell he was having some kind of emotion.
“I would’ve scared her good so she’ll be nice and pliant,” Compton continued when Winston just stared at him. “And then she’ll be a proper lady, worthy to serve the Champions. I can take care of her for you, Your Highness.”
Now what the hell was this dude saying?
Winston remained calm. “Elaborate.”
Compton was quiet for a while, running a hand over his jaw anxiously. He was contemplatingsomething, as I was sure some men here were contemplating killing him. Then he reached a decision, relaxing, and once again, arrogantly smug. “My Unique. I can make someone lose their memories for the last ten seconds. It’s how I caught her off-guard.
“I used it on her while she’s on her way to the dining hall. When she was disoriented, we took her out of the grounds. Anybody who saw us had their memories erased. Flawless, honestly.”
Holy shit.That was why I couldn’t remember. Combined with the other bastard who could make people sleep, they would be unstoppable.
“If you let me handle her, Your Highness, that girl would be tamed within a week,” he proclaimed, with a grin wide enough to flash every perfect tooth, like everything else about him; unblemished skin, sculpted features. Signs of a noble birth. Except for his terrible, rotten mind. “I’ll punish her every time she strays and make her forget it. Repeat as necessary until she realizes that every unacceptable behavior makes her body hurt, without knowing it was by me. And by extension, yours.” He was giggling now, as if he already imagined doing it tome. “I’ll reward her good behavior, too. That I won’t erase.”
I could only imagine what thatrewardwould be.
More importantly, this creep was a complete psychopath. I remembered my kidnappers talking about delivering meuntouched to this Lord, but what he had planned for me was so much worse. What the fuck did I ever do to him to deserve it?
“He didn’t answer it,” I whispered, Samuel holding me tighter. “Should I believe he planned all of that to curry favor with the Prince?” It seemed too shallow compared to the crime. But then again, I had no idea how his mind worked.
The men in the room with me were barely holding it together. Even though I couldn’t imagine what went through their heads, the aura around us was so thick and heavy, I didn’t need to be a mind reader to tell they were all itching to punch this guy at least once. It made me feel a little better.
Theodore tipped his head to Uriel, who nodded in response. Moments later, Winston addressed Compton again. “That’s an interesting plan.”
“Why, thank you, Your Highness —”
“What’s the real reason then, Lord Compton?” Winston cut him off, and my heart sped up as the Prince confronted him with my words. “Surely, this plan is too elaborate to earn my favor.”
“You’re as insightful as they say, Prince,” Compton laughed, and was it just me, or was he slowly going unhinged? I didn’t like how he was unsettling me so much. “I want to earn your favor, of course. But more than that, she belongs to me, and I didn’t want her to embarrass the Champions.”
“I don’t fucking know you!” I yelled before I could stop myself. What the hell was wrong with this guy? Why would he think that I belonged to him?
