“Alliance?” I croaked out, then clarified, “But not the cult kind. No human sacrifices, flower crowns, or weird circles with sticks.”
At this time in my life, I could not handle cult life.
Maybe later, when I had more free time.
“Of course.” Drex flashed bloody teeth from his fight with Leo and said, “Us abandoned mutts have to stick together.”
Nodding (then regretting it because it jostled my aching nose), I began to slowly explain linear algebra to him. Luckily, he was a quick learner and caught onto concepts easily.
As the next hours passed, a strange warmth unfurled in my chest. The sensation was so foreign that it took me a second to place it.
It washope.
The two weeks were almost over, and soon we’d get to rest. It was already the end of August, and somehow I was still alive. Professor Augustus had said the fall was much easier.You’ve already made it through the hardest part.
Everything wouldn’t be so bad, and it would all work out in the end.
Delusion was one hell of a drug.
Spoiler, it would not all just “work out.”
Chapter 15
Obsession
Augustus
There was a loud crashing noise and a thud in the other room where the initiates were supposed to be studying.
Someone shouted.
A grunt echoed.
Cleandro and I stopped lesson planning and stared at each other in horror—we sprinted toward the library.
We skidded to a stop in the doorway.
I fisted my hands.
It was the bane of my fucking existence.Why is she constantly causing fucking problems?
Alexis was standing in the center of the room.
Her nose was smashed, her chin was covered in blood, and both her eyes were swelling and turning black.
Someone punched her in the face.
Red filled my vision. Pure unadulterated rage burned me apart at the seams, and I rubbed at my chest as I breathed deeply.
Alexis was delicate, just like my sister, Helen, and her soft features were twisted with pain.
Every muscle in my body tensed. Men who hurt women didn’t deserve to live.
This is exactly why she shouldn’t be participating in the fucking crucible. It’s a Kronos-damned outrageous dishonor.
My hands itched with the urge to snap someone’s neck, and I trembled from the force of trying to keep myself together.
Cleandro gave me a strange look, like he could see through me.
