I twist in his grip, but his hand squeezes tighter. He’s strong, stronger than I would have imagined.
‘Don’t give me an excuse to slap you a second time,’ he whispers in my ear.
My nails scrape against the back of his hand as my vision blurs with rage. ‘Get off me, you bas—’
His grip loosens suddenly and when I look up Atlas has Ralph in a chokehold against the wall. The door to the library slams open and Professor Lumens appears.
‘Whatis going on in here?’
Atlas lets go of Ralph and he lunges towards him, pointing his gun.
‘Recruits disobeying the rules, Lumens,’ he spits. ‘This one –’ he jerks his head towards Atlas – ‘just attacked me.’
‘You liar,’ I breathe.
Professor Lumens holds up his hand. The Head of Zoologyhas a white beard and is carrying a briefcase under one arm. He looks from me to Atlas, whose hands are balled into fists. Two red spots have appeared on his cheeks.
‘Did you attack this Guardian, boy?’ he growls.
‘He put his hands on her—’ Atlas begins.
‘So you attacked him?’
‘He was defending me!’ I say, but Lumens ignores me.
‘Apologise,’ he tells Atlas.
‘What?’ Atlas snarls. ‘This Guardian just manhandled a woman and he should be fired—’
‘Apologise, recruit,’ Lumens says coldly, ‘to Ralph Wyvernmire.’
I freeze.
Wyvernmire?
Guardian 707 is related to the Prime Minister?
Atlas stares at Lumens for a moment, then turns to Ralph.
‘I apologise,’ he grunts.
Lumens gives a satisfied nod. ‘Is there a particular reason for which you find yourself in this library, Guardian 707?’
Ralph pulls himself up to his full height.
‘Recruit Featherswallow’s translation services are required in the grounds, yet when somebody was sent to get her she was nowhere to be found.’
‘Well then, I think you’d best be going, don’t you, Miss Featherswallow?’
Professor Lumens winks at me and I nod.
‘I’ll see to it that she gets to the right place,’ Ralph says, laying a hand on my shoulder. I shrug him off.
‘Actually, Guardian 707, I thought I heard you threateningpunishment to these recruits?’ says Lumens. ‘Perhaps we might decide on Mr King’s together?’
I slip out of the door and run downstairs before Ralph can catch up. My whole body is shaking. Is Ralph really related to Wyvernmire? No wonder he acts like he owns the place. I remember the force with which Atlas slammed him against the wall. Ralph won’t forget that and Atlas … he could get into serious trouble. What if he’s demoted? A shiver of fear shoots through me as I try to imagine where demoted recruits go. I’ve only been here for a day and I’ve already drawn attention to myself. I knew I should have stayed away from that boy.
But he defended you.
