“You want us to come with you?” Beaufort offers.
“Nah,” I say, cracking my knuckles. “Leave this to me.”
“She’s going to know what you’ve done,” Beaufort warns.
I shrug. “Can’t have fuckers like Stanley going around threatening our girl. That won’t do, and it won’t stand. Don’t wait up,” I say, winking at the two of them.
I assume the son of a bitch knew I’d come for him tonight, because I find his room empty. The rat is probably hiding somewhere – somewhere he thinks is out of sight and hidden from us. But he’s underestimated the powers of my nose.
I kick his chair over, send my fist punching hard against his mirror, tear up his bedsheets and most of his clothes just for good measure, because I’m irritable as hell after everything that’s happened today. The mix-up with the trial. Watching Little Kitten face off against Bardin. Watching her fly away on that dragon. Finding she’d been hurt.
I have a lot of pent-up rage.
You’d think I’d be exhausted after that run back from the lake, but I’m not. I have a lot of energy to burn, and I’d like to burn it pounding Stanley’s face.
I follow his scent out of the tower, weaving along the academy pathways, passing soldiers just like Thorne had described, and straight into another tower. Here I follow his scent up a staircase, and another, and to the third door on the left.
I pause outside, listening. There are murmured voices inside – all male – and from the scents, I think there are three of them. None of them are shadow weavers. They’re not going to be a problem.
I pound on the door, and when the voices inside fall silent and no one answers, I kick it open with my foot and stroll right inside.
Stanley’s sitting with two other guys around a small, low table. They’re playing cards.
“Hey, friends,” I say, smiling at them all like we really are best pals. “Sorry to disturb your fun, but I’ve come to have a word with Stanley.”
The other two dudes immediately back away, pushing their chairs from the table, the legs scraping along the floor, their gazes swinging wildly between me and Stanley.
Stanley tries his best to look brave, but I can smell the fear in his scent as clear as day. It’s repulsive. The dude is repulsive. Sure, he may have a pretty face, but he’s rancid inside.
“I’ve got nothing to say to you, Eros,” he tells me, studying his cards and refusing to look my way.
“Oh yeah?” I say. “Don’t fancy telling me about your little conversation with our girl in the canteen this evening?”
“She’s a little slut who lies,” Stanley mutters.
I pull out the only empty chair that stands around the low table and seat myself down, resting my forearms on my knees and leaning closer to Stanley. I’m pretty sure the dude is shaking.
“Oh yeah,” I say, my voice full of enthusiasm. Little Kitten is my favorite subject, and I can’t stop talking about her. “She’s a little slut – the best kind of little slut I could wish for. Needy, wet all the time, more than willing to sit on my face. I can’t believe you’re such a fuckwit to let her go. To let her fall through your fingers, my man. Because she feels so fucking good, and she tastes even better. And I bet you were too dumb to ever eat out her pussy.”
Stanley’s gaze flicks up to my face, then back down to his cards. I bet he thinks I’m crazy. Everyone thinks I’m crazy. The only thing I’m crazy about is Little Kitten.
“She doesn’t lie, though,” I say. “Not about things like this. In fact,” I grin, “you know what? She didn’t want me to come and talk to you. She wanted me to leave you alone. Maybe I should have listened to her.” I lean forward. “I know you’re not stupid enough to hurt her again. Even if you like to pretend to be the big man and try your best to scare her. But you’ve seen now, haven’t you? How powerful she is. How much she could hurt you if you tried. And if she didn’t kill you, well, I’d be there to finish the job.”
I grin maniacally at him. “But you see, I’ve realized what kind of man you are, Stanley.”
He places his cards down on the table, folds his arms across his chest, and leans back slightly in his chair, finally meeting my gaze.
“And what’s that?” he says.
“A coward,” I tell him.
Stanley snorts. “I’m no coward. You’ve seen how many points I’ve gained in the trials. I’ve–”
“You are a coward,” I spit at him with disgust, “because only a coward would hit a woman. Someone weaker than him. You get a kick out of that?”
“I never touched her,” he says.
“This time,” I say. “You didn’t touch herthis time. But you touched her plenty of times before. And I’m going to make sure you never do that again.”
