This is the last time I fall for the Kings of Derleth and their crap.
I will have my revenge.
Chapter Fifteen
As I crawled back through the mirror in the pitch black, the hardness of my resolve settled over my heart.
Trey’s words echoed over in my head.We’ve never had one like her before.He meant scholarship student. He was saying that what they were doing to me – all the shunning and taunting and bullying – they had done to others. How many others suffered because Trey and Courtney and the other monarchs wanted to maintain their positions at the top?
They were all in on it. Trey, Quinn, Courtney, Ayaz. I balled my hands into fists as I thought of the kiss in the grotto, the kiss that left me breathless, my body on fire. OfcourseQuinn had done that as part of the plan. Of course.How could I be so stupid as to think it meant something to him?
And Ayaz? He warned me about Trey.Why? Was that part of the plan, too? So I could feel stupid for ignoring him?Well, it succeeded. I swallowed hard, my throat aching from where Trey’s arm had pressed.
I paused outside our bedroom door, listening to the rats circling over my head. Adrenaline still surged in my veins, and my whole body ached from being thrown around the rocks. I pulled my key from around my neck, turning it over in my fingers. I knew if I went inside, Loretta would be in bed. If I knocked on Greg’s door, he’d want to talk about the party. I didn’t want to talk about it. I didn’t want to go to sleep. But I had nowhere else to go—
A light moved past on the landing upstairs, casting brief striped shadows across the corridor.Odd. Everyone was at that party, so who was upstairs walking around with a light? Did someone come back early?
Did someone come back to try and catch me?
Curious, I crept up the staircase, listening hard. I could hear quiet voices, footsteps moving through the dorm. It was more than one person, and they were moving quickly in the direction of the main academic wing.
I poked my head up and peered between the railings. My heart leaped into my throat as I saw Dr. Morgan striding down the hall, a black robe fluttering around her legs.
“We’ve checked all the rooms,” she told Headmistress West. The headmistress appeared even more formidable than ever in a high-necked black velvet dress beneath a set of elaborate robes edged with gold trim. She clutched a tall silver candelabra – the flickering candlelight highlighting her sharp cheekbones and pale, porcelain skin. “They’re all either at that party, or sound asleep.”
“And the scholarship students?” she snapped, a note of distaste in her voice.
“No one stirs,” Dr. Morgan said.
“Very well.” The headmistress spun on her heel and swept down the hall.
Interesting. I had no idea they conducted this nightly inspection. Greg hadn’t mentioned it, either. And what was with the robes? Was it some kind of official academic dress? Were they off to a staff meeting?
In the middle of the night? On aweekend?
Curious now, I waited until all the teachers filed out of the dorms then crept down the hallway after them. I hid behind one of the stone columns flanking the entry, peering along the corridor as they walked past the empty classrooms. I expected them to head across the atrium to the faculty wing, but instead, they turned off into a small stairwell. Boots clanged on metal stairs. Candlelight flickered along the rows of lockers.
They were heading down to the gymnasium.
My curiosity piqued further, I crouched low and skirted along the wall, pausing at the top of the staircase.I’m not supposed to go down there, but I have to know what they’re doing.
I dropped down low and peered around the corner, just able to see their flickering light from the top of the stairs. What were they doing down there? I slunk down the first step.I have to find out—
A hand clamped over my shoulder.
I jumped. My mouth flew open, but a hand over my face muffled my scream. On the wrist, I could just make out a small runic tattoo.
“Don’t cry out,” a familiar voice rasped in my ear. “If they hear you, you’re dead meat. And I’m not talking metaphorically this time.”
“Quinn?” His name came out as a muffled squeak against his hand.
“The one and only.” His grin was just visible in the dim light. “I’m going to take my hand away, but you can’t scream, okay?”
He sounded so frightened that I nodded. He dropped his hand and started tugging me back into the hall, back in the direction of the dorm.
“You’re hurting me,” I hissed. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to give these back to you.” Quinn dropped my arm and held out my clothes, rolled into a ball. I took the stack and felt for the shard in my jacket pocket. It was still there. “You can’t follow them down there. It’s not allowed.”
