This morning, I still needed help. I’m not back to normal, I don’t even think I’m halfway there, but I’m showered and standing with my brothers and Aoife at the top of the school stairs. Well, I’m leaning more against Marco, as I can’t even hold my own weight.
Black cars line the Academy’s front gates like a funeral procession dressed in matte black suits and red-laced vengeance. The Messina crest stamped into steel. The air smells like storm clouds and blood. Even the wind hesitates.
I stand there, jaw clenched, waist still bandaged beneath my uniform.
I told them not to come.
They came anyway.
Because that’s what Messinas do when someone attacks us, and spills the first blood, now they will pay.
Marco stands beside me, eyes flicking to every shadow like he’s waiting for a bullet that never comes. Milo’s knuckles arecracked from punching a concrete wall this morning just to keep from driving to the O’Briens alone.
“You told them not to wear the sigils,” I mutter.
“I told them,” Marco replies. “They wore them anyway.”
Every suit walking up the marble steps has the black crest stitched over their heart. No subtlety. No apology.
Then comes the silence. The courtyard empties like rats fleeing a ship that’s caught on fire. Students, professors, staff, all disappear into stone archways.
Only Leo remains, standing on the steps like a sentinel.
The car doors open.
My grandfather steps out first. A king without a crown but with war in his bones. He lights a cigarette like it’s a declaration of war. My father follows. Sunglasses. Black shirt. Hands behind his back. Every inch of him is fury in a tailored suit.
Behind them? The uncles. My cousins. Even Uncle Lorenzo from the Hollow Coast. The man makes death look like opera. The Alessia family have a name here too, and the stories are some of the best I’ve heard.
They walk in formation, like wolves that already smell the kill.
Grandfather’s eyes land on me first. “You look like shit.”
“Still standing,” I say, flicking my cigarette away. “Didn’t think you’d actually bring the entire southern quarter.”
“They stabbed you at school,” my father growls. “The Irish declared open war inside neutral ground. That’s not a move we ignore. That’s a move weburythem for.”
Leo approaches, hands up. “This is still an institution. You can’t bring guns onto campus?—”
“We already have,” Grandfather cuts him off. “Just because you don’t see them doesn’t mean they’re not here.”
My lips curl up into a smile at my grandfather's words. This man is a fucking legend.
Leo sighs. “You’ll get me fired.”
“You’ll get a promotion when we clean the filth out of your halls.”
God help whoever tries to stop them.
Marco joins me at my side, whispering, “They’re here to make noise. This isn’t about diplomacy.”
“I know,” I whisper back. “It’s about dominance.”
I step forward, blocking the path toward the dorms. “Let me deal with Conor. We’re still on Academy grounds. I’ll do it in the ring.”
Grandfather snorts. “We didn’t come for Conor. We came for hisfather.If the Irish want to play ancient games, we’ll burn their old gods with them.”
My stomach twists.
