Cassia scoffs. “No, I’m not jealous of you. You don’t even see it, do you?”
I lift a brow. “See what?”
“Whenever you step into the room, the mood shifts. Everyone’s eyes are always on you. You’re always the hot topic, and people either want to be with you or be you. It doesn’t matter if it’s gossip, or if it’s what you’re wearing that day — all everyone around here can thinkand talk about is Sophia Sloane,” her voice drips with venom, and the hatred in her eyes is rather obvious. “You’re always seen as this saint, as this good little girl who can do no wrong. You even managed to use your money to make sure not a single article about you beating up Astrid is published.”
“I’m not understanding anything you’re saying here. Are you jealous of the power my family has?”
“No, you dumb bitch,” she hisses, taking a step toward me. My mind flashes with Lila’s warning, the fact that Cassia’s been doing MMA for years now, and I’d lie if I said it doesn’t concern me that this will turn physical very quickly. “I hate how his attention is solely on you because just like everyone else, he fell under your charm, presumably years ago.”
“So, this is about Soren, huh? Is that why you threatened to leak my images to the press if he doesn’t break things off with me? And the reason you actually leaked one?”
“It’s not even just about Soren.” Her eyes are wild. Her pupils dilate in pure anger, and she’s barely holding onto the thin thread of sanity. I never knew just how insane this woman was, and it’s downright terrifying to witness. “Yes, I absolutely abhor the fact that no other woman can compete with you in his eyes. I do. I hate even more how you can do the worst imaginable things known to mankind and go without a single fucking consequence.”
“Oh, you mean, something like shoving a girl off the balcony?”
The words slip out before I can stop them. Cassia’s entire body goes rigid, shock and terror written in her eyes for a brief moment. The mask slips entirely, and it doesn’t take long for her to go back to the state of insanity.
“Where did you hear that from?” She hisses.
“From me,” Lila steps into the room, and Cassia whips her headaround.
Grace, Avalon, Soren and Kenzo enter the cafeteria right after. They each take a closer step, creating a perfect circle around Cassia, having her cornered. Her eyes dart between each of us and single out one of us.
“Soren,” Cassia’s voice holds a thinly veiled threat, but he’s unbothered. “You’ll regret this.”
“Eh, I doubt it,” he shrugs. “We’re here to warn you.”
“To warn me,” she repeats, venom lacing her tongue. “About what, exactly?”
Grace pulls out the printed papers we got from the Sinners and Saints lair last night out of her bag, then takes a small step forward, extending them to Cassia with a satisfied smirk.
Cassia all but snatches the papers out of Grace’s hands, her eyes roaming, skimming the words written on the page. With each paragraph she reads, her face pales further, her hands trembling.
“No,” she whispers, then looks up at Lila. “Where the fuck did you get this?”
“I have my ways,” Lila says. “We all have our ways. This will be published to every big media outlet tomorrow morning.”
Cassia almost faints, eyes swelling with tears. She looks at Soren, seemingly for sympathy or help, but he’s only staring at her blankly. He’s standing right next to me, arm wrapped around my waist, as he pulls me closer to himself.
“Why are you doing this?” She screams, immediately letting go of the papers. They fall on the floor, and she darts toward me. However, Soren pulls me behind him, acting as a human shield.
“This is a warning,” Soren says, his voice taking a darker edge. “A warning for you to never, ever look at Sophia’s direction again. It’s a warning to be on your best behavior until we graduate. It’s a fuckingwarning, because we do have evidence of you pushing Evelyn off the balcony. I won’t warn you again; I’ll send you to prison.”
Many emotions flood Cassia’s face. An overwhelming amount of anger that makes my stomach churn, inevitable defeat, and most of all, not a single ounce of regret. Her eyes are almost pleading with Soren to help her out, but he stares down at her like she’s the person he hates the most in the world, and that makes me so damn happy.
“You’re all going to regret this,” Cassia trembles, looking around, but the threat falls flat. “I’m going to fucking ruin all of you. You won’t even see it coming.”
“You could try,” Avalon speaks, not an ounce of sympathy in her expression. “But then we’ll go seven times harder. You messed with the wrong people because in case you couldn’t tell, we’re always going to protect each other.”
“That’s what you’ve always been doing, no?” A bitter laugh slips past Cassia’s lips, tears of anger streaming down her cheeks. “Soren’s always been protecting Sophia in his own way. No one else was ever allowed to touch her. Kenzo might say he loathes Grace, but he’s marrying her soon, isn’t he? And you claim you find Elias boring and annoying, but you’ve always been helping him catch up on missed school work, even going as far as to stay up late to help him study for exams.”
No one’s surprised she knows all of this—after all, she is a part of the biggest gossip community in the Academy. Avalon doesn’t falter under the intense gaze from Cassia and just shrugs in response.
“That’s what friends do, Cassia. And trust me, no one here is messing around. If you so much as try something, you’ll be on the express train to the nearest fucking prison.”
Cassia’s silent for a moment, weighing out her options. I’mbarely breathing, waiting to hear what she has to say next. Soren’s scent is the only thing keeping me rational and calm, and the way he’s still standing in front of me provides me with a sense of safety I’ve been yearning for.
“How can I trust you won’t send me to prison anyway? You already ruined my family’s reputation.”
