I didn’t respond to that. I started on busywork. Hemlock watched me carefully, until she turned to the blackboard to write notes.
Did she assume I wasn’t stable enough to participate in the anthropology program this summer? I’d probably messed that up, too.
I kept my head down and got lost in academics until the hour was over. I ran out of class before Opal could stop me, but relief flooded into my veins when I saw Oberi in her unicorn form, standing outside the classroom and nickering to me.
I cast a few nervous glances, but Charlie wasn’t around. She must’ve felt like I needed her. I ran my fingers through her flaming mane, and sparks tickled my skin. “Pretty girl,” I cooed, and she let out a huff as I stroked her soft nose.
I laid a hand on her back as we walked to the prison yard. Once we were outside, I threw a leg over her back, and we took off. She surged into a gallop, and I held on tightly to her mane as her hooves pounded over the earth, my hair blowing back as the wind stung my eyes.
A couple of people looked our way, but I didn’t care. We ran along the fence line, until we met a corner of the property underneath a guard tower. Oberi turned, and she bolted down the way again, until we came to an opposite corner and had to turn around.
Ancestors, this fence. I was so tired of being locked up. I just wanted Oberi to run across the length of the island, and then run over the ocean too, just keep running and running until we were alone and I didn’t have to deal with life anymore.
Oberi’s sides heaved, and she had froth forming on her coat. I patted her neck and walked her back to the prison, clinging to her neck the whole way.
“I’m sorry,” I said as I swung off her back. “I know you need more room than this.”
She only gave a gentle nicker in response. I wished she could talk to me, but she couldn’t yet. She’d tell me what to do, how to handle everything. It’s not like I had any idea.
As I passed the basketball court, a guy complained, “Women are such fucking prudes. They wouldn’t dress like that if they didn’t want it.”
I wrinkled my nose as I recognized the loudmouth. His name was Digger. He’d put a worm down Opal’s sweater last semester in Hemlock’s class. He was a bully of the worst kind. For the most part, warlocks around the school were sweet, just like Marcus. He’d actually sent me a drawing of Oberi when I was in the infirmary, and it’d cheered me up. Even at the Institute, so many warlocks were kind.
But Digger wasn’t kind. He loved picking on anyone who was within earshot. And there weren’t any guards around, so it looked like he was taking his opportunity to try and incite some sort of fight.
His buddy didn’t respond to his first dickhead comment, but Digger kept rambling on. “There’s no such thing as rape— like, just be thankful someone found you attractive enough to want you. It’s so ridiculous all these stories these girls make up to get men in trouble. Good thing Professor Mazur tookmyside.”
My insides curled, and my skin felt itchy. I wanted to claw out of it. My stomach twisted with each word he spoke. I knew Digger was looking for trouble, so I forced myself to keep going. I wasn’t going to say anything, but Digger had caught me glaring at him as I walked by.
He grinned wickedly. “Got something to add, Lady Elizabeth?”
Fuckingancestors.Could justoneof these bastards leave me alone? It seriously wasn’t that hilarious.
I rounded on him, and Oberi lowered her horn. She pawed her hoof into the earth as I said, “No one in their right mind would want to sleep with you willingly. You’ve got the personality of a rotting corpse.”
“No one in theirright mind? I guess that leaves you first in line,” Digger said, and the friend at his side laughed. “I just have to wait for the right moment for you to lose it again, and you’ll be all over me. I won’t even have to put in the effort.”
“I wouldn’t go off with you even if I was brain dead,” I seethed. “But if you tried, I’d stick your head right up your ass.”
“Not the right call.” Digger shook his head. “You should know better than to try me.”
“And why’s that?”
Digger’s look was so demeaning, it made my whole body rot from the inside out. “You knowwhythey call me Grave Digger?”
“Because you’re dirty and disgusting?” I flatlined.
Digger grinned, and I noticed several missing teeth. “I killed both my parents and my sister, and had fun doing it, too. Threw ‘em all in holes in the backyard. They would’ve never caught me if they hadn’t found the graves— and I’d do the same thing to you too, in a heartbeat.”
A shiver ran up my spine. This guy was fucking serious. He’d killed his whole family. He wouldn’t bat an eye to hurt me.
I couldn’t let him think I was an easy target. I ignited a fireball in my hand. “You thinkyou’regood at digging graves? I’ll put you in one.”
“Feisty,” Digger replied. “You know, Wahkin must have a thing for crazy girls, because you’re fucking psychotic.”
I tossed a fireball at him so quickly, he barely had time to duck. It fizzled out behind him, but Digger rose to his full height with a huge smile. He tossed a battle orb at me, one black in color that had sparks like purple electricity whizzing around it. It looked deadly.
I avoided his spell, and the battle orb exploded into the building behind me, ripping out a chunk of the concrete. I flung out my arms. Water materialized out of the air and formed a long rope, and beside it, an identical one of fire grew. The two ropes twisted together until they were swirling as one. I shot the ropes at Digger, and he fell on his ass while trying to avoid them, scrambling backward as his mouth dropped open in fear.
