He hums and his power pushes into the room like thick fog. Only this, I’m sure if he wanted to, could suffocate you. It feels almost the same as the man who adopted me when I was a child.
“You find this situation – you biting another student who was unwilling, which is grounds not only for expulsion but imprisonment and death – to be an annoyance?”
Straightening my back, I clench the bloody cloth in my hand and look him dead in the eyes.
“I find the fact that you jumped to conclusions before Mr. Ruleten had a chance to finish his statement and immediately want to blame me to be an annoyance.”
The room goes dead. The gold in his eyes flare. I’m very sure I’m about to get my head ripped off. Sad. . . I won’t be able to say goodbye to Ms. Elaycia and the rest of the house. But maybe then I’ll stop feeling so tired.
Instead of my head detaching from my body, the male turns his head towards Asher. Waiting. Asher doesn’t hesitate.
“There was an unprovoked altercation. Hanna started it, though I’m sure she didn’t mean to take it so far. Mavyn didn’t do anything, as well, she proved that she does not have any bloodlust. Not only did she back away from Hanna when she began bleeding but she didn’t even drink any of it with it being on her mouth.”
How every diplomatic. Stating what happened but not completely throwing Hanna under the bus. I doubt even if he did much would happen to her anyways.
The devil returns his gaze back to me. Red eyes that are no longer blazing with gold flicking to my mouth and then to the cloth still clutched in my fist.
“When was the last time you fed?” he demands.
Perfect fucking timing as my stomach grumbles and surprise lights in his eyes as he glances at my stomach. I clench the cloth tighter and dig the nails of my free hand into my palm.
“I tried to on Saturday. Before that it was probably when the vampyr blood was shoved down my throat.”
He raises a brow as more surprise glints in his eyes. “Tried?” he echoes.
Huffing, I drop my shoulders and look over a bit longingly at the breakfast I still haven’t eaten. “Yes. Some donated blood from a bag.”
He glances at Asher and he nods. “She barely took one sip before almost retching it back up.”
I glare at Asher. “You would have too. It was nasty.”
“To be fair,” Jullia’s soft voice interjects, and she flinches when eyes go to her. “That batch was donated from water mages and Mavyn already said she can’t stand the taste. But that doesn’t diminish that she didn’t lick my sisters blood from her lips. That shows immense control.”
The devil turns back to me and I return to staring at the food. Eggs, bacon, potatoes. There’s also fruits and I think I see steamed vegetables. God I would love nothing more than buttered and lightly salted steamed vegetables.
“It does, Ms. Waterstone,” he rumbles and Jullie relaxes a bit. “Ms. Hanna, will there be any more altercations?”
He doesn’t look at her. I know because I can still feel his eyes on me.
“No,” she states. Strong and proud. “I only wanted to make sure my sister was safe since they will be rooming together.”
“Good. And Ms. Tsuki?” I look up at him with dead eyes. My stomach growls again making everyone give me perplexing looks. “Make sure next time you keep your attention on me when we’re conversing.”
Motherfucker.
Gritting my teeth I barely dip my head to nod. His eyes darken but he says nothing else before turning and leaving. The second his back is to me I take the cloth and fold it up before wiping my face again. I can still scent salty seawater and fucking rotting fish. I wasn’t lying to Jullia when I said I did not like water mage blood. I actually hate it.
Taking in my surroundings again, I notice Asher has let Hanna go and Jullia is currently glaring at her. The two staff members with the devil left with him, though the two students haven’t. Two males with gold stitching in their blazers, with a gold embroidered dragon on one and a silver embroidered pair of feathered wings on the other as their symbol. I would wonder what race they could be, but I’d have to care for that.
Turning towards the line again I glare at every single person who looks back at me until they start moving. Great first fucking day.
Me, Jullia, Asher, and Hanna all get food and I follow Jullia and Asher as they take a table closest to the door and near where the people Asher had first greeted were. Not that any of them come near us. Hanna disappears further into the cafeteria and everyone else slowly goes back to what they were doing.
The second I sit down I dive in.
Fluffy eggs, crispy bacon, golden potatoes, a cup of mixed berries, and best of all my steamed vegetables. I can feel both Jullia and Asher’s eyes on me but I don’t pay them any mind as I start shoving food into my mouth. I get through half of everything and already I feel a million times better.
God it’s so good I could almost cry. Nutrients and flavor and my body is already thanking me.
