‘Oh shit! Um, Rez?’The male voice says, and I watch as the rat pulls on the girl’s hair.
‘What?’The girl huffs and fixes her hair, nodding at the professor.
‘Um, I think the fleabag can hear me?’The rat questions and backs up under her hair.
‘Lynx, that’s impossible. You’re in my head, remember?’Unfazed by his observation, she turns to look at me and pauses. “You just want me to ask simple orders, correct?” She confirms with Mr. Girdwood and holds out her hand. “Paw,” she commands, and without a second thought, my wolf lifts my right paw and places it in hers, pleasing her. Nodding, she lets it drop and raises her other hand, repeating the instructions. I’m still dumbfounded that I can hear them in my fucking head. Doing a lap around the platform at her request, I sit down in front of her in a haze. Proud and content with himself, my wolf lets his tongue hang out while he smiles.
“Good work, Knox,” Professor Girdwood nods, placing his hands on his hips and giving me a smug look as he turns back to the girl. “Ms. Taylor, next time you decide to lie to me, make sure it’s believable. There is no way that you could have reached the ultimate level of sparkly white aura. First, you would have to be a very skilled and powerful magic user and according to your bracelet—” he gives her a passing glance “—you are not even close,” he sneers at her. “Now a dark blue bond would have been more believable. I have no clue how you got your Familiar to pass the obstacle course, but I expect better from my pupils.” He snarls and looks over to me.
Shocked, she looks at Girdwood in confusion and swings her head back to me.
I take that moment to shift back and stand up to my full height. The class bursts into laughter as her mouth drops open, embarrassment and shame filtering across her face before she runs out of the room. Her pet runs to her desk—shifting into a lynx—and picks up her book bag with his teeth, running out of the room to follow her. I have to admit, I don’t know much about Familiars, but should he be able to do that? One thing’s for sure, she’s definitely more than human if she’s able to communicate with him in her head.
‘Asshole!’he directs at me on his way out.
I can’t help but stand there stunned, as everyone congratulates me on a prank well done.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Fuck Diablo
Rez
Kill me now! I have never been so horrified in all of my life.Knox! If that was the same Knox that Zeke mentioned, then he’snotat all what I expected. Instead, he’s the biggest asshole in the world. Hell, Ryker has his big dick ego, but he wasn’t a complete jerk!Fuck that guy and I don’t mean in a good way.I don’t even stop to think of where I’m going, running aimlessly while wiping my tears as I go. I run away from the laughter in the halls and the monsters pointing. That’s what they are. All fucking monsters. I didn’t ask to be here. I didn’t ask to be a part of this world. I’m here because I want to go back home. I find myself busting through a set of doors and out into the flower gardens that lead to the ward to Nova. The same gate I first came through. I have no idea where to go, so I stop suddenly to look around and orientate myself to the layout again.
I’m too exposed. I can’t go back to my room because my friends will want to know what’s happened, and right now I just want to be alone. Ineedto decompress. Turning in a circle, I see some woods behind the greenhouse. They aren’t the same woods that we were in the other day where the Withering Sulks crispy fried Katie May, so I don’t hesitate to run in.
Once I’m engulfed by the shadows, I slow my pace down and continue walking until I find a small babbling brook before following it upstream. Flowers and herbs bloom along the edge of the woods, and out of habit I try to identify them, but they seem to be a hybrid of some kind. My mother used to take me out into the woods to gather herbs that she didn’t have in her garden. The thought of her again today almost cripples me as I lean against a tree trunk, gasping for air from the onslaught of emotions bombarding me.
Why?
How could she do that to me? Let me believe I was crazy all those years.
Feeling the need to keep moving, I dry my eyes with the back of my hands and continue on. I’m not ready to wallow in my mom’s betrayal. I wasn’t ready in class, and I certainly won’t be here against a tree.
I soon come to a waterfall tucked into a secluded glen, and my body collapses onto the slightly wet grass. Staring up at the canopy above me, I feel my energy slowly seeping out and being replaced by a cold numbness. The bright sunlight filtering through the leaves, warming the ground around me, is in contrast to my shattered soul. My body shudders as my nerves finally catch up with me, and I close my eyes, allowing myself to drift back to that awful day.
* * *
It all started with agreeing with mom’s suggestion only to have her back track at the last minute. With enough pushing, she finally changed her mind. Maybe that’s why I was conflicted about the situation, but in the end, I went against my gut. It was supposed to be our overnight stay out in the woods to pick herbs, and I fought with mom to change her plans. She was reluctant, and don’t even get me started on Lynx. He was downright pissed. We had technically been dating for two years. But I’m not going into details on how it was possible—Mom could look at him one minute and see a cat, and the next my human boyfriend.
I swore that was for another therapy session all on its own. Anyways, Mandi talked about Jeremy Becker all week long and how he was interested in me. She knew I was going out with Lynx. Hell, he was in every class of mine—again, don’t ask. But she said it was just a double date as friends, and Jeremy really just wanted to get to know me better.
With mom talking nonsense about "spreading my wings and being a teenager while I could", I agreed to go. When Mandi said it was this weekend, I pushed mom to let me go and change our herb picking day.
So, the day came, and Mandi picked me up, and we all went to the movies. It was my first time on a double date, and I was nervous as hell about how all of this was supposed to go. I’d never felt awkward or shy around Lynx. With him, it was always natural. Jeremy hesitated though, but eventually reached over and held my hand. All I could think of was how his palm felt different compared to Lynx's.
I couldn’t even tell you what movie we watched. Why was I out with Jeremy again? I went to the bathroom right before the movie let out, just to get away from him. Flustered with the situation, I wasn’t paying too much attention to the girls that came in later until I heard Lynx’s name.
“He’s gorgeous, definitely too good for Nerezza. Lynx needs to break up with her so he’s back on the market and up for grabs,” someone said. I couldn’t recognize the voice.
“Girl, he only has eyes for her,” Lisa said, her lisp blatantly obvious.
“Nah, you break his heart enough and he’ll be willing to part from her. Why do you think I talked Jeremy into asking Nez out? God knows that $100 is going to be well worth it.” Mandi’s southern accent cackled and my heart shattered.
I couldn’t even bring myself to step out and confront someone I thought was my best friend. She even called me Nez? I hated that nickname, and she KNEW it. Hurt by my so called friends, I waited until I heard them leave the room. Feeling at a loss, I washed my hands and asked Jeremy to take me back home. He didn’t argue. Why would he since it was an easy $100?
When I got back, I let myself in and found the house dark. “Lynx? Mom?” I yelled. Grabbing a flashlight, I went out the back door. I doubted they were in the shed still since it didn’t have electricity, but I might as well look. Once I rounded the oak tree, I noticed the door hanging off its hinges on the shed.
