Page 28 of A Knight’s Revenge: The Complete Series

CHAPTER TWENTY

“ D om, are we sure she needs to keep doing this?” Laura stood in our little kitchen, wearing her robe and wringing her hands. She gave her husband her widest, most pleading eyes. “This is the second time you’ve had to patch her up in a month!”

Dom hovered over me where I sat obediently on one of our barstools. Max had half an ass cheek on the corner of the couch where he leaned casually with his arms crossed, giving me a stern glare.

“Baby, it’s not up to me,” Dom replied as he finished gluing the skin of my face back together. “And look—good as new now. She didn’t even need stitches this time.”

Laura rolled her eyes at him before she looked at me, pouting. “I don’t like this.”

“Laura, I’ve had worse injuries than this from sparring at Dom’s gym,” I pointed out. “And you should see the other guy.”

“I am going to murder Hendrickson,” Max announced. “Right after I murder my sister for neglecting to give me a heads-up that I was going to find her bleeding when she asked me to come get her from school out of the blue.”

“You are all overreacting,” I griped. “I’m fine. And I literally put a knife through Chad’s hand. He’s under control. ”

Dom paused where he was packing the first aid kit at the kitchen counter. “You what? ”

“Are you fucking serious?” Max said at the same time, a smile back on his face.

Laura handed me an ice pack, and I pressed it to my tender cheekbone. “Look, I let him know we have the receipts for his and his daddy’s kiddie porn addiction. He’ll keep his mouth shut.”

Dom sighed, wrapping an arm around Laura where they were both now reclined against the kitchen counter. “We knew this was going to be a dangerous game. And we’re only just getting started.”

I took the four steps required to get from the kitchen to the couch and sank into the cushions. Max joined me, grabbing my free hand and squeezing, like he was reassuring himself that I was here and okay.

“I’ll get us into Spencer Tower,” I said, the determination I felt warring with exhaustion. I looked over my shoulder back at where Dom stood in the kitchen. “I won’t let you down.”

He gave me a wan smile. “I know, Jojo. But this only goes as far as you want it to. I’d rather you be safe—that’s more important than justice for your parents or the people I’ve lost.”

I knew he felt that way, but I wasn’t going to let a few bullies run me out of the Academy when there was still so much to be done.

But for now, I wanted to pass out in my bunk with Max tucked safely in his bed below mine, and I wanted not to think about the Academy, the Families, or the Heirs for an entire week.

So, that’s what I did.

Thanksgiving week at home was a wonderful break from what had become my reality at the Academy—though you could say that it was my seven years posing as Dom and Laura’s niece that had been a wonderful break from the reality that was my actual life.

Olde Town was beautiful in the fall. The leaves of the mature trees that lined Main Street had turned lovely shades of yellow and orange.

Many of the old rowhouses that surrounded the main thoroughfare were decorated with festive autumn wreaths, and neat piles of fallen leaves dotted the curbs.

Though the air had been chilly, the skies were sunny, and I had a little pep in my step on every walk over to the Boathouse to visit Bruce and borrow his indoor rowers.

He’d eyed my busted face with great suspicion, but he hadn’t asked, and so I hadn’t offered to elaborate.

Mari came down to visit midweek, dressed like a winter princess in a long white coat, sky-blue scarf, and gray heeled winter boots.

She blew into Laura’s bookstore with fancy coffees for Max and me and then spent the afternoon ignoring us to hang out with Laura, and Dom had been just as charmed by her when he popped his head in after work.

The bruises and healing cut on my face did not escape Mari’s notice, either.

I insisted my injuries were from training at Dom’s gym, but she gave me a squinty-eyed glare that said she didn’t exactly believe it.

I was worried that if she knew the truth, she’d feel some guilt or blame that she’d gone back to the party instead of walking with me to C Dorm that night.

So, like the good friend I was trying to learn to be, I lied to her.

Once my face had healed up enough for Dom’s liking, he lifted his ban on my visiting the gym.

I spent a couple of afternoons fucking around with Max, saying hey to a few of our old friends who drifted in and out, but I stayed out of the cage—I’d had enough of beating the shit out of big, mean dudes for at least the next few months.

Poor Matt Jennings gave me a shy little wave when I arrived one afternoon and then proceeded to avoid me like the plague.

I could’ve sat him down and explained that I didn’t think less of him for running off at the command of an actual Heir of the Four Families, but also, I didn’t have the energy, and it really was better for him to move on from any feelings he had about me, anyway.

The night before my return to the Academy, I finally caved to the itch to get back to plotting the demise of my enemies. I spent a few hours poring over the Spencer Tower blueprints while mindlessly twirling my knife in my hand like it would somehow help to spark some answers.

“We’ll get there, Jojo,” Max assured me. We were huddled on his bottom bunk, studying his tablet together. “Maybe you should just knock Spencer out and empty his pockets.”

I snorted. “That would be cathartic.” With a dramatic sigh, I handed him the tablet and flopped back on the pillow.

“I just have this gut feeling that James Spencer was the mastermind behind my parents’ murder.

If I’m ever going to find anything that will help me understand why they did it, I think he’ll be the one to have it. ”

Max nodded, shutting off the tablet and readying himself for bed. “Then we’ll find it. Dom and the team are ready to pull the trigger as soon as we get the keys.”

I sat up, gave him a kiss on his cheek, and then climbed up into my top bunk and crawled under the covers.

That night, I dreamed of young Bennett, Zach, and Noah once again, but this time, I was the one with the gun and the blood on my hands.

When I walked into the dining hall on Monday morning, I felt the eyes of every student present swing in my direction. I sensed the usual loud buzz of chatter suddenly go eerily quiet, even with “Set Phasers to Stun” by Taking Back Sunday drumming in my ears.

My plan had been to grab a coffee and a bagel and duck back outside to call Dom, but I’d be damned if I let these cretins think they could run me out of the dining hall with their hateful looks and conspiratorial whispering.

So, I grabbed a plate and proceeded to pile it high with eggs, bacon, and fruit. I poured myself a giant coffee, then I made myself comfortable at the open end of a table right in the middle of the room.

“Chad, you said she wasn’t coming back!” Lisa’s whine carried from the front of the hall where the top students sat at the feet of their princes.

“The bitch is stupid—what do you expect?” Harper added, loudly.

“Will you guys please stop giving her attention?” Annie snapped, and that I agreed with.

I stared at them, quirking a questioning eyebrow at Chad, who was sulking over his plate like he was mad at the world.

He glared at me, and I took in his heavily bandaged hand with quiet glee.

My makeup covered the lingering bruising on my face, so except for Zach—and by extension probably Bennett and Noah—no one else knew I’d been involved in a bit of a dustup after I broke Chad’s fingers .

I couldn’t wait to hear what Chad was telling everyone had happened to his hand.

Of course, thoughts of my brief meeting with Zach had me peering up at where the exalted ones sat looking hot and bored and unperturbed by the shouting and griping below them.

“Chad, you can’t let this stand,” Lisa hissed. “We all saw what she did.”

“Drop it, Lisa,” Chad barked.

The table quieted, and I continued to leisurely eat my breakfast while I smirked at Chad, who was now trying to murder me with his eyes from where he sat.

Unfortunately, Chad’s glum attitude and refusal to participate in plotting against me snagged the attention of the Heirs.

Bennett’s intense scrutinizing glare was now aimed in my direction.

Zach’s usual lazy smile had faded to irritation, and he was now puzzling over me as he realized that he might not have the whole story from that night. Noah just looked tired.

“Ugh, who pissed in your crepes this morning?” Harper griped at Chad.

“Seriously, dude,” Dane said, nudging him with a laugh. “Buck up. The trash will take itself out.”

“Exactly,” Annie said, reaching across the table to rub Chad’s arm affectionately. “We’ll handle it.”

Her declaration appeased the masses, I guess, because the usual lively hubbub of the dining hall started up again, and more than a few dirty looks were thrown in my direction.

Mari, who had dropped into the chair next to me midway through all of this, huffed out a sigh. “I think the peace and quiet is over.”

“Yep.” I tossed back the rest of my coffee and got to my feet, smoothing my worn white sweater that was currently hanging loose off one of my shoulders before slinging my backpack onto my back.

I eyed Chad’s bandaged hand and the now professional-looking tape job on the broken fingers of his other hand before giving him a shitty little wave.

I leaned down to whisper into Mari’s ear before I made my exit. “Worth it.”

The week that followed was a true test of my patience.

The insults and jeers that had on occasion been tossed at me in the hallways and other shared spaces increased dramatically, which meant I generally couldn’t stick my head out of my dorm room without being yelled at for being either poor trash from Southside or a loose skanky whore spreading diseases around the Academy.

I quit showering in the locker room after crew practice when I caught someone trying to sneak photos of me from under the stall door.

The girl ended up with a broken hand after I stomped on it before she could get the shot, but I had Max monitoring the Academy listserv for days just in case a naked photo of me did end up being passed around the school after all.

I was pushed and tripped when I entered and exited class.

Guys propositioned me for paid sex daily.

Lisa even tried to get me with a whole mug of scalding hot coffee one morning at breakfast, and I’d only avoided first-degree burns on my exposed skin because I was constantly on my guard, so I’d seen her coming and jumped quickly out of the way.

While Chad refrained from directly participating in any of the bullshit aimed at me, he had plenty of minions willing to mete out what they thought was justice in his name.

Mari did what she could, but she couldn’t be by my side all day long to scare away the sheep with scathing Spanish insults and threats to bankrupt lower families.

The thing was, if I’d been told exactly what I’d be dealing with because of my decision to break Chad’s fingers, I knew deep down I’d still have done it—every single time.

Through it all, I managed to get all my final papers and projects turned in, so I would be coasting through the last few weeks of the semester. My early morning workouts were still a place of solace, and I was feeling ready for the Holywell Chase on Saturday.

My only failure was with respect to my most important job—Bennett.

Other than in the dining hall, our shared classes, and from afar at crew practice, I never saw him.

The Heirs hadn’t even invaded my weight room on our designated days this week.

They stayed above the fray, as usual, observing as their loyal subjects did their best to run me out of school.

They still watched me sometimes, too, but distrust and suspicion finally dampened the fire that used to burn between us .

By the time Friday rolled around, I was exhausted but focused. I was going to kick ass at the Chase this weekend, and then I was going to get myself the key to James Spencer’s darkest fucking secrets.

And then I was going to ruin him.