Page 5 of A Knight’s Revenge: The Complete Series
We passed A Dorm—the largest and most upscale of the available student housing and made up of the kind of pricey condos that could be found in any of the luxury residential towers the City offered.
This was where the Tier One students would live, and rumor had it that the top floor had been remodeled prior to last year so that the Heirs themselves could have a huge penthouse to live in during their four years here.
B Dorm was slightly smaller and a little older, but it still had that historic college charm to it.
This was where the Tier Two students would end up, as well as any wealthy outsiders whose parents sent them to the Academy to rub elbows with the fabled Families of Saint Gabriel City.
I suspected the sons and daughters of other important players within the Families, such as Head Enforcers or Private Secretaries, might land in B Dorm as well.
Finally, we arrived at C Dorm sitting at the back of the triangle of dorms and furthest from the main campus buildings, where the scholarship students and anyone else who couldn’t pony up for the better dorms would be living.
“They don’t even try to act like there isn’t a caste system around here, do they?” Max groused as he eyed the simple white brick building. “Five bucks says there’s not even an elevator in this one.”
“It’s like you forgot we’re still in the City,” I replied as I pressed my ID to the scanner next to the heavy black door. “Of course there’s a caste system.”
The lock disengaged with a loud snap, and we made our way inside.
A small lobby, clean but simple, led to an ancient front desk that was currently unmanned.
The stairs (Max was right) were easy enough to find just beyond the desk, and after hauling my duffel up three flights to the top floor, I buzzed us into room 302.
“This is…,” Max began, eyes bouncing around the room.
“Great,” I finished for him. Because it was.
There was a queen bed (a queen bed!), a wooden desk with plenty of drawer space and a chair, and a matching dresser—and the open closet door told me there was enough room in there to actually walk into it.
The dark hardwood floor was covered by a simple cream-colored rug. There was even an en suite bathroom.
Best of all, my room faced southwest, so I had a view of the river, and I could even see Olde Town—Northside, but still. I wouldn’t have to go to bed at night and wake up every morning staring at the Family Towers and the City skyline.
We set about unpacking me, and within an hour, I had the bed made, my clothes put away, and my bathroom stocked. Max lounged on my bed, snooping through the tablet that had been ready and waiting for me on my desk.
“Have you read this brochure?” he asked as I rummaged in my closet. “It’s bonkers.”
“Yep,” I replied. “This place is dedicated first and foremost to churning out Family bootlickers. It’s not going to be the typical college experience.”
“I don’t think you’ve packed correctly for the dress code, either.”
I poked my head out of the closet to give him an amused grin. “I know.”
“Dad told you to blend in.”
“Don’t worry about m?—”
A knock sounded at the door.
He arched a questioning eyebrow at me, and I just shrugged. I didn’t know a soul in this place, but it was probably one of my neighbors just trying to be friendly.
I motioned at Max to be ready, just in case. He sat up, rolling to the edge of the bed and pulling his knife from his boot in one smooth motion.
I opened the door to find a girl standing there with a tentative smile on her face.
She stood at about my height, though I realized quickly that she was wearing designer sneakers with a tall wedge heel that added a few inches.
Her pleated pink skirt fell to mid-thigh and her silky white blouse draped artfully across her curves.
She had flawless brown skin and long dark curls, styled perfectly like she was going out on the town instead of moving into her dorm room.
“Hi,” she said brightly. “I’m across the hall in 301. I just wanted to come say hello.”
She seemed genuine and completely lacking in bad vibes, so I motioned her into the room.
“Joanna Miller,” I said, holding out a hand. “Freshman, here on scholarship for crew.”
Her light brown eyes took me in with interest, probably noting my weird eye color, cheap denim cutoff shorts, worn gym T-shirt, and bare feet. “I’m Mari Anzaldua. Sophomore.”
“Anzaldua?” I blurted. “What the fuck are you doing in C Dorm?”
The Anzalduas were a Tier One family that owned several luxury hotel chains. They were linked to Ferrero with Andrea being a minority shareholder, but they ran the business and pocketed the majority of the profits as all Tier One families were able to do.
She sighed, rolling her eyes. “I know. I’m being punished by my parents. They’re unhappy with the fact that I refuse to break up with my girlfriend. I met her when I was at boarding school in Madrid. We’re long distance, but I’m pretty vocal about it on my Instagram.”
“Oh,” I replied, confused. “Why do they care?”
Of all the evil wrought by the institution of the Four Families, homophobia was not actually on the list. Some of the City’s most well-known, wealthiest citizens were queer.
She trotted over to my bed and flopped dramatically down on the mattress, paying no mind to Max still sitting there, staring at her in amusement and twirling his knife through his fingers.
“They’re old school enough that they want me to produce an heir through a traditional marriage, even though I’m a lesbian.
They don’t care if I see women on the side if I’ll just agree to that. ” She narrowed her eyes. “I won’t.”
“Good for you,” Max said, spinning to sit cross legged on the bed while he looked down at her with a sly grin. “But if you change your mind, I’m available.”
“Max!” I snapped. “What part of lesbian didn’t you get? Behave yourself.”
Mari was unperturbed, sliding her eyes over to Max like she was just noticing he was there, and I watched as she took in his angular cheekbones, his perfect skin, his thick raven locks that his Korean heritage had blessed him with tied in his artfully messy man bun, and his white V-neck T-shirt that was so tight that I’d teased him this morning about staying out of my dresser.
“Oh, you are very pretty,” she told him, and he preened at that. “But the dick situation is disqualifying, lo siento .”
“Mari, this is my cousin, Max,” I said, leaning my butt up against my desk and crossing my arms to give Max another warning glare. “He’s extremely pansexual and a hopeless flirt. Please excuse him.”
Max winked at her one last time before he got to his feet. “I’ve got to get back home anyway. I hope you both keep me in your thoughts and prayers while I am trapped in one last year of high school on the Southside.”
Mari wrinkled her nose. “You guys are from the Southside? Is that why you have a knife? You don’t need that here, you know. The safest place in the whole City is inside the walls of the Academy, especially while the Heirs are here.”
I doubted that and so did Max. He met my eyes and gave me a quick nod, and I knew what he was going to be getting up to when he left my room.
He tossed his arms around me, and I squeezed him back. “I’ll be checking in with you later,” he whispered in my ear. “Be good. Love you.”
“Love you too,” I whispered back.
“Nice to meet you, Mari!” he called to her as he sauntered out the door, heading out with his exact replica of my Academy ID and its now activated barcode to case as much of the Academy as he could get away with before hopping the train back home.
I turned back to Mari, finding that it didn’t chafe me as much as it normally would to have a stranger in my space, if only because it made the loss of Max sting just slightly less. “Any tips on surviving the first day?”
She grimaced. “Not really. Things are kind of… intense with the Heirs here. And it’s never, um, great for the scholarship students in particular. But you look… tough?”
I chuckled. Any thin skin I once had had been shed the moment Bruce pulled me from the Obsidian.
And this place couldn’t break something that had already been broken beyond repair.