Page 144 of Pixie Problems

Hawke's head snapped around. "Faerie isn'tyourhome, half-breed."

The kid chuckled. "Oh, and now the peasant's mad too."

"Stop!" Nevaeh insisted. "Guys, you know what happened to us on the Solstice!"

But the girl who'd been flirting with Hawke shoved to her feet. "Shut the fuck up! Jeez, Nevaeh. Act like you have some fucking dignity or I'll seal your mouth shut for you."

"You'll have to come through me first!" Poppy Hawthorne announced as she jumped up, putting herself between Camila and Nevaeh.

"Easy," Camila grumbled. "Hey, Hawke. This is why you should suck up to some Summer nobility, you fucking peasant loser."

Then she flung out her hand. A whip of wind lashed across the cafeteria, blowing over drinks and lifting hair as it passed. Poppy stood her ground, though. When the wave hit, the girl only smiled, but a milky shield appeared around her, deflecting the wave of air.

But Nevaeh had shifted, looking like she was aiming for Poppy's side. It was just enough to put her outside the shield, and I had a feeling the conjuration was directed at her. The moment the blast hit, Nevaeh's feet slipped out from under her, she yelped, and then landed hard on her ass.

"Want me now, Hawke?" Camila asked snidely. "You clearly like power, and since that human bitch won't fuck you… Good thing I'm down for slumming it with the staff."

"No, no, no," Poppy was saying as she turned to check on Nevaeh.

My head was whipping between all of them, surprised I wasn't somehow in the center of this. I was also looking for a teacher and debating whether I should text my dad. Crap, this was out of control! The lunch ladies had vanished. Students were trying to subtly move out of the line of fire, and yet no one was yelling - or doing anything to draw attention to themselves.

Then Poppy looked back, her eyes landing on Camila. "This does not make our season stronger!"

"Oh, shut up, Miss Goody Two-shoes!" a guy snapped. "Stop acting like a damned human."

"Least she's not acting like amonster," Camila taunted.

"You fucking bitch," Hawke snarled, turning in his chair and lunging forward.

There was no pause. He didn't stop to think before his conjuration.Hawke was trying to charge the bitch while he cast his magic, and for me, time felt like it slowed. Every single detail grew crystal clear. My mind calmed. I could see him pulling power. No, it wasn't visible, but the set of his body made me sure of it.

So I pushed. I didn't have time to think about the form or the function of my magic, only the ultimate goal. I wanted to stop this, to stop all of them - and the shadows raced to obey.

A flick of his wrist allowed Hawke to send a rush of the deepest green magic I'd ever seen. The darkness pouring out of me sprang forward, tumbling into the shape of a rabbit as it flew. Dark tendrils trailed after it, leaving swirls in the air. And from the other side of the room, Poppy yanked. The chairs eight jesters were sitting on suddenly slid out from under their asses right as Hawke's magic slammed into mine.

The zap of the collision was loud, reminding me of feedback in a microphone. The flare of light was not what I'd expected, nor was the group of students sitting on their asses, and yet Hawke didn't seem to care at all that I'd stopped his spell. He still stormed forward, ready to use his fists if he had to.

"Hawke!" I begged.

By the time my ass made it out of the chair, Keir was beside me. The pair of us grabbed him - one on each side - and pulled him back. With everything he had, Hawke resisted, and the guy was not weak! He pulled, he snarled curses under his breath in what had to be Faeril, and between those words, he even ground his teeth together.

"Hawke!" I begged, shifting around so I was in front of him. "Stop. Hey, it's fine. I won't let them throw magic, ok?"

"Court!" Jack crowed from the back of the chair I'd left.

And that allowed Hawke to finally shrug off his blind rage, but his eyes were still on Camila. "I hope you get to meet the Mad Queen! I hope she does to you what she did to me. I hope you get off on pain, because it's the only fucking thing that bitch wants! You think this is funny? You think she's something to aspire to?You have no fucking clue!"

"C'mon, man," Keir begged. "Let it go."

But Hawke was still glaring, almost like he couldn't pull his eyes away, so I grabbed his face and turned it towards me. "Fuck her. Fuck all of them." I raised my voice, aware of the stillness in the cafeteria. "If I'm supposed to reset the balance, then all these assholes are doing is proving Summer needs to come down a few notches!"

Immediately, a wave of whispers flared up, but I'd said theright thing. Hawke blinked. When his eyes opened again, they were fixed on me, and not in that predatory stare.

"C'mon," I said gently. "I think you need to get out of here."

"You got him?" Keir asked.

I just held Hawke's eyes and nodded. "Yeah. I'm not scared of him."