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Chapter Sixty-Five

RAIN

T orian carried me well away from the gym, to an open area of grass between the buildings. There, he set me down and called for help. Aspen was only a few feet over, being checked on by Nevaeh, of all people. Keir was kneeling by my zez, and yet we weren't alone.

The entire student body had pulled closer. People were staring. Hundreds of them were gawking at the flames pouring from what had been the gym until today. I could hear them talking and see them clustering up, forming a crowd of onlookers, but there were two things I had to handle first.

"Asp?" I begged, clasping Torian's arm in appreciation even as I hurried to her. "Are you ok?"

She coughed and waved me on. "I'm good. Make sure Bracken is?"

I paused long enough to squeeze her hand, then made my way around her and Nevaeh, sliding in beside Keir. "Zez?" I asked, kneeling down to check on him.

"Rain," Bracken sighed before sputtering into a coughing fit.

"Smoke inhalation," Keir said. "This burn on his leg looks bad too."

"It was iron, I think," I said. "A bracket. Zez, how did that happen?"

"I was fixing the training dummy when someone hit me from behind," he said, pausing to clear his throat. "Yeah, that's helping, Keir."

"You were nailed to the floor!" I hissed.

Bracken reached up, palming my face with his soot-covered hand. "I woke up with the smoke pouring in," he said, holding my eyes. "I tried to move and couldn't. I was convinced my leg had been cut off, but it was that bracket."

"Where would someone get iron like that?" Keir asked.

"Any hardware store," Bracken said. "Amazon. A million places, Keir. It was the type of thing used to hold a vent pipe in place."

"I have no clue what you're talking about," I told him. "I do know it was fucking nailed into the floor."

That was when a group of girls giggled, close enough that I could hear. My head snapped around to find the jesters watching us. Sure, Aspen and Bracken were on the ground, and I probably looked like a wreck, but laughing?

"Fuck you!" I snapped at the closest. "You want to know why Torian refused you? This!" I stabbed my finger at them. "This is not what our court expects from those who'd represent us. So you keep laughing at the misfortune of others. Tell yourself it's funny, or that it's just a joke."

"Enemy!" Jack cawed, shooting out of the sky to fly right at the group. "Rain! Enemy-dad. Enemy!"

"Fuck off, bird!" Camila, the girl who'd once tried to hit on Hawke said, swiping the air as if she wanted to knock him out of it.

"If you touch my crow..." I warned, shoving to my feet and storming toward them.

Shadows rolled from each step I made. Overhead, the sky was darkening, but just as I reached Camila, something dove between me and her. Black. Feathers. I had time to catch that much before more crows swept over the crowd.

"Enemy!" Jack called again.

I couldn't see him in this mess, but I was pissed.

I was so done with all this shit. The jesters had burned Aspen with iron once.

Now they were laughing at my father being hurt the same way?

So even though I knew I shouldn't, I pushed right through the fog of crows and grabbed Camila by the shirt, pulling her into my face.

"Do you think this is funny?!" I screamed at her.

She pushed closer. "I think this court is bullshit," she said. "I think you're a sad and pathetic little girl, and if you're the best they have?" She sneered at me before rolling her eyes.

"Enemy!" Jack screamed again, darting in to batter Camila with his wings.

So I yanked her out of the crowd, shoving her towards the still-smoking gym. "Is that fucking funny?!" I roared, pointing at it.

And as one, the crows shot straight up. The ruckus of their wings vanished, leaving nothing but uncanny silence broken by shocked murmurs. I was about to grab Camila again, when someone behind me stepped closer.

"Rain, she wasn't with us."

I turned to see Elyssa, one of the girls who'd burned Aspen with iron. She'd gotten out of that with a mere week of suspension, but somehow she hadn't been expelled yet? Oh, that only made me more angry.

"You..." I growled, aware even more darkness was pouring from me.

"She wasn't with us," Elyssa said again. "When the alarm went off, she was already out here, and she came from over there." The girl pointed to the side, right where a cluster of trees separated the Forge from the gym.

Right where someone would hide if they didn't want to be seen leaving a building they'd just set on fire.

"What did you do?" I asked, turning to Camila again.

And the stupid little bitch had the audacity to smirk at me again. "I can't tell," she said in a sing-song voice. "Too bad for you, you human piece of shit. I know something you don't know, and there's not a damned thing you can do about it."

"Watch me," I breathed, scooping my entire arm forward and sending all my shadows with it.

"You're nothi-" she tried, but the shadows poured into her mouth, cutting off everything but the sound of her choking on my magic.

In my rage, I kept pouring more and more of my power into her. Around me, I could see the court watching. Aspen's mouth hung open in surprise. Keir's eyes were on me, but calm. Hawke and Wilder were furthest away, braced like they were ready to come to my aid.

Then there was Torian.

He watched. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he was close enough to stop me, but instead he simply glared, the expression on his face filled with all the hatred I was struggling to release.

His fingers tapped on his arm, a hint of green swirling around them, but he made no move to use that magic.

"Enemy!" Jack called again.

So I cut off the magic and stepped towards Camila. She was bent at the waist, struggling to catch her breath after that, but I wasn't going to make this easy on her.

"What do you know?" I demanded.

"Fuck you, Rain."

Lifting my hand so everyone could see it, I clenched my fist. All the Wild magic I'd just poured into this girl reacted, sending dark streaks across her exposed skin - and she screamed.

"Try me, Camila," I warned. "Go ahead. Someone just tried to kill my father. My friends have been attacked. Innocent people have suffered, so do you really think I'm going to stand here and let you taunt me?"

Then I let go. Immediately, she flopped forward, landing on her knees in the grass as she panted against the pain.

"What do you know?" I asked one more time.

Slowly, the fool turned her head so she could glare at me. "I vowed myself to silence."

" Fuck your vows! " And I slung my arm to the side, slicing through those limitations with the gesture.

I didn't care how magic worked. I didn't need to know if this would be safe or not. All that mattered to me was making sure this stupid bitch spilled everything she had, because I'd tried to be the hero. I'd done my best to save the fae, their world, or whatever else I'd hoped would be my job.

But Hawke had called me the strong female character, and I was so fucking sick of being hamstrung by what was right and wrong. Harming one to save dozens? To me that sounded like the right decision, and if anyone had a problem with it - well, I'd deal with that later.

"What." I imagined the words building up inside her. "Do." And I made my shadows wrap around them, securing them. "You." Then I pulled. "Know!"

Camila grabbed at her neck, clawing at it like she was trying to rip out the pain inside, but words flew from her lips.

"I want Winter gone. I want to have the chance to be more than this.

They said I could do that. They promised that if I could make this happen, I'd have a place in the new regime! "

"Who?" I yelled, pulling harder at the truth she had locked inside her.

Blood began to leak from the edge of her mouth. Her teeth were stained with it too, but I didn't give a shit. I was done pampering these assholes who had already hurt so many.

But when she tried to reply, her mouth simply flopped with no words coming out.

"She's bound by a promise," Torian warned me.

"Fuck that shit," I growled - then yanked harder.

Camila's entire body jerked hard. There was a crack from something I couldn't place, but finally sound came out.

"Ms. Hawthorne explained it to me. She said I could be the cure for the Exodus.

She explained what I had to do! The nail gun was easy to handle with gloves, and I had a charm to protect against the iron.

I just had to hit him hard enough..." She coughed up a glob of blood.

The crowd was shifting and a soft murmur proved whispers were flying fast. I could feel all of them watching, but I couldn't stop now. Yes, this was hurting her, but kindness hadn't worked. Maybe torture would.

"Let her go, Rain," Ms. Rhodes said from right behind me, making me think she'd been there a while.

"Why Bracken?" I demanded, completely ignoring the dean.

"Because he's your father!" Camila screamed at me.

"I can't touch you, not with that magic, but I can take him out.

You're so fucking weak, it would break you.

Break. You! And once you're gone, the rest of us will have a chance.

Things will go back to normal, and those who aren't meant to be here could get back! "

"Who told you to do this?" Ms. Rhodes asked.

"Ms. Hawthorne!" Camila whimpered. "That's what I said. She's been talking to me for months now. Ever since those two started calling themselves royalty. She said we could fix this. We could prove ourselves to the Queen. All I had to do was get the Morrigan out of the way!"

"No."

I heard the softly-spoken word, and turned to see Poppy gaping at Camila. She was shaking her head from side to side, but that one word didn't sound like disbelief. It was a much bigger denial than that. The kind that sounded like what she feared most was true.

"Where is your mother, Poppy?" Ms. Rhodes asked her.

"I don't know," Poppy said.