Page 51 of Shattered Stars

But she’s not here. Her voice doesn’t answer me on the wind. There’s only the sound of the black ocean, slapping against the concrete.

I kick the man’s body, rolling him over from his back to his front and his back again.

“Roly poly, over you go,” I say, kicking him again and watching as his body falls off the edge of the world and into the waiting embrace of the ocean.

There’s a splash as his body hits the surface, water splattering up into the air and landing on my boots. The body lingers for a moment, drifting away, then slowly sinks into the gloom. He’s fish food now.

I rub the toe of my left boot on the back of my leg and then the right.

I can’t feel my little rabbit now. She’s gone. She’s safe. But it’s only temporary and I don’t fucking like that. I don’t like it at all.

17

Rhi

I toss and turn,unable to sleep. Adrenaline still skates through my veins from the events of the evening but also unease about Spencer.

I don’t like the dude. I never have. He’s rude to me, obnoxious, cruel – he shoved me in that freaking locker. He’s slammed me into the mat over and over again. He didn’t step in and stop Summer when she attacked me. In fact, he just stood and watched. Yet all the time, all the time he must have felt it too, known what it meant, and he chose to ignore it just like the others. Ignore it and treat me like shit.

I should be rejoicing that he’s leaving. I should be celebrating. But I don’t feel happy about it. I feel this unshakeable unease. I can’t help thinking about the time he kissed me. I can’t help thinking about how he never told on me when I blasted him with my magic. I can’t stop thinking about how he pulled me from the ground there in the Warehouse and out to safety.

It’s confusing. And maybe him leaving is for the best. Except I still don’t understand why he’s going.

When Winnie’s alarm sounds in the morning, I’m showered, dressed and out the door before Winnie’s barely emerged from under the duvet.

“Where are you going?” she asks.

“The gym,” I tell her. Winnie opens her mouth to ask me another question, my explanation obviously insufficient, but I’m already nudging Pip away from the door as I close it and hurry out of the building.

The excitement from yesterday has evaporated and that same sadness from before seems to hang about the few early risers meandering along the pathways. I ignore them, reaching the gymnasium and wondering what on Earth I’m doing here.

We had an arrangement, one that had hardly begun. But he’s leaving today, the chances he’ll be here are slim, very slim, and yet …

I glance down at my gut and push open the doors. Maybe I want answers, maybe I want to see him one last time, maybe I am seriously fucked up.

He’s sitting in the middle of the mats, forearms resting on his bent knees.

He looks up at the sound of the door and meets my eyes, the bond in my stomach spinning.

“I didn’t know if you would come,” he says, as I cross towards the mats, dropping down to sit in front of him.

“8am every Tuesday, right? That was the arrangement.”

“I’m leaving,” he tells me. “This morning.”

I nod, rolling my eyes. “Yeah, I did hear that. Good news travels fast, you know.”

He snorts. “Good news? You’re not sad about it then?”

“Sad the boy who’s been bullying me for the last few months is leaving? No, I don’t think so.”

“I haven’t been–” he says gruffly, scowling at me.

“It doesn’t matter now,” I mutter. I don’t know why I’m here but I do know I’m too tired to argue with him.

“You’ll have to find someone else to teach you self-defense.” He holds my gaze. “Tristan Kennedy, maybe?”

I frown. “You don’t think I’m good enough yet, then? Despite your improved teaching techniques.”