Page 7

Chapter Six

F ox

Rain still cascades from the sky as I fly along the cobbled pathways back in the direction of the Great Hall.

Its windows still glow from within but when I crash through the doors, I find only servants remaining, clearing the remnants of this evening’s dinner.

They look up at me in alarm and I suspect I look wild. I feel fucking wild.

I sweep straight back out of the hall, up the staircase and along the corridor, stopping right outside her room. Inside, she’ll be entertaining – maybe an old lover, maybe a new, maybe someone she hopes to seduce.

I don’t give a shit.

I shoot my magic against the heavy door and it flies right off its hinges and crashes into the room.

Through the gap in the now open doorway, I spy her, leaning against her desk, smoking one of her thin cigarettes. There is no one with her tonight.

“Do you always have to be so damn dramatic?” she says, sucking on her cigarette and rolling her kohl-rimmed eyes. This evening she’s wearing a red velvet dress that clings to her body like blood, matching the color of her lips and her nails.

Lifting my hands, I stride into her room. I haven’t been here in years. I’ve avoided it at all costs. It gives me the creeps – and this from a man who sleeps in a fucking dungeon.

“What the hell did you do?” I bark.

She removes the cigarette from her mouth, rocking it between her fingers and flicking ash into the glass ashtray behind her.

“Plenty, I’m sure. You’ll need to be more precise, Fox.”

“You doctored that trial, manipulated it, kept her locked inside the maze for longer than she should have been.”

“And who exactly are we talking about?” Her eyes flash.

There’s no point attempting to hide it or to deny it. She attacked the girl in the maze – tortured her. It’s clear she’s worked it out for herself.

I am more transparent than I thought and it has brought her into danger.

“You know,” I growl, scowling at her.

She stubs out her cigarette and pushes off her desk, stepping towards me.

“I’m afraid I don’t,” she says all innocently. “You are going to have to tell me.”

She must feel the rage radiating off my body, she must see how tightly coiled I am, ready to launch at her – to fucking destroy her. But she looks amused rather than afraid, as if I’m nothing but a nuisance child come to bother her.

“What did you do to her?” My magic sparks from my fingertips, shooting across the space and curling around her neck.

She grins, licking her lips.

“One of our favorite games, Fox. Do you remember? We had such fun together. I don’t understand why we still couldn't.”

“I know what you did.” I squeeze. “You don’t touch her. Ever again. If you do …”

“And how did you know? Because some silly girl told you?” She laughs, although the shadows around her neck make the sound strangled. “I don’t know what she did tell you, but it isn’t true.”

Her own shadows snake from her fingers and sidle up against mine, stroking and caressing them.

It makes me jolt. It makes me sick to the stomach.

I can’t stand this woman anywhere near me.

I can’t stand to touch her. I can’t stand to be touched by her.

And yet I’d do it to destroy her, to keep Briony safe.

As soon as her name enters my mind, I know my mistake.

“Little Briony Storm.” Her eyes dance with amusement and triumph radiates across her face as she reads my thoughts.

“A confused girl. Her head full of all kinds of delusions. It’s not unusual, Fox.

It was bound to happen eventually. It happens to us all.

” She licks her lips again. “At some point, there’s always a student who develops an unhealthy interest, an infatuation, a crush.

Why, even Cornelius had some love-sick boy follow him around like a lost puppy one year. ”

“That’s not what this is. ”

“Poor Fox, you don’t think it’s real do you?”

“She doesn’t even notice me.”

“And yet, she’s come running to you with tales of me,” she hisses with a sudden savageness.

“Where the hell else was she meant to go when one of her teachers attacked her?”

“Attacked her?” She scoffs. “Their imaginations are so young and so highly sexualised – they can’t help but run wild.

I’m sure that’s all this is, Fox. This girl has probably never had a man show her any interest before and then you come along – forceful, strong …

commanding – and her little imagination can’t control itself.

She wants to make you the hero of some strange, twisted fairytale – and well, of course, I’d be a prime candidate for the wicked witch. ”

She curls her tongue behind her teeth and smiles wickedly.

“You are a fucking witch!” I spit the words in her face, my magic prickling violently against her skin.

It simply makes her shiver, a little moan escaping her throat.

“It’s been so long since we did this last, Fox. Remember how good it used to be? Your magic curled around mine, mine around yours. Remember how good it felt? How good I made you feel?”

I tighten my grip on her neck and then slam her back against the desk, the wood cracks behind her, and she slides down to the floor. This time there’s nothing sexual about her groan.

“Stay away from her. Stay away from me. Otherwise I will kill you.”

“This is all for nothing. You can’t have her, Fox. The Princes have already claimed her.”

“It makes no difference.”

“Although, heaven knows why! There’s nothing special about her, Fox. I’d know if there were. She’s just a nothing girl from the shitholes of Slate.”

“Same place I’m from, you forget, Veronica.”

I fire electricity straight into her body, leaving her to writhe on the floor. Just like she did to Briony.

When I stop, her hair stands on end around her head and her lipstick and eyeliner is smudged across her face.

“Maybe I thought you were different,” she screeches. “Maybe I thought there was something special about you.”

“You were wrong.” I step closer to her, bending down so my face is right up close to hers. Her breath smells of sweet tobacco, my stomach turning over again. “I’m warning you!”