Page 128 of Twisted Ties

I hesitate for a fraction of a second, knowing he’s most probably weaving a web for me. One he’ll enjoy strangling me in. Does he already know a pupil was attacked? Does he know who? Is that the reason for this meeting?

“Yes,” I say, already knowing I’ve faltered. That hesitation a mistake he’ll have spotted. “The Blackwaters girl.”

“The Blackwaters girl,” he repeats, and I’m almost certain he already knew. “Anyone else?”

There are only two people who know. Spencer and Matron. Spencer wouldn’t disclose this information if my father threatened him with decapitation. The matron? I’d reminded her of my age. Of patient confidentiality. But my father is foreboding. Does he know?

I decide to risk it. If I’m wrong and he knows, he’ll punish me for it.

“No,” I say, forcing myself not to hold my breath. “No one else, only the girl.”

My father flicks his hand to me and the tight coils of his magic tighten around my throat. I clutch at my neck, gasping for air.

“Are you lying to me, son?” He squeezes tighter still, black spots appearing at the edges of my vision. I drop to my knees.

I could fight him off. I could blast his magic apart. I could bringhimto his knees.

But I won’t. I won’t let him know. Won’t let him see the extent of my power.

Not yet.

“No, Sir, I’m not. Only the girl.”

“Only the girl,” he repeats, releasing me and letting me fall to the ground, spluttering and gasping for air. “But I hear, disappointingly, that she is alive, alive and uninfected?”

I inhale, allowing oxygen to fill my lungs, and wipe away the wetness from my eyes. “Yes, Professor Stone fought the beast off and gave her treatment.”

“Professor Stone.” He strokes his chin. “Azlan’s friend.”

I nod.

“Why did it attack her, Tristan?”

“I don’t know,” I say honestly, although I have my damn suspicions. “Wrong place, wrong time.”

“This girl has a habit of placing herself right in the center of trouble. I want you to keep a watchful eye on her.”

“I believe Azlan is already doing that, Sir,” I say bitterly.

He scoffs. “I want you to watch her and report anything else unusual back to me.”

“You asked me to avoid her. Not to speak with her.”

“You don’t need to talk to her, Tristan. Only watch. Youunderstand.” He turns towards the weapons, straightening them on their hooks. “Your cousin may not be my son. But his bloodline is pure. His powers strong. He owns our family name. And this girl … this nobody appears out of nowhere destined to be his mate. It makes no sense. There is more to this situation than your cousin is divulging, more, perhaps, than he is even aware. I want to know what that story is, Tristan. You know I’ve never liked to be kept in the dark.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Good,” he says. “Then I will see you at the weekend’s game. Will you see your mother?”

I peer up at the ceiling. “Is she coming to the game?”

“Of course, the whole Kennedy clan will be there to cheer you on,” he says so coolly I almost shiver.

“I’ll see her then.”

I haveno intention of telling my father anything about the girl. Nothing at all. I want nothing to do with her.

And yet here I am, fist pounding on my cousin’s door, hoping none of my father’s little spies have followed me here. I took a deviating route though the busy city center, blended in with the crowded traffic. But maybe he has one watching Azlan’s house.