Page 6

spilled coffee

L ately, Niko had been forcing me to wake up at four in the morning to train on top of my assignments and normal evening training. He usually gets upset with me for training too much, but maybe he thinks this will get me to calm down a bit. It certainly drains my energy.

I got out of the shower and my body ached, still adjusting to this new training schedule. The sweet scent of pancakes caused my stomach to growl.

“Good morning, Cinth,” Renee said with a smile too large for this early hour when I came for breakfast.

She was a rather plain woman, keeping her hair in a bun, wearing modest clothing, and always had a book with her.

Her and Niko have been partners for a few years now and the passion they have for each other has been the same since the day they met.

I was very surprised someone like her could be excited and unintimidated by someone like Niko.

They were an unlikely and opposite pair, but they matched.

I politely bowed to Renee, she and Niko the only ones I ever bowed to. “Good morning,” I muttered. “Late start today?”

“Didn’t I tell you? I hired someone recently to help me out at the shop.”

“Oh, right. How is that going?” I asked.

Her flower shop was located in the heart of the East Side.

Even in the winter, the air was thick with the sweet fragrance of blooms, as pots of plants and flowers spilled out onto the sidewalk.

Lush greenery climbed the walls in the summer, decorated with vibrant flowers.

Inside, the shop was a labyrinth of carefully arranged bouquets, delicate petals brushing against one another in the small space.

“Atlas is such a sweetheart.” She flipped a pancake before setting plates down for the three of us. “Though, sometimes he knocks pots over by accident.”

The incredibly large man in his mid-twenties certainly had Angel blood in him.

He looked like one, with dark skin and dreads tied into a low ponytail.

I met him a couple times, but never bothered to strike a conversation with him.

Atlas didn’t seem like a threat, and if he gave a hint of it, Niko would take care of it.

Niko came out from his room with damp hair, his eyes lighting up at the sight of the love of his life, and he tenderly kissed her cheek.

Renee’s laugh bathed the room in warm colours that didn’t exist in our apartment. “Niko, Cinth is here.” She blushed.

“I can’t help it, Renee.” Niko sighed, hugging her from behind and not releasing her as she continued to pour another bit of batter into the pan.

I rolled my eyes, avoiding looking in their direction as Niko continued to shower Renee with all his love. I hate witnessing such public affection, it’s disgusting. Though, Niko and Renee’s healthy and loving relationship made it feel as though they were my parents.

Stupid.

“You ready for school, Cinth?” Niko asked, finally letting go of Renee.

I nodded, sleepily taking a pancake onto my plate and setting blueberry jam on top of it.

“You have a test coming up, right? Have you studied?”

My eyes turned to meet his, licking the front of my teeth in agitation.

Renee nudged Niko. “Cinth’s smart, he’ll be fine.”

“I just don’t want his grades slipping, especially in his final year. ”

“You’re training him too much. How is he to study if he’s tired?” Renee argued.

The two continued to bicker, but were smiling and would, like always, end their disagreements with a kiss no matter what. Otherwise, Niko would grovel, as Renee is never wrong.

I finished my breakfast and cleaned up our plates before grabbing my bag and slipping on my shoes.

“Oh, and isn’t there a new transfer student in your grade?” Niko asked.

“So?”

There was a pause as I waited for him to continue. Instead, Niko pursed his lips and gave me a nod. “Try not to get detention today so you can join Renee and I at the cinema this afternoon.”

I would absolutely not be promising anything and left.

***

“Cinth.” I turned to see Reaper approaching me in the hallway.

“Don’t call me Cinth,” I muttered. I wasn’t in the mood to be nice, not that I am ever nice.

Her brows furrowed. “I thought that was your name.”

That’s right, we’ve never properly introduced ourselves to each other.

“It’s Hyacinth, only my friends call me Cinth,” I told her, maybe a bit too harshly. “What do you want, Reaper?”

Her eyes looked around in panic for wandering ears, but everyone was having lunch, so the hallway was empty. “Are you going to tell people?”

“That you’re Reaper?” I smirked.

“Yeah.” She bit her thumbnail.

Oh, the power .

“Where’s the fun in that? But I feel like you should do something to keep me from telling anyone.” I wasn’t actually planning on telling anyone, there was no gain in it. Blackmail is something I only dabbled in, but any chance for it I'll take.

“Well, do they know who you are?” she asked.

I blinked.

Clan children were the only ones who really knew who I was, and they didn’t mess with me, but my friends weren’t involved in the clans. Would I even still be allowed to call them my friends if they knew what I did every night…

Reaper removed her acrylic nail from her teeth and her lips twisted up into a mischievous smile. “Then maybe you should be doing things for me.”

Yeah, that’s kind of attractive.

I gave her a hard glare, which usually sent people running. “I’ll tell everyone.”

“Oh, but.” Reaper laughed. “Unlike you, I don’t actually care.”

I licked the front of my teeth, tilted my head back with a smirk, and cursed. Without any warning, I grabbed her by the shoulder, slammed her into a locker, and leaned down close to her face. “Listen here, you little blood sucking mosquito.”

“No.” She smirked. “You listen.” She tilted her head back, resting it against the locker. “All I have to do is scream and cry.” Her eyes began to well up. “And someone will come and when they ask me what happened, I’ll tell them you tried to hurt me.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” I growled. With the reputation I carry, they would believe her in a heartbeat.

“You don’t think so?” She smiled, false tears streaming down her face. Reaper took in a deep breath, but before she could make a sound, I blocked her mouth with my hand.

“I will gut you like a fish and I swear to you I will laugh doing it.”

Despite the tears, her eyes were playful, excited. Amused. I’m good at reading people, but with her it was as if the only thing she sought for was the entertainment in chaos, it was something I hadn’t encountered before. This was going to be either really fun or really bloody annoying.

“Hey! What’s going on over there?” a teacher shouted across the hallway, rushing towards us.

I quickly released Reaper, and she burst into tears, running towards the teacher.

“What happened, my dear?” He leaned down to her, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“I got lost and when I asked him to help me, he…”

She even cried pretty. How is that fair?

“Are you hurt anywhere?” The teacher’s face was red with anger, but he spoke to her in a gentle voice.

She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

I was completely dumbfounded.

“I’ll take you to the nurse’s office so you can get examined just in case.”

I barely touched her.

This is what they meant by pretty privilege, isn’t it?

Then the teacher turned to me with a glare. “Hyacinth, I will see you at the principal’s office.”

As the teacher led Reaper away, she turned and flipped me off with a mocking smile. She won. I shoved my hands in my pocket, kicked a locker, denting it, and muttered a few curses.

***

I plopped down on the chair across from the principal, folding my arms in front of me. “So, I’ve been told you harassed another student.”

“It’s true. I saw him holding her against a locker with a hand over her mouth.” The teacher shook his head .

There was no use arguing. I did push her into a locker. “She asked for it.”

“She asked for it?” The principal raised her brows. “Would you like to reword your sentence?”

It did sound bad when they didn't know the whole context. “No.”

“Would you like to tell me why you think she asked for it?”

“No.” I’m not a snitch, nor would they understand what we were talking about.

She glared at me. “As much as I hate injustice, Celestine asked us not to punish you.”

My brow twitched, knitting together.

“But your comment and your attitude deserve a detention.”

This wasn’t my first detention, I’ve been suspended multiple times and even hold a record at this school. But all those times were because of something I did, not because of someone else.

I left the room and my friends were waiting for me outside of the office.

“Cinth, we heard what happened!” Lin came towards me.

“You’re the most unliked person in the school now,” Jamiel stated.

Was I ever liked?

“Why did you hurt her?” Iri furrowed her brows.

“None of your bloody business,” I muttered, storming away. I wouldn’t hesitate to take any contract for Reaper’s head, even if she was just a stupid girl.

***

After I finished serving detention and completing my assignment, I met up with a couple of my friends from the Underworld.

We always met at the same club, Neon Nights, located in the West side.

I wasn’t necessarily allowed to go in being only seventeen, but because I’m Vulture, I could go anywhere I pleased.

Symeon and Kahlik were hitmen just like me, but obviously not as good, ranking just under Niko and me and in their late-twenties .

“Have either of you met Reaper?” I asked.

They shook their heads. “No, she keeps a low profile,” Symeon said. “Trapped in that estate I heard.”

“Like some monster,” Kahlik joked. “Only coming out to kill.”

“Has anyone actually met her?” Symeon asked.

Unfortunately. “She’s so protected,” I said. “What would happen if we killed her?”

Their eyes went wide. We’d done a few assignments together, but this was a different level.

“Usually your ideas are good, but this is not one of them,” Kahlik said.

Symeon squinted his eyes. “Do you want to die?”