Chapter 5
Seph
I couldn’t rest, though I tried.
My stomach growled, loud enough to make the silence vibrate.
How long had it been since I’d eaten? A day? Two?
Dusk had settled, bruising the sky. I hadn’t left my room since I arrived, but when I finally opened the door, a box waited on the floor beside it.
Inside was a uniform.
Of course it was.
A white blouse, a black woollen sweatshirt, and a black-and-white tartan skirt.
Mary Janes in my size. Knee-high socks folded neatly on top.
“I’m not wearing this,” I muttered.
Jess looked up from the couch where she sat flicking a lighter open and shut.
Click.
Flame.
Click.
“If you don’t, Wild will be after you,” she said.
“I’m not a child. Why should I wear this? What’s wrong with my clothes?”
Her eyes travelled over me—baggy shirt, loose pants, gloves, cap hiding my hair.
“What’s right with them?” she said finally. “You look like a homeless person.”
She didn’t sound cruel. Just honest. Like she was pointing out rain.
“So I don’t like people looking at me. Who cares?”
Jess shrugged, thumb poised over the lighter.
“Think of it this way: every reprobate in this place wears the stupid uniform. So what’s going to stand out more?”
Click.
Flame.
Click.
The sound filled the room like a heartbeat. Each spark flared against the dim walls, then vanished. She watched it every time, hypnotised.
“Do you have to do that?” I asked.
She looked at me—expression flat, eyes gleaming—and clicked it again.
And again.
“Okay,” I said softly. “Stupid question.”
Jess glared at me like I was the one interrupting her day.
I sank onto our tiny couch, pulling my knees in, watching her carefully.
“So. Lyra’s… something, huh.”
Jess snorted. “Psycho Barbie, more like it. Did she try to fuck with your head too?”
“I think so.”
“Not surprised. She’s a vicious cow.”
I looked down at my hands, suddenly so tired I could feel it in my bones.
“Will you tell me where I can find food?” I asked finally.
Jess flicked her lighter closed and glanced at me from the corner of her eye. A lock of red hair slipped across her cheek, half hiding the look that said don’t push your luck.
For a second, I thought she wasn’t going to answer.
“Fine,” she muttered. “But only because I’m going too.”
I nudged the box of clothes with my toe. “Do I have to wear this now?”
She gave a short laugh. “Not at dinner. You’ll wear it at breakfast and lunch, though. Someone will dump a schedule on you before lights out—what classes, shifts, whatever they’ve decided you need.”
“What sort of things?”
Jess arched a brow. “What am I, a fucking guidebook?”
She leaned back, boots landing on the edge of the table. “You’re in the institute, which means you screwed up somewhere. So—counselling, trade work, maybe a few lectures about redemption. Whatever keeps us all pretending we’re fixable.”
Her gaze swept over me. “Come on. Now or not at all.”
I stood quickly and followed.
She led me through a maze of corridors, the air humming with low conversation and footsteps. Groups of students clustered near doorways or leaned against the walls—some watched me like I was fresh meat, others didn’t bother at all.
When we reached the cafeteria doors, a tall boy stepped into our path. Nineteen, maybe. Ash-blond hair, hazel eyes, easy smile.
Earth-mover, my mind noted automatically. Solid aura. Grounded. Not dangerous.
“Hey, Jess. How are you?” he asked, voice warm.
She shot him a glare and shouldered past without slowing.
I kept my head down and followed her in, but I still felt his eyes trail after her.
“Who’s that?” I asked once we joined the buffet line.
“Not that is any of your fucking business. But his name’s Brian.”
Her fingers tightened around her lighter until her knuckles blanched. She flicked it once, though it wasn’t even lit, and I caught the faint heat of embarrassment rising from her.
“He seems nice.”
“Shut up. Listen to me rookie, just because we are roommates, doesn’t mean we are friends.” She snapped. “Stay out of my business.”
“Of course not.” I murmured. “I’m sorry.”
She looked me up and down, rolled her eyes. “Come on.”
We took our trays to an empty table and sat. Jess immediately started shovelling food into her mouth like she hadn’t eaten in days.
It was some kind of potato sludge and something pretending to be stew, plus a rock-hard roll of bread.
I picked up my fork and began to eat, keeping my eyes on the room instead of the food.
There were fewer people than I expected—maybe a hundred students total—and the divisions were obvious. Groups huddled in tight circles, each one orbiting its own hierarchy.
Lyra sat nearby on her table of clones. When her gaze met mine, her smile dropped. The glare she gave me could’ve cut glass.
I looked down again.
“So what’s your story?” Jess asked through a mouthful of food. “What did you do to get in here?”
“I thought we weren’t going to be friends,” I said quietly.
“I still need to know if you’re gonna go all Misery on me in the middle of the night.”
“Stephen King, huh?”
“I like horror stories. So what.” She gave me a sharp look. “So?”
I shifted uncomfortably.
“I was out. Some people got hurt. That’s it.”
Jess looked at me like she didn’t buy a single word.
“Right. And you were just an innocent bystander in all that, huh?”
I met her eyes.
“Maybe I was.”
Jess almost smiled.
“Right. Well, whatever you did, you’re in shitty company.”
“And what about you?” I asked, just as softly.
Jess sat back, staring me dead in the eyes.
“Attempted murder. But don’t worry. They deserved it.”
Something in the way she said it—the slight tremor under her words—made me doubt her bravado.
Which is exactly why I didn’t fear her.
“I believe you,” I said simply.
Jess startled, like she hadn’t expected that.
But she didn’t understand.
Grief circled her aura like the sun—
bright and heavy and unending.
“You’d be the first,” she muttered.
“Everyone here’s fucked up somehow. Even Lyra. She’s a mind-fucker. Rumour is she made a girl try to kill herself last year. That’s why she’s here. Crazy fucking bitch.”
I glanced at Lyra as she held herself like a Queen B above her friends. They all looked similar to her, their aura’s bright with light magic.
It didn’t surprise me too much.
“So what are you, anyway? Air? Water? One of those psychic chicks?”
“A null.”
The lie slid off my tongue like oil—practiced, smooth.
Jess’s fork hit the table with a metallic clatter that turned a few heads.
“What?” she screeched.
I closed my eyes and sighed. “Yup.”
“A fucking null? You’re gonna get eaten alive here.”
I couldn’t help it—I laughed. “Great. So glad I came.”
She glared at me, face tightening with something between irritation and reluctant pity.
“Fucking fine then,” she muttered. “You can hang out with me. Provided you don’t piss me off at night and you leave the room when I tell you to.”
“Sounds fair.”
Jess rolled her eyes. “A goddamn null. What were they thinking?”
I lifted a brow. “So tell me then—if we’re going to be hanging out—what are the rules here?”
“The rules?” she echoed, stabbing at her potatoes. “You really wanna know?”
“I do.”
“Alright, rule one—keep your head down. Don’t go advertising your null status or these assholes’ll circle like hyenas. They smell weakness and they’ll come for you. Rule two—stay the hell away from K’s crew.”
“K’s crew?”
“Ash, Dev, and K.” Jess said, voice dropping as her eyes flicked around the room. “They’re the gangster kings of this place. You piss them off, you’re done.”
Her tone slid into grim amusement. “Did you see a body hanging from the flagpole earlier?”
“I wasn’t looking.”
“Well, he’s probably still there. Dev likes to display his work when he’s proud of it.”
I swallowed. “Awesome,” I muttered.
Jess smirked and clicked her lighter again. “The worst part? All of them are shit-balls crazy and hot as hell. K’s the leader—pure muscle. Don’t make eye contact with him if you can help it. Once he’s got you in his sights…” She gave a low whistle.
“And the others?”
“Dev dresses like he’s heading to a board meeting—button-up, slacks, the whole nine yards. But he keeps blades tucked in his belt. Blood mage.”
“And Ash?”
“He’s a wild dog. Silver-brown hair, mismatched eyes. He’d sooner rip your head off than talk to you. Don’t get in his sights – he can … fixate.”
That was the second time I had been warned about Ash.
My stomach turned to ice. “Great.”
“What?”
“Ash. When I got here—he came racing up the stairs to Wild’s office. He saw me.”
Jess froze. “Did he say something?”
“There you are,” I whispered.
She stared. “Well, fuck. If he’s already got you in his sights—jeez, Harrin.”
“Seph.”
“Seph, then. Rule still stands. Stay away from him and maybe he’ll forget.”
But I remembered the way he’d looked at me—the way the air had twisted between us.
Somehow, I didn’t think that was going to happen.
Jess’s foot nudged mine, sharp. “Don’t look. But here comes K and Dev.”
I ducked my head, pretending to study my tray. Around us, conversation died—the whole room holding its breath.
Curiosity burned through my good sense.
I looked up.
Blue eyes met mine.
Recognition hit like a blade to the ribs.
The blood drained from my face, but I couldn’t look away.
And neither could he.
Kieran.
My former friend.
My once best friend.
The king of the killers.