Chapter Three
Farren
I grab my bag before remembering I needed to ask Magnus what to do with the letter for my father from the headmaster. Fishing it out of the end pocket of my bag, I sling the strap over my shoulder and then jog back over to where Magnus is still talking to the team.
“Magnus, what do I do with this?”
“What is it?”
“A letter from the headmaster to Father,” I reply.
“Get rid of it,” he answers immediately, and I grin.
I nod in reply, ignoring the confused look the team shares with each other, and then jog towards the locker room to sort out my face and store my weapons.
The locker rooms are clean and spacious, with a central area where the lockers and sinks are and then either side are male and female changing areas and showers.
I find an empty locker easily, and before I put my bag of weapons in, I pull out some C4 and a detonator, a small bomb that won’t do much damage but will get my point across if someone tries to mess with my locker, and then pull out my first aid kit too.
I place my bag inside and set up the bomb to go off if anyone tries to get in the locker before shutting the door with a satisfied grin.
There is a line of sinks, with mirrors above them on the same wall as the door, and I walk over to them.
Laying out the first aid kit, I search through it, pulling out some thread and a needle, threading it quickly, and with practised ease.
Unfortunately, my earlier suspicions are confirmed when I look in the mirror and see that not only is my cheek a lovely shade of purple already, but my lip does, in fact, need stitches.
Usually, I wouldn’t have to worry about stitching it as by now both my cheek and lip should’ve healed, but thanks to the aftereffects of my fathers last punishment coursing through me, I won’t be healing any time soon.
I will heal slower than a human until it's finally out of my system.
I clean the drying blood off my face and then push the needle through the skin just below my lip.
The dude got me good. I can feel a stickiness along the middle of my back and slight pain.
I’d be willing to bet that the wound, another thing leftover from my fathers punishment, has reopened during the fight.
There’s not much I can do about that one now though, so I’ll ignore it and deal with it later.
I can feel blood sluggishly running down my back, but my tank is black, so it’ll be fine for now.
I’m on the third pass of the needle through my lip when the door next to the row of sinks opens, and I turn to see who’s entered. Reaper stares at me in shock and, for some reason, worry. It takes me a second to realise why he’s looking at me like that.
“Fuck. Sorry, I'm nearly done, then I’ll be out of your way.” I say, realising that I’ve dropped down into a defensive crouch with the needle and thread, paused halfway through my lip.
“What in the underworld's name are you doing?” He bellows.
“Stitching my lip, one second,” I say, starting to get frustrated and trying not to react visibly to the mention of the underworld.
I quickly finish the job while he watches silently, clearly pissed about something, if his crossed arms and deep frown are any indications. I clear up quickly, making sure I pick up the letter, C4, and detonator, which I keep out of sight of the still stewing Reaper.
“There you go, all yours,” I mutter, barely restraining myself from calling him a dickhead and my voice even rougher than usual, thanks to all the talking I’ve done today.
I walk out of the door, planning to find my way outside so I can dispose of the letter. But, surprisingly, Reaper follows me out, muttering something under his breath.
“What’s wrong with you?” Loki asks as they all appear. I carry on walking. I’ve got no interest in listening to them bitch.
“I, she . . . Look at her damn face.” He finally gets out.
“Farren!” Rival calls, and I pause, having slowed my pace when Reaper started stuttering out of pure curiosity.
I slowly turn around. Ready to get this latest round of bullshit done with so I can go and do my favourite thing .
“Did you go to the infirmary?” Mayhem asks.
“That’s what I was trying to say. She stitched it up herself!” Reaper finally announces.
Loki raises his eyebrow in question as Storm just stands there watching stoically. I shrug in response, turn on my heel and walk out of the gym door. No one gave me a schedule, so I have no idea if I’m supposed to be in a lesson now or not.
“Where the fuck is she going?” Storm growls, and I hate that I like the sound.
Why do I like it?
“How the fuck am I supposed to know?” Mayhem replies.
I can still hear them, so I assume that they’re following me.
“Farren! We need to talk to you.” Loki calls after me.
“Busy,” I yell back, finally finding a door to the outside and pushing through.
I come out onto a large, empty expanse of grass. It’ll do. I carry on walking until I’m further away from the buildings. I don’t want to blow any of them up.
“Trouble, we’re trying to talk to you.” Storm growls as I bend down and set up the C4, placing the letter on top.
“You might want to back up,” I say, ignoring his previous comments.
“Why the fuck would I listen to anything you have to say?” He sneers, his eyes darting to my lip.
“Fine, don’t.” I shrug, walking a safe distance away, the others follow me, and reluctantly Storm starts to follow too.
I press the detonator before he’s completely out of the blast zone, causing him to fly forward and land on his face.
“What the fuck was that!?” Mayhem yells.
“C4,” I say, a smartass grin on my face.
“I can see that, but why?” He replies.
“Cause I can.”
“I’m starting to think that you’re not quite what we judge you to be,” Reaper mutters.
“No shit.” Rival replies.
“For fuck sake, Farren!” My uncle suddenly yells, appearing from the same door we came out from. “How many times do we have to have this conversation? Stop blowing shit up!”
“This is a regular thing?” Storm yells, just getting up off the ground as Loki starts bouncing excitedly.
“You told me to get rid of it?”
“Yes, in a normal way,” he replies, trying to hide his amusement.
His look darkens as he sees my stitched lip.
“You, okay?” He asks.
I see Rival studying us both closely. The guy is way too observant for my liking.
“I’m good,” I say, done with the conversation.
"Okay, we'll catch up tomorrow. I'm going to have to stay here and explain to the other teachers why there's a scorch mark on the lawn." He grins, this time not even trying to hide his amusement.
I nod and turn on my heel, walking back towards the school.
“Where are you going now?” Storm calls, sounding increasingly frustrated.
“To bed,” I reply, glancing at the dimming light.
“Don’t you want dinner?” Loki asks, frowning .
I tilt my head to the side, aware that I’m showing more emotion than I should be.
“Food?” I ask cautiously.
“That tends to be what people mean when they say dinner,” Reaper chuckles.
My frown deepens, not quite comprehending.
“Trouble probably only eats salads and food that costs more than most people's homes,” Storm sneers as he barges past me.
My anger rises again.
I’m getting sick of the fucking snap judgements.
Rival
I watch her as she glares after Storm. I’m not quite sure what’s crawled up his ass, but whatever it is, it’s preventing him from seeing what’s really going on and believe me, something is definitely going on.
I admit that I had certain reservations about her at first, especially considering she’s so damn beautiful that she could throw this team into turmoil.
I was expecting a manipulative, shallow, and entirely inexperienced woman.
What we got is someone who's overly cautious, is an incredible fighter, and she didn't even use her magic. I even got the feeling that she was holding back. I know for a fact that she let that punch through, but what I don’t understand is why? Pain doesn’t seem to bother her, and that worries me, so does the churning sick feeling in my stomach.
Her shoulders and arms are covered in scars, and supernaturals don’t scar that fucking easily.
Mystery surrounds her.
She looks confused by the simple offer of dinner, and I just can’t fucking stand it anymore.
Storm wanted us to keep her at arm’s length, insisting that she’s not going to be around for long, and if we can convince her to leave, that would be better.
I’m done though. There’s so much more going on here, and the spear has never made a mistake before.
It's not just that though, I can’t deny the connection I feel towards her.
It's not the same as the connection I feel with the others, but there’s no denying it, and I know they feel it too.
That’s their problem. It scares the shit out of them.
“Come on. I’ll show you to the cafeteria.” I say, walking up to her and ignoring the others shooting me looks.
I’m right about this. I know I am.
She doesn’t say anything, just follows along beside me.
Loki comes up on her other side, his arm brushing against her and causing her to tense.
He steps further away, noticing her flinch before he shoots me a look, finally starting to pick up on what I am.
An uncharacteristic frown crosses his features as he subtly inhales before his eyes widen, the worried look intensifying.
I raise my eyebrow in question, and he shakes his head, mouthing later at me.
We make it to the cafeteria without incident, leading her through the tables to the lunch line.
Since it's midway through the week, we only have cold options like sandwiches, baguettes, salads, and wraps available.
She follows, but she looks unsure for the first time since she arrived.
This time, I share a look with Reaper and Loki.
“Here,” Reaper says, handing her a tray and placing it in front of her.