Chapter Twenty-Five #2
I have no idea if I believe what he’s saying and whether that is the true reason behind my father's anger, he is a master manipulator, but it’s concerning, to say the least.
“That’s a hell of a lot to put on one person who has no choice in joining in the games,” Rival points out drily.
“Get to your involvement in it,” Storm orders.
The Headmaster gulps slightly, “He offered me a lot of money, and more importantly, some hard to get spells if I tampered with your jobs so that he could have you taken out.”
“He wants her dead?” Loki growls.
“Yes, as far as he’s concerned, that’s the only sure way that she won’t be in the games and start the events that will lead to war and his death.”
Well fuck. Okay, so I’m still not positive about his true motives, but I have always been more valuable to him alive than dead.
If that’s suddenly changed, then he definitely thinks something big will happen if I go into the games.
Which is inevitable, and he will stop at nothing to have me murdered.
“Is that everything?” Storm’s voice is cold, deadly, even as his horns light with blazingly angry fire.
“Yes,” he replies.
Storm looks at Reaper, who nods that he is telling the truth.
“In that case, Rival, could you make the call?” Storm asks.
I think other than the Headmaster, I am the only one who is confused by Storm’s request of Rival.
“What call?” the Headmaster asks, his voice nervous.
“Well, you have proven yourself to be easily bought and not capable of being trusted to be in charge of the many students here and their safety. Rival is going to see to it that you are dealt with accordingly, and a replacement is found.”
Wow, I am in awe of the power that these guys seem to wield, and as the Headmaster panics, splutters, and tries to bribe us to stop Rival from following through.
Rival pulls a communication stone from his pocket, whispers a spell that will in case him in a soundproof bubble and then makes the call.
I have no idea what is being said, but it seems to be going the way that Rival wants it to, he even chuckles at one point.
The call doesn’t last very long, and when Rival drops the soundproof bubble, he starts to explain, “They want him to be detained in his office. They should be here in minutes. They're going to portal in.”
“Impressive,” I mutter.
“Killian, bind him. Mayhem, can you take his voice temporarily, please, so that he cannot keep bitching,” Storm orders.
Suddenly everything falls silent, and I breathe a sigh of relief. Thank fuck for that. It was fucking relentless.
“Farren, you need to take the spell off the room. I assume it's secure enough that they can’t get in, even if they are going to portal in,” Killian reminds me.
“You assume correctly, one second,” I pull at the string of magic that will unravel everything but the illusion that the receptionist saw. “Done.”
We stay silent as we wait, there’s a lot that we need to discuss, but we can’t talk about any of it while the Headmaster is still in earshot.
Thankfully we don’t have to wait long, and we hear the receptionist exclaim and the Headmaster’s door swings open.
Several uniformed enforcers head straight toward the Headmaster, who starts to fight in earnest but immediately gets subdued.
A smartly dressed man ignores the commotion and walks straight up to Rival, having a quiet conversation and then shakes his hand.
As quickly as they come, they’re gone, and as we all follow them out of the office, the receptionist spots us and does a double take.
“Farren, what’s wrong with her?” Loki asks me.
“My magic is pretty tired after today, so I haven’t covered us with an illusion as far as she’s concerned, she’s now watched us leave twice,” I shrug.
He chuckles at my response. We walk quickly back to the dorm room, people whispering around us since someone clearly saw us come out behind the Headmaster as he was taken out in magic dampening cuffs.
“So, any idea who the new Headmaster is going to be?” Reaper asks.
“Yeah, actually, I made the suggestion that Magnus would be a good fit. He’s worked here for decades and is well known for putting his students first and his tactical knowledge is strong. Not only that, but the majority of the teachers here have great respect for him.”
“And?” I ask excitedly. Magnus would be amazing at the job. Far better than the current Headteacher. For one, he actually cares about the welfare of his students and two, it would be pretty damn impossible to bribe him in any way.
“They agreed,” Rival grins, and I let out a girly squeal and jump on him, giving him a huge hug and making him chuckle.
When I realise what I’ve just done, I quickly step back, making him grin. Fortunately, we’re not far from the room, so I rush ahead and through the door. As soon as I’m in the main room, I immediately take off my boots, my feet welcoming the relief.
“Everyone go and shower, get changed and then meet in the lounge. We have a lot to discuss,” Storm orders, and everyone immediately does as he says, most likely as desperate as I am to wash off the grime covering me.
Once showered and back out in the main room with everyone else, we sit in silence, no one really knowing where to start.
“You know, I thought, I recognised some of the fuckers,” I mutter.
“So you think that the Headmaster is telling the truth?” Storm asks.
“I believe that my father wants me dead, that I’m certain of, but as for the reason, I have no idea if that’s actually true. He’s very good at making people believe his lies.”
“So what do we do?” Mayhem asks.
“We could do recon, watch him and see if we can get any information?” Loki suggests.
“Good idea, but by now, it’s entirely possible that he’s been tipped off about what’s happened with the Headmaster. He’s powerful enough that he won’t be worried about going down with the Headmaster, but he will become more careful,” Killian adds.
“Not only that, but he might double his efforts to have Farren killed. He’s clearly got a lot of resources at his disposal, even if he’s being closely watched,” Rival suggests.
“But he won’t be watched straight away, they have to get the Headmaster talking first, and that could take a while. Farren’s father will be aware of that and take this opportunity to take her out,” Storm expands on Rival’s point.
“So, what you’re saying is that we need to deal with this now?” Loki asks.
Storm nods. “Which brings us back to how, how do we deal with him and protect Farren. We know the authorities can’t do anything with him, so what do we do?”
They all start making different suggestions, and I let them talk as Poca shows up next to me, and I run my fingers through his fur. It’s not unusual that he didn’t show up today, he tends to avoid the fights unless there’s a real chance I will die.
Finally, I decide to interrupt, “It’s simple, we kill him, and we do it now.”