104
Milo slept for almost two days, waking only to eat an apple and go to the bathroom.
Mila told him Fed was still working on herself.
She was being really picky. So picky that Tania had eventually just left her with the pad and walked away.
“I watched her take two hours just to pick the right shade of nail polish,” Mila said in awe. “Two hours!”
“That’s nothing,” Selma said. “I was stuck while she was picking the shade of her nipples.”
“Shade of her…” Milo trailed off, not wanting to think about it.
“And the rest.”
“I don’t want to know,” he said, waving a hand.
“Well, what I want to know is whether you’re gonna put a hickey on my neck, too,” Selma said conversationally. “I feel left out.”
Mila flushed as she hurriedly pulled her collar up.
“I’ll think about it,” Milo said, knowing now that it was easier to just ride the embarrassment rather than try to hide it.
When he finally felt more human, he left his room to head back to the Workshop and see how Fed was doing.
And walked right into Padrick Paddstone.
Groaning inwardly, Milo made to walk around the young man and a few of his bodyguards.
Only for them to block his path.
“Milo Mooney,” Padrick Paddstone hummed. “I was hoping we’d meet. You’re a difficult person to find.”
“If you want a rifle modded, talk to Tania.”
“Oh, I don’t want any of your trash,” Padrick said. “Do you know who I am?”
“Should I?”
“My name is Padrick Paddstone.”
Padrick stared at him.
He stared right back.
“Is that supposed to mean something to me?”
“My brother was Fergus Paddstone,” Padrick growled. “I’m sure you remember him.”
“Who?”
“Fergus!”
“I don’t think I know a Fergus,” Milo said with a shake of his head. “Sorry, but I don’t exactly have many friends. I’m sure you don’t want to be my friend either.”
“I really don’t.”
“Then, do you mind? I’ve got places to be.”
“Are you deliberately mocking me, Milo Mooney?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“You killed my brother and you want me to believe you don’t know his name?”
Milo looked from Padrick to one of his guards, acting confused. Then he opened his mouth wide. “Oh! That kid! The one trying to steal stuff from the teachers? The guy who killed all those guards? He’s your brother? Really?”
“Really.”
“Then, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to shoot him. But he was trying to kill everyone with some weird thing I’m not allowed to talk about.”
“And who told you not to talk about it?”
“The Court?” Milo ducked his head. “Sorry. It’s not my fault. I was just trying to help the guards. They were all getting killed. And I had my rifle. So…”
“How convenient.”
“Convenient?”
“That you were there.”
“I was passing through. The dungeon hall is on the way to the Range.”
“Also convenient.”
“Well, I didn’t design the layout,” Milo grumped. “Look, I don’t know what you want. I’m sorry for your brother, but he went crazy trying to kill everyone. That’s not my fault either.”
“That’s your story?”
“What do you mean? I’m not lying. Everyone saw it.”
“You mean the teachers?”
“And guards.”
“My brother suggested in letters to my father that you were cheating. He seemed to think you had access to something to help make dungeons easier.”
“He’s right,” Milo said, showing a smile. “I do have something.”
That made the younger Paddstone pause.
He’d expected a denial.
“What?”
“An awesome team who looks after me,” Milo said.
“Strange that a rank nine would let a normie like you onto their team, isn’t it?”
“We’re friends,” Milo said. “And I know I’m not special with magic. I can’t store enough mana in my blood to cast even a single spell, you know? But I can shoot pretty well.”
Padrick Paddstone glanced around the Common Room.
A lot of people were staring.
And he could tell they weren’t all on his side at all. Milo had been selling tactics to dungeons. And mods for their weapons. By all accounts, these things had been keeping some of the weaker teams alive longer than they normally would have been.
“I’m not against normies,” Padrick said clearly. “I’m not prejudiced like my brother.”
“He was a bit of a bully sometimes,” Milo admitted.
“But I avoided him for the most part. I only saw him a couple of times, so it didn’t matter what he thought of me.
I honestly didn’t, and still don’t, care what he or anyone else thinks of me.
Because I never wanted to be here in the first place.
The Mage Court dragged me here because I can store mana in my blood.
They don’t care that it’s not enough to do anything with.
They don’t care that I’d prefer to spend my life fixing clocks.
They threw me here instead and now I’m running dungeons. ”
There was a moment where Padrick almost believed him.
The story sounded true.
Reasonable.
Even he could believe Fergus did something impulsive and got caught doing it.
But something wasn’t right. He was more convinced of this because the Farrington family also knew it.
Milo had a secret.
And Padrick wanted it for his family.
“We’ll come for you when you least expect it,” Padrick said calmly, keeping his voice low.
“And when we have you, we’ll drag the truth out of your body with hot irons.
If you’re lucky. Because no matter what kind of fool Fergus was, he was still my brother.
He was still a Paddstone. And we avenge our own.
I will see you dead one day, Milo Mooney. At my feet. Dead. Do you understand?”
Selma casually put her hands around his largest bodyguard’s shoulders and lifted him easily off the floor. The man jerked in her grip, but couldn’t escape as she set him to one side so she could step up beside Milo’s shoulder.
She crossed her arms and looked down at Padrick. “Wanna repeat that?”
He looked up at her and gulped.
“Go on,” Selma said, leaning down to be almost nose-to-nose. “Say it again. I dare you.”
“I-”
“Because I’m not sure I heard you right. It sounded to me like you were threatening my Milo.” She glared at Padrick, her brow furrowing deeply. “And that makes me mad. It makes me so mad I could tear a two-bit hoodlum’s arms right off and beat him to death with them, see?”
One of the bodyguards took a step to get behind her and froze as Mila’s camouflage deactivated with a hiss and her dagger whipped around to kiss the edge of his throat.
“Move,” Mila whispered. “And I’ll pull your tongue out through your gullet.”
The guard put his hands up.
Milo hadn’t moved. Or changed his expression.
He just stood there.
Staring at Padrick with a cold gaze.
“I think I might’ve let my emotions get the better of me,” Padrick said slowly. “Maybe we should all take a moment to calm down?”
“I think that’s a good idea,” Vesna said, standing up from a sofa nearby. Her own guards took their places beside her. “This is supposed to be a school. A place of learning and advancement. Not one of murder and bullying. If you want to do that sort of thing, you should find an alley somewhere.”
Milo pursed his lips.
She was right. This wasn’t the place for this.
His heart was racing, though. And he knew Padrick was only going to be more trouble. He could end it here and now.
And then the boy’s father would come.
And the Mage Court would come.
And everything would unravel before Milo had a chance to discover his options.
“What are you brats doing blocking the hallway?” Ket snarled suddenly. She didn’t sound happy. She thrust her way through the guards and looked from Mila to the guard she was threatening. “Put that sticker down, ya little tramp.”
“They started it,” Mila growled, blushing a little.
“Ain’t no need to continue it,” Ket countered. “As for you, Paddstone, I’m sure this had nothing to do do with you at all. You was just minding your sweet business, right?”
“Yes!” Padrick pointed at Milo. “They attacked us!”
“Right.” Ket rolled her eyes. “Well, it’s ain’t my place to call ya a dirty little fibber. But you, Milo, you should know better. What are ya doing?”
“I was trying to get to the library,” he said. “Maybe the Mess. I’m hungry.”
“Then what’s stopping ya?”
“They were,” he said, pointing at Paddstone’s group. “I didn’t know we could bring mercenaries into the Academy. It seems everyone has some these days. Can I get some, too?”
Vesna’s lips tightened, knowing he was referring to her.
“Some of us need them,” she said in a clipped tone.
“Right,” he countered. “Because it’s too hard to bully people on your own.”
A few titters danced around the Common Room. It seemed some of the others also felt the same way.
“Whatever,” Ket sighed, cutting through them all. “On your bikes. The lot of ya. I’ll just make a report to the Headmaster and let him sort it out.”
“You’re going to report this?” Padrick asked, looking uncomfortable.
“Sure. Why not? I just gotta write it up,” she said, then scowled. “If it ain’t been written up for me already.”
Milo nodded, not caring. He was in the right. Whatever anyone said didn’t matter to him.
Moving past Padrick, he paused.
Looked him in the eye.
And said through his teeth; “Threaten me again, and I’ll do to you what I did to your brother.”
Turning pale, Padrick took a step back. “What?”
Selma tapped him in the forehead and smiled. “Boom.”