Chapter 6 #3
“Pendragon,” I tried again. “Get the fuck off her. Didn’t you hear me? I said you’re done.”
She didn’t stop. Not when I shouted. Not even when Larissa gave a truly pathetic garbled moan.
Not even when I noticed Pendragon’s own knuckles starting to split and bleed from the impact of the blows.
So I jumped in, letting instinct take over.
One arm snagged around her middle as I hauled her body up and off the other girl.
Pendragon thrashed like a wild animal. Her elbow caught my jaw hard, and I saw stars. But I didn’t let go.
Where the fuck was Visha when I needed her? I scanned the courtyard, but she was nowhere to be seen. I owed her a talk. “Theo,” I yelled. “Get over here. See to Larissa.” Across the courtyard, I caught my cousin’s eye. He nodded and ran towards us.
Pendragon was still fighting me, teeth bared, lips pulled back as if she might even bite me. I didn’t want to hurt her, but I tightened my grip, tossing her over my shoulder as I cleared the ring and crossed the yard.
“Let me down,” she snarled, beating her fists against my back.
I ignored her. Inside, my dragon was roaring his approval of the way I was handling things, struggling to rise to the surface. I could feel my skin heating, the itch of scales just barely hiding beneath the flesh. Not now. Not here, I pleaded.
I made it to the corridor, out of sight of the class.
I dropped Pendragon to the ground in front of an arched window, and she stepped back, breathing hard.
Her green eyes glowed with fury, her hair whipped around her shoulders in a breathtaking halo of flame.
Slowly, her shoulders sagged. Her eyes reluctantly met mine.
“Pendragon,” I said slowly. “What the fuck was that all about?”
She blinked. “What?”
I shook my head. “You were beating—” I’d been about to say that poor girl but decided that wasn’t an apt description when it came to Larissa. “You were beating your opponent senseless. You weren’t holding back. At all. What were you thinking? Did you want to kill her?”
Pendragon stared up at me coldly. “Maybe. That a problem?”
“Trouble in class, Drakharrow?” a deep voice boomed.
I glanced over to see Sankara striding up.
The professor was a large man, pure muscle and bulk, with at least a few inches on me—and I stood at a decent six feet three inches.
He made quite an impression. Now his lips were thinned in displeasure.
And Sankara was one teacher I did not enjoy displeasing.
He was the kind of teacher who might actually kick your ass if you pissed him off too much.
He frowned. “I thought you were supervising for me today, Blake.”
“I am,” I said hastily. “I was. Pendragon just needed a break, sir.” I scratched my head. “Uh, there’s a student who might need to see a healer. I left Theo with them.”
Sankara glanced at Pendragon, then back at me. I could see him trying to put the pieces together. “A highblood student?”
“That’s the only kind we’ve got in this class besides Pendragon, isn’t it, Professor?” I said through gritted teeth.
Sankara raised his dark eyebrows as he looked Pendragon up and down. “Impressive. Good work, Miss Pendragon.”
I wasn’t sure he was going to say that when Larissa’s family complained to him.
“Thanks, Professor,” Pendragon muttered.
Sankara tilted his silver head. His tight curls looked as if they’d been freshly cropped.
He’d been growing a beard out. I’d heard some of the girls talking about how much he looked like a pirate.
I doubted they knew they didn’t stand a chance with Sankara.
I wondered if he and Rodriguez were still fucking—not that it was any of my business. “We’ll talk later, then.”
I nodded. “Professor?”
He stopped in the doorframe.
“I think Pendragon could use a break from class today,” I said meaningfully.
Sankara looked a little disappointed. “Very well. If you think that’s best.”
“I do,” I said firmly. “I’ll get her back to her tower.
” Well, to the door, anyhow. I’d never actually visited the House Avari tower, just like Kage wouldn’t dare to step foot in the Drakharrow one.
When Sankara was gone, I turned back to Pendragon.
She gazed out the window at the bright, snow-covered hills.
“Hey,” I snapped. “Let’s go. You’re done for the day. ”
She faced me with a glare. “Fine.”
I snuck a glance at her as we walked side by side down the hall. Then I held myself back, giving her a few minutes to calm down. I watched her breathing slow and turn more even. Only when we neared the Avari tower did I finally speak up.
“Now are you going to tell me what that was really about?”
“I wanted to kill her,” she said, not even bothering to look at me. “Isn’t that enough? Wasn’t it obvious?”
“Oh, it was obvious,” I agreed. “But it’s not enough.” I searched for words. “It’s not like you to … to do something like that.”
She stopped. “Why? Because I’m blightborn? Because we aren’t supposed to hurt highbloods? I mean, not really hurt them.”
“That’s not what I meant …” It was exactly what I meant.
“Why the fuck should I hold back, Blake? Tell me. I really want to know. I should have killed her. She probably deserves it. And at least then she …”
“Why? Why does she deserve it?” I demanded. “What happened?”
She looked away. “Just a little blightborn bullying as usual.”
“Larissa was part of it?”
She nodded, her face furious. “They can hurt us. They can drink us. They can kill us. So why can’t we kill them?”
“Mostly because you can’t,” I snapped. “You’re not capable of it.
Well, most blightborn aren’t. And if you are, well, good for you.
But do I have to remind you there’s only one of you and a hell of a lot more of them?
If you’d killed Larissa back there, what the fuck do you think would have happened? ”
She tightened her lips. “I don’t know. Enlighten me.”
“They could have surrounded you,” I said, a hint of fear creeping into my voice. “Theo and I, we might not have been enough. You wouldn’t have been able to take them all on. Not to mention the trouble you’d have been in …”
“Another tribunal?” she asked dully.
“Something like that. Or just a really fucking quick execution.” I ran my hands through my hair. “I want to protect you. I need to protect you. But if you act like that, then who knows what could happen.”