11. Silas
Chapter 11
Silas
“Well, slap my ass and call me Sally,” Mason says dryly. “Is that...?”
“Nim fucking Winters,” Knox replies.
“What the hell is she doing here?” I ask, and Knox turns to look at me with a frown.
“Let’s find out, shall we?”
Mason lets out a quiet rumble of a laugh as we head down the path toward Nim. “Wouldn’t it be hilarious if she’s going to school here?”
“Hilarious?” Knox shakes his head. “No. It would be bizarre.”
“How did she get in?” I realize my hands are in fists and hurriedly shove them in my pockets. “I thought you have to live in Cinderhart to go to school here?”
Knox holds up his hand, counting off on his fingers. “Resident of Cinderhart, three unrelated sponsors, and the first year’s tuition up-front.” He lets out a grim laugh. “She’s not a student. She’s a tourist. Follow my lead.”
The girl next to Nim goes stiff when she sees us approaching. She grabs Nim’s arm and tries to lead her away, but Nim has those big, doe-like eyes fixed on us and she isn’t budging. Even when the three of us stop right beside her.
“Where’s your visitor’s card?” Knox asks, all steely voiced and dead eyed.
Nim’s friend steps forward, herding Nim behind her like an overprotective mother, but her voice quavers when she says, “She’s not a visitor. She’s a student.”
Knox’s lips twist into something unpleasant. “She’s not in uniform.”
Her friend’s voice drops to a whisper. “She only just got here.”
Knox cocks his head. “Have you forgotten the rules, Ms. Furino? Students aren’t allowed on campus grounds during school hours if they’re not in uniform.”
I know Knox is the Student Body President, but I’m still flummoxed by his ability to remember everyone’s names.
Nim pushes past her, standing in front of Knox for all the world like she doesn’t remember who the fuck we are. “I don’t have a uniform yet. Maybe yours was waiting for you the day you arrived on campus, but we can’t all be as fortunate as you.”
She’s even prettier than I remember, and I made a point of remembering her. We all did. We couldn’t help it.
That afternoon in the Silverash Forest, this girl ruined something special. I haven’t forgiven her for that. I doubt the others have either. I’ve thought a lot about her since then. At night, in the dark. I thought about the things I would do to her, how I’d make her pay for destroying that special moment between Lorenzo and us.
How we’d make her pay.
Now she’s here, within reach, and all I can think about is the way she thrashed when Mason and I held her down so Knox could mark her. He told her to remember us. It’s obvious she does…but I expected fear in her eyes, not anger.
Knox gives her a cruel smile and snaps his fingers. “Bennett.”
Mason reaches down, grabs Nim’s legs, and tosses her over his shoulder like a bag of coal. Knox always makes a show of claiming dominance, and Mason has been his right-hand man since they were kids. I just wish I knew where I fit into all of this.
Furino’s mouth falls open. Nim is so shocked, she squeals—drawing the eye of every student in earshot. My first instinct is to fade into the background, but this isn’t the worst thing we’ve gotten away with here at the Academy.
“Put me down!” Nim shrieks, and starts banging her fists against Mason’s back. She stops when he grabs her ass through her jeans, holding her in place so she won’t be able to struggle off his shoulder.
“Room number, Furino,” Knox says, waving his hand toward the girls’ dorm as he completely ignores Nim.
“What?” the girl bleats.
“I assume she’s your roommate, else you wouldn’t have given her the time of day. Now what’s your room number? Or should I write you up for insubordination?”
I glance around under my lashes. All the students are staring now, and not a single one of them looks ready to stop this. Some are even laughing. Eating up the show.
Because Knox is the reigning bully champion, or because Nim is an outsider with no one in her corner? Even Romi’s cheeks are red with embarrassment.
Nim grabs hold of Mason’s blazer, using her grip to push up so she can glare at her friend. “Don’t you dare?—”
“213.” Romi drops her eyes as she backs up and whispers, “I’m sorry, Nim.” Then Romi’s gone, walking away so fast it’s almost a jog.
Nim’s still staring after her friend, but when Knox and Mason head for the girls’ dorm, those hazel eyes meet mine, fury sizzling in their depths.
I give her a cold smile. That anger flickers, then fades. There it is. There’s the fear.
Seems Lady Liberty remembers us after all.