CHAPTER 20
I practically face-planted into my soup at dinner.
After refusing to miss any of my classes, I was beyond exhausted.
At least Thorne hadn’t made me train with him during my free period.
In fact, he’d told me to lie down instead—which I hadn’t done.
If I had, I wouldn’t have been able to get up again.
Thankfully, he hadn’t followed me around the entire day, but he was serious about the phone thing.
He’d literally texted every hour to check if I was still alive.
He was watching me now, his gaze blatantly locked on my little corner of the dining hall as he conversed with Oz and Riku.
I couldn’t hear him, of course, the dozens of voices around me louder than usual.
Everyone was talking about my curse, including Blaze.
Alma seemed quieter than usual, at one point telling Blaze to shut up when he got too boisterous.
I tried to listen in, to catch him confessing to the crime, but I kept dozing off.
In a few more minutes, everyone was going to know just how hard that curse had wiped me out. I’d be a sitting duck if anyone tried to pick me off at this point.
Valiantly trying to keep my head up and eyes open, I glanced over at Thorne’s table again—and saw that Riku and Oz were missing. Before I could wonder where they’d disappeared to, two big bodies sat in the seats beside and across from me.
“So, here’s the thing,” Riku quietly said, his shoulder brushing mine as he leaned in close. “Thorne is pretty certain you’re going to resist switching tables, so he sent us over to change your mind.”
I frowned, my brain taking longer than usual to understand his words. Switch tables? As in, me sitting at their table? I didn’t know what to think let alone feel about that, not when I was this tired, so I just mumbled, “And how will you do that?”
“By whipping out our dicks and wagging them in your face until you give in.”
What the—?
“No, we won’t,” Oz said, shooting his friend a death glare.
Riku shrugged. “Suit yourself. But I will.” Making good on his threat, he stood and reached for his belt to unbuckle it. When he popped the button on his pants and started to tug down the zipper, I knew he was serious.
“Okay, I give in,” I groaned, waving at him to zip back up.
Something like disappointment flashed in his eyes. “Really? I was hoping you’d resist a little.”
“Nope. I’m too tired and have already seen enough dick for one day.”
Riku barked a laugh, and even Oz cracked a smile.
“Beautiful, dangerous, and witty? I’m smitten,” Riku hummed while fixing his pants.
Despite my exhaustion, I melted a little at his words. I definitely understood why girls clambered to sleep with him. Charm practically oozed from his pores.
Pushing my chair back, I stood, only for a wave of dizziness to hit me. I gripped the table’s edge, doing my best not to hunch over as the spell passed.
“Want me to carry you?” Riku crooned in my ear.
“Back off,” I grumbled, reaching for my tray.
Riku plucked it up before I could. “Cranky, too. I like it.”
As he led the way around the table, I finally realized that we had an audience.
One quick peek confirmed that every eyeball in the dining hall was on us, on my walk of shame—or maybe walk of victory?
I didn’t really know yet. Thorne had publicly rejected me my first day here by booting me off the third year table. Now he was inviting me to it.
What would that say to the rest of the student body? That he’d accepted me? Allied with me? Not out of choice, anyway. He was simply saving face again before I made a fool of myself—and therefore him—by passing out in my food.
With each step, the room grew more and more quiet, the heavy attention making my skin feel too tight.
Everyone knew that Thorne was my mentor and that the Arcane Three were a package deal, but none of the other first years had been invited to their mentors’ tables or included in their alliances.
Not that they were actually allying with me, but to everyone watching, it sure looked like it.
As we came even with Alma and Blaze, I prepared to receive twin glares.
Riku was Alma’s mentor, after all, and he wasn’t carrying her tray over to his table.
But I didn’t expect Blaze to speak, to tell Alma loud enough for everyone to hear, “Whoever cursed her was an effing genius. If only I could have seen her bleeding all over the place like a stuck pig.”
The words hit me a lot harder than I thought they would, and every inch of me went cold. When I faltered a step, a hand steadied me, fitting to the small of my back.
Oz.
In front of me, Riku’s shoulders tensed.
The only warning I got before my tray in his hands suddenly went airborne.
As it flipped, my almost full bowl of soup and glass of water slid off the slick surface and struck Blaze.
Liquid, along with chunks of meat and vegetables, sluiced down his head and clothing, plopping onto his lap.
As metal and ceramic crashed to the floor in a chaotic symphony, Blaze jumped up with a furious cry. “What the hell?”
“Whoops. How clumsy of me. It just flew right out of my hands,” Riku innocently said.
Too innocently. Absolutely no one would buy that. The guy had the athletic grace of a ballerina and ninja warrior combined. He didn’t know how to be clumsy.
Blaze whirled toward him, my soup still dripping off his dirty blond curls and onto his reddening face. Clearly not buying Riku’s lame excuse, he balled his beefy hands into fists, wisps of smoke emanating from them.
Not intimidated in the least, Riku slowly took in his handiwork, looking Blaze up and down before saying, “Wanna start something, tough guy? I’d like to see you do something other than run your big mouth for a change.”
Even more smoke came from Blaze’s shaking fists, his lips pulling back in a silent snarl. Riku lifted his hands between them and made a show of cracking his knuckles. Crack. Crack. Each crack was punctuated by a flash of topaz, his rings, his relics catching the light. Crack. Crack.
Yeah, Blaze didn’t stand a chance.
When Blaze hesitated, caught between ego and self-preservation, Oz spoke up from behind me, “I’d sit down if you value all that hot air. Fire is useless without it, and I’m guessing you are too.”
“Good one,” Riku said, sticking a fist out in our direction.
Oz reached around me to bump it.
Just like that, it was over. Blaze continued to stand, but it was clear he’d been put in his place.
He silently fumed, his fists still shaking as he watched Riku turn away and approach Alma next.
Leaning over the back of her chair, he spoke into her ear loud enough for those around us to hear, “You really should pick better allies, mami. This one’s only gonna blow up in your face. ”
His free hand mimed a bomb exploding, then reached back and gently tugged her golden brown braid.
She didn’t respond, yet her eyes followed him as he resumed his stroll around the table.
Oz pressed in close, his hand still on my back encouraging me forward.
I hesitated for another moment, the need for revenge rearing up again.
After what Blaze had just said, I was convinced more than ever that he’d been the one to curse me. He’d practically admitted to it.
I desperately wanted him to pay. Desperately wanted him cast out of this school like a discarded stray. He would know exactly how I felt then, and oh, how wickedly satisfying that would be.
Now wasn’t the time to confront him, though.
Besides being bone tired, I still didn’t have any evidence to convict him with.
Noticing my pause, Blaze swung his attention my way.
Our eyes locked, and I felt the full weight of his wrath.
Not letting my gaze waver, I looked deeply into those twin green pools of boiling hatred and told him without words that I knew. I knew he was guilty.
As a quivering sneer pulled at his mouth, I looked away and skirted around him, following after Riku. By the time we made it to the third year table, my body would have happily sat anywhere. Without an ounce of resistance, I gratefully sank into the chair beside Riku, stifling a relieved groan.
The second Oz and Riku took their seats, a deep voice across from me rumbled, “You two done making a scene?”
“No promises,” Riku replied with an unapologetic smirk.
Thorne grunted, and I finally glanced up at him to say, “I thought we had an understanding about the whole hiding behind you thing.”
He steadily met my faintly accusing gaze. “You’re not hiding behind me. You’re simply sitting across from me and socializing for once.”
“And eating better food.” Riku grabbed a plate from the table and motioned a server over, who hurried to fill the plate without comment.
When he placed it before me, my tired eyes widened a fraction. Salmon, mashed potatoes, and asparagus? This was like Michelin star level food. Despite how good it looked, I found myself saying, “I’m way too tired to eat all that.”
“Do it anyway,” Thorne quietly ordered. “You didn’t eat enough at lunch.”
He was watching my calorie intake now? Too exhausted to be annoyed, I picked up my fork without further argument and dug into the mashed potatoes.
One small bite, and my appetite came roaring back.
I was nearly done with the salmon when I finally realized how quiet it was around me.
Glancing up, I caught all three guys staring at me.
Awkward.
Reaching for the glass of water Oz had poured for me, I took a sip before saying, “Did you all want me over here just to watch me eat, or what?”
With his elbow planted on the table, Riku propped his chin in his hand to better stare at me. “She’s like a pocket-sized ball of sarcasm. Absolutely adorable. We should have brought her over here weeks ago.”
I blinked.
“Conversation will definitely be more interesting, that’s for sure,” Oz remarked, making me blink again.