Chapter Twenty-Two #2
‘I wonder,’ I lean forward, pursing my lips, ‘how much air you must inflate inside that head of yours to make it that big each day.’
Helena. That’s her name. Her dark eyes whip to mine. ‘What did you just say?’ she asks in a deadly tone.
‘It really is impressive.’ I smile. ‘In fact, if I close my eyes, I can almost picture your teeny-tiny brain bouncing around in there with all the space you’ve given it. Tell me, do your thoughts echo?’
Helena’s face tightens with rage. In the corner of my eye, I spot Xavier’s shoulder shaking with silent laughter. Someone behind her at another table lets out a snigger, but she doesn’t turn. Her focus is entirely on me, which is where I wanted it.
‘You’ve got a sharp tongue, Nocthare,’ she says. ‘Too bad it’s wasted on a magicless gutter-rat.’
‘And gutter-rats don’t get to eat in the dining hall,’ I hear one of her lackey s growl into my ear before his hand snatches past me and steals the coffee from my tray. Rude. I wanted that. ‘They eat outside in the trash.’
‘You’d know, wouldn’t you? It’s where you found your personality,’ I quip, annoyed now.
‘Bitch,’ he mutters before taking a long drag from my cup, winking at me as he wipes his lips with the back of his hand.
Suddenly a slash of cold air hits my chest, shoving me back down in my seat. My hands snap out to grasp onto the table to stabilise myself, but the tips of my fingers grab my tray instead. It flips up and the food careens toward me, spilling into my lap and the floor.
I hear Tilly’s gasp from across the table, muffled by Helena’s vicious cackle. ‘Perfect ! Go on, gutter -rat, eat your food off the ground.’
Helena is a bully. I could tell that from the moment she stepped out of Agate on ceremony day.
But I also know she won’t truly hurt me, not in such a public setting.
Despite what I said before, she’s too intelligent for that.
She’s just the type of person who wants everyone to know she has the loudest bark in the room.
I can feel dozens of eyes lingering on our table.
Silent observers eager to see what happens next.
I try to school my breathing into a steady rhythm.
My natural instinct is to react, to lash out or say something that’ll no doubt anger her more.
Because while she’s all bark, my instinct is to bite.
I try to rein that in as I flick the food off my clothing and onto the floor with the rest of it.
But then I see Tilly start to rise from her seat and I pause.
‘Helena!’ she starts, whirling around to face the student who stands a good head taller than her.
‘If you—’ her words are cut off when another male student grabs her by the shoulders and shoves her back in her seat.
She falls into it unceremoniously, whacking her back against the table with enough force for the entire thing to shift.
I see red. Any attempt at calming my thoughts flies out the damn window.
‘Sit the fuck down, Revlock,’ he hisses, forcing her to lean back as he looms over her, placing his hands on either side of her body on the table.
The knife up my sleeve drops into my waiting hand, my fingers curling around it and in one swift movement, I leap forward and stab the knife right between his index and middle finger. Nicking the skin just the perfect amount to draw some blood.
His eyes flare wide; his head snaps up to meet my deadly glare. I hear several gasps around us.
‘Touch my friend again,’ I warn, cold and low, ‘and next time the knife will go through your starsdamn hand!’
A crease forms between his brows, clearly noting the seriousness in my tone. His hands slide off the table as he rises to stand up. My fingers stay wrapped around the handle of the knife that’s wedged into the table.
‘You’re crazy,’ he spits, wiping the small amount of blood in between his fingers on his pants.
‘And you’d do well to remember that.’
Someone suddenly coughs loudly behind me.
It’s wet and rattly. I glace over my shoulder to find the student who stole my coffee holding his throat.
His eyes are bloodshot, and his lips look almost swollen as he erupts into a violent coughing fit, mouthing words that have no sound.
The cup slips from his hand, the remaining contents spilling on the floor, splattering all over his black shoes.
‘Jamie?’ Helena shouts, rushing forward. Her entire gang moves as one, surrounding him as he suddenly drops to the ground, gasping for air that he seemingly cannot get.
What the hell? Xavier and I leap away from the table, moving off to the side as Helena starts screaming for a healer. The entire dining hall erupts into chaos.
Tilly joins Xavier and me, her eyes dancing along the floor until she finds what she’s looking for.
‘Move,’ she demands, pushing past one of the girls that stalked over with Helena to pick up the coffee cup.
She tilts the empty cup to peer inside. What she sees has her face turning pale.
Slowly, she looks back our way, horror darkening her eyes.
‘Poisoned,’ she mouths, her hand starting to shake.
My stomach plummets.
Poison? I look down through the swarm of bodies that surround Jamie, only to find his lifeless eyes staring at the ceiling. Blood and spit pool out of his mouth, spilling down his cheek.
Dead. He’s dead. From drinking my coffee.