Chapter 29
Chapter twenty-nine
The chatter is loud.
I should have waited a bit and not eaten at peak hour, but I need to see Ambrose. I dropped my bag in my room, took a quick shower in the communal bathrooms, and donned a fresh pair of gray… everything. Every article of clothing I now own is some shade of dull gray.
Bleak and monotonous.
With frantic steps, I headed straight here. He isn’t slipping through my fingers again.
I spot Finnley, Mallory, and a few other Veils I recognize sitting in the center of the dining hall.
The long wooden tables are crammed with students and their vivacious appetites.
I squeeze through a table of rambunctious third-years and slide into an open seat directly in front of Mallory.
Her wide smile greets me, and her large moss-colored eyes crinkle at the edges.
“Aren’t you going to eat?” she asks around a mouthful of sandwich.
I give her a quiet shake of my head. “Nah, don’t really have an appetite right now.”
I feel eyes on me and look a few seats down past Finnley. The second-year captain from the bonfire is pinning me beneath her scrutiny. I give her a little mock wave to let her know I see her and don’t give a shit what her problem is, then turn back to Mallory.
“Who’s the ball of sunshine skewering me with her eyes?” I ask, tilting my head in the girl’s direction.
Mallory, without an ounce of discretion, leans her peacock-blue head over her tray before bringing her attention back to me. “Willa Hinx. She’s a second-year and a bit glacial, but other than that, pretty cool.”
I somehow seriously doubt that, but don’t voice my opinion. I’m here for something else. I scan the hall for Ambrose.
“Not here yet,” Mallory says, studying me.
Either it’s obvious who I’m looking for, or she’s dipping into her manifestation.
Finnley finally notices I’m here and leans across the table, offering up a fist bump.
I tap it lightly with my knuckles, and he sits back down, his eyes smiling before his mouth can catch up.
“You’re finally joining us for a meal. Thought you only slunk in to get food when everyone left,” he teases.
I give him a tired smile. “I just need to talk to someone today. I’m not actually here to eat.”
He closes his eyes briefly before opening them and giving me a nod of understanding. He knows why I’m here. He also knows exactly how much his earlier words impacted me.
He angles his head, gesturing behind me. “Incoming,” he mouths.
I twist in my seat, and my gut follows suit.
Ambrose is walking in, head down, with Yaretta at his side. They’re not touching but walking close enough together that my stomach roils, and I’m glad I haven’t eaten anything yet.
I take a deep breath. I’m going to need it.
Standing without so much as a fare thee well to my friends, I walk toward the duo. Ambrose looks up at my approaching footsteps right before a tender grin appears. Yaretta raises her head to see what he’s looking at, when I stop in front of them, and her sneering gaze falls on me.
I raise my fist back and smash it into her face.
She huddles over, gripping her nose, blood flowing through her fingers. “WHAT THE FUCK?” she screams, her voice garbled from the gushing blood.
Ambrose grabs her shoulders, turning her toward him, attempting to assess the damage. “What the hell, Norissa. What was that for?” he demands in a harsh tone. The tone of a captain, not my best friend.
Better yet, the tone of a disloyal best friend.
Before I can reply, Yaretta pushes past Ambrose and comes for me.
The lower part of her face is covered in blood, which is dripping onto the floor.
Her eyes promise retribution, but I’m beyond the point of rational thought.
As her bloody fingers sink into my hair, I grab the back of her head and push it toward the floor.
She tugs the hair clutched in her fist, causing water to pool in my eyes.
She’s bent over, face downward from my grip.
I don’t even think. I pull my fist back and thrust it upward.
The uppercut isn’t clean and definitely not skilled, but it’s enough to cause her head to fly backward and her grasp to loosen on my hair.
Thank you, Corinne. Those endless drills that I bitched about the entire time came in handy.
I’m not as soft as I was when I entered the academy.
I have a long way to go, but I can feel strength in areas that weren’t there before.
Endless hours under Corinne’s drills and Kingston’s watchful glare have honed my body slightly.
But that’s all I need.
A slight upper hand.
In this case, directly to her jaw.
She screeches and lunges for my hair again, but I continue to throw punches, determined to stay out of her bloody grip.
Ambrose grabs her around her waist, and a pair of strong arms wrap around mine. I’m pulled off my feet, arms still thrown out in an arc, trying to land a hit. Ambrose is ordering Yaretta to cease, his face a mask of fury at the entire ordeal.
I angrily push the loose hair out of my face. I can feel blood smeared along my cheeks and forehead, courtesy of her bloody nose. I’m practically vibrating with hatred as she squirms in his hands, throwing all kinds of curses my way.
Too bad she’s a fucking Veil and doesn’t have the ability to follow through.
“Careful, Heathen, you might want to tuck that darkness back in,” Kingston whispers in my ear.
I’m still so fired up that I don’t even care he has his arms wrapped around me, one right below my breasts and the other tightly around my midsection, effectively keeping me stationary.
“This isn’t over, you bitch,” I warn her, my nose scrunching in fury.
Her broken face contorts in rage.
A dark chuckle trickles over my ear. “That’s my girl,” Kingston breathes.
Ambrose’s glacial eyes rise over the top of Yaretta’s head to land on the arms wrapped around my midsection. They narrow, and his lips pull up in a snarl. Unfortunately, he can’t do much about it because if he lets go of the banshee in his arms, this whole charade is going to continue.
I sure as shit wish he would. I’d love nothing more than to land a few more hits.
I pull at Kingston’s fingers, fighting to get loose. Red clouds my vision, and I want to tear her from Ambrose’s arms. Those same hands that were on me not that long ago are currently wrapped around her.
His eyes fall to my face, disappointment etched in every single line.
Well, you know what? Screw you, Ambrose!
It’s because of him we’re in this mess. Maybe if he had thought about how walking into a dining hall full of students with a past lover might make me feel, we wouldn’t all be covered in her blood.
The dining hall is completely silent now except for the insults thrown back and forth between Yaretta and me, and the occasional harsh explicative Ambrose throws at the ceiling.
Kingston is quiet behind me, his arms holding me in place, but he’s not trying to subdue my words.
He’s just keeping me stationary. He’s letting me get it all out verbally.
Finally, when Ambrose hands Yaretta off to another high-ranking Veil who carries her out of the dining hall, kicking and screaming, the fight leaves my body. I all but go limp in Kingston’s arms.
Ambrose storms over, fury overtaking his features. “What the hell was that all about, Nori?” he seethes, leaning in close to my face.
“Why don’t you tell me?” I snap back.
He exhales loudly and raises his harsh glare to the man standing behind me. “You can let her go now, Adair,” he orders.
Kingston stiffens behind me. “Careful, Ballard. I don’t follow your orders. I outrank you in more ways than one,” he says in a quiet, lethal tone.
Ambrose grinds his teeth and steps forward.
I tap Kingston’s thigh. “I’m good. You can let go of me now,” I say. The last thing we need is another fight breaking out. This one would make mine with Yaretta look like child’s play.
His arms slip from my waist, and he steps back.
I turn to look at him to say something. I don’t know if I should thank him or yell at him for pulling me off her.
His bronze eyes are unreadable as usual, the obsidian ring adding a touch of forbidden to his stoic exterior.
His hair is slicked back, the top slightly longer than it was when I first met him, although the sides are still just as short.
His lips lift in a smirk, and he tilts his head at me in a silent acknowledgment.
He raises his head and throws one last glare at Ambrose, before heading toward a table full of Noctryns who are watching the ordeal like their favorite pastime.
I can’t look away as he sinks into a chair, the aura of a predator coming off him in waves.
Koa throws him some kind of fruit, which Kingston catches with one hand before sinking his teeth into it. Koa must feel me staring because his ash-colored eyes fall on me, his braids tumbling over his eyes as he grins in my direction.
“Have you lost your mind?” Ambrose voices, full of reproach.
I swivel my head back to him, my fingers itching to smack him across the face. I’m not sure where this violence is coming from, but I won’t lie and say it doesn’t feel good to just let it out. All of it. To not be a doormat for once.
I move closer to him. “Well, Ambrose, where do you think it’s coming from?” I ask, dissent lacing my words. I have to raise my head to glare at him, which loses some effectiveness, but standing on a chair would look ridiculous.
“I don’t know, Nori. You tell me,” he growls.
“Oh, now I’m Nori. What happened to Norissa?”
“You’re unbelievable. What’s gotten into you?”
I laugh darkly. “If I have to tell you why I’m absolutely seething right now, then it’s not worth my time to explain.”
He narrows his eyes at me. “Are you jealous?”
I throw my hands in the air. “It isn’t about jealousy, Ambrose! It’s about respect. Which you clearly don’t have for me,” I finish.