by April Marcom
I’d never wished death on another person, but I did at that moment. As long as Roman was alive, Luke was in danger. I hoped the Cinders would get to him before we did.
Tobias walked to his brother at their table and leaned down to whisper something in his ear.
Seeing my headmaster made me smile. I’d missed him and his fatherly way more than I can put into words.
His eyes became wide as he looked in my general direction. Then he got out of his seat swiftly and hurried toward his office. Hanghard pulled me along behind him.
“I need everyone’s attention now,” Cinder Headmaster called out from the table, his magnified tone instantly silencing the room. “North Havener Roman Armstrong has been charged with the kidnapping of North Havener Kristine Fayre and the attempted murders of North Havener Rose Jennings, Cinder Titus, and Cinder Knight.”
The buzz of everyone’s astonishment spread throughout the hall. We were halfway across the room, then, and I saw my roommates sitting at our table. But they weren’t talking like everyone else. They were staring at the Cinder headmaster, obviously very concerned.
It felt like my ankle would snap as I pressed it against the ground as hard as I could. I pulled against Hanghard, trying to stay and listen, but my feet slid and I stumbled as he dragged me on.
“SHUT UUUP!” Cinder Headmaster shouted. The room got quiet. “Time is short. I need your cooperation. The allegations against Knight and Fayre were put in place to throw Armstrong off until we could be sure it was him. Now we are. If you come across either of these two innocents, you will leave them unharmed. They were only acting as instructed to ensure that we caught the one responsible for threatening our Winter Competitions. I need every one of you, Cinder and Havener, to stop what you’re doing and aid in this search for Armstrong immediately. I must leave now to gather the rest of our students and inform them as well.”
Kids hurried out of their seats to leave the room—some looking confused, some scared, and some angry—as Hanghard flung me into Headmaster’s office and shut the door with both of us inside.
“Where is she?” Headmaster asked as Hanghard appeared behind me.
“I’m here,” I said, turning my arms out.
“Oh my dear girl.” Headmaster hugged me tightly. “I’m so glad you’re all right.”
“My master said not to let her out of your sight until he returns to talk to you,” Hanghard said.
“Yes, yes, of course. Thank you for bringing her to me.”
Hanghard grimaced and then disappeared before he left the room.
“What on earth happened?” Headmaster asked me. “And what’s this about Roman Armstrong?”
“It was all him—everything...”
Headmaster pulled his chair around the desk and sat beside me as I told the dreadful story for the second time that day.
“You’ve been through a lot,” he said, shaking his head when I was through. “I can’t believe Roman Armstrong did this. He’s always had a rather bad temper, but this...I just can’t believe it. What am I supposed to do with him?”
My first thought was to hand him over to the Cinders and let them deal with it, but I held it back out of respect for my headmaster.
He smiled over at me. “I’ll bet you could use a good rest and some ice for that ankle. I’ll call the hospital wing and have them send someone down.”
“Could you see how Luke’s doing?” I asked, grabbing his arm.
“Certainly.” He took his con from his pocket. “Call Dr. White, please,” he said when we saw Connie.
“Calling Dr. White.”
An extremely attractive man appeared a minute later. “This is Dr. White. Oh, hello, Headmaster. Is everything all right?”
“Not exactly. I need a medic to come have a look at Miss Fayre’s ankle. It’s hurting her pretty badly. And she’ll also need something she can rest on here in my office.”
“Did you say Kristine Fayre is there?”
I leaned into the picture. “I’m here, but how’s Knight doing?”
“The Cinder? Well, he lost a lot of blood and we had to take the bullet out of his abdomen. He’s a lucky kid, though. It barely missed his liver.”
“So he’s okay?”
“Yes, he’s asleep right now, but he’ll be fine.”
I let out an unsteady breath as tears came to my eyes.
“He’s in a lot better shape than Roman Armstrong. That kid’s going to need some pretty extensive surgery to repair his arm.”
“You have Mr. Armstrong?” Headmaster asked, as I felt relief in knowing he wasn’t still out there.
“Yes indeed. A couple of North Haven kids brought him in. He put up quite a fight, even though his bones are all over the place in that arm and he’s got a bullet in his shoulder.”
I must have shot him. In spite of everything, this really bothered me.
“Is it true that he kidnapped Kristine and he’s the one behind the attacks?” the doctor asked.
“Yes, unfortunately it is. I’ll be in to check on him later, but right now could I get those things for Miss Fayre?”
“Couldn’t we just go up there?” I asked.
“I’m not sure you should be walking around.”
“It’s okay. I really want to go see Luke.” I could suck it up and deal with the pain. Those few precious minutes I had with him that morning weren’t enough.
“If you’re sure, I suppose we could go up.”
“Thank you.” I reached out to hug him.
“I’ll send someone to meet you halfway with a pair of crutches,” Dr. White said.
“Thank you, Doctor. Headmaster Con, return.” He helped me out of the chair and kept an arm around me as we left the office.
“Oh—just a minute.” Headmaster left me beside the table closest to his office to go back inside. He reappeared with a con in his hand. “My brother refused to tell me where he found this. Wherever it was, we couldn’t track it. But he brought it to me the day after you disappeared.”
“Is that my con?”
“It is.”
“Thank you!” I gave him a good squeeze as he put his arm back around me.
Hunter was already running down the hallway with a pair of crutches when we walked out of the dining area. “Hey, Hunter,” I said, happy to see him.
“Hey, Kristine. Let me help you.” He handed me the crutches and walked beside me, doing his best to help Headmaster in helping me. “How are you feeling?” he asked me as we started to go up the stairs.
“Better, since Luke’s okay.”
“He’s the Cinder, Knight, isn’t he?”
“Mm-hm.” I needed to remember to use that name, even around the North Haveners.
“We’ve got him in here,” Hunter said when we reached the medical floor, stopping in front of the third door to our right.
Inside the room, we found Luke in a hospital bed with a blanket tucked under his arms, looking just as pale as before. It was scary to see him like that.
“Can I wake him up?” I asked.
“Probably not. We had to give him some anesthesia when we took the bullet out of his side, and it’s probably better to let him sleep as long as he can.”
I nodded and moved to the chair against the wall. “Can we wait here for his headmaster?” I asked mine.
“Of course we can, but I still think you need to rest.”
“I’ll get a cot and some ice,” Hunter said before he left the room.
I laid down the crutches and scooted my chair closer to the bed so I could hold Luke’s hand. It was freezing, so I rubbed it between mine until Hunter came back.
“Here you go, Kristine,” Hunter said a little later, pushing a cot through the door. “Why don’t you climb up here and I’ll look at your ankle?”
I moved my chair so he could put the fresh cot right next to Luke before I climbed on. Hunter ran his fingers all over from my toes to my knee. Then he turned my ankle around slowly. I winced a couple of times, but he didn’t seem t
oo concerned about the injury. “It’ll probably hurt for awhile, but I don’t think anything’s broken. You’ll want to use the crutches for the next couple of weeks, though.”
A terrible thought came to mind suddenly. “Will I be able to run in the next race?”
“Uhhh,” Hunter glanced at our headmaster. “Rose ran the last races two days ago.”
“Are you serious?” I stared with wide eyes as I felt hot fear rush to my cheeks.
“Yeah...are you okay? You look like you just saw a ghost.”
I looked down and shook my head. Thorn probably wanted me dead. “Did she win?”
“No, her leg was still pretty weak. She lost both races. On the plus side, Nadine’s team won in the soccer competition.”
I let out a breath of relief. Maybe Thorn would let it go, since she’d still won. “How about if I take some x-rays to be sure everything’s okay in there?” Hunter asked me.
“Okay.”
“Couldn’t we let her rest for a little while first?” Headmaster asked him. “She really has been through a lot.”
“Sure. I’ll come back to check on her later.”
I tucked Luke’s far arm under the blanket and decided to hold his other hand, as I lay down and closed my eyes. I didn’t think I would be able to fall asleep, but I was more than happy to lie beside Luke until he woke up.
Chapter Forty-One
~ Nine Lives ~
When I woke up, I was surprised to feel someone’s arms wrapped around me. I lifted my head and found Luke watching me, looking more like his old self. “Luke!” I said, pulling my arms free so I could wrap them around his neck.
He gave me a kiss and said, “Your friends are waiting out there for you to wake up, but I’d rather keep you to myself for a little longer.”
“What time is it?” I asked.
Luke leaned over laboriously to look at the clock on the wall. I sat up and looked for my headmaster, but he wasn’t there. “Three o’clock.”
“In the afternoon? How long have you been awake?”
“Not very long.”
The door opened and Harmony peeked in. She gasped and threw it open. “She’s awake!” Sassy and Nadine burst into the room with her and they all came to give me a hug.
“We thought you’d run away with Luke and we’d never see you again,” Sassy said into my hair.
“I wouldn’t do that. We’re sisters,” I said, pulling my legs toward me so they would all have room to sit on my bed.
“I told them that,” Harmony said, pretending to give Sassy and Nadine reprimanding looks.
Then she dropped my purse in my lap. “I brought you something. Headmaster said you’d be staying here until Luke leaves, and the doctor said Luke has to stay overnight for observation. Now you won’t get bored.”
I looked in the bag and saw a fashion magazine, my gold notebook, colored pencils, beef jerky, and a coke. “Thanks, Harmony.”
“I brought your favorite,” Sassy said, holding out a napkin wrapped around a bunch of bacon. “It’s from this morning, though, so it might not be good anymore.”
“That’s okay.”
“And I didn’t want to be the only one to come empty handed—” Nadine said, going to get something from the hall. She came back carrying two small plates, each with a big piece of chocolate cake on it. “I know how much you love cake, Kristine. Hopefully you do, too.” She handed one to me and one to Luke. “Sorry I thought it was you,” she said to him. “I should have believed Kristine when she told me you didn’t steal all that stuff.”
Luke shrugged indifferently and sat up slowly so he could take the cake from her.
“I’ll go get Hunter so he can take an x-ray of your foot,” Sassy said as she stood up to go find him.
“Could you shut the door, Nadine?” I asked when Sassy was gone.
“Sure.”
I waited for her to come back to ask Harmony my question. “Do you still have Luke’s safe?”
She and Luke looked at each other.
“Yeah,” she answered. “When you both came up missing, I thought the Cinders might come looking for it, so I hid it under the sinks in the bathroom. I wrapped a robe around it and put my shower bag in front of it. That way everyone would know it was mine. You can have it back whenever, Luke.”
He gazed at her solemnly. “I owe you one. Seriously, let me know if you ever need a favor.”
“You saved Kristine. I’d say I’m the one who owes you.”
He grinned as the door opened and Hunter walked in with Nadine. “Ready to get your picture taken?” Hunter asked me.
“You bet.” I left my things on my cot and grabbed the crutches.
All three of my friends fussed playfully over helping me all the way to the x-ray room, even though I would have been fine on my own.
“Which room is Roman in?” I asked Hunter as he walked us back down the hall.
“None of them. He’s in surgery right now and then Headmaster’s having him locked in a room upstairs until he decides what to do.”
I really hoped my headmaster wasn’t so naïve as to let him roam freely around North Haven again.
When my friends and I got back to the room, Luke was pretty quiet until Bane came to visit. “So, you survived even with our entire school out for your blood,” Bane said, coming to pat me on the back. “You’ve got nine lives. You know that, Fayre?”
We laughed and he went to sit by Luke so Luke could tell him everything that had happened since he was imprisoned. I did the same with my girls while trying to listen to everything Luke was saying. It was impossible, though, so I figured he could tell me what his last thirteen days had been like later.
Everyone left pretty quickly after that. On their way out the door, Bane asked Harmony if she wanted to hang out later. Maybe they understood that Luke and I needed each other after all we’d been through.
“Your headmaster came by while you were gone,” Luke said when we were alone.
“Really? What did he say?”
“He offered to make me a Havener.”
I gasped so loud that I coughed a few times. “That’s great!”
“I turned him down.”
The excitement instantly drained out of me. “You said no? I thought you wanted to be with me.”
“I do, but I wouldn’t belong there. Not as a Havener, anyway.”
“But we could see each other every day, like now. We could go to classes together and go out on the balconies. North Haven’s the most beautiful place on earth.”
“I like it here, though. I like it dark and underground with these guys. I’d rather be with you, but...what if my headmaster asked you to be a Cinder? Leave your friends and school to be one of us? Would you say yes?”
“No.” Southland Cinder High was the last place I’d ever want to live. And I understood what he was saying.
“I’ll still come see you every chance I get.”
“I know.”
A knock came at the door. Luke let out an irritated sigh. “When will everybody leave us alone?” he said.
“Come in,” I called out, hoping they hadn’t heard Luke.
“Sorry to bother you,” Hunter said, opening the door enough to stick his head in. “I wanted to let Kristine know her x-rays were fine. I’m still recommending you use those crutches for the next two weeks.”
“Thanks, Hunter.”
“So,” Luke said in a near whisper once the door was shut. “How did you get to the prisoner’s cells?”
I’d sworn on my life I would never tell anyone what Thorn did for me, but I’d also never kept anything from Luke and I knew he would take my secrets to the grave. So I told him the story, the whole story, filling in the gaps from that morning, since he couldn’t remember anything after passing out while he was chasing Roman.
“I can’t believe you did all that for me,” he said, lying down when I was finished, and cringing with the stab of pain on the way down.
“Roman would’ve killed you if
I hadn’t and that would have been a hundred times worse.”
“Guns don’t scare me.”
“They should.” I leaned over to kiss him. “You’re not immortal, you know.”
“I know.” He put one arm behind his head and used the other one to pull me down next to him and keep me there. “But the way I love you is immortal. It makes guns and anything else that tries to come between us seem trivial.”
“Yeah.”
Just thinking about the last two weeks made me feel exhausted. That very morning, I was still chained to a wall, convinced the guy beside me was dead. I didn’t want to think about it anymore.
“I got my con back. We could watch something.”
“Sounds good.”
I took it out of my pocket and let it rise from my open hand. “Kristine Con, play the SpongeBob Christmas special, please.”
For Luke and me, a good cartoon was always the best medicine.
Chapter Forty-Two
~ The Six ~
When I woke up later that night, the only light in the room was cast by a solitary torch. The clock on the wall told me it was five until midnight. Luke was passed out on his stomach in the next bed over, with his fingers spread out over my stomach.
Nature was calling, so I climbed out of bed, being careful not to wake up Luke, and hobbled down the hall to the bathrooms. The ones on the medical floor were extra-spacious, but also extra-cold. I went as fast as I could.
When I was finished, I saw Ripper and his headmaster heading for Luke’s room. I turned my arms and hurried back down the hall, grateful I was still wearing my shadow suit and that I hadn’t brought my crutches, even though my ankle was killing me. I bumped into someone I couldn’t see as I reached them and nearly apologized, but caught myself in time.
Ripper opened the door and waited while his master turned around and spoke into the empty hall. “You will all wait here until I send for you.”
I slid against the wall, hoping I wouldn’t walk into any more of however many people he was talking to, and entered the room just before the Cinder headmaster did.
What is this, an ambush? I wished I still had Roman’s gun as I looked around the room for anything I could use to defend Luke.
