I hated myself for the words I knew I had to say. But I looked him square in the eyes and with two years’ worth of frustration electrifying my words, I said, “All right, Bane. Have it your way. But if you harm even one hair on my beauty’s head, you’ll have more than the Adelgriefs to worry about!”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Aria
I flung myself onto my bed, crushed a pillow over my face, and screamed at the top of my lungs.
So, first I was dragged from my home, then I was framed for murder, bullied and ostracized like hell, and now I was being hunted for my power by four power mad kings? And let’s not forget they planned to use me as some weird-ass Queen weapon! Seriously God, what’s next?
As much as I didn’t want to, I knew I had to get to potions class. Which meant leaving the comfort of my fluffy, gloriously cushy bed sheets. I sighed, fighting my way off the bed.
I freshened up, slipped on my uniform and shoes, crammed my books and pens into my bag and zipped out the door.
This entire school was just one hallway after the next. First it was the blood red hallway, with the pukish green tiles, then the sassy pink one, with floors so marshmallowy soft, you were bound to lose a shoe or two on your way to class.
The students I passed didn’t seem as unfriendly as before. I mean, they weren’t smiling or anything. But they seemed to have finally gotten used to the resident Void freak enough not to bother looking up as I walked by.
Most of the attention I got was from leering jocks. They looked like something out of a slasher movie carrying swords, machetes, daggers, and scythes around like blood thirsty lunatics, just itching for the faction fighting to start back up.
I wondered, would Alexander or Bane stoop low enough to send one of those guys after me, scare the crap out of me to make me their queen? I bet those jerks would do anything to use my powers for their stupid fighting.
It was the waiting that really got to me, the knowing that at any moment I could be attacked.
I finally arrived at the big black door of Miss Crowley’s potions class and sighed.
Did I really have to go back in there? I turned the knob, pausing for a second.
After the big fuck up I’d made in her class yesterday afternoon and the hole I’d left in her ceiling, Miss Crowley had to hate my guts.
Wam! A hand slammed over the door, blocking me from opening it.
What in the hundred hells?
Attached to the hand was Rebecca, glaring at me, a putrid rage in her bloodshot hazel eyes. A glob of dusty looking brown hair sat crookedly atop her head.
“Rushing to class, are you!?” She shrilled. Her eyes flared open; her nails digging into my blouse in effort to pull me closer to her.
A stifling musk crept up my nose from behind, as Rebecca’s apish goons circled me, baring their crooked teeth, ready to strike.
“Did you really think I’d let you get away with taking my hair and stealing my boyfriend, you bitch?” She spat out, slapping me hard in the face and banging my back into the lockers.
I gripped my side, pain surging through my back.
Why won’t she leave me the hell alone already?
“I didn’t steal anyone!” I cried, as she came at me, pinning me to the lockers with her boney fingers digging into my chest, her goons hovering around us like hungry flies.
I actually felt sorry for her before, especially after I’d kissed Luca while she’s still nuts for him. But that’s all gone now. She’s a monster. No wonder he doesn’t love her.
“Luca says you broke up during the summer,” I pointed out, grabbing her hand and tearing it off me. “Get over him already, or at least leave me the hell out of this!”
I glared at Rebecca and her eyes flew to her goons and back at me nervously, as if she’d been caught in a lie.
“He left me yesterday!” She declared, head held high, as if to mask the lie. She then pointed an accusing finger right between my eyes. “But that was only after you stripped for him in the hallway. I knew you were cheap, but even a slut like you should have more pride!”
My jaw dropped and my heart fell to my stomach. How did she know about that?
“Oh, didn’t think I knew?” She said with a ghoulish little grin. “Think a room full of people could see my Luca chase some slut into an empty hall and nobody would follow you to take a look?”
I froze against the lockers, my brows furrowed, my cheeks blazing hot.
This evil bitch! Thoughts of my foot ramming into her stupid face sped through my mind. Never in my life had I wanted to kill someone until her.
“He’s the one that followed me, why don’t you go take it up with him?” I ground out through my teeth, fighting my balled up fist not to punch her.
“Why would I do that?” She huffed. “When we both know, you’ve cast an evil spell on him, with that black magic of yours.” She jiggled her hand as if talking about something so nasty she didn’t want anywhere near it. Her goons all nodded in agreement.
“Admit it, Void User, you’re forcing him to like you. Why else would he look twice at a thing like you?” Her nose turned up high as if she’d smelled something foul.
“Wow, I didn’t know I was powerful enough to enchant a man to propose.” I peered at her from under my lashes, sporting a fiendish grin.
“Pro-pro-propose?” She said breathlessly, her face going white as a sheet. “A wedding proposal?!”
“Yup! He asked me to be his Queen and everything,” I mocked.
“His Queen? I was supposed to be his Queen!” She stared at me with murder in her eyes and lunged at me, baring her claw like nails, ready to rip me apart.
Before she could reach me, her goons wrapped their hands around her, holding her at bay. “Not out in the open, Rebecca. It’s not war time. We’ll get into trouble,” one of the goons said.
“Let go of me!” Rebecca yelled, her face alight with rage, saliva springing free of her lips as she screamed at the top of her lungs. “You’re a liar! A goddamn liar! I’ll kill you!”
She reached for me, clawing at the arm of the goon that held her but I was just out of reach, pressing my back into the lockers, avoiding her nails.
“You’ve taken everything from me. And now I’m gonna take everything from you,” she snarled.
“I have nothing left to take, so good luck!” I shrieked and she stilled, the blind rage in her eyes somehow seeming to weaken, as if she’d heard something that pleased her.
She smiled now, her body relaxed, and her claws retracted. They set her down, and she walked right into me calmly, hand on her hip.
“Nothing to lose?” She laughed a sort of eerie giggle. “But you do have something, Void User.”
“That whore friend of yours, what’s her name? Cassandra?” Rebecca said, tapping her finger over her chin, looking up. “I wonder what people will say when they then find out she’s been fucking like fifty jocks all at once? Toying with people’s hearts isn’t very nice, you know. They’ll tear that girl to pieces; I don’t mean metaphorically either.” She and her goons burst into laughter.
I couldn’t say a word. I knew she was right. They’d rip her apart for sure if they found out. The guys at this school are total savages.
“That’s a lie,” I stated, hoping she’d believe my dishonesty. “Cas wouldn’t do that. She’s not like that.” My lips trembled through every word and her expression soured.
“You have no idea who you’re friends with, Void User,” Rebeca spat, throwing her head back. “She’s no more an angel than you are. But even so, her biggest mistake wasn’t sullying my faction with her dirty promiscuity, it’s being friends with the likes of you!”
Rebecca turned and stormed down the hall, her goons hot on her trail.
I watched them go, and the hall fell deathly silent as thoughts of Cas’s face, beaten and bloody, flashed through my mine.
Crap!
I gave a hard swallow. This can’t be happening. She’s my one and only friend in this god-fo
rsaken place and they’re going to hurt her? I have to warn Cas.
With the thought that Cas should be in potions class with me, I creaked the door open to potions class and quickly slid inside.
Cas was right there standing behind one of the many big black cauldrons that littered the room, each one had a student behind it, siphoning through the many ingredients on their side tables.
Mrs. Crawley had already started her lesson, and all eyes were on her. Desperate not to be discovered by the teacher, I crept over past Cas and stopped behind my cauldron right beside hers.
“To perfect the stunning potion, you need a healthy amount of blood meal to go with your beetle toe,” Mrs. Crawley said pouring the contents of her small red pouch into her cauldron.
Her thick purply black potion popped and sizzled and she jerked back, her eyes flaring almost in surprise, her long grey hair bouncing as she did. She had a long crooked nose, bent pointy black hat, and a permanent scowl burned into her wrinkled, makeup smeared face. Needless to say, she was not friendly.
“Well, apply it slowly, students; slowly is the key.” She steadily stirred her potion with a long wooden spoon.
“Cas, I need to tell you something,” I whispered covering my lips, stretching my head over to Cas just as her eyes fell on me.
“Miss Kolgrim!” Mrs. Crawley shrilled. “You’re late and you dare speak in my class?”
“Sorry, Mrs. Crawley!”
“I hope you don’t plan to blow another hole in my ceiling. I only got yesterday’s mishap undone.” She turned up her long nose disapprovingly, her arms bent at her sides.
“No, Mrs. Crawley, and sorry about that,” I ducked, turning my head away, embarrassed.
“Good! Well then,” she said, flicking her hand impatiently, “get to work!”
I focused on the large cauldron in front of me; it was dusty, black, and hollow with bits of dirt and cobwebs lining the rim. Ick. It even smelled terrible, like moldy socks and bitter tar.
Mrs. Crawley had finally turned around, looking back to the whiteboard.
“Love? Love, are you okay?” Cas whispered from beside me and I considered her for a minute, wondering what to say.
This morning, the only thing I could do was worry about saving my own skin, but now my only friend’s life was in danger and all because she decided to pick me for a friend. Would she hate me after I told her?
In a flat monotone voice I said, “Cas, it’s about the guys you’ve been seeing.” Her green eyes went black, as if she’d been poisoned by my words and her head snapped back to her cauldron.
“That is my private business,” she said curtly. “I expected better from you than to butt into my life.”
Then snatching up a bottle of rose oil from her side table, she carelessly hurtled it to smash into the side of her cauldron, and it glooped its way into her potion.
“Look Cas,” I pleaded, lowering my head not to be seen, “I still need to tell you…”
Bam! The classroom door flew open slamming into the wall. A gang of five rough looking Flamenado guys marched in, a big black sack over one of their shoulders. They just fanned out inside like they owned the place, not sparing a glance at Crawley.
Gasps filled the room, horror alive in the eyes of every student as the Flamenados scanned the area looking for something, or someone.
Crawley, on the other hand, barely spared them a glance before returning to stir her potion.
What the hell is going on here?
Cas grabbed me by the arm and then by the hair, pulling my head down in a fit of desperation. We were now both crouching down behind our cauldrons.
“I’ve heard about this,” she whispered, looking ready to jump out of her own skin. “That bag means they’ve come to take someone away.”
“What? Why?” I said
“They say this happens when someone pisses off the kings; someone in here is dead meat.”
A dry knot formed in my throat way too big to swallow. Sweat beaded and ran down my forehead.
God! They are here for me!
They continued to scan the room, stalking around like hitmen, searching for their mark.
I froze, clinging to my cauldron praying to the Gods, not to be seen.
“We’re looking for the Void User,” one of them said and my legs started trembling like a leaf.
Crap! Crap! Crap!
The room went silent as the eyes of all the students fell hard on me, betrayal sharp in their eyes.
Those judas’s! They wouldn’t. Would they?
“You’ve got till the count of five to reveal yourself, Void User! Or everyone in here’s gonna get it!” He boomed.
“One, two, thre…”
“She’s here! She’s right here!” The judas’s behind me shouted, waving their hands high like a neon billboard.
I slowly rose to face my executioners, my legs shaking but fire burning in my eyes.
If they were going to take me, like hell I’d go down without a fight.
“What do you want from me?” I demanded, hands at my side.
“You’ve pissed off the wrong King, Void User. King Bane sent us to teach you a lesson,” the one with the sack said as the others slowly stalked toward me, looking crazy and menacing.
“Oh yeah?” I mocked, holding my ground. “Well if Bane’s so mad, why’d he send you lackeys to do his dirty work for him? Isn’t your king man enough to do the job himself?”
“Oh, I’m here Void User.” A deep and dangerous voice sounded from behind and fear exploded in my belly like never before.
Please no, please god no!
My eyes crept closer and closer over to the door and there he was, my worst nightmare come to life. Darkening the doorway in deep virulent shadows was none other than the King of Hellfire himself, Bane Brighton.
“I’m here and I think I just might be a bit more man than you can handle,” he said with an evil grin creasing his lightly scarred face.
And next thing I knew, the black velvet sack came rushing over my head, swallowing me whole.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Aria
They dumped me out of the sack in an empty hallway and the relative softness of the bag was replaced by a cold hard floor to the face.
“Ahhh! What the hell?!” I screamed out while looking around. I was surrounded on all sides by snickering bullies. Bane standing at the hilt, arms folded, looking serious as death.
Bane grabbed me by the blouse, pulling me up to meet his eyes and rammed my back into the wall.
“What the hell is your problem, Bane?”
“That’s King Bane to you,” one of the goons said and Bane told him to shut up.
Brows furrowed, the thin scars on his face twisted up in annoyance. Bane got in my face and said, “So, think you can just blow me off, huh? Blow off your obligations?! You’re the Void User. Now do what you’re supposed to do and agree to be my and Luca’s queen already.”
Obligations? Did he actually think he had a right to me and my powers?
“You’re sick! You know that, Bane? I feel sorry for you. Living in all the carnage and hate in this hellhole’s made your heart black as coal!”
“Yeah?” He smirked, the side of his mouth twisting up into a grin. “And so what?”
“Can you really be happy like that? It must suck being an ass all the time. Don’t you ever tire of hatred?” His smirk faded at my words, replaced by a deep frown, his fingers digging deeper into my blouse.
“I don’t know, Void User. Do you? Even if they hate me, at least everyone at this school respects me,” he said, slamming a fist into his chest, “because unlike you I’ve got power!”
“No!” I snapped, struggling under the weight of his arm. “They’re afraid of you. That only means they hate you, they don’t respect you at all. It’s Luca they respect, you animal!” I said, choking out the words.
His face went red and tiny sparks of flame popped up, igniting his messy blond hair. His blue eyes almost glowing.
Bane punched the wall beside my head with lightning speed and the concrete broke apart and huge chunks of it went flying, falling to the floor in molten globs.
His hair was abashed in flames and the blinding heat of it sent water pouring out of my eyes.
“Let go of me!” I demanded, struggling under his powerful grip. “I said let go!”
As if in answer to my prayer, the Void exploded from my chest. The air around us then got heavy and dark as a choking miasma filled the room.
Bane was now coughing, uncontrollably, caught off guard by the sudden smokey mist. He released me to pound his chest, forcing his lungs to breathe. His men also exploded in a roar of coughs and gasps for air.
I tore down the hallway, quickly escaping the thick clouds of poison. My heart pounding, I dared not look back as I beat the ground, passing a string of windows and notice boards.
I begged, giving a silent prayer to whoever would listen that I’d buck up on a crowd of people soon.
“Stop running!” Bane yelled as the pounding of angry footsteps followed me down the hall.
I gave out an ear-splitting scream and sped up, going as fast as my tired legs would take me.
With every bend and corner I took, they were never less than three or four feet behind, cursing and reaching for me.
Then, with a crack, crack, crack a slew of rotten eggs pelted me in the back, the putrid slime running down my legs.
I wanted to vomit, the terrible stench stung my nose and burned my lungs. Still, I kept running until…
Several more eggs hit the ground in front of me, too quickly for me to dodge and I slipped, crashing hard on the cold tile floor.
Chased by Darkness: A Reverse Harem Academy Romance: (Four Kings Academy Book 1) Page 13
