Her friend squealed and leaned back. “Jennika, you’re going to set the table on fire!” A napkin had already caught flame.
A nearby boy dumped his glass of water on it and Jennika, the not-girlfriend, shoved up from the table and left. I couldn’t help but feel that Zyacus hadn’t been completely upfront with the extent of his relationship with her. Something I’d have to ask him about later.
After a few moments of completely and utterly uncomfortable silence, Zyacus said to the entire table within earshot, mostly male, given that only a quarter of the Hesstian students at this academy were female, “I think you all know Princess Visteal.” He threw a thumb at Unibrow, “This bastard is Weston and the skinny one on the other side of him is Ronny. You’ve met.”
“I remember,” I said coolly. I remembered they laughed while Zyacus teased me.
“And if you remember, Tattoos is Mateo.”
“Hello, again,” Mateo said.
A pretty, copper-skinned girl, sitting across the table, with eyes I would say were a shade of pink, flashed a real genuine smile. “I hope this isn’t too odd to say... but I’ve always wanted to meet you. You’re so mysterious and can I just say what we’re all thinking, talented and beautiful. Like I don’t know what they are putting in the water at your castle in Delhoon but I want some.”
Looking at his plate, Zyacus grinned as he picked up his fork.
“Sorry, the king and queen keep that recipe locked in the vault,” I said and Pink Eyes burst out laughing.
“Visteal,” he nodded toward Pink Eyes, “this is Gracie. One of my best friends and like a third cousin or something.”
“Second cousin,” she corrected and stuck her tongue out at him. “I wondered when he’d finally make a move,” Gracie said and giggled as she picked up her glass.
The girl sitting directly across from me gave an off-putting smile then turned to Gracie. “Were you meaning a move for Jennika or her? Boys seem to change their minds so quickly.”
Gracie cleared her throat and took a drink rather than respond. Zyacus’s head snapped up and I could see his irritation smoldering into anger. “Everyone at this table, but especially you, Baila,” his eyes found hers, “better learn the meaning of respect or you’ll find yourself no longer at this academy if not in a prison cell.”
She looked down at her plate and didn’t say a word the rest of the meal. The authority and reverence he commanded made me want him all the more but it also made me question my own. I should have been the one to say what he said, should have been the one to shut her down. I had as much power as he did in getting someone removed from this academy.
I ate my breakfast and listened mostly to Gracie who kept the conversation light from then on, and I already liked her. She was friendly and funny, but most importantly, she might be one of the only girls at this table who didn’t want to murder me.
An echoing chime told us it was time to go to class. The loud chatter of hundreds of conversations spilled out into the hallways while we stood in the line to exit. Zyacus right beside me was a full head taller and I wasn’t short, I loved it.
“That went pretty good, I’d say.”
“Except for when—” I had to stop myself from saying, your girlfriend, “Jennika almost set the table on fire. But I like Gracie.”
“I knew you would. Everyone likes Gracie. She’s one of those people that you’re just drawn to.” He didn’t mention anything about Jennika, but he couldn’t avoid it forever. Especially after the comment Baila made that nearly got her thrown out of this place.
Chapter 28
As we stepped into our class, Professor Tessam smiled at us as if she’d heard some good gossip. We sat at our table and when everyone arrived she began her lesson. When her face lit up with mischief, I knew today would be different. “Magical dueling.”
That was usually a class all on its own or an extracurricular activity, but I was intrigued.
“Some recent events have me wanting to make sure you’re prepared for—anything.” The knowing look on her face when she turned toward me, said she’d heard about our run-in with the vampires.
Apparently the adults weren’t telling everyone what sort of dangerous people we had creeping about. And after considering it, I didn’t think it was because students would be scared. It was because many would go looking for them, looking to fight, and most wouldn’t be ready for it. The speed of the blood drinkers alone was difficult to contend with.
“Grab a cloak or jacket, we’re going outside.”
With a wave of her hand a rack rolled out of a closet and all of us jumped up to grab one. I found a black suede jacket and the inside was soft with light gray fur. It was especially puffy at the neck area. Zyacus pulled on a light gray cloak lined with white fur and looked like a winter god.
When all of us lined up outside, Professor Tessam clasped her hands in front of her. “This will not be a one on one fight. It will be two against one.”
Someone murmured, “That’s not fair.”
And her steel gaze pinned to a white-haired girl in a gray and green uniform from Collweya. “Battles rarely are. When it comes to a real life or death struggle, it won’t be about fairness.” She walked to the end of the line. “You will be a one or a two and you will gather with your number.” She went down the
