Fallen University: Year Two

Sonja.

Goddamn it. What the fuck is she doing now?

Xero and I shared a look and hurried around the corner, where we found her pinning a kid to the wall. It was Taylor, the same kid who had flipped out in the cafeteria. The fucking sixteen-year-old who was in way over his head and had just been trying to blow off a little steam.

Fury exploded inside me.

“Hey! Back the fuck off!” I shouted as I ran over to her.

Breathing hard, she turned to me with wild eyes, one hand still pressing the kid into the wall. “You back off,” she snarled. “This kid’s turning evil, just like Wyatt!”

I grabbed her arm and yanked it away from Taylor, who crumpled to the floor and held his head as he hyperventilated.

“Jesus! Look at him. He’s not evil, he’s just stressed out!” I gestured toward him, glaring at her as I stepped in front of him. “He’s having a hard time being stuck down here, just like the rest of us.”

“Bullshit! He’s flipped sides, you saw how he went after the cafeteria staff!”

She made a move to dart around me, but I shifted quickly to one side, blocking her with my body again.

“I saw a young boy get frustrated,” I said stubbornly. “What are you, the emotional stability watchdog?”

She turned her nose up at me, breathing hard. “Excuse me, but as an advanced student, it is my responsibility to ensure the safety of the school. Including culling the herd of traitors like him!”

“Traitor?” I scoffed. “Are you kidding me? If bad moods make someone a traitor, then the admins should haul you down to the dungeon.”

Strictly speaking, I wasn’t sure if FU actually had a dungeon. But the building looked and felt like a magical medieval castle, and they definitely had holding cells of some kind here. So as far as I was concerned, it was a potato-potahto situation.

Sonja’s emerald eyes widened, and her hands balled up into fists. She gasped dramatically. “You want him to turn evil! You’re rooting for this place to become infested with evil little Gavriel loving cockroaches!”

“Oh my God, are you hearing yourself? The fastest way to turn someone evil is to treat them like shit, so who’s the real bad guy here?”

I took a step forward, getting right in her face. As I did, it suddenly dawned on me that she and I had each collected our own crowds. The students standing behind her all moved forward as she did. The group behind me moved forward as well, and Xero put his hand on the small of my back.

Ah, fuck.

If we didn’t diffuse this, there was going to be an all-out brawl.

Why do I always have to be the bigger person, huh? Can’t I just fight this bitch for once without worrying about the consequences?

The answer, unfortunately, appeared to be “no”.

I held myself in check as Sonja took another step nearer to me, bringing us almost nose-to-nose, and narrowed her eyes.

“I’m watching you, Piper. I can see the change coming for you, just like it came for Wyatt and this waste of space.” She gestured at the kid who was still curled up on the floor. “You’re primed and ready to jump on Gavriel’s cock, aren’t you?”

“Go fuck yourself, red.”

She smirked, then pointed an accusatory finger at Xero. “And you. I still have my eye on you. You happy to be back home? Does the sulfur in the air just warm your wicked little heart? I’m watching you both, and I’ll do whatever it takes to stop you. Just know that.”

She turned on her heel, tossing her hair over her shoulder in true drama queen fashion. The crowd dispersed, suddenly remembering that they were supposed to be in class.

I knelt beside Taylor, who was finally starting to get his breathing under control, and put a hand on his shoulder.

“You’re a good kid.” I ducked my head to meet his gaze. “You’re going to get through this.”

Or none of us are.

Chapter Thirteen