King of Swords (Stormcloud Academy 1)

“He’s alive, though?” I asked hopefully, ignoring the ominous implication she was making.

“Three broken ribs, a jaw abrasion, a collapsed vertebra, a concussion, and quite a bit of internal bleeding. Herr Brant should be dead, but by some miracle, he lives.”

I sighed in blessed relief. Whatever awful thing she was about to append to this news, I didn’t care. Theo may hate me. He may have some cause to hate me, but it didn’t matter. He had survived.

“He is in the infirmary, quite deeply sedated. As for you, Miss Quinn, you will remain on campus until such time as I am confident you are innocent of involvement in dis attack.”

I stood creakily, basically sliding myself up against the wall. My bracing headache threatened to knock me unconscious. But I held myself together.

“Can I go see him?” I asked.

“You would be better to take care of yourself. Forget about him. Get up. Get busy. Get some fresh air. Anything can be made better mit fresh air.”

She stormed away, and I promptly vomited on my bare feet. Where were my shoes?

I stumbled back to my room to the unending delight of every cruel fellow student I passed. It was the most shameful walk imaginable. I had to pull it together and figure out what had happened.

Whenever I moved my head, it wanted to break in half. There was no way I could make it to the locker room for a shower, so I pulled out a basin and gallon of water I kept shoved behind the curtain and took a whore’s bath. How appropriate. Was that what I was? A whore? If so, I should at least get paid, shouldn’t I?

Even though I was aching and still wanted to be sick, I made short work of bathing, if for no better reason than to get Zephyr’s stench off me. Dressed and sans make-up, I drew in a deep breath and went out my door. It was Sunday—the day of rest.

The best idea I could come up with to clear my mind was a mountain hike. We’d been warned from our first day at Stormcloud not to walk the treacherous paths alone, even on a clear day. If you fell or got lost, your chances of rescue were nil.

On that morning, I decided I didn’t give a shit. Between being tricked into going down on the guy I most hated and being investigated for the attempted murder of the guy I liked, I figured tumbling off the Alps didn’t scare me that much.

It was a theme of my first month at Stormcloud Academy that no matter how awful my life was, I could turn to the mountain peaks and feel, only for a moment, that things would be okay.

I had never felt air like the air surrounding the school. Seattle was constantly at the mercy of water from above. The going theory for the origin of Stormcloud Academy’s name is that the founders loved how the estate was situated so high that the clouds were often below it. Like gods of Olympus, they were.

I just loved that the humidity couldn’t reach us. The air at that height was so sublimely bracing, like unfiltered life entering your lungs. So it was that I found myself—despite suffering from my first monster hangover—hoofing it over unforgiving rocky terrain, past budding primrose and germander speedwell, inhaling the energizing breeze.

I surveyed the peaks so sharp they seemed to slice the sky. I tried to remind myself that, for all the awfulness of the last twenty-four hours, my life wasn’t over. Theo was alive. So was I. As for my encounter with Zephyr … well, best not consider that too deeply.

I couldn’t help it, though. Something within me felt different. Something primal, chemical.

I’d never bared myself to a boy before. I’d never taken a guy between my lips, tasted his essence, coaxed him to orgasm. I had never in my life been that close to my own orgasmic pinnacle …

Then, to have it snatched away. Not that I wanted to grant Zephyr Williams any more access to my body. At least, my mind insisted that.

I would say my head was in the clouds, but as previously established, it was located half a mile above them. Regardless, I wasn’t paying attention. My left foot, the side facing the cliffside, turned awkwardly over a stone wedge. I fell to one knee but caught myself fast.

“Holy shit,” I muttered to myself.

“Are you okay?” The voice rang out in the thin mountain air. Its familiar South-of-England accent was unmistakable. After a moment, Gail caught up and hugged me from behind. “You scared the life out of me,” she whispered in my ear.

We stood up together gingerly.

“Twice, actually,” she continued. “I was worried sick when I couldn’t find you this morning. I heard about the awful attack on Theo. I searched all over campus for you. Then, I saw you traipsing out onto the cliffs alone.”