3

The first night you pick your wards is the deadliest. People die, Rain. People lose vital body parts. A ward can only house two hundred students, aspirants, and Acolytes included. People would kill those in the wards they want to join to create an empty spot for them to move over. Be vigilant. Do not let go of your daggers and trust no one but yourself. Survive, my love. Survive.

~A GUIDE TO SURVIVAL AT KINGSBURY HIGH, GIFTED TO RAIN ANDREA, RIVERTON. FROM ELOISE RIVERTON (section1)~

CHAPTER 3

RAIN ANDREA RIVERTON

Fuck. 

Like clockwork, my body turned to where Malek stood. My eyes knew where to look because whether I liked it or not, his presence was always known. 

I froze.

Kai was nothing like I last remembered, yes he was breathtakingly hot in the past years I had known him. But now? His black hair fell on either side of his face in messy strands, I could tell he’d run his hands through them a couple of times already. 

Most boys in the hall had well-sculptured jaws, but his was sharp like the gods themselves had taken their time to design and mold it. There were his barely visible monolid-shaped eyes that hinted at his mixed races, one that wouldn't be noticed unless studied. Like I was doing right now. 

And holy heavens was this man tall.

His silver eyes held nothing as they swept over ward nine. Emotionless, cold and so fucking deadly. He watched us with an unreadable expression, we couldn't figure out if he saw potential, or failures. 

I hated the man before me, I despised everything he stood for, and yet, the second he crossed his arms, his muscles flexing over his black shirt, I gulped. Kai's all-black attire did nothing to hide the perfectly carved body beneath the clothing. Whoever had created him had to have spent three years doing it, maybe even earned a degree or two.

There were tattoos on his right arm, a Celtic knot woven with thick lines on his upper arm, and abstract, wave-like spirals that extended down, right above his wrist.

A dark aura surrounded him.

Most leaders from other wards were already addressing the aspirants. But Kai? He studied us from where he stood, leaning casually on a wall by the far end of the hall. Two tall guys were on either side of him. 

My heart began to race in an uneven tune beneath my chest, heat pricking my skin. My purple eyes threatened to change into a blaring green, the color that indicated fear. I shut them close. 

Not now, Rain. 

Opening it again, I froze. My eyes met his in an instant. I thought Kai was glaring earlier but I probably had my vision blurred, considering the death look his glare had shifted into. Rage vibrated off him, his jaw clenched. He recognized me.  

Shit! Of course he would.

I turned my gaze away, looking anywhere but at him. 

Aunt Eloise always said to never back down in an eye fight. But I’d bet she’d be pretty proud of me if she knew who was on the giving end of that fight. 

Another glance and he pushed off the wall, the other guys next to him following after him as he walked to where Ward nine had taken formation in threes. Eyes focused on me.

Silver eyes. Ones I recognized all too well. 

In slow but long strides, he was in front of us, standing behind the scorpion flag. 

If I thought Kai was huge from where I saw him earlier, it had to have been a mind fuck, because of him being this close to us? It was obvious he could take us all in a duel and kill the entire ward without breaking a sweat. 

Muscles were in the right places, broad shoulders squared off. The girls who took the first lines in our three rolls had their heads tilted backward to meet his gaze. Their heights ended in the middle of his chest.

“Move.” His voice was low and authoritative, commanding us. I couldn’t react, I couldn’t run. It didn’t matter that everything in me screamed to turn back. Screamed to say fuck the council and return to safety, but my legs wouldn’t budge.

He was going to kill me. He made that known years ago. And like he had ordered, the students that stood before me at the third line behind the scorpion flag moved out of the way so he could pass through. 

Everyone else waited for their turn to do the same. 

My chest felt like it was being pulled at. I tugged at the cuff on my wrist, a stiletto fell into my palm. One of my most used hidden weapons aside from my daggers, I wrapped my fingers around the curvy sharp little weapon.

The girl in front of me moved, and following her, my legs moved—

“Not you.” He frowned, voice deadly as he watched from the place he still stood. There was no one else in front to shield me from his view. 

Well, fuck. 

My brows went down but I kept his gaze, my index finger going over the sharp edge of the stiletto I hid in my fisted palm. Not quite visible but enough to throw towards him and split his head in half if he tried anything. 

I raised my chin in an act of defiance.

“Bold little thing, aren’t you?” Adam's apple bobbed, his eyes scrutinizing my body.

If he thought I was going to cower away like the scared little girl I once was, then I’d be happy to prove him wrong. “I don’t understand what that means.” 

A smirk at the corner of his lip. “Oh, you will, Riverton. You will.”  

I grasped the small edge of the stiletto. “I’ll look forward to it.” 

“You will have nothing to look forward to if you are dead, Princess.” 

That damn nickname. 

My stomach churned instantly. “Are you threatening to kill me?” 

“It’s your reality. But I have a feeling I wouldn’t have to do it and you’d be dead either way.” 

The challenge in his eyes glittered as he turned away from me and to the others. They moved back to their initial formation, leaving me gripping the edge of my weapon. My eyes burned bright red with anger. 

Not if I kill you first. 

****

The main reason everyone looked at us with so much jealousy was the fact that Kai Malek ruled our ward. 

It was only natural that Ward nine would be the best Kingsbury had. Everyone knew Kai was the best in Oakblood, even I knew that. 

I guess Aunt Eloise knew that too or she would have told me to fight back, not run. 

That only meant one thing. According to the diary she had written for me, it was obvious where the focus of tonight’s bloodshed was going to be. Ward nine, section one aspirants.

Running a hand through my white long hair that fell to my lower back, I pushed my bed towards the window. My arms strained from its weight. I exhaled once it was in place, my heart warming from the astonishing view I now had. 

Trees stretched endlessly across the land outside the dorm gates, their dense canopies weaving into a deep green that rippled with the wind. 

While the main school was built like a castle, the dormitory was worse. It had a whole bell house, roofs that had spikes, and gargoyles that stood like sentinels at the entrance.

“I think this is my room.” A voice said from outside my door.

My gaze whipped to it immediately, hands pulling the dagger from underneath my boots, turning it so the sharp part went behind and the handle in my right hand. 

The door handle moved, creaking open instantly. A brown-haired girl stood there, her hair cut short at shoulder length and a lip ring at the middle of her bottom lip. Beautiful Latino features stared at me with utter challenge and surprise. 

“Who are you?” Not letting my guard down, I raised a brow. 

“The owner of this room. Who the hell are you?”