6

CHAPTER 6

RAIN ANDREA RIVERTON 

My head felt like it had been bashed with a thousand bricks and I winced at the throbbing in my temple. 

“You have been healed, but you would have to keep using the bandage for the next three days to help your bones heal faster.” The female voice had to be Miss Zia, Professor Bengal’s assistant. 

Opening my eyes slowly, I tried to adjust to the brightness around me. Dr Zia had walked away. The healers section was nothing different from how WillowCrest was, the only difference was the brown beds and brown interiors instead of blue. There was nothing decorating the walls, not even a clock.

How did I survive that fall? 

At least my head didn’t feel as broken as it did the last time, but there was still lingering pain, it was nothing I couldn’t handle.

“You breathe really loudly.” I turned toward the voice beside me. A blonde-haired guy had a snare, then when he met my gaze, his face turned friendly. 

“And you rarely breathe at all.” I frowned. 

He tilted his head. “You don’t look like someone who would survive a head fall. What’s your secret?” 

“None of your business.” 

“Mine wasn’t something too crucial.” He gestured at the cast he had on his right arm. “I might have blown up some parts of the hostels during last night’s massacre, maybe more than half. And somehow, I got stuck in the room with an extra explosion.” 

What the— “Are you fucking sick in the head?” 

He gave me a questionable glare. “What? Those hallways deserved it. Their older siblings crashed my party two years ago and threatened my group. I promised them I would take my revenge on their younger ones if they ever came to Kingsbury.” 

“Your group? Two damn years ago? That’s why you tried to kill tens of students for a crime a relative of theirs did?” 

“First, no one threatens my group. Second, it doesn’t matter who did what. The fact that they all have the same blood in their veins is more than enough for me.” He furrowed his brows. “I’m Leon by the way, Ward Three, section five Leader. I’m a shape-shifter.” 

He leaned towards me the slightest bit. “I could be whatever you want me to be, baby. All you have to do is say the word.” 

I moved backward instinctively, reaching for my dagger but finding the stack empty. Shit. “If you don’t back the fuck away, the only thing you would be is dead.”

“Such a buzzkill.” He rolled his eyes. “I love you already, let’s totally be friends.”

“I’m not interested in being friends with a potential murderer.” 

“Thank Dune, I’m not a potential murderer. I’ve killed people, that means we can be friends, best of friends.” My stomach physically recoiled. “Rain Riverton right?”

“My last name seems to be quite popular around here.” 

He laughed. “All thanks to your aunt I’m guessing. I knew her, Eloise Riverton. When she was in her last year, I was in my first. The third best in Oak blood as a whole, while Malek has always been number one.” 

“I would expect nothing less.” Even though Aunt Eloise hated this school and everything it stood for, I could tell in her time she had a passion for it. She wanted to be here, unlike me who had been forced.

“Speaking of Malek, what exactly did you do to him to be top on his shit list? Everyone saw him promise to kill you at the orientation.”

“Beats me, whoever knows?” A lie. But unless he was a truth-sayer like Aunt Eloise, there was no way he could tell I was lying. “But he is going to pay for his minion Kamari trying to kill me the night of the orientation.”

He turned to me, his mouth wide open. “You survived Kamari Westwood’s attack?”

“Well, not exactly what I would call it. ”

He shrugged. “I really do hope you stay alive. Would be a shame if Malek kills you before I get the chance to get to know you better.” 

I folded my fists, realizing the burn was no longer there. “Not if I kill him first.”

“Yeah right, like anyone can ever kill Malek.” 

“I could sneak up behind him. A dagger to the heart would do the trick.” 

Leon flat-out laughed, only stopping when I didn’t join in. “Wait, that was not a joke? You’re serious?”

I crossed my arm. “All I need is information. Maybe a place he stays most times, alone.” 

Leon looked like he wanted to talk me out of it but thought better. “Not really, but the rooftop is his thing. Guy is a freak anyways.”

“Thanks.” I looked over to the drawer next to my bed, finding my daggers stacked.

“I genuinely don’t think you’re going to survive that, but you’ll become the most feared person in Kingsbury if you do. Because trust me, no one dares. There are rumors that the council themselves are afraid of him.”

I am not No One, and Malek is dying tonight.

***

Okay, maybe I should have considered the fact that I still couldn’t walk properly, courtesy of getting my ass beat by Nazeera but nothing was going to sway me away.

I pulled my black leather pants on with the high-neck top that covered half my face, making only my eyes visible. I tugged my daggers one after another, holding the fourth one as I inspected it.

It glowed in that ring. 

I had no powers aside from my eyes, and I used twenty years of my life to confirm that. I must have been seeing something wrong because it was obvious that Nazeera was as strong as I was, or maybe even stronger. 

Shaking my head, I tucked the last dagger in. The dagger did not glow and there was nothing of that kind. I had been imagining it. 

Tucking all strands of my hair into the black cloth that covered it, I took in my reflection in the mirror. Everything was all black, down to what covered my nose, mouth, and neck. The only thing that could be seen was my purple eyes. But that was fine. It was going to be the last thing he would see before he died. 

The first wave of air from the open window at the end of the hallway hit me. Mage lights illuminated the passageway of hall X. There were rooms on either side which made me wonder what kind of students were behind the doors. Kingsbury didn’t care if you were in ward three, nine or six, everyone was mixed up in different halls.

I used the description Leon had given to find my way through the halls. 

The rooftop had a spiral staircase that looked unending. Unlike other students with actual emblems that could take them up, I had to climb. Fuck my life. 

After some minutes of slow climbing, trying to make sure I made no sound whatsoever, I reached the door. A hard feeling grew in my chest, was I ready to do this? Because one of us was going to die tonight and it was not going to be me. 

Gripping the dagger in my hand way more tightly, I crept in. There was a black figure sitting at the edge of the high rooftop. Staring into the horizon with no care in the world. No fear that he might fall. 

I could hear the thudding of my heart beneath my chest.

Thump. 

Thump. 

Thump. 

Breathe, Rain. 

Without making any sound I sneaked up on him, carefully putting one leg in front of the other. I didn’t need to get close. All I had to do was get one close shot, throw the dagger and he would be dead.

Breathe. Focus. 

Lowering my gaze, I changed my hold from the handle to the tip of my dagger, clearing my mind as I targeted the back of his black hair. 

Pulling my hand backward, I locked in on my target, ignoring the drumming in my chest. In one thug, I threw the dagger. 

A scream erupted from my throat the second his hand came up with godlike speed as he caught the dagger by the sharp angle instantly. The smell of blood pierced through my senses. 

His blood. He still

didn’t bother to turn to me. 

“You would have to do much better than that if the plan is to kill me, Princess.”