Violet’s POV
“I already fucked him,” Ivy said as we stepped out of class, flipping her curls. “Three times in my head and it's back to back.” Maya rolled her eyes. “Girl, you need therapy.” “I need him,” Ivy groaned. “You saw those veins? That man is a walking temptation.” “The lecturer is hot,” I admitted, “but my boyfriend’s hotter.” They both groaned, “Here comes the loyal girlfriend speech,” Maya mumbled. “You and that chapstick-wearing man,” Ivy sighed. “This one undresses people with eye contact.” “Still clear your fantasy,” I smirked. “Delusional.” Ivy snapped her gum. I was still trying to defend my man’s honor when my phone buzzed in my bag, picking it up, I saw unknown number, I almost didn’t pick up, but curiosity killed the cat and apparently also tortured girlfriends. “Hello?” “Is this Miss Violet Black?” “Yes?” I answered slowly. “This is Officer Hale from the Central Police Department. Your father has been brought in again. Robbery. He attempted to steal a pack of cigarettes from a grocery store and fought with the owner, you’re listed as his emergency contact.” There was a long pause, I didn’t say anything, I just closed my eyes and let the familiar wave of disappointment wash over me. Again? Seriously? My father was the kind of man who could find trouble in a church. Drunk, reckless, and loud-mouthed and, for some reason, allergic to jobs. I took in a deep breath, thanked the officer dryly, and ended the call. “Let me guess,” Ivy said, watching my expression fall. “Yep,” I muttered. “He’s back at it.” “Again?” “For a pack of cigarettes this time. Can you imagine?” I rolled my eyes. “I’m going to the station.” “Alone?” Maya blinked. “Where’s Sasha? Shouldn’t she go too?” “Exactly,” I said, tightening my ponytail. “She’s not escaping this one. That man might be a walking dumpster fire, but he’s still our dumpster fire.” Ivy snorted. “Please, where will you even find her? She wasn’t in class all day.” I just grinned and pulled out my phone, unlocking it with a few quick taps and they all leaned in. “What’s that?” “A tracker.” They blinked. “I installed a tracking app on Sasha’s phone,” I said sweetly, “because our dear Sasha has too many bad habits, like vanishing for days, getting drunk in club toilets, or hooking up with dudes who look like walking hepatitis.” Maya burst out laughing. “You didn’t.” “She’s a copy-paste version of our dad,” I muttered. “At least the app gives me peace of mind or what’s left of it.” “You need to move out already,” Ivy groaned. “You work two part-time jobs, cook, clean, keep your grades, and still babysit your criminal relatives. Girl, be for real.” I shrugged and offered them a small smile. “They may be a mess, but they’re still mine, and someone has to love the mess.” The silence that followed was heavy and loud, Maya gave me a look that said you’re too good for this world, while Ivy just shook her head in defeat. “Good luck, Mother Teresa,” Maya muttered. “Happy rescuing,” Ivy added, giving me a mock salute. They turned and walked off, still mumbling, but I just smiled and watched them go because no matter how heavy the burden, I’d carry it, even if it wasn’t mine to carry. The tracking app said Storage Room C4, I should’ve known, that’s Sasha’s favourite hiding place when she’s skipping classes to do shit or ghosting reality, which is always. I made my way toward the hallway and slowed down when I got close to the door. At first, I thought I heard faint thuds, then... moans, my brows pulled together. No. Please, no. Then came the unmistakable sound of skin on skin and someone panting like they were in an Olympic sprint. “Oh my God,” I muttered under my breath, jaw tightening. “Even in school? Really?” I should’ve walked away, honestly, I planned to, last time I interrupted one of Sasha’s live shows, she nearly slit my throat with a nail file, screaming about how I ruined her rhythm. Whatever that means she’s always been dramatic. I rolled my eyes and started to turn, but then I froze. “Liam… ohh Liam...yes, don’t stop…” I blinked. No. No. No. Maybe I heard wrong, I mean, there are like ten guys named Liam in this school, right? Could be anyone. Then I heard the grunt. His grunt. The one I knew too well because I once had to listen to it through the phone when he was playing video games and thought breathing into the mic was flirting. Another moan. Another “Liam.” This time, it hit different, it was my Liam. My chest constricted, and my legs moved before my brain did. I stomped to the door and tried to yank it open, it was locked. Of course, it was locked, Sasha never fails to secure the stage when she’s performing her greatest hits. So I banged repeatedly and then clicked, the door cracked open, and I didn’t even hesitate. I pushed it wide, ready to unleash hell, and there he was, my boyfriend. My sweet, nerdy, straight-A, glasses-wearing, loyal, “I love you forever” boyfriend. Balls deep in my sister, time slowed, his eyes widened like someone just turned the lights on during a crime. Sasha looked back over her shoulder and smirked like she was proud of it, she was the one that opened the door, God, I've never seen someone so shameless. My chest twisted painfully, I didn’t scream, didn’t cry, or faint like some poor heartbroken rom-com lead. I just stood there, taking a deep breath and smiling bitterly, Liam scrambled up, fumbling for words. “V-Vi, wait...I can explain...” I raised a hand and cut him off, voice calm, flat, completely detached from the mess in my chest. “You,” I said, staring straight at Sasha, “when you’re done having your orgasm, meet me outside, dad’s in jail. Again, and we’re going to get him.” Sasha rolled her eyes, still breathless, and scoffed. “Ugh. You’re such a buzzkill, can’t even let me finish in peace, bitch.” I didn’t flinch, I just turned and walked out but of course, the rat followed me. Liam was behind me in seconds, pulling his jeans up like a clumsy ghost, already spewing nonsense. “It wasn’t what it looked like! She seduced me! I swear, she walked in here naked, naked, Vi! I was just fixing something and she… she grabbed me!” I kept walking and he kept talking. “She literally pushed me down and sat on me. What was I supposed to do?! Push her off? You know she’s crazy!” By now we were in the open hallway, students were everywhere, and people had started to slow down and watch, some paused mid-step and whispered, great, the gossip economy was about to boom. And Liam? Oh, he just kept going. “You know, it’s always so hard with you, always serious, always trying to be perfect. It’s exhausting dating you, Violet!” That stopped me but he wasn’t done. “She told me you’re not even real family, that they found you in a trash bin or some shit and honestly? Makes sense, this is no big deal.” I turned around slowly, people gasped, not at the insult but at the look on my face. “You think you’re so much better than everyone,” Sasha added from the side, now fully dressed but still smug. “When really? You’re just a broken little bitch pretending to be perfect.” I looked at her, then at him and the pain I felt threatened to choke me but I swallowed it back and asked, "can we go get father now?" Sasha laughed bitterly, loud enough for the entire hallway to hear. “Forget father, let's talk your man, just look at the man you bragged about every damn day?” she sneered, tossing her hair like she hadn’t just ruined someone’s life. “He was so easy to fuck, I barely even had to try and for the record? He wasn’t even that good.” Gasps erupted and my heart dropped. Liam flinched, his face twisting with embarrassment as whispers spread around. Someone from the crowd mumbled, “Damn, she really said that?” Another whispered, “That’s Violet’s perfect boyfriend, right?” "How could she even fuck a whore like Sasha? Leaving a girl like Violet for that pig is a huge mistake but good to know Vi is single now, the men will rush her." Suddenly desperate, Liam stepped toward me, arm outstretched, guilt all over his stupid face. “Vi, please. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean...” “Don’t,” I growled, yanking my hand away before he could touch me. “Don’t you ever fucking touch me again.” He froze. “I was loyal to you, I defended you. I cleaned up after your dumb ass every time you embarrassed yourself, I literally give you my all and this, this is what I get? My sister? In a storage room?!” I laughed bitterly. “You are nothing, absolutely nothing. You and Sasha deserve each other. Trash attracts trash.” The burn must’ve been too much, because his fake guilt flipped into anger and before I could even blink, Liam surged forward and slapped me hard. The sound cracked through the hall and the world tilted, everything slowed. I blinked, head still turned to the side, my skin burned where his hand landed, but it wasn’t pain that took over, it wasn’t even heartbreak anymore. It was rage, pure, hot and boundless and something else… something not human, my veins pulsed and the air around me thickened, heat crept up my spine and settled under my skin like a beast stretching to full height after being chained for too long. Liam stepped back, maybe sensing something was wrong but it was too late, I turned my head slowly, raised my hand and without thinking, without caring, I slapped him back. Only this time, he didn’t just stumble, he flew and hit the floor with a sickening thud and I stared daggers at him. Blood poured from his nose, from his ears, from a deep, gashing wound on his cheek like claws had ripped through flesh and then he twitched once, then went completely still. Screams tore through the hall, students scattered, someone called for help, another started filming but I just stood there, breathing, burning, broken and feeling my inside burn.Zyran’s POV“Claim her.”That was the first thing Storm snarled in my head. Not a suggestion or a request but a damn command laced with heat, madness, and that insatiable urge to brand what was ours.My eyes stayed fixed on the girl curled on the floor, her clothes were torn, dirt and blood streaked her face, and yet she still looked like danger and not too far from her, three bodies laid twisted, broken, lifeless.Dead.Good.Because who the fuck told them they could touch her?Even if the entire academy wanted to turn a blind eye, even if they thought she was weak, cursed, out of place in this system-made hellhole, everyone knew she was mine. They fucking knew and still dared to think of touching her.The thought that they think they could strip her, shame her, harm her like she was some easy, disposable meat, I wish I can kill them again and again. When it comes to this sarcastic, sharp-tongued little demon who had the nerve to roll her eyes at me the first day we met, the one who
Violet’s POVI had no idea where I was. One second I was dodging knives and running for my damn life, and the next, poof, I was alone in some abandoned hallway that looked like it belonged in a horror movie set. Fear had pushed me to run, and run I did, until my lungs burned and my legs felt like jelly.Now here I was, alone, hungry and extremely pissed.Deep breath, Violet. You’re still alive. That’s something.But God, I was starving. My stomach growled so loud I was half-convinced it would summon a demon, which honestly wouldn’t even surprise me at this point. Everything in this school seemed determined to kill me or claim me or throw me into some gladiator-style welcome party.I rubbed at my bare wrist absently, no more chains, thanks to the swear in shit but somehow, I still felt shackled. Maybe mentally, emotionally or maybe I was just tired of constantly fighting to breathe in this madhouse.“I wonder how the other girls are doing…” I muttered, dragging my feet through another
Violet’s POV"Goddess, this isn’t happening. This seriously isn’t happening. I swear, this place smells like blood and regret,” Inara muttered beside me, hugging her arms as we walked deeper into the so-called Inferno Sec and she wasn’t wrong.The corridors were long, barely lit with flickering crimson stones embedded into the stone walls, and every now and then, you could hear the distant sound of something, metal scraping, glass shattering, or someone screaming. I don’t know which was worse. The damn shadows seemed alive and watching. And those statues by the archways? Yeah, they had eyes. Moving, watching, breathing and I was sure of it.So far, the sect looked like a torture house designed by someone with a god complex and a love for fear. Morgana walked in front like death herself, her long coat trailing, never once looking back, never saying a damn word, just letting the eerie silence and occasional groans from the walls speak for her.She had only picked six of us, six damn unl
Violet’s POV“And now, the assignment of sect will begin.” Seraphina’s voice rang out across the hall.And almost immediately, new figures began to appear, just like that, out of thin air. The air shifted and it became heavier, colder and their presence changed the whole atmosphere. They weren’t students, that much was clear. These ones looked like they ate students for breakfast. Probably with blood tea and chaos cookies.“Pray you don’t end up on her team,” Inara leaned close and whispered, and I raised a brow. “Her who...”But I didn’t need to finish the sentence.I followed her gaze, and the second our eyes locked, I knew. One woman stood out among the new arrivals. She looked young, beautiful, even but there was nothing soft about her. She had the kind of beauty that felt sharp, dangerous and her expression was pure stone. Cold and really unreadable.And her aura? Screamed power and death.“Who the hell is that?” I muttered, already knowing I didn’t want the answer.“That’s Capta
Violet’s POVI didn’t hear most of what Seraphina was saying. Her voice was there, cutting through the hall like blades dipped in discipline, but it didn’t reach me. Not really.My eyes kept drifting to him.Alex.And no, I wasn’t lusting after him. Hell no. I’d been there, done that, got burned, branded, and bitten. I was done with men who looked like gods and acted like demons. I had enough mates throwing chaos in my life.But this... whatever he was doing to me wasn’t lust, it was definitely worse.It was like gravity decided it had a favorite. Like something in my chest cracked open every time he looked my way. I hated it. I needed to hate it. But my body? My traitorous body? It kept shifting toward him like I was iron and he was magnetized with sin.Fuck."You good, Vee?" Abigail leaned in, her brows pulled together in that annoying little concerned way.I blinked and tore my gaze away from her brother. Plastered on the fakest smile I could summon. “Peachy.”Because how exactly d
Violet’s POVThe walk to the Swear-In was the longest damn walk of my life. Not because it was far, no, the place was close enough, hidden between two cursed-looking towers but because for ten whole minutes, I had no idea where the hell I was going.I asked. I tried. I even swallowed my pride and used that polite tone that felt like chewing glass.But most of them just backed away like I was carrying death in my pocket. Some even spat at my feet, threw words like witch, abomination, mate-thief. Same old, same old. I’m honestly so fucking used to it, I just blink now and keep moving. But one guy, God bless his soul, muttered directions before scampering off like I might explode on him. Whatever, I’ll take what I can get.Not like I could even rush. These cursed chains made sure of that.Every step was a noisy, dragging reminder that I didn’t belong. That I was still bound, prisoner and not free.God, please let today be the day I rip these off. Please. I swear I’ll be good. Or bad. Wh