CHAPTER 16
1116 Words
ADINNA’S POV
I wake up feeling heavier than usual. My body aches, not from any injury I can see, but from the weight of everything that’s happened. Every humiliation, every whisper, every look. It all sticks to me like a second skin I can’t peel off.
I stare at the ceiling for a long time. I’m so tired of Jace, his games, his gang, and the way the whole school bends around him like he’s gravity. No matter what I do and no matter how far I try to run, he always finds me.
But today, I decide, he won’t get to me.
I drag myself out of bed, wash my face, and force my reflection into something that looks alive. “You’re fine,” I whisper to myself. “You’ll ignore him, you’ll focus, and you’ll get through the day without any drama. Hopefully.”
Riley isn’t in the room when I leave. Maybe she’s already in class. Maybe she’s just tired of watching me get torn apart piece by piece. I don’t blame her.
The morning air bites at my skin as I step outside. The campus looks normal with students moving between buildings, their laughter echoing down the courtyard. But underneath the usual sounds, something feels off.
Then I smell it.
Faint, almost hidden. Wolfsbane.
My senses twitch in warning, but I shake my head, trying to dismiss it. The scent could’ve come from anywhere. Someone could’ve spilled a potion, or maybe I’m just imagining things. I tighten my grip on my books and keep walking, forcing my steps steady.
Halfway down the hallway to class, a figure brushes past me. Fast. Too fast.
Before I can react, something cold sprays against my neck. I gasp, stumbling backward, the scent of wolfsbane hitting me with full force now. My vision twists and the world starts spinning in slow motion.
My books fall from my hands and my knees buckle.
Through the haze, I see him.
Jace. Standing at the end of the hall, watching me with that same smirk he always wears when he makes me miserable.
I try to speak, to say his name, to curse at him but the words dissolve before they leave my throat and my vision goes black.
When I wake up, I’m back in my room.
My head is pounding and my skin is burning like there’s fire crawling beneath it. Every muscle trembles when I try to move. My wolf is silent and weak, her presence buried deep in the fog of pain.
Someone’s been here. I can smell it.
Not the sterile scent of the infirmary, but my own sheets, my own room. Riley’s faint perfume lingers, mixed with something metallic. She must have brought me here instead of taking me to the healers again.
I try to sit up, but my arms give out. The pain in my chest flares, sharp and relentless.
“What did he do to me this time?” I ask myself in a whisper.
Outside the door, I hear faint whispers.
“Did you hear what happened to Adinna?” one voice says, hushed.
“Yeah. Someone said Jace was there when she collapsed.”
“Figures. He’s always around when something bad happens to her.”
My stomach twists. So everyone knows again. And just like before, no one will do anything about it.
The door creaks open.
For a second, I think it’s Riley but then the scent hits me. It’s a familiar clean, sharp, and cold smell that I hate so much.
Jace.
He walks in like he owns the place, like walking into my room isn’t a violation at all. He doesn’t even bother knocking.
I freeze. My body tenses uselessly. Fear coils in my stomach like a living thing.
He leans casually against the wall, hands in his pockets, a lazy grin tugging at his lips. “You really don’t learn, do you?”
My throat feels dry. “Get out,” I whisper.
He tilts his head. “That’s not how you say thank you.”
“For what? For poisoning me?”
He chuckles. “You think too small, Adinna. That wasn’t poison. Just a little test.”
I glare at him, though my eyes blur from the pain. “You call this a test?”
“I call it balance,” he says simply. “You’ve been walking around like you belong here. You don’t. And every time you try to pretend otherwise, someone has to remind you where you actually stand.”
I can’t move. My limbs feel heavy, my wolf silent. “You could’ve killed me.”
He shrugs. “I could’ve. But where’s the fun in that? Watching you break little by little is much more entertaining.”
The room feels smaller. The walls seem to close in around us.
“Why are you doing this?” My voice comes out weaker than I mean it to. “What did I ever do to you?”
He steps closer. The grin fades, replaced by something darker. “You exist. That’s enough.”
I flinch as he sits on the edge of my bed, so close I can smell the faint cologne clinging to his shirt.
“You’re too delicate for this world,” he says softly, almost mockingly. “It’s only a matter of time before it eats you alive. I’m just speeding up the process.”
I want to fight back. I want to claw at him, to scream, to tell him he’s wrong. But my body won’t move. My wolf’s silence feels like betrayal.
He leans in close enough till I can feel his breath near my ear.
“Next time,” he whispers, “you might not wake up.”
The words slide under my skin like ice.
He stands, straightening his uniform, and walks to the door without another glance. The soft click of the door closing feels louder than the explosion that almost killed me days ago.
For a long time, I lie there, staring at the ceiling again. The light from the window cuts across the floor in a pale line, and I focus on it until the world blurs.
I want to hate him. I want to hate everyone who watches and does nothing. But mostly, I hate how small I feel. How helpless.
My body shakes as another wave of pain ripples through me. I close my eyes and try to reach for my wolf again, but she’s still too far, too quiet.
Jace’s words echo until they stop sounding like his voice and start sounding like my own.
Eventually, exhaustion wins. My eyes close, and sleep pulls me under.
- Writer
