MALIA
I dropped my head onto the desk with a loud thud, drawing a few curious stares from across the classroom.
Val muttered something to make them look away — probably one of her snarky “mind your business” comments — but I barely registered it. My eyelids felt like lead.
After Val and Isabella had bullied me into a short break last night, I’d worked until the mug gleamed with gold seams. I’d left it in Marcello’s study with a note and gone to bed just before sunrise.
Half an hour of sleep. That was all I’d managed before Val shook me awake — not gently. Sometimes I doubted Val even knew the meaning of the word — and dragged me to school.
“Come on, girl. The teacher’s going to be here any second,” Val said now, nudging my shoulder again and again until the spot stung.
“Am I on time?
