Phoenix Rising: The Veiðimenn Mob, Book Two

Thirty

As the class calmed and they all started their assignments, something about her best friend’s girlfriend began to concern her deeply. Watching the girl carefully, she took in the stiffness of her movements and the shaky breaths that came out in short pants.

"Are you okay, Andromeda?" Kennedy inquired softly, so as not to disturb the others around them.

"Sorry, I… I'm a bit out of it today," the blond confided. She was trying hard to keep it together, but having her attacker back in school was making it difficult.

A spark of concern flickered in Kennedy's eyes. Tucking her hair behind her ear, she sighed. She’d taken note of the way the heiress tried to make herself as invisible as possible. She and the team had been taught the signs of an anxiety attack, and now it was proving itself useful to her. "On a scale of one to ten, how bad is it? Ten being the worst."

"Seven," Andromeda whispered.

Kennedy nodded, raising her hand. Declan looked up from the papers he was grading. Smirking, he asked, "A question out of you, Ms. Rubin? That's a first. What can I help you with?"

"Sir, I’m certain Andromeda’s in the middle of a panic attack," Kennedy explained. "So, may I have your permission to leave class to bring her to calm down?"

Declan took a close look at the other girl, nodding. “You can bring her to the bathroom. If it persists after a few minutes, head to the nurse’s office for further assistance. Understood?”

Getting to her feet, she handed in the assignment she’d completed two days prior. “Of course, Mr. Reyes.”

Craig scoffed, egging his friends into joining his mocking laughter. “She’s totally faking it. Girls fake s**t all the time.”

The room fell silent as Kennedy, forgoing the book she wanted to use, stiffened her dominant hand and let the appendage fly. The back-handed smack echoed around them, the subtle snap of something that sounded like bone or cartilage following the action startled the other students.

He stared at her, his anger rising steadily as he pulled his hand from his face. Blood coated his fingers as it trickled from his nose, splattering to the tiled floor of the classroom. "You stupid b***h! Do you know who you’re messing with? My father’s going to hunt you down for this!"

"Awe, poor ickle daddy’s boy got hit by a girl, and can’t handle it," she mocked sassily. "The day I become scared of a guy like you, is the day they put my ass in the ground. Unless you want to join me, don't push your luck."

The room’s occupants seemed to be collectively holding their breath as she grabbed him by the front of his shirt. Pulling him up off the seat, she smirked when the fabric tore under her nails. “I don’t feel remotely threatened by a measly little snot like you. Step off that high horse and stay out of my way. If you think that what Phoenix did was bad, I’d hate for you to go against me.”

Declan knew that she'd only used a fraction of her strength, but the boy's nose was likely broken from the precision of the hit. He knew more was coming as he watched her smirk.

Kennedy stood straighter, squaring her shoulders as she spoke loud enough for the entire class to hear. "Craig Dawson is nothing but a sleazeball who thinks he's God's gift to women. A few weeks ago, Phoenix Callumsson beat the s**t out of Craig after we caught him trying to assault Andromeda De Luca. The reason she was out of school for two weeks was to heal from the marks and bruises he put on her. Anyone who believes the lies this piece of crap has been vomiting out his piehole and anyone who continues to harass Andromeda, will have a visit from either me and her boyfriend."

Whispers rose around the room as Kennedy pulled a visibly confused and shocked Andromeda out into the hall. When they got to the bathroom, she turned to the brick wall. Pulling back her arm, she let her fingers close into a fist as she braced for the pain that was going to hit her. Suddenly, a pair of soft, warm hands close around her wrist, gently tugging her arm down.

"Please, don't hurt yourself, Kenni.” Andromeda’s voice snapped her back from her anger-driven behaviour. The same hands began smoothing back her hair, the other girl’s equally soft voice pleading with her to reconsider. “Please come back to me.”

The room around her became clearer as she started refocusing; her anger slowly dissipating into nothingness. Her mouth falling open, she realized she was about to show Andromeda just how aggressive she could truly be. A tremor went through her as she started shaking in sheer frustration. "Why?"

"What?" Andromeda whispered. Stepping back from the now deceptively calm girl, she blinked in confusion. “I… I don’t understand what you mean. Why, what?”

Kennedy levelled her with a dark look, grabbing her by the front of her pale pink shirt. Pushing the girl against the wall, she snarled. "Why are you really hanging around with my friend? What do you really want, huh? Come on, tell me why you’re being so f*****g nice to me when I was all over him last night? What do you care about what happens to me as long as you get him?"

"Mi scusi!?" Andromeda exclaimed, her panic forgotten. She found herself livid with the sudden accusations, her anger surging with an unprecedented passion. Pushing Kennedy back, she snapped. "I had no choice in the matter! I’m an unwilling victim of circumstance because of the garbage bullshit going down with my father’s mob. Besides, if you get hurt, so does Nix. I don't want to see him go back to the way he was when you got released from the Red Room he told me you were being kept in when I first arrived! He was heartbroken because he didn’t have his best friend to talk to. I want to see him happy, just like you and everyone else in your friend group. Qual è il tuo problema?"

Amused at the uncommon burst of temper coming from the usually quiet girl, Kennedy started to laugh. "I had no idea you were so defensive. I guess you're not as bad as I thought. In fact, you earned my trust today, and that’s hard to do unless you know how."

"Merda, you really are as aggravating as Declan says!” Andromeda exclaimed, holding her head in her hands. She frowned at the red-head, “Wait… you said… Okay, fine. I’ll bite. How the hell did I earn your trust?

Shaking her head, Kennedy smiled at the blond. "There are a few ways, but, like I said, not everyone can do it. You, however, stopped me from hurting myself and you stood up to me. Only my friends have ever had the balls it takes to go toe-to-toe with me, and you somehow managed to pull it off."

"Are you serious?” Andromeda asked. “How else did I pass the Kennedy Test?"

The other teen didn't answer right away as she ran the water in the sink and splashed her face a few times. Then, "You said you didn't want to see him hurt."

Taking some paper towels from the dispenser, Andromeda handed them to the redhead. "I’m afraid you will have to explain more than that."

Kennedy sighed. "You were right. He's more than just my best friend. He's my blood-brother, my partner, and part of my family. If he's happy with you, then so be it, but I won't be chased out of his life."

"Why in the world would I come between you two? I lo…" Andromeda smacked a hand over her mouth, but it was too late.

"You love him, I know. I can read you like a book, and the way you look at him is different than the way the other girls did. You look at him the way Amber looks at Callum, and he needs that. He loves you. I can see it in everything he does and says lately, he's just too stubborn to admit it," Kennedy whispered.

Pausing, she turned her head to the other girl, "This life we lead is dark, dangerous, and bloody. Not everyone is cut out for it, and that’s Callum’s biggest worry when it comes to an untrained person like you. If you want this life, if you want Phoenix, then you have to be stronger than you are. Start asserting some dominance, or you’re just another liability."

Andromeda murmured her agreement as she pushed herself onto the counter of the sink. "Kenni, can we be friends?"

"You want to be friends? With me? After what just transpired between us, you’re seriously not going to run to daddy dearest to rat me out?" Kennedy asked in disbelief.

Letting out a breathy laugh, Andromeda smiled at the other girl, "I gain nothing by ratting you to my father. I don’t want to be the kind of girl that tells him who he can and can’t hang with."

Kennedy grinned, "Okay, okay, I get it. You’re the golden girl. Daddy’s pure lil angel, but does he know about that inner b***h of yours? Use it if Nix ever steps on your toes and he’ll back down pretty fast. If you really want a strong female role model, though, spend time with his mother.”

“Um, mi scusi, but you were bitchy to me first.” Andromeda tossed her long hair and laughed.

Again, Kennedy snickered, “I was born a b***h. Let’s get back before Declan grounds my ass until doomsday."

“He can do that,” the blond asked, taken aback by the way her new friend spoke about their teacher.

“He and my sister are currently my legal guardians until I turn eighteen. So, yeah, he can do that. Happily, might I add,” Kennedy muttered as they left the bathroom.