Chapter 18
1282 Words
Chapter 18
My head is reeling from what we found out about my father. I don’t even know where to start. Is my dad not actually my dad? Or did he have me and Mavis in secret? But if he was here, where and when did he meet my mom? So many questions.
In hand-to-hand combat, Cassie and I are trying to knock each other off balance and are basically having a slap fight.
“Val!” Kratos yells across the room. “Help the new girls. They’re pathetic.”
Cassie raises her hand. “Mr. Kratos, I really have to pee. That UTI I saw has arrived in full force and…”
“Just go.” Mr. Kratos shakes his head.
“No way.” Tina marches over and plants herself in front of Kratos. “The last time this one worked with Val she set him on fire. He is not working with her again.”
I wait for Tina’s Greek chorus of friends to chime in, but they hang back, watching silently.
Kratos doesn’t say a word. He simply shifts his weight in such a way that he goes from casually standing to an aggressive stance that communicates, this is the last thing you will see before you die.
Um, why aren’t they teaching us that in class?
I gotta give Tina credit. I’m ready to roll on my belly and it’s not even directed at me. Tina, though, just sorta sniffs and with her head held high mutters, “Whatever,” and walks away. Somehow she makes sure her path goes directly through where I’m standing. She roughly elbows me aside, while hissing, “You’ll pay for this.”
It’s such a stereotypical villain line, I can’t help but add, “Yeah, and my little dog too, right?”
She rolls her eyes. “Why would I care about your dog, you freak?”
“Back to work,” Kratos calls. He jerks his chin in my direction. “Don’t set anyone on fire.”
“Well, that was fun,” Val says as he saunters toward me. Today he’s wearing a shirt with a guy in an office wearing an astronaut suit that says, Dress for the job you want.
My heart is still pounding from the stress of it all. “I really thought for a few minutes there that I wasn’t going to have roommate problems anymore.”
Val laughs, low and throaty. “Yeah, if it was anyone else, maybe Kratos would’ve taken their head off. But Tina’s not an i***t. She knows being top of our class means she gets a little more leeway than everyone else.”
“Top of the class?” I glance her way where she’s once again surrounded by friends. I’ve been so busy trying to survive my classes I haven’t really paid much attention to Tina, except trying to stay out of her way. But now that I think about it, the teachers are constantly praising her, or using her for demos, or giving her what I’ve come to know as the highest compliment of all for those of us in the assassination class, “NBK, Tina.”
I had to ask Cassie what NBK meant. She, of course, giggled as she explained, “Natural born killer.”
“Tina’s always been competitive,” Val says now. “And since she doesn’t like anyone except herself and me, stepping on others to get what she wants has never been a problem.”
He says this affectionately, like it’s an annoying yet charming character trait similar to snorting when you laugh.
“And what about you?” I ask.
Val raises a single eyebrow. “Are you asking if I like you?”
Ugh. I blush and hate myself for getting bothered as I quickly correct, “I meant, are you competitive?”
We reach the mats. Val immediately moves into a fighting crouch and I do the same.
“Nah. I’ve never been into the whole Academy thing. I wouldn’t even stay here if it wasn’t for Tina.”
This surprises me so much that I forget to defend and Val’s super slow punch connects with my shoulder. I stumble back a step.
“New girl, focus up!” Kratos yells, while I rub my shoulder.
“Sorry,” Val says, “I thought you were ready.”
“My fault, I was daydreaming.” I go back into fighting stance and this time manage to block most of Val’s punches…although that’s mostly because he’s practically moving in slow motion. If I had any pride I’d tell him to pick it up a little, but the truth is, I already can feel a bruise forming where he connected with my shoulder.
And also my mind just isn’t in the game. Hearing Val say he doesn’t want to be here, makes me reevaluate everything I’ve seen of him.
He tends to hang at the edge of class. Not really mingling with the vampires unless Tina makes him. Just now when Kratos called him over to work with me, he was leaning against the wall, just sort of watching. I always assumed it was because he’s so good he doesn’t need these classes. Like he’s just above it all.
Now though, I realize with blinding clarity—he’s an outcast too.
When I burned him, Tina was upset. But the others were surprisingly quiet.
Same with just now. Tina wanted to keep Val away from me, but her friends looked like they’d be happy for me to BBQ him again.
The other vamps don’t like him. Or trust him. Maybe because of his roommate best friend from last year? I want to ask, but…
Val sidles up to me and in one swoop has me pinned on the mat. He’s on top of me but being very careful not to put too much pressure on my body. His barely touching sends a tingle through me and I shiver.
Our eyes meet and I can tell he’s about to say something important. Meaningful even. Possibly a declaration of love. Which would be a little too much, a little too soon…but maybe I could roll with it.
“Edie,” he says, his voice deep and rumbling through me where our bodies connect. “You’re the worst fighter in this class. By like, a lot.”
I gasp. Putting my hands on Val’s chest, I push. He doesn’t budge. “Get off me.”
“I don’t even think you’re trying.”
“You’re bigger than me!”
“I mean, in class. You’re holding back.” Val rolls away.
Slowly, I sit up. I don’t look at Val, but I can feel him beside me. My throat is tight, almost like I’m going to cry.
It is a small point of pride that I have not actually broken down in tears in the middle of class yet. I am not going to let Val ruin that streak.
“I’m not the worst,” I say. And then, feeling guilty, I add, “What about Cassie?”
Val shrugs. “Cassie tries. She gives it her all.”
This really stings. I also hate that Pity said something similar the other day. I spring to my feet. “So do I! I give one hundred percent.”
He shakes his head. “No, you’re holding back. Always. You’re afraid.”
Val stands, the movement liquid smooth. Somehow we are face to face, with barely an inch between us. His finger taps at my chest. Once. Twice. Mimicking the rhythm of my heart. “You’re afraid of whatever’s in there. Afraid of letting it out.”
I close my eyes. The thing inside me stares back. Almost like it’s taunting me. Or daring me to let it loose.
My eyes burst open again.
Okay, maybe I am a little bit afraid.
“That sounds about right,” Kratos booms into my ear.
I jump, springing away from Val.
Hands on hips, legs spread wide, Kratos nods knowingly. “A shifter that doesn’t shift is like a person that doesn’t s**t. You’re constipated.”
Tina and her crowd go crazy over this. “I knew she was full of s**t,” Tina tells her cronies.
Val is, as usual, inscrutable.
Still determined not to cry in class, I ball my hands into fists and run from the room. If I can get outside before the tears start, it won’t count.
Who am I kidding? I am once again humiliated.
- Writer
