“I ever hear that bullshit come out of your mouth again, you better sleep with one eye open in the dorms. We need to work together. This needs to stop now, Brady,” Jackson snarls.
“Well said.” Raven fist-bumps him. “Now, you get to run three laps around the perimeter.”
“Both of you can together,” I say, an idea forming. “Tell Sara three facts about each other when you get back and if Sara doesn’t think you’re trying hard enough, you’re going again. You’ll keep doing it until you learn to work together.”
“What? You can’t be serious,” Brady yells.
“Better get to know your new friend Mason, Brady. I’m not playing these games anymore. I have more important shit to do now.” I turn my back on them both, expecting orders to be followed.
“Go, Brady.” Jackson shoves his brother. “I hear about another incident with you and you’re going to be doing more than running.”
“This is complete garbage and you know it, Jackson. You thought the same before you let her whoop your ass because you had a crush on her before we found out they’re all traitors.”
The last thing I expect to happen does as Dax charges over and grips Brady by the back of his collar and lifts him off the ground and tosses him at Mason’s feet.
“You listen here, you little shit,” Dax growls. “You aren’t shit. Raven is the head of Ares and she is firmly on the side of everyone at this academy. She is the strongest of us. If Beth, whohas saved all our asses more times than I care to count, tells you to do something, you fucking do it.”
“Enough,” Raven shouts. “Run along, Brady. You’re just making yourself and Ares look bad. Go run as ordered.”
Mason holds out a hand to help Brady, but he bats it away and stands on his own, glaring at Raven with barely concealed rage as he runs to do what he was told.
How had I thought progress was being made just because two people put their differences behind them to work together? This is a fucking disaster. Will there even be an academy to come back to when we succeed? The way they are acting, Adrian’s dire warning sounds closer than ever.
The academy will burn and there’s nothing we can do to stop it.
