Right.
Because that was what the Council always said.
Anything they didn’t like became a threat.
Anyone who didn’t bow became dangerous.
Anyone who spoke up became the enemy.
I clenched my jaw and moved past a few students clustered under one of the screens. Their expressions were blank—some horrified, some numb, some pretending not to care. Darkmoor did that to people. We were a school full of the unwanted, the unstable, the inconvenient.
I looked away and slumped down on my chair with my plate of soggy bacon and runny eggs.
People were looking at me uncertainly.
I guess my nasty resting face was on.
Maybe because I was pissed.
I don’t know why this shit kept happening.
Across from me, the cafeteria doors swung open and in ran Ash with a tray. Automatically, he began loading food into a ridiculous, towering pile.
I knew why, of course.
Seph stepped in just after him, Dev beside her.
This was a fucking development.
Not one, but two of my guys following her around like fucking puppies.
Dev sent me a glance that dared me to retaliate.
We hadn’t hashed out our fight yet.
But what could I tell him?
That I didn’t want Seph near any of them?
That I didn’t trust myself enough to be the one she leaned on?
That if she attached herself to Ash—bright, eager, worshipful Ash—she’d be safer than she ever would be with me?
That I was already in too deep, too compromised, too connected to the people trying to burn her world down?
Yeah.
None of that was exactly cafeteria appropriate.
Ash spotted me.
Brightened instantly.
Fuck.
He made a beeline—tripping once, catching himself, still grinning like a golden retriever with a winning lottery ticket.
“Morning, K!” he chirped, slamming his tray down across from me so hard the eggs sloshed. “Want some sausages? Seph likes them. I grabbed extra in case she wanted to share.”
