Grief circled her aura like the sun—
bright and heavy and unending.
“You’d be the first,” she muttered.
“Everyone here’s fucked up somehow. Even Lyra. She’s a mind-fucker. Rumour is she made a girl try to kill herself last year. That’s why she’s here. Crazy fucking bitch.”
I glanced at Lyra as she held herself like a Queen B above her friends. They all looked similar to her, their aura’s bright with light magic.
It didn’t surprise me too much.
“So what are you, anyway? Air? Water? One of those psychic chicks?”
“A null.”
The lie slid off my tongue like oil—practiced, smooth.
Jess’s fork hit the table with a metallic clatter that turned a few heads.
“What?” she screeched.
I closed my eyes and sighed. “Yup.”
“A fucking null? You’re gonna get eaten alive here.”
I couldn’t help it—I laughed. “Great. So glad I came.”
She glared at me, face tightening with something between irritation and reluctant pity.
“Fucking fine then,” she muttered. “You can hang out with me. Provided you don’t piss me off at night and you leave the room when I tell you to.”
“Sounds fair.”
Jess rolled her eyes. “A goddamn null. What were they thinking?”
I lifted a brow. “So tell me then—if we’re going to be hanging out—what are the rules here?”
“The rules?” she echoed, stabbing at her potatoes. “You really wanna know?”
“I do.”
“Alright, rule one—keep your head down. Don’t go advertising your null status or these assholes’ll circle like hyenas. They smell weakness and they’ll come for you. Rule two—stay the hell away from K’s crew.”
“K’s crew?”
“Ash, Dev, and K.” Jess said, voice dropping as her eyes flicked around the room. “They’re the gangster kings of this place. You piss them off, you’re done.”
Her tone slid into grim amusement. “Did you see a body hanging from the flagpole earlier?”
“I wasn’t looking.”
“Well, he’s probably still there. Dev likes to display his work when he’s proud of it.”
I swallowed. “Awesome,” I muttered.
Jess smirked and clicked her lighter again. “The worst part? All of them are shit-balls crazyandhot as hell. K’s the leader—pure muscle. Don’t make eye contact with him if you can help it. Once he’s got you in his sights…” She gave a low whistle.
“And the others?”
