Page 129 of Stormbreaker

Someone saw us, just like Domino warned.

He said we shouldn’t have done it, and he’s making it incredibly obvious that he thinks it was a mistake, so I need to respect that.

The only other bright side is that I’ve also seen very little of Knox. Nothing more than a glance in the cafeteria during meals, and despite the way I’ve fucked everything up, at least I accomplished this.

He can marry Winter, and I honestly hope they’re happy together.

I also take comfort in knowing I won’t be invited to the wedding.

It’s late when I return from the outskirts another week later, and things take a turn for the worse. The storm is powerful tonight, the wind fierce, and the closed waterways forced me to take the train back to Amery. Now it continues to rage, exploding across the sky.

When I enter my room, it’s too dark to see much, but something makes the hairs on my neck stand up. I scan the shadows, blinking and trying to make out the indistinct shapes. Is someone there?

“Where have you been?” comes a voice from the dark, and my shoulders tense.

This is exactly what I don’t need right now. “Who’s there?”

“I asked where you’ve been,” the voice repeats.

“I was in the library studying,” I say, using my already-planned excuse while slumping my heavy backpack on the floor to punctuate my point.

“Pretty late to be studying,” a different voice says off to my left.

“Yeah, I’m behind,” I answer as I take a step back.

A light flares, revealing six people forming a half circle, including my two roommates. I recognize Brick and a few other members of Aria.

“What’s going on?” I ask, trying to temper the shake in my voice.

“Scion Beaufort wants us to keep an eye on you,” someone answers. A girl with spiky lilac hair. “And we’ve taken notice of your so-called ‘late-night study sessions.’”

“I’m busy with cadet training,” I say, hating that I feel the need to defend myself. “I have a lot of homework to catch up on. That’s all.”

“No one else seems to have that problem,” Silla, my roommate, says. “They’re all tucked cozy in their beds.”

I wonder where Domino went. Did they do something to her? She’s one of the only people in my life still speaking to me, and a wave of protectiveness burns in my chest.

But what if she knew they were planning to ambush me?

I shake away the thought. She wouldn’t do that to me. She’s too good. And if she did clear out to protect herself, I can’t blame her for that.

“Just leave me alone,” I say, lifting my chin. “I haven’t done anything to you.”

“Haven’t you?” asks Cece with an ugly sneer on her face. “We don’t trust you. You don’t belong here.”

“By whose criteria? Some made-up rule someone decided hundreds of years ago? Does this really matter?” I ask. “I’ll stay out of your way, and you stay out of mine. I promise I’m not here to spy on Aria.”

I’m met with a few blinks, perhaps a few light bulbs turning on, but the biased structure of our environment isn’t their primary concern right now.

“Get out of our room,” Silla says. “Permanently. You’re fouling up the entire place.” She waves a hand under her nose. “It smells rotten.”

“Then where am I supposed to sleep?”

Honestly, I’d prefer to leave, but I also have nowhere else to go.

She saunters closer and folds her arms. “That’s not my fucking concern.”

Fear and anger twist knots in my chest. I should just leave. Sleeping in a random hallway would be better than this. A stone floor. A bed of nails.