Page 29 of Stormbreaker

Someone shakes the net. “Get off!” they shout.

With great difficulty, I heave myself up, as every muscle and joint screams with pain.

My head spins, and I stare between my hands, willing it to stop. The ground is mere feet away. I was this close to splattering against the earth.

Finally, I look up to find a trio of masked Society members. They tear off their coverings and stare at me, eyes narrowing.

“Let’s go,” one of them shouts. I grab my knife that’s also lying on the net and crawl across. From the corner of my eye, I see something that nearly has me hurling up breakfast, lunch, and dinner. A mangled body. Or what’s left of it. Someone who missed the net.

My mouth opens on a soft exhale as I turn my attention back and scramble over the edge. Hopping down, I wince at the ache in my knees and the burn in my side. My stomach is bruised, and my ribs feel like they’ve been beaten with hammers. The two men and one woman watch me, their eyes brimming with suspicion.

I am not one of them. I was just knifed, attacked, and then threw myself off a fucking building to pass their test, but I do not belong in House Aria.

“Hi,” I say with a small wave, instantly feeling ridiculous. I quickly tuck my hand behind my back. The man on the far left gestures with his chin toward a door where more members of Aria guard the entrance.

It’s then that it all really sinks in.

I’m in enemy territory. I’ve crossed their lines, and I have no way to defend myself. I can hold my own in a fair fight. We’re all given lessons in defense from a young age to protect ourselves from potential Solitude attacks. My brother took it a step further when he did his best to prepare me for everything life might throw my way.

But I’m completely outnumbered here. Surrounded by people who make it a point to hunt down those like me. I clutch my knife tighter in my hand as bright clouds tumble overhead, reminding me of what I am.

But I can’t let them see my fear.

With my head held high, I march toward the entrance. When I reach the door, three enormous men tower over me, surrounding me in a circle, all dressed in the bloodred shirts marking them as E-squad recruits. They don’t say anything; they just stare me down. My hands itch as bright clouds tumble overhead, reminding me of what I am. A monster. A freak. A danger to them all.

If they knew, they’d happily tear me to pieces.

“Excuse me,” I say, trying to make it sound confident, but it comes out a little squeaky and breathless. I size up the beast standing directly before me, bending my neck to meet his beady blue eyes.

I swallow thickly, but I’m not fooling anyone.

“Brick, let her through,” comes a voice off to my side. I don’t dare look at the source of my rescue. I just stare at Brick like I’m not about to pee my pants. They hate me, and they don’t even know what I am.

He’s expressionless, a blank wall with his squared-off features. What an apt name.

He cocks his head and finally steps aside. I hesitate for only a second before I walk past, trying to keep an even pace. More Aria Society kids line the hallway, each one eyeing me with varying degrees of everything from curiosity to unconcealed hostility.

More bloodred shirts. More people who would hunt me to the ends of the earth.

The only thing I know for sure is that not one of them wants me here. Not now, not ever.

At least it’s overshadowing the itching in my hands from the storm.

I kind of forgot to consider just how unwelcome I’d be here.

As I make my way down the hall, their ire burns up the back of my neck. I feel their hatred and their distrust. The absolute certainty that if I try to pledge to Aria, they will eat me alive.

Finally, I reach the end of the hall, which deposits me in the same grand space we all stood in when we arrived. My chest expands with relief, though I don’t know why. It’s not like I’m any safer here.

I look back to find everyone still watching me with resentment. They all know who my father is. I am an interloper among their ranks.

I can practically feel the target stamped on my back, as if I had handed them the bucket of bright red paint myself.

What have I just done?

10

I wake up frazzled and agitated. The storm never broke yesterday, leaving me desperate for a dose of Spark that never filled the air. Every muscle in my body aches like I’ve been clenching them for hours. Maybe I have. I didn’t sleep much after I returned to my room sometime in the middle of the night.