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Instead of telling us, Deus flicks one of the pins he’d been stabbing the doll with. The very tip of it sticks into the chest of the Ellison on the right. “That one.”
Ellison looks at Deus in disbelief. “You literally threw apin at me?”
“I mean… what did you want me to throw? You didn’t give me a pen like you gave the teacher’s pet,” he says. “And it barely stuck your skin with all the layers of clothes you have on.”
I eye him. “I am the teacher’s pet? Did you forget he tried breaking my nose?”
“Huh… you were right, Deus,” August says as the illusions drop and a very peeved-looking Ellison plucks the pin out of his chest.
Deus isthrilled. “Thank you.”
“How the hell could you tell?” I ask.
“No one…” Ellison whispers. “No one has ever picked the right one… and this… this… no! Lucky guess! It was just a lucky guess. Ha ha. That’s all it was.”
Suddenly the room is filled with fifteen Ellisons and with barely a glance, Deus tosses another pin. All but his stabbed target disappear.
“You could justpoint,” August says, in case Deus isn’t aware.
Ellison looks like he’s on the verge of murder as suddenly thirty identical Ellisons fill the room. Deus takes more time getting another pin out of the container than he does stabbing Ellison.
How the fuck he is doing this, I have absolutely no idea.
“Can you not see the others?” I ask in disbelief.
“No, I can see them,” Deus says as Ellison tries again with even more Ellisons, this time moving them around the room, but Deus doesn’t even look away from me as he stabs the real Ellison in the chestagain.
It doesn’t matter how many times Ellison tries it, Deus doesn’t even hesitate. Honestly, we’re all—including Valerie—shocked at Deus’s weird skill. I mean… it’s so fascinating that no one even seems to pay any mind to the fact that he can flick a little pin with such precision and half the time without even looking.
Deus shakes his pin container and finds a lack of a rattle. “Hey, buddy, this is really fun and all because you’re feeding my sadistic side by allowing me to absolutely prick the hell out of you, but I’m running out of pins. So can I either have some of them back or start using my gun?” He picks up his rifle and Ellison stops.
He’s panting and there are beads of sweat on his forehead. His hair is no longer in perfect place. His shirt’s a little bloody and he just went from making me feel inferior to looking like we dragged him out of a ditch in minutes.
Ellison stills as he seems to realize what I just did and quickly slicks his hair back, straightens his jacket so none of us can see the little red marks of blood on the shirt underneath, and tugs his tie.
“To continue our lesson,” he says as he angrily throws all the pins in the trash, “we will now—”
Deus raises his hand.
“What is it,Asmodeus?” he growls.
“You can call me Deus. Do I still have to take notes? Because I’m pretty sure I just aced the test while these dumb fucks failed.”
“E-Excuse me, NoTouchy?” I growl as I use my power to whip one of August’s pins at him. He turns invisible and reappears on the other side of the room.
“Ha! How many times do I have to tell you that I cannot be touched, Landon?” he asks as he quickly pulls the pin out of his shoulder. I used restraint, at least, and didn’t stuff it in deeper than the tip like I really wanted to.
“Uh-huh… sure,” I say.
“Asmodeus, please have a seat,” Ellison says.
“Teacher, the teacher’s pet is being mean,” Deus whines. “It makes me want to torture him a little.”
Ellison turns and locks eyes with Valerie. Then he walks up to her, cups her hand in both of his and bows to her. “I have never felt such respect for a single human being in my life. You are the strongest person I’ve ever met.”
“Thank you,” Valerie says before turning to us. “Get in your goddamn seats, all of you. And stop throwing pins. Stop torturing each other and LISTEN! If you don’t:Deus, you will be kicked out.Landon, I willforceyou to wear pink. And Lex—”
“I’ve been a good boy!” Lex says, looking offended. “Look at my good boy face!”
