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“Oh,” I say weakly.
“It will be executed after the lesson,” he adds. “Is that humane enough for you?”
I blush.
Laila glares at me. When Apollo walks away, she hisses, “Why do you keep pissing him off?”
I shrug. “I don’t know! I think I’m pretty good at it, though.”
“Well, stop being so good at it,” she huffs then turns away.
There’s laughter in my mind as Cyrus chuckles. But the truth is, Laila’s right. I’m never going to be happy here or find a way to fit in when I keep antagonising Apollo. Then my attention drifts back to the Dragon Reaver as it throws its weight against the cage. I wince and look away.
Thirty-Three
I’m happy,though also nervous, to move on to my first necromancy lesson after the defence class. And I’m relieved not to be looking at the caged Reaver any longer.
As the lesson begins, Laila straightens her back. She leans forward and taps her pencil against her desk. I’ve never seen her so alert. It’s a little disconcerting, to be honest, but it does track. Laila seems to love the darkest aspects of magic.
A few moments later, the teacher strides into the classroom, and all the chatter stops immediately. She’s exactly what you’d expect a necromancer to look like. Tall, gaunt, with haunted pale-blue eyes and a dress that sweeps down to the ground. She’s in all black, of course.
“Open your books, children.” The word “children” slips out of her sneering mouth like a curse.
Every book opens almost simultaneously. I’m a second or two late, and I could swear the teacher clocks my slowness.
“What’s her name?” I mutter to Laila.
“Morrigan Veil,” Laila whispers back.
Morrigan fixes me with her pale eyes. “You. Come here, girl.”
“Oh, shit,” I breathe as I push back my chair. When I glance back at Laila, her eyes are wide with fear.
I wrap my arms around my body as I make my way to the front of the class. From the back row, Gabrielle watches with an amused smirk on her face. I hadn’t realised she was out of the infirmary.
Morrigan passes me a dead flower from between her sharp, red talons. I grip the stem, waiting for my next instruction.
“Where do the dead go when they die, child?” she asks.
“I don’t know,” I say. “Heaven?”
That’s not where I went,Cyrus says.
I hadn’t realised he was there, and I almost react.
Morrigan’s eyes narrow, like she saw the change in me. “You are the girl from the human world. I’ve heard about you.”
She smiles, and I’m horrified to see that her teeth are sharp, like they’ve been filed down.If this is what necromancers look like, then I’ll have none of it, thank you very much.I like my teeth normal and blunt.
“The descendent of the great king, Alaric Belvedere. Well, look at you, little one. All short and a bit dumpy.” She grabs my cheek and pinches it with her bony fingers.
Someone in the room titters, and I see Gabrielle place a hand over her mouth.
“I wonder what my king would make of you.” Morrigan tilts her head to one side. “Not a lot, I don’t think.”
Against my better judgement, I let out a derisive laugh. “What? Did you know him or something?”
“I did,” she says. “A long time ago.” She releases my face, and it stings where she touched it.
