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I blinked at her. “But you were the first one who said I was an Echo. Aren’t they going to hold you responsible too, Professor Longweed?”
Speaking of which—Headmistress Ethel in her impeccable pantsuit appeared at the entry of the class, her light gray eyes like shards of ice snagging on me right away.
Shit!
My heart rammed into my ribcage. I calmed down a little when I didn’t spot her creepy druid in tow. The headmistress and the druid hadn’t been thrilled that Killian had blocked their access to me. The chaos heir had almost come to blows with the druid by refusing to let him take me away under the name of investigation, and countered that the druid had scared me so much that I’d fallen right into the trap of the kidnappers.
I tried to duck behind Professor Longweed at the sight of the headmistress, but the professor held my elbow firmly, as if she had a sixth sense that could detect my intention of bolting.
“What did you do this time, Barbie?” Longweed asked in a low voice, her gaze glued to the headmistress.
Headmistress Ethel was a middle-aged beauty and one of the sternest women I’d met. But this time, she didn’t have a squad of sentinels rallying around her, but half a dozen horned students.
I smirked. “They aren’t coming to arrest me, which is nice for a change. And look, the new students have horns!”
“Silence,” Professor Longweed ordered me, and dragged me along with her to meet her boss.
“Headmistress Ethel.” She bowed.
“Professor Longweed.” Headmistress Ethel nodded. “I’m bringing the new students from the House of Underworld for an orientation.”
Professor Longweed gasped. “So, it’s true, then?”
My heart skipped a beat. I pricked my ears to absorb the information.
“We don’t want to make a big splash due to the resistance in the realm, as you know,” Headmistress Ethel said, and Longweed nodded gingerly. “So I’ll introduce the new students from the House of Underworld to each class instead of holding an assembly. We can always announce it when the House of Underworld is officially acknowledged as the sixth house in the realm. Shades Academy has to make a stand first by accepting the students from the new house. Diversity is the goal. We’ll add over a hundred new students, including the ones banished by another house unfairly, from the House of Underworld.”
Headmistress Ethel shot me a scathing look, obviously blaming me for the banishment of Bellona and other former chaos house members. Well, what an interesting development. Killian had kicked out those delinquents, but his betrothed took them all into her house. I tried to hide the glint in my eyes as I planned to run back to Killian and tell him about this news. Maybe I should find every chance to drive a wedge between them?
Pucker had been gathering intel for me besides his duty of patrolling the Veil. He’d warned me about Queen Lilith bringing her House of Underworld to Shades Academy. The campaign for establishing the House of Underworld as the sixth house in the realm had been going on for a while, and the queen’s engagement to the heir of House of Chaos had played a big part in her gaining a footing in Mist of Cinder.
“Of course,” Professor Longweed said. “Queen Lilith of the House of Underworld is the biggest donor to Shades Academy.”
“It’s not about the academy fund, Professor Longweed. Though with it, we can upgrade all our facilities.” Headmistress Ethel gave the professor a sharp look. “It’s about fairness, and it’s time the sixth house has its rightful place in Mist of Cinder!”
So Headmistress Ethel was either Queen Lilith’s ally or her pawn.
I surveyed the six new giant students who stood behind the headmistress. Their skin varied in shades of light or dark. Four of them had scales along the sides of their necks, and all of them had twin horns protruding from their heads.
They were pure-blooded demons from the Underworld.
The demons stared at me openly. Two of the alpha types sniffed at me, and their eyes glowed a menacing crimson.
My nostrils flaring, I pulled my lips back in a silent snarl, challenging them back.
The largest demon, whose arms were bigger than my thighs, smirked nastily.
My heart pounded. This shit had become real. Killian’s betrothed, the Queen of the Underworld, would come to the academy soon and stake her claim not only on this realm but also on Killian.
My head suddenly swam, and my mouth tasted like ash. The rest of the headmistress’s words flew through my ears, and the rest of the class passed in a blur.
Thoughts of Killian and his betrothed filled the dark space in my head.
Would he still shield me when she was here? Or was I a toy he’d toss away?
We’ll drag down the bitch queen by the hair and stomp our foot on her face, and Killian will see who is more beautiful and powerful! Sy said. Should he refuse to see sense and still choose her, we’ll dump him. You can hook up with Cade, or another. There’re plenty of big dicks in Mist of Cinder.
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