Page 5 of Wicked Waters

We both pulled a face. She was right. It wasn’t like I hadn’t known the terms of my return to Hatherley Hall, but after I’d faced Roman earlier…the reality had been far more difficult than I’d anticipated. I couldn’t tell her the details yet, though. Not until we could be alone, with no chance of being overheard.

The tower, I mouthed, and she nodded before turning to face the front of the room, where Professor Donnelly, our head of house, was shuffling papers at the lectern. Most of the teachers preferred to use laptops and projectors, but he was one of those old-school teachers who had a deep distrust of modern technology.

He cleared his throat loudly, the microphone amplifying the sound, sending it bouncing around the hall with the help of the speakers placed on the pillars that ran down the sides of the room. Just that small action had the hall falling into silence, students straightening up and fixing their gazes on him.

A sudden chill went down my spine as Prof. Donnelly began to speak, and it had nothing to do with what was happening at the front of the room.

It was the awareness of the gaze I felt boring into the back of my head. Without even having to turn around, I knew it was him.

Roman.

My heart stuttered, and I squeezed my hands together in my lap, my knuckles turning white with the pressure. After all this time, the way this boy held so much power over me, the way he could affect me like no one else ever could…

I could never allow him to see it. I had to perfect my mask of disinterest, even if it made me feel like a hollow shell of myself.

The consequences weren’t worth risking. Not for me, and not for him.

3

QUINN

“We’re sorry to do this to you, sweetheart. It’s for your own good. Your education is more important than anything else. More important than fleeting friendships that won’t last.” My mother squeezed my hand.

Next to her, my dad nodded. “We just want what is best for you. A clean break is what you need. Time away from those bad influences in your life. My secondment to the Swiss office came at just the right time. You’ll soon forget about Hatherley Hall and those people you should never have come into contact with. Especially that Roman Cavendish. Mark my words, that boy will end up expelled, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he ends up in prison with the way he’s going.”

My dad tugged my phone from my grip, ignoring my shocked gasp.

“A clean break,” he repeated, throwing my phone into his desk drawer and then slamming it shut. “That’s what you need. No more contact with anyone from that school. We know the Cavendish boy was mostly to blame for your grades dropping. He was your biggest distraction, and we should have done something about it sooner. But he wasn’t the only one.” Exchanging glances with my mum, he placed a heavy hand on my shoulder. “I know some of the other students were your friends, but you’ll forget about them when we’re gone. Your grades are the most important thing, Quinn. You’ll thank us in the long run.”

The rest of the day was mostly uneventful, and I managed to avoid Roman. I didn’t get to speak to Aria again, as she was nowhere to be found. Thankfully, Penelope came to find me after the assembly, and we ate lunch together, surrounded by the popular girls. Penelope’s roommate, Freya, was at a netball team meeting, so my first interaction with her was delayed, and I was grateful for that. Although I’d probably been building everything up too much inside my head, the thought of more than one confrontation on my first day back was enough for me.

When the warning bell rang to inform us that curfew was thirty minutes away, I was already in my dorm room, collapsed on my bed, earphones in and an audiobook playing on my phone. My roommates were nowhere to be seen—my guess was that they were in the common room. Each house had its own common room, shared between two school years. Our common room was located on the same floor as my dorm, and Epi students from years twelve and thirteen, aka A-level students, shared it. In the daytime, it was mostly used as a study area, but in the evenings, it played host to board games, card games, film nights, gossip sessions, students flirting with each other…all the usual stuff, I guess. The staff generally turned a blind eye as long as everything remained discreet and no one got too loud. I should have been there, integrating myself with the members of my house and reforging old acquaintances, but the day had been a little draining, and I needed some peace. To be back at Hatherley Hall, surrounded by so many people…it had been everything I’d wanted since I’d left here the first time, but it was a big change after over two years of being homeschooled.

The door suddenly swung open, and I reached for my phone, pausing my audiobook and removing my earphones. Three girls piled into the room, the first one stopping dead when she saw me, and the other two crashed into her back with muffled cries.

From the back, Aria stepped around the other two girls, throwing them an eye roll, then turned to me. “Meet Quinn. Despite being one of the goddesses, she’s actually nice.”

“Ugh. Don’t start with that whole gods-and-goddesses thing.” Grimacing, I returned her eye roll with one of my own. It was like no time had passed between us.

She just laughed. “You can’t deny it. You were one before, and you’ll be one again.”

There was a tradition at Hatherley Hall—every May, there was a Greek gods and goddesses–themed ball. Each ball had a slightly different theme, but it was always based around Greek mythology.

I loved the ball itself—who wouldn’t love a chance to dress up, dance, and have fun with all your friends in a beautifully decorated space? But part of the ball was essentially a popularity contest, where people would vote for their favourite gods and goddesses in the run-up to the ball, and towards the end of the evening, the winners would be announced. When I was younger, I’d always hoped to be voted as one of the goddesses, for the crown styled like a laurel wreath to be placed on my head, cementing my place as one of the elite. The year I left Hatherley Hall, I’d become one. I’d been the youngest-ever goddess, according to the then-head girl, and apparently, I’d narrowly beaten Penelope to the spot—if the head girl at that time had been telling the truth since the votes were supposed to only be seen by the staff. Of course, Penelope was nothing but happy for me, even though it meant that she missed out on the prize—although we both agreed there was no way of knowing if it was true.

This time around, things had changed. While my mother would no doubt love nothing more than for me to be one of the goddesses, especially since she was a Hatherley Hall alumni and had been a goddess two years running during her time as a student, I didn’t want that.

Because there was no doubt in my mind that Roman would be one of the gods.

He’d always affected me, had always been beautiful, but now? He took my breath away. That chiselled jaw, those deep blue eyes, like the depths of the ocean, fringed with thick, inky lashes, his raven hair, artfully dishevelled, falling into his eyes, that body I’d felt pressed against me today—all lean, toned muscle, no doubt from his hours of swimming and rowing and whatever else he did to get such definition—and that sexy, low rasp to his voice that sent shivers through me. Whether or not he was still a troublemaker, there was no denying how utterly gorgeous he was. Not to mention, it seemed like he was friends with Tristan now, who was the head boy, and that more or less guaranteed him a place as one of the gods.

“I have no interest in being one of the goddesses,” I said firmly, and Aria raised a brow.

“You might not get any choice. Everyone’s eligible.” She seemed to read something in my face because she gave a small shake of her head and stepped closer. “Anyway, enough about that. Quinn, meet Samira and Gracelyn, our roommates.”

I recognised both of them, although I’d never spoken to either of them before. Samira was striking, all dark hair and flawless brown skin, and Gracelyn was a pretty redhead with pale skin dotted with freckles.

They both eyed me curiously, and before the silence became awkward, I spoke up. “It’s nice to meet you both. Thanks for letting me crash here.”

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