Page 98 of Gemini Wicked

“Don’t touch her, Cleo,” Skyler calls. “The bitch is electrified.”

“Grazie. I’m well aware.” With the dismissive flick of a manicured hand, Cleo gestures Xiao toward the spiral staircase that leads to the choir loft.

He peels right off to do her evil bidding, natch.

That move puts him between me and my power place. Maybe she knows if I’m gonna summon actual lightning, the best place to do that is up in the belfry.

Cleo angles her approach to keep herself between me and the door that opens on the big piazza outside the church, which is the other easy place I could summon from.

Plus she’s still coming.

She’s coming for my crown.

My heart beats in my throat and my skin tingles with anticipation. Skyler and her minions have blocked the interior passage that leads to the classrooms in the rear cloister, so I’m pretty much trapped.

My only remaining escape route (if I needed one, which I don’t) is the shadowy stairway that plunges through the floor into the crypt. That’s where they keep the Academy Vault, which is supposed to be off limits to students.

More important, the crypt is where Lucius has his office. Given the time of day, he’s probably down there now, doing office hours. Vasili has an office down there too, but he complains about the dismal aesthetics and hardly ever uses it.

Knowing at least one of my alphas is close if I need him clears my head and steadies my jitters.

Still, I wanna handle this shit on my own.

If I’m being totally honest, that’s the real reason I sent my guys away. I need to prove my queenly mettle to all the doubters and the haters in the witching world.

Well, here’s my chance.

I swing my backpack securely across my shoulders and drop my hands to my sides. Purple sparks arc between my fingers and dance across my knuckles.

“One warning’s all you get,” I tell my ex softly, with lightning humming in my throat.

Fuck. Despite everything she’s done, I still don’t wanna hurt her.

But it doesn’t look like she’s leaving me much choice.

She drops her blazer carelessly on a couch and keeps on coming. Across the narrowing space between us, her shimmering violet gaze locks with mine.

“Don’t force my hand, bella,” she whispers in Italian—the love language for our ménage. My chest clenches with old grief. “Not while he’s here. You’re not the only one in this situation who is running short on choices, si?”

My brow furrows. I don’t know what kinda game she thinks she’s playing.

Xiao’s vanished up the stairs to the choir loft, which is an issue. I wouldn’t put it past my light-fingered ex-boyfriend to hoover up all the Horn of Ceres intel he can find up there, then vamoose with the books I need myself (which aren’t supposed to leave the library) for our finals.

“You want my crown?” I say. The air around me turns lavender as psi fire spills from my eyes. “Then you’re gonna have to take it.”

“Bene.” The bitch sighs like I’m breaking her heart. “Skyler.”

From the corner of my eye, a dark object tumbles toward me through the air. I barely fling up an arm in time to deflect the heavy brass-bound book that’s sailing toward me under the steam of Mogadon magic. Instead of hurtling into my head, the thing slams into my shoulder.

As the heavy book drops to the floor with a thud, a red wash of pain spreads through my deltoid region.

Fucking Scorpio telekinetics.

“Ow.” I spear that witch Skyler with a murderous glare, because that’s gonna leave a bruise. Worse, seeing that mark’s gonna make my warlocks lose their minds. “Shit, Scarlet. You can’t treat an old book like that.”

Skyler tosses her long dark mane like she’s filming a shampoo commercial and shoots me a triumphant look. “How do you plan to stop me, Gemini?”

Before I can answer, another heavy book flies out of a study carrel and hurtles toward me. I manage to duck-and-dive this one, because that shit hurts when it connects. My shoulder’s still throbbing from the last hit.

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