Page 16 of Queen of Vengeance

It was hard to be mad at him when he was so charming.

I found a seat toward the front row of the audience and settled into it.

The other students around me were gossiping about who they thought would win, except for a few groups of girls who were swooning over Jax.

I wanted to roll my eyes, but I was no better than them. I had just blown my chances of being in front of all the famous potion producers in Carvel, so my pathetic schoolgirl crush could perform. As much as I was angry with myself, I was entranced by Jax’s handsome face.

His olive complexion complemented the deep sage green of his eyes, which is why I loved using moss so much in my potions. The color reminded me of him.

He was always dressed nicely, too, despite where he came from. His family had no money, just like mine, but his uncle gave generously to them.

He neatly groomed back his silky raven hair.

The picture of perfection…

“Pst!” The obnoxious noise pulled me from my precious thoughts.

I wondered who was rude enough to interrupt me. I was annoyed until I saw Mairy Cecil standing beside my row of chairs and trying to get my attention. I gave her a threatening look before motioning her to sit next to me before she managed to anger everyone in the auditorium.

She scooted down and bumped a few students before sitting next to me. “Geez, I thought I was never going to get your attention with how hard you were staring at Jax Ransom!”

“Shut up, Mair,” I grumbled, regretting having saved her a seat.

“So, what happened? I thought you were training for this thing for months. Why aren’t you up there?” She crossed her leg over and wove her arms into mine so that she could pull me in.

“I was late. It doesn’t matter anymore.” I furrowed my brows, pleading with her to stop.

“I find that hard to believe. You aren’t the type of person to be late. I’m almost sure you were here 3 hours early.” She was relentless in her interrogation. Of course, she was right, but I didn’t want her to know that.

Thank goodness one of the students managed to blow up their potion. This caused a rumble through the floor and drew our attention back to the competition.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Now, I could focus on how Jax was doing.

He and Zane managed to get past the first two rounds without a problem.

The final trial would be the trickiest one because it had to be a potion written by them.

“What a shame. You would have aced this competition.” Mair pouted her lips at me. She was done teasing me and had moved on to heartfelt sympathy.

I sunk deeper into my chair, thinking of ways to impress the judges and potion producers.

My eyes observed Jax’s actions carefully.

I noticed before the judges did that he was preparing a potion that had already been published.

It wasn’t a very well-known potion, but still, they were going to notice. I tried to signal to Jax to stop, but the judges saw what he was doing before he looked up at me.

One of them approached Jax, leaning in to whisper in his ear. My stomach twisted into knots. I fidgeted with my fingers, anxiously awaiting what would happen next. Were they going to disqualify him on the spot?

Suddenly, the judge turned and walked away. Jax grabbed the premixed bottle and tossed it into the trash. I exhaled the stale air I’d been holding. He would have to start over with much less time, but at least he could continue.

Or so I thought. I watched helplessly as Jax looked around, uncertainty clouding his face. His eyes scanned the crowd, and I saw defeat settling in. Then, he found me in the audience, and for a moment, he paused.

Part of me knew I should have let him rise or fall on his merit, but watching him stand helpless was too much.

My eyes pointed down next to him.

Next to his right hand were a few petals of the Blood Scorn Flower.

---