Page 22 of Queen of Vengeance

Diesel treasured those looks in his mind, holding onto them as others might cherish flowers or coins, finding solace in their memory during the quiet nights filled only with his thoughts.

“That’s right,” he thought. “Hate me. Spread that hate and fear to everyone you know. Fear keeps people in line.”

Diesel turned his back on the old woman and climbed onto the caravan. With a tap of his cane, he urged the driver to move.

9

ZANE

The school halls always had a special glow in the early morning, so Zane always liked showing up early for school.

The gray stone walls were a decidedly lackluster color and porous, which meant that when it rained or was a particularly dewy morning, one could see glimmers of water in them.

The water would often dry up by the time their first class started, but its fleetingness did not diminish its beauty.

This was the only time Zane managed to find peace in his life.

It wasn’t very often that he didn’t have to care for his younger sister and brother.

As much as he loved them, he also loved his time away from them.

Being so close to them meant it was too easy for them to get on his nerves.

Zane began making his way to his first class when he heard someone shout in a room he was passing.

Curiosity got the best of him as he sneaked up to the door and opened it just a crack to see what was happening.

He was shocked to see the girls of the school picking on someone.

They were playing “Keep Away” with someone’s potion book.

He wasn’t typically one for interfering in other people’s business, but when he saw Lea jumping desperately to get her book back, he knew he had to do something.

His stomach churned at the thought of someone bullying her.

Zane threw the door open, and it made a loud crack against the wall, startling everyone in the room. “What’s going on here?”

“Oh, it’s just you, Zane. I thought it was a professor.” One of the girls laughed it off and continued tossing Lea’s potion book around.

“You’ll be lucky if I don’t report you to the professor. Now give her back her book.” Zane crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at who he assumed was the queen bee of the situation.

“You want it back? Fine.” She glanced behind her at an open container of Flume Powder and knocked it over. Then she dropped the item into the Flume Powder, and it disappeared. “Oops.”

“I’ll rip your hair right out of your head!” Lea shouted as she charged at the girl. She managed to grab a good chunk.

With a chunk of her red hair in Lea’s hand, she screamed bloody murder.

“Why can’t you just leave me be!” Lea screamed more out of frustration than anything. All she wanted was peace.

“Hey!” Zane intervened and pulled Lea away—the rest of the girls scattered once they saw what Lea did.

“I’ll get you for this, rat!” The red-headed girl rubbed her very sore bald spot on her head before running out of the classroom.

Zane pulled Lea close to him, protecting her as she crumbled in on herself.

Big tears began flowing out of her eyes, but she tried wiping them away with her hands so Zane couldn’t see.

“Hey, don’t cry about it. We can get you a new potion book.” Zane pulled Lea’s face up by her chin so that she had to look at him.

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