Page 153 of A Heart of Bluestone

Now I want to know exactly which little junior put a stone in the snowball that struck my hip.

I don’t know who did it.

So I target as many as I can find.

Hidden behind trees, under the pews, on the other side of the staircase, some taking cover behind a snow-wall-fort erected in the middle of the grounds.

And we are merciless with every single face that pops out, until a lot of the juniors take off running.

Landon is quick to chase them down.

Mildred stumbles behind him, just chucking straight stones now, not even bothering to pack them in snow.

Oliver charges for a junior, a stocky guy with an enraged purple face. He pelts him, no mercy, over and over.

Teddy turns a grin on me.

Knees buried in the snow, I rush through making the next round of ammo.

“Get Dray,” he hisses, urgent.

I throw a bewildered look at him.

Then I shift my gaze up at the path.

Serena is still where I last saw her, but Dray now stands too close to the cowering James and scowling Courtney. He doesn’t watch the battle, not more than a glance here and there, but rather he watches me.

His frown is hooked onto me.

“That’s suicide.”

“Fuck him,” Piper scoffs, then jumps—and aims her pebbled snowball at Dray.

His brows raise just a moment before he twists—and dodges it.

Teddy fires the next, and this one strikes Dray on the side, hard.

Blue flames flare from under his lashes.

He looks right at me.

I didn’t fucking do anything.

But then, his mouth quirks at the corner—like he wants this, wants me to join them in an attack against him, like he’s daring me… and he knows I won’t, because I’m a coward.

Teddy and Piper are relentless.

Most snowballs don’t connect—Dray sidesteps, leans away, ducks, but each dodge brings him a purposeful step closer to our shrub,to us.

“Are you helping or what?” Piper shouts down at me.

Still, I am kneeling in the snow, a little pile of ammo in front of me. I turn my stunned gaze on her. “You’re out of your fucking mind!”

Teddy shouts a roar of annoyance. Guessing his strike didn’t hit.

“So what?” he snaps at me, then snatches from my pile. “That fucking guy is a right ass. He’s got it coming.”

With that, they are both back on their feet, firing off as many as they can. One smacks Dray on the chest before he breaks out into a run—right for us.

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