Page 73 of Heartless Legacy

Besides, I just did Eloise a favor. She shouldn’t be encouraging that guy’s attempts to get into her pants, seeing how she’sPax’s companion.

Was it petty as fuck, flirting with someone I don’t even want? Absolutely, but it also shows restraint on my part. Wolfe would be proud.

There’s a flutter in my chest as I think about that. About making him proud. When did I become this person who cares what everybody thinks? No. Not everybody. Just certain people. Wolfe’s name just happens to occupy one of the top three slots.

Eloise calls out, “Enjoy your freedom while it lasts.”

My eyes flick back and forth, looking for threats as I make my way to The Rock. Nobody else approaches me. Nobody stops and stares, but my skin still prickles. The hair on the back of my neck stands on end.

I look over my shoulder repeatedly, but I don’t see anyone suspicious standing around. That doesn’t mean I’m safe. Picking up my pace, I rush to the dining hall and push through the doors, harder than I intend to. Eyes swing around to look at me because they still haven’t fixed the damn thing, and it bounces off the wall.

The faces are all blurry, as my panic attack ramps up.Fuck.Wasn’t I just in control, flirting with that guy? How am I losing it now, just from walking here? I don’t hear their approach through the rushing water in my ears, but I sense that someone’s near. I back away, slapping at hands I can’t see.

“Hey little cousin.”

Little cousin? Who? Me? I swivel my head towards the voice.

“Did you eat yet? I was late getting out of class and my friends already left. Mind if I sit with you?”

I try to make sense of what the person is saying, but my attention keeps drifting to my wrist. There’s a steady tapping against it. I look down and see fingers that aren’t mine pressedagainst it. Once. Four times. Three times. There’s a pause. Then the pattern repeats. Once. Four times. Three times. The buzzing in my ear slowly recedes and I feel my lungs expand as I finally suck in air.

My gaze drifts across the hand, along the arm and up the shoulder to the face of the person standing in front of me, blocking me from the rest of the cafeteria.

“I’m thinking I could smash a pizza, but that strawberry apple chicken salad sounds pretty good, and so does the arugula and cheese flatbread.” He smiles at me. “Maybe I’ll get all of it. I’m a growing boy, after all.”

I manage to make my tongue work. “You’re a grad student. You should be past the growing boy phase.”

“You would think right? But I’ve got a big-” I arch a brow, and shake my head, letting him know not to continue that train of thought. “Brain, and burn a lot of calories. What kind of dessert should I get?” He asks, walking towards the line.

I follow him because… well, because he helped me, and if I’m being completely honest, I don’t want to eat alone. Not after Eloise’s comment about my freedom. I’m pretty sure that’s what triggered my attack.

Chapter 45

Pax

Tonight is the first leaderboard shuffle of the semester, and the one I’m most anxious to see. Not because I’m worried my name is moving below the third place spot, but because Thea’s back and this will give me an idea of where she stands with The League.

If her name’s not on the board, that means they’ve dropped her entirely from the rolls. If she’s on the board, she has a chance at a life that involves more than being my father’s incubator.

The opening minutes of the meeting covered basic administrative bullshit, and now we’re an hour into the process of the ceremony master reading off the scores. He calls out the name of a first year prospect and instructs the recorder to make the appropriate entry, as the points tally on the board.

It’s no surprise that Eloise’s group is still at the top of the board. I hold my breath as the names slide and rearrange over and over again, before settling into the final tally. Thea’s name is at the very bottom.

I’m staring at it when the scorekeeper announces. “The board does not contain an error. We’ve added twenty names to the first year prospect board under amnesty rules. No drops will occur following today’s tally or for the sixty days of challenges. At theend of sixty days, all scores will be recalculated, and the bottom five prospects will drop.”

“Two months?” Eloise gasps. “Why are they waiting two months, and why the hell did they add people they’ve already eliminated?”

Amnesty rules sounds like something I never cared to read up on since there was never any danger in me being dropped from consideration. Tonight, the rule works out in twenty people’s favor. One of those lucky prospects is Thea. She has a chance to come back from this. I don’t give a shit what happens to the rest.

What the ceremony master says next drags my attention away from the scoreboard and back to the dais. “Those five will be transferred to guardian lines.”

There’s a murmur of voices among the prospects and renewed interest in the scores posted on the board, as people assess the rankings, looking for the weakest link among the first years. Out of habit, my gaze swings to my friends. Finn’s about ten feet away from me, and Holden’s on the opposite side of the room. They’re both leaning against the wall, looking bored with the conversations going on around them. But I know better. They’re listening, cataloguing everything they hear from the first year prospects who are too impatient to wait until they’re alone to start their strategy meeting.

Something Finn hears has him frowning. He pushes away from the wall and weaves around the bodies in his way. He stops in the middle of the crowd, and turns this way, eyes narrowed at me. Not me. He’s looking past me. Then his gaze locks onto mine, and he smirks at me before joining his father at the front of the room.

J.R. squeezes Finn’s shoulder and nods, then walks over to the dais and whispers something to one of the other councilmen.They both laugh at whatever he’s said. A few more people walk over, joining their conversation.

It all looks innocent. A son talking to his father before leaving a meeting. But I know Finn and that smirk he gave me means he’s up to something. I drag my gaze away from him and his father, searching for Thea. It takes me a while to find her in the sea of bodies, her dark hair indistinguishable from the other girls in chambers. This plain color does nothing for me. I miss the purple and blue.

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