Page 29 of House of Mages and Raven

I smiled at her. “I’m okay with that, my friend. I was a nobody when I got here. I never want to be famous. A low profile suits me well.”

Though I had a feeling that lying low was a luxury that I didn’t have, not in any corner of the universe, coming from the bloodline of Ruin.

“I’m not okay with it!” Bea spat. “We’ve worked too hard for someone else to pluck the fruits of our labor like that.”

Bea might’ve been exiled along with her family when she was a child, but she was still a supernatural born in Mist of Cinder. She’d been weak and treated as such due to her magic being blocked, but now she was among the strong, and her ambition had also soared with the jump in her power grade.

Money could change a person. Power could corrupt anyone. It hadn’t corrupted Bea and taken away her loyalty to me, but she was no longer the low witch who was used to cowering in the face of a bully.

“I say we strike back before she gains an even bigger fanbase,” Bea said. The underdog campaign had made my once-timid friend a bulldog. “I won’t allow her to replace you like this and reduce you to a pale shadow of yourself.”

“No one can make me their shadow,” I said. “The best move is to make no moves at all. I’m all for winning without fighting, which is the gist ofTheArt of Warby Sun Tzu.”

I’d never studied Sun Tzu; I just threw a few of his quotes around to appear cool.

Bea gave me a look of disbelief. “That’s not the art of war. That’s laziness.”

We slid along the aisle toward our usual seats in the corner.

“Anyway, I won’t roll over, not even for you, Barbie!” Bea barked. “If I have to fight alone, I will, to the bitter end.”

“I don’t want you to fight to the bitter end,” I said. The bitter end was for me, not for my friends. I’d prevent it with all mypower. “Sun Tzu also advised to draw your enemy out to force them to give up their advantage. What if our opponents are trying to draw me out?”

“Let me think on it,” she said, flipping her blue hair over her shoulder. “We need to be smart.”

“Right now, I just want a hot meal,” I said as we reached our table, which was empty, since our former circle was now busy kissing Grace’s ass.

Before I perched my butt on the edge of the seat, the hall turned so silent that the drop of a pin could be heard. I whipped my head toward the entrance just as Killian strolled in with Queen Lilith, her elegant fingers possessively wrapped around his forearm.

My stomach instantly flopped, a twist of nausea surging from my belly to my head. The next second, my eyes were on fire as raging thoughts filled my mind. I had to fight every primal urge to charge them from where I was, and Sy’s goading didn’t help, either.

She’s pawing at our man!she bellowed, her golden eyes burning.You need to go and slice off her fingers!

A partial shift came over me, and my hands turned to claws. Biting my cheek and tasting the rusty tang of my blood, I reined Sy and myself in and shoved my hands into the pockets of my uniform jacket to hide them, only for the sharp tips of our claws to pierce the fabric. Luckily, no one spared me a glance, as the entire assembly was fascinated by the queen and her prince beau.

The perfect golden couple was a sight to watch and outshone everyone else.

Killian wore a dark shirt and black slacks that showed off his perfect, masculine physique. Despite his betrayal, his striking face still stole my breath away. His storm-blue eyes were cold yet alluring. The chaos prince was pure sin, especially with thosecarnal lips, which had once licked my tender flesh and offered me pleasure. Now they tugged up in a faint smile for another woman, the one who had come before me and staked her claim.

Queen Lilith wore a sports shirt with dark jeans, appearing chic and modern, even though she was probably among the most ancient immortals. Her golden hair was two shades darker than mine. The last time I’d seen her as her captive in the Underworld, her hair had draped to her ankles. Now it was much shorter and flowed down to her shoulders. She looked only a couple of years my senior.

Her pose was regal, her gait graceful and confident. Her green eyes sparkled with delight as she tilted her head to gaze at Killian. She was taller than most men, and he was still taller than her. Her every pore radiated perfection, matching his icy, hard beauty.

They said that she’d once been a bright star in the galaxy before she fell. No one knew why she’d fallen. Even so, she was still the brightest fallen star that now ruled the Underworld and had claimed the most powerful heir.

Jealousy seared me.

No one shines brighter than us, not even a star, fallen or not,Sy said with utter confidence and superiority.Unleash your goddess glory and show everyone. Show the prince who we really are, and then we can take him right back while shoving your boot into his former bitch’s mouth.

I was never as aggressive as Sy when it came to men and sex. I never bothered to assert my dominance unless I was cornered, then I rose to the challenge and stopped playing nice.

I dropped into my seat and hunched my shoulders—much to Sy’s displeasure. Even so, the chaos prince still whipped his gaze to me right way. It happened every time; he could always single me out amid the crowd without even trying. It hadn’t changed, even with his betrothed queen by his side.

Electricity crackled in the air, burning a path between us, even though there were hundreds of students and dozens of tables in the way. His eyes lit up, even softening and warming for a second, before they turned cold and merciless again. The chaos prince averted his gaze, yet the air still buzzed with electricity between us.

He’s calling you to him,Sy said.Go push the other woman out of the way.

Sy’s strategy was always straightforward and to use blunt force. In her book, there was no such thing as consequences. I kept my dark flame at bay so I wouldn’t dive into an unnecessary fight and make a fool out of myself, or worse.

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