Page 30 of A Sky of Storms
“You won’t regret it. I promise.”
“I think I already am,” I groaned to Flynn, earning another laugh from my second. I turned to Dick. “You’re not eating this. Go back and get real food.”
He rose slowly from his seat. “But I like—”
“Protein. Good fats. Now,” I ordered, startling the guy.
“Leave him alone,” a voice said behind me, and I turned to see Fallon looking all kinds of hot with her hands on her hips and her copper eyes flaring. The younger Auger was a force. It had been so hot to spar with her in training the other day and she’d managed to hold her own surprisingly well.
Around us, the cafeteria had gone quiet, all eyes on our little interaction. I wasn’t gonna waste this opportunity to get her out of my fucking head. The people loved a good show, and I was about to give them one. It didn’t matter whether I wanted to bed the angel or not, she needed to learn her place—and that place was beneath me. From now on, she no longer commanded my thoughts.
I rose from my seat and placed a hand on Dick’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “This is between me and Dick, isn’t it?”
“Err.” His eyes blinked nervously. “Ye-yes.”
Fallon didn’t back down though. She stormed towards me, shoving me in the chest. It was cute watching her attempt to overpower me. I couldn’t help but add this little part of our interaction to the wank bank. I liked her strong will, but as much as I wanted the memories for later, having her question my actions in front of all the Potentials, especially those under me, wasn’t going to slide. I dropped my hand from Dick’s shoulder.
“Fallon, Fallon, Fallon,” I tsked, shaking my head slowly. “Looks like you didn’t learn anything from your sister’s video.”
Fallon sneered. “There was nothing to learn. I already knew she was a coward and a bully.”
Someone gasped behind me and it was followed up by Victoria shouting that her sister was a lying bitch. I chuckled, grinning at Fallon like an idiot because she was about to find out that though I found her hot, she had no control over me. She could focus her attention on flirting with the other guys because I was done.
If there was one thing I knew about rich kids in high society, it was that they thrived on petty humiliation. If I was going to survive here, I’d stoop to their level, even if it made me a prick.
“Hey Flynn,” I said, my hand dropping to the table behind me. “Got my back?”
“Always, bro,” he replied, and I quickly grabbed Dick’s rainbow cereal and dumped it onto Fallon’s head.
Laughter filled the cafeteria. I smirked, too enthralled with the look of vengeance on Fallon’s face as she stood there before me, drenched in a milky rainbow, to laugh. It did nothing to dampen the spark in her eyes though. If anything, it ignited as hot as the surface of the sun. She slowly lifted the bowl off her head, dropping it to the floor where it smashed into jagged pieces. Then in a move that was sexually charged with how much she wanted me, she wiped the milk and cereal from her face, holding eye contact with me. Even humiliated and covered in breakfast, she was a formidable force. Just like her sister, she was competition for my crown, but unlike Victoria, she was still strong on her own and that made her a bigger threat.
“Real fucking mature,” Fallon said, stepping closer so that her next words were for me alone. “You must be really scared of me if you’re resorting to childish pranks like this.”
My grin faltered and I narrowed my eyes. “I’m not afraid of anything.”
Fallon laughed, stepping back. “I’m sure you’ll eventually convince yourself of that if you repeat it often enough. Isn’t that what mantras are for? Brainwashing yourself into believing something?”
She spun on her heel, her hair flinging soggy rainbow puffs onto my shirt as she whirled off. Potentials continued to laugh and point at Fallon as she strode out of the cafeteria. I wanted to revel in it, but there was a small sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that hinted maybe I didn’t win that one. I quickly tried to shove that shit down; I’d won. Just one look at everyone around me and it was obvious I had taught her a lesson.
I forced a smirk to my face, going around the table to sit next to Flynn where he waited with a high five. Fallon had lost this one, so why did I feel like the loser?
Ileanedagainsttheshelves in the darkened storeroom where I’d first seen Mark meet with the mysterious hooded figure. It was an effort to keep myself from nodding off where I stood camouflaged. With each night I came back I increasingly grew bored. I would have brought a book but there was no point trying to read in the dark, plus it’s not like I was wearing anything to smuggle one in.
Neither Mark nor the hooded guy had returned and there was every chance they wouldn’t come back at all, but I had no lead as to where else they might meet. I’d followed Mark in my free time, waiting to catch his next meeting, only to find him being a jerk or a straight-up sleazeball to the other Potentials. So, after he went to bed, I’d venture here and wait it out a few hours just in case either one of them came when everyone else was asleep.
I made sure to be hyper-vigilant of my surroundings when spying now. I wasn’t keen on getting caught wandering around with my birthday suit on like I had last time.
I’d stashed my clothes in a box on the highest shelf so I could get changed before leaving the room. That damn picture of me with the grapefruit was still making the rounds. I’d like to say it wasn’t my proudest moment, but my teen years were filled with many embarrassing stints when I was still practicing with my invisibility. All I want known is that the grapefruit remains a virgin.
I wasn’t the only target of such jokes. There were images and videos of other Potentials being circulated too. Celeste was a genius for giving everyone a means to capture their competition in their worst moments. Evil, but a genius nonetheless.
I rubbed my eyes. All this spying was exhausting both my magic and me physically, not to mention how it ate into my sleep. I couldn’t give up, though. Katie, Rena, and so many others were relying on me.
Light bled through the crack of the door where it opened, and hope surged in my chest that the night had not been a total waste. I quickly became invisible and leant forward to see Victoria Auger strolling in with her chin high. She passed a shelf then stopped, placing her hands on her hips as she tapped her foot. Apparently, she was already pissed off about arriving before whoever she was meeting.
I wondered whether it was Mark or if she, too, was meeting the hooded guy. He’d mentioned House Jupiter accepting a shipment, so I knew they were involved with Mark, just not to what extent yet.
Victoria was ruthless and thirsty for power. I’d seen enough of her to know that she thought she had already been crowned queen. How her sister managed to continue to get back up and face Victoria was a mystery to me.
