Page 24 of Magical Academy for Delinquents
I was gonna compel Grayson Mars to come to me until he begged me to drown him.
Professor Ho stepped in front of me. “And you’re done. Thank you, Ms. Dunemark. You’ve gotten detention on your first day. Take your seat.”
I strode to the back of the room, head held high, adrenaline and success buzzing in my veins. I considered sitting down in the empty seat next to Malcolm, but that might be too aggressive. He was a bit of a loner, possibly shy. I’d see him at tutoring anyway. Plus, I had a point to prove.
I sat down right next to Laura. That earned me another round of stares from the other students as Laura’s hands fisted on her thighs underneath the desk. I could have taken the third empty seat all the way across the room. But that wasn’t how the game was played. The alpha, bullshit dominance game meant that I needed to be up in her face all the time until she submitted.
I leaned back in my seat and focused on Ho, who was trying to regain control of his classroom. But the energy had changed. He knew it. I knew it. Glances kept floating back my way.
A wide, shit-eating grin spread across my face before I could stop it. Next to me, Laura Whitehall thought I was mocking her.
“You’ll get yours, bitch.” Her tone was low and dark.
And I couldn’t help turning to let her see my full-toothed smile. This was the best lesson ever. Because I’d impressed Malcolm and made my first enemy. But as I glanced over, Malcolm’s face was one of disappointment.
Aw, fuck. He didn’t really expect me to let her bitch me out, did he? Was I supposed to stand there and take it?
“Ms. Dunemark!” Ho barked. “Back up here!”
I slowly slid out of my seat and strutted forward. They took this hazing thing seriously.
“Since you seem so eager to have the class watch you, you can just stay standing up here, so they have a better view.” He placed me just in front of the corner, like timeout, his eyes glaring at mine, ordering me to stand down. But once I’d slid on my bitch persona, it was sometimes hard to slip off. I glared defiantly back at him.
“Alchemiken rights debate. Where do you stand?” Ho challenged me.
I glanced at Malcolm for half a second. I wasn’t sure if the Laura thing had lost him completely. I didn’t know if I could get back on track. I took a chance on the professor’s question. “I think they’re putting the cart before the horse. Alchemiken hasn’t even been proven. There is no such thing as a dual citizen yet. Meanwhile, we have a vamp population—one that neither side wants to take responsibility for—locked away in institutions. They don’t have magical representation in any legal system, they don’t get—”
A black-haired guy in the front row stood up, acne pitted face furious as his chair smacked to the floor behind him. “A fucking vamp killed my grandpa,” he said.
Ho held out a hand. “Take your seat, Mr. Therrian.”
“I’m sorry. But was that vamp nearly starved to death before that happened?” I asked, leaning around Ho. “They’ve been known to get more aggressive when they haven’t eaten regularly.”
“Fang-loving whore!”
Ho marched over to Therrian and stared the kid down. Then he turned back to me. “Get out of my classroom.”
I went to grab my bag, but Ho stepped in front of me. “Go directly to the Admin building. Room 208. Your detention starts now.”
Chapter 11
Detention sucked.I had to spend three hours butchering half a cow, hacking at it and trying not to puke from the smell. And then I had to feed four of the professors, who transformed into their Unnatural wolves for supper. My heart raced as their claws had clicked across the tile floor and headed for me, growling. The way they ripped apart the meat, raw tendons hanging from their huge fangs like red ribbons … it had been so sick I’d nearly puked. It was so creepy and disgusting that even after I went back to my dorm room, that nightmare of a detention invaded my dreams. Wolves stocked me through the fog.
I was ripped from sleep by something sliding across my throat. My brain immediately screamed, “Fangs!” My eyes flew open and a dark face leaned close to mine. A hand pressed down further on my neck.
I gasped in surprise and from the need for air. Fear raised goosebumps on my arms, but I refused to let my stomach churn.
You knew something like this was coming,I told myself.Buck the fuck up. It’s better than a wolf.Matthew used to tell me to take it like a champ when he tickled me until I couldn’t breathe. This wasn’t that different. Hardly breathing. I focused on taking slow breaths.
Grayson Mars pressed a hand down on my neck as he sat on the side of my bed. His fingers curled into my neck threateningly. His features were highlighted by the moonlight in a way that made him appear quite menacing. Menacing and handsome. His thick lips snarled, and his brows were drawn down. But even with the anger in his expression, he was undeniably good looking. That was a completely irrelevant, half-asphyxiated thought and I scolded myself for it as soon as I had it. Goals. He was here. He was angry. My plan had worked. I flexed my fingers, trying to decide if I should burn his eyes or blind him with darkness.
I quickly decided against darkness. He’d still be able to squeeze. And he was strong. The biceps near my face were huge. They felt massive compared to what I’d seen of him across the room at the stupid socialite functions mother dragged me to attend. My heart tapped nervously at my ribs, reminding me to stop fucking analyzing every little detail and get some damn oxygen into my body. I pulled at his fingers and he relented the tiniest bit. Good. He wasn’t actually out to kill me. Yet. I was sure that if he wanted to, he could probably curl his hand completely around my neck. If he wanted to, he could snap it.
I gulped in air.
The shuffle of footsteps made my eyes fly across the room. Beyond the foot of my bed were two guys and a girl. They wore black sweats and jackets but didn’t bother to hide their faces in the moonlight. One of the guys smiled at me. He was the guy with the teardrop tattoos under his eye. That made me reevaluate Grayson’s intentions. Gangster tattoos for murder were a little farther than I wanted to go.
I let my body go limp, but I didn’t move. I’d let them make the first move. Because I needed Grayson ticked but not murderous. I needed to push him, but not too far. I needed him to see me as a challenge, as an equal, but not as someone worth eliminating.
