Page 64 of The Blackened Blade

We take two steps before Adam's name is called, a pair of boys making their way over toward him. He sighs before asking them ‘if it could wait’ glancing toward me. Both boys smirk but reply ‘it’ll only take a minute’. He turns to me, a frown pulling at his lips.

“I’ll just be two minutes with the boys, Micai.” He takes a step forward before turning back toward me. His brows draw together, a colder gaze in his eyes as a stern tone laces his voice, “Don’t go anywhere.”

I stand off to the side near the food table, catching glimpses of Adam with a bigger group of boys in the corner chuckling. He glances over, giving me a small grin and wave. He shouldn’t be too long now.

I sway slightly on my feet, a little lightheaded and feeling more out of place as people come and go from the table, glaring and scowling when they see me. It was always like this.

I watch the groups move on the dance floor and turn toward a familiar laugh, the voice almost like the sound of tinkling bells.

Seria dances in the centre of the room, surrounded by Knox and Anders, her hand trailing down Knox’s side as she dances between the two. Their eyes are hooded and consumed by her presence between them. She pulls them in closer as they grind against each other, lost to the slow rhythm of the music thrumming around them. Her red slip of a dress pulls up higher, as Anders hand slides up her thigh. She pulls her gaze from them to look over to a spot across the room, to where Xander and Kane stand. Their eyes are fixated solely on her and filled with a heated look.

And they’re not the only ones.

Most of the guys in the room glance back and forth watching her, a slight wistful look on their faces.

I turn away, a thick knot in my throat and a heavy ache burning at my chest. My gaze meets a pair of blue eyes, her red lips curving up into a sweet crescent as she smiles at me. She leans back into Knox's embrace as she pulls Anders closer again. Their lips gently graze one another before they deepen the kiss.

I’m frozen to the spot as I watch her move from Anders to Knox, and I feel as if the air has been knocked from my lungs in one swift punch.

I close my eyes tight.

Knox and Anders, Kane and Xander…they weren’t mine anymore. What we had or were as kids was gone, it was different now. They were with Seria. They chose her.

And why wouldn’t they? She was amazing in every way; smart, talented, kind and beautiful. And…she would take over the family line, too. She was the most powerful witch in our clan. Even if she was younger, with her power, she would become the head in the future.

And me…I had nothing.

No power, no talent…she even resembles father more, taking on his bright blue eyes and golden blonde locks. Whereas I looked…like this.

I brush a hand across my long, curly rose-gold strands before my shoulders drop.

Suddenly the room tilts and I have to catch myself on the table beside me, knocking over a small web-shaped candy bowl. My head spins as I try to steady myself again.

Maybe I hadn’t eaten enough today? Or maybe there wasn’t enough air in here, it sure felt like it.

I shakily make my way toward the door. I know Adam said to stay there, but we were planning on going outside anyway. And with how dizzy I feel, the fresh air could help.

I head outside, the cold air instantly hitting me and a nice respite from my spinning head and turbulent thoughts. There's a small group formed at the bottom of the steps, whispering and pointing toward the forest treeline in the distance. I squint, trying to see what they're all looking at, and make out a smaller group of people, who look like a few of the faculty members.

They’re surrounding something on the ground…a student I think.

I shakily make my way down the steps, holding onto the wall nearest me, and make my way through the crowd, able to see a bit better from here.

A loud gasp rings from beside me. The student near me–dressed as a sexy devil–points a shaky hand toward the forestline and the faculty members there.

One of the teachers had shifted around the student. A girl with raven black hair lays on the ground unmoving, her hair sprawled out around her head as blood pools around her body. My breath gets caught in my chest with the scene.

Who was she? Was she alive? Who or what had hurt her like this?

The doors burst open behind me as the large crowd dancing inside makes their way out.

I get jostled and shoved as they move forward, trying to move their way closer toward the accident.

Suddenly a large magical barrier is erected over the area and near the forest, one of the teachers' voices booming above us and around the academy.

“Make your way back to your dormitories and rooms!”

Groans and shouts ring out around the crowd.

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