Page 208 of Rebellious Royals

"If you touch my crow..." I warned, shoving to my feet and storming toward them.

Shadows rolled from each step I made. Overhead, the sky was darkening, but just as I reached Camila, something dove between me and her. Black. Feathers. I had time to catch that much before more crows swept over the crowd.

"Enemy!" Jack called again.

I couldn't see him in this mess, but I was pissed. I was so done with all this shit. The jesters had burned Aspen with iron once. Now they were laughing at my father being hurt the same way? So even though I knew I shouldn't, I pushed right through the fog of crows and grabbed Camila by the shirt, pulling her into my face.

"Do you think this is funny?!" I screamed at her.

She pushed closer. "I think this court is bullshit," she said. "I think you're a sad and pathetic little girl, and if you're the best they have?" She sneered at me before rolling her eyes.

"Enemy!" Jack screamed again, darting in to batter Camila with his wings.

So I yanked her out of the crowd, shoving her towards the still-smoking gym. "Is that fucking funny?!" I roared, pointing at it.

And as one, the crows shot straight up. The ruckus of their wings vanished, leaving nothing but uncanny silence broken by shocked murmurs. I was about to grab Camila again, when someone behind me stepped closer.

"Rain, she wasn't with us."

I turned to see Elyssa, one of the girls who'd burned Aspen with iron. She'd gotten out of that with a mere week of suspension, but somehow she hadn't been expelled yet? Oh, that only made me more angry.

"You..." I growled, aware even more darkness was pouring from me.

"She wasn't with us," Elyssa said again. "When the alarm went off, she was already out here, and she came from overthere." The girl pointed to the side, right where a cluster of trees separated the Forge from the gym.

Right where someone would hide if they didn't want to be seen leaving a building they'd just set on fire.

"What did you do?" I asked, turning to Camila again.

And the stupid little bitch had the audacity to smirk at me again. "I can't tell," she said in a sing-song voice. "Too bad for you, you human piece of shit. I know something you don't know, and there's not a damned thing you can do about it."

"Watch me," I breathed, scooping my entire arm forward and sending all my shadows with it.

"You're nothi-" she tried, but the shadows poured into her mouth, cutting off everything but the sound of her choking on my magic.

In my rage, I kept pouring more and more of my power into her. Around me, I could see the court watching. Aspen's mouth hung open in surprise. Keir's eyes were on me, but calm. Hawke and Wilder were furthest away, braced like they were ready to come to my aid.

Then there was Torian.

He watched. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he was close enough to stop me, but instead he simply glared, the expression on his face filled with all the hatred I was struggling to release. His fingers tapped on his arm, a hint of green swirling around them, but he made no move to use that magic.

"Enemy!" Jack called again.

So I cut off the magic and stepped towards Camila. She was bent at the waist, struggling to catch her breath after that, but I wasn't going to make this easy on her.

"What do you know?" I demanded.

"Fuck you, Rain."

Lifting my hand so everyone could see it, I clenched my fist. All the Wild magic I'd just poured into this girl reacted, sending dark streaks across her exposed skin - and she screamed.

"Try me, Camila," I warned. "Go ahead. Someone just tried to kill my father. My friends have been attacked. Innocent people have suffered, so do youreallythink I'm going to stand here and let you taunt me?"

Then I let go. Immediately, she flopped forward, landing on her knees in the grass as she panted against the pain.

"What do you know?" I asked one more time.

Slowly, the fool turned her head so she could glare at me. "I vowed myself to silence."

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