And if anyone else in this house looked at her the way I just had —
I’d break their jaw.
Chapter Thirteen
EMILIA
I barely made it five steps out of class before Ifelthim.
Griffin’s presence always came like a storm front, thickening the air before he even spoke.
“Emilia.”
He stepped in front of me. Tie loosened. Jaw clenched. That smug Caplan confidence,
“I’ve been looking for you,” he said low, voice sharp enough to cut but quiet enough that no one else could hear.
God forbid anyone herd him say out loud he had been looking for me. His ego could not handle that.
“I’ve been in class.”
He laughed, short, bitter. “Right. Class. While you’ve beenlivingin the Crow dormitory.”
I flinched. So he knew.
Of course he did.
Rumors traveled fast when the truth was this entertaining.
“It was the academy’s decision,” I said, forcing my spine straight.
“Bullshit,” he snapped. “You could’ve said no.”
“No, I couldn’t.”
“You’re an Adams,” he hissed, stepping closer. “You don’t shack up with the family our fathers have watched for a decade. You don’t make them look likeheroeswhile you look like?—”
“Careful,” I whispered.
He froze.
But the damage was already done.
I could feel it.
The word he didn’t say still hung between us.
“I’m not doing anything wrong,” I added, though my voice sounded thinner than I wanted.
Griffin stepped in again, backing me against the support pillar behind me.
“You’re making afoolof yourself, Emilia. Of your name. Of your family.” His gaze dropped to my mouth, then back to my eyes. “You think they want you there for your mind? For your company? Wake up. You’re a game to them. A girl to pass between.”
I clenched my fists. “You don’t know them.”
“Oh, I knowexactlywhat they are. The Crow twins have never wanted anything they didn’t break first.”
My chest burned. Shame, rage, helplessness weaved together until I couldn’t tell them apart.