Page 89 of Is It Wrong to Escape My Fate?
Robin smiled at me. “My lady, you’re one heck of a good girl.”
“Reckless and stupid with it,” Reuben grunted, but I laughed because I knew he was only worried about me.
“I agree with reckless, but stupid?” Vincent raised an eyebrow, studying me. “Everything was calculated, wasn’t it? Watching you earlier … you moved with precision, controlling your distance. You led him right where you wanted him, to copy you so you could surprise him at the last moment. It’s fucking genius!”
“It was luck,” I insisted. “Besides, that’s not me being a good girl. I wanted him to suffer. Dying was no torture. A year of his life disappearing, however, now that’s terrible for a noble heir like him.” Pouting, I added, “I should’ve held him longer. Maybe it would’ve been two years or more.”
“No,” to my surprise, it was Winston who reacted first when I could see Claude opening his mouth already. “Don’t touch others unnecessarily.”
“But it was necessary, wasn’t it?” I walked over to where he sat on his throne-like chair. “What would you have me do, Your Highness?”
“Not call methat, for one thing.” He met my eyes with his purple ones. “You belong to the Champions. Don’t ever forget that.”
I smiled only at him. “I’m not an object to be owned. How many times must I tell you that, Tony? But I am truly grateful for everything you've done during this kidnapping incident. We can finally close this chapter in our lives.”
“You are infuriating. Why in the stars above are you saying that? As if it’s a goodbye?” The words didn’t match the sweet smile on his face.
I glanced back at the other men in the room, listening to our conversation with curiosity and anxiety. I only had to say the truth as the answer to Winston’s question. “It’s the common goal we had with this mishmash of a group, isn’t it? Brought together because of my disappearance, or, as it turned out, a kidnapping. But now that it’s over, we can finally move on.”
We could go back to what we were doing; return to our usual programming. I could resume my research, and these men could continue whatever it is they do.
Claude laughed out loud. “Baby girl, you are adorable. This is why I like you! You make everything more enjoyable.” I had no clue what he meant.
“We’ve only just begun, Bea. Of course it’s not over,” Amos scoffed, and those words felt like he meant something else. The only explanation was our relationship as lovers without the “love” part. In modern parlance, our arrangement as fuck buddies.
It didn’t help how obvious Uriel was in reading Amos’s mind before studying me. For sure he had read the minds of these menby now, maybe figured out my relationship with some of them. Curiously, he’d remained silent about it so far.
I had to set the record straight. “It’s not like I’m leaving. I’ll be around. If we had continued with sending Compton to court, I’ll be pulled out of school; it’s more likely you’ll never see me again. As if none of you considered that.”
With the silence that followed my statement, it did seem like none of them thought of it. I pushed back against that option because I didn’t want to leave the academy yet, but somehow it didn’t cross their minds?
“I confess, I would’ve killed him before we had to go through that path.” Eli mumbled, lowering his head. “I know you care a lot about studying, and if that monster ruins it — I can’t let it happen.”
“Have you ever killed anyone?” Theodore scoffed as he produced a knife in each hand. “I would’ve done it before he even left the room. Bastard deserved to die after what he promised to do to my wife.”
“I was already about to kill him,” Vincent muttered quietly, slouching in his seat.
Wow.
Talking about murder shouldn’t have surprised me anymore, in this world full of actual monsters and wars, but my non-magical mind was still stunned. Inmyworld, any talk of killing was hyperbole for the most part; but with these men, I truly believed they were set on killingfor me.
My heartbeat thumped faster. From fear or excitement, I didn’t know. “Like I said, if nobody had to die, then all the better. Besides, with what I did? I get to stay and continue my education.” I flipped my hair out of my face, and as a joke, I added, “You’ll get to see me every day in the foreseeable future. No more whining.”
“Is that a promise?” It was Uriel who asked, surprising me again with his intense stare. He took my joke seriously!
I had to take it back, but I couldn’t anymore; everybody else now shared his sentiment with their earnest faces. Couldn’t a girl joke sometimes? NowIhad to take it seriously. “Sure, I guess,” I mumbled with as much nonchalance as I could muster.
They looked relieved after.
What, did they think I was going to run away or something?
I mean …I planned it. That plan hadn’t changed one bit. But they didn’t know that, and technically, it wasn’t Bea running away.
It wasme.
Bea.
I meant Bianca. Bianca Guzman.
