Page 53 of Shadow Weaver
Kash’s shoulders sagged. “Just like that?”
She smiled warmly at him. “Just like that, Mr. Raj. There is very little we cannot find a solution to if we work together.” She turned a frosty gaze on Fiona. “As for you, Miss Payne. I’ll be speaking to Brunner about this incident.”
Fiona raised her chin. “And say what? That I passed on misinformation to a fellow student?”
“No, that you blackmailed him,” I snapped.
Her lip curled. “I made a suggestion, an offer, and he accepted.”
Joti was looking from me to Fiona and then she turned to Kash. “She blackmailed you?”
Kash’s throat bobbed. “Joti, I—”
But Joti was out of her seat and across the room in a flash. A slap rang in the air, not just any slap, but a proper bitch slap.
Fiona stepped back from the assault, her hands flying up to protect her face. “You bitch.”
“No,” Joti sneered. “You’re a bitch. If you come anywhere near my brother again, I will gut you like the pig you are.”
She dismissed Fiona with a curl of her lip and rejoined us.
“Well, Joti, who would have thought. Look at the balls on you.” I grinned at my friend.
“Madam Latrou?” Fiona said. “Are you going to let her get away with that?”
“Get away with what?” Madam Latrou asked, deadpan.
Fiona opened and closed her mouth a couple of times and then pressed her lips together. At least she knew when she was beaten.
Madam Latrou clapped her hands together. “In light of the events of today, the lesson is canceled. We will resume on—”
The ground shook, and a rumble filled the air. I grabbed at the desk to steady myself.
“What was that?” Joti asked.
It hit again, shaking the room. Plaster rained down on us. Shit, the crack in the ceiling was getting wider.
“What is this?” someone else shouted.
Cracks all over the building. Cracks made by a blast maybe … Like the catacombs. And now they were blowing up shit in the mists. The tunnels went deep. Could the blasts be causing this?
“We need to get out of here. Now.” I ushered Joti toward the port arch. “We need to go. Come on.”
For a moment, no one moved, and then the ground shook again, and a chunk of plaster fell into the center of the room with a crash.
Fiona screamed and ran past us, straight toward the port arch. There was a crackle followed by a blue light, and then Fiona was thrown backward across the room. She landed on her ass, hard.
“The port. It’s damaged,” Madam Latrou said.
“So, we use a door.” I searched the room, realizing for the first time that there was no door. “Is there another exit?”
“No,” Madam Latrou said. Her eyes widened with panic.
Another tremor, another crack.
“Windows?” Kash asked.
“Just for show,” Madam Latrou said. “The port is the only way in or out.”
