Page 58 of Swift Wings Shadowed Heart
Before I know what I’m doing, I’m on my feet, water dripping down my body. “What in all the hells?”
Silas smiles with satisfaction. It’s what he wanted, to get a rise out of me. He reclines, looking cool and collected, his arms extended over the lip of the pool, while I must look like a lunatic, seething with anger and self-righteousness. Reining in my anger, I force myself to unclench my fists and adopt an entirely different attitude.
“You know what?” I say. “MaybeI shouldfuck him. He looks like he would make it worth my while.”
Adelaide laughs. “I would have to agree with that.”
Silas’s casual air dies an abrupt death. I start to sit back down, but it’s his turn to stand and look menacing. Sloshing water, he takes several steps in my direction and towers over me.
“You’re a disgrace to the Sky Order, Wyndward,” he spits.
I frown, putting on a confused air. “Why? Because I graduated top at the Academy, and I’m destined to be more powerful than you?”
His face is already red from the heat, but the color turns up a notch. “Because you slept your way to the top and bonded to a mad fucking dragon that should be put down.”
“Everyone here knows none of that is true,” I say with a careless shrug. I earned my spot at the Academy and never slept with anyone. “But I see what this is. You’re sore because I turned down your advances during our second year, and because your brother was too weak for mymad fucking dragon.”
Silas’s fist comes out of nowhere and smashes against my jaw. Pain explodes inside my head, and I stagger backward. Unbalanced, I fall, the back of my neck smashing against the lip of the pool. The world tips, and then I’m underwater, arms thrashing for purchase as I sink.
29
Rhea
When I open my eyes, I can do nothing else but close them right back. My head is splitting in two. I’m sure of it.
“Rhea, are you all right?” Phoebe asks, her voice brimming with concern.
“I… I guess,” I moan.
“Let me go,” Silas yells. “I should kill the bitch.”
“Calm down,” Nate hisses. “You’re angry.”
“She dares insult my family. That’s off limits. I'll…” His voice grows dimmer until I can’t hear him anymore.
—He will pay for this.
My eyes shoot open, the light from the torches tearing at my brain like spears. I throw an arm across my face, disoriented by more than the chasm fracturing my skull.
—How are you talking to me right now?I ask Zephyros.
—The Pyrewings are a blight, he replies, ignoring my question.
Though I’d love to know more, I can’t even begin to process the intriguing quality of that statement. My head is killing me, and the entire plateau is spinning. Bile rising to my throat, I roll onto my shoulder and throw up.
“Goddess!” Phoebe exclaims. “We need to take her to the infirmary. Help me, Adelaide.”
Between the two of them, they hoist me to my feet and start dragging me.
“N-no,” I protest. “Not the infirmary.”
At the infirmary, they will ask questions, and they’ll likely punish Silas. I prefer to take care of my own problems.
We stop moving.
“Just take me to my room,” I add. “I’ll be fine.”
“I don’t know, Phoebe,” Adelaide says. “She’s probably concussed.”
