Page 77 of Fractured Fates
“Not me. Stone.”
I peer up at him.
“Stone?”
He nods. Then frowns. “What the hell are you doing out here in the woods alone?”
“Looking for him,” I say, burying my face against Pip’s.
“It’s not safe.” He marches towards me, gripping my elbow and pulling me through the last remaining trees and onto campus.
When we’re back on the path, I peer up at him with suspicion. “How did you know where I was?”
“Your roommate said you weren’t there and then I saw bolts of magic in the forest. Looked like your brand of magic.”
“My magic has a brand?”
He shakes his head like I’m the dumbest person on earth. “You’re lucky the teachers are all up at the mansion. If you got caught out in the forest, using magic–”
“Let me guess. I’d be expelled. Funny how everyone here can treat me like shit and not face any consequences but anything I seem to do, is threatened with expulsion.”
I lower Pip onto his patch of ground and he shoots straight in the direction of the bowl of food I’d left out for him.
“Where did Stone find him?” The man in black’s jaw hardens in answer, like he doesn’t want to answer that question. I cross my arms and glare at him. “Was it Stone who took him?”
“Why would Stone waste his time hiding your pig?”
“To mess with me.”
“He has better things to do.”
“Are you sure about that?” I ask and the man in black shuffles on his feet.
“He was found in the cellar in the mansion.”
“Who took him?”
“Unclear. Stone is looking into it.”
“He is?” I say, utterly surprised.
“Yes.”
I drop down onto my haunches, stroking along Pip’s back when he comes trotting back to me.
“I really fucking hate it here,” I mutter.
I can feel the man in black gazing down on me, his heavy boots visible on the periphery of my vision. The tug in my stomach yanks me his way, but I tense every muscle, forcing myself not to move.
“You want to get out of here?” the man in black whispers.
I glance up at him.
“Wh-what?”
“I said, do you want to get out of here? Go for a ride on my bike. Clear your head.”
“You’re offering to let me ride your bike?”
