Page 74 of Burdened Bonds
I slam the drawer shut and jump to my feet.
I’ve always been confident in my decisions and my own abilities. Yeah, maybe at times I’ve been over-confident – fucking cocky. I’ve never doubted myself before. But now, now I don’t know what to do for the best.
Fate wants me with Rhianna.Iwant to be with Rhianna. But then there’s Spencer. Doesn’t fate want him with Rhianna too? Won’t she need him as much as she needs me?
Is that how this works? And if that’s the case, shouldn’t I be trying to find my friend, trying to help him? If that’s even possible.
I rake my fingers more firmly through my hair, tugging at the roots.
Should I talk to Summer again? Should I try to sweet talk more information out of her? Or should I reach out to my father, pretending to be supportive of his plans in the hope he’ll supply me with information?
I decide a safer bet is York. She’s never particularly liked me – I’m sure of that – despite the fact I’ve been her best student these last few years. She’s always tolerated me. Plus, given the current circumstances and who my father is, she may be reluctant to tell me anything helpful at all.
I walk along the path towards the laboratories where York has set up a temporary office. There are few students out and those that are, clutch their books to their bodies and keep their gazes trained to the ground. Everyone is afraid. It’s hardly fucking surprising. The authorities’ securityagents are patrolling the grounds and this afternoon two more students were pulled from our magical history and politics class for questioning. It’s rare anyone returns from such questioning and unclear where the hell those students go, although my father’s daily announcement yesterday gloated about the continuing number of traitors the authorities are finding and arresting.
What makes you a traitor is unclear. Although I suspect disapproving of my father is the foremost crime.
Lessons are in full swing – not that I’ve bothered to attend – and as I pass Dr. Johnson’s classroom I can hear Summer pontificating in her high-pitched whine. The stupid girl is obviously unconcerned by the fact two of her posse are among those who have disappeared in the last few days.
How the hell did I put up with that girl for so fucking long? How did I ever think a girl like Summer was superior to a girl like Rhianna? Was I fucking stupid?!
I shake my head at my own idiocy and stop outside the principal’s new door. I raise my fist and debate whether I’m doing the right thing. Unsure a-fucking-gain.
The decision is taken out of my hands.
“Come in, Mr. Kennedy,” the principal says from behind the door, even though I haven’t knocked. I push open the door and step through into the old lab. The tables and chairs have all been stacked in one corner, leaving only one behind in which the principal is sitting, papers, that have obviously been salvaged from the wreck of the mansion, stacked by her feet. “What can I do for you?” She removes her reading glasses. “I understand you haven’t attended any of your classes today, not even gym class.”
“I’m not interested in using real, harmful magic against my classmates without the proper protections.”
“Your father believes such adjustments are needed in our teaching practices in order to …” she smiles flatly, “toughen up our students. He is quite certain if such teaching techniques had been in place before the enemy forces attacked the academy, they would not have been able to overrun the school.”
So I didn’t imagine that? We were losing the battle – we were vastly overpowered and overrun. I still don’t understand why those forces withdrew, how the authorities managed to regain control despite the council also falling. It makes me all the more suspicious of my father.
“I don’t agree with everything my father believes in.”
The principal stands up and walks to the window, her hands clasped behind her back.
“A very dangerous position to hold, indeed,” she says so quietly I barely hear her. “Even for his son.”
Am I wrong about this? Are the principal and my father allies? I always thought her to be an independent woman who didn’t bend to the rules and stood up to the chancellor when the occasion arose. Am I wrong?
“Everything seems dangerous these days.”
There’s a ceramic laboratory sink in the corner of the room and the tap drips into the basin. It’s like the quiet beat of a drum. Somehow ominous and it makes my skin prickle.
“So you’re not here for information on your fellow students? I thought perhaps your father had sent you. Although, what more he could possibly hope to glean, I don’t know. I understand Miss Clutton-Brock has become a very useful source of information to him.”
“No doubt.” I hesitate. Then decide I’m already in up to my neck. I don’t have a lot to lose. And fuck it, I’ve been an arrogant selfish asshole all my goddamn life, and it’s about time I did something about that. Like Ellie said, time to be abetter person. For Rhi. For my mom. “Actually, Iamhere to ask you about another student. But it isn’t for my father.”
She twists around to face me and pierces me with her glare. “Who?”
“Spencer Moreau.”
She looks a little surprised. I bet she thought I would ask about Rhianna. I bet my asking her to the ball didn’t go unnoticed.
“Spencer Moreau is no longer a student of this academy. As you well know, he left before the attack on the academy.”
“Yes,” I say, stepping towards her. “But do you know where he is? What’s happened to him?” The principal continues to stare at me, her mouth closed shut firmly. I plow on regardless. “Summer – Miss Clutton-Brock – seems to believe he’s been locked away.” I lower my voice, even though it’s no longer a damn secret. “That all werebeasts have been.”
