Page 75 of Burdened Bonds
“Yes, that is what I’ve heard too.”
“There have been no announcements about it. Nothing in the press.”
“I assume your father has no need for all his activities to be reported, nor all his decisions to be announced.”
“This is meant to be a democracy!”
“This was never a democracy, Mr. Kennedy. I’m sure you are aware of that.”
“Do you know where Spencer is? Where he’s being kept?” The principal’s brows leap up in alarm. “I want to see him … he’s … he’s my best friend.”
The principal returns to her chair and sits herself down. She looked nervous yesterday, today she looks tired and older than she did. “You’re not the first student I’ve had in my office asking questions after their friends. I had a girl in here sobbing only an hour ago. What am I meant to say?”Her face contorts in pain and she spreads her hands out, palms up on the tabletop.
“Please, if you know where he is, can you just tell me?” I place my hands on her desk and lean forward.
She twizzles her hand in the air and the Bunsen burners lined up at the back of the room all light up and the tap turns on full force. It means when she speaks again, I struggle to hear her over the noise of the burning gas and the pouring water.
“I can’t be certain, but I’ve heard rumors the werebeasts under arrest are being kept in the swamp fortress.” I nod and stand up straight, about to turn and leave. “Mr. Kennedy, you didn’t hear this information from me.”
I look at her with my practiced bored-ass expression. “What information?”
She smiles. “Be careful.”
I decideto leave after dinner. While nobody may care if I skip classes, my absence at dinner will be noticed – not least of all by the royal fucking queen bee herself. And I don’t want her reporting that to Daddy’s little helpers. Maybe even to Daddy himself.
I sit with what remains of the dueling team. Dan’s in the clinic recovering from a ruptured spleen – the college infirmary destroyed along with the rest of the mansion. Zach and his family are said to be on the run. And Maddock went in for questioning yesterday afternoon.
The mood is somber – although Josh tries his best to throw a few wise cracks around. Most of them fall flat and in the end we eat in silence, forced to listen to more of Summer’s endless chattering.
I don’t have an appetite. The constant pain in my gut has wiped away any desire to eat, so I swivel my fork through the stew and wait for the minutes to pass.
At eight o’clock exactly, my father’s now nightly broadcast is projected onto the far side of the canvas wall, his face staring out at us all. Most of the students visibly cower away, some staring down at their plates. Not Summer, she sits up straight, clapping her hands with glee as if we’re about to be treated to an evening of cabaret.
My father’s announcements travel straight over my head and I barely register any of the words about new measures, tighter restrictions, more arrests. Instead, I stare straight into his harsh eyes, convinced he’s staring right back at me, convinced every warning he issues is directed at me personally.
My ears only perk up when he flashes the faces of several fugitive magicals he says are wanted by the republic. Among them are Piglet, her roommate Winnie, and my cousin himself. The rest of my father’s words are lost to the shocked gasps and murmured whisperings of the students in the dining hall as well as Summer’s cold cackle.
“Oh my God, Pig Girl! I knew she was trouble. I’ve been saying it for months. That girl is clearly deranged. I’m so glad the Lord Protector has seen it and is going to deal with her at last. She should never have been let into this school.”
She tosses her hair, then twists her head to peer over at me, her smile not only cold but sinister.
I stare right back at her with such fucking hatred, I’m surprised my magic doesn’t spring straight out of my fucking eyeballs and annihilate the little bitch.
Unfortunately, I have far too much control and blasting Summer into a thousand tiny pieces isn’t going to prove helpful, even if it would give me a ton of fucking pleasure.
I swing my jacket off the back of my chair and onto my shoulders. Then I shove my chair backwards roughly, the legs scraping along the ground and cutting through all the chatter. Every student in the dining tent turns to look at me as I stand to my feet. There’s a hushed silence as if they’re all waiting for me to do or say something.
“That girl is worth one hundred thousand of you,” I tell Summer and then I leave before she can throw some retort back at me.
As soon as I’m out of the dark path, the winter’s wind howling through the campus, I regret that remark. It may be true – hell, probably everyone but Summer knows it’s true – but there’s no doubt it will be reported back to my father and I don’t need him on my case. I don’t need him asking me any more questions about Piglet. Yeah, it’s time to leave.
I check there’s no one following me on the path behind me, and then I let myself merge into the darkness, disappearing into the shadows where I belong. Invisible, I should be able to slip unseen past the guards. However, I suspect there are trackers among them – magicals with the ability to sense the presence of other magicals – unseen or not. I can’t leave by the front door. I’m going to have to go out the back.
I gaze up at the ghostly trees of the forest, their branches rattled together by the wind, swaying like ghouls. There’re all sorts of tales about the forest – about what lies in its heart. It’s said to be impassable – a natural protection for the academy, far more effective than any guards or security force.
It’s said to be impassable to any ordinary magical. But I’m no ordinary magical. Maybe that’s fucking arrogant. It’s also true.
I zip up my jacket, lift up my collar, lower my chin and head under the trees.
