Page 50 of Taste of Thorns
I peer into his glowing eyes. “I need to know whose side you’re on, Tudor. If you have our girl’s best interests at heart.”
“You know that I do.” He smacks the bag some more and despite the effort he isn’t panting and no sweat rolls down his face. “You’re also showing your immaturity. The realm is far more complicated than that. There are more than two sides in this game.”
“Are there? Bardin attacked her. In the maze. That suggests to me she’s on the fucking wrong side. It was only Thorne who saved her.”
That’s obviously news to the professor, because he stumbles away from the swinging bag. “He did?”
“Yes. But what I want to know is, why the hell didn’tyousave her? Weren’t you the one who was meant to be watching the students that day, fishing them out if needed? So why didn’t you? Or was it all part of the plan?”
He scrubs his fingers through his beard and all of a sudden he looks older, tired.
“Stars, Lincoln. What exactly are you accusing me of here?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “But something isn’t right.”
Odessa. Bardin. The Hardies. The professor.
I don’t know how all this fits together. I’m missing something.
And I’m sounding more and more like Briony.
The professor rolls his shoulders back. His hands form even tighter fists by his sides. “When I heard what she did to Briony – when I saw what she did – I wanted to kill her.” His eyes flash red. “I nearly did.”
“Then why didn’t you?” I take another step forward. If I’d known it was Bardin that day, I wouldn’t have been able to help myself. I would have torn the woman to pieces.
“Because I’m a selfish bastard. If I killed Veronica, then they’d have locked me away. Fuck, maybe they’d even have banished me.”
“And you don’t want to die?” I sneer.
“I don’t want to be away from Briony. I don’t want to be without her.” Suddenly, the mask falls away from the professor’s face and for a moment I catch a glimpse of the desperation and obsession that is eating away at him. “I love her. She means the world to me. And, yes, Lincoln, I’m very aware that I don’t deserve her, that I’m not worthy of her, that I should have done better by her.”
“Why didn’t you save her that day?”
“Because Veronica manipulated the trial. She hid what she was doing – not just from me but from everyone.”
The wind howls somewhere outside and the gymnasium door rattles on its hinges. The punch bag swings to and fro, the rusty chain creaking.
“But why go after Briony in the first place?” I ask. “What has the girl ever done to her?”
“At first I thought it was because of me. Veronica knew I had feelings for Briony. I thought she was jealous.”
“Do you still think that?”
“Briony can wield light. Her sister was a shadow weaver.” He opens his mouth as if to say more. Then closes it. “She’s our fated mate. I don’t know what to think anymore. I also can’t think of another reason why Veronica would want to hurt Briony.”
“To get at us.”
“And why would the deputy headmistress want to hurt you, Beaufort Lincoln?”
“Because she’s working for someone else.”
“The only person Veronica works for is herself.”
“Are you sure about that, Professor?” I say. “Have you ever had the suspicion she could be working with someone else?”
“Who?”
“There are shadow weavers who want the Empress gone …”
