Page 89 of Taste of Thorns
“You have no idea what I do and do not like, Henny.”
“Oh, but I do. We’ve been friends for a long long time. I know you better than anyone else in this academy.”
I shake my head. She’s wrong. She never knew me. It was only ever surface level with her. I never really cared about her. Maybe that makes me an asshole. I bet Briony would say it does.
I’m so busy thinking about it, that I’m caught off guard when she comes charging at me, barraging her shoulder right into my gut. I grunt and attempt to step away, but she has her arms wrapped around my waist. There’s no power to her physically – all her power lies in her shadows and her madness. I let my body go limp and let her struggle to shift me for several minutes. Then I get bored, pick the girl up and throw her to the ground. She lands with a grunt, limbs splayed out on the snowy ground.
She props herself up on her elbows and runs her gaze down my body.
“Now this is familiar.”
I rest my hands on my hips. “What were you doing out on the moorland last night, Henny?”
She blinks up at me. I can see the wheels turning in her head. She doesn’t know whether to deny it or ride it out.
“I don’t exactly remember, Beau. Enjoying a late night stroll I imagine.”
“With Kratos? Since when have you been friends?”
“Since you started ignoring me, Beaufort,” she hisses.
“The Hardies are a bunch of idiots.”
She rolls up onto her feet and wipes the snow from her backside.
“Says the man sleeping with that slut from Slate Quarter.”
I’m up in her face in an instant. “Was it you?”
“Probably.” She grins. “What do you think I did?”
“The graffiti on her door?”
“Oh dear, has someone hurt the little darling’s feelings?” She tuts. “She’s so utterly pathetic. I don’t understand why she’s lasted this long.”
“Because we’re protecting her, Henny,” she goes to talk, but I cut across her, “and she’s far stronger than you think.”
Henny rolls her eyes. “Sure she is.”
I take a deep exhale. As usual, she’s succeeded in distracting me.
“Why were you out on the moorland with one of the Hardies, Henny? What the hell is going on?”
She shrugs.
“Tell me,” I say quietly, my voice deadly.
Her eyes flick around my face. “Make it worth my while, Beaufort, and I will.”
“What do you want?”
“I’m sure you can use your imagination.”
“Not going to happen.”
Before I have time to react, she’s lifted her arm and sent a blast of shadow magic my way, knocking me right off my feet. I land with a thump on the snow-covered earth and the girl is on top of me in an instant, straddling my lap, hands pressing down on my shoulders, mouth locked against my own.
I’m so shocked, for a moment I don’t move, repulsed by the feel of her wet lips moving against mine, her tongue intruding my mouth.
