Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
“So Coach Vasquez just left you there with Juan and the rest of the bullies to get beat up and maybe even killed?” Emma exclaimed, her eyes wide.
“I’m not surprised,” Kaitlyn said quietly. “That woman had a lot of hate in her heart for anyone who was different.”
Since we all knew the awful story of how Coach Vasquez had forced Kaitlyn to expose her scars, back before they had turned into sleek, rose-gold scales when she became a Drake herself, I knew what she was talking about. Heads nodded as we all agreed—Coach Vasquez had been a horrible teacher—and a horrible excuse for a human being.
“I’m glad she’s gone,” Megan said darkly. “But I’d still like to do something to Juan and his crew of bullies!”
“What will you do, though?” I asked reasonably. “Turn all their toenails growing inward? Shame-mark them all the way you did Pedro Sanchez? Whatever you do, it will only make them hate me more.”
“No—none of that. Something more subtle.” Megan had a look on her face I wasn’t sure I liked. “And let’s be honest, Avery—I don’t think they could hate you more,” she added, frowning. “Sorry, but it’s true.”
I sighed deeply.
“You’re right. And I don’t care what thugs like that think of me—I never have. It’s when someone whose opinion matters to me acts…like that, that it bothers me.”
“What do you mean, Avery?” Emma raised her eyebrows in confusion.
“Who are you talking about? Who hurt you?” Kaitlyn demanded.
“Gracious, Kaitlyn, you don’t have to be so dramatic,” I admonished her.
“But you’re obviously talking about someone, so who was it?” Megan asked, frowning.
“Well…” I didn’t want to say my roommate’s name out loud—even knowing that the castle walls were too thick for him to hear through. But I couldn’t help cutting my eyes towards the room we shared.
Of course, my Coven mates understood me immediately.
“Saint?” Megan asked. “But I thought he came to your rescue!”
“Correction,” I said, “His Drake came to my rescue. Because for some reason, it’s completely fixated on me. A fixation which my roommate apparently does not share.”
“What?”
“What did he say?” Kaitlyn and Emma spoke at the same time.
I put out my hands to them, indicating they should lower their voices.
“Quiet girls—let’s not wake up the whole Dorm,” I told them.
“All right,” Megan whispered. “But we have to know, Avery—you can’t just leave us hanging!”
“It was after the incident in the gym, when we were both in the Headmistress’s office,” I said softly. I then proceeded to relate how Saint had declared that he was not a “lover of men” and how he hadn’t said a word to me since.
“Oh, Avery, I’m so sorry,” Emma said sympathetically. “And you know, I really thought he might like you. Like, I thought he might like like you, if you know what I mean.”
“He does like Avery,” Kaitlyn said with certainty that surprised me. “In fact, I think there’s a very good chance that Saint is head-over-heels in love with him.”
“No, he’s not!” I insisted. “Maybe his Drake is but that’s kind of like having an axe murderer in love with you.”
“The Drake might lead but the man attached to it always follows,” Kaitlyn said, frowning. “That’s what happened with me and Ari—his Drake fell for me first and Ari couldn’t help following. Their hearts are bound together too tightly for one of them to love you while the other hates you—I should know.”
“She’s right, Avery,” Megan said. “I bet Saint has feelings for you, too. But he can’t admit them because of how horrible Drake society is to LGBTQ people.”
“To anyone who’s different in any way at all,” Kaitlyn added grimly. “Look at how they treated poor Jalli! She was supposedly going to be destroyed because of her twisted leg and club foot when she was a baby, but her mother couldn’t bear to part with her and her father had a soft heart. Also, Ari’s drake manifested and refused to let anyone hurt her.”
“Oh my!” Megan exclaimed. “I didn’t know that!”
“I wasn’t sure if it was my story to tell,” Kaitlyn said softly. “So please don’t mention it to her. I just wanted to point out that the Drakes hate anyone who’s different—whether it’s because of some physical deformity or sexual orientation or what have you.” She shrugged, looking unhappy. Since she was destined to be Queen of the supremely bigoted people, I couldn’t blame her.
It was on the tip of my tongue to ask my Coven mate about another “story that wasn’t hers to tell”—namely about whoever it was that Saint’s Drake had allegedly murdered—but something held me back. After all, did I really want to know if the cursed being who had fixated on me really had killed other people and, if so, how many he had killed and how exactly he had killed them?