Chapter 136 — Repeat That

Chapter 136: Chapter 136 — Repeat That

~ Cassian ~

Cassian had read the same paragraph three times when his wolf started whining again.

He pressed his thumb against the edge of the page and waited for it to stop.

It didn’t.

Neither did the image of Raven standing beneath the tree with her face tilted toward Prymont’s. He frowned at the page. There was no reason that particular detail should bother him, yet he couldn’t seem to forget it.

She could kiss whoever she wanted.

Preferably somewhere he wasn’t trying to sleep.

His wolf stirred at the thought, restless enough to make him shift in his chair.

For fuck’s sake.

The bond was becoming a nuisance. He had spent years learning to distinguish his own instincts from his wolf’s, and apparently all it took to ruin that was one woman who couldn’t go anywhere without creating a problem.

Yesterday, she had brought the problem directly beneath his tree.

Cassian turned the page, realised he hadn’t taken in a word of the previous one and shut the book.

He stayed seated for another moment, staring at the cover. Then he put it away and left.

Two students approaching from the stairs stopped talking when they saw him. One stepped aside before Cassian reached them, pulling the other out of his path.

He barely noticed.

There were quieter places on the grounds. Somewhere without Prymont, Rivers or anybody who felt entitled to interrupt him. He would find one, sit down and get through a Chapter without his wolf behaving as though something had been taken from it.

"—Raven Rivers."

Cassian’s jaw tightened.

Three girls stood near the corridor windows, gathered around a slate.

"I heard she actually screamed at her."

"She did. My roommate was there."

"And then Prymont threatened them?"

Cassian passed before he heard the answer.

He already knew enough about the cafeteria incident. It had been difficult to avoid when half the academy seemed determined to discuss it within hearing distance of him.

A recording. An accusation. Some girl on her knees.

Then Dante arriving to make an already public scene considerably louder.

His wolf whined again, and this time it came with an urge to turn back and ask exactly what those girls had heard.

Cassian forced it down.

Rivers hadn’t asked for his help. She had friends, a Seat and, evidently, Prymont’s complete attention. There was no reason for Cassian to involve himself because his wolf disliked hearing that she had been humiliated.

The reaction was instinct. Basic biology attaching importance to a bond neither of them understood.

It didn’t make any of this his business.

He reached the next junction, heard more voices coming from the main stairs and took the narrow passage toward the side courtyard instead.

~~~

The passage opened onto a covered walkway bordered by an old stone wall. Students rarely used it at this hour; most were heading toward breakfast or taking the shorter route between buildings.

Cassian had nearly reached the courtyard when he heard a laugh from beyond the wall.

"Of course she stood up. Did you expect her to stay there and take it?"

He recognised Celeste Blackthorn’s voice.

His first thought was to keep walking.

Then another woman answered.

"You didn’t see her face when Petra knelt."

"No, but I can imagine it."

Cassian stopped beside the archway.

He could see part of the courtyard through it, including the edge of a bench and a woman’s crossed ankles. The speakers were seated farther along, beyond his line of sight.

He should have continued down the walkway.

Instead, he stayed where he was.

"I told you she would lose her temper," Celeste said. "She always does when she thinks someone’s making a fool of her."

"She tried to make Petra stand."

"Which made her shout at her. That was the point."

Cassian’s eyes narrowed.

There was a quiet scrape, followed by the sound of a cup being set down.

"Getting her to sit with us was the difficult part," another woman said.

Adelaide Fenn. He knew the voice well enough to place it.

Celeste laughed again.

"She was trying to prove she could handle it. Sitting there with all of you while everyone watched, pretending none of it bothered her." Her tone turned scornful. "She’s decided that because she has a badge now, she’s no longer the girl who used to hide in the kitchens."

"You certainly knew how she’d react."

"I’ve dealt with her for years," Celeste said. "It isn’t difficult once you know what upsets her."

Cassian’s jaw tightened.

He had seen enough of the Blackthorns around Raven to know there was no affection between them, but Celeste spoke as though provoking her was something she had spent years enjoying.

"She can tell herself she doesn’t care how many people are staring," Celeste continued. "It won’t do anything about that temper. Push her far enough and she forgets to be clever."

"Petra did well," Fenn said.

"She only had to stay down."

The women laughed softly.

Cassian looked toward the opening again, his wolf pressing restlessly beneath his skin.

So they planned this all, knowing exactly how Raven would react.

He thought of the girls in the corridor, how confidently they had repeated what they’d heard. Nobody had needed to know what was supposedly on the recording. A frightened student and Raven shouting had apparently been enough.

Celeste was speaking again.

"You should have let me help sooner. Now perhaps we can discuss what happens when there’s room for someone else."

Cassian’s mouth tightened.

There it was.

Blackthorn wasn’t doing this solely because she enjoyed making Raven miserable. She was making herself useful to the women who had spent so long keeping the top of the Court comfortably familiar.

If they could help her into it, she would happily give them whatever they needed to force someone else out.

"Prymont complicated things though," Fenn said.

Celeste made a dismissive sound. "He threatened you. If anything, that makes her look worse."

"To some people," another woman replied. "Others will wonder why he believed her."

Cassian frowned as he recognised Rosalind Crowe’s voice, sharper than the others.

"And anyone considering a challenge now knows he may take an interest."

"He can’t stand beside her forever."

"He doesn’t need to. People remember a threat from him."

For a moment, nobody spoke.

Cassian lowered his gaze. He wished she hadn’t been among them. Hearing the others had angered him, but Rosalind’s voice left him with a disappointment he wasn’t prepared to examine.

Cassian turned to leave, still unsure what he intended to do about what he’d heard, but Rosalind’s next words stopped him.

"The aphrodisiac will take care of whatever sympathy he’s bought her."

Cassian stopped.

His frown deepened as he looked back toward the courtyard.

"There’s nothing connecting it to us," she added.

"How certain are you that she drank enough?" Fenn asked.

"She drank from the jug," another girl said. "You were sitting beside her."

"I’m aware of where I was sitting."

"Then why are you asking me?"

"Because it’s morning, and so far nobody has heard anything."

"It takes time. That was why we used it."

Cassian’s fingers curled into a fist as he understood what they were saying. They had drugged her.

"It should have taken effect by now," Rosalind said. "Or it will soon."

"And then?" someone asked.

Rosalind sounded almost bored.

"Then it depends on who she runs into."

Cassian felt his wolf push hard against his restraint.

"Prymont won’t have much to defend if she throws herself at someone else," Adelaide continued. "Although I suppose he could insist that was a misunderstanding too."

A brief laugh answered her.

Cassian barely heard it.

He was thinking about where Raven would be at this hour. Hale Wing, perhaps, or on her way to breakfast. Somewhere with people who had spent the morning hearing she was a blackmailer and would be very willing to believe whatever else happened in front of them.

For a moment, he waited for one of the women to object.

"And she won’t know what caused it?" Celeste asked.

"She can claim whatever she likes afterward," Adelaide said. "Let’s see how many people listen."

Cassian took a step back from the arch.

He needed to find Raven.

The thought brought an immediate response from his wolf, urgent and insistent, and he hesitated.

He disliked how easily it had happened, how quickly everything else had become irrelevant. He hadn’t wanted to see her this morning. A moment ago, he had been looking for somewhere he wouldn’t even have to hear her name.

Now he was already deciding which route to Hale would be fastest.

This has nothing to do with the bond.

It was a drug. A deliberate attack. He would have acted if they had done it to som—

"There’s something else about her you might find amusing," Celeste said.

Cassian turned toward the walkway, only half listening now.

"She used to write books."

His step slowed.

"Rivers?" Rosalind asked.

"Yes."

"How do you know?"

"Because I found her doing it," Celeste said with a dismissive laugh. "She had pages hidden among her things. You’d have thought I was stealing something precious when I picked them up."

Cassian looked back.

Something hard and unpleasant had begun to settle beneath his ribs.

"What did she write?" Fenn asked.

"Oh, exactly what you’d expect. Some miserable girl escaping her life and getting into an academy full of people who would never have looked at her otherwise."

One of the women laughed.

"Subtle."

"Wasn’t it?" Celeste laughed. "There was a girl called Mira leaving some place through the gates. I read that part aloud, and Raven actually asked me to stop."

Her voice softened into a mocking imitation. "’Please, Celeste. Give it back.’ As though anyone wanted to keep it."

Cassian went still.

The air shifted around him.

Celeste was still speaking when he stepped through the archway. One moment she was sitting with her head turned toward Fenn, and the next Cassian was directly in front of her.

Her words stopped.

A cup struck the paving beside the bench. Rosalind rose halfway from her seat, then froze as his aura spread across the courtyard.

Cassian didn’t look at her.

Celeste had gone pale, her back pressed against the stone behind her. He could feel a burning in his eyes, and the growl in his chest escaped before he bothered to restrain it.

"Repeat what you just said."