Chapter 313. Back To School, Again III

Chapter 313: 313. Back To School, Again III

Maisie

"This cannot keep happening, Adams," Atlas said, her fingers steepled over her desk. "Assaulting your fellow student is strictly prohibited in this school."

I stared back at her. "I didn’t hurt her."

"No, you merely shredded her attire in broad daylight and sliced off a substantial lock of her hair," Atlas hissed, leaning forward as her knuckles turned white against the mahogany. "That does count as physical assault. In all my years running this institution, I have never encountered a single student who drains my patience as thoroughly as you do, Adams. This display of savagery is becoming a deeply exhausting habit."

"I was only searching," I said, my voice lackluster. It was as empty and dead as I felt inside when I thought about him. I was never going to think about him again. It hurt too much, and I was tired of getting hurt. If he wanted to be with her, if he chose to be with her, they could both rot in the lowest ring of hell for all I cared.

"Searching?" Atlas repeated, her tone dripping with disdain, momentarily cutting through my spiraling thoughts and the sting of tears prickling behind my eyes. "Searching for what, precisely?"

My lips pursed tightly into a hard line. "Mercer always leaves marks when he fucks. Bruises. Hickeys. Deep, territorial bites. He doesn’t do gentle."

Atlas was gaping at me now, her usually stern composure cracking into stunned disbelief, but I continued.

"I had the entire situation perfectly under control, but she panicked. Had she simply stood still, I wouldn’t have needed to grab her by her hair to keep her in place. Slicing a chunk off was merely a direct consequence of her struggling."

I sounded like a bitch and felt like it, too.

The truth was, I didn’t remember what had happened.

One moment, I was being held back by my friends, and the next, everyone was peeled back from me, pressed against the wall like a bomb had gone off. And Tessa, her ass was planted on the cold floor, her designer clothes lying in pieces on the floor around her as she shivered and trembled, looking up at me with vitriol. It had been shocking enough to snap me out of the rage.

I knew then that my Lycan had done something. I just didn’t know what. And Atlas had summoned me to her office before I could find out what.

At least I hadn’t killed anyone. I hadn’t even drawn a single drop of blood.

Atlas sighed deeply, leaning back in her seat. The iciness in her gaze warmed slightly and she just looked tired. "Prince Soren tells me you found the library."

I stiffened at the sudden change in the subject. "You’re not going to... punish me?"

Her lips quirked. "The attack made quite a dent in the school’s reputation. We had quite a number of withdrawals in the last week. The drama is good PR. I believe you’ve met Ms. Runner. She’s been tasked with making Greymoor and Ashbourne look a little less... dangerous. She does good work. Though, I can’t vouch for who ends up on the receiving end of her... streams."

Ms. Runner? Right. Kirby.

Atlas drummed her fingers on her desk. "So long as you don’t murder Graham within the premises, we can all turn a blind eye for the people’s favourite princess."

I flushed at the new nickname. There was an amused glint to Atlas’s eyes. It sounded like she was giving me explicit permission to murder Tessa off school grounds.

It really wasn’t a bad idea.

"You knew the library was there the entire time," I realized.

Atlas stood from behind her desk, walking briskly in her suit to the shelf that lined the entire wall. "There’s a great deal of things you know nothing about, Adams." She withdrew a book from the top of the shelf and I jumped when it hit the wood in front of me with a heavy thud. "As you must have noticed, you are not the first to stumble upon the ancient archives. You just happened to be the first to live to tell the tale of it."

Horror kept me frozen in place as her eyes seemed to take on a distant sheen. "Many have given their lives to protect this ugly history. Generations. And you have singlehandedly unraveled it. Unwittingly. I did tell the Queen admitting you here would be a mistake, but her curiosity got the better of her. Now, it’s all ruined." She flipped the page open. "Read that for me, girl."

The Queen knew who I was? From the start? My blood ran cold. She’d known all along that I was a Hunt. Atlas had, too. Goosebumps attacked my skin.

Just when I thought I’d figured her out, I found new crevices I really didn’t want to look into.

My gaze lowered to the text. It was in that same otherworld language, but my face reddened at the title. "Forty Six: The Ultimate Guide To Being The Most Desired Dragon Bed Slave."

I would give my left kidney for a time alone with the book. For research purposes, obviously.

But Atlas slammed it shut, taking it off the desk. "I suppose that answers the question of your ability to read it." She walked back to her seat. "The Prince has brought up this matter before the Councils. The decision to bring this knowledge to the public is in the works. But there are tomes in there that do not belong in the public eye. The Crown wishes for it to remain that way."

I blinked. "Are you asking me to do your job for you?"

She made a face. "This is your fault. Sorting out the books should be no problem for you since you’re the reason they’re getting outed in the first place. You wouldn’t want the entire population of Ashbourne learning how to summon demons to grant their wishes now, would you?"

Oh great. She knew about the demons, too? I opened my mouth to ask how but slammed it shut. Atlas only ever worked for her gain. I didn’t trust that if I asked the wrong questions, the Queen wouldn’t hear of them.

Plus, there had to be a different angle to her request. There always was. I just couldn’t find what it was. Yet. My throat closed tightly as the discomfort burrowed deeper under my skin. I didn’t like this. Not in the slightest. "I don’t work for or with the Queen."

Atlas’s mouth curved. "No. You would be working for me. I am under a very certain impression that you need some information from those very books. You could gain more insight by doing this. Or you could spend the next few weeks working the cafeteria for attacking a fellow student."

"Now you’re just blackmailing me," I growled.

She smiled wider. "Glad we’re on the same page, Adams." She glanced down at her watch. "I believe you’re late for your first class. You may leave now."

Begrudgingly, I stood from the chair.

"I expect you to be down at the library with Aimee by evening," she said, eyes glued to a couple of files on her desk. "Your payment will be wired to your account at the end of each week."

I paused, toying with the ends of my hair, my mood growing slightly better. "Payment?"

She glanced up. "Working the library is a full-time job. Working as a translator is even more expensive. Just because I’m... encouraging... you to do it doesn’t mean you don’t get the full benefits."

More like forcing me to do it, but that solidified my suspicion that this wasn’t the Queen’s doing at all.

I eyed her warily. "Soren put you up to this, didn’t he?"