Because those bicolored eyes had hooks in my soul.
43
Sebastian
I be wanting to kill him.
Could do it in an instant with my bare hands. Bellatis be trained to be lethal regardless of whether they held their horns as swords. And I’d spoken the truth to Anna. We be killers, not healers.
Vampires be not real, but the myth had a basis in fact, and we be it. I didn’t need a sword to kill. Not when I could suck Amadeus’s life essence straight from him.
My hands shook with the yearning to do so. But I be trained not to give in to my impulses. And I suspected the arrogant administrator be not the problem.
“If you didn’t want the dart used on the guards, you shouldn’t have armed the recruits with them,” Amadeus said.
Some people be just determined to die. My voice filled with snarl. “The canids that roam the woods be dangerous.”
“Most of the team were shifters. I’m confident Darius could handle them.” His annoyance carried through in his voice. The headmaster had remained in his office due to Night Games being held, but certainly hadn’t expected the diplomatic mess that it had become. Our participants for the games be more than a little upset, and I didn’t blame them.
I gritted my teeth. “They be under orders to stay human. And it be no more than a precaution.”
“Well, it backfired. In the future, I suggest they go in unarmed.”
I drew myself up to my full height, which towered over the headmaster. “You be telling me how to train my recruits?”
Amadeus wouldn’t meet my gaze. “No. But perhaps you did not make the mission parameters clear.” His eyes dropped to my hands, which had curled into fists, and his energy changed.
The pulse of unease from him galvanized me. “Darius ignored my guidelines. Frankly, he be unsuited to the leadership role.”
Amadeus stiffened. “That is not negotiable. It was a condition of the donation, which was significant.”
“Does not change the facts.”
Amadeus eyed me, and his lips twisted. “I am aware you may not believe me, but I am not happy about the situation, either. I have put in an official declaration in that regard. Students should not be able to purchase a place in the academy.” He rubbed his temple with his short fingers. “But my hands are tied.”
I scrutinized Amadeus and read the truth in his energy. As I suspected, he be not the real issue.
It be the council. Such surprised me not.
Amadeus regarded me with a hesitant expression. “There is more,” he began. “At the end of the day yesterday, I received a direct order to dismiss or reassign the female recruit on Team Phoenix.”
I held onto my temper with an effort. “Whatever for?”
“My contact indicated that Darius considers her a liability.”
“That be ridiculous,” I hissed. “She saved those guards during the games. Darius left them, and they would have died.”
When Amadeus blanched, I realized my eyes must be blazing at him. Which be only a tiny splutter of the inferno within me.
Amadeus cleared his throat. “I made the point that we have only begun the training and that I wouldn’t judge a Shade recruit based on the recommendations of another, no matter how influential. But after this mess, it might come up again.”
I ground my teeth. “And they said?”
“I am still the headmaster. For the moment.”
I met his worried gaze and gave him the respect he be due. “Well done.”
Amadeus swallowed. “I suggest you get Team Phoenix functional. Sooner rather than later.”
