"Get me out of here," he begged.
"I got Torian," Keir said. "Go, Rain. Just go."
That was all I needed to hear. Wrapping an arm around Hawke, I turned him towards the door, not surprised at all when people shifted out of our way. I just wasn't sure who they were intimidated by, him or me. I also didn't really care.
But when Hawke pushed the door open, I lifted my arm, feeling like I was missing part of myself. Barely a second later, Jack's talons closed on my wrist as he settled into place, with me once again.
Chapter Forty-Two
KEIR
Rain guided Hawke out without giving a shit what she left behind. As I turned back towards our table, I saw Torian still sitting there, tapping one fingernail on the surface slowly. His eyes hung on the jesters, but it was the look on his face that bothered me the most. It was the sort of expression that would give children nightmares.
"Do you think this is funny?" he asked into the stillness Rain and Hawke had left in the cafeteria. "Are you amused now? My friend could've destroyed all of you just like that!" He snapped his fingers.
"Oh, fuck off!" one of the jester guys grumbled.
"Yeah, get over yourself already," Camila told him. "We're not scared, Torian."
"You will be," he said, a slow smile taking over his face.
"Tor," I warned, "let it go."
Instead, he leaned forward, slowly making his way to his feet. "You think it'sfunnythat the Mad Queen killed thousands of people? It's ajoke?" Under my feet, I could feel a strange vibration starting, but Torian looked so calm and cool even as his fists clenched at his sides. "Youlaughat the idea of my sister, or Wilder, or Nevaeh - and theentire fucking Winter Court- being killed?!" he finished in a scream.
"Fuck Winter!" someone yelled from the back side of the room.
Camila laughed and pointed at them. "You know it!" she agreed.
"Stop it!" Poppy yelled, pushing Nevaeh before her as she headed forthe exit. "Both of you! This doesn't help anyone but the Queen. You're all fools for caring about it." Then her head turned to me. "Do something about this, Keir. Before he does it again!"
"I stripped her for a reason!" Torian yelled after her. "Before she could kill, or did you not know that?" His gaze snapped back to Camila. "And you! You knownothingabout peasants and nobility. You've never evenseenmy world. You - "
I was trying to get to him, but I felt like the ground had turned to water. It was moving beneath my feet just enough to make me feel intoxicated - but I'd drank nothing! Yet when I grabbed at a chair for stability, my eyes landed on Aspen.
Throughout all of this, she'd been silent. The same girl who always talked her brother down and kept him in line was sitting still, even as the entire cafeteria trembled with the boy's anger. Her eyes were locked on her brother, her hands clenching each other in her lap so hard her knuckles were white. That was the only sign of her tension, though. Everything else about her was calm.
"Aspen?" I begged. "Stop him!"
"She is!" Wilder told me. "Fuck, Keir. It's him."
It took me far too long to realize what he was talking about, but the glasses on the table were starting to slosh now. Most weren't full enough, but the ones that were spilled over the rims. Chairs were rattling softly.
"Earthquake!" someone at the back of the room yelled.
There was just one thing wrong with that. Iowa didn't exactly have an earthquake problem. I looked at Wilder again. He looked at me, and without a word we both had the exact same thought: get to Torian.
"Everyone out!" I yelled, even as I stretched my legs to close the distance.
"Tor!" Wilder snapped. "Ground and center."
"Fuck that!" Torian hissed, slinging out his arm.
The ground bucked hard enough to send me to my knees. Sparks flew into the air and electricity was crackling overhead, but Torian's gesture? It did nothing. For a single breath after he waved, the entire room stilled completely - only to erupt again with twice the force once he realized his conjuration had failed.
And from the jester's table, Jayden laughed. The fucking asshole was in a few of my classes and lived down the hall from all of us. He was the prick who'd tried to lure Rain away from us, and he was not shy about bragging about how she'd get him a spot on the Queen's court.
I hesitated for a moment, thinking the fucker might just have it comingto him, but the shaking was getting worse, and Torian was now looking at his hands like he didn't recognize them.
