Even if it’s the last thing I do.
48
Don’t You Dare
My footsteps echoas I slowly walk toward what feels like my impending doom. I guess I’m feeling a bit melodramatic at the moment, but with my heart and mind racing in unison and the hair on my arms standing up straight and the silence of the empty halls pressing down, I don’t know how I’m not supposed to feel like these will be my last moments alive.
Still, I walk with my chin up. I won’t let them see my fear. They don’t get to see me crumble. If I die, I’ll be super pissed, but it’s not the end of this. Not for Bea or Mr. Vandozer or anyone else involved in the Akrasia Games.
If I die, Jarron will hunt them down.
I bite the inside of my lip. Only twenty feet before I reach the point of no return. I stop, staring at the sizzling magic of the Minor Hall gates, much less subtle than Elite Hall’s magic. It’s a warning. This is the most dangerous spot in the whole school for anyone with significant magic.
It will burn the flesh from your bones, Lola told me. If you’re too powerful, you cannot get past this magic.
Once, Minor Hall was my safe place. Where I could escape the high-level bullies and breathe. Now, they’re using it against me, and isn’t it ironic that my safety will lie on the outside of the barrier this time and danger will be on the inside?
Jarron is my safety. I sniff.
My heart hammers pathetically.
The burn of the magic warms my skin. I hold the jinn card tightly between my fingers and try to imagine Liz doing the same. Just before she died.
“This is for you, Liz,” I whisper to no one. Then, I take my last step through the magic of the Minor Hall gates to face my worst nightmare.
* * *
The momentthe magic zings over my skin, something wraps around my waist and yanks.
I squeal until my back slams against the wall and a hard body presses tightly against me.
“Don’t you fucking dare,” Jarron growls in my ear.
My stomach twists in all the best ways, which isn’t the response I should have, but damn, I’m hyper aware of his body pressed against me. His warmth. His body trembling with some form of anxiety. Anger? Fear? I don’t know.
My brain stalls for a moment as I breathe him in.Jarron.
How? What is he doing here? He couldn’t have read the letter that quickly, right?
“What—what are you doing?” I ask, my voice unsteady.Play dumb, good plan.
“Me?” he asks incredulously. “What are you doing?” He pulls back enough to look me in the eye.
“Just heading into Minor Hall.”No big deal, right? Right. No big deal.
Hips still pressed against mine, pinning me to wall, he holds up a purple journal.
“How?” I whisper. I blink three times then swear. “Dammit, you’re fast.”
His lips turn up into an arrogant smile.
“Did you even read it?”
“Your friends rushed to find me. I was near the entrance to Elite Hall. Thank God for that. I read your letter at the end and a few bits in between.” He leans in closer, nose grazing my hair as he inhales.
I shiver.
“And you better believe there is no fucking way I’m letting you walk through those gates. Maybe ever again.” His voice drops into a rumble, dripping with venom.
