“You don’t know that,” I retort. “That djinn killed my parents. I own it, and I won’t sign your damn contract.”
“That’s idiotic,” Dagher snaps at me. “I’m an experienced monster hunter, and even I wanted to give the djinn to the school. You’re just a student.”
“I’m a student that owns a djinn,” I growl. “You’re just a liar.”
Dagher appears to have no answer to that. He turns away from me, his lips pressing into a thin line. Novac spreads his hands.
“I cannot force you to sign,” the headmaster says. “But I implore you to change your mind.”
“No,” I say again.
Novac frowns. “Miss Black. I want to reiterate that we will pay you for ownership of the phylactery.”
“It’s not about the money.”
“You haven’t even heard the amount,” he starts, again. I just shake my head.
“I don’t need to.”
“Miss Black!” This is the first time I’ve ever heard the headmaster raise his voice. “You cannot protect the djinn on your own! I must insist—”
“You said yourself you can’t force me,” I snap, getting to my feet. “I’m not going to sign it, and that’s final!”
I don’t mean to sound like a spoiled brat, but I’m not about to pass up this opportunity.
Novac and Dagher both glare at me, their expressions showing their frustration. Mr. Skinner, on the other hand, happily tucks the contract away in a briefcase and grins at me again.
“Well, then I’ll just be back with a new contract,” he says brightly. “One I’m sure you’ll agree to. Good day, gentlemen.” With one last, cold smile at me, Skinner breezes out of the room, leaving the door open.
I nod to the headmaster one more time and then follow him. Mason Dagher leaps up and trails at my heels.
I pick up the pace and head further down the hallway, pretending I don’t notice him. After we’re a good distance from the headmaster’s office, I finally whirl to face him, and he stops. He stands awkwardly in front of me.
Last year, when I met him, he was confident to the point of arrogance. Now his whole body seems angled toward the floor. He’s steadily avoiding my gaze, looking everywhere he can but me.
“I’m not afraid of you,” I tell him in a low voice.
“I don’t know what you mean,” he replies, his voice quiet. Last year he yelled. Last year his lungs were full of air. Now he’s deflated.
“When my parents went off to hunt that djinn, they felt like they were being followed,” I say, taking a step closer to him. “I read their journals from that hunt. Even Helsing says something was off, that they were being tracked. And then, after it all, you’re the one standing there, claiming to have captured the djinn? Somehow you survived when my parents died?”
He doesn’t reply. He’s still doing everything he can to keep from making eye contact with me, which pisses me off even more. I stride up to him and stand on tiptoes, jamming my finger into his chest.
“I know you had something to do with my parents’ deaths,” I snarl. His eyes finally snap to mine, and they’re wide and scared, an expression I would never think to see on him. “I know you’re the only man alive who knows what happened. And I’ll get it out of you somehow.”
Again, he’s silent. Mason Dagher’s icy blue eyes, so like his son’s, stare into mine. I hold his gaze, determined for him to look at me, to face the consequences of whatever it is that he’s done.
The bell rings. Class is ending. I step away from him as classroom doors open, and I hear the chatter of students filling the halls. With one last look at him, I turn on my heel and walk away.
Somehow, I’ll m
ake him pay.
Chapter Three
I’m still fuming when I arrive at PW after lunch. Erin hovers nervously near me. I didn’t tell her what happened because I don’t trust myself to speak. Anyway, my jaw is clenched so tightly it may never open again.
Luiza walks around to all the students handing out wooden staves. Her hair is pulled back into a small, neat ponytail. When I glance at Erin, I see that Erin is watching her with a strange intensity.