After giving him a nod of thanks, I limped over to the wall, leaning my weight against it as I heavily coughed. Aches radiated through my body as I watched Buffy’s room fill with flames. Just like that, it was gone, and Buffy nearly went along with it. I nearly lost her.
My eyes then steadily narrowed as realization struck me. Her room didn’t just light on fire on its own. Someone did this. Someone tried to kill her, and I had an idea of who knew about this plan.
As the school’s medical help rushed through the crowd to get to Buffy, I turned and limped away, moving as quickly as I could. I didn’t care that my knee was burnt and aching. I didn’t care that it hurt to breathe. The Kings went too far going after Buffy. If they were going to put a target on someone, it needed to be on me.
I turned the corner and stormed right up to Zephyr’s door, hammering my fist against it until I heard it unlock. My hand ached as I lowered it, but I didn’t care. I was here to issue a warning.
Zephyr abruptly opened the door, wearing only a towel around his waist. His eyes swept over me, taking in my burnt knee and the black marks on my arms and face from the smoke. For a second, he looked concerned.
I glanced past his shoulder and saw Erin laying in his bed naked, stretching her legs out like a pampered cat. Like she belonged in that bed. That only pissed me off more. I jabbed my finger against Zephyr’s chest, making his eyes widen in shock.
“Call off your goons and leave my friends the fuck alone!” I snapped at him, seething with anger. Not only did he dump me and humiliate me, but he was also trying to kill who I had left in my life.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Zephyr shouted at me, slamming his hand against the doorframe as he towered over me. He gave me a warning glare, daring me to overstep.
I wasn’t scared of him. Right then and there, I didn’t care that he was a King. I didn’t care that he could snap his fingers and eliminate me off the face of the planet. He’d gone too far.
“Someone set Buffy’s room on fire and nearly killed her!” I bit out. I was tired of him acting dumb. He had the power to organize a hit like that. He had the power to do almost anything around here.
“I had nothing to do with that!” Zephyr defended himself. “The only person that’s instigating is you!”
“Me?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him. I wasn’t here to have the blame flipped on me. How could the fire not be his doing? Who else would set Buffy’s room ablaze?
“You really think I wouldn’t catch you sneaking off to Schmidt’s office?” Zephyr replied, his eyes darkening. He tightened his grip on the doorframe, knuckles turning white. “You’re the one playing with fire, Biba. Anyone who runs their mouth about the Kings’ secrets gets destroyed.”
I clenched my jaw as I held his heavy gaze. I remembered when he would say sweet words to me. Now, all he did was threaten me. We had fallen so far from where we used to be.
I was so hurt and angry by what happened with Buffy and what happened between Zephyr and me that I only had one response for him.
“Fuck you, Zephyr,” I gritted out, letting my frustration flow. He needed to know how much he hurt me. I hadn’t even told Schmidt anything about him!
Zephyr looked like he was about to blow up. He probably couldn’t believe my audacity. Then, he let out a breath and glanced behind him at Erin, who peered at us with curious eyes. He looked back at me with an unbothered look on his face.
“You wish,” he said before slamming the door in my face.
I stared at the door with wide eyes, feeling them water and burn. I couldn’t believe he’d just said that to me. Granted, I didn’t have nice words for him, but he said that just to hurt me. Swallowing hard, I blinked back my tears and stepped away from his door, freezing when something dark caught the corner of my eye.
Slowly, I turned to the right, my eyes falling on a masked man who looked just like the one who tried to kill me at the end of last term. It was him. And he was looking right at me.
My heartbeat thudded so loudly that the sound filled my head. I couldn’t hear anything else. I didn’t even try to call for Zephyr’s help. If Zephyr didn’t lie about not being involved in the plan to set Buffy’s room on fire, then it must’ve been the masked man’s doing, and he wasn’t done wreaking havoc today. My survival came down to me and me only. I turned and sprinted in the opposite way as fast as I could, panic burning like fire in my chest.