I weigh my rubber in my hand and give Nik a nudge, smirking as I aim and throw it right at Natalya. It hits the back of her head.
“Ouch,” she says, placing a hand where it hit and turning to glare at me with those fiery brown eyes of hers.
I grit my teeth as that look only calls the images of her on her knees to the forefront of my mind. An image I’ve been unable to wipe from my mind because it was so fucking hot, even if I do hate her. “What you looking at, Gurin? I know I’m hot, but there’s no need to stare.”
The fire in her eyes increases and her tanned cheeks turn a shade of pink as rage overwhelms her. I’m thankful I’m the reason she’s so angry, as I love getting under her skin. She shakes her head. “Perhaps you should go fuck yourself, then.”
The comment both shocks and angers me as I stare at her, wondering if she’s forgotten what I hold over her. Natalya turns back to the class, as Eva nudges her and whispers something.
I’m about to issue a retort and tell her she needs to remember her place, when I notice Nitkin staring right at them. He bangs his palm against the desk, making both of them jump.
“Do you two already know all you need to know about the liver?” He asks.
Nik leans toward me. “You’re not going to let her get away with speaking to you like that, are you?”
I glare at him. “What the fuck do you think?” He shouldn’t even have to ask for fuck’s sake. “Have I ever let Gurin get away with anything?” I feel my jaw ache as I clench it so tightly.
“Fair enough, but you better fucking make her pay. Natalya is clearly getting ballsy because Eva stood up to you.”
I clench my fists on the desk, glaring at the back of her head. Nik knows how to wind me up more. Natalya will wish she never so much as looked at me in the wrong way, let alone said what she said, once I’m through with her.
“I’ll make her pay when she leasts expects it,” I say, through gritted teeth, watching as Nitkin grills them. “If we weren’t in Professor Nitkin’s class, I’d make her pay right now.”
Nik claps me on the back. “That’s the spirit.”
Rosa rolls her eyes. “You two can be so barbaric at times. It was just a comment.”
I glare at her. “Just a comment? And you think that girls like her should be able to say things like that to me?” I ask.
Rosa pales slightly, aware she’s receiving the brunt of my anger. “No, of course not,” she says, bowing her head.
The crack of Professor Nitkin’s ruler against the desk sends everyone’s spine straight. “Morales and Cabello, shut it. The next person I catch chatting in this class will be marched down to the basement in irons.”
I swallow hard and nod in apology. “Sorry, sir,” we both say in unison.
I fall silent, glaring at the back of Natalya’s head as my mind kicks into overdrive, formulating a plan for revenge for that comment.
She’ll wish she never spoke against me once I’m through with her, I guarantee it. I’ll make her pay for disrespecting me.
8
NATALYA
My stomach churns as I head across the dark and eerie courtyard, feeling as though someone is watching me. Ever since I made that comment to Elias, I’ve been on edge, since he’ll never let me get away with it. It was foolish, and I got caught up in the moment, emboldened by Eva’s confidence to call him out. I regretted it the moment it left my lips.
The library is on the far side of the courtyard and I need to get out a book for an assignment for law class with Principal Byrne. It’s late and I wish I’d gone before dinner. Once I’m two paces from the front door of the library, I glance over my shoulder to make sure I’m just being paranoid. As I scan the courtyard, I can’t see anyone, so I continue and enter the old building.
Mrs. Kendall, the aging librarian, is fast asleep behind the desk as usual as I walk past and into the vast, ancient room lined with hundreds of bookcases. They keep law books on the second floor mezzanine, which is potentially the darkest and creepiest area of this place.
Once I get to the top of the stairs, I glance down at the piece of paper with the title of the book on.
Legendary assassins and their downfall.
The shelves are all sorted in alphabetical order, so I find L fast and then search through the plethora of books, looking for the one I need. The same creeping sensation that I’m being watched sweeps over me as I glance down onto the ground floor level toward the door, wondering if I wouldn’t have heard someone enter.
“What are you looking for?”
The voice cuts through the silence and turns my blood ice-cold in my veins. I swallow hard and turn around to look into the piercing blue eyes of my tormentor. My heart pounds erratically against my rib cage as I try to find the words to speak, but right now I’m too scared.