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Nora

As soon as I walk into that room, I know what's going on. They don't trust me. Maybe that's for the best. I'm finally a butterfly, shedding my skin and moving on. I've finally unlocked something I never knew I was capable of.

Damn, it feels good.

After I walked away from Nathan, Baz Snow came up to me, cornering me in a darkened corner of the Great Hall. Nobody saw. Or at least, nobody cared.

"I know what you are, scum," For an ice-wielder, his breath was incredibly hot on my face. His eyes were the brightest shade of blue, so bright it was almost alarming. Baz Snow built his reputation on power. I was the one who could take it away from him.

So I made a decision. 

"You have no idea what I am," I hissed at him and pulled at his thoughts. Baz Snow is weak in the mind. His defenses were pitiful at best, but there were plenty of kinks in his armor, plenty of holes for me to drill into even further. I weakened his frontal lobes and his defenses, sending only a single command to him.

Sleep.

Baz Snow promptly collapsed on my shoes. Nobody saw him and me in the corner.

Nobody saw me drag him out of a side door, locking him in a closet.

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"So you told my father to go to sleep? And he listened?" Ryker and I stand elbow to elbow in the closet, Devon and Li-Yang keeping watch outside. You'd think for a rich school with plenty of glamour, there would be bigger closets. This broom closet reminds me of the designated make out space in my old high school. It's barely five feet wide and can only really fit Ryker, Baz and I. 

"His defenses are horrible compared to yours." 

"And what are my defenses like?" Ryker raises one blonde eyebrow and I snort, all of the events of today rushing back to me. I continue to cackle, laughing so hard I feel like vomiting. I squat on the floor and laugh into my palms, shoulders shaking.

"What did I say?" Ryker asks, sliding onto the floor next to me. I just shake my head, laughs turning into cries. Ugh. I've always been unable to hide my emotions.

Crying in front of Ryker Snow and his unconscious father is not how I'd like to spend my afternoon.

"Nora. Hey, Nora, look at me," Ryker grabs my shoulder and I twist it out of his grip, eyes still buried in my chest, "Pull yourself together."

"I'm just so tired," My shoulders continue to shake but I stop crying, taking several deep breaths. My eyes don't leave the floor, "Before I came here, I avoided conflict. I never trained with my Dad. If there was a bug near me, I'd run away, not kill it. Then, my Dad sent me here to find my Mom and I did everything he asked, even though I didn't want to. I found the power that he said I always had, the power to kill. I don't want it. I just wish I was home again, in the garden with my Mom, or watching sports with my Dad. Instead, I'm here, brain matter spattered on my clothes, loathed by the people I grew to call my friends. I hate it, Ryker. I hate this power and I hate myself for wanting to love it."

I fall quiet, not wanting to look at him. He's judging me now, I know he is. His family is all about sheer power and death. Here I am, telling him about how much I hate it.

"I was ten the first time I killed," Ryker's voice is quiet and soft and I feel his blue eyes on me, "It was enemy of the family, a Mister Fredricks. He was a normal servant in the kitchens who had slipped ghost peppers into our food one night. See, ghost peppers are like poison to our family and somehow Mr. Fredricks learned that. He would've wiped out our family if each of our eight taste testers hadn't complained of a burning mouth. I remember that one of them died from a severe allergy, and my father never let her family know. Even after I grew older, he still never told her normal family. When Mr. Fredricks was caught several days later, my father told me to kill him. I couldn't. I mean, I was training to kill, but killing a dummy is a lot easier than killing a human."

I finally look up into his piercing frost-blue eyes. Ryker looks away, this time unable to look me in the eye. 

"When I was unable to drive a dagger through his heart, my father got out a switchblade. He told me that every time I hesitated, every time I didn't pierce his heart, he would use it on me. I only hesitated a few more times after that," Ryker lifts his shirt slightly, and I see five long, ugly scars on the side of his chest, starting from the back and wrapping around to the front, "After the fifth scratch, I grew tired of the pain and drove a sword into Mister Fredricks heart. I still feel guilty about it. Maybe he poisoned us for a good reason. Maybe he had a family and when he never came home from work, they drove themselves crazy wondering what happened to him. I cried myself to sleep the night that I killed him, trying not to lie on my scars and vomit all over myself."

"So you're not as tough as you appear to be?" I say, smiling faintly.

Ryker laughs and lays a cold hand on my warm one. "Not even close, Nora, not even close. I know that you don't choose what was given to you. But I'll be there to catch you if you feel like you're drowning. We're friends now, selbazyan, whether you like it or not."

I smile, and for a while we just sit there, hands clasped, waiting for Baz Snow to stop drooling.

Eventually he stirs and Ryker and I let go. 

"Oh this is rich," he says when he sees Ryker, "My heir, conspiring with a hero to kidnap me. This is hilarious. I always knew you had traitor blood in you."

"Shut up," Ryker and I chorus.

"What is it that you need from me?" Baz asks, folding his legs elegantly.

"Where is my mother?" I waste no time. Baz's eyes widen but he quickly hides it, smiling his cool, wicked smile.

"Your mother is fine."

"Where is she, father?" Ryker just sounds bored. 

"I don't know," Baz says, "I've never actually seen Mrs. Abraham."

This sends me over the edge. I dart towards him and grip his throat with a hand, squeezing. I may be small and petite, but I've done strength training for years. There is power in my grip. 

Apparently, Baz Snow sees it too. "Fine!" He gasps, slapping my hand, coughing and sputtering, "The Madame likes to keep her under the school. I don't know where, though. There's a whole laboratory built under the school but she's only let me explore half of it."

"You could take us, correct?" 

"I'd rather die," Baz spits but not before I mash my boot into his face.

"You're taking us," Ryker says, helping me up and impaling his fingers into his father's bony elbow, "That's an order, Father."

Baz Snow says nothing, only bending down to face Ryker. He's exactly five feet taller than Ryker so when they're the same height, Baz's knees are practically on the floor. He pulls his son into a hug and I see Ryker's face when it happens.

It's the face of a cornered animal. His face is white and all his breath appears to have been knocked out of him. Baz whispers something in his ear and Ryker shudders, shoving his father away from him.

You okay? I ask, sending my thoughts to him. He doesn't respond at first.

"Let's go. We don't have all night," Ryker shoves his Dad to the floor as I open the door to the closet. 

As soon as I leave, Ryker answers me.

We're in trouble, Nora.

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Ryker

Like the coldest winter chill, my fathers breath is jarring on my face.

He's never hugged me. Never. The best I'd get after doing what he wanted was a pat on the shoulder, but even that wasn't enough for me. I fought, I bled, I sweat for the man who was supposed to be my father. I never knew the kind nurturing spirit of my mother. She died in childbirth and my sister raised me. 

My sister was well known for her deadly precision with arrows and her reputation as a spy in the council.

I grew up with blood. Ever since I've gotten to Aurelia's, I've enjoyed not having to kill people. 

Unfortunately, with my father being in charge of the school, I'm always on edge.

"Remember Lita," is all my father says, but it's not his cold body that leaves a chill down my spine.

Lita, my older sister, died years ago. She was poisoned by a hero who she was spent to spy on. He knew who she was and she never stood a chance of getting out of there alive.

My blood turns to ice as soon as I remember the hero.

Alexei Abraham. Nora's grandfather.

Is this a trick? No, scratch that. I know it is. My father is slippery, never saying what he truly means at first. When I was young, he terrified me. I would have nightmares of him, his white hair turning a midnight black, his eyes dripping with frost and his mouth distorted into an ugly scream. He would reach for me with clawed hands, voice a scratch compared to the silk that it normally is.

And I'm not going to lie, he still terrifies me. But I know all of his tricks.

Or at least I thought I do.

"We're here," Nora says, stopping outside of a random door. It's not a classroom or office that I remember, and as far as I know, that's never been there before.

Nora looks back at me, and if my blood weren't so cold, I would feel my cheeks redden just at the sight of her.

I have no idea what happened. Just days ago, I wanted to kill her, but there's something about her that's just truly fascinating. Her cheeks are flushed, and every single one of her freckles are showing. Her red hair tumbles down her back, in a horrible knot, and her green eyes are piercing.

Not to mention the power. Snow boys are attracted to it.

"Where are we?" I ask, shoving my dad roughly to a stop. Nora puts a long pale finger to her lips and knocks three times. The door opens, and a fat, pudgy, bearded old man blinks out at us, lips shifting into a scowl.

"Is everyone safe, Duke?" Oh. This is the Duke, Nora's mentor, and the teacher who's apparently a double agent for a bunch of teenage radicals.

"Li and Devon got here a few minutes ago. They're fine now, just resting," The Duke looks over at me and my father-who is currently devilishly smirking at him- and groans, "Nora, why didn't you tell me that you'd be revealing my identity to the head of school? I would've dressed up a little more." He waves a hand over his ratty t-shirt and boxers and groans.

"What is this place?" I ask, stunned. Truly, it's beautiful. It's a cave of sorts. Purple and blue gems grow out from deep in the embedded rocks, giving the place a luminous glow whenever the lantern is flicked on. Going deeper down, you can see the entire man cave that the Duke managed to built for himself, complete with a mini-fridge, television, and several fluffy rugs.

For a second, I'm almost jealous.

"The Duke's been living here," Nora shoots over her shoulder, not looking at me, "Oh and by the way, can you let your dad go?"

"No!" Li and I chorus.

"The demon does have a point," My father says, "I'll be of no help to you. You should let me go and I won't say a word to anyone." He holds a finger to his lips for dramatic effect, but I ignore him.

My father is a charmer.

"We can't enact the plan with him here," Nora complains, brushing a dirt speck off of her tunic.

"Then send me back to the closet with him," I don't want him to escape. All these years, I've been waiting for my revenge. Now that it's here, I don't want to let go.

"You know I can't do that," Nora silently pleads with me, but I ignore her.

"Do you not trust me?" I shout, voice shrill. I don't wait for a response. I take out a switchblade and hold it to my father's throat. 

I'm smarter than that. My father told me to protect all sides. I had deemed the first three not a threat but I forgot to check my back. I always do.

Which is why I fall to the floor, gilded knife sticking out of my ribs. Nora rushes over to me, mouth wide.

Someone is screaming. I think it's Nora.

I can't hear anything...

I can't see anything...

It's...

All...

Black...