He glared down at me. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about Vaughn Sabino,” I snarled. “I’m talking about what you did to my friend. You don’t know a fucking thing about friendship, do you? About loyalty? If you want to hurt someone I care about, you’ll have to go through me first. You’re going to pay for what you did to him.”

Blake’s eyes flashed with something I couldn’t pinpoint. Anger, guilt, maybe even regret. He wiped at his lips where a small line of blood trickled, his eyes never leaving mine.

I wasn’t bleeding, I realized. Not yet. He’d made sure of that.

But I wanted to. I wanted to hurt. I wanted him to make me bleed. Just like he’d done to Vaughn. I wanted Blake to reveal himself once and for all. To show me the monster I knew lay underneath.

The room felt too small, the air between us charged with tension. His face hovered over mine, his breath hot against my skin.

Gods, I could feel every inch of him.

Blake’s gaze was dark, confused even. For a second, neither of us moved. His eyes flicked down to my lips, then back up, as if he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do next, kiss me or kill me.

The moment stretched. The world around us had faded into silence long ago.

I felt dizzy, my body tingling with rage and a maddening sense of need.

I wrenched my body to the side, breaking free of his hold and jumping to my feet. I swung my fist again just as he rose up beside me.

He dodged, catching my wrist mid-swing.

“You really want me to hurt you?” His voice was sharper now, frustration seeping through the cracks of his control.

“Yes,” I shouted. “Fight me, you fucking coward. Instead of always picking on someone weaker than you are.”

I yanked my hand free and lunged again, this time landing a punch to his ribs. But before I could hit him again, he grabbed both my arms and twisted them behind my back, holding me tight against him.

I struggled, thrashing in his hold.

“But you’re weaker than me, Pendragon,” he breathed in my ear. “You know you are. Look at you. You’re pathetic.”

“Shut the hell up and fight me. Why won’t you fight me?” I demanded, my voice trembling with rage. My body was burning, every muscle straining from the effort of trying to reach him. He was wearing me out and he knew it.

“Maybe you’re not worth it,” he murmured. “Did you ever think of that?”

I roared, thrashing in his arms. He held me tight, his jaw clenched, but I could feel the frustration in him mounting. If he was wearing me out, I was wearing him out, too.

I didn’t want to admit the truth. Blake was different from Visha. I'd been training for months. If this was Visha, I’d have been more than a match for her this time. Blake was stronger than me. By a lot. But I still wasn’t giving up.

I might lose today. But I’d work to become just as strong. No matter what I had to do. I wouldn’t stop fighting him. I’d never stop.

I managed to break his grip on one of my arms and half-turned, trying to swing behind me, but he caught my wrist.

“You and all your friends,” I panted. “You’re all bullies. And you have the nerve to call me pathetic. Look in the fucking mirror.”

“Stop!”

The word rang out across the training yard.

Instantly, Blake let go of me and stepped away.

I blinked, suddenly disoriented.

Professor Sankara stood at the entrance to the yard, his eyes blazing with anger as he strode towards us.

It was only then that I realized we were surrounded by a crowd.

Highblood students, blightborn students–there must have been a hundred or more gathered around. They’d come in from the corridors, and now stood there, whispering, their eyes wide with shock and fascination as they watched Blake and I.

I spotted a familiar face at the edge of the crowd. Vaughn.

I’d expected him to look relieved. But instead, he looked horrified. Was he afraid of retaliation? I’d have to reassure him later.

Still, a wave of guilt went through me. Had I done the right thing? Had this really been for Vaughn at all?

“Everyone to the arena,” Professor Sankara barked. “The House Leader ceremony is about to begin and you are all expected to be in attendance.”

The crowd started to disperse, the students raising their voices once more into an even louder murmur as they filed out of the yard.

Professor Sankara walked towards us.

“You are both in violation of Sangrathan law,” he declared, his voice hard as stone. I stared at him. What was he talking about? “But you’re needed in the arena, Drakharrow. Whatever this was will have to be dealt with later.”

Blake went to move past me, then paused and glanced my way. Our eyes met.

He held my gaze for a moment, his eyes cold. Then he turned and walked away.

I was left in the yard alone, my fists still clenched by my side, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

A soft snuffling sound pulled me out of my fog. A faint whimper followed, then a tiny yap.

My eyes darted around until they landed on a large bag over in the corner where Blake had been practicing before I'd interrupted him. It was half-concealed by a stack of practice weapons, so I hadn’t even noticed it before.

I walked over, my pulse finally beginning to slow to a normal pace after the fight. The bag was made of worn black canvas, the kind of duffel that just blended into the shadows. It was big enough to carry bulky training gear, the kind most highblood students would use to store their personal equipment.

But this one had mesh sides, open to let gear or sweaty training clothes ventilate.

I knelt down and unbuckled the top of the bag and there, nestled between some folded clothes and towels, was the fluffin. His wide, owl-like eyes blinked up at me. Then he yapped again, louder this time, and jumping up a little, licked my hand.

My stomach twisted in confusion. Blake had brought the fluffin to Advanced Weaponry. Why?

I looked the little creature over. He seemed to be fully healed.

Blake had brought the fluffin to give it back to me. He’d done what I’d asked and he’d been planning to return it. Then I’d attacked him and he’d been called away to the arena and forgotten all about it.

“Medra!”

I turned at the sound of my name.

Vaughn stood by the entrance.

Picking up the black bag and gently pushing the fluffin’s head back down, I walked towards him.

“Vaughn. What are you doing here?”

“Why did you attack Blake Drakharrow?” He was chewing his lip nervously.

“You already know why,” I said slowly. “He attacked you.”

He shook his head slowly. “I didn’t say that.”

My heart sped up. “You didn’t have to. It was written all over your face. Someone from Theo’s house did this to you. Who else but Blake?”

Vaughn looked miserably. “It wasn’t him.”

His words hit me like a slap in the face.

“What? What do you mean it wasn’t him?”

“We have to go, Medra. Attendance at the House Leadership ceremony is compulsory. Very compulsory.” He grabbed my arm and I realized how frightened he was. “Let’s go.”

I followed him into the hall as he half-dragged, half-pulled me.

The corridor was empty. Bloodwing had never seemed so quiet.

I pulled away. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me who did that to you.”

Vaughn covered his hands with his face. “I didn’t want any of this.”

“I know,” I said. “I’m sorry.”

He lowered his hands and looked at me. “It was Coregon Phiri.”

“What?” My head started to spin. “Are you telling me the truth, Vaughn?”

“It wasn’t Blake,” he said firmly. “It was Coregon. In fact...” He hesitated.

“What?”

“We have to go, Medra. At least walk and talk.”

He started down the hallway again, half-running, and I chased after him.

“It could have been even worse,” he said, tossing the words over his shoulder as he moved quickly down the next corridor. We were entering an area of the school I’d never been in before. “Someone found me on the beach. I was bleeding. I guess I’d passed out. They carried me back to the school. Left me outside the First Year infirmary. The healer found me right away. She said someone had been banging on the door.”