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“I didn’t know you could do that. You’re getting better. It’s hard to project shields from a distance,” I remarked. “Thanks for standing up for me.”
Lucas smiled, then placed a kiss on the top of my head. “Always.”
We reached the top of the stairs, and my heart stalled when we turned down the hall. Lucas dropped his arm.
Every door was propped wide open, and men in black uniforms moved in and out of the rooms, barking at the students. They all had the same buzzcut, along with wands attached to their hips. Nearby, Gregory and Brayden huddled together, looking like they were trying to stay out of their way.
“Prank potions are banned on school property.” One of the men snatched a potion out of Onyx’s hands.
“That’s for my Alchemy class,” Onyx snapped. “You wouldn’t know a prank potion from poison.”
“Whatever it is, I’m keeping it,” he sneered. “Move along.”
It wasn’t until the guy turned that I realized I recognized him. Frederick James wore a cunning smirk. I glanced around the hall, and more of the faces clicked. I spotted Ryan leaving one of the rooms with a collection of crystals in his hands, and Nolan—one of the Tarantulas—held a pile of wands. All the Tarantulas were here, along with a jerk named Leroy who’d bullied Lucas more than once. Avery Mitchel strolled down the hall with her head held high, her hair twisted into a tight bun. There were several others, but I didn’t know their names.
Hell, these weren’t soldiers. They were students.
I couldn’t sit idly by, not like I had with Gwen downstairs. I let go of Lucas and marched straight up to James.
“Hey, asshole,” I growled. “Since when are prank potions banned? What gives you the right?”
James laughed and looked down at me with a smug expression on his face. “Well, well, well, look who it is. The Curse Maker.”
Lucas stepped in front of me. I didn’t need him to come to my rescue, but I was kind of glad he did. James wasn’t intimidated by me—priestess or not. But Lucas was the same height and build as he was, and it made him shrink back half a step.
“Touch Nadine, and you’ll regret it,” Lucas threatened.
James smirked. “What, you think the priestesses will come after me? Nah, the threats they made to me last semester are no good anymore. In fact, they’ve hired me to keep your ass in line. Upset me, and you’ll regret it.”
“Yeah, I’m sure,” Lucas said sarcastically. “I saw what you did during the riots. You murdered Sadie. You should be in jail. Why would the priestesses hire you?”
James’s smile grew wider. “Haven’t you heard? Miriam’s Executors get all sorts of perks, including all charges wiped. Besides, I didn’t touch Sadie. Her heart gave out.”
“Because you used your fucked-up Mentalist powers on her!” Lucas raged.
I grabbed his hand to calm him down. We didn’t need a fight breaking out here in the middle of the hall. What we needed was answers.
“What are you talking about?” I demanded. “What exactly is Miriam’s Executioners?”
“We’re not executioners,” James sneered. He drew himself up, like he was proud. “We’re Executors, as in, executors of Miriam’s will. We carry out the law. We’ve been hired to keep the peace among the student body.”
Peace, my ass. They’d been hired to incite fear and create chaos.
“In return, we get free tuition and guaranteed jobs on the police force once we graduate,” James stated proudly. “Oh, and if anyone—and I mean anyone—does something to defy the priestesses’ orders, I have every right to drag them to the gallows myself. It’ll be fun putting that noose around your neck, Curse Maker.”
“Fuck you, James,” I snapped.
“Ooh,” he practically sang. “You wanna go right now? I was expecting to have at least a few weeks to prepare for your hanging.”
“What exactly do you have against Nadine?” Lucas demanded.
“She’s not my only problem, buddy,” James said. “I still haven’t forgotten that punch you threw last summer.”
“Then you know I’m not scared to fight back,” Lucas replied coolly.
“You can try,” James taunted. “But I see only one priestess on your side. I’ve got four. Let’s see who wins that fight.”
“I suppose we’ll see eventually,” Lucas stated in a clear challenge.
