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“So which is it?” I taunted, circling him, blade stretched out. “Should you have made me kneel or killed me? Guess what? It doesn’t matter. Because I’m here now. But something tells me, Viktor, that your time is running out. Look around you—no one wants you as their king. And the ones that do won’t be standing long.”

“Blake would never betray me. His loyalty lies with House Drakharrow. One command from me and this school becomes ash—you and your friends along with it.”

“Wrong. Blake’s loyalty lies with me, and it has from the moment you bound us together,” I snarled. “When are you going to realize what a huge fucking mistake you made, Viktor? Blake belongs to us now. He isn’t just a highblood, anymore. He doesn’t belong to House Drakharrow alone—and neither do I. We’re Avari. We’re Orphos. We’re Mortis. We’re blightborn. We are every house you’ve tried to shatter. We’re the enemy you’ve always feared would someday appear at the fucking front gates.” I backed a step up, tempting him to come at me. “You know what I really think? I think you’ve been afraid of us all along. Afraid of Blake and what you knew he was capable of. Afraid of me and what I am.”

Viktor chuckled. “What you are, girl? What you are is less than nothing. You have no dragon. You’re worthless. Your life is a drop of blood to be smeared into the dust beneath highblood feet.” His eyes blazed. For a moment, I thought he would do it, erupt into his full draconic form.

A roar shook the rafters.

“No dragon, you said?” I whispered.

Viktor’s face paled. His form blurred. And in the span of a breath, he was simply … gone.

CHAPTER 33

REGAN

I held as still as I could as Healer Elycia eased the gauze away from my skull. Dried blood tugged at hair that had been flawlessly clean just a few hours ago. Now it hung in knotted, ruststained clumps around my shoulders.

“The gash has already closed,” the healer announced, peering intently at my forehead. “Your head may be pounding for a while. But you’ll live.”

“Thank you,” I murmured to the House Avari healer. “I appreciate your care.”

She nodded stiffly, already moving away, clearly not a Head-mistress Regan fan. That was fine. I wasn’t either. Not anymore.

Kage prowled near the door, reminding me more than ever this evening of a wolf. I wondered if he wished he could shift into his animal form here and now and run away from this place and never come back. If I could do what he could do, I’d run out into the night, lift my head, and howl at the moon. I was tired of highbloods, tired of blightborn. Just plain tired. And the insanity just kept coming.

Feet pounded up the steps of the tower. I watched as Kage tensed. “Rodriguez,” he barked. “To me. Now!”

I knew he’d already positioned Avari guards in the hall, but from the sounds of the footsteps, this was a large group. The guards wouldn’t be enough—not if whoever it was meant to breach the infirmary.

I slid off the cot, moving to stand behind Kage along with Professor Rodriguez. Healer Elycia didn’t seem like much of a fighter, and neither did Florence Shen, despite having a dragon. The others in the room were all injured and lying in cots.

Kage glanced at me. “Get back, Regan.”

“No,” I said quietly. “I’m fine. I’ve rested long enough.”

He didn’t protest again, just drew the blade from his belt. The pounding footsteps had stopped. Were they slaughtering the guards in the hall? My heart beat faster. The infirmary doors flew inwards.

“House Leader,” an Avari guard said and grinned. “Someone to see you.”

“A few someones,” Professor Sankara announced, marching inside the room.

My mouth fell open. Behind him came Medra Pendragon,Theo Drakharrow, and his blightborn boyfriend, whose name I didn’t know, Visha Vaidya, and perhaps most surprising of all, Lysander Orphos.

Also surprising was who was not in the group, and who I’d have expected to be there: Blake.

Medra’s eyes flew around the room, going from Kage to me to Rodriguez and then past us.

“Florence!” she cried. She was covered in blood that looked to be her own, one cheek shredded open with what looked like claw marks. I stared. The wounds were fresh, yet already starting to close. Medra crossed the room in two great strides to where Florence Shen stood by a worktable fiddling with herbs and folded her into a tight embrace. Meanwhile, the little fluffin—Neville they apparently all called him—pranced about by their ankles, squeaking as if he’d done something remarkable. Considering his aptitude for detecting the plague, I supposed he deserved a little credit.

I watched in fascination as Medra held her friend close, her shoulders quaking—with laughter or tears, I couldn’t tell. She was filthy, bloody, broken, and yet here she was, glowing with relief over seeing a girl who wasn’t even her consort or her family, just a friend. I’d never known such a feeling, never imagined such loyalty unmotivated by anything but fear.

I’d had friends, yes. But suddenly I found myself doubting my understanding of the meaning of the word. I doubted I had one friend in Drakharrow who would embrace me with the emotion I was seeing between Medra and Florence right now. Even my own father never showed me such affection. I turned my head away, but it was too late. I caught Kage watching me. I looked away and started to walk across the room—only to collide with Theo.

“Good to see you’re all right,” I said quietly, expecting him to step aside and let me pass.

Instead, he stayed right where he was. Only then did I realize how furious he looked—and all of that fury was directed right down at me.