Good vs. Evil High (35 page)

“I’d like to give
him
my answer, if
you don’t mind.”

“Luke,” I pleaded, but he ignored me.
What’s his problem?

“That’s fine,” Headmaster said. “You can
think about it, too, Kristine, if you like.”

“All right.” I wanted to say yes right then,
but Luke was acting weird.

Headmaster stood up, his wispy hair rising
with the motion and then resting itself in a great mess once again.
“I’m going to check on our situation. Don’t open the door for
anyone.”

He left the room, so I shifted in my seat to
face Luke. “You said you’d come every chance you got.”

“I know, but it sounds suspicious.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

“You don’t know my headmaster.”

“But I know you, and I can’t believe you’d
pass this up.”

“I’m not passing it up. I just want to talk
to my headmaster about it first. If he’s seriously into this, then
I’m in, too. I just wanna be sure.”

I stared at him and shook my head, not
understanding. How could he even give this a second thought? I
continued shaking my head in frustration as I turned to stare
forward.

“Take this.” Luke took the golden gun from
his pocket and held it out to me.

“My headmaster told me not to.”

“So? Keep it in your purse so I know you’re
safe.”

“No. I don’t know anything about guns.” And I
wasn’t going against my headmaster for him when he couldn’t even
decide whether he wanted to come see me for those extra few days or
not. I hadn’t been so mad at him since we were kids and he knocked
me over in the cafeteria when I was holding a tray full of food,
even though I knew he didn’t mean to. That fight didn’t last
long.

“I’ll take you underground and teach you how
to shoot. This is the safety. Red means blood, so it’s off when you
see the red dot. The clip’s full. What else do you need to
know?”

I turned in my seat to face him again.
“No.”

“Yes, now take this!”

“No.”

“Kristine!”

I looked away and decided to ignore him. I
was too mad to talk to him anymore, anyway.

So he stood up and put the gun in my bag.
“I’m teaching you how to use that thing tomorrow.”

I sat there ignoring him and staring at a
picture of Tobias playing with a dog as a kid, but not really
looking at it at all, because all I could do was get madder and
madder. But I realized, after a few minutes, that it was more hurt
than anger, because I couldn’t believe Luke. It might sound small
and stupid, but it was a big deal to me. Finally, I stood up and
went to find the button under his headmaster’s desk.

“What are you doing?” Luke asked when I knelt
on the floor behind the desk.

“Leaving.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

He stood and came around the desk.
“Armstrong’s out there and I can’t leave this room. So you can’t
either.”

“Yes, I can. You gave me a gun. I’ll be
fine.” I leaned over and reached for the button under the desk.

“No.” Luke grabbed my arm and pulled me back
so I couldn’t reach it.

“Let me go,” I shouted as he pulled me up
until I was standing in front of him. But he held me securely
against him as I fought to get away, surprising myself, because I
didn’t think I even had the ability to want to get away from
him.

“Stop fighting me!” he yelled.

“Then let me go.”

“No. I love you and you know I want to come
see you at North Haven. Every second that goes by that I’m not with
you, I’m wishing I was. But I’ve got to protect you, and that means
I have to be careful. I can’t just go doing things that could set
my headmaster off. Even if you want to get mad and act ridiculous,
I’m going to talk to him first, because I love you. And I’m not
letting you leave this room!”

I was a little stunned by the way he was
talking to me, but I felt better, knowing that he was putting off
his decision because he loved me so much. I leaned my head against
him in defeat. “Fine.” But I stepped away and went back to my chair
when he let his arms relax, still feeling a deep sting.

The wall slid open behind me as Luke retook
his seat. We both turned to see his headmaster walk in, while
Ripper and Hanghard stayed outside. “Armstrong’s still loose,” the
headmaster said. “My men will stay with you outside until I’m
through with Knight, Fayre.”

My eyes met Luke’s, and I hoped they
portrayed my apprehension. No matter how upset I was, I didn’t want
to leave him to be with those two. He rested one hand over the gun
in his pocket to remind me of the one I had in my bag.

Tobias stood behind his desk and fixed his
men with one of his deadliest looks. “If one of you harms one hair
on her head, the other is ordered to kill him immediately.
Understand?”

Ripper took a deep breath and cocked his head
back. “Yes, sir,” he grumbled. Obviously, the warning was meant for
him.

Luke let his fingers reach out and brush
against my arm as I walked past him with my crutches and left the
room, his neck turning so he could watch me leave. He was still
staring at me when I turned around to lean against the far wall
outside and didn’t look away even as the door closed.

Looking back and forth at the two monster-men
in front of me, I decided Hanghard looked a hundred times scarier.
Everything about him, from his oily, uneven hair to his
mammoth-sized boots, screamed impending danger. But I was far more
afraid of Ripper at the moment, since his heart seemed to be set on
hurting me.

My instincts told me to run as far away from
them as I could, but I was too terrified to move a muscle. Instead,
I waited for who knows how long in paralyzing silence, each of the
men glancing at me every once in a while.

When the door finally opened and I saw Luke
standing there, I felt a great surge of relief, powerful enough
that the hurt was swept away. He closed the space between us in the
blink of an eye and put his arm around me before he began leading
me away.

“Master?” Ripper’s voice asked.

“Let them go.”

Luke didn’t say anything as we walked. He
took me into the dark gym and pulled me into one of the corners.
“I’m an ambassador,” he whispered.

“Really?” It was easy to forget his earlier
indecision when I was so excited about us traveling to and with
each other every couple weeks.

“My headmaster wants me to learn everything
about your school while I’m there, the stuff you and your
headmaster don’t tell us.”

“You’re not going to, are you?”

“Why not? You have something to hide?” I
could hear the amusement in his voice.

“No, I just wanna know if you’re doing this
so you can spy on my school.”

“I’m doing this so I can be with you.” He
leaned forward to kiss me. “Trust me, I wouldn’t even consider
going to your school every month if you weren’t there. Like I said,
I like it here.”

“Thanks, Luke.” I laid my crutches against
the wall so I could hug him around his neck. Somehow it hadn’t
occurred to me until that moment that he really might not want to
come to North Haven, that every trip he would make to come see me
would be to a place he really didn’t want to go. I felt guilty and
selfish for being so mean before. “I’m sorry. I was being
ridiculous.”

“I know, but it’s okay.”

I laughed as I reached up to run my fingers
through his hair. It was all spiked up, so I ran them over his
cheek instead.

He grabbed my wrist and slid my hand to his
lips so he could kiss my scar. “Even if you leave me one day,
you’ll still be mine.”

“Wh-uh—” Where did that come from? “I would
never leave you, no matter how mad I get. We’ve had this thing
between us since we were kids and I’ve never wanted out. It’s like
when someone’s your sister or your parent; they’re your person
forever. You’re my person forever, Luke, my soul mate.”

He let out one of his long, unsteady breaths,
blowing it against me. I inhaled him and wished I could see the
intoxicated look of absolute bliss I knew he had on his face.

“My soul mate...” His strong fingers spread
apart as they dug into the bottom of my back and pressed me against
him for a long time.

“I think we should go see if they found
Armstrong,” he said when the moment had passed, taking my hand and
walking toward the dining hall. “And tomorrow I’m teaching you how
to shoot that gun.”

“I know.”

Chapter
Forty-Four

~ Fateful ~

I went to look for North Haven through one of
the jet’s crystal clear windows—still nothing but snow, snow, and
more snow.

The day before, I’d given a big North Haven
presentation to the Cinders, with a little help from Harmony,
Nadine, and Sassy. I was so nervous. I wondered if the crowd could
hear my knees knocking behind the podium the whole time. I really
hoped I would get over it with practice.

Luke was flying back with us and staying for
a whole week. My headmaster said it was so he could get a good feel
for our school and take back a positive report to his. But I knew
his headmaster was hoping he’d dig up something good on us.

Usually when Cinders came for Winter
Competitions, they did what we did at Southland Cinder High—staying
on their designated floor and keeping to themselves. Luke would be
the first Cinder to break this ritual and venture out with an
all-access pass from my headmaster.

I was determined to get Luke to fall in love
with North Haven the way I had. Even if he still preferred Cinder
High, and I knew he probably always would, I didn’t want him to
have to always dread coming to my school.

Harmony sat down on the sofa in front of me.
“I can’t wait to be back in my own room. Winter Competitions were
fun, but I’m really looking forward to being home again.”

“Yeah,” Sassy said, sitting down beside her,
“but this time next week you’ll be wishing it was Winter
Competitions again.”

“Well, they’ll be here next year. Then I
won’t have to get homesick. And no Southland Cinder High School for
another year and a half!”

I took in a deep breath and looked outside
for North Haven again. “I wish they’d found Roman so I could stop
worrying and be as excited as you guys.”

“Don’t worry about him,” Sassy said. “He’s
probably frozen to death somewhere.” It was true that a snowmobile
and some basic survival supplies had gone missing the day he
escaped, but that wasn’t enough to put my mind at ease.

“And even if he’s still alive out there,
he’ll never find his way to North Haven,” Harmony added.
“Headmaster’s got it so well hidden, it’s impossible for an
outsider to find.”

“I know.” I didn’t remind them that that
wasn’t what I was worried about. It was Luke. If Roman hadn’t gone
too far, he could easily find his way back to Southland Cinder
High.

Nadine stirred in her sleep at the edge of
the sofa. Apparently the Cinder thing still scared or bothered her
and every other girl on that flight enough that they refused to
utilize the beds in the back while Luke was sleeping there.

“There it is,” I said, pointing at the
distant spot I knew was North Haven. “I’m gonna get Luke.”

I left the main room for a smaller one full
of cot-type beds bolted at the side to the wall. Luke was lying in
one at the back of the room on his stomach, his arm hanging over
the edge so that his knuckles rested against the floor.

“Luke,” I said, kneeling beside him and
placing a hand on his back.

“Hmm?” He rolled over to look at me
sleepily.

“You can see North Haven from here. You wanna
come look at it?”

“I’m enjoying the view from right here,
actually,” he said, smiling and scooting back against the wall so I
could lie down beside him. His body left the hard mattress feeling
nice and warm.

“I wish you were staying forever. I’m scared
for you to go back.”

Luke began running his fingers through my
hair. “Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself.”

“I can’t help it. I love you, Luke.” And in a
week, he’d be gone, and I knew I’d spend every minute worrying.

His fingers left my hair forgotten so they
could hold the back of my head as he leaned forward to kiss me.
Then he pulled me closer as he whispered against my cheek. “Titus
and I will sleep with guns in hand. And when I get back, my
headmaster’ll have someone guarding me the way Ripper and Hanghard
guard him. Only no one will know about it except for me, you, and
him.”

The secret bodyguard thing made me feel a
whole lot better. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“I would have, but Headmaster only told me
yesterday.”

“Hello, North Haven students and Knight,” Mr.
Westhyme said over the intercom. “We’re beginning our descent now
and should be touching down shortly. Please get in your landing
positions.”

Luke and I went to sit on one end of the long
sofa. He took my hand just before the belts crossed over us. I’d
been sure to warn him about those beforehand.

Then I laid my head on his shoulder, thinking
how crazy the last four months had been—surviving a fire and
getting recruited to the greatest school on earth, finding Luke and
falling in love with him, and getting caught between two guys, one
who would kill for me and the other willing to die for the same
cause.

I wished that this was the end of my
star-crossed story. That Luke and I were sailing through the sky
together with nothing to worry about besides the few days that
would come between us each week. I wished that we could be certain
Roman was gone for good or locked away somewhere where Luke and I
would be safe from him.

At least I could be certain of one thing,
though. I belonged to Luke. He loved me immortally. And he would
love and protect me always, even if our fateful love story was not
quite yet finished.