22. Chapter Twenty-Two

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

MICAI'S POV

I step under the shower, the water washing away the sweat and dirt from sparring with Gadriel just moments ago. It always feels exhilarating each time we spar and train together. We become lost in a moment and a world of our own when we move back and forth with our blades gripped between our fingers. I'll miss it when he is gone.

Two weeks for the break didn't seem long, and I relished the idea of not having to see any of those morons' faces for that time. But not being able to spar or see Gadriel…I guess I had grown to enjoy his company more than I had realised. A curious feeling works its way through me with the thought of his absence.

We had said our brief goodbyes after sparring. His gaze seemed a little different than usual, and there was hesitation over his movements as he lingered for a moment before telling me to enjoy the Winter break with my family. If he only knew.

After scrubbing for a few more minutes, I step out and dry off, my mind wandering to where Annex, Ezra, and Mallyn are. They couldn't still be doing their interviews; mine had only lasted a few minutes. But I had heard others had taken longer, with certain students being questioned for over an hour.

But I had been gone for at least a couple of hours. Surely they would be finished by now?

I get dressed, throw on my comfortable grey sweatpants and hoody with a soft white cotton top, and head out of my room.

Maybe I had missed them earlier while sparring with Gadriel? Maybe they were somewhere on campus waiting or looking for me?

My stomach growls as I head through the dormitory doors.

The cafeteria was as good a place as any to check for them. And if they were looking for me, that would probably be the first place they would search. A grin tilts my lips with the thought before I take a step outside and into a large crowd of students.

They are blocking my way to the cafeteria as each of them stands around, all facing toward the courtyard, watching and listening intently to something. Or someone.

I hear familiar voices talking back and forth, with a tone that tells me this isn't some normal chit-chat.

I push my way through the crowd, recognising the first to be the sound of Ivy's whiny voice and the one following it as Morgan's.

What was happening, and why was there such a large group gathered around them? What was Ivy up to now? And why the hell did she have to drag Morgan into her bullshit?

I push past another few bodies until I see Morgan's dark raven hair, her face wearing a tired and annoyed expression as she glares at the group of girls in front of her. Ivy stands just an arm's length away from Morgan, surrounded by Alice, Tandy, and a short brunette wearing an Ivory tie.

"You think you're so important because of who your brother is, but nobody likes you." Sneers Ivy, her grin growing wider with the girls agreeing beside her. "You may have status, but you're a stuck-up bitch, and nobody wants you around. Those two dumb lackeys around you probably only stay with you because of who your brother is…It's the one good thing about you. Without him, you would be nothing."

Why the hell were these dipshits targeting Morgan? And where was Grey and Ash during all of this?

I scan the crowd and the area around us, but neither of them are anywhere to be found.

Had Ivy and her cronies planned this? To target Morgan when the boys were gone? And why the hell was everyone else just watching it like some sitcom?

My fists clench by my sides, my eyes narrowing at Ivy and the girls chuckling around her as they try to degrade Morgan. I step forward, ready to rip them to shreds, when I hear Morgan's calm, silky voice.

"Is that the best you have?" She trails her eyes down Ivy's front, a look I've seen many times from Creed before and when he's looking at things he deems unworthy of his time. "That I'm not important and nobody likes me?" She chuckles, the sound a dark, beautiful titter ringing around the courtyard.

"You mean you don't like me. You and your group of discarded trash that don't deserve the dirt beneath my fingernails." She quirks a perfectly shaped dark brow. "Why would I waste my time or energy on imbeciles like you?" She waves her hand to Ivy and her group. "Filth should stay with filth and will only ever recognise others of equal value." She glances at the girls around Ivy, a mocking grin lacing her rosy-red lips. "And I would say you've chosen perfectly."

Tandy steps forward, her face scrunched together in anger and resembling a blonde little hobgoblin.

"Just because you have the Infernal Four backing you, you think you can say whatever you want, and we won't do anything—"

"Then do something," Morgan cuts her off, her words like a knife, as she narrows her gaze at Tandy. "Even without the boys behind me, I could still rip you to pieces."

Tandy flinches before Ivy steps beside her.

"You're all talk, Morgan." Ivy's scoffs. "You can't do anything without your brother or your little lackeys." She glances around her, a smirk tilting her lips. "Where are they anyway? Did they get tired of you already? Did they find someone better to play with?" A dark chuckle falls from the group around her as Ivy sneers at Morgan.

Sounds familiar. She seems to be recycling the same bullshit she used with me before. Except Morgan looks utterly unfazed by her words, a small scoff leaving her lips before they part to reply.

"Ah, you're jealous . Makes sense." Nods Morgan. "Someone as pathetic and bitter as you wouldn't be able to find someone who really loves her. You want others to hurt so that you can feel better about yourself." She nods again as if talking to herself. "You use your vile words to pull people down to your sad level…and it's beyond pitiful." She glances at Ivy, whose face has turned bright red. "Your personality is worse than the trash around you." Smirks Morgan, looking to each girl and then the boys behind them. Her amber eyes darken as she meets each set of eyes on her.

"I am important. I am loved. And I don't need your approval or blessing. You all mean nothing to me." She grins, shrugging as an arrogant and indifferent look coats her face. The look would make Creed beam with pride.

Silence falls around us, Ivy's nostrils flaring as she opens her mouth. "You stup—"

But before Ivy can finish her words, Tandy jumps forward, her face twisted in rage as her hand reaches for Morgan. I catch a glint of something shiny hidden between her fingers as she aims for Morgan.

My body moves on instinct, catching Tandy's hand an inch from Morgan's porcelain cheek.

I twist her wrist as a pained howl leaves her lips. I grip her tighter, her hand opening as a small metal blade falls from between her fingers.

A strange smell hits my nose as it drops to the ground below me. I focus my heightened senses on the blade…it was tipped with something.

Was it poison? Or some type of drug?

Then the sweet smell hits me… Mountain laurel.

For a strong witch, a cut wouldn't be fatal, but Morgan would suffer for days in pain. And a cut from liquidised Mountain laurel wouldn't heal like normal. It would blister and fester and would leave scars.

And she was aiming for her face.

Anger bubbles in the pit of my stomach, my grip tightening as my rage builds with the thought of Morgan being hurt or in pain.

There were consequences for touching my people.

Morgan was the only one who ever treated me like a friend, showing me more warmth than any other girl in my life. She stood up for me against Xander and Seria and helped me prepare for the Winter Ball. She is someone I will protect and defend at all costs.

I peer back toward Ivy and her group, inching closer as the crowd around us falls completely silent, watching as if they are spectators at some sports game.

These assholes needed to learn they couldn't say or do whatever they wanted to me or the people around me anymore. Their games end now.

The Infernal Four weren't the only ones they should fear in this shitty academy.

Tandy winces, trying to pull her hand back from my grasp as Ivy takes another step forward, the girls around her following suit.

I add a little strength to my grip and twist, feeling the snap of her small bone in my grasp as a loud shriek leaves her lips.

"What the fuck?" Calls Ivy, her eyes widening as I pull Tandy toward me before kneeing her in the stomach. The air leaves her in one heavy whoosh, her eyes rolling to the back of her head with the force of the blow before she collapses to the ground.

Witches weren't usually physically strong. They weren't like shifters and couldn't heal as fast. And it took them a little time to cast and form their magic, with only the most powerful ones being able to use strong offence spells so quickly.

Before Ivy or Alice could cast, I twist around toward them, laying a heavy kick to Alice's torso before she can form her magic and knocking her into the group of boys behind her and Ivy.

Ivy's eyes widen as she calls her magic to her, casting it quicker than Alice. But I'm much faster and stronger than these students here now, and even magic couldn't contain me with the rage I'm feeling.

I dodge the electrical static she forms, watching as it smacks into the bench a few feet behind Morgan and me.

Before she can form another, I twist around and throw a roundhouse kick toward her, hitting her square in the face and sending her tumbling to the ground. The boys around Alice jump forward, trying to catch her, but only end up being bowled down again.

All eyes turn to me as Morgan approaches my side, her hand falling to my shoulder as her red lips curve into a gleeful smile.

"Now that was cool. You should—"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Shouts Jake, cutting Morgan's words off as he pushes through the crowd with Dale. They look toward Ivy and Alice, surrounded by a few other second-year boys, clutching their chest and face. Then they turn toward Morgan and me.

"What the fuck did you do?" Jake's eyes narrow. "I should have put you in a box and buried you a long time ago…" he sneers at me and Morgan before a dark smirk stretches his lips, peering around the crowd and courtyard. "There's no faculty near to help you this time."

He heads toward me as I hear Grey and Ash's voices near the dormitory and heading our way.

But I had some unfinished business with these assholes first.

Jake swings his fist, aiming for my stomach, as Dale reaches for Morgan beside me. I block Jake's attack with my forearm and kick a leg out toward Dale. He dodges, but it gives Morgan time to move. And me more space to play with.

Jake comes at me again, punching out mindless heavy hits, trying to catch me. I let him land one blow to my torso, grabbing his hand before he pulls it back and yanking it hard enough to hear the bone crack. His face twists up in pain, his movements stalled, and in that brief moment, I throw my full strength into a hook, my fist connecting beautifully with his nose and smashing it instantly. Blood splatters and pours down his face from the blow as a loud, pain-filled howl rips from his throat. He falls backward, clutching his bloody face as gasps sound out from the crowd around us.

"Jake!" Dale shouts, rushing toward me. I feint left and slide right, attacking with a heavy jab to his side and targeting his ribs. I feel another crack beneath my fingers before pulling them back, a wince contorting his face as he tries to turn around toward me. I kick his knees out from behind before he can move. And deal the final blow, hitting the back of his head with my elbow before he falls face-first into the grey bricks of the courtyard below us.

Grey and Ash arrive, pushing the crowd apart and standing above a bloody and crying Jake.

"Micai!" Morgan shouts, her voice sounding strained and filled with worry.

I whip around to see a jagged metal shard floating inches from my face.

"I don't know what the hell is going on, or how you can fight against them like that…" Ivy grits out through a busted lip, her face red and already bruising from the kick earlier. Her nose also looks to be semi-broken, if the swelling was anything to go by.

"But I won't let you get away unscathed. You'll pay for this." Her eyes narrow, and that's all it takes for me to catch the moment of her attack. The metal shard slices toward me, directed dead centre and toward my face. But it's as if time has slowed for me. My abilities are more heightened than ever as I flick my head to one side, the shard still moving past me as I reach out and grab it.

I twist around and reach Ivy before she can even blink, the shard in my hand slicing around her head, her red locks dropping to the ground in chunks before I slide the shard close to her neck.

I lean in toward her, my front to her back and the metal shard nipping at her neck as I near her ear.

The area falls pin-drop silent, and only the leaves rustling on the trees can be heard around us.

"All the horrible things you've said and done to me in the past, even if I drained you of every drop of blood in your body, it wouldn't be enough to pay for it all. You've been stupid and chose the wrong person to fuck with today." I lean the shard in, cutting her neck a little as a whimper leaves her lips.

"I gave you enough warnings. You should have listened." A tremor works its way down her body with my words.

"P-please…" she whimpers, her typical bravado gone as a drop of blood pools on the edge of the shard.

"You're not worth killing right now. Death …that's too easy. You haven't paid your dues yet, Ivy." I slowly pull the shard back, stepping in front of her to meet her shaky gaze.

A pearl of blood trails down her neck, a tremor working its way down her body as her knees give way and she drops to the ground. I tower over her, my shadow casting across hers as her head shakily tilts up toward me.

"We have a long way to go and plenty of time to play from now on." I give her a smile that has the group around her flinching. "And I won't be holding back anymore."

A shaky breath leaves her lungs in relief as I turn away to leave.

The hair and threats were for me. But this…I twist around, bending downward as my left fist connects with Ivy's face and breaks her nose properly this time. Blood erupts from her nose as her eyes roll back, slipping limply toward the ground and knocked out from the hit.

That was for Morgan.

I twist the shard in my right hand as I adjust myself before throwing it toward the notice board a few metres away. It hits it dead-centre as murmurs ring out from the crowd, and whispers echo around me.

How did she do that?

What the hell is happening?'

I guess she's not as weak as they thought .

The crowd soon falls silent as I focus my gaze in their direction, my eyes slowly meeting each and every student I can see as I open my mouth.

"Forget what you think you know about me. You know nothing." My voice drops low, sounding almost like a growl as the next words leave my throat. "Let me tell you something you should know…Touch one of mine, or what's mine, or get in my way…And I will leave no trace of you on this earth to be found again."

The notice board creaks, cracks forming around the shard from the force of my hit moments ago. Eyes widen in the crowd, turning back and forth between me and the cracked board in shock, a new look forming in their eyes as they watch me.

My lips pull up into a grin, one that has a few of them taking a step back. "Enjoy your break."

I turn away, heading toward my original destination, the cafeteria, now joined by Morgan, Grey, and Ash, who are quickly trailing behind me.

"Fuck me, Micai," Morgan calls, her voice a little raspy as she catches up with me. "I'm not into girls, but that shit just turned me on."

Ash chuckles behind me as Grey gives me a strange look.

Morgan follows my gaze, noticing Grey before waving her hand, a grin forming on her lips.

"Don't mind him, that's his look of awe…and a little mix of fear." She chuckles as he shakes his head, a slight smile tilting his lips as he glances her way.

"He's probably thinking the same thing I am…" Ash adds, wrapping an arm around Morgan as I raise a curious brow. "How truly suited you are for Annex, Ezra, and the Infernal four…and just as terrifying."

Was I terrifying? But they've seen nothing yet.

I've only just begun.