I gave the newsfeed a quick scroll and my heart leapt as I spotted a picture of my bare ass as I stood in the middle of the common room after Darius’s initiation prank. I guessed it would have been too much to hope that no one had thought to snap a pic while I was exposed like that but I’d spent every second since my exposure trying to pretend it had never happened and being confronted by it again made my pulse quicken.
There were three hundred and fourteen reactions and ninety-five comments and the post had only gone live an hour ago. I glanced at the name of the student who’d posted it. Milton Hubert. The name meant nothing to me. My finger hovered over the comments tab. I knew I shouldn’t tap it. It was better off not to know. Just close the page and forget it even exists. I tapped it. Idiot.
Milton Hubert: Things got hotttttt during the Ignis hazing! #wouldntsayno
Comments:
Marguerite Helebor: Looks like the unwanted Heirs are already learning their place at the bottom of the pecking order. #whoresgohairless
Damian Evergile: Are you saying you’re a hairless whore or are you hiding a full bush beneath that pleated skirt, Margeurite?
Marguerite Helebor: As if you’d ever get beneath my skirt to find out, Damian Douchebag.
Damian Evergile: Not a whore then. Just sporting a vagina sweater. #muffscruff
Marguerite Helebor: Shut your face Damian! #basicbastard
Terrance Bonnerville: If both Vega girls look that good naked then I’ve just found my latest fantasy threesome. #idtaketwofortheteam
Barry Gurra: Nice on Damian!
Tyler Corbin: Next time he’ll get her on her knees too. #gaggingonit
My lips parted in a mixture of disgust and outrage as I read through more of the comments discussing me like I was a piece of meat. There were plenty of scathing and mocking responses from girls as well as the many, many lewd comments from the male students. There was more than one mention of a threesome including me and Darcy which made my lip curl back. Why did guys think that would be hot? If I told them to start making out with their sibling they’d be disgusted but because we were twins that somehow made that twisted idea of a fantasy okay?
I was a little surprised to see that none of the Heirs had commented, though I noticed Darius had given a laughing reaction to the comment about getting me on my knees. I guessed they thought they were above adding comments to other people’s posts.
My fingers poised above the comment bar as I tried to figure out whether or not I should respond. I knew deep down that anything I said would only stoke the flames but sitting back and taking this crap was just so not me…
Before I could make the decision, the post and all of the comments that went along with it suddenly disappeared. A message flashed up in its place and relief spilled through me.
FaeBook Admin: Students are reminded that this social media site is not intended for sharing pornography.
Milton Hubert you have been docked ten house points for Ignis. In future, please share naked photographs privately and not on the public page.
I blinked at the message. Ten house points? That was all the teachers were going to take from the boy who had posted a naked photograph of me for the whole school to see? And there was no mention of punishing Darius for the hazing. That was it. In fact, as I read it again, I realised they weren’t even telling him not to share that photograph - just to do it via personal message.
Screw that.
I grabbed my uniform out of the closet, pulling it on as fast as I could before jamming my books into my satchel. I picked up the Atlas again and tapped on Milton Hubert’s profile picture so that I could get a look at him. He was a jock type, well built with a prominent brow and thick eyebrows that almost ran into each other.
I shoved the Atlas into my bag and headed out of my room before marching straight downstairs towards the common area.
No one noticed me as I arrived and my gaze was snagged by a large group in the centre of the room. Darius was leaning back in an armchair beside the fire which apparently never went out. His black hair was dishevelled in an I-just-rolled-out-of-bed way that should have made him look like shit like it did for the rest of the population but instead made him look hot as hell. If he wasn’t such a grade-A asshole I would totally be okay with waking up to his bed hair. But as he was, the sight of it just pissed me off more. An ugly soul deserved to be housed in an ugly vessel.
A girl with vivid, blood red hair and legs that went on for days dropped into his lap and claimed his attention with a kiss that crossed the line from uncomfortable into inappropriate as she began dry humping him in front of the whole room.
Ergh.
I quickly scanned the faces of his fan club while they still hadn’t noticed me and a savage smile pulled at my lips as I spotted Milton Hubert to the left of the group.
I knew I had very little chance of matching anyone in this room in a straight fight but with my anger burning hot and fast in my veins, I could feel my power raising its head like a prowling beast readying to strike. And with the element of surprise coupled with the raw brutality of my power, I was hoping to teach this douchebag a lesson.
As luck would have it, his Atlas was sitting on the table beside him which meant that photo was within reach too.
Magic flared inside me as I strode into the room and I felt Darius’s posse turning their attention my way but I didn’t spare them an ounce of attention. My gaze was set on Milton Hubert and his monobrow raised in surprise as he realised it.
“Oh hey, it's Tory, right?” he asked but he’d forfeited the chance for an introduction when he’d plastered a naked a picture of me all over the internet.
My magic rose to my fingertips and I grinned as I realised I’d summoned water. Of course I had, what better way to punish a fire-hungry masochist than by giving him an ice cold shower?
I raised my hand and a torrent of water slammed into him, knocking him flying back off of his chair and crashing to the floor. I increased the pressure of the water bursting from me, rolling him across the wooden floor and pinning him to the wall.
The rest of Darius’s crew all leapt up in shock and the redhead practically fell out of his lap as Darius stood too. But to my surprise, no one stepped in to intervene on Milton’s behalf. I guessed their screwed up Fae way of doing things meant that these kinds of disagreements were handled personally and I tried not to show my relief at that fact.
Milton was shouting something between gargling on the water which pummelled his face and I lowered the deluge a fraction so that it slammed into his chest instead, making sure I pinned his arms down so that he couldn’t aim any magic back at me.
“Delete the picture,” I snarled, grabbing his Atlas and holding it out towards him with the hand that wasn’t directing my magic.
The power inside me purred with satisfaction and I couldn’t deny the swell of pride that came with holding my own like this.
“Piss off,” Milton snapped.
With a flick of my fingers, I switched the water for air and Milton was lifted and slammed against the wall upright by a gust of wind so powerful that even his bushy eyebrows were fluttering in it. I wasn’t subtle, I was just using the full force of my power to immobilise him but that was fine by me. It got the job done.
I stalked forward and jammed his thumb down on the Atlas to unlock it before quickly opening up his photo album and locating the picture of me. There were actually over twenty of them, though he’d chosen the clearest one to share on FaeBook and luckily for me, his position in the room had only offered him a view of the rear. I deleted all of them, double checking the trash folder before tossing his Atlas at his feet.