There was so much pain streaking through the rest of my body that the sensation of biting my tongue was borderline pleasant.
A new low.
Sadie trembled against me and gasped, “I was so worried. I almost enslaved the judges to try to save you. I was freaking out so badly. Never do that to me ever again.”
I patted her head and pulled my hand away because her white hair turned pink.
“Thank you, Aran. You saved him.” Sadie pulled Xerxes and me lower so all three of our heads touched.
“Iddng humpfwv,” I grunted.
Sadie patted my head tenderly. “What are you saying, my sweet, precious friend?”
I tried to speak but gagged from the pain.
Jinx walked up behind her with a ferret wrapped around her neck like a scarf. She studied her cuticles. “She said, ‘It hurts,’ you moron.”
Sadie loosened her grip and pulled her head back. “Oh my sun god, I’m so sorry. Why didn’t you say anything, Aran?” She reached up and traced her fingers over an open wound on my jaw.
I saw stars from the pain.
Ever been best friends with a dumbass? Same.
A very humbling experience.
“She needs medical attention.” Jinx walked up, hit Sadie’s hand away, then narrowed her creepy dark eyes on me. “Congrats on not being a complete failure.”
I narrowed my eyes back. “You secretly love me.”
“You sure about that?” Jinx arched her brow.
As I stared down at the annoying thirteen-year-old, a familiar pain twisted through my back.
A crack echoed in my skull.
No. No. Not right now. I can’t.
Something shifted inside my skeleton.
Something bad.
Jinx’s eyes widened as she stared at me like she knew something was happening.
Crack. Bones shifted in my back, and I was in so much pain that I did something I’d wanted to do for weeks.
I kicked Jinx.
“Did you just kick a child?” Sadie’s jaw dropped, and Xerxes chuckled.
Jinx stumbled from the blow but didn’t look surprised.
Sweat erupted across my skin from the harsh movement, and the world swayed. Experience had taught me I had a few minutes before I was inconsolable.
I tipped over.
This time, it wasn’t Xerxes that caught me.
“You scared me, Aran. We need to get you back to the room,” John said roughly as he pulled his sweatshirt off and gently helped me put it on.
Then he picked me off the ground and held me against his chest.
“Why am I wearing your clothes?” I asked between whimpers of pain.
John made a strangled noise. “I’m preserving your modesty.” His voice filled with fear. “I would have gotten to you sooner, but the fucking shifters blocked us from getting to you. Malum was about to light them on fire when they finally let us through.”
As he spoke my teammates popped into view around him.
They surrounded me.
“My man, are you okay?” Vegar asked with concern as he leaned closer to take a look at me.
Shivering from pain, I gave him the evil eye.
“Actually, I feel really great right now,” I said through gritted teeth.
Vegar raised his eyebrows. “Really?”
I didn’t bother to respond.
“Sweetheart,” Orion whispered as he stared down at me with wide, watery eyes.
His tender expression shattered as he glared over at Malum, who was partially on fire and couldn’t meet my gaze. I looked over at Scorpius, who was dragging his hands over his face tiredly.
Zenith stepped up beside Vegar and leaned close to me. Up close, the inky lines under his eyes expanded and thinned like they were breathing. “You did not embarrass us,” Zenith said in a clipped tone. “For the most part.”
I squirmed uncomfortably under the weight of his profuse praise.
Everyone was in tune with their emotions today. Was a planet in this solar system retrograding?
Another wave of convulsions made me shake, and John squeezed me and said urgently, “We need to get her inside. Now. Everyone, move.”
The students surrounding us gawked and shuffled to the side, but the crowd was so thick there was barely any room.
I whimpered from the pain.
Malum exploded in flames and roared, “Everyone, clear a path for her or you’re dead.” Fire shot from his mouth into the sky, like a dragon.
A stampede erupted as students shoved at one another, desperate to get away from the unhinged king.
The kings pushed forward, kicking and punching people who didn’t get out of their way fast enough.
The crowd parted, and John jogged through.
When we got into the academy, tears streamed down my face, and I bit down on my lip to swallow a scream.
John began to sprint.
As the torment intensified, everything became a blur of pain and movement.
Vegar brought over a makeshift cot, and John gingerly laid me down on it before the hearth. He said something about needing to see my injuries as he gently tugged his sweatshirt off me.
As I stared at the fire, roaring flames disappeared into glowing embers.
I arched my back.
Screamed.
“We need to flip her over,” Malum barked, and multiple hands reached down to turn me over.
“I’m sorry for everything,” he whispered as he turned me, and I threw up from the jostling.
John pressed a cloth to my face to wipe up the sickness, but midwipe, he halted.
Everyone ceased moving at once, and the room fell creepily quiet.
No one breathed.
The sudden tension was a tangible weight.
Orion whispered something to Scorpius.
“Why,” Malum said roughly. “The fuck.” His teeth clashed together. “Is ‘WHORE’ carved into your back?”
Crack.
I opened my mouth and whispered my darkest secret aloud, “Mother did it. The night before I killed her.”
I sobbed and convulsed. Arched my back and jackknifed my legs.
“What!?” Scorpius bellowed.
I spat out between gasps of pain because apparently, I was feeling very chatty. “She used to light me on fire. For fun. Just like you, Malum.”
In my peripheral vision, the wingback chair burst into flames.
“Aran,” John whispered brokenly.
Someone’s fists slammed against the wall.
Malum made a broken noise, and he stalked over to the bathroom door, ripped it off the hinges, then cracked the flaming wood over his knee.
Orion fell to his knees beside me.
He screamed, and the sound was so high-pitched and lyrical that a headache throbbed in my temples.
The demons backed away from me with horror.
John draped himself across my back like he was hugging me. His large body trembled, and warm tears dripped across my skin.
More pain exploded across my back, and I couldn’t swallow the whimper that burst from my lips.
I bit down on my lip to hold in another scream.
“We need to help her,” Scorpius growled. “Orion, bring the first aid kit. Now!”
There was a loud sizzling. Scarlet flames turned purple, and the bathroom door disappeared into a pile of ashes.
My teammates fell to their knees around me.
Hands held me down.
Fingers pulled bloody glass shards from my back. A needle and thread were pulled frantically through my wounds.
Crack.
Bones shifted in my back, and nothing anyone was doing helped the agony streaking inside my spine.