The next morning tasted like ash.I walked across campus with the hood of my jacket pulled high, glass dust still glittering in the strands of my hair that I hadn't managed to wash out.
My arms stung where tiny cuts had scabbed overnight.
Every step felt heavier than the last, like the bolt that shattered Mordred's window had lodged itself somewhere inside my ribs.
I kept replaying his voice in my head: "You're only safe when you're with me." I couldn't sleep last night, and this morning when he offered to ride me to school I declined. I took Uber here instead.
First period BioChem was a haze of slides and chemical equations I didn't hear. I slid into my usual seat in the back and stared at the empty space beside me until someone filled it.
It was Maddox. He isn't even in my class or studying biochem, but he came here anyway.
He looked exhausted, had purple shadows under his eyes and his bandaged hand cradled against his chest like it still hurt.
