“I just found this in my locker.” Tori thrust a folded note at Cara, and he moved in to peer over her shoulder, TRAITOR BITCH was all it said.
Cara glanced at him and away just as quickly. “Yeah. I got that, too.”
“What?” Aelyx dropped his notebook and fumbled to catch it. “When?”
“Right before World Studies.”
“And you didn’t tell me?” His chest expanded with . . . what? Anger? Fear? No, this was a new emotion, something he couldn’t quite place.
“It’s no big deal. I’ve been called worse.”
Tori raised her chin—now four inches higher than usual due to her ridiculous shoes—and glared at him. “I got kicked off student government and the soccer team.” She blew a lock of hair out of her eye. “But for some reason, I’m still hanging with you. I hope you appreciate this.”
Tori clearly wanted him to return to L’eihr. He wanted to leave even more than she wanted him gone, but he couldn’t very well tell her that.
“I’m sorry, Tor,” Cara said, snatching another poster off a metal locker bank. “If it’s any consolation, you’re doing the right thing.”
“Yeah,” Tori said flatly, “it’s so rewarding. I feel all warm and fuzz—”
“What the hell?” shouted an enormous male with a mop of mahogany hair. The boy used one hand to shove his way through the crowd while tugging Brandi Greene along with the other. He wore a Midtown lacrosse sweatshirt and a fierce scowl. Nodding at the poster in Cara’s hand, the boy growled, “You’re gonna put that back up.”
“Sure, Marcus.” Cara flung the paper into the bin and shoved it down with her textbook. “Just hold your breath and wait.”
So this was Marcus Johnson—lacrosse captain, HALO recruiter, and recently dethroned valedictorian. Aelyx had heard volumes from Cara about this hulking animal, none of it positive. Even Brandi seemed subdued around him, dropping her gaze to the tile as if to make herself invisible. The closer the boy moved to Cara, the more Aelyx’s muscles tightened against his will.
“I know you wrote this.” Tori shook her note at Marcus. “Grow some berries and say it to my face next time.”
If a smile could be described as evil, that’s precisely what curved Marcus’s lips. “I dunno what you’re talking about.”
Tori flashed one of her fingers in what Aelyx assumed was an insult and told Marcus to do something anatomically impossible. Meanwhile, Cara ripped another flyer off the wall, crumpled it into a ball, and launched it into the recycling receptacle.
Marcus’s grin faded, jaw tensing visibly as he dropped Brandi’s hand and pointed to the bin. “Get it out.”
Cara stepped within an inch of the boy and lifted her face to his. “Get bent.”
“I’m not fu—” His eyes darted over Cara’s shoulder to Aelyx, seeming to notice him for the first time. “Brandi says his spit can eat your face off like acid.” Marcus cocked his head to the side and sneered at Cara. “But for you that’d be an improvement.”
Despite the heat rising into his skull, Aelyx reminded himself that violence and anger were markers of the weak. He was above it. But then Marcus put his hands on Cara, roughly shoving her to the floor, and Aelyx’s mind emptied. His body trembled. Without thinking, he struck back with all his strength and slammed Marcus’s shoulder with the heel of one hand, sending the boy spinning into the locker bank, where he landed with a loud metallic clang that stung Aelyx’s eardrums.
Aelyx’s body flushed with fever. He couldn’t believe what he’d done ... or how natural it had felt. He wanted to do it again. Great bleeding gods, what was wrong with him?
The hall fell silent as a hundred pairs of eyes widened in shock. Marcus grasped his upper arm and howled in pain. In seconds, an instructor rushed into the hall demanding to know what had happened.
Aelyx and Cara spent the rest of the hour in the office, where the secretary, Mrs. Greene, glared at them while answering calls and writing hall passes. A pity the woman didn’t share her daughter’s fascination with him, because Aelyx could have used some help. If the ambassador discovered what he’d done, it would mean the iphet—six lashes, at least.
Fortunately, his consequences were far less severe than he’d anticipated. Marcus’s coach interceded on the cretin’s behalf, begging the principal not to suspend the boy and “punish the whole team over a stupid scuffle,” and the principal assigned both Marcus and Aelyx after-school detention.
They released Aelyx for his next class, but he didn’t go. Instead, he left Cara without a word and charged out the side exit, then jogged across the parking lot and into the woods.
He evacuated his mind until all he felt was his feet striking the soft, leaf-carpeted ground. He didn’t know how long or how far he ran, but eventually Aelyx stopped and sank onto his haunches, leaning back against the rough surface of a tree. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply in meditation until his heartbeat slowed and his skin cooled.
Being in this place—surrounded by human lust and violence—had changed him. He had to get away. Glancing over his shoulder to be sure no one had followed, he pulled his com-sphere from his pocket and brought it to life.
A minute later, Eron’s hologram appeared. Syrine was nonresponsive.
Eron leaned forward and scanned him. “Something happened. Are you all right?”
“Yes.” Thank the gods he couldn’t use Silent Speech from a distance. He’d hate for Eron to know what he’d done. “But I can’t tolerate another month here.”
“Is it really so bad?” Judging by the skepticism in Eron’s voice, he’d had a more positive high school experience.
“No,” Aelyx told him. “It’s worse.”
“Just hold on a while longer. If we rush, we could botch everything. Or make Stepha suspicious.”
“Fasha,” Aelyx swore. “There has to be another way . . .”
But he couldn’t deny Eron had a point. Aelyx needed to think logically, stop allowing his emotions to drive his behavior. It wouldn’t benefit him to leave Earth now if the Elders decided to pursue the alliance. A few more months among humans to avoid a lifetime in their presence—it was a worthy trade.
“Remember what Stepha said about patience,” Eron told him. “Humans are overly expressive. It’s their way. You can’t allow them to offend you so deeply.” He paused for a few moments and then smiled to himself. “You made the same mistake the first time we played sticks.”
A hesitant grin curved Aelyx’s lips. “Well, you kept accusing me of cheating.”
“I know. I did it to unnerve you, and it worked.”
It’d worked, all right. Aelyx had knocked his friend to the ground, where they’d engaged in the fistfight that had earned them each a dozen lashes.
“Don’t let them provoke you,” Eron said. “Otherwise you’ll reward their bad behavior and encourage them to do it again.”
Aelyx nodded. “You’re right. I was an idiot.”
“What’s that?” Eron asked, cupping his ear. “I didn’t hear you. Say it louder.”
Aelyx laughed and flashed a rude gesture. “Too late. I need to get back to class.”
Eron returned the gesture with a smile and disappeared, leaving Aelyx to make his way back to Midtown High—to the only human he didn’t want to leave behind.
Chapter Ten
Cara snapped a square from her chocolate bar and held the bite inside her mouth, letting it melt slowly on her tongue. The flavor came gradually, building into a rich, creamy sweetness and releasing a faint earthy aroma. She sighed with pleasure, opened her favorite novel—a tattered copy of Jane Eyre—and nestled deeper into the sofa cushions.