Cruel Magic (Royals of Villain Academy #1)(28)

A couple of the other students glanced over at us, obviously having overheard him. A flush crept up my neck.

I had eaten a Twinkie, because they’d been one of Mom’s guilty pleasures and a reminder of home, and the only food I’d had around that I could grab quickly to gulp down on my way to class. The sticky sweetness had gone a bit sour in my mouth, but the crinkle of plastic as I’d hustled up the stairs was still fresh in my memory. Was that how he’d picked up on that memory?

“I was in a hurry,” I said flatly. “I suppose this is your specialty—your ‘league’?”

He laughed. “Not at all. I’m an Illusion man myself.”

Illusion. My mind leapt to the burning sensation that had seared my nether regions days ago. Jude hadn’t been in that class, but maybe he’d helped Malcolm with the spell.

“Like Malcolm?” I suggested to see his reaction.

“Nah, Malcolm’s strong there too, but he leans most to Persuasion. Of course, there’s nowhere any of us are really weak.”

Right. Ms. Grimsworth had said the other scions were strong enough across the board that each of them would have been picking between three of the four leagues.

Jude dragged in a breath as if to go again.

“Hey,” I said. “It’s my turn now, isn’t it?”

He gave me a languidly amused look. “Go ahead and give it your best shot, then, Cold Feet.”

I’d take that nickname over Slip’n’Slide. I gazed back at him, trying to see him as a collection of features—a straight nose, a jutting cheekbone, the sharp edge of a jaw—and not the dazzling picture those pieces created. A gold earring glinted in one of his earlobes, shaped like a tiny dagger.

I drew my eyes to his forehead, the skin pale where it peeked through the fall of his hair, like he had with me. “Look inside,” I whispered, compelling a wisp of the energy inside me toward his mind.

For a second, I was worried nothing would happen, despite the fizzing of power behind my collarbone. Then, with a little thrill, the sensation rushed over me of falling forward into a vast space—before my awareness slammed into a solid, blank surface.

My mind reeled backward, and I found myself staring at Jude. “You’ve got a wall up,” I accused him.

His smirk came back. “Those who can, do. It’s part of the exercise. But you’re an all-powerful Bloodstone, right? You should be able to find a crack.”

I glowered at him, and his smirk only grew. At the same time, I noticed the shadows beneath his eyes, the skin there just a little darker than looked totally normal. And the tilt of his head wasn’t entirely relaxed, but kind of stiff, as if he were having to concentrate on keeping up.

Those weren’t magical observations, just the kinds of things Mom or Dad would have pointed out to each other if they were coming up for a strategy for their joymancy together. To figure out how to stir up the deepest joy, you had to determine what a person was missing first.

“You’re tired,” I said, taking a gamble. “You didn’t sleep very well last night.”

Jude’s mouth tightened. He looked annoyed, but I caught a fresh jolt of energy to join the dwindling supply in my chest. The fact that I’d hit the mark unnerved him.

Good.

I felt satisfied for the approximately second and a half it took before he started talking again.

“You cried yourself to sleep,” he said, his wry voice taking on a razor’s edge. “Finding the pressure of meeting expectations is getting to be a little too much, are you?”

I couldn’t restrain a flinch. I’d been feeling more confident since my night out with Imogen and Shelby a couple days ago, but the grief and the general sense of being under attack still gnawed at me. He’d read right.

Before I could respond, someone snickered. Victory leaned her elbows onto her desk. “She hid her feeb clothes in the back of her wardrobe because she’s scared someone will want to steal the hideous things.”

“Wow,” Jude said, launching right back in. “You nearly pissed yourself when that cat came at you yesterday. You’re scared of an awful lot, huh?”

Victory picked up the thread with a note of triumph. “She thinks you’re completely gorgeous even though she’s terrified of you.”

“Doesn’t everyone?” Jude shifted back in his seat with a sly grin. “Poor girl, practically a virgin. Only one tumble between the sheets.”

The idea of attractive guys must have jostled free memories I’d rather have kept buried. Jude’s words brought them flying to the forefront, chased by a surge of panic that would only feed their magic more.

Victory shook her head. “And the guy ditched her right after. A Bloodstone gave it up for a feeb, and he wouldn’t even look her in the eyes after in their stupid feeb school.”

Every student in the room was watching the duo’s little game now. I jerked my head around to seek out the professor, but she was watching us with an analytical eye, no sign she had the slightest intention of intervening. And Declan, across from her, was watching too, his expression so impassive it felt like a slap to the face.

Did you “rescue” me just so you could feed me to a bunch of fucking wolves?

My assailants weren’t done. “And after all that, you’ve really thought about trying to run away from campus back to that awful place?” Jude tsked his tongue mockingly.