Secret Heir (Dynasty #1)(65)

I keep myself distracted with classes, homework, painting, hanging out with Dani and when Raph isn’t around, with Baron, Lance and Keller, too.

But at night, I can’t deny that I miss his warmth. It’s weird that you don’t realize how alone you are, until you know what it’s like to miss someone. At the same time, the realization makes me hate myself for missing someone who clearly wants nothing to do with me.

I’m sitting in elements class like a zombie, Dani and Keller sitting next to me, trying to pay attention to what Professor Roman is saying. My gaze travels to Raph on the front row with Baron and Lance next to him. Layla is sitting in her usual spot beside him and my stomach feels the usual burn.

“Layla, you’re up.”

Almost immediately, she stands and saunters towards the middle of the field, her expression is almost gleeful.

“Pick your opponent,” Professor Roman says then.

I feel sorry for whoever would have to go up against this girl. Everything about her tells me that she’s merciless in a duel.

“I choose …” Layla pauses dramatically, seeming to enjoy the attention as the other students wait in anticipation.

“Jazmine.”

I don’t think I hear her right. Why would Layla choose me, knowing that I’m probably the least experienced person here? It’s hardly going to be a challenging sparring match. But then I realize with a sickening feeling that it’s exactly why Layla has chosen me. Of course, she knows that I’ll be no match for her and she clearly hates me. She’s going to use this as an opportunity to humiliate me and tear me to pieces in front of the whole class. Payback for what happened in swim class a couple of months ago.

“That’s hardly a fair match, given that Jazmine has just started her training,” Professor Roman says with a scowl.

Layla turns to look up at me, her eyes fierce with challenge. I see Raph getting up, his eyes cold as he turns to Layla. He opens his mouth to say something but Professor Roman is already speaking.

“You don’t have to do this,” he says looking up at me.

The rational part of me knows that I should take the out that’s being offered. There is no way I’m going to come out of this unharmed. But something inside me is not letting me back down. I raise my eyes and meet Layla’s stare unflinchingly.

“I accept,” I say simply, putting steel in my spine as I hold my head high and climb down the bleachers.

Dani and Keller are gaping at me like I’ve lost my mind. Baron and Lance have similar looks on their faces as I pass them.

Then I meet Raph’s eyes and something like concern flashes in them. But I don’t need his concern. I don’t want him to care.

I shoot him an icy look. He’s the reason why Layla hates me so much in the first place. The hate that I should feel for Layla in that moment, I direct at Raph, putting as much venom as I can muster in my stare. Raph’s lips clamp shut and he scowls as he sits back down.

I meet Layla in the middle of the field, feeling strangely calm. She looks like she’s having the time of her life. Her eyes are bright with excitement, eager to start tearing chunks out of me.

My heartbeat is roaring in my ears. My legs feel like jelly, but I won’t let Layla see that.

Layla leans over, her perfectly manicured talons digging into my forearm as she speaks.

“I’m going to enjoy this, you little slut,” she whispers.

“Now I totally understand why your poor father killed himself when he found out about you. The shame of finding out that he fathered a dirty human bastard who was selling her body must have been too great a shame to bear. No King would have been able to survive it.”

I can feel my self-control being shredded to pieces. But I force myself to breathe. She’s trying to get to me, trying to make me lose focus and it’s working, because I can barely see straight through the rage. I shake off her arm and thrust my face up to hers so that we’re breathing the same air, so that she can feel that I mean exactly what I’m about to say.

“I’m going to tear you to pieces.”

But as soon as I say the words, I have no idea why I’ve said them, because I’m no match for her in an elements duel and we both know it. The only one that’s going to be torn to pieces is me, with Layla doing the tearing.

She just smiles at me before turning to walk away towards the other side of the field. I didn’t think it was possible for a smile to convey how much you want to kill someone. But Layla manages it.

I stand on my side of the field, desperately trying to remember everything that I’ve learned so far. Layla is pacing like a caged animal on her side of the field, ready to strike at any moment.

I clear my mind and gather my focus. The field falls away, as does the crowd watching from the bleachers. There is only the humming of power in my veins and the connection I feel to the elements around me.

Layla lashes out first, with an arc of fire which rivals Raph’s own flamethrower that I’d seen in that first elements lesson. The flames surge towards me and I only have a split second to react.

I hold my hand out, focusing on summoning a whirlwind to engulf the fire and the power rushes from my veins, connecting with the air around me to form the whirlwind. I hear the startled shouts from the crowd and I stare dumbfounded, because we definitely didn’t cover that in the training sessions. No one has taught me that and yet the knowledge of it is somewhere inside me.