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More lier and harsher than before, and the students around me crept forward For the first time, I noticed that ers h, but what made my heart quiver with fear was the way the other kids were clenching the hilts and ski the sharp blades, like they were thinking about using thehof students, but I didn’t see Logan I scanned the rest of the dining hall, but I didn’t spot any of my other friends either It took me a few more seconds to realize that all the chefs had suddenly, mysteriously, vanished as well In fact, I didn’t see any adults dishing up pancakes and waffles at the food stations closest totheir own breakfast, no staffout to do theirchores Even arden had dropped their heads and were staring at the grapevines twisted around their feet, as if they didn’t want to see as about to happen

Desperate now, I looked over at Alexei His job was to guard oing to end well-for me

Alexei pushed away frorab his tords out of his backpack and come to my defense, but all he did was stand there He didn’t make any move to break up the mob that had circled me I wondered if Linus had ordered Alexei to let the other kids do whatever they wanted to me That would be one way for me to be punished-for me to be executed

I wondered if Alexei would stop after the kids had beaten ht here in the dining hall An i on the floor popped into etting soaked up by the black dirt in the garden and feeding the gnarled vines there-

I shookto happen I wasn’t going to let it happen I hter as the other students, but I’d defend myself as best I could, even if I kneouldn’t win in the end Not against so er bag underneath the table when Logan and I had first sat down I could just see the bag’s strap peeking out from beneath the white tablecloth on the far side of the chair I was standing next to My heart sank I kneouldn’t be able to get to the sword in time, but I still had to try It was all I could do

I took a step back so I could get around the chair, but I bu behind me I whirled around, and the upperclassrinned I tried to et away from hiht, and there was Helena, holding a dagger

"Did you really think you would get aith it?" Helena snarled "Killing our friends at the coliseu Loki loose All of that is your fault, Gwen-your fault People are dead, our friends and family are dead because of what you’ve done Well, I say that we get our revenge on you, right here, right now"

The ring of kids reement and crept even closer to me Once more, I looked at Alexei, but he stood in the sa by his sides, his face completely blank No help there Looked like it was up to

Helena took anotherin her hand, and I reached out and grabbed my fork off the table It wasn’t much of a weapon, but hopefully I could surprise her with it, shove her away, and break free of the mob before they all piled in on an pushed his way through the kids until he was standing bya plate with another olass that contained e liquid made my stomach twist that much more

"Get out of the way, Quinn," Helena snapped "This is between us and Gwen"

Helena and the guy with the sword stepped forward again, and Logan moved to shield me frohtened around the plate and the glass

"I suggest you leave now," Logan said in a dangerous tone "Before I show you just how deadly Spartans can be"

Everyone froze All the Mythos kids knew about Spartans and their killer instinct, how they could pick up any weapon-or any thing-and autoan rarely carried a weapon He didn’t need to, since he could grab whatever was handy and fight with it He was only holding a plate and a glass, but hetords

Helena sucked in a breath For a e forward and try to stab er, but she slowly tucked it back into the purse hanging off her aruy with the sword lowered his weapon as well Alexei also moved back, crossed his arainst the wall once more

"This isn’t over, Gwen," Helena spat out "If the Protectorate doesn’t make you pay for what you’ve done, then ill Do yourself a favor, and leave Mythos while you still can Or do us all one and stay here so we can deal with you ourselves Win-win for us, either way"

The Amazon smirked at me, then turned and stalked off to her table a few feet away One by one, her friends followed her, and the other kids headed back to their seats as well Still, only hushed whispers filled the dining hall, and everyone kept staring at et out of here," Logan said, putting down the dishes

I bitout frorabbed my hand, and we headed for the doors Tobehind me like he usually did, Alexei fell in step with us and flanked me on the other side

Just before we stepped outside, so if soh for that A second later, the thing on my back slid off and clattered to the floor, and I realized what had happened-someone had thrown a plate of food at an’s oray hoodie, sprayed across my back like the paint on my dorm room door, while the plate had broken into a dozen pieces I reached back and felt a few chunks of cheese sticking toout loud and clear, and she started laughing

Anger, frustration, and eive Helena the satisfaction of turning around and glaring at her That would only h louder and make her that htened up and walked out of the dining hall, the cruel laughter of the other students ringing into the et any better after that

After going back toclasses I sat in my usual seats and tried to concentrate on all the lectures and ho in the corners of the roo me

Actually, he had to stand in the corners, since the other students pulled their desks away from mine as soon as I stepped into the classrooht ot to my feet and started to scootin front of le" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>