Page 16 (2/2)

"Yes," I whisper

"Look intoat me, into htthey’re so prettyall glitterythey’re , until there is nothing left but him and me Suddenly the darkness that has enveloped ht fro over to hi thes tothe spell

I let out a shaky sigh "Is it gone?"

"I can’t sense it any to check the peri Ash a bitter look "You lay one fang on her, I’ll slice your head off Understand?"

Ash’s fist clenches, but he says nothing as Sebastian stalks away

Day hugs me "Do you think that’s what--"

"Killed Truffles?" I finish for her "Yeah I think I’ion Liberation Front," Beetle says, referring to the Darklingthe war

I turn to Ash "Thanks for protecting ot attacked"

Anger flares up in me "Don’t put yourself out foreatthat Ash Fisher had a heart He catches up with me a moment later beside the Bastet skull

"Hey, blondie, why are you mad at me?" he asks

"Just leave me alone," I say

"Not until you tell me why you’re so pissed"

I let out a frustrated screa!"

"Okay, so we’ve established I annoy you Anything else?" he asks, a s unfurls inside me I remind myself I’m meant to be mad at him

"Yes! You don’t care about anyone but yourself You only help others if it helps you soenuinely offended

"Well, it’s true"

"No it’s not I helped you because"

"What?"

"I didn’t want you to get hurt"

"Oh Then why did you say otherwise?"

He shrugs "Because I shouldn’t care what happens to you"

"But you do?"

He doesn’t say anything Instead he turns his attention to the exhibition I nervously look aroundaover so the peri with Beetle, and the rest of the class is in the next room We’re alone

Ash turns toI’ve wanted to talk to you about"

I raise an eyebrow "Really? What?"

He takes a deep breath "I don’t really kno to say it, so I’ to come out with it You’ll probably think I’oing

"The other day, ere in our history lesson, we bumped heads and--"

"What do we have here, then?" a boy’s voice says behind us

The boy with the purple hair--Linus--saunters by with his two goons The tattooed girl givesme to make eye contact I don’t

"Since I last checked, this was stillaround a glass phial sticking out of his jacket pocket It’s filled with a ht catches it

"Not anyround now," Linus drawls

Ash grabs Linus by the collar, and the boy flinches His goons close in

"This is ," I warn him

He releases Linus and indicates soest you use it"

"Make , not here

"Sebastian will be really interested in hearing you were here, Linus He ain," I say

He turns his attention to me "What makes you think he don’t already know I’m here, sweet cheeks?"

What does he irl loops an arainst hio test out the s her off him and smooths his collar They head down the corridor toward one of the other exhibitions

"What was in that tube?" I ask Ash

"Darkling venoht Haze hite That stuff had a golden shimmer to it"

"It’s probably that Golden Haze that’s been doing the rounds"

I’m about to carry on our conversation about what happened e bumped heads in history lesson, when Sebastian enters the rooive Sebastian any reason to cause a scene

"Did you find anything?" I ask hi his sword

I let out a relieved sigh

A scream from the next rooirl sprints out of the roo for the exit Without thinking, I rush into the next roo what all the drama’s about, and instantly wish I hadn’t Sprawled on the floor are the bodies of Linus and the shaven-headed guy, their dead eyes staring up at the ceiling Their faces are contorted in a mask of pain, their lips as black as coal

Clutched in Linus’s dead hand is the open phial of Golden Haze

16

ASH

"THE FIRST RULE of surviving a Darkling attack is to run," Sebastian says to the group<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>