Witch Born - LJ Swallow Page 0,57

able to control opponents in a war, but I hardly think I could control Dorian.

“I don’t like Dorian, but I can’t kill,” I say. “Him or anybody.” I swallow. “If I murder Dorian, I’m as bad as he is.”

“You don’t need to kill. Once Ethan and Zeke fire up, they’ll kill for you. We only need your necromancy.” Marcus’s lips curve into a knowing smile. “Ethan threatened Dorian with death already, after the attack on you. It would seem you draw out interesting emotions in these guys. Use that to your advantage and give yourself a future.”

To his advantage. Everything around here is for Ravenhold and the Confederacy’s advantage.

And when the hell did Ethan threaten Dorian? He never told me. “And what will happen to Ethan if he kills?” I ask, my mind spinning. “Solitary?”

“That depends on his choices too.”

Marcus regards me for a long moment and the chill intensifies. Silently, he pulls open a drawer and flops a clear folder on the desk. I watch as he pulls out photographs and spreads them across the desk.

“Let me expand on our last conversation, Eloise. Remember I told you some residents are sent to Nighthold once they reach twenty-one? The ones unfit to re-enter society? As I said, we must protect our unstable world.” My heart rate picks up. “The majority here also support Dominion, and their incarceration by Confederacy only intensifies that.”

“I don’t,” I blurt, even though my mind changes with each day.

Marcus flicks through the file. “Nighthold. Take a good look.”

The pictures he slides towards me turn my stomach. The squalor in the tiny cells make them look like animal dens, many with no beds and unidentifiable substances coating the grey walls. I don’t doubt some of that is blood.

Another shows a body, a pale-faced guy with face frozen in a death mask and eyes glazed. Tiny puncture wounds cover his arms and neck. Vampire attack.

Another shows a guy with a bloodied face, another with an arm missing and face covered in livid red scars.

The girl sitting with the vampire scares me the most. They both wear the black shirts and pants as every other inmate in the pictures, and she sits on the floor beside him and rests her head against his shoulder. Her long dark hair is as dull as her skin and the puncture wounds on her neck unmissable too. The eyes staring at the person taking the photo are as lifeless as her body, but she’s alive.

In contrast, the vampire’s eyes sparkle with vitality, and his sardonic smile and good looks remind me too much of Dorian.

I swallow. The witch belongs to the vampire.

And nobody stops him.

I blink away the images, unable to believe that the people who strive for a peaceful society could treat their members in this way.

“Work for us, or that’s your future,” says Marcus.

Perspiration trickles down my neck as the veneer of art classes and meditation is peeled away, revealing a Ravenhold uglier than I imagined. Some Ravenhold students committed minor crimes, such as misusing magic but not hurting anybody. Others have displayed prowess above their peers.

Ravenhold contains the kids the Confederacy want to keep a close eye on, and there’s one thing each student has in common.

These are the kids the Confederacy want to own.

Marcus gathers the photos into a pile and taps on them. “Survive against Dorian or attempt to survive Nighthold.”

He meets my eyes and doesn’t need to say any more: ‘you don’t have a choice’.

I rest against the wall outside Marcus’s office and focus on my surroundings. The wall is cool beneath my hands, ground solid beneath my feet, but I don’t feel connected to the world.

Footsteps tap along the hallway towards me and I look up. Samuel scurries along as if someone is chasing him and when he approaches the door, I’m unsure if his breathlessness is from rushing or nerves.

He glances at me before knocking on Marcus’s door.

I’ve no desire to see Marcus’s face again, so I walk in the direction Samuel appeared from, back towards the main academy, which now seems a worse place than ever before.

Chapter Thirty-Two

What the hell do I do? Speak to Zeke and Ethan about my meeting with Marcus or will that only intensify their aggression? Ethan won’t be shocked. He’s hinted at this possibility. Has Marcus spoken to him too? I wouldn’t be surprised, but I bet Marcus didn’t ask Ethan to kill.

Although I’ve no doubt the Confederacy recruit a few kids from here to kill. Recruit? Strong-arm them.

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