do this.
Without even thinking twice about what I was doing, I bolted out of my desk and headed for the front of the room. I didn’t look in her direction as I made a mad dash for the door of the classroom.
As I slipped out into the hallway, I expected my heart rate to return to normal. But it didn’t.
I couldn’t be around her. There was just no way I would be able to get through this semester.
I was halfway down the hallway when I completely collided with Theo.
“Raven? Are you okay? Your heart is pounding a mile a minute, and you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
I wished I had seen a ghost. This was far worse than that.
“She’s here,” I managed to say through my panicked breathing.
“Who’s here?” Theo asked at first. But then the color completely drained from his face, and I knew he understood exactly who I was talking about.
“Iris is here?” he whispered.
I nodded, still trying to calm myself.
“Are you okay?” Theo asked me.
I just stared back at him, unsure of how to answer that question. Clearly, I was okay… physically. But mentally? That was a whole other story. Seeing Iris had made me realize one thing: My PTSD was worse than I had realized.
When I didn’t respond, Theo let out a deep sigh. “I really didn’t think she would have the balls to show her face here. Damnit. This wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“Is there a problem, Professor Rossi?” Headmaster Black’s familiar voice filled the air.
Shit. If there was one more thing I didn’t want to deal with today, it was the Headmaster.
I didn’t like him. I didn’t trust him. And frankly, I wanted no part of him.
“Actually, there is a problem, Headmaster. Can we speak with you in your office?” Theo asked.
“Why, of course.” Headmaster Black smiled at us as he began to lead the way down the hallway.
“There’s nothing I want more than to wipe that smile right off his face,” Theo spoke to me through mind-speak.
I couldn’t have agreed more.
As we entered Headmaster Black’s office, he motioned to the two chairs across from his desk. “Please have a seat, Mr. Rossi and Miss Gallagher.”
I sat down, and Theo slid into the chair beside me. Reaching over, he grabbed my hand and gave it a little squeeze.
“So, Mr. Rossi, what seems to be the problem?”
“I want Raven to be removed from all of Iris’s classes,” Theo told him.
Headmaster Black’s eyes widened. “That seems like an odd request.” His gaze shifted to me. “I thought Iris Frost was one of your close friends.”
“She was one of my close friends, but not anymore.” I paused, swallowing hard. “It’s important for me to be away from her. Really far away from her.”
“And why is that, Miss Gallagher?” the Headmaster pressed.
“Because she tried to kill me.”
Headmaster Black leaned forward. “Iris Frost tried to kill you?”
“She didn’t just try. She almost succeeded,” Theo added.
“I’m sorry, but I find it very hard to believe that Iris Frost tried to kill you,” the Headmaster replied, shaking his head.
“Oh? Do you know Iris on a personal level?” Theo asked defensively.
“Well, no, I can’t say that I do. In fact, I have had very few exchanges with Miss Frost. But we’ve never had any issues with her in the past. She has a clean academic record. In fact, she’s one of our brightest students.”
“So? Just because she has a perfect record and she’s a bright student doesn’t mean she’s not a murderer,” I protested. My cheeks were growing hot with anger.
“But you’re sitting right in front of me, Miss Gallagher. Therefore, Miss Frost isn’t a murderer,” Headmaster Black pointed out.
“Okay, but she helped Milos Santorini kidnap me.”
“Milos Santorini kidnapped you?”
“He kept me as a prisoner in his dungeon for three months this summer.” It was one of the first times I’d actually said it out loud. Somehow, that only made it feel more real.
The skepticism was obvious in the Headmaster’s black eyes. It was clear that he didn’t believe that, either. “I’m sorry, Miss Gallagher. It’s not that I don’t believe your story, but if Milos Santorini kidnapped you and held you as his prisoner as you claim, I highly doubt you would have lived to tell the tale. And what does any of this have to do with Miss Frost?”
“Iris is Milos’s accomplice,” I explained. “She’s another ancient.”
“Iris is an ancient?” The doubt was written all over his face.
I knew that there was no convincing him of any of this. For