Stealing Embers (Fallen Legacies Book 1) by Julie Hall

Author:Julie Hall [Hall, Julie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-09-21T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Four

I poke at the gravy-drenched chicken breast on my plate. It’s probably cold by now, which is a shame. I happen to like chicken and I’m not in the habit of passing up free food. But who can eat while they’re being watched?

Not this girl.

At my last school I used to take my lunch down to the basement to escape the prying eyes of my fellow students. It was always dank and smelled like mold and sometimes dead rodents, but for a moment of peace I’d pay that price.

Disappearing acts have always been my specialty. I wanted to pull one tonight, or skip dinner altogether, but Ash is a bossy little thing and won’t hear of it.

“I promise, no one is staring.”

I lob my drill sergeant a miffed look, one laced with as much annoyance as I can infuse into my features. I only have to twist my neck a quarter notch to the right or left to catch at least six sets of eyes covertly stealing peeks at me.

Blaze and Aurora aren’t the only two who caught wind of what happened over the weekend. I’m the freaky new girl all over again.

Academy students murmur behind their hands. Their whispered conversations itch my eardrums. Their glances weigh heavy on my back, burning through my clothes like hot coals and singeing the skin underneath.

The worst was during PE, when Seth tried to get me to phase. I managed to blink into the spectrum world a few times, but no magic wings or gilded armor appeared. When I returned to the real world, the students’ faces were stained with disappointment. I was tempted to ask if they wanted a refund on their tickets, because they were obviously counting on me being the day’s entertainment.

“Just ignore them, Em. They’ll find something new to talk about in a day or two.”

Fisting my knife, I stab my chicken and then hurl a pointed look at Sterling. I’m pretty sure he took bets on whether or not I would transform during training.

I point my empty fork at him. “Nothing out of you.”

He has the good sense to press his lips together and tuck his chin. Greyson breaks out in a boisterous round of laughter.

“I told you not to use Emberly’s experience to further your gambling addiction, bro. You brought her wrath upon yourself.”

Half of Sterling’s mouth lifts but his cheeks darken. “Naw. I’m too charming. Emberly could never hate a face as pretty as mine.”

Unfortunately, he’s not wrong—he is annoyingly impossible to hate.

What am I going to do with him? What am I going to do with his entire family?

I can use this betting thing as an excuse to put distance between myself and the middle Durand twins. The pretext would be flimsy, but I can use it to drive a wedge between us.

An ache pulses in my chest, and I scrub at the spot.

I’m still torn up inside about what to do about Steel’s siblings. I can—and will—easily stay away from Blaze and Aurora. I don’t want them mixed up in anything that might hold a hint of danger.

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