BLUE BLOOD

51 | an eye for an eye

"You know where it is, Avery," Blake accused, "There's no fucking way you don't know where it is. The whore must have told you."

Avery's response was curt and cold. "I don't. And don't call her a whore."

I really loved you. I think I loved you, Avery.

"You still like her, don't you?" Satin accused, her voice hard. I swallowed, hoping tears wouldn't fall from my eyes. He held me, kissed me, and smiled at me as if he loved me too.

"If he did," Clara Jane purred, breaking any sliver of doubt I had, "he wouldn't have let us tie her up like this."

Before anyone could chime in, Avery spoke again. "She's awake."

I could feel everyone's eyes shift on me and I decided there was no point pretending. I opened my eyes and took in the scene. The familiar, royal wallpaper told me right away we were no longer at the Academy.

We were in Dragomir Manor, on Blue Blood Island.

My eyes quickly took in the people before me. They sat around a table.

Helen sat furthest from me, her posture prim as always but her gaze avoidant from me. Satin sneering at me smugly, sitting between Helen and Blake, who stared at me stonily. I knew he was particularly rattled by the fact that Mason had mysteriously, out of the blue, left Queens to pursue his music career last week.  Cole was on the other end of the table, examining me neutrally. And finally, Clara Jane, who stood right behind Avery Dragomir.

But he wasn't looking at her. He was looking at me, staring at me with his silver eyes. The same ones I looked into yesterday night, only today they were no longer full of warmth. The look in his eyes today froze me to the core.

I've never understood how someone could feel heartbreak over a person but at that moment, I understood. Avery Dragomir stole my heart and then broke it into two.

This is what it feels like to be played. He's been playing me since the first time we met.

"How does it feel?" Satin taunted, never wasting a single moment to salt my wounds. "I told you. He never loved you."

Once again, I was reminded of the words Kalina said to me. What was it she said to me before she fled the academy?

Go easy on him when you find out, okay? He's a good person

I swallowed, feeling my throat close up. I struggled against the ropes tied around me to the cushy armchair. "Let me go."

"Tsk, tsk," Satin purred, standing to her full height. "You didn't think we'd just let you go, would we? Not after Avery told us who you really were."

I refused to look at Avery, who's gaze burned me.

Clara Jane's expression told me that she was confused. She was not in the loop. "What do you mean, Satin?"

Panic rose in my chest, so obviously that Satin laughed cruelly. "Who would have guessed that your stepsister is Gabriella Jontas?"

Shock and horror flashed through Clara Jane's expression before she recomposed herself. Still, I saw her throat bob uncomfortably. "You're lying."

"Lying?" Satin laughed almost crazily at the notion. "I wouldn't lie about this. Think about Clara Jane. Why would she want to be a blue blood so desperately? Why would she use Avery so shamelessly? How did half of the blue bloods transfer out of Queens Academy in a matter of weeks after she arrived?"

Our eyes met and that was when I knew for certain.

Satin Queens hated me and she wanted me gone.

"An eye for an eye," Satin whispered, and every person in the room seemed to be unable to meet my gaze. Even Blake stayed quiet, scared almost. "She wants to ruin all of us."