“Don’t. Be. A. Bully,” I lean down and warn her, she struggles to push me off her. “And if you need me to teach you another lesson, I’ll be right here.”
“That’s enough, Ivy.” Milly tentatively reaches down and grabs hold of my shoulder. “I think she got the message.”
“Not quite.” Reaching down, I pull the Head Girl badge off the bully’s chest, not caring that I have ripped her jumper in the process.
It is only then I get up and let the other girl go free. There is a stunned silence, but then someone starts clapping. Another pupil joins in, then another and another and soon the whole room is cheering me. Well, that’s one way to make sure the entire school knows I’m here.
Crap.
The former Head Girl of Archaic is helped to her feet by her two cronies and the three of them storm out of the common room. The head girl looks back once at me, and when her eyes meet mine, I know I have a new enemy. When I’m not looking, she is going to stab me in the back and dig the knife in.
“You’re amazing!” squeals Milly, giving me a huge hug and distracting me from the head girl.
“I hate bullies,” I shrug, trying to break free with no luck.
“You certainly know how to make an entrance, Archaic,” says Nikki. Is it my imagination or is there a look of respect in her eyes?
“What’s all the noise?”
I nearly jump at the familiar voice. I kinda hoped I wouldn’t hear his voice again and then the part of me that doesn’t lie to myself knows I wanted to hear him. Milly squeals again and runs across the room to throw herself into the arms of the boy who’d just walk in.
“Oh, my god! You have to meet my new best friend, Ivy. She saved me from Ally!”
I look into the clear blue eyes I have only just seen the day before. Now I know why Milly looks so familiar.
“We’ve already met,” Archer says with a condescending smirk. Damn my heart for beating quicker from just the sound of his voice.
I’m so screwed.
Chapter Four
Ivy Archaic
“Really?” Milly is positively skipping with excitement. “Then you know how cool she is!”
“Oh yeah. Ivy’s cool all right,” smirks my kidnapper. “I really enjoyed hanging out with her yesterday.”
“I bet you did.” My eyes narrow, fingers itching to slap the smile off his face. I’m not usually so violent, but there is something about being kidnapped and having people dictate how to run my life that changes me.
Milly looks from me to her brother and back again, a confused frown wrinkling her forehead.
“Is something wrong?” she asks.
“Nothing’s wrong, little sister,” Archer says with a cheeky grin. “Ivy’s just a little tired after all the excitement yesterday. Only an Archaic would have the energy to come to school the day after they are reunited with their long-lost father.”
“That must have been so exciting for you,” Milly gushed. “I bet you are so happy to meet your dad after all that time apart.”
“That’s one way of putting it,” I say, deciding now isn’t the time to go into the details of my abduction. “But look at you two. I should have guessed you are related. You’ve got the same eyes. Are you twins or something?”
“Irish twins,” Milly corrects me. “Archer’s ten months older than me, which is why we’re in the same year at school. We’ve also got another brother in the year below and a sister the year below that. And our step mum’s pregnant now, so there’s another Knight coming into the world in a few months.”
“Wow. You guys sure have a big family.”
“It’s pretty normal for the four houses,” Milly shrugs. “In fact, House Archaic is unusual in only having one heir. Our families are big in case of any… accidents. If anything does happen to you, that would be the end of your house and your father would have to watch his back because someone would be bound to stage a coup.”
“I see.” It looks like my father had been telling the truth about keeping his distance to protect me.
But that doesn’t excuse the way he is treating me now. Why can’t he have just spoken to me like a normal person? He didn’t have to kidnap me and treat me like a prisoner. Maybe he thought what he was doing was for the best, but if this is what having a family is like, I’m better off back in foster care.
A bell rang, interrupting our conversation.
“That’ll be lunch. You wanna eat with me, Ivy? I can fill you in on all the gossip. Call it a thank you for rescuing me.” Milly is ridiculously perky, but there is something endearing about her constant positivity, especially now I have seen the way the other kids treat her.
“Actually, Mills, do you mind if I grab Ivy for a second?” Archer sweetly asks. “I just want to see how she’s settling in.”
“Sure. Do you want to bring her to the cafeteria when you’re done? I’ll grab a table for us.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Archer smiles.
“Actually, can you do me a favour?” I ask. “I dropped my rucksack in the hallway by the lockers when I heard what was going on in the common room. Can you pick it up for me?”
“Of course. I’ll take it to the cafeteria for you.” Milly practically skips out of the room, seemingly overjoyed to be able to do this little thing for me.
Now that his sister is gone, I don’t have to pretend to be civil to Archer anymore. “You’ve got some nerve,” I hiss.
Archer shrugs with a cocky grin. “What can I say? I owed your father a favour.”
“So he claps and you follow him like a puppy dog?” I mockingly ask, keeping my voice low so the other students won’t overhear. My business is private. I’m already going to be the subject of school gossip after my fight with Ally. I’m not going to give them anything else to talk about. “There are a million different ways you could have handled the situation. God, Archer, all you had to do is ask and-”
I caught myself before I could put my foot in it any further, but it is too late.
“And what?” There is a little twinkle of amusement in Archer’s eyes.
“Nothing?” I shrug, a little embarrassed and hoping he will drop it.
“Nothing, huh?” He steps closer and I take one step backwards, only making him look more amused. “Let me guess…foster kid so desperate for attention you would have fallen for a few pretty words whispered in your ear and a space on my bike?”
“Fuck you,” I snap.
“Nah, I don’t fuck my sister’s friends,” he replies. “Considering she has so little of them.”
“I wouldn’t say we are friends exactly…”
“That’s not how Milly’s going to see it,” Archer tells me. “In case you hadn’t noticed, Milly’s not like most people at the Academy. She’s a sweetheart. That girl doesn’t have an evil bone in her body. It makes her an incredible human being, but it also means she’s nothing but prey to the Houses. You standing up for her like that will have won her undying loyalty. You’ve got a friend for life in my sister, whether you like it or not. But it would mean a great deal to me if you don’t break her heart by turning your back on her. I might even watch your back for you. Trust me, you need some help.”