Chapter Text
1
SIMON
The anger is like thunder rumbling through my body, booming and familiar.
Baz is standing in the middle of our room over my bed, his arms crossed and a sneer plastered on his face. The window is still open from last night when I won our argument, and the wind is blowing Baz’s hair like he’s in some bloody shampoo commercial. The sight makes me want to sink my fist into his posh face. Maybe break his nose a second time.
My magick, though, is like lightning, flashing violently through my body. I can feel it bubbling up over the surface, leaking into our shared room. It’s a wonder that it isn’t making him sick.
Baz’s eyes widen a little as I stalk further into the room towards him. He regains his composure after a second. His wet concrete eyes follow me with a glare of annoyance.
“What did you do?” I seethe. I think if I get any more worked up I might just explode the room with us in it.
Baz gives me a blank stare. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh like hell you don’t! If it wasn’t you, then who magicked all of my books closed? And made my pen explode when I went to write with it?”
Baz leans in closer to me, squinting his eyes as they roam over my face. “Is that what that is? I just thought it was your hallmark dirt you like to track into our carpet on a regular basis.”
I shut my eyes and draw a deep breath in, willing myself to calm down. It wouldn’t do either of us any good if I went off. Think of Penny. Think of Aggy. Think of the Mage.
It seems like Baz doesn’t see it that way, though, because he keeps talking.
“I thought I was the only one to find the sacred Chose One a nuisance, but it doesn't seem so.”
I frown at him. The words cut deep, especially if it’s true that Baz wasn’t the one who did it. That means someone else had to.
“I wonder who it could be. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was your little girlfriend. Wellbelove? Or, should I say Agatha? We’re on first name basis now.”
He looks at me down the side of his crooked nose (damn those three inches). The look in his eyes is raw hatred. I huff at him.
“You’re broken up, right? Maybe she’s tired of you. Maybe being the girlfriend of the Chosen One was too much for-”
I don’t let him finish what he’s saying. I’m bounding over to his side of the room before I can stop myself. He has a split second to yell out, “Anathema!” before I do something. I ignore it. Instead, I land my fist into the side of his jaw.
Then everything goes black.
BAZ
I roll over and grab whatever’s sticking into my back. I open my hand to look at it. It’s a stick. What the hell?
I try to sit up, blinking against the harsh light of the sun, feeling it tingle against my skin. How did I end up outside?
When I finally regain my sight, I spot fucking Simon Snow sitting a couple meters away from me, grass weaved through his curls. He’s staring somewhere over my shoulder, looking about as dazed as I feel.
“What did you do, Snow?”
His gazes snaps to me, and it follows me as I stand up and brush myself off. I glance around us and see that all of our stuff has transported with us; there are our clothes and books strewn over the grass.
As the situation dawns on me, I become frantic. “What did you do, Simon? For Merlin’s sake!”
I storm up to Watford’s gates and take a deep breath. When I try to cross it, my whole body is shocked. A string of curses fall out of my mouth, and I stumble back.
“Baz!” Snow jumps up to catch me before I hit the ground, but I wretch myself back. “Don’t touch me. Get away from me.”
Snow looks like a stricken puppy, but he does as I ask, stepping backwards a few steps.
I wait for the pain to stop before I slide my wand out of my sleeve. I get ready to cast a spell, but nothing comes to mind. What could fix this situation? What could get me back through the school’s gates?
When nothing comes to mind, I turn to back to Snow. The look on my face must frighten him because he stumbles back and stutters out, “Anathema!”
I stop because his stupidity blinds me. What do I even see in him?
“That doesn’t work out here, Snow. I know you’ve never done it before, but could you use your brain for one second? ”
Snow’s scared expression falls flat, and he glares at me. “Why do you always have to go for the lowest blow? I didn’t mean to. I- it doesn’t- we-” “Use your words.” Snow huffs.
“I didn’t want this to happen, Baz. This place was all I had. These people were all I know. I-” He collapses on the ground. “I don’t have anything anymore.”
I turn away from him. He looks too pitiful for me to look at. The love I once felt is temporarily replaced by disgust.
“You act like you’re the only one whose lost someone. You’re the Chose One. You’re still bloody Simon Snow. You still get to save the World of Mages and have your happily ever after. What do I get?”
Snow scowls up at me. His face is screwed up, and his cheeks are flushed a violent red. Tears gather in the corners of his ordinary blue eyes.
“You have your money and your family. You're rich. You live in a fucking mansion. You have your dad and your siblings or whatever.” He crosses his arms like a petulant child, daring me to challenge him. I take up his offer with a thought that I haven’t let myself fully think about.
“Not all of my family, though. What about my mother? My mother is in that place-” I gesture wildly behind me. I don’t care about keeping my composure anymore. “-A place where I can’t get into anymore. I can’t ever see my mother again. Do you understand that?”
Snow looks down at his lap, embarrassed. He runs an errant hand through his bronze curls. The evening light shining down on him makes him look like an angel. A fallen one, at least.
Snow opens his mouth to say something, but another voice cuts him off. “Simon, Basilton.” Simon moves quickly to a standing position when he recognizes the Mage’s voice. I cross my arms.
“Imagine my surprise when I realized who had been casted out of the school grounds. My heir and the year’s top student.”
He turns a disappointed eye on Snow. I send a hateful glare at his back. “As my heir, Simon, I expected better from you. How are you going to save the World of Mages when you can’t even be taught as one now?” Simon stares hard at his scuffed up shoes. I push down twinge of remorse I feel because he literally just ruined my life. “What am I going to do with you?”
When he turns toward me, I put my hand up. “Save it. You can tell whatever you have to say to my father when he comes and picks me up.” The Mage frowns.
“Well, then. I’m going to call your father, Basilton. I’m sure you can gather your own things. Simon, follow me.”
I don’t turn to watch them leave, but I can feel Snow’s eyes on me as they walk away.
My father never comes. Instead, it’s Fiona. She doesn’t say anything the whole way home except that I can come and stay at her flat anytime I want to. I know what that means.
I always knew Simon Snow was going to be the end of me, but I didn’t expect it to be in this way.