“I hate that school. I hate everything there. I hate the people, the teachers, the subjects. The kids are stupid and ignorant and just dumb. They think they’re cool, but they’re a bunch of idiots. The teachers want to be friends with the students and then they say mean stuff behind their back.”
“Who is ‘they’? The teachers say mean stuff or the students?”
“Both of them. I don’t like the schedule, I don’t like how much work they make you put into useless stuff, I don’t like my room. The only good thing about it is going home.”
“Don’t hold anything back. Tell me how you really feel.”
“I’m not going back there!”
“And you’ve made this decision on your own?”
Julie nodded. “Yes. And if you take me back there, I’ll run away again.”
I crossed my arms on my chest. “I can’t take you back there. They kicked you out.”
Julie’s eyes went big with outrage. “They can’t kick me out! I quit.”
I lost it and laughed.
“They really kicked me out?”
“Refunded the tuition and everything.”
Julie blinked a couple of times, coming to grips with that tidbit. “So what happens now?”
“I expect you’ll be a bum. Homeless and jobless, begging on the street for a crust of bread . . .”
“Kate!”
“Oh alright, I suppose if you come by the office once in a while, I’ll give you a sandwich. You can squat in the office on the floor when it gets too cold outside. We can even get you a little blanket to lie on . . .”
“I’m serious!”
“I am, too. It’s an honest offer. I’ll even put some real roast beef into your sandwich. No rat meat, honest.”
She stared at me with a martyred expression. “You think you’re so funny.”
“I have my moments.” I leaned forward and pushed the knife to her. “Keep it. Wolfsbane, too. You’ll need it, since you’ll be staying at the Keep.”
Julie eyed the knife. “What’s the catch?”
I sighed. “No catch. I put you into that school because it was a good place. A safe place.”
Julie shook her head, sending the blond hair flying. “I don’t want to be safe. I want to stay with you.”
“I’ve gathered that. Curran and I are looking into schools in the city. There are a couple that might be a better fit. You’ll stay in your room at the Keep, ride into the city with me when possible, and go to school. When done, you’ll come back to the office and someone will take you back to the Keep. You will be good and you won’t take any stupid chances. While you’re at the office, you’re my slave. You’ll run errands, clean the place, work out, file . . .”
Julie came over and hugged me. I hugged her back. We stayed like that for a long moment, until the door swung open downstairs and Andrea walked inside, asking why the place stank of wolfsbane.