{Regina}
~**^**~
Rylan's footsteps came like a small storm—hasty and apologetic.
He poked his head through the Student Council office door as if the room itself might bite, eyes darting to mine the moment he saw me sitting there.
"You asked me to come back if I found out, Secretary Regina," he said, swallowing.
I gave him a slow, indulgent smile and let him squirm a second longer. The tiniest hesitation in a messenger's voice is a useful thing; it tells me how tightly they clutch the truth they carry.
"Well?" I prompted.
He blinked, like the words had to be dragged out of him. "Elira Shaw—she drew red."
A little, private pleasure bloomed low and hot in my chest. Red meant combat. The single most delicious scrap of news I had hoped for.
Not just because I wanted her hurt—no, because red opened doors, red made people dangerous, and dangerous people are spectacularly easy to use.
