22

Eva
“What class do you have next?” I ask as we meander down the hallway, finally escaping Byrne for the day.
Natalya smirks. “Anatomy, with Luigi.” She shakes her head. “Can’t fucking wait.”
I glance at my timetable, noticing I have the same. “Me too.” I raise a brow. “What’s so bad about anatomy class?”
“You will see,” she says, smirking at me. “Come on.”
She links arms with me and pulls me down the corridor, where a boy marches right toward us, piercing blue eyes fixed on Natalya.
“Fuck,” she murmurs.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
Before she replies, the boy speaks, “Well, well, look who we have here.” He smirks, and it’s a cruel smile that sends shivers down my spine. “Gurin always has to latch onto the newbies because she has no fucking friends.”
His two friends chuckle in response.
“Go away, Alexander,” she mutters, trying to pull me past him.
Alexander holds his muscled, tattooed arm out in front of her, stopping her dead. “That’s rude, Natalya. Introduce me to your friend.” He has dark, messy hair that curls over his forehead. The dress shirt he’s wearing is only buttoned up three quarters so you can see the dark tattoos scrolling over his skin, and he has the arms rolled up his forearms revealing more ink. He’s wearing a pair of black pants and ridiculously expensive Italian leather shoes.
Her eyes are blazing with hatred as she glares up at him. “Take your hands off me before I land you in the infirmary.”
He laughs. “I’d like to see you try.” His attention moves to me. “Alexander Morales. Who are you?”
I swallow hard, my attention moving between him and Natalya. “I’m Eva Carmichael.”
He shoves Natalya back and steps closer to me. “Beautiful for an Irish girl,” he murmurs before glancing back at his friends. “Let me introduce you to Rosa Cabello and Nikolai Kushev.”
The girl has onyx hair, which is dead straight and falls to her waist. She has dark brown eyes and tanned skin, complemented by the beautiful red halter neck top she wears and a pair of emerald green pants. Nikolai stands close to Rosa with his arm around her back and hand resting on her hip.
His hair is bright blond and medium length, curling just over the lapel of his smart dress shirt, partly covering a dark tattoo that disappears beneath it. His skin is pale, and his blue eyes are icy as he regards me warily, his free hand shoved into the pocket of his black pants.
Alexander clears his throat, drawing my attention back to him. “You should be careful about who you make friends with.” He glares at Natalya hatefully, but there’s something else in his eyes too. Desire, perhaps?
I step back. “Yes, I will be.” And then cross arms over my chest before saying, “I certainly won’t be friends with you, that’s for sure. I’d rather be friends with a fucking corpse.” I hold my chin high, despite being certain this guy is dangerous.
Natalya gasps softly beside me.
He tilts his head, eyeing me dangerously. “Is that right, Carmichael?” His gaze moves to Natalya. “I’m sure I can arrange that.”
I shove him in the chest and force him out of my way. “Now, move the fuck out of our way.” I hook arms with Natalya and drag her away from him. “We don’t have time for assholes,” I call back.
“Shit, you may regret that, Eva,” she murmurs once we’re out of earshot.
My brow furrows. “Why?”
She shakes her head. “Alexander Morales hates people who stand up to him, and that was your first encounter.” Her lips draw into a tight line. “He was trying to hit on you, and you made him look a fool.”
“Is that why he hates you?” I ask.
“No, he had it out for me before I even spoke to him.”
I glance back down the corridor to find the three bullies are no longer there. “He doesn’t scare me. If he has a problem, fuck him.”
Natalya smiles. “You are incredible. We’re going to be good friends. I have to introduce you to my friends Azira and Adriana at dinner.” She laughs. “They were already going to love you, but when I tell them you stood up to Alexander, they’ll probably worship you.”
My stomach flips a little, and I wonder if I’ve made a mistake talking back to that boy. The thing I hate the most in this world is bullies. We make it to the classroom, both a little breathless.
Natalya leads me over to a seat at the front and slumps down in it. “Are you alright?”
I nod. “Yeah, this place takes some getting used to.”
She chuckles. “It’s all I’ve ever known.”
I shake my head. “Is Alexander like the resident bully?”
Natalya nods, her face turning serious. “He’s had it out for me ever since he arrived here in fourth grade.”
“Why?” I ask.
Natalya shrugs. “Beats me. I did nothing to him. He just hated me at first fucking sight.” She sighs heavily. “I think it’s because he hates how smart I am.”
It might have something to do with Alexander’s crush on the beautiful Russian. I’d know the look he gave her anywhere.
A sharp knock on wood echoes through the classroom, drawing everyone’s attention to the front, where a tall, dark-haired man stands, glaring out at us all with unique hazel eyes.
“Page Seventy-five,” he orders, his voice stern and accented.
Natalya quickly grabs her book and thumbs to the page. There’s an unusual atmosphere in this class. The unease in the air is palpable amongst all the students.
Luigi.
He sure as hell does command fear, as I can practically smell it seeping off of every student in the room.
I grab my book and turn to the requested page before glancing back up at the notorious Professor Luigi. He is undeniably attractive-as hot as any male model. “What is it with all the teachers here being so hot?” I murmur in question to Natalya.
Her eyes widen. “Don’t talk in this lesson unless you want to be punished.” She glances up at Luigi as he writes on the board. “I don’t know, but you’re right. Pretty much all the staff is hot, even the women.”
I chuckle at that.
Suddenly, Natalya grunts as something hits the back of her head. “Ouch,” she says, placing a hand where it hit and turning around to glare at Alexander, who is staring at her with his piercing blue eyes.
“What you looking at, Gurin? I’m hot, but there’s no need to stare.”
Natalya’s normally calm features turn furious as she glares at the heavily tattooed boy, shaking her head. “Perhaps you should go fuck yourself, then.”
The shock on his face is amazing, as it seems my standing up to him in the corridor got her confidence up. I give her a soft nudge and a knowing smile, and she shrugs. “What’s the worst that can happen, hey?”
A bang on our desk makes both of us jump as the Professor glares down at us. “Do you two already know all you need to know about the liver?”
My stomach churns at the tone of his voice. And I shake my head. “Sorry, sir. I’m afraid not.”
His eyes narrow. “You are new. What’s your name?”
“Eva, sir.”
He nods. “Welcome, Eva. Now pay attention, or I’ll make you carve up the liver, no matter how little you know about it.”
My brow furrows, and I wonder what he’s talking about until he whips off a lid from a silver platter at the front. “This is a human liver.”
I stifle a gasp, wanting to ask where the fuck he got a human liver from, but I know I won’t like the answer. Also, I don’t get the sense that this is a class where you ask questions. A shiver travels down my spine as I stare at the bloody organ. I hold a hand over my mouth as nausea rolls through my stomach.
“Where can we find the liver on a human body?” Luigi asks.
Not even Natalya puts up her hand in this class.
“No one?” He asks.
I hesitantly put my hand up, as biology was one of my top classes at my last school. After all, I want to be a vet.
“Yes, Eva.”
“The right side of the abdominal cavity, just below the diaphragm, sir,” I say.
He claps his hands; the sound makes me jump. “Right.” His gaze roams over the entire class. “And who can tell me the best way to damage the liver?”
My heart skips a beat as I realize what this anatomy class is all about.
How could I be so stupid?
I’d hoped it would be like biology, but it appears it’s all about working out the best way to murder people, essentially a class in killing. It couldn’t be more contrary to my desire to learn how to save animals’ lives. I hate this fucking place. Natalya might seem like a nice girl, but this is what she’s interested in, becoming a criminal, just like my parents.
Can I be friends with someone like her?
A part of me wants to be, as she’s been so friendly to me, but the other part knows what these students will become once they graduate-killers, drug dealers, and, worse.
“Natalya. You must know the answer to this?” Luigi presses.
She nods in response. “Yes, the best way is to stab through the front of the chest where there’s no protection from the ribs, but this can be challenging in a fight.” She shrugs. “If you are going to do that, you may as well aim for the heart.”
My stomach twists at her cold and calculated answer.
Alexander is right. I need to be careful who I’m friends with here, as it’s easy to forget that criminals surround me.