Page 28 of The Lost Elemental

I trudged up the path, my legs feeling as if they weighed one hundred tons. If I passed out now, I could sleep for a week at least.

I slipped through the door behind a group that was laughing about their earth class. My chest ached. I missed Lainey. How she could make me cackle even on the worst days. I’d felt on the outside before, but nothing like this.

With no idea where I was going, I simply kept following the crowd and hoped we were all supposed to go to the same place. My jaw dropped as I stepped inside what could only be described as a dining hall.

The space looked more like a ballroom than a cafeteria. Marble floors. Tables of a rich, deep brown wood. Ornate archways and intricate décor.

Then the scents hit me. I was thankful for the loud conversations around me because my stomach growled with a ferocity I’d never heard before. There were more food stations than I could count. An elaborate salad bar. Panini and sandwich station. Sushi. Pastas and pizzas that looked like they could’ve been flown in from Italy. One station served what looked like Thai dishes. Another had steaks the size of my head with all the typical sides.

My gaze jumped around. I ignored the pleas of my stomach as I searched for the least crowded station. The salad bar was crawling with girls tittering with the latest gossip. And as much as I wanted steak, it looked like the elemental version of a football team had claimed that station. I oscillated between Thai and Italian and ultimately went for Italian. I didn’t want to mess with chopsticks on my first day.

I stepped up to the counter, and a round woman with a stern frown greeted me. “What’ll it be?”

I quickly scanned the options.

“Hurry it up already. I don’t have all day.”

“I’ll do the fettuccine alfredo and a Caesar salad, please.”

She moved with a speed I didn’t expect, giving me a heaping plate of pasta and a side salad. “Drinks are on the far wall.”

“Thank you.”

“Move along.”

So much for making friends. I moved towards the drink station while covertly searching out an empty table. Most of them were filled already, but there was one by the far windows that was still empty of any students.

None of the drink options looked familiar, so I just picked one and hoped for the best. Carefully balancing my tray, I headed for the empty table. I didn’t meet a single eye as I sat but could feel the heat of gazes on my back.

My hand trembled as I picked up my fork. I hadn’t had nearly enough to eat in the past couple of days. I sank my utensil into the pasta. It smelled amazing. I lifted it to my lips and nearly moaned. The cream sauce was the best I’d ever tasted.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

My eyes flew open to meet glacial blue ones, hot with anger.

A few hours ago, I probably would’ve lost it. Dissolved into tears right here in the dining hall. But now, I couldn’t find it in myself to muster up a reaction. “Knitting a sweater, what does it look like?”

A chuckle sounded from behind me that I knew belonged to Kai.

“This isn’t your table,” Riven growled.

I made a large show of examining the table. “Funny, I don’t see a reserved sign anywhere.”

“Because everyone knows it’s the royal table.”

I swallowed hard, a bit of pasta sticking in my throat. Was I about to get that beheading I’d worried about earlier?

Warm hands landed on my shoulders. “Come on, Riv. I like her. Can’t we keep her?”

I scowled up at him. “I’m not a puppy.”

He just winked at me. “No, you’re much cuter than a puppy.”

I did growl then.

Riven glared at us. “She’s not welcome. She’s not one of us.”

His words circled my brain before they took hold. One of us. My gaze snapped back to Kai. “You’re royal?”