Chapter 35: Who is Blair?

Blair spent the entire day dodging human interaction.

Word had spread super-fast that she was somehow linked to Prince Daemus. Now, half the human student body was desperately trying to make eye contact and offer her bright, fake smiles, while the other half pressed their backs flat against the hallway walls when she walked by, treating her like she was radioactive.

Blair realized she very much preferred being ignored. The sudden attention was making her head spin.

With twenty minutes to kill before her final period, Blair retreated to the only place on campus she actually enjoyed: the library.

She slipped through the towering doors, instantly breathing a sigh of relief as the scent of old paper and dust washed over her. The library was magnificent, with bookshelves stretching three stories high and glowing orbs providing a soft, warm light. She wandered down a quiet aisle in the history section, running her fingers over the leather spines, finally feeling her shoulders drop from her ears.

Unexpectedly, a figure stepped into her path, blocking the aisle.

Blair stopped. The human girl standing in front of her didn’t look like a typical, exhausted freshman. Her gray uniform was perfect and spotless, her makeup was flawless, and her hair was blown out into soft, voluminous waves.

But what immediately caught Blair’s eye was the necklace. A glittering chain of real diamonds rested against the girl’s collarbone. It caught the library’s light, sparkling so brightly it almost looked fake.

Blair dragged her eyes away from the jewels up to the girl’s face.

"Are you Blair?" the girl asked haughtily, crossing her arms.

"No," Blair lied flatly. She side-stepped, attempting to walk around her.

The girl’s hand shot out, her manicured fingers wrapping tightly around Blair’s bicep. With a strong yank, she pulled Blair backward.

The books Blair was holding slipped from her grasp, crashing loudly onto the floor.

Blair stared down at her dropped books, and then slowly looked up at the girl’s hand still gripping her arm.

"Let go of me," Blair requested politely, though her voice had dropped an octave.

"I know you’re Blair," the girl sneered, tightening her grip. "The so-called genius."

Blair looked the girl dead in the eyes. "If you knew who I was, why did you bother asking?"

The girl blinked, caught off guard by the sharp retort.

Blair forcefully wrenched her arm out of the girl’s grasp, taking a step forward into her personal space.

"Leave me alone," Blair snapped, her voice echoing slightly in the quiet aisle. "Maybe you want to spend your life climbing into beastmen’s beds for shiny necklaces, but I actually came here to learn. I am not bothering you, so do not bother me. Go back to ignoring me like the rest of you did yesterday and all the days before that!"

The girl’s jaw dropped.

Blair didn’t wait for a response. She crouched down, snatched her books off the floor, and marched past the stunned girl without a backward glance.

As she rounded the corner of the bookshelf, Blair let out a long exhale, pressing a hand to her racing heart. She rubbed her chest, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"Wow," Blair muttered to herself, letting out a shaky breath. "That actually felt really good."

Back in the aisle, the girl glared daggers at Blair’s retreating back.

She crossed her arms, her face burning with humiliation. How dare a frumpy, boring stick-in-the-mud talk to her like that? Especially when she was wearing a diamond necklace that clearly marked her as Jasper Silver’s property?

She let out a harsh scoff. There was absolutely no way that rude loser was the Blair her darling Jasper was looking for. He wouldn’t have any fun with her at all.

But Jasper’s threat still loomed heavily over her head. He had told her to bring him Blair, or die. He hadn’t given her a last name. He hadn’t given her a description.

He must know what she looks like, she thought.

Thirty minutes later, the girl strutted into an unused classroom.

A group of seven human women were sitting nervously in the desks. She had spent the last half-hour tracking down the dorm registry and rounding up every single human in the academy who shared the first name Blair.

The girl walked straight to the professor’s podium, her hips swaying exaggeratedly. She leaned against the wood, tapping her manicured nails against the surface, projecting an aura of absolute superiority.

"I assume you all know who I am," she announced cockily, casually flicking her hair over her shoulder to ensure the diamond necklace was on full display.

The women in the desks murmured quietly, exchanging nervous, excited glances.

"Good," she continued, a bitter taste rising in the back of her throat. "Jasper is looking for a Blair to have some fun with."

She used his first name with practiced ease, pretending they were equals, a privilege she would never dare attempt to his face.

She looked out over the sea of gray uniforms. Every single one of these girls was plain and ugly compared to her. Why would he need one of them when he already had her? She rationalized that Jasper must simply want to torture a new toy for his own twisted amusement. That was the only thing that made sense.

The door at the back of the classroom suddenly clicked open.

The atmosphere in the room shifted instantly. The temperature seemed to drop, yet an intoxicating tension flooded the air.

Jasper Silver stepped through the doorway.

A collective, breathy gasp rippled across the classroom. The seven Blairs practically melted into their seats. Their faces flushed a brilliant crimson, their hearts hammering a frantic rhythm against their ribs. They had only ever caught fleeting glimpses of the Fish noble from afar. Up close, his flowing blue hair and ethereal, delicate features were mesmerizing.

At that exact moment, not a single girl in the room had ever been happier to be named Blair. They stared at him with wide, awestruck eyes, captivated by his beauty.

Jasper stopped a few feet inside the room.

His bright blue eyes swept over the crowded desks, taking in the sea of blushing, swooning human women staring at him like he was a god. He blinked slowly, processing the sight.

He turned his head, his gaze landing on his plaything standing proudly at the podium.

"What the fuck is this?"