Chapter 41: uncomfortably cold.

"Curses and Death Traps" was carried out in a cold room that numbed the bones.

The walls, desks, and chairs were made entirely of ice.

Sophie seemed to see bodies buried deep in the frozen floor.

— It's very cold! — Hort said, chattering his teeth.

— It's hotter in the torture room—replied Lady Lesso.

Screams of pain were heard in the dungeon.

— I don't feel so cold anymore - Hort stammered, his face blue.

— The cold hardens their veins—Lady Lesso said. And they need if a Reader goes first in the challenges—she continued.

— I thought I liked you—Sophie replied with a sweet smile, as she fluttered her eyelashes.

Japeth and Adam smiled at the joke, but Aric was taut as a bowstring.

Sophie was sure that there was ice warmer than her expression.

While Lady Lesso strolled among rows of students dead of cold, cracking the ice with her stilettos, and the black braid tapping on the purple dress with pointed shoulder pads.

— Here, we do not teach being cruel in an unjustified way.

Hurting for no reason turns them into beasts, not villains.

No, our mission requires concentration and care.

In this class, you will learn to find the Ever who obstructs the path to your goal.

The One who will grow stronger while you grow weaker.

There they are, my Nevers, somewhere in the forest… his archenemies.

When the time comes, they will find them and destroy them.

That is the path to freedom.

Another cry was heard in the Torture Hall, and Lady Lesso smiled.

— In other classes they may be inept, but not in my class. There will be no challenges until I deem them worthy.

Sophie hadn't heard any of this.

She kept looking sideways at the boy next to him.

Softly, without anyone else noticing, she dropped a little to the side, so that his shoulder will touch Aric's.

The boy tensed more, but Sophie didn't move.

I didn't look at him either, I didn't want Aric to think he was pitiful, she just made sure to give him human warmth.

Sophie felt how little by little he relaxed until, at one point, she stopped feeling the boy's shoulder against hers.

Turning around, she saw that he was lying nonchalantly against the seat, flashing his classic smile.

Sophie winked at him, and Aric returned the wink.

— An archenemy is your adversary—Lady Lesso explained, with a gleam in her purple eyes. — His other half. The other side of his soul. His Achilles heel.

Sophie forced herself to pay attention.

After all, it seemed that the worst was over.

At least for today.

— You will know your archenemies through dreams—continued Lady Lesso, enraged. — An archenemy will haunt your dreams, night after night, until you see nothing but your face.

Dreaming of their archenemies will make them freeze their hearts and boil their blood.

It will cause them to grind their teeth and pull out their hair.

In dreams, all their hatred and all their fears will be summed up.

Lady Lesso scratched Hort's desk with her long red nails.

— Only when your archenemies are dead, will they feel satisfied. Only when their archenemies are dead will they feel free. When they kill their archenemies, Never Again will receive them for their eternal glory!

The class laughed, enthusiastic.

— Of course, given this year's talent, the doors of Never Again won't open anytime soon—I look at Hort contemptuously.

The boy shrank in his seat.

— How do we find our archenemies? — Dot wanted to know.

— Who chooses them? — Hester asked.

— Will they be in our class? — Ravan asked.

— Those questions are premature. Only the most despicable villains are blessed with dreams of archenemies—Lady Lesso explained. — First, you must ask yourself why those who win all the competitions in this school are cocky, stupid, and tasteless Evers, and how they are going to change that situation. —He cast an avid glance at Sophie.

As if implying that, whether she liked it or not, the Reader could be her only hope.

*********************************************************************************************************

Aric, Japeth, and Adam followed Sophie, who was hurriedly walking onto a balcony.

The girl was incredibly fast.

Within a couple of minutes, I had left behind the torture dungeon and the low classrooms.

Sophie arrived at a balcony and looked out over it as if expecting to see something terrible.

— What's going on? — asked Japeth being the first to arrive of the boys.

— Where is the fire? — I jokingly ask Aric after arriving.

Adam was attached to his back, more than happy for the race.

— Is there a fire? — I ask the child.

It seemed that he wanted to see the fire.

— I hope not, but if there is it will be in the tower PURITY - Sophie answered absentmindedly.

— A fire in the purity tower? — I ask a male voice behind her.

— Because of the fish of desire, Agatha is unable to ask for anything for herself—she complained—she will most likely release them and cause a stampede of desperate children.

— That will be entertaining—I mention the voice mockingly.

— If it's just the "good" animals, but if ours join in, the princes will intervene and this will be a massacre—she complained, remembering the poor gargoyle in the book, or even worse, the poor boy in the movie.

— If that happens, I'll have to intervene—sounded the disgruntled voice.

Sophie frowned, as Japeth planned to do something to help.

Or a better, serious question: why would I?

He looked away from the tower to ask about his friend's health when he found the wrong ice-blue eyes.

Instead of Japeth, in front of her stood Rafal.

Blink once, stunned by the suddenness of the appearance.

Taking advantage of her helpless state, the evil being attacked her with a sideways smile.

The poor girl nearly fainted, but she stepped back and leaned against the balcony.

— I didn't know you were a seer—the director commented, amused.

— I'm a box of surprises—she returned the joke, already more answered.

From the way he looked at her, it was obvious that he liked her new style of Succubus.

Out of nowhere, Dot got to Aric and Japeth behind Rafal.

Sophie watched as Aric held Adam down, so he wouldn't "rescue" her from Rafal.

The little boy looked tender trying to get to her, even though Aric had him held by the shirt and wouldn't let him move forward.

Sophie went to the boy, but Dot stopped her.

— They canceled classes! No one tells us why.

— You will receive lunch in your rooms! —thundered the white wolf, while his companions cracked the whips and led the students to their towers.

Sophie's heart skipped a beat. — But what's going on…?

He suddenly smelled smoke.

Sophie returned to the balcony and saw her worst fears confirmed.

A tower of Good was catching fire.

Dot gave a muffled scream.

— But who could have done something so…?

— Brilliant—Hester added, astonished.

Well, Agatha had the answer.