Read Online The Villain Keeper by Laurie McKay - Free Book Online Page A

Primrose whispered. She motioned in Caden’s direction. “We have a new student, Mr. Rathis. This is Caden.”
    â€œWelcome, Caden,” Mr. Rathis opened his arms in welcome. He motioned for Caden to join him at the front of the room. “Tell us about yourself,” Mr. Rathis said.
    Caden made eye contact with him and with the kids seated at the desks. “I’m new here. I live with Tito.”
    â€œFoster kid,” whispered a boy in the third row.
    Caden’s tolerance was thinned by his racing heart and sickening stomach. “I don’t like being interrupted.”
    The kid blinked like he didn’t know what that meant.
    â€œAnyway,” Caden said. “In time, I’m certain you will like me. Most people do.” He hoped he’d told enough about himself to satisfy the curse.
    Mr. Rathis laughed. “Now that’s the kind of confidence you don’t see often.”
    A lesser person would be insulted. Caden’s gut was too twisted for that, and he fell into silence. He was stuck in a strange land and strange school. He was cursed to do as he was told. He was at this math teacher’s mercy. He was at everyone’s mercy.
    â€œThanks for sharing,” Mr. Rathis said, and his voice sent shivers up Caden’s spine. There was something strange about him. Something odd in his manner. Something that Caden didn’t trust. “Sit.”
    Caden had no choice but to obey. His magically traitorous feet were already following the order. He started to sit beside Tito in the front middle. Royalty sat in front.
    â€œThat’s Jane’s seat,” a twangy girl’s voice said. “Don’t sit there.”
    Caden clenched his jaw. Again, an order. He was compelled to skip the front middle desk and instead take the end one on Tito’s other side. This desktop was covered in scribbles. In the corner, someone had drawn a bird. It made him think of the mighty Winterbird on his coat. Thoughts of the Winterbird always made him feel braver. They also reminded him he had a dragon to slay and a way home to find.
    He leaned toward Tito. “When does this class end?”
    Tito looked annoyed and didn’t answer.
    Caden asked again.
    â€œAt three,” Tito said and sounded irritated. “I’m trying to listen.”
    Before Caden could say more, Mr. Rathis walked to Caden’s desk and tapped it. “Stop talking. Pay attention.”
    Caden stopped talking. He paid attention.
    Mr. Rathis smirked, and the scar tugged at his mouth. He raised a hand as if to strike Caden down—and for a moment, Caden was certain he was going to hit him. Then Mr. Rathis turned and wrote LONG RANGE ATTACKS on the whiteboard. He proceeded to explain how to find the trajectory of projectile weapons. He waved his arms and guffawed as he calculated damage centers and casualty rates.
    Mr. Rathis looked straight at Caden. “Fifty thousand dead.” His eyes glinted as he spoke of death. For a moment their gazes locked. Then Mr. Rathis waved his hand like a performer taking a bow. “That’s the importance of math!” he said, and began spouting information about fractions.
    As Caden listened, a memory tugged at him. There was something familiar about Mr. Rathis. He felt that he had seen this man’s face before—but not in Asheville and not in person. He fought to keep his eyes from widening, his heart from racing.
    He’d seen the face in a portrait—a portrait his father had shown him that hung in the Hall of Infamy in the Greater Realm’s council halls. But the man had not been painted wearing a simple wool sweater and dark pants like he wore now. His body had been draped in the red war velvets of the armies of Crimsen and the Autumnlands.
    He bore a striking resemblance to Rath Dunn, tyrant of the Greater Realm and bringer of the red war, exiled to the vile Land of Shadow fifteen years prior, a sacrifice to the Gray Lady