Read Online This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab - Free Book Online

you?”
    â€œWhat’s your name?” asked Kate.
    The girl raised a bleached brow, and dried her hands. “Charlotte,” she said, already turning to go.
    â€œNo,” said Kate slowly. “Your full name.”
    Charlotte stopped, suspicious. “Charlotte Chapel.”
    Kate gave a small, silent laugh.
    â€œWhat’s so funny?” snapped the girl.
    Kate shrugged. “I burned down a chapel once.”
    Charlotte’s face crinkled with disgust. “Freak,” she muttered, walking away.
    She didn’t make it very far.
    In an instant, Kate had her up against the wall, five metal-tipped fingers wrapped around her throat. With her free hand, Kate drew the lighter from her pocket. She pressed a notch on the side, and a silver switchblade slid out with a muted snick .
    Charlotte’s eyes went wide. “You’re even crazier than I thought,” she gasped.
    For a moment, Kate thought about hurting her. Seriously hurting her. Not because it would serve some purpose, just because it would feel really, really good.But getting expelled would negate everything she’d done to get here.
    He’ll ship you out of Verity. One way. For good.
    â€œWhen the headmaster hears about this—”
    â€œHe won’t,” said Kate, resting the knife against Charlotte’s cheek. “Because you’re not going to tell him.” She said it in the same way she said everything: with a quiet, even voice.
    She’d seen a documentary once, on cult leaders, and the traits that made them so effective. One of the most important features was a commanding presence. Too many people thought that meant being loud, but in truth, it meant someone who didn’t need to be loud. Someone who could command an audience without ever raising their voice. Kate’s father was like that. She’d studied him, in the slivers of time they’d had together, and Callum Harker never shouted.
    So neither did Kate.
    She loosened her fingers on Charlotte’s throat, just a little, and brought the knife to the medallion hanging against the girl’s uniform shirt, tapping the engraved V casually with her blade. “I want you to remember something, Charlotte Chapel.” She leaned in. “That pendant may protect you from the monsters, but it won’t protect you from me.”
    The bell rang, and Kate pulled back, flashing her bestsmile. The knife disappeared into the lighter and her hand fell away from the girl’s throat. “Run along now,” she said icily. “You wouldn’t want to be late.”
    Charlotte clutched her bruised throat and scrambled out of the bathroom.
    Kate didn’t follow. She went to the sink, washed her hands again, and smoothed her hair. For an instant, she met her reflection’s gaze, and saw another version of herself behind the stormy blue, one who belonged to a different life, a softer world. But that Kate had no place here.
    She took a long breath, rolled her neck, and went to class, confident she’d made a solid first impression.

August was supposed to be in gym.
    Or at least, every other junior was supposed to be in gym, and probably was, but thanks to a health condition—asthma, according to his file—he’d been granted a study hall instead.
    August did not have asthma. What he did have were four hundred and eighteen uniform lines running the length of one arm and starting to wrap around his back and chest, and Henry was worried that they would draw attention.
    So instead, August was in study hall. Or at least, he had been. He imagined a study hall might come in handy, but it being the first day of school, he had nothing to study, so he’d asked the monitor if he could go to the bathroom, and never came back.
    Now he was standing outside the ID office.
    On the way there, he’d tried to think up an excusefor not wanting his photo taken—he’d read once about a tribe that believed being