Chapter 167 Chapter 167

Chapter 167 Chapter 167
Amber

It was Amy.
She was standing too close to him, one hand already lifting as if she meant to rest it on his shoulder. Their heads were angled together like they were discussing something in secret…or were about to kiss, I wasn’t sure anymore.
The floating lights nearest them cast just enough glow to make the scene unmistakable. Amy’s posture was relaxed, and even though Damian’s was harder to read from this distance, I could gauge that he wasn’t stepping away from her even when she pressed close.
The drinks made me bold and reckless, stupid even in a way that felt justified.
I turned to the others. “You guys go ahead. I’ll catch up.”
Ellie frowned, swaying slightly. “Amber, it’s late. Whatever that is can wait until later”
“Go. Sleep. I’ll be right behind you.”
They hesitated, exchanged another of those looks that said they knew exactly what I was about to do and didn’t approve, then started up the stairs in a tipsy, grumbling cluster. 
Ellie glanced back once but I waved her on, encouraging her to keep climbing the stairs. 
I waited until they were far enough not to interfere before I walked straight toward Damian and Amy huddled together under the lights, the alcohol singing in my blood and the earlier jealousy roaring back to life with renewed vigor.
Amy’s hand was inches from Damian’s shoulder when I reached them.
I grabbed her wrist and yanked it away hard enough that she stumbled sideways. Then I shoved her, both palms against her upper chest, putting real force behind it.
“Fuck off.”
Amy’s eyes went wide with surprise for half a second. Then her expression shifted into something cold and far less friendly. 
“Somebody’s in a pleasant mood tonight”
She straightened her dress and dusted her hands like she was bored.
“Leave!” I ordered but she let out a forced exhale of breath.
“Go sleep, Amber. You’re clearly done for the night.”
“I’m not done with anything.” The words came out louder than I intended, slightly slurred around the edges. 
“All you sleazy girls can’t keep your hands to yourselves for five minutes. He’s not free entertainment. He’s not a public service either so stop touching him.”
Amy’s mouth curved into a sneer as she studied me, letting her eyes roam all over me.
Her voice stayed mild, almost bored, and that indifference somehow made the next words cut deeper.
“Maybe if he hadn’t chosen a clumsy first-year who can barely stay upright on a stage, he wouldn’t need the rest of us to fill in the gaps.” 
How dare she?
She glanced at Damian, then back at me. “But I suppose the Mad King’s heir has an interesting taste. Clumsy. Unranked. Loud when she’s drunk. It must be so exhausting.”
She was mocking me and due to my stupid, drunken state, it felt like the words slapped me on the cheek without her even touching me.
Hot, drunken fury flooded through me. 
I swung at her again, but this time I put my whole body into shoving her back hard because my brain was too unco-ordinated to land a jab or a kick.
Both hands hit her squarely. Amy stumbled backward, lost her balance on the uneven grass, and fell down hard on her butt with a startled, undignified sound.
I advanced on her immediately, hands already lifting for another strike.
“Red! Stop it!”
Damian moved faster.
His arm hooked around my waist from behind and hauled me back against him before I could reach her. I twisted, still trying to get free, and still very furious.
“Amy,” he looked at her and muttered in a flat voice. “Leave.”
“You want me to leave? The hunt is just…”
“I said leave!”
“You’ve changed…a lot” 
Amy shot him a disgruntled look from the ground, one hand braced behind her, hair slightly mussed before shooting a venomous glare at me.
“If something happens to him, I’ll come for you”
Huh? 
What did she mean by that? Why would something happen to him?
He was a bloody heir and safe from everything. It was me who could die tomorrow.
“AMYRA!”
Damian shouted out loudly and she almost jumped at the sound of her name. I had forgotten that was her full name as well.
For a moment it seemed like she might argue. Then she pushed herself up, brushed off the back of her dress with sharp, irritated movements, and walked away into the darker stretch of path beyond the building without another word. 
Her heels clicked against the stone until the sound faded.
I was still trying to pull free of Damian’s grip, breathing hard, the alcohol and the anger making the world feel slightly tilted.
“Okay. Enough.” His voice had gone a tad softer but his grip stayed firm. 
He started steering me toward the dorm stairs. “You’re going to your room before you start an actual fight.”
I grabbed his collar with both hands instead, forcing him to stop. The fabric bunched under my fingers. I had to tip my head back to glare up at him properly. The floating lights caught in his silver eyes and made them look almost luminous.
“How could you let them flirt with you like that?” The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them. 
“You want me to be exclusive to you but every girl on this campus gets a free turn at roaming her hands all over you?”
Damian gave me a look. “You are wasted”
“That is not an answer” I jabbed my index finger in his chest.
“I didn’t stop you from dancing with Soren, nor did I ask why did you let him touch you did I?”
Oh wow. So he had noticed but not enough to care who put his hands on me.
That stung more than if he had said nothing at all.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean? You stood there and let those sleazy girls put their hands all over you while I had to watch.”
Damian exhaled through his nose, patience visibly thinning. The muscle in his jaw flexed once. “You’re drunk. You need sleep before the Hunt that is just hours away. We are not doing this right now.”
“We are doing this right now!!” I shoved at his chest even when I knew I shouldn’t.
He was stronger and faster than me, he could bury me in the forest without making a sound and nobody would know.
But the alcohol and jealousy were fueling me, alongwith the fear that I might not see him again. That I might die without getting a chance to kiss him, to wrap my arms around his warmth again.