Chapter 383: Escalating Conflicts

Chapter 383: Escalating Conflicts
Sophie's POV

Nora sprawled on the ground, her designer clothes now covered in dirt, her face contorted with rage after Cassian had knocked her down.

"Cassian Wolf, ARE YOU CRAZY?" Nora screamed, her perfectly manicured hand clutching her elbow. "How DARE you push me like that!"

Cassian stood over her, his jaw clenched so tight I could see the muscles working beneath his skin. His hand was bleeding slightly where he'd scraped it during their altercation, but he seemed oblivious to the pain.

"You're the crazy one," he growled, his voice dangerously low. "What exactly were you doing just now? Were you trying to disfigure Sophie's face? Is that what you wanted?"

I stood there, watching the confrontation unfold. The stick Nora had been holding—the one she'd been planning to "accidentally" push into my face—lay on the ground between them.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Nora's voice pitched higher, her eyes darting nervously around the gathering crowd. "We were just playing around. It was a game!" She scrambled to her feet, brushing dirt from her clothes. "Where's your proof anyway? You can't just attack people and make wild accusations!"

Cassian looked like he might explode. I could see his hands trembling with the effort of restraining himself from doing something worse.

Before I could intervene, I felt something brush against my leg. Looking down, I saw Bodie crouched low, attempting to swing a thick branch at my knees. Without thinking, I grabbed the branch mid-swing, wrenching it from his hands with surprising strength.

"What the—" Bodie began, but I cut him off by swinging the branch down hard against his shin.

He let out a howl of pain, clutching his leg and hopping on one foot. I dropped the branch immediately and stepped back, arranging my face into a mask of innocent confusion as several people turned to look.

"Bodie, are you okay?" I asked sweetly. "You should be more careful around all these sticks and branches."

Turning away from the cursing Bodie, I approached Cassian, who was still glaring at Nora.

"Your hand," I said, gently touching his bleeding knuckles. "Are you okay?"

His eyes softened slightly when they met mine, but hardened again as he jerked his chin toward Nora. "She tried to hurt you, Sophie. She was going to push that burning stick right into your face, and now she won't even admit it."

Nora tossed her hair back, a smug smile playing on her lips. "Prove it," she challenged. "Where's your evidence? You can't just go around accusing people without proof."

I looked at her smiling face, at the cruel gleam in her eyes, and something inside me snapped. I'd spent my whole life taking the high road, turning the other cheek, being the bigger person. But sometimes, being the bigger person just means being a bigger target.

"Evidence?" I laughed softly, surprising both Cassian and Nora. "Who said anything about evidence? I'm not here to build a case against you, Nora."

I bent down and picked up a smoldering stick from near the fire, its end still glowing with embers. Cassian's eyes widened as I walked toward Nora, who began backing away.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her voice suddenly uncertain.

"Since there's no evidence," I said calmly, "I guess I'll just have to take matters into my own hands."

In one quick movement, I stepped on the hem of Nora's expensive dress, pinning her in place as she stumbled. Before she could regain her balance, I pressed the hot end of the stick against the back of her hand.

Nora opened her mouth to scream, but I leaned in close. "Make a sound," I whispered, "and I'll shove this stick right into your mouth."

Her scream died in her throat. I held the ember there just long enough to leave a mark before pulling it away.

Turning to Cassian, whose mouth hung slightly open, I smiled. "There. Now she has a hurt hand too. We're even." I glanced back at Nora's terrified face. "Unless you think I should do the other hand as well? To match yours?"

"No!" Cassian finally found his voice. "No, that's... that's enough. My hand is barely scratched."

I nodded and tossed the stick away. "Good to know."

The tension was broken by a villager announcing the start of the face-blackening game. Before I knew what was happening, a man ran up to Cassian and smeared a handful of black ash across his cheek.

"You should go clean up your hand," I told him, gesturing at the small cut.

Instead of leaving, Cassian scooped up some of the ash mixture and, with a mischievous grin completely at odds with his usual serious demeanor, smeared it across my face.

"Catch me if you can," he challenged before darting into the crowd.

What happened to the brooding, dangerous Cassian Wolf? I thought, watching him disappear into the throng of laughing villagers. Talk about character development whiplash.

The game quickly descended into cheerful chaos. Villagers chased each other with handfuls of ash, faces becoming unrecognizable under layers of black. I joined in, feeling strangely liberated by the anonymity the ash provided.

When I passed Bodie, who was still nursing his leg, I "accidentally" kicked his other shin. When I spotted Nora trying to clean her face with a handkerchief, I gave her hair a hard yank as I ran by. She yelped, but in the confusion, couldn't identify who had done it.

I nearly collided with Celestia, who tried to grab my arm and smear ash on my already blackened face. With a quick twist, I caught her wrist and pushed her back against a tree, using both hands to thoroughly blacken her entire face, not just the customary smudge across the cheeks.

"That's not how you play!" she spluttered, ash getting into her mouth.

"Sorry," I said insincerely. "I'm new to this game."

She stomped away, muttering something about me having "the strength of a bear."

Through the chaos, I noticed Luke following me at a distance, his white coat now splattered with black handprints. He wasn't participating in the game, just observing—observing me, specifically. When our eyes met briefly, he gave me a small nod, as if approving of how I'd handled the situation with Nora.

As night fell deeper, the game began to wind down. Villagers and crew members alike were covered head to toe in ash, laughing and comparing their blackened appearances. Bodie had been carried away by some of his friends, his leg injury apparently worse than I'd thought. Nora had disappeared, presumably to tend to her burned hand or to plot her revenge. Celestia kept a wary distance from me for the rest of the evening.

I looked up at the darkening sky, wondering where Adam was and what he was discovering.