Hathor was knocked off her feet seconds after entering her room. Imogene had her pinned to the ground and, were she alive, would have been choking her. Imogene didn't seem to care as she continued to squeeze her, the two laying on the floor. Under different circumstances, Hathor believed she would have quite enjoyed the attention. The problem, aside from being strangled, was that Firebringer skin was naturally quite hot.

"Im," Hathor said, poking her friend's shoulder. "I'd like to get up before your burn me." Imogene squealed and jumped away. Hathor pushed herself to her feet, frowning at the scorch marks on her pale blue t-shirt. "Well, there goes this outfit," she muttered.

"Sorry!" Imogene yelped. "I was just so glad to see that you're not dead . . . er," she added. "Deader."

"You and me both," Hathor sighed. "Though I would very much like to know who poisoned me."

"You will not believe what happened after Troy and Jay took you to hospital." Imogene flopped onto the lounge, flaming hair flaring red as she proceeded to enter gossip mode. "So, me and Mads totally flipped out but weren't allowed to go see you because of questioning. Same with the human girl, Ella. Sky was absolutely clueless and drunk off his face so he only found out what happened this morning. Isaiah more did that thing where he glares at everyone and makes anyone who comes near him freeze. And there was Dex who vanished-"

"Wait," Hathor said, interrupting her friend's rambling. "Dex vanished?"

"Yeah-huh!" If the lounge wasn't fire proof, it would have burst into flames. "No one saw him all day. It's like he made a run for it or something!"

Hathor glanced to her phone sitting on the kitchen table. The boy who took her to the party made a run for it after she was poisoned and hadn't called to check up on her. She checked his number to be sure. No missed messages. Had Dex been the one to poison her?

"I know that face," Imogene said, anger being replaced with concern. "What are you thinking?"

She waved a hand, calling Dex's number. It went straight to voicemail. Hathor left a message, saying she was okay and would very much like to meet up with him sometime. Hanging up, she gave Imogene a sidelong glance and said, "Call it a hunch."

The Firebringer pouted. "Don't tell me you're going to go do some dumb shit because you think Dex poisoned you." When she didn't reply, Imogene gasped. "That's exactly what you're doing!" She fingered her flaming braid. "Look, Hath, I'm all for finding out who did this, but doing you're being a little reckless?"

Hathor tossed her phone onto the other lounge. "Probably, but I gotta know."

Imogene's eyes narrowed.

"I have a plan!" she insisted. "Trust me."

"How do you know he won't lie to you or play you?"

"I have my ways," Hathor said with a smirk.

It seemed to satisfy Imogene who begun flipping through channels on the TV.

Hathor turned away, her smirk vanishing. She like Dex and considered him a friend. To even have to consider a friend would be after her . . . She didn't like it, to say the least. If Dex was the one after her, that would lead to more problems. For starters, Hathor had no idea why he would be after her.

There were a large variety of reasons of course, and most of them stemmed from her mother, but rarely would someone actually come after her. She couldn't shake the feeling that this was only the beginning. The poison was most probably a way to gain attention, to let people know something was happening. If she was right, things would only escalate.

Using a portion of her power, Hathor made her phone fling into her hand. Fingers flying across the keyboard, she managed to send a lengthy text to her mother in barely a minute regarding her concerns. Checking the time, Hathor doubted there would be a response any time soon. She was supposed to be in class in . . . Ten minutes!

Hathor cursed, running to her room. She stuffed books, pens, and a tablet into her satchel. She was about to run from her bedroom when she eyed a silver-blue polished knife on her desk. A gift from her mother. "Oh, what the hell." Hathor grabbed the knife, sheathing in on her thigh and extending the strap on her satchel to cover the blade. A glamour would have worked just as well but she was in too much of a rush.

Running out of her room and through the apartment, Hathor yelled a goodbye over her shoulder. She slammed the door shut, dashed down the stairs, and ran through the front door of the Dorm building-

Only to fall onto her arse as she ran straight into Dex's chest.

"Hey!" she yelled, before realising who was in front of her. "Oh, um, hi."

"Hi," Dex said with a small laugh before pulling her to her feet. "I got your call. Figured it was safe to come check on you."

"I see." She tilted her head. "Why did you run away after i was poisoned?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm not that good with questioning. Waited until everyone left to go say my piece."

Liar. "So long as you're okay." Hathor said with a smile. "I was worried someone might have come after you, too. You did take me to the party after all."

"I'm fine. Promise."

There was something he wasn't saying. She could see it in his eyes. Instead of bringing attention to it, Hathor made a show of checking the time on her phone. "I really have to run," she told him. "I'll be late otherwise."

"Okay." Dex kissed her hand. "Perhaps I can treat you to dinner later?"

"Sure," she said, spreading her starlight-silver wings. "Call me." Before he had a chance to answer, Hathor was soaring above the Academy, heading for the Towers.