by Lan Chan
“This should have been brought to our attention immediately,” Victoria said.
I was about to say I hadn’t learned about it until a year ago, but Dad got in before me. “Why is that?” he said. “It’s a diary like any other. You’ve seen yourself that it doesn’t contain instructions about how to perform any spells.”
“This belonged to a criminal,” one of the Nephilim said. I looked hard at his solid build. I thought he was Artemis Gilbert.
Professor Mortimer fidgeted with his glasses. “To be fair, the Academy has many artefacts that belonged to dangerous individuals.”
“Speaking of dangerous,” the Fae representative said, “what about her powers?”
I was in the middle of opening my mouth to speak when a deep green light flashed. My eyes closed involuntarily. When they opened again, a figure stalked up to the empty chair. Most of the Nephilim had an ethereal quality about them. Malachi Pendragon had the advantage of being genetically blessed on top of that.
He was at least six foot two inches tall with dark blond, almost brown hair. Deep green eyes that matched the glow of his essence looked out at me over the bench. I couldn’t breathe. It wasn’t normal for someone to be that impossibly stunning. I thought of Max and found my lips tilting up. Okay, so Nephilim didn’t have the monopoly on being gorgeous. But still, I was supposed to be concentrating on getting myself out of this mess.
The Fae representative jumped like he’d been startled. On my left, Jacqueline’s shoulder quivered for a second like she was trying to hold back laughter. “We didn’t think you’d be back in time, Kai,” Victoria said.
“I definitely wouldn’t be, considering I wasn’t told about it,” Kai snapped. He didn’t bother to sit but braced his hand on the back of the empty seat. I’d seen him many times as he flew by overhead while he guarded the Academy. He was in Max’s class but what happened to his family turned him from a normal kid into someone much older almost overnight.
“We didn’t think it appropriate since you’re classmates,” the Fae man said.
“Why not? I’m the one who has to go to school with her. Why wouldn’t I get a say in whether I want her there or not?”
I squeezed Mama’s hand. Until now I hadn’t realised the fate of my status at Bloodline was in question.
“Be that as it may –” Victoria started to say. Malachi cut her off.
“Bottom line,” he said. “Is she getting kicked out or not?”
“We still have to decide what to do with the diary.”
Kai marched over, snatched it from Victoria’s hands and tore the diary in half. “Problem solved. It’s a bloody book. You’re acting like it has control over her.”
Victoria’s pruny mouth pulled back into a grimace. The shifter representative, Durin, was actually smiling.
“She has powers that she hasn’t disclosed!” Artemis reminded everyone.
“She’s a kitchen witch,” Durin spoke. “So what?”
“Her alchemy isn’t like anything we’ve seen before.”
“How many kitchen witches have you known?” Durin’s black eyes narrowed at the Nephilim. The other man didn’t answer. “For all we know, they could all have these powers.”
“Between you and me,” Kai said, “I would rather a kitchen witch who can perform alchemy than a vampire who just whines all day about rules. Are we done here?”
He had already started walking away before he finished speaking. Green light gathered at the edges of his body as he prepared to teleport. “Oh Sophie,” he said. I dared to look up into his angelic face. “Thanks.”
He disappeared. And now I was a little bit in love with Malachi Pendragon.
21
“I believe I have the rest of this under control,” Jacqueline said. “Professor Mortimer and I will see to it that Sophie is appropriately instructed about her powers.”
She waved and the Nephilim guard took us out of there before the Council had time to react. “Umm…are they going to be annoyed?” I asked when we landed back in her office.
“They’ll spend more time fighting between themselves,” Jacqueline said. “It’ll be weeks before they even remember you’re alive.”
“As long as she stays alive,” Mama said. She flopped down on an armchair. Dad rubbed her back. Her eyes were almost as bloodshot as some of the students’ while they’d been under the influence of the demon.
“You guys don’t have to stay.” I reached out to squeeze Mama’s hand. “I’m feeling a lot better.”
“We’re not leaving you,” Mama said.
“You can’t stay here indefinitely.” I had a feeling based on the set of her shoulders that an indefinite stay was definitely on her mind.
“You’re welcome to stay as long as you like,” Jacqueline said. “But as you can imagine, school starts again tomorrow so you might find the place a little crowded.” They traded weak smiles. I took a leaf out of Kai’s books.
“Let’s jump to the chase,” I said. “I would like to stay at Bloodline Academy.”
Dad’s brows furrowed. “Are you sure? No offence, Jacqueline, but as you can imagine, we’re a little concerned about our daughter’s safety.”
“I can assure you we’re doing everything we can to reinforce our wards,” Professor Mortimer said. Jacqueline nodded.
“There will be a bulletin announcement that no student is allowed to carry any artefact into the school without first bringing it to the attention of Professor Mortimer.”
“How do we know the demon won’t be back?” Mama asked.
Professor Mortimer pushed his glasses up his nose. “You don’t. But being back at the compound doesn’t make Sophie any safer. At least here there are wards and guards.”
In the end, that argument was the soundest one. Bloodline had state-of-the-art magical security. We’d had our fair share of breaches in the compound. It wasn’t Jacqueline’s fault that Kate didn’t know any better. Last I heard she was getting a hide stripping from her parents. Mine finally relented.
Mama turned to me as we reached the portal field. “I know the alchemy saved your life,” she said. “But don’t go using it willy-nilly.” I gave her a meaningful look. What I hadn’t told the professors was that the source of the alchemy was my lifeline. If I overexerted myself, it would kill me. This was the first time I’d used it on that large a scale. I still couldn’t light a fire with my hands.
“I won’t.”
She hugged me so hard I thought my ribs were going to crack again. When they were gone, Jacqueline walked with me back to the dorms. Professor Mortimer left us for his cottage. “So I have a proposition for you,” Jacqueline said. “In light of what you’ve done; I think it’s only fair for Bruno to reconsider your application for a job inside the dining hall.”
I inhaled. “What about the kids being scared of me?”
She blinked slowly. “It’s been brought to my attention that that kind of superstitious thinking is what got us into trouble in the first place. If we’d give you the job originally, maybe all of this could have been avoided.” She stopped in front of the dorm door. “I’m not saying go nuts spelling the food…”
I smiled. “Yes, ma’am. I understand.”
Two days later, I had my first shift. It was the morning breakfast shift. I’d had to wake up at the unimpressive hour of four in the morning. If I thought Bruno was going to go easy on me on account of me saving the Academy, I must have still been dreaming. He stood me in front of a cooker with an open flame. There were four hobs with a frying pan on each one. Dozens of cartons of eggs sat to my left.
“You know how to make omelettes, don’t you?” Bruno asked.
“Yes,” I said tentatively.
“Good. You can start now. It’s made to order.”
“But, I have school in three hours.”
“Then you better get cracking.” He laughed at his own pun. I could have whacked him across the head with a frying pan. My only consolation was that my station proved highly unpopular.
I had to turn off three of the hobs. My cheeks were burning I was so embarrassed. Never before had my offering to cook gone down so poorly. I was pretending to sort good eggs from bad when somebody cleared their throat.
I turned to find two lions. One towering, with a new scar on his chin that I really badly wanted to trace. The other grinning at me with a plate held out.
“I want one with everything,” Charles said.
Max growled at him. “What?” Charles protested. “I thought you said we were going to eat?”
“Hold your damn horses. It’s like you’ve never eaten before!”
Charles rolled his eyes. “It’s really pathetic that you have to use me as an excuse to speak to a girl.”
He ducked just in time to escape the back of Max’s hand. Charles snickered but moved to the side so we could have some privacy. An impossible notion since the dining hall was crammed full of people. I was well aware of the dozens of eyes watching us at the moment.
Max didn’t seem to care. In an impressive feat of strength and agility, he boosted himself clear over the dividing tables. I was in his arms a second later. Now I was the one who didn’t care if people were watching. I squeezed him back, my eyes tearing up.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” I said.
“Ditto. I thought for a second there I’d lost you.”
When he let go, I could feel my cheeks burning for reasons unrelated to the fire blazing beside me.
“So, they gave you a job?”
“Yeah. It’s just like me to get lumped with more work for doing a good deed.”
He chuckled. Bruno came out of the kitchen and went ballistic about hygiene and how shifters carted dirt around like a winter coat. Max hopped back over the partition. I made them both an omelette. Charles ended up eating four. I thought he was going to be sick but he kept stuffing more and more down his throat until Max dragged him out.
“Do you want to have lunch later?” Max asked before he left.
I stared out over the sea of faces. The looks I got back weren’t exactly friendly, but there was something less intimidating about them. “Actually,” I said, “I might try eating here for a change.”
“Look at that. I think it’s growth.”
“Get out before I chop you up and throw you in the beef stew.” His laughter was uproarious. The girl who had been about to order an omelette turned tail and ran. Oh well. Small steps.
22
Six Months Later
It was a slow start but my cooking did eventually gain some acceptance. Charles was there a lot at the beginning, but then the other shifters caught on and he wasn’t allowed to stand around growling at anybody who tried to get in his way.
It turned out Bruno’s tactic was to keep me out front for months so that the other students could see exactly what I was doing in the kitchen. When he finally allowed me out back, not that many students complained. I only got hauled into Jacqueline’s office once.
Max had been wrong about the integration thing. Sure, people weren’t as outwardly hostile as they’d been in the past, but nobody went out of their way to be my friend either. In the aftermath of the attack, most of the students lost a chunk of their memory. The ones who didn’t were certain I was involved but they couldn’t be sure in what capacity. So my status pretty much evened out there too. Max and I sometimes still ate together, but I wanted to push ahead with the plan of not hiding myself away.
It was just my luck that after I’d spent months proving I wasn’t going to poison anyone, it was time to move to the senior campus. It was two days before the new school year started. I sat on my new bed in my new dorm room staring at the empty bed on the other side. Yep. After so many hopes of getting a better roommate, I didn’t get one at all. It was like somebody in the administration office hated me. At least I would be leaving the deputy headmaster’s jurisdiction.
Traffic through the dining hall was at an all-time high just before school started every year. I changed into a pair of black jeans and a long-sleeved black top for my first shift in the senior campus eatery. These days I could afford more hair magic. It saved a lot of time.
I was just passing the front door of the dorms when a streak of green light shot out of the sky. Kai’s ethereal white wings retracted into his back as he landed on the front lawn. The dorm doors opened behind me.
“Excuse me,” a male voice said. A dark-haired boy sidestepped me and approached Kai. It was Evan McKinnon, a third-year mage at the top of his class.
“You ready?” Kai said.
“As I’ll ever be,” Evan responded.
Kai placed a hand on Evan’s shoulder. I pressed my back against the door as if the teleport might affect me if I got too close. “Where are we going?” Evan asked.
“Melbourne. There’s a disturbance in the barrier inside a psychiatric hospital.”
“Humans?”
Kai glanced surreptitiously at me. “Yeah.” He grunted. “Every time I think they’re easy to deal with, one of them throws it back in my face.”
I was probably imagining that he smiled at me before they disappeared. I blew out a chagrined breath. Humans. What were we thinking trying to survive in this world of supernatural creatures?
Shaking myself, I hightailed it to the dining hall before I got chewed out again. It was a new year. Maybe this one wouldn’t end with me all alone again.
Bloodline Academy Book 1 Available Now!
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