by Emma Cole
That was going to put a kink in my plans. While he continued on about plant and element properties, I plotted a way to filch what I’d need. I wasn’t about to provide the staff with a means of disabling students.
By the time class let out, I’d managed to snag enough nightshade seeds and other ingredients for my powder. I made a weak batch, purposely botching the first several attempts to make it look like I’d gone through my supplies. Prof. Black eyed me critically after he tried them all on me. The last one nearly knocked me on my ass, but Lorca was there to lend me his support and energy.
“Is this a joint project then?” the professor asked. Lorca had helped me collect and mix some of it, so I nodded. “It’s passable. Next time make it stronger.” We were summarily dismissed, and a short time later, the seal on the door released with a ‘pop.’
After we were well on our way to Reanimation, Lorca finally blew. In a low hiss, he warned me, “Don’t do that again. There are other ways to get what you need. If you’d gotten caught… Just don’t do it again. Please.”
I understood his anger, knowing it might not have been the smartest thing to do. “Sorry, I’m used to being on my own.” He seemed mollified by my response and took my hand as we walked up to the laboratory. “I won’t steal anything in here. I’d never escape with the smell.” My attempt at levity made him smile, but the stench of rotting flesh and formaldehyde really was unpleasant.
Elbowing me, he asked, “You have a recipe in that brain of yours for something to dull my sense of smell? This is awful.”
I laughed at him but pulled the door open when he just stood there, waiting on my answer. A line was building up behind us, and we didn’t need any more negative attention. “You wouldn’t want it. Being noseblind is worse than the smell.”
***
Reanimation was just that. Reanimating bodies. Or a mash-up of body parts. To pass the class we had to make a viable Frankenstein monster, aka Frankie, and at least we were allowed a partner. It didn’t matter how quickly we did it as long as it was done before our sentence was up. The hard part was that the class was essentially a roll call, and then we had to figure it out ourselves...or get help from other students or teachers. The instructor, Professor Danzer, was nice enough to at least point us to the library where there was an entire section on the subject.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t told us there was a banshee for a librarian. I was of the opinion he’d done it on purpose. Lorca and I had paused to eat a quick snack of granola bars before we went inside. It was the only reason we were close to the doors when all hell broke loose.
“Quiet! Quiet, quiet, quiet!” A tall, thin woman of Asian descent commanded. The students were all over the place, jockeying to get to the section first and talking over each— some even yelling, “Farah!” to get her attention. A few other students were shoving things into their bags, panicking and pushing past me and Lorca to get outside.
As one passed he gave a muttered warning. “Farah is gonna freak, run while you can.”
A short moment later, as we were trying to break into the line to get back out of the doors, a low keening started. Some of the students nearest her quieted while more shoved at the logjam at the doors. It was too late— the keening increased in pitch to a wail and straight on into an ear bleeding shriek.
Students fell to the ground, first those nearest her, then dominoing outward. The room looked like a blast zone, with Farah being the epicenter. It was the last thing I noticed before I too was on the ground, eyes squeezed shut, my screams of pain added to the agonized cacophony of the others.
Lorca, in the same situation, shook my hand, trying to get my attention. If he was speaking, I couldn't hear him, and from the wetness trailing from my ears led me to guess that my eardrums had ruptured. Peeling first one eye then the other open through the pain, I read his lips. Ghost.
Uncaring of who would see, only wanting to escape the pain, I went incorporeal, taking Lorca with me. The sound wasn't muted, but we were able to crawl straight through the wall we'd been pinned up against. There was a smaller tug on my leg, but I ignored it, concentrating on getting out of the library and away from the banshee. I discovered that I could stop my ability from transferring when it tried to tug to one of the students touching me.
The fresh air outside and the muffled shrieking was a relief, and I let go of my concentration to let us solidify again. My body stayed slumped on the grass, the energy drain of taking Lorca with me having taken its toll, and the healing my alter offered kicked in and exhausted me even more.
“Thank you, Mina— that was awful. I wasn’t sure you’d understand in time. My alter almost took over, and we’d have been crushed.” He started to get up, and that's when he noticed I wasn’t moving from my position and sat up, pulling my head into his lap as he did. “Hey, are you okay? I didn’t know it would hurt you. What can I do to help?” I appreciated his concern, but he didn’t need to actively do anything, so I didn’t even try to use up any energy to respond. He brushed the hair back from my face as I stared up into his eyes, bloodied at the corners, and his energy poured through the skin contact. After a few seconds, it became apparent to him too. “Whoa, usually I have to push it, and it’s only ever worked well with my quadmates.”
“Pretty sure it has something to do with us being bondmates. Even without the official binding it’s still working.” He smiled at that, eyes crinkling at the corners. “Okay, the blood has to go. You’re looking like you’re about to turn into one of those zombies.
Lorca pulled the bottom of his t-shirt out from under the button-up he wore to wipe at the corner of his eyes, revealing his toned abs. With the tendrils of heat moving through me, I suddenly didn’t care the tiniest bit about the blood anymore and turned my head to lick at the strip of skin above his pants. Lorca’s reaction was swift; his stomach sucked in from the surprise, his dick partially hardening under my head.
When I looked back up at him, his face features were slack with lust, his gaze burning into mine. The effect was made slightly sinister by the red he'd smeared around, now appearing as if he were wearing macabre make-up. It was kinda hot in a goth sort of way. Besides the fact that we were sitting on the lawn outside the library in full view of anyone walking by or the windows of nearby buildings we had another, smaller audience.
A squeak came from my pantleg, and I frantically shook it as claws scurried at my skin. “Get it out!” Lorca tried to help, but I was sitting up, yanking at the hem of my pants, and slapping at the small lump before he could move. A small furry bundle fell out, running a short distance away. It stared accusingly at me and morphed into an irate Tildy.
“Some friend you are!” she snapped, hands on hips. “You nearly killed me.” She rubbed at a nude hip, the skin already darkening into a bruise. For the most part the other nearby students ignored her, but a few gawked. At least we were on the side of the building facing the vampire dorm, and there wasn’t a ton of foot traffic.
I felt bad, not having realized she was hitching a ride, but… “It’s not exactly my fault when you climbed up my pants, Tildy,” I pointed out, eyeing her suspiciously. That means she’d ghosted with us.
“Fair enough.” She dismissed the situation with a wave of her hand before asking, “Hey, you have a shirt I can borrow? My bag is back in there.” She pointed at the library wall.
Lorca started stripping even as I shook my head no. “Here, you can use this. It should be long enough.” He handed over his white dress shirt before shrugging his blazer back on.
My alter hissed in displeasure, and I had to fight with her to keep my fingers from turning into claws at the thought of his scent or belongings being on another female. I silently promised her to bond with Lorca soon. After a few moments and the man in question settling his hand on my nape under my hair, she quieted.
“Mine isn’t happy with me either,” he murmured into my ear, nipping it before straightening up. By the time we managed to tear our eyes from each other, Tildy was
gone. “Your ears okay? You have some blood coming out of this one.”
I touched the tip of a finger to the still tacky blood under my ear. “It’s healed, just a mess.”
“Since we both seem to be feeling better, should we clean up real quick and try to find where we’re supposed to get supplies for our Frankie?” I nodded, and, taking his hand, we headed back to the shifter dorm.
Chapter Nine
“We don’t have to actually go in the water, right?” I asked nervously. We’d run into Tildy returning Lorca’s shirt as we were leaving our rooms, and she’d directed us to the far side of the lake by the mermaid house. It was supposedly a popular place for gathering supplies and exactly where she was going as soon as she tracked her partner down. The campus seemed fairly deserted compared to other times I’d been out. Maybe something to do with the library incident?
Slightly puzzled, Lorca answered, “I’m not sure, but maybe we can find a branch to fish something out. If anything is in decent enough shape.”
We both shuddered at the thought of the waterlogged body parts that used to be students. The lake housed a kraken, and according to Tildy, it was where instructors, and sometimes other students, threw the new arrivals or other individuals as punishment. The lake’s inhabitant didn’t always come out, and the students escaped, but for those who didn’t escape, there was a graveyard of bones and rotting leftovers near one shore. The kraken’s trash can.
My nose tested the air once we reached the site, and I crinkled it up in confusion at Lorca. “It doesn’t stink.”
"Maybe there's nothing here?" He shrugged and went to the water's edge.
It was a clear blue, the rocky bottom visible— and as promised, scattered with the remnants of dead bodies. Jagged, washed out edges of flesh and bone sat there for the taking. Some pieces were too small to identify, while others such as heads with wide staring eyes, complete with hair, were stark in their wholeness. Stench or not, that was nasty, and I couldn’t help but gag.
“How many students get thrown in here?” I demanded incredulously. “That one looks nearly whole.” Lorca followed my pointing finger, freckles standing out against his pale, drawn face.
“I don’t think they all go in alive. That dude doesn’t even look like he’s been chewed on.” Lorca’s head cocked sideways, as if he were hearing something I didn’t.
Ignoring him and wanting to get the assignment underway, I moved closer to the edge. “I think that’s the house crest for the mixed bloods. The House of Almost Humans, I think it’s called.”
Paranormal society could be prejudiced against any that weren’t pureblood enough for them. I imagined it was even worse here, where violence and depravity ruled. I stretched out but couldn’t reach the body, and I didn’t want to go into the water. Frustrated with it, I turned to my mate.
“Hey, Lorca, do you think you can reach that— uh, him?” We were close in height, but his arms might be long enough. When he didn’t answer, I looked up from the grisly lake bed to find him headed in the direction of the cliffs. “Lorca! Hey, where are you going?”
He never turned to answer or even slowed his steady steps leading him further away. What the hell is going on NOW? I started to chase after him, but the familiar voice of a female yelling had me turning.
“They killed my partner; we didn’t know they lived there! Please, you have to help me.” Tildy had reached my position when I heard a high-pitched buzzing. The few students within the vicinity ran off as if they were being chased by demons. Oh, come on. Killer bees?
Except they weren’t bees. “Tildy, what did you do? And what are those?” Flying straight for us was a cloud of warrior ant people. I was torn between helping the girl that seemed to be a walking, talking, trouble attracting nuisance or going after my mate. Guilt settled in at the thought of even hesitating to go after him. A tiny spear sticking in my shoulder decided it for me. I wasn’t hanging around to be shanked to death with metal-tipped toothpicks, and the wind was blowing too hard off the cliffs to chance using the sleeping powder— I’d likely dose us both in the process.
With a glare at Tildy, I ghosted us both. As quickly as I could, I tugged her along— and despite her protests, left her outside the dwarf house. I wasn't losing my mate because of her ineptitude. My alter was black and white on the matter, and she was demanding I get to Lorca immediately since the swarm had veered to go after the only person in their sight- him.
"I'm sorry, but they're headed for my mate. Go hide." I shook her hand off and flat-out sprinted for Lorca.
My approach was more direct as the winged creatures had gone toward the lake first in pursuit of Tildy then turned when their target disappeared, but it was going to be a near thing on who reached the dazed and plodding male first. My heart thundered with fear and exertion as a volley of sharp-tipped projectiles flew through the air directly at his unprotected back. A handful landed, causing him to stop and shake his head as if clearing it of a fog. Two more landed, deeper than the first, eliciting a grunt from him as he fell to his knees. I ghosted just as I reached him, and the swarm passed through us. While we made our escape, they were left prodding at the blood Lorca had coughed up before I got to him.
I pulled us into the nearest copse of trees, letting go of my ability so I could help my mate. “Lay down. I’ve got to pull these out.” When I tugged experimentally at one, I discovered ‘pull’ might have been an understatement. It was the one that seemed to have penetrated the least, and it still came out with a hunk of skin and a yelp from Lorca. The tips were barbed. “This is going to hurt, hold still.” His huff of disbelief was all he got out before I let my alter surface enough to lengthen the fingertips of one hand into sharp claws.
As I carefully cut the fabric away from the spears, the first hole closed up. I was able to pull several more with minimal damage, but others were much deeper. Lorca was still occasionally coughing up blood, and I was afraid the deepest one had hit a lung.
“I can’t get them like this. I’m going to cause more damage.” My frustration was evident in my voice and I struggled to keep my eyes from glowing with my alter's ire pushing mine. “Where the fuck are your quadmates? Surely, they could at least carry you to the medical building.”
Lorca was quiet long enough I feared he’d passed out, and there wasn’t anyone around to help. It was absolutely ridiculous, and I couldn’t yell out in case those damned warrior insect things came back.
“Just pull them, I’ll heal. I don’t want to go to whatever passes for a hospital here.” His voice was strong, but I still worried and procrastinated.
“What were you doing, anyway? I called your name, and you just kept going. Then Tildy came running over, yelling about pissing something off and her partner being dead, and then this swarm of spear wielding flying insect people chased us. Seriously, can we be done today?” Anger quickly turned to an overwhelming urge to cry. My nose burned, my chest was tight, and I struggled to contain my tears.
As my emotions swung like a clock’s pendulum from one extreme to the next, I feared I really was going into heat. All the signs were adding up to it, and my living mate was injured while I couldn’t touch the rest. It made for a volatile mix.
"Those insect people are Myrmidons, and they react aggressively when their homes are disrupted. As for me, there was a voice. It carried on the wind, and I couldn't break the trance it put me in. I'm guessing it was a siren, but the only one here shouldn't be able to use her ability. I couldn't concentrate on anything else until the pain broke the spell." He coughed again, bringing up more bright red fluid. "Just pull them, Mina. I feel like I'm drowning."
The strain in his voice prompted me into action. Hoping like hell I didn't kill him in the process, I began cutting around the edges of the holes that were trying to close around the spear shafts with my claws. One by one I waited for them to close before moving on to the next until only the worst one was left. I cut as deep as I dared, keeping an eye on Lorca's pale, sweaty, and grimacing profi
le.
Before I yanked it out, I tunneled a hand under his shirt to get skin-to-skin contact as close to the wound as possible. As soon as the tip was free, I pushed my energy into him in a steady stream. "Shift, Lorca. Do it now!" I was afraid he would pass out if he didn't do it immediately.
After a brief moment where I thought he'd actually lost consciousness, he began to change, shrinking into his alternate form. A small brown-caped weasel with rounded ears and a pale yellow belly lay nestled in the puddle of clothing he’d been wearing. It opened its eyes, and they were the same silvery-gray as the man’s.
“Well, aren’t you adorable? Just so you know, my alter wants me to shift too so we can play. If you weren’t injured, I have a feeling I wouldn’t be able to stop her.”
Lorca gave out a short trilling sound before settling into a purr while he rubbed his head on my palm. In response it felt like my alter expanded and rolled through my body, giving me a weird type of vertigo.
“Shit, no more of that. I’m getting us back to the dorm before anything else happens.” I scooped up Lorca’s clothes into his bag and slung both mine and his over each shoulder before tucking him into my shirt and buttoning my blazer to help hold him. His soft fur tickled, but I wanted my energy to keep helping him. “I forgot, I have to get supplies from the cafeteria first.”
With a groan and not wanting to deal with a bitchy Veronica for showing up empty-handed, I made for the most direct route to the dining hall— and hoped I'd make it. If Lorca wasn't my mate and the energy share wasn't so effortless, I wouldn't have been able to help him or the extent I had. As it was, I was barely running on fumes.