Fang and Claw: Nocturne Academy, Book 2

by Anderson, Evangeline

  I knew why she was in fear. My Drake’s message was unequivocal—he would not be bound by any code of conduct or oath of honor as I was. If something happened to Kaitlyn and Nancy was the cause of it, my Drake would make her pay—possibly with her life.

  In fact, I could feel him wanting to emerge and make her pay right now, for even daring to threaten my little human.

  “Enough,” I shouted at him inside my head. “You’ve made your point. And no, you can’t come out and eat her! Things aren’t the same in the human world as they are in the Sky Lands where a Drake is justified in killing anyone who threatens his female. If you tried that here we’d get kicked out of the Academy and brought up on murder charges as well.”

  “She should be taught a lesson,” he insisted, his eyes blazing, his invisible wings stretching inside me, longing to break free.

  “She has been,” I insisted. “She won’t bother Kaitlyn now that you’ve threatened her—I’m sure she won’t!”

  At least, I didn’t think so. But I didn’t trust my Drake to stay in close proximity to the bitch-witch either. Turning from the still-frightened Nancy, I stalked stiffly away, leaving the Dining Hall as I continued to try and calm my Drake.

  I was almost certain that what he’d said to Nancy would be enough to keep her away from Kaitlyn. But just in case, maybe it would be best to warn my little human, I thought, as my Drake finally began to quiet. At the very least, it would give me an excuse to speak to her and try to explain what was going on.

  I just hoped she would listen and believe me when I told her I didn’t wish her any ill will—though I would have to be careful not to frighten her by letting her know exactly how I felt about her. The full weight of a Drake’s affections can be heavy indeed, as my mother had warned me when I grew to the age when the opposite sex was of interest to me.

  “The love of a Drake is an awesome but burdensome thing, son,” she had told me. “To know that you command the affections of a ten-ton beast with teeth as long as knives and the ability to breathe flame is to know true power…and true responsibility.

  “When your Drake picks a female for the two of you to bond with for life, you must treat her gently. Only gradually must she come to understand how much power she holds in her hands when she holds both your heart and your Drake’s.

  “The day I first understood that your father’s Drake would kill anyone who even insulted me if I didn’t stop him, I went to my room to cry. For how can love alone control such strength—such raw power and intense, constant devotion?”

  I hadn’t understood what she meant when she told me all that, but I thought I was beginning to now. The struggle I’d had with my Drake when he wanted to come out and eat Nancy had been real and frightening. He was growing more attached to Kaitlyn every day—more protective and possessive of her by the hour.

  I knew there were many stories in human mythology about dragons and their jealous protection of their hoards of gold and gems. In these tales, the dragon or wyrm or drake—whatever you wanted to call it—always amassed a great treasure and was willing to fight to the death to protect it.

  The humans had part of that story right—the protective possessiveness… the rage that came over a Drake when their greatest treasure was threatened…their willingness to fight until their last breath to protect it—that was all true.

  But the treasure a true Drake was willing to give his life to protect wasn’t a few golden trinkets or precious gems—it was the female he had chosen to bond with for the rest of his life. And that was how my Drake saw Kaitlyn—she was priceless, irreplaceable. A treasure worth fighting and dying for.

  And yet, she didn’t even really know me and she still hadn’t even met my Drake at all. If I told her of these feelings inside me—of the longing and possessiveness…the desire to serve and protect and love her that filled me constantly, she might think I was crazy. She might even run in the other direction as far and as fast as she could.

  So I had to take things easy—had to be slow and gentle and try to gain her trust again, which Nancy had done her best to destroy with her hateful words. After all, I didn’t want to frighten Kaitlyn off before I had a chance to woo her.

  If I lost her, my Drake would never forgive me and I would lose a part of myself as well.

  16

  Kaitlyn

  “Mmm, is that roast beef almost done? It smells amazing,” Megan remarked, coming out to sit beside me in the common room of the Norm Dorm. “I’m starved! Oh hi, Kaitlyn.” She smiled at me.

  “Hi,” I said faintly and tried to smile back.

  I was huddled at the far end of the couch nearest the fire, though I usually avoided getting too close to the blaze, wearing my plush blue bathrobe and long nightgown. This nighttime lounging uniform was what Emma and Megan and I all called our “jammy-britch” and it almost always made me feel better and cozier to put it on. But tonight I just wasn’t feeling like myself at all.

  Maybe it was the cold I was getting, or maybe it was just the awful events of Home Ec, but I was feeling pretty low.

  Be honest, Kaitlyn, a little voice in my head whispered, You know neither of those things are what’s bothering you.

  Yes, if I was honest with myself, I knew the voice was right. What was really bothering me was the way I’d heard Ari and Nancy talking about me after lunch. Though I had told myself I was being foolish and that I was over it, I knew I wasn’t. The proof of that was in what I had done as soon as I came down to the Norm Dorm by myself while everyone else ate dinner up above in the Dining Hall.

  I had gone directly to my wardrobe—a rickety wooden one with peeling paint which was what the Academy provided for us Norms. Opening it, I had reached to the very back and pulled out a white uniform shirt—one that was many times too big for me.

  It was Ari’s shirt—one he had given me to wear after the awful incident in PE. He had put it on me himself, his hands gentle as he knelt before me and buttoned it up, hiding my scars which had been revealed by the PE shorts and t-shirt I had been forced to wear.

  At the time I had been grateful, both for his protection from Sanchez out on the exercise field and for his consideration in helping me hide my shame. But now I knew it had all been a ruse—just a trick to make me think he liked me, doubtless so he and Nancy could do something awful to me in the future.

  I had picked the shirt off the hanger, refusing to notice the warm, spicy scent of his skin which still clung to the white cotton fabric. I had no need of it anymore. In fact, I wondered why I had hung onto it for as long as I had.

  Marching over to the laundry chute, I opened the metal drawer embedded in the stone wall of the dungeon and let the white shirt drop. It swirled down into the darkness like a ghost disappearing out of my life for good.

  I only wished I could get rid of Ari as easily, I told myself as I closed the laundry chute drawer firmly. But I couldn’t help the sharp little pain in my heart as I turned away—couldn’t help wishing that Ari had turned out to be different from the other Drakes who had teased and tormented me…

  “I’m so hungry!” Megan said again, drawing me out of my miserable thoughts. “I could eat a whole cow—seriously.”

  She was dressed in her robe and slippers and gown as well and so were Emma and Avery. Griffin, who had just come down to join us a moment before, was the only one still in his school uniform. He was sitting in one of the over-stuffed leather chairs across from me, reading a book. Emma, also in her nightclothes, was studying for a test on the other couch.

  The reason I was dressed so warmly and sitting much closer than usual to the fire, was simply because I couldn’t seem to get warm myself. I didn’t know what was wrong with me but inside my furry slippers, my toes felt like ice cubes and I was freezing despite wearing two nightgowns under my robe.

  Just this stupid cold coming on, I told myself. Although it did seem strange that I still hadn’t started to cough or sniffle. My throat hurt though and I felt horribly thirsty—I had already drunk th
ree glasses of water and was wondering if I would have any room for the roast beef Avery was presently turning on a spit over our small fire.

  “The roast will be done in a few minutes,” he told Megan, getting up from the fireside and dusting his hands on his immaculate maroon smoking jacket. “It’s still too rare right now—it’s practically still bleeding.”

  At that, my ears perked up for some reason.

  “Um, Avery?” I asked, looking up from my corner of the couch. “Could I have some now anyway? I want mine rare.”

  “You do?” He looked at me, clearly surprised. “But Katydid, you always ask for yours well-done,” he protested.

  “Yeah.” Emma snorted and looked up from her notes. “Kaitlyn only likes beef if you serve it extra crispy.”

  “Well, I don’t tonight,” I insisted. “Tonight I want it rare. Please, Avery?” I gave him a pleading look from behind my curtain of hair and he sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

  “Anything for you, Katydid. But don’t blame me if it bleeds all over your plate.”

  He went back to the roast turning on the spit and got out a large carving knife and one of the lovely china plates from the set he kept in the little cupboard on the wall. He sliced me off a few thin slices and plated them carefully before turning his head.

  “Do you want some of the roasted potatoes too? I think they’re done enough.”

  “No thanks.” I shook my head. “Just the meat, please.”

  “All right.” Avery brought the plate over to me and made a knife and fork appear magically in one hand. He delivered the whole meal to me with a flourish, as though he was a waiter at a five-star restaurant determined to impress a picky guest.

  That’s one thing I love about Avery—he doesn’t do anything halfway.

  His presentation made me smile and I thanked him as I sat up and took the plate. Avery got me a wooden tray to sit it on and then looked at me expectantly.

  “Well? Go ahead and taste it and then ask me to cook it some more,” he said, grinning at me.

  I looked down at the long, bloody strips of beef on my plate which were indeed oozing pink and red juices over the white china. In the past, such a sight would have nauseated me but now it looked delicious. The meaty, nearly raw scent of the barely-cooked beef hit my nose and suddenly, I was hungry. But not just hungry—starved—ravenous.

  Quickly, I cut off a chunk of the bloody beef and popped it into my mouth. The taste was heavenly. As the juices squirted across my tongue, I felt as though my taste buds were waking up for the first time in days and finally I could taste something.

  I chewed and swallowed, cutting another chunk and then another, eating as quickly as I could get the food into my mouth. I was dimly aware that my Coven-mates were staring at me with surprise but I couldn’t make myself slow down until the last little bit of the extremely rare beef was gone. And, before I could stop myself, I even licked the plate clean. Somehow the bloody juices were the best part of the meal and I couldn’t help smacking my lips in delight.

  “Oh my God, Avery—that was so good,” I sighed, sinking back into the couch in contentment. “I don’t think I’ve ever tasted anything even half as delicious.”

  “I could tell,” he said flatly. “By the way you ate every bite of it in five seconds flat. Katydid, are you all right?”

  “I’m fine,” I said, and it seemed to be true. The worn-out, tired feeling I’d been fighting all day had finally dissipated and I felt more energetic than I had in hours. “I think I just needed to eat something,” I told Avery and the rest of my Coven-mates, who were still staring at me uncertainly.

  Even Griffin had put down his book and was looking at me with a worried frown on his face.

  “I didn’t have much breakfast and lunch was disgusting and I skipped dinner completely, you know,” I said, by way of explanation. “So I was really hungry.”

  “Well…all right.” Avery nodded reluctantly. “Although even if you didn’t want to eat, you should have come to see Nasty Nancy and her crew serving everyone their food,” he added with a grin.

  “While wearing hair nets, I might add,” Megan put in, laughing. I shared a smile with her, glad to hear that Nancy was getting a taste of her own medicine. “She got Mrs. Hornsby to make Kaitlyn and me wear hairnets in Home Ec,” she explained to the rest of our group.

  “Oh dear.” Emma looked concerned. “That must have been…hard for you, Kaitlyn.”

  “I survived,” I said as lightly as I could. They really had to stop treating me like I was made of glass!

  “I just wish our grades could have survived,” Megan said, the smile melting off her face. “I don’t know what I’m going to do if Mrs. Hornsby won’t take back that F she saddled us with!” She looked at me apologetically. “I’m so sorry about that, Kaitlyn. Bad enough for her to ruin my GPA—I didn’t mean to take you down with me.”

  “It’s going to be okay,” I said, with more certainty than I felt. “The next unit is sewing and my mom and I used to do that together so I already know what I’m doing.”

  “Really?” Megan looked at me hopefully. “You think you can teach me?”

  “Absolutely,” I told her. “You’ll be a whiz at the sewing machine in no time and we’re both going to ace this next unit. You’ll see.”

  “Goddess, I don’t see why anyone would bother learning to sew the old-fashioned boring way when they could just do a little sewing spell,” Avery sniffed. He excelled at magical sewing and embroidery himself—it was the way his magical power had first manifested when he was a little boy—the way he had first “Flamed up” as the Sisters called it.

  “Well, not all of us have a ‘magic needle,’ Avery,” Megan said, frowning at him. “And besides, I know you can get away with working your magic all over the place but mine only seems to be good for big things and I’m not allowed to use it except in my magical classes, as you know.”

  “But what if you should accidentally prick your finger on the needle while you were sewing?” Avery asked, raising one blond eyebrow expressively. “And then you just happened to think about how whatever it is you’re sewing should come out absolutely perfect?”

  “In that case, Mrs. Hornsby is probably going to guess that I’m doing magic and I’ll get into more trouble than ever,” Megan said flatly. “No, Avery—I can’t cheat. I have to do this right. Besides…” She got a stubborn look on her face. “I shouldn’t have to use magic to pass her stupid class. My whole life I’ve been a straight A student and I did it all with hard work and determination. I shouldn’t have to cheat with magic to pass Home Ec.”

  “I wouldn’t say that using magic is “cheating,” exactly,” Avery protested. “After all, is a mathematical genius cheating when he uses his intellect to solve a really complex equation? Is a classical pianist cheating when she uses her musical ability to play a complicated piece of music? Of course not!” he answered his own question. “They’re using their Goddess-given abilities, that’s all. And that’s what magic is—a Goddess-given ability that ought to be used.”

  “Well, not in this case,” Megan said firmly and put a hand to her stomach when it suddenly growled. “Oh, sorry—I’m so hungry!”

  “The roast should be done now—well, for those of us who don’t like it still mooing,” Avery said, winking at me. “Emma, come help me plate up dinner.”

  Everybody ate and I even had a little more myself—although I didn’t find the more well-done beef nearly as appetizing. Still, I was feeling much better after an evening of good food and friendship.

  Avery cleaned all the dirty dishes up magically and almost everyone had wandered off to bed when I finally got off the couch myself. The rare beef seemed to have warmed me up almost as much as the fire and I was feeling positively toasty and thinking I could probably drift off in no time when Griffin spoke to me.

  The tall Nocturne was, as a rule, fairly quiet during our get-togethers. He hadn’t said much tonight, seeming content to sit by Megan while she at
e and just be close to her. But she and Emma and Avery had gone into their bedrooms and I was the last one still out in the common area, due to my reluctance to move now that I was finally warm.

  “Kaitlyn…” Griffin’s voice was deep and quiet and serious and when I looked at him, his pale eyes showed a reflection of the fire’s flickering flames.

  “Um, yes Griffin?” We hadn’t talked much but I had liked him ever since he’d gotten me excused from Coach Vasquez’s awful PE class every morning.

  For a moment Griffin was silent, as though thinking how to frame his words. But just as I was about to ask him again what he wanted, he finally spoke.

  “Forgive my asking,” he said, a tentative note in his voice. “But is…Alastair Breedlove a good guardian to you?”

  A question about the Breedloves was the last thing I had been expecting. I frowned at Griffin uncertainly.

  “Well…yeah. Sure, I guess.” I shrugged. “I mean, he and Mrs. Breedlove give me a place to stay on the weekends and pay for my tuition to the Academy. I really can’t complain.”

  “Can’t you?” He frowned at me and his nostrils flared, just like Headmistress Nightworthy’s had earlier when she’d asked me to stay behind and chat with her in her office.

  “Well, no,” I said. “I, um, don’t know what else to say. I’m happy with the Breedloves—Allegra is almost like my own little girl.”

  “I see.” He nodded thoughtfully and stared into the fire for a long moment. “You know,” he said at last, looking at me again, “If you had anything you were frightened to tell someone—if someone you trusted had hurt you in any way—”

  “Griffin, what is this about?” I asked, honestly mystified. “What are you trying to ask me? Or tell me or whatever?”

  He sighed and raked a hand through his hair.

  “I just want you to know that you are not defenseless. Megan is my heart and the ones she cares for, I will care for and protect also. You and Emma are a bit like…little sisters to me now. So if someone was hurting you in any way, I would defend and protect you both. Do you understand?”