Fang and Claw: Nocturne Academy, Book 2

by Anderson, Evangeline

  “I think I understand,” I said, though I didn’t—not completely. “You’re just letting me know that if someone bullies me, you’ve got my back.”

  He shrugged. “In a way. Though I wasn’t only speaking of bullies at school.”

  “Well…thank you, Griffin.” I smiled at him shyly. “You’re a good big brother,” I told him. “And I appreciate you wanting to take care of me. But, well…I’m trying to stand up for myself more lately.”

  He looked at me obliquely and stood up from his chair, looming like a dark shadow in the dying firelight.

  “I understand. I won’t interfere where I am not wanted or needed. But if you feel you are being hurt or abused, please know that I stand ready to defend you.”

  “Thank you,” I said again. I looked up at him and considered giving him a quick hug to thank him for being so kind. I knew Emma might have done it—she was more tactile than I was. But in the end, I was a little too shy, so I just nodded.

  He nodded back with finality.

  “Good night, Kaitlyn.”

  And then he was gone, slipping up the spiral staircase and out the trap door that led from the Dungeon to the Dining Hall as silently as a shadow.

  I stood there for a long moment after the tall Nocturne had gone, frowning to myself. I had the feeling that Griffin had been trying to tell me something and that I had missed it somehow—but I wasn’t sure what it was.

  In the end, I decided he was simply being nice and decided it was time to go to bed. I was way too tired with the day’s crazy events to stay up worrying about solving some Nocturne puzzle I didn’t have all the pieces to. I would go to sleep, and tomorrow would be a better day.

  Or so I thought.

  17

  Kaitlyn

  The next day the very thought of food nauseated me. I didn’t know why, when I had been feeling so much better the night before after eating Avery’s rare roast beef. But honestly, even the idea of dry toast turned my stomach. So instead of going through the serving line with the rest of my Coven-mates, I grabbed a cup of hot tea and went to sit at our table by myself.

  Normally, I would have had Avery for company. He never ate anything the cafeteria produced, preferring to live on over-creamed and sugared coffee during the day and make us all something delicious for second supper almost every night. But this morning, he was happy to go through the line with Emma and Megan, just to see Nancy and her fellow Weird Sisters serving everyone.

  “I’m having schadenfreude for breakfast,” he’d said brightly, as he followed Megan and Emma into the cafeteria line with a big grin. “I plan to have a big, heaping plateful of it while I watch those bitch-witches dishing out everybody’s breakfast.”

  So I was all alone at our table, sipping tea, when Ari approached me.

  The minute his shadow fell over me, I looked up, startled. His clear, amber eyes stared directly into mine and for a moment, I felt frozen—unable to do or say anything.

  “Kaitlyn,” he said in that deep, quiet voice of his. “I must talk to you.”

  “Talk to me?” I repeated stupidly.

  “Yes.” He nodded and then seemed not to know what to say next. “I…got my shirt back in today’s laundry,” he said at last and there was something like pain in his voice. “I suppose I understand why you decided to send it back.”

  I had known, of course, that the shirt would automatically go back to him after it passed through the laundry room in the sub basement of the castle. But I hadn’t known he had missed it in the first place—or that getting it back would make him sad.

  Sad? whispered an angry little voice in my head. He’s only sad because he can’t fool you anymore!

  And then the memory of what he and Nancy had been saying yesterday stung me like a bee and suddenly I wasn’t frozen anymore.

  “I sent it back because it wasn’t mine—I would think you’d be glad to get it. Unless you burned it because I touched it, that was,” I snapped.

  “Burned it?” His eyes widened. “Why would I do something like that? I wanted you to have it.”

  “Right. As if I’d believe that for a minute,” I said. “I heard what you and Nancy were saying yesterday. I know what you really think of me,” I told him. “Well, the feeling is mutual.”

  Honestly, I don’t know where I got the nerve to be so bold with him. He was handsome and rich and royal and I was an ugly little scarred human nobody. But the anger rose up in me and gave me words to say I never would have dreamed of before.

  “Please…” Ari looked pained. “If you’d only let me explain…”

  “I think you’ve said everything there is to say already,” I shot back, lifting my chin. I don’t need to hear any more, thank you.”

  “No…” He raked a hand through his hair, looking frustrated. “You don’t understand. What Nancy said—”

  “I understand enough to know when I’m being set up for a cruel prank,” I said tartly, interrupting him. “How did you decide to do it? Did Nancy come to you and convince you to pretend to be nice to me so you could make fun of me later?”

  “Make fun of you?” He shook his head as though he didn’t know what I was talking about—which only made me angrier.

  “Isn’t that how these things usually go?” I demanded. “You and all your friends want a laugh at my expense? ‘Oh, I got the poor little burned girl to think I actually liked her,’” I mimicked, my voice low and savage. “’Ha-ha—how hilarious that she would actually fall for that!’”

  Again, I didn’t know where I got the courage to speak to him like that when I was normally so shy and quiet. But it felt like something inside me had broken and I was determined to stand up for myself—I wasn’t going to be the butt of anyone’s joke, damn it! Not anymore.

  “What? No!” he exclaimed and for a moment, I thought he looked genuinely horrified at what I was suggesting. But I told myself not to be taken in by his act again.

  “I know what you’re up to,” I told him. “Well, it’s not going to work. And you ought to be ashamed of yourself for even trying!”

  “Trying what?” he demanded. “Kaitlyn, what I’m trying to do is warn you. I—”

  “I think you had better go, now.” Griffin’s cool, dark voice was like chilly water running over rocks.

  I looked up and saw the tall Nocturne standing behind me, a slight frown on his classically handsome features. He was so different from Ari—so cool and quiet while the Drake seemed to have a fiery vitality about him. It felt like there was too much of him somehow—like he was holding something inside that was too big to fit there—if that makes any sense.

  “Look, Nocturne—” he began, his dark brows drawing low over his amber eyes.

  “Please go now,” Griffin said, quietly but firmly. “I think it is clear that Kaitlyn doesn’t wish to speak to you and I consider her under my protection so I must ask you to leave.”

  For a moment I seemed to see flames dancing in Ari’s eyes.

  “You cannot control me,” he said and there seemed to be an echo in his voice, almost as though two people were speaking at the exact same time and saying the exact same words. “I heard what you threatened Sanchez with, you know—that you would make his Drake harm itself. I know your family has dominion over beasts but my wings fly higher than his. You cannot command me.”

  “Maybe not,” Griffin said, giving him a level stare. “But you are not allowed to loose your beast here and I will certainly be happy to take you on in your present form.”

  I bit my lip as they glared at each other, cool gray clashing with warm amber. I didn’t want anyone fighting for me. I wasn’t one of those girls who delighted in having boys brawl on my account. Why couldn’t Ari Reyes just leave me alone—leave all of us alone—and go away?

  “Hey, what’s going on?” Megan hurried up, carrying a tray, to stand beside Griffin. Avery came next and then Emma, who looked uncertainly at the stand-off between the tall Nocturne and the muscular Drake.

  “Kaitlyn, wha
t’s going on?” she whispered as she sat down her tray and seated herself close beside me, one arm around my shoulders protectively.

  Ari looked at all my Coven-mates arrayed against him, and a frustrated look came over his handsome face.

  “Whatever you want, now really isn’t the time, Drake,” Avery told him, though I thought he sounded a bit regretful, as though he felt sorry for sending Ari away.

  Ari raked a hand through his hair again.

  “I’m not here to tease or make fun or hurt Kaitlyn in any way,” he said at last, frowning. “I am only here to warn you that Nancy Rattcliff is planning something—I don’t know what. I tried to warn her off but I don’t know if she will listen to me or even my Drake, who also warned her. That’s all.”

  Then he turned on his heel and stalked away, his spine straight and the set of his broad shoulders stiff and angry.

  18

  Ari

  My Drake roared angrily as I walked away, gnashing his razor-sharp teeth and spreading his wings within me, pushing the boundaries of the limits between my form and his.

  He wanted to know why I hadn’t explained things better—why I hadn’t made Kaitlyn understand how we felt about her and claimed her then and there.

  “It wasn’t the right time,” I told him savagely, as I stalked away from her table. “She has a wrong idea about us because of what she heard Nancy say.”

  The Drake wanted to know why I didn’t go back and give her the right idea. Or, failing that, why he couldn’t just blast anyone who stood between us and Kaitlyn with his flame.

  “You think that would make her more likely to want to be with us? If you burned all her friends to ashes?” I demanded irritably. As I said before—sometimes he’s got no common sense. “You can’t act like that,” I told him. “Besides, they were just defending her. She’s been through a lot.”

  Though exactly what she had been through, I wasn’t completely sure. I’d heard rumors that she had lost her parents and it was clear she’d been burned in some way to be so scarred, but I didn’t know the whole story. I hope that someday she would tell it to me.

  If I could ever earn her trust.

  Right now, that didn’t look very likely, unfortunately. No longer hungry for breakfast, I stalked out of the Dining Hall and headed for my first period PE class early. Maybe a good, long run around the track would help me work out some of my frustration at being unable to talk to Kaitlyn.

  Although I and my Drake both would have preferred a good, long flight instead. But of course, that was impossible here. We were only allowed to take wing and fly close to the portal between the human world and the Sky Lands—and only then for a very short time. If the humans found real-life dragons among their midst, well…let’s just say they’re not known for being the most tolerant species.

  My Drake could fly higher than any but my Sire’s and he was big and strong and had an endless supply of fire, but even he would be no match for an anti-aircraft gun. So, no matter how restless the two of us were, he would have to wait until the next time we visited our homeland to take wing.

  I just hoped that when that time came, I would be taking Kaitlyn with me. Though considering how she felt about me now, I didn’t see how that would ever happen.

  19

  Kaitlyn

  “Well, that was pretty tense,” Avery remarked when Ari finally stalked away. “What did he want, Katydid? Besides to warn us that Nancy is being a witch with a capital B?”

  I shook my head, my cheeks feeling hot. “I don’t know but I can guess.”

  “Oh? Do tell.” Avery sat beside me and Megan and Griffin sat across from us. Emma was already on my other side and I felt, as always, the warmth and safety that came from having our whole group together.

  But as close as I was with my Coven-mates, it was still difficult to admit what I had overheard the day before—to tell them the nasty things Nancy had been saying while she rubbed against Ari.

  “That’s horrible!” Megan exclaimed, when I finished talking, looking down at my hands the whole time. “No wonder you didn’t want to talk to him!”

  “But…why would Ari warn Kaitlyn about Nancy if he’s in league with her or something?” Emma asked, sounding perplexed.

  “I think they’re doing some kind of Cruel Intentions kind of thing,” I said, still speaking to my hands. “You know—the handsome jock gets the poor little burned girl to like him and do…whatever.” I cleared my throat. “And then he can brag to all his friends what a pathetically easy mark I was and how disgusting it was to be with me and how he had to close his eyes the whole time and…”

  But my voice dried up at that point and I couldn’t go on.

  “You really think that’s what he was doing?” Megan sounded horrified. “Are you sure, Kaitlyn?”

  “What else could it be?” I looked up at her and then back down at my hands. “Seeing how he looks like he does and I look…like this.” I spread my hands, indicating my scarred body and face.

  “I have to disagree—I think you have it all wrong, Katydid,” Avery said gently.

  “What are you talking about?” I demanded, frowning at him. “What possible other reason could someone like Ari Reyes have to come around someone like me?”

  Avery and Megan and Emma exchanged glances and then Avery cleared his throat.

  “Well…remember a while back when I performed that scrying spell for Megan—the True Heart Revealed—to try and find out how Griffin, here, really felt about her?”

  He nodded at the tall Nocturne who was sitting quietly at the table beside Megan, not speaking a word.

  “Yes? So?” I asked, frowning.

  “So…” Avery hesitated a moment before plunging in. “So I worked that spell for you too—only you didn’t know it.”

  “What? Why?” I demanded. “I don’t appreciate you doing spells or casting magic that involves me without telling me, Avery,” I added.

  “I know, I know, and I’m sorry,” he said earnestly. “But I worked it in order to find out Ari Reyes’ true intentions towards you. Because after the incident with Sanchez in your PE class, he started following you all around and I needed to know why.”

  “He did?” I couldn’t believe it. “But…why?”

  “That’s what I wanted to know,” Avery said patiently. “At first I was afraid he was stalking you to avenge Sanchez in some way—since they’re both Drakes, you know. But then I noticed that he seemed to be protecting you from Sanchez—until he got expelled, anyway. And the spell seemed to bear that out—I got a lot of very strong protective feelings from him about you when I worked it.”

  “I see,” I said neutrally. I wouldn’t offend Avery for the world, but mainly what I remembered was that the results of the spell he’d worked for Megan had been inconclusive. The big silver bowl Avery had filled with water had shown us all a pretty picture of the Witch Queen and her Blood Knight but it had lacked any accompanying explanation. After seeing it, Megan still hadn’t known if it was safe to be alone with Griffin or not.

  Of course, in the end it turned out that he loved her and she was perfectly safe with him—well, as safe was anyone can be with a thirsty Nocturne who hasn’t been allowed a single drop of blood in fifteen years—but the True Heart Revealed Spell hadn’t really helped much at all.

  So excuse me for not believing that this same spell had somehow shown Avery that Ari was a good guy who was just watching out for me rather than a rich royal jerk who wanted a laugh at my expense.

  “Maybe you should give him another chance,” Avery suggested. “Maybe just talk to him?”

  “I don’t think so.” I shook my head. “I’m sorry, Avery, but I’m not comfortable with that.” I looked up at Griffin. “Thank you for standing by me and sending him away.”

  He inclined his head silently and I remembered our talk the other night when he’d told me I was like a little sister to him. I appreciated that big brother protectiveness very much right about now. Of course, Avery was very prote
ctive of me too, but in this case I thought it might be possible that he was letting Ari’s good looks get in the way of his better judgment. Avery has always had a weak spot for big, handsome guys and Ari certainly qualified there.

  “You don’t have to see him again if you don’t want to,” Emma said, squeezing my hand gently. “We’ll stand by you, whatever you decided to do.”

  “And we’ll be keeping an eye on Nancy, too,” Megan said, frowning. “I don’t know what other nastiness she’s planned, but she’s not going to get away with any of it.”

  “Thanks, guys.” I felt grateful all over again for the strength and warmth of our coven.

  Little did I know that even their love couldn’t protect me from what was coming.

  20

  Kaitlyn

  Despite its traumatic start, the rest of the week was surprisingly uneventful. I could feel Ari watching me, both in the classes we shared, and at mealtimes, but the big Drake didn’t try to approach me again, which was a relief. Or so I told myself.

  We started the sewing unit in Home Ec and I taught Megan how to use a sewing machine. It was a good thing I already knew how because Mrs. Hornsby continued to treat us like we had deliberately poisoned her and would barely even speak to us. She just glared when either Megan or I tried to ask a question. So we did our best without her which, thanks to my mom being such a good teacher and seamstress herself, was actually fine.

  Though I had to admit it was disconcerting to be taking a class from a woman who hated and distrusted me, I thought I might still be able to pass with enough attention to detail. I just hoped Mrs. Hornsby wouldn’t give Megan and me both an automatic F just because she disliked us so much.

  Nancy and the Weird Sisters continued to serve and clean in the Cafeteria but I was used to seeing them there now. And if they really were planning something for me, they were careful to keep their plans to themselves and only sneered at me and my Coven-mates when they served our food onto the green plastic trays that were ubiquitous to the Dining Hall.