by Larisa Long
Blist. The other must be his sister. They rarely speak to each other and can avoid each other for years at a time. They have to get to safety.
Several of the witchlocks brandish weapons and look around as if there’s an imminent threat.
Dray glances to me. “Do not worry, Zalia, I will protect you with all of your lives.”
“Dray?”
He gasps and blushes. “I didn’t realize you knew my name.”
“Oh, for fae’s sake.” I flinch. “We’ve known each other since we were born. We’re only one day apart in age. We’ve had at least three classes together every year since we were five.”
He blushes again and blinks much too rapidly. “I still didn’t think you knew of who I was.”
“We’ve seen each other every fae day of our fae lives. From ages nine to twelve, you managed to eat only the cereal you knew I liked just to pixie me off.”
He still looks at me like he can’t believe I know him.
I shake my head. “Did they curse your brain along with other parts? Are all your parts equally inadequate?”
Dray cocks his head to the side as he studies me and tries to understand what I asked. “I don’t think so?”
“Forget it.” Total lost cause. Call in the insurance adjusters, cause that boy ain’t coming back.
Chapter 8
The group of witchlocks, and their weapons, lead me down each hallway and floor. Before we reach a stairway, they stop and have to make sure it is safe to proceed.
In my darkest moments at my most lonely existence, I dreamed of a day like this when I was treated like royalty, protected and loved. Now it just pixies me off. Be careful what you wish for. That’s all I can say, and be grateful. That’s another thing I should say.
Fae. Getting very philosophical with uplifting t-shirt phrases means one thing. “My blood sugar’s dangerously low.”
The entire group stops as if we’re suddenly on the most wanted of an incubus and succubus scavenger hunt. Raks whispers something to one of the younger witchlocks who becomes a blur as he flees.
We keep walking but have to stop when the same witchlock kneels before me and hands me a drink.
I look at the glass filled to the brim with an orange looking drink. “Smoothie?”
Raks smiles. “Just like you drink.”
“Pineapple and mango and orange juice and lime and mocha with three and a half blueberries?” I stare at it. I take it and sniff at it in case it’s moon root or flycatcher spit. It smells of fresh pineapple and orange. I take a sip and want to slip on my swimsuit and take a full on dip.
“Haven’t seen or had one of these in three years.” Not since I was banished from the kitchens during normal witching hours. Since all the Academy cooking staff are witches who hate me, no one listens to me and makes sure not to stock anything they remembered I liked. No mangoes and absolutely no chocolate. Fiends.
Xury only sips sugar water, and Blist won’t eat in front of us since I have never eaten meat. Not that I’d mind anything he did. I blush as I sip and think of Blist.
Since I hate cooking, I had to resort to eating whatever leftovers they hadn’t spelled into invisibility. Strangely only squished peas, decaying mandrake and peanut butter remained. I lived on PB sandwiches.
I even managed to invite all the rats, mice, raccoons, skunk, chipmunk, moles and voles for dinner every night with my peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. One jelly sandwich for every peanut butter one. I never mixed the two in the same sandwich, thinking that would lead more to mingling and conversation.
I think about what I just thought about. That sentence gave me a headache. Anyway, I could have just conjured what I wanted. That’s the first time that occurred to me. Seriously. Each Friday I make sure everyone else is fed, and I didn’t even think about doing the same thing for myself. Why is it easier to provide for others than it is to provide for myself? That pixies me off. I have to make sure self-deprivation isn’t one of the hidden curses.
I don’t stop until I’ve finished the last drop, and I don’t even mind the entire group watches my every swallow. Hopefully, when the spell wears off they’ll forget about everything they’ve seen. I hand him back the glass. “Thanks.”
Raks motions for me to keep moving. “Shall we? I don’t think it’s safe here.”
We keep moving and turn the corner to see a lion and large golden jaguar blocking our path.
“Blist?”
The jaguar snarls but looks directly at me and whimpers. I can see he’s been hurt. His side is bleeding.
I look into his eyes. “Can you see me?”
The jaguar nods it’s head.
How can he see me? Maybe if he’s shifted? Doesn’t matter.
The witchlocks train their weapons on him. One of them starts to chant something. I immediately block them all with a huge chunk of ice. Oops. I should have said in a huge chunk of ice.
I do a double take. Ice? That wasn’t the spell. Whatever. I follow the lion and jaguar. “We need to get you help.”
The lion growls.
“To the lower floors. Right?”
The jaguar glances at me and nods. I peer around another corner and motion that it’s alright.
“Lead the way.” I’ve never been to the lower floors. Since I’m a witchlock, there is no area of the school out of my reach. I find it incredibly unfair that I can go anywhere, but the other species have vast areas off limits. Because of that I never went to the lower floors. It was only fair if they couldn’t get to the witchy areas.
I follow the lion and limping jaguar, keeping my eye on Blist’s wound. “You’re bleeding too much, Blist.”
I look back at the trickle of blood he’s trailing. “They’ll be able to track us.”
The lion glares at me and growls. He rushes past me.
“Where are you going?”
Then I hear the sound. Lion’s peeing on the trail. I nod. “Good thinking.”
“Blist, did witchlocks do this?”
He nods but won’t look at me. “It must be difficult to combat the curse. You’re supposed to hate me. I’m sorry.”
He whimpers again, and the lion returns. I continue following.
The lion gets to a wall and stares at it. He looks one way and then another. He lifts his paw and hits a lower brick. The door opens quickly, and we rush into a darkened area.
I don’t dare move in case I set someone on fire.
I wait, but then I hear a growl way ahead of me. They’re cats, I tell myself. They’d be able to see better in the dark. I say a spell and a small twinkle light appears in the palm of my hand.
I don’t move until I make sure both the lion and jaguar are far away from me. I make my way along one path and then another tunnel. This is how they get down here? All this time I just assumed it was a stairway or elevator. This is so medieval.
We finally come to a door. The lion glances at me and motions to the light and growls. I immediately release the spell, and the light disappears. I’m in total darkness again, but I can hear the door open and several different eyes peer at me in the dark.
Someone snaps on a light switch, and the entire room illuminates.
“Why’d you bring her here?” Someone asks.
I don’t wait for a welcome. “Blist is hurt.”
Several rush forward and grab him and help him into another area where I can’t see.
“She’s a witch,” one says. “She’s one of them.”
I look around to what I thought would be a hovel, but it’s really a multi story library with so many levels I can’t see to the ceiling. There are ancient books in glass cases and statues of every type of shifter imaginable and several I’ve never seen before. Long tables with state of the art computers wait opposite lounge chairs for reading.
There are windows and what looks like light streaming in. I ignore the growls, hisses and snarls as I can’t take everything in. “This is beautiful.”
“Thought it would be a cave, didn’t
you?” One snipes.
I nod, careful not to show any fear. Shifters can taste it. They don’t respect it and never forget. You don’t come back from that. Ever.
Someone steps forward, and it’s my rune teacher, Professor Sway. “Relax,” he tells the others. “Zalia, you are welcome here.”
I back up.
“What’s wrong, witch,” one of the shifters hisses. “Too good for us?”
“They’re looking for me. They’re under the cousins’ spell and won’t stop. I can’t lure them here.”
Professor Sway nods and walks closer to me. I back up instinctively to more growls.
“Sorry,” I say. “The original curses are still intact.”
Professor Sway stops and puts his hands up. “Really? I would have thought the thirty-seventh would have superseded the other thirty-six.”
I didn’t realize anyone else even payed much attention to me. I guess the way I stare at him and everyone, they must recognize something is off.
“Of course we knew,” Professor Sway says. “Some of us have been working on reversing it.”
I look at several of the shifters who nod. I remind myself to breath. “I had no idea. Why would you do that for me?”
Professor Sway looks at me strangely. “You’re different from the rest of them. You’re more like your mother.”
At the mention of my mother I notice that all shifters whether they are in their shifted form or not bow their heads just a bit. Strange.
Professor Sway looks at me with sorrow in his eyes. “Did you just think everyone abandoned you?”
I nod. “Why would anyone care about me?”
Suddenly the growls settle down a bit. Professor Sway studies me. “That’s not one of the curses, if you’re wondering. You’ve always been sensitive to others and put all before yourself.”
I think about that. “I guess I have. That’s fae’d up.”
The Professor stifles a laugh and nods. “Yes it is. You’re the only witch who’s ever even talked to most of us.” Professor Sway glances at everyone else and then returns his attention to me.
One of the shifters steps forward. I remember her from necromancy class. “What’s my name?”
“Vax. You’re a bear shifter.”
She looks me up and down. “What color of bear?”
“See we’ve gotten to the testing section. I’ll need a snack before the essay.”
A couple shifters snicker. They don’t respect fear, but they do admire snark.
“Dark brown body with a lighter brown face and black legs. Faster than most and wicked powerful. Green eyes when you shift.”
She smiles. “Okay, witch. How many shifters are at the Academy?”
I take a deep breath and recite from memory. “There are currently one hundred and sixteen bear shifters.” I look her over. “Most don’t like to socialize. Two jaguar shifters. Twenty-eight dragon shifters.” I glance at the Professor. “That’s not including the Professors.”
He nods.
“Four hundred lion shifters. Liam’s the one who peed on Blist’s blood trail to cover it. That was smart. Warlocks can track anything. One thousand and two wolf shifters. Twelve red wolves and …”
The entire room gasps.
“No.” I take a deep breath. “Eleven red wolves.” I bow my head and sigh. “I don’t like to think of Ell not being here. For me, she’ll always be part of the Academy.”
“Okay.” Professor Sway holds up his hand to stop me from reciting names, birthdates, favorite colors, latest test scores. All of which I could totally do. “Satisfied, Vax?”
Vax looks to all the other shifters, and they nod their approval. “You definitely have the blood of your mother.” She looks me up and down. “Respect.”
“Respect,” the others say in unison.
“Respect,” I say in return. The blood of my mother? I frown as I try to fit that tidbit into the puzzle.
Professor Sway recognizes my confusion. I have it a lot in his class. So not a rune girl.
“You really don’t know, do you?”
I want to ask what he’s talking about, but I’m afraid what will happen if the witchlocks find us. “I have to leave. I put them in ice somehow.” Still don’t know how that happened. “But it won’t keep them forever.” I think about it. “It’s summer. How long will it take a block of ice to melt?”
“South side or north side?” Kyan, a dragon shifter, calls out.
“North.”
He thinks about it. “How thick was the ice? How many people encased? Was it under one of the statues or bridges?”
“Three feet thick. I think. About a dozen witchlocks. No statues or bridges. Direct sun.”
Kyan gasps. “We’re completely fae’d.”
I peer around to the room where they led Blist. “Is Blist going to be alright?”
Professor Sway nods. “He will be. Shifters heal fast. Don’t worry.”
I turn around to leave and then turn back around. “Do you need anything?”
“Just get them to reverse this. We are all at risk here.” He motions for me to follow him. “Ash, show Zalia.”
Ash, a bear shifter, quickly sits down at a computer and does whatever it is that people do who know something about computers.
While I’m staring at his tiny laptop screen, Professor Sway points for me to look at the ginormous screen above me.
The news comes on, and the reporter is standing in front of what looks like a battle. “I’m here just two miles from The Royal Fae Academy where groups of vampires are battling a group of warlocks.” She has to keep steady on her feet and duck as various weapons are thrown from both sides and are deflected in all directions. “There have been reports surfacing all over the realm about the violence which has quickly escalated over the last few hours. Many question just what King Philock will do about this and others have hinted he should be overthrown.”
The news quickly intersperses images of blood splattered shops and homes. “Faeries and banshees have been forced underground. There are at least a dozen missing vampires and more missing pixies.” The images show smiling pictures of those they believe are missing.
“There are disturbing accounts of the more rare dragon shifters and hybrids being kidnapped and possibly trafficked to other realms. We now join our reporter who is at the Academy.”
A smiling witch with bright orange hair nods. “Thank you. I’m here outside the front gates of The Royal Fae Academy where it is believed the King and Queen have taken refuge. The crowds are growing more violent and threatening.”
“All warlocks should die!” The crowd chants.
“Kill all the pixies,” another shouts.
“Skin the shifters,” another one screams.
“Rip the fangs off the vampires.”
“King Philock’s head,” the entire crowd starts to chant.
“Okay, Ash. That’s enough,” Professor Sway says. “Now you know how vital it is to get this resolved now.”
I nod. “How long until they get in?”
“Technically, the entire school is under a protection spell.” He looks back to Kyan who solved the ice problem.
“A half hour,” he admits.
My blood quickly feels like ice. I rush out of the room. I have a sick feeling that reversing this curse will cement the other thirty-six, but I can’t think about that. Everyone’s in danger if the thirty-seventh doesn’t fae off.
I call upon my trusty light and make my way down one hallway and then another before I find the door. I unspell the light and close my eyes. Then I do what? I have no idea how to open the door. The top brick? The bottom brick? A combination? “Fae.”
Just then, I hear a growl behind me. I spell my light again and see it’s the lion who squints at the light. I quickly cover the light away from his eyes but enough so I can see where he is. I step back, and he touches his paws to a sequence of bricks.
The lion growls and backs up as the door opens.
“Thanks, L
iam.” I step out, and the door quickly closes and looks as if it’s just another part of a wall. I put my hand on the wall. “Please be safe, Blist.”
I look around. There’s no one here. I run to get to the King and Queen. I don’t have much time.
Chapter 9
I get to the first floor with all the administration offices. “If I were a King and Queen …”
Think, Zalia. I walk to the center of the lobby where I can look up to all the floors. I think I see someone peeking out at me, but it wasn’t the King or Queen. Where would they be? They’d need an audience. I think of the large lecture halls. We have thousands. It would take me forever.
Just then something flies close to me and almost flutters my hair. I’m about to shoo it away before I see wings and purple hair and almond eyes. “A faerie.” I look at the beautiful, tiny faerie fluttering in front of me. “Do you know where the King and Queen are?”
She nods.
“Can you tell me where they are?”
She nods again and giggles.
I sigh and think. Direct question. No yes or no. “Where are they?”
She points to the east wing of the school. There are like three hundred classrooms there. Labs. Secret passages.
“A classroom?”
The faerie shakes her head.
Better speed this along. “Lecture hall? Secret passageway? Lab? Bathroom? Cafeteria? Supply room?”
She shakes her head once. Then she shakes her head again and again and again. Then she nods. Then she shakes her head.
“Four no’s. One yes. One no.” I think about the order I asked. “Cafeteria?”
The faerie smiles and nods.
“Thank you.”
She giggles, and a blue bracelet flutters down to me. “Hey, this is my lapis lazuli bracelet I lost last year.”
More giggles.
Thieves. Always stealing blue things. One reason we can’t have blue as school colors. It became dangerous to have various shirts, skirts or pants being snatched throughout the day. Parents were constantly calling about their children forced to walk around campus with towels, banners or backpacks quickly fashioned into coverings.