“What is that?” I asked. “This wasn’t there before.”
Rodrick stiffened and clasped his hands together in front of him. “You’ll learn in time. And once you do, you’ll understand why I’m more stern about your brother’s future prospects than you would like.”
“You can’t possibly blame me for wanting to know. I grieved for my brother. I still grieve. And now that there’s a sliver of a chance that he might be alive you want to taunt me with the idea of him being killed all over again? Give me a chance to find him. To talk to him. If he did all this to make everyone believe he was dead then there has to be a good reason.”
“We will find him, Miss Blackburn. If he’s out there, we will find him. Your duty right now is to your studies. Tomorrow is your admission ceremony into the academy. Then the following day you will be given a short period to visit any family or friends you wish to say goodbye to. Give them a cover story. Whatever you see fit that they would believe. Then come back here and you will begin your classes like all the other students that passed the trials. Do you understand?”
I latched the bracelet onto my opposite wrist and felt the cold metal against my skin. “Yes, I understand.”
“Good. Now go back to your dorm, clean up, and get some rest. Alina will stop by your room at midnight tomorrow to escort you to the ceremony. Then the following day you will be escorted wherever you would like to go to tell your loved ones goodbye.”
“Escorted? Why? Am I some sort of prisoner?”
“No,” he rasped as if my words offended him. “You’re an asset. The vixra value your life.”
“Do you?” I asked, a little stunned that I let the words come tumbling out of my mouth.
Something passed between us. A hint of uncertainty. He was considering my question with great care. Then his expression tightened. I knew he was about to set me straight before he even opened his mouth.
“I don’t desire the company of twenty-year-old aspiring rock stars, Miss Blackburn.”
“That’s not what Devon said.”
“You want to take the word of a man who willfully deceived you?”
I edged around his desk and stood closer to him, wanting to hear the steady beat of his heart when he answered. “He said Blackatters are drawn to one another. Is that true?”
Rodrick was silent, refusing to engage.
“I’ve been lied to a lot lately,” I went on. “Now that I know my brother was here and you kept it a secret from me, I’m willing to get rather unpleasant if I sense someone is trying to lie by omission. So answer me honestly. Is what Devon said true?”
I was half curious and half determined. If there was even the slightest chance that Devon wasn’t lying and I mattered to Rodrick on some deeper level, I could maybe convince him to give my brother a chance. And to let me speak to him if he was found before he would ever face the vixra.
I knew how to flirt. A girl doesn’t live in France for an extended period of time without picking up little tricks. And yet, part of me wasn’t sure a man like Rodrick would be tempted by such tactics. He was stoic. He carried a noble air about him. And maybe he was telling the truth. Perhaps a twenty-year-old wasn’t his idea of a suitable intrigue.
Rodrick’s eyes narrowed, searching for the words as he took in the sight of me. Then in an unexpected gesture, he lifted his hand up and cupped my face. His skin was warm. Inviting. He studied me with the same intensity Devon used to ensnare me right into his arms.
“Get back to your dorm,” he said briskly. Then he moved his hand away and escorted me out the door to his office. When he shut the door I felt as though a cord had been snapped. Like he had cast me out into a storm.
I raised the hood of my trench coat over my head and walked back to my room.
In the end, Rodrick didn’t matter. Not in the long run. All that mattered was my brother.
To my inexplicable joy, McKenzie was gone when I went back to my dorm to sleep. I could shower and rest in peace. Which took longer than I expected given my hair was still matted with blood and dirt from the forest. For a brief second, I realized I had gotten up close and personal with Rodrick looking like I had gone wrestling in a hog pen. And not smelling particularly better than one. I cringed at the thought then purged it from my mind. Then I fell asleep with Dirk’s face fresh in my memory. I had a new reason to fight. To push onward.
If Dirk was alive, I had to find him. And most of all, I needed to know why he faked his death.
2
I barely moved when I heard a loud knocking at the heavy wooden door to my dorm room.
“Riley,” I heard Alina’s voice on the other side. “It’s me. Open up. The ceremony starts in twenty minutes.”
‘Then that’s fifteen more minutes I can sleep.’
“Come on, Riley,” she insisted, knocking even louder so I couldn’t ignore her.
I rolled out of bed, went over to the door, and pulled it open by the large iron handle.
“On a scale from one to ten, how bad will today be?” I asked as soon as I saw her pixie-like features and bright red hair. “Because I don’t think I can handle many more surprises right now.”
She smirked. “It definitely won’t be worse than the first few times you shifted. Just get through the branding and you’ll be fine.”
“The branding?” I repeated in complete horror.
“Yes.” She pulled the side of her shirt away and showed me the space just below her left collar bone. “We all get one when we’re admitted into the academy. The pain is fleeting and your skin will heal over it quickly.” She sighed and pushed the door open further. “Come on now, Riley.” She let herself in and plopped down on McKenzie’s bed. Or at least where she used to sleep. Maybe she got the new dorm room she wanted so much. I had absolutely no objection. “You’ve been through worse. And you’re tough. You wouldn’t have survived the trials if you weren’t.”
I went over to the dresser where a few of the shirts and trousers she gave me were neatly folded.
“Not just yet,” she said, removing a small bag from inside her trench coat. “Wear this.”
I took the plastic shopping bag from her and pulled out what was inside. It was a long black dress that reached the floor with a plunging back and an even more daring front. “Are you sure this is appropriate?”
“No different from your stage outfits, I imagine.” She flashed me a wink.
“That’s different. It’s performance clothing.”
“Well, there’s a high platform in the ceremony room of the White Tower. Consider it a stage for all to see. You should look your best.”
“For who?”
She snickered and played with a strand of her hair as if we were old friends talking casually. I liked Alina. She was kind to me when so few at the academy were when I first arrived. Even so, I wasn’t ready to share battle stories with her just yet.
“Lothar will be there. He has to present you before the academy given he mentored you through the trials.”
I took the dress over to the tall mirror McKenzie had standing in the corner of the room and admired the dress over my body. Alina got the size just right. And it was tight in all the appropriate places.
Alina admired her work with picking out the dress as I held it up against my slender frame.
“You’re not suggesting Lothar is interested in me, are you? Because quite frankly I’ve never been so confused in my entire life.”
“About what?”
I took the dress into the bathroom and left the door open wide enough to keep talking. “About everything. Ever since I first came here I feel like I’ve been attracted to every guy I see. Which makes no sense because you were the only one who treated me halfway decent.”
“That’s not their fault,” she said. “We become hardened here after a while. So many initiates die before they ever reach their admission ceremony. No one wants to get too close to them. So we tend to be a bit cold to the new people who come through. But Lothar took a chance on you
. He pushed you. He urged you forward. Plus, the instant attraction you once felt will calm down now that you’re a lycan. It won’t be quite as intense as it was before.”
‘But it will still linger in the background. Is that what she’s saying?’
When I appeared around the corner she had nothing but admiration for me. Or maybe it was for her choice of attire that she was admiring.
“Now pull your hair back out of your face and we’ll be ready,” she said.
I took some of McKenzie’s hair ties from her dresser drawer and put my hair in a bun. Then I glanced over to the mirror in the corner. The dress made me look like I was being presented to modern day nobility at a risqué evening party, let alone a room full of lycan.
“I don’t think I would call what he did urging me forward,” I said. “It felt more like being put through torture.”
“All I’m saying is Lothar doesn’t usually give that kind of dedication to his initiates. He usually keeps a healthy distance. He was the one who noticed when the tracker inside of you went out of range.”
“Yeah, about that. Can I get that thing removed?”
She smirked and beckoned me closer. Then she took out a pocket knife from the inside of her trench coat and dug it right into my left wrist.
“Ouch! What are you doing?” I hollered as I tried pulling my hand back.
“What you asked me to do.” Her grip was like steel. She turned the knife down as if it was nothing more than a toothpick and not a sharp blade. Then something tiny popped right out of my flesh. A small piece of metal that looked like a pill capsule. The skin on my wrist healed up in a matter of seconds. I watched as the skin sewed itself back together. Then I trudged into the bathroom and wet a towel to remove the blood still dripping from my arm.
“You’re welcome,” she said.
“Yeah, thanks, I think.”
She snickered and walked over to the door with my trench coat in her hands. “Come on. We don’t want to be late.”
I pulled the trench coat on and yanked the hood over my head. Then I slowly let it down. I was a lycan now. Rodrick said the moon would energize me if I became one. I didn’t need the hood anymore. Although, I had to admit that it gave an outfit extra flare.
We made our way to the White Hall. The entire time her words were echoing in my head. The very thought of Lothar or even Rodrick caring about me was absurd. I tested it with Rodrick the night before. That failed spectacularly. And Lothar was just doing his job. Failing me as a mentor would probably mean punishment. Especially given what I was. A Blackatter. That was probably why Rodrick told Lothar to pay closer attention to me. Because Rodrick knew the value in what I was from the start.
We walked into the large hall with the wooden timbers high above us. I saw all the students sitting in long chairs lining the hall. Candles were lit along the sides. The room had an ethereal glow. The front was lined with the professors sitting in tall throne-like chairs. Rodrick was at the center with various professors beside him. Lothar was directly to the left of him along with the few other mentors with surviving initiates.
I was prepared to walk down the center of the hall as I saw others doing when Alina pulled me back.
“Here,” she said. “Remove your trench coat and put this on.”
It was a long black cloak made of fine material. My arms nearly fell when I took it in my hands. I wasn’t expecting it to be so heavy. “What’s this for?” I asked. “Is it ceremonial?”
“Not quite. Just do as you’re told and don’t be afraid.”
I fit my arms through the sleeves and allowed her to lift the hood of the cloak over my head.
“Now, walk slowly up the aisle with your hands clasped in front of you,” she instructed me. “Then repeat after the Dean when he orders you to take the oath to the academy. You’ll be asked to state your purpose. Say that you wish to be a fully enrolled student at the Lycan Academy of Shapeshifting. Then you’ll be guided through the branding and your rebirth.”
“My rebirth?”
She fastened a silver hook on the cloak over my chest and took a step back to look at the final touch. “Don’t be afraid. You can handle it.” Then she gave me a little shove forward.
I slowly set one foot in front of the other, keeping my eyes ahead of me the whole time. It felt as though I was walking down an aisle for my wedding, only this wasn’t to marry someone I intended to build a family with. It was a symbol of my new life. The old life I was being forced to leave behind. The life that I had just started to follow through on my own. And suddenly, I was angry. I focused my eyes directly on Rodrick who was standing at the center of the line of professors and mentors on the platform before me. That was when I noticed that only two other initiates were standing at the front in their fine suits and long black cloaks. I was the only woman. And I was one of three survivors. At least three hundred students were lined in the chairs facing forward, watching the ceremony take place. And I couldn’t help but wonder how many of them were the only survivors of their initiate group to endure the trials.
Then the memory of the bodies being carted out of the dungeons pierced its way through my mind with unwelcoming clarity. The shield over the academy was damaged. Maybe there were supposed to be more survivors and I was one of the lucky few.
I stood to the right of the other initiates. And I didn’t allow my eyes to leave Rodrick’s. He only broke his gaze on me after it was time for the ceremony to begin. Then my eyes unconsciously swept over to Lothar. My shared moment with Rodrick certainly didn’t go unnoticed. I could see Lothar clenching his jaw.
‘Alina couldn’t have been right. She just can’t. Lothar doesn’t even know me.’
Before I had time to question things any deeper I saw Rodrick lift his hands and welcome the first surviving male initiate toward the center of the platform. Alina stood to his side to escort him up the stage. Then he was shown to a square space where he was forced to face the entirety of the student body before us. The hood of his cloak was hanging over his eyes. I didn’t need to see them to know that he was frightened.
‘I already survived the trials. This can’t be too difficult.’
Rodrick placed his hands on the young man’s shoulders and then started speaking.
“Repeat after me,” he said. “I, Xavier Clarkson, give myself over, body and soul, to the way of the lycanthrope.”
The young man repeated his words. I could hear his voice shaking.
“I will commence with classes to discipline my lycan instincts and conduct myself with honor and fortitude.”
I listened as the oath went on. More about how he would continue with his training until it was complete and how he would be obedient to everything that the professors said.
“Now state your intention to the academy before you are reborn into the lycan realm,” Rodrick continued.
“To continue my studies and become a professor with a specialization in hunting and prey at the Lycan Academy of Shapeshifting,” the young man said. His eyes were downcast. He knew his fate was sealed and he had no way out. I felt sorry for him. I didn’t like this any more than he did. But if I was going to be forced into becoming a lycan, I would make the most of it. I would be the strongest I could possibly become. And I would still try my hardest to live my life the best that I could. It wasn’t an end. It was a new beginning.
Rodrick set his hands aside and took a few rather large steps back. “Remove your cloak,” he ordered.
I could hear the students start to whisper as Xavier did as he asked. It was then that I saw the young man’s face. He couldn’t have been more than sixteen. Far too young and far too inexperienced in life to have these sort of circumstances thrust upon him. I felt sorry for my judgment of him in an instant.
“Now shift,” Rodrick ordered him.
Xavier closed his eyes and did as Rodrick commanded. He gradually shifted into a lycan with all his clothes on him, transforming them and his body all at the same time. I could see him grit his teeth. H
e hadn’t quite mastered avoiding all the pain but he definitely had more control than when he was first enduring the trials. He transformed into a magnificent lycan with jet black hair and striking gold eyes. He could stand on his back hind legs as he towered high above Rodrick.
I shook my head in disbelief. For being such a scrawny teenager he was quite a stunning lycan.
I heard him start to growl as Alina stepped over to the fireplace behind the line of thrones where the other professors and mentors were seated. She had an iron in her hand. On it was the same crest outside the academy. She went before him and held the hot iron in her hand. I squinted at the bright light at the end of it, horrified by what I knew I was about to witness.
“Kneel!” she told him.
He did so and waited for the inevitable.
Alina took the end of the iron and thrust it directly into his left shoulder.
Xavier howled up toward the roof with a tremendously loud roar. One only suited for a supernatural being. Once Alina was done she thrust the iron back. Xavier looked spent. Alina hopped off the platform as Rodrick raised his arms in the air.
“You have been accepted into the department for Lycanthrope Interventional Training in the Lycan Academy of Shapeshifting,” he said in a loud booming voice.
Then Nurse Roslyn came up from the far corner of the thrones on the platform and lifted her hand up, sending a stream of bright gold flames under Xavier’s feet and consuming him in a tower of magical fire.
Oddly enough, Xavier didn’t scream this time. He stood up on his hind legs once more and let the fires overpower him. I watched as the flames turned strands of his fur into silver streaks. They shined in the light of the fire as the brand on his shoulder turned a deep shade of black. Then Xavier transformed back into a human. His brand looked like nothing more than a tattoo. One that would forever mark him as a lycan and a member of the Lycan Academy of Shapeshifting.”
Restrike: (Lycan Academy of Shapeshifting: Operation Shift, Book 2) Page 2