by Abbie Lyons
I was jumping in to eavesdrop mid-conversation, so context was key, and this voice was low and smooth, with an accent that reminded me of the guy I used to buy pierogies from out of a silver lunch cart. But, like, sexier.
“None of us are happy, mate,” came another voice. Warmer, though just as deep, the accent rounder and softer. “Hardly makes her a suspect.”
“No one said suspect. I only mean we must be careful. Watch everyone.”
“Well, if she’s the one I have to watch—”
There was a soft thump, as if one of them had bro-punched the other. Maybe kyrioi were just the frat boys of the demon world. Which would make them a lot like cops, come to think of it.
“Be serious,” the first voice said, cool and smooth as ever. “Someone will get to them eventually if this keeps up. Might end up being her.”
“So what, you just want to—”
“Stop.”
They both stopped, along with what felt like my heart. Before I could react, let alone move, two figures swept out of the room.
“Show yourself, whoever you are!” called one of them.
Well, fuck. There was no way this was going to end well, and the curved outside of the wall wasn’t going to hide me for long. Hopefully demon detention didn’t suck.
I came out from my listening spot, resisting the urge to put my hands up in surrender. But as soon as I did, my stomach dropped. It wasn’t two kyrioi; it was Collum and Aleksandr, AKA two-thirds of the Infernal Three.
Was it weird that my first reaction was disappointment that Raines wasn’t there?
I shook the feeling off. Aleksandr’s face was alive with fury, but when he moved, Collum grabbed his elbow.
“Easy, mate. Don’t do anything stupid.”
“She was listening,” Aleksandr said. Up close, his eyes were intensely blue, to the point where I wondered if he was casting some spell on me when he stared at me. A light layer of blonde stubble covered his chin, his upper lip curled. “She’s a spy.”
“A spy?” I said, folding my arms. “For who? I’m not exactly in cahoots with anyone popular or powerful, in case you haven’t noticed.”
Aleksandr shook himself out of Collum’s grip.
“We know,” Collum said, giving Aleksandr a look. “He’s told—”
Aleksandr cut him off. “We want nothing to do with you.”
“The feeling is mutual,” I said. “Trust me.”
“Then what were you doing out here?”
“I could ask the same of you,” I shot back.
“Look, let’s just leave it,” Collum said, his deep voice gentle. I couldn’t help but notice how pleasingly broad-shouldered he was, like he’d grown up playing one of those traditional Irish field sports that involved a lot of aggression. “Nova, just go.”
“But—” Aleksandr and I said at the same time.
Overhead, the “class is over” bell rang its ominous bong bong bong.
I shut my mouth. I needed to sprint if I was going to be back in my seat by the time Stultior regained full consciousness. “Fine.”
“Fine,” Aleksandr practically snarled.
“Great,” Collum said. “And Nova?”
I whirled around, my curls hitting me in the face. “What? I have to go.”
Collum jogged to close the distance between us.
“Don’t tell Raines about this,” he said.
“Okay?” I said, perplexed. It wasn’t like Raines and I were having regular heart-to-hearts, or anything. “Why?”
“Just...” Collum pursed his lips. “Just don’t. He won’t like knowing we saw you without him.”
Chapter Thirteen
For the rest of the day and into the next morning, I was almost completely confident I’d gotten away with cutting class.
Then I was summoned to Dean Harlowe’s office.
Literally.
At Hades Academy, it turned out, getting called to the principal’s office wasn’t a “hear your name over a loudspeaker and do a walk of shame” kind of thing. It was way more instantaneous. There I was, sitting in the refectory with Morgan and Teddy, and the next thing I knew my vision was going red and blurry and a mega-gust of hot air like a super-powered subway grate blasted over my body from below. I blinked, and then I was at the door that led to Dean Harlowe’s office.
“Jesus Christ,” I said, pressing my palm to my forehead to stop what felt like the mother of all ice cream headaches.
“Nova?”
I looked up, and blinked again, still kind of dizzy. The door opened, and Dean Harlowe’s form materialized in front of me, and I briefly wondered if it was against the rules to take the Lord’s name in vain in front of a teacher, or if demons even cared about that kind of thing.
“Yes,” I said, blinking and blinking and finally getting my bearings. “Sorry. That was just—”
“I apologize,” she said. “It can be quite destabilizing the first few times. I promise we only summon you when it’s absolutely necessary.” She motioned for me to enter, and I did.
If that was supposed to be reassuring, it super wasn’t. The dizzy feeling was replaced with a genuine nausea in the pit of my stomach. I wondered if Teddy had been sick and I’d caught whatever bug he had.
“So...why is it....necessary, then?” I said slowly, walking into her office on decidedly unsteady legs. If I was in trouble, then I wanted to tread as lightly as possible. Explanations for cutting class flashed through my brain. Got lost looking for a water fountain. Needed more parchment. Needed a tampon. Needed—
“Please, sit.” She gestured at the weird black vine-chair that had appeared in front of her desk like the first day I was here. “Gentlemen, thank you.”
I whirled around. Two kyrioi had been standing on either side of her door the whole time. But at Dean Harlowe’s command, they flicked out of view, their dark coats fanning out behind them. Maybe they didn’t look like human cops, but the chilly, stabbing feeling they produced in me felt awfully similar.
“Sit,” Dean Harlowe said again.
I was still staring after the kyrioi.
“I spoke with Professor Frost yesterday,” Dean Harlowe said, her voice firmer. “Now, please sit.”
Shit.
I sat.
“Oh,” I said. I’d almost forgotten that I’d had that long, intense, probably-a-total-bust exetasis with Wilder. Except, come to think of it, I hadn’t forgotten that he said he’d keep it a secret. But nope—he’d totally squealed. I balled my hand into a fist. It wouldn’t surprise me if he had a sadistic streak. Not that I was into that. I mean, I could make exceptions, but—
“You’re not in any sort of trouble,” Dean Harlowe said. “I feel I should make that clear.”
Not in trouble yet, I added mentally.
“But I felt that perhaps this would be a good time to, well, check in with you.” She folded her hands on her desk. Her lipstick today was an impressive purple-black, with killer cut-crease eyes to match. If there was some kind of demon magic that gave you perfect makeup, then I wanted to learn it.
“Check in?” I couldn’t help but feel that there were strings attached to this little heart-to-heart. Dean Harlowe didn’t at all seem like the warm and fuzzy, tell-me-your-feelings type. Which I respected the hell out of, to be honest.
“This is all—understandably—overwhelming for you, I’m sure,” Dean Harlowe continued smoothly. “We take our students’ welfare very seriously here at Hades.”
I swiveled my gaze around to the door again. Empty. The MiBs were gone.
“No kidding,” I muttered.
“What was that?”
I decided to just go for it. “What’s with the heavies?” I said, before I could stop myself. The effects of the summoning had clearly worn off.
Dean Harlowe raised an eyebrow. “I beg your pardon?”
“The...” I waved my hand back behind me. “The kyrioi.”
Dean Harlowe pursed her inky lips, then smiled. “That’s nothing for you
to worry about,” she said smartly. “I can assure you.”
“But this isn’t...I mean, it’s not typical for the school to have guards, right? We’re demons. What is there for us to be afraid of?”
“Additional protection is...occasionally necessary.”
My mind flew back to the conversation I’d overheard in the hallway, between Collum and Aleksandr. What had they said?
Didn’t look happy about security.
Doesn’t make her a suspect.
Might be her.
There was one person I’d noticed being unhappy about security, and that was because she’d made sure everyone noticed her.
Camilla.
Of course.
“Is something wrong with one of the students?” My voice rang out high and clear. “Is someone planning something?”
“Nova.” Dean Harlowe’s voice was tart. “You’d do well to take me at my word that there is nothing for you to worry about. Understood?”
Not at fucking all, I wanted to say. But all I did was nod. I was already on Camilla’s bad side, and if being on that bad side proved dangerous, I didn’t want to have the administration pissed off at me too.
“Now,” Dean Harlowe said, patting the back of her hair, “as I was saying, your well-being is important to us. And Professor Frost mentioned that you seemed unusually anxious about your exetasis.”
“Anxious?” Maybe Wilder hadn’t squealed. Or not entirely.
“Which is perfectly normal,” Dean Harlowe cut in. “But he figured, given your atypical background for a Hades student, that perhaps—”
“Perhaps it had something to do with my being half-human?” I said. Dean Harlowe blinked her badass eyes. Then she sighed.
“Nova, I understand that your life has been difficult. Living life as a half-demon is never easy, of course, but your experience seems to have been...unduly stressful. But I want you to understand that you’re here now to be as ordinary a student as can be. Yes, you’re here to study hard, and to learn all you can, but the totality of your Hades experience does not end with your schooling. You have...friends, I hope?”
“Yes,” I said, truthfully. “They’re awesome. Well, weird, but awesome.”
That got her to smile, and I felt a little glow of pride. “I’m happy to hear that. Fellowship with other supernaturals is so important for your personal and demonological growth. You’re looking forward to the ball, I trust?”
“Everybody keeps mentioning it, but I have no idea what to expect.”
“I do so enjoy our annual festivities with the students of Elysium Academy,” Dean Harlowe said. “Yes, it may seem frivolous, I suppose, but we firmly believe that fraternization among supernaturals is crucial to establishing the bonds that undergird the balance of the universe.” Her mouth hardened to a thin line. “One of the few things Dean Serathiel and I agree upon.”
“So it’s basically demon prom, right?”
Dean Harlowe’s lips narrowed even tighter. “You could say so.”
“Sweet.”
The corners of her mouth twitched.
“My point is, Nova, that the last thing that I want is for you to feel isolated,” she said. “This is your home now. Hades and its people are where you belong.”
I had almost a half-second of believing her before I remembered my first exetasis. And the fact that I had no powers. And that Camilla quite possibly wanted to murder me not only socially but literally, in a ball-of-fire sense.
“Dean Harlowe,” I said carefully. “Can I ask you a question? Not about the bouncers in black suits.”
She puckered her lips, then relaxed. “Of course.”
“Is there any way to, you know...besides class, of course, and I’m studying really hard, but to like...practice?” I swallowed. There was no easy way to get information about how to be a better demon—or any kind of demon at all—without copping to the fact that my demon skills currently sucked to the point of nonexistence. “It’s just...it feels like so many of the other students have a leg up, having grown up as demons, and known all of this stuff for so long...”
I trailed off. Dean Harlowe frowned, tapping her chin.
“Practice, you say? Well, I’d say that you can certainly work on your physical fitness if you’re having trouble with combat sk—”
“That’s fine,” I said hurriedly. The last thing I wanted to do was run extra laps. I wasn’t exactly an “exercise regularly” kind of person. “I think I’m doing okay on that front.”
“I see. Well, beyond that, I’d recommend working on your mental state. Reducing stress, and so on. Channeling can be quite revelatory if done properly.”
“Channeling?”
“It’s something like meditation, you could say—simply sitting quietly, opening your mind, waiting for what insights and power may flow through you. But unlike human meditation, the ultimate effects can be much...stronger.”
“So I just sit down, close my eyes, and think?” There had to be some kind of catch.
“In essence, yes. In practice, there’s more to it than that, but you’ll most likely want to start small.” Dean Harlowe smiled. “It’s most effective under moonlight, I’ve found.”
I bit back a sigh. Why did everything demon-related have to be best done in the dead of night? I was starting to feel seriously sleep-deprived.
“Okay,” I said. “Thanks.” Hopefully I hadn’t given up too much about my total lack of ability to do...anything. Especially if Wilder wasn’t telling the dean the whole truth. “Is there anything else?”
Dean Harlowe went to shake her head, then stopped. “You don’t...I hate to be indelicate, Nova, but you don’t happen to know more about your possible demon parentage?”
“No,” I said. “As far as I knew, up until recently, I was 100% human New Yorker.”
“I see.” Dean Harlowe rose from her desk. “I only ask because, well, our demon community is usually fairly tight-knit. To have a half-demon appear almost as if out of nowhere is, while not unheard of, a bit surprising. I wondered if we might be able to make any family connections for you.”
Unbidden, my heart sprang to my throat, followed by a wash of guilt over my whole body. I’d only thought about my mom a few times since I’d arrived at Hades. Not that I thought she was a demon, but honestly, I’d take any clue, any hint towards where she was or who she really was.
But I’d been trying most of my life to find her. And not to slag on demon magic, but I was pretty sure that if someone like my mom wanted to disappear, she could make it happen without a lot of trouble.
“Yeah,” I said. “I don’t think so. But thanks anyway.”
“Of course.” Dean Harlowe waved a hand, conjuring what looked like a glowing, ethereal sundial in the air in front of her. “I won’t keep you longer, then. You’re dismissed.”
“Thanks,” I said, and turned to leave. Then I realize I didn’t know how I was supposed to leave. “So, do I just walk out, or...”
I left the office—the normal way—and was barely two steps from the door when a firecracker-like SNAP sounded in front of me. I flattened to the wall, heart pounding as if I was under gunfire.
There, materializing in a cloud of red smoke like the one that had dumped me here, were the Infernal Three.
My heart rate skyrocketed again. If Collum and Aleksandr were surprised to see me, they didn’t show it. I guess the secrecy of our run-in in the hallway was going to go both ways. Raines, meanwhile, looked nakedly furious. That, I could understand. This summoning thing was way more intense than necessary.
Collum smiled, and even a hint of amusement flickered over Aleksandr’s chiseled face. Raines, though, was unreadable as he’d ever been. His gaze, though, was fixed on me. Could he tell that I was keeping something from him? Not like “talking to his friends for like five minutes” was a huge secret, and not like he and I were even close enough that keeping secrets was a big deal.
Then again, he had been summoned here just like I was, and I was desperate
ly curious to know why.
“Go on in,” Raines said, before anyone else could speak. “I want to talk to Nova.”
Collum and Aleksandr shared a brief look, but passed by me with just a nod and slipped into Dean Harlowe’s door.
“What are you doing here?” I hissed, before I could think better of it. The hallway leading out of Dean Harlowe’s office, to the top of her winding stairs, was narrow, and Raines and I were practically pressed up against each other.
I didn’t hate it.
“Why do you think? We broke the rules.” Raines flickered a smile that faded too fast. “Here to get a ceremonial slap on the wrist, presumably.”
“Really?”
“For the first offense, yes,” he said. “After that, it gets worse.”
Neither of us said anything for what felt like a long moment, but was probably only a few seconds.
“Do you know how infuriating you are?” Raines said. I jerked my gaze up to meet his golden eyes.
“What? Infuriating?”
“You heard me,” Raines practically spat it. “Is this what half-humans are like? Just breaking rules and wandering around where they don’t belong?”
“Hey,” I said, “last I heard, you were the one here for breaking rules.”
“Sure, and your visit to Harlowe had nothing to do with your cutting class? Yeah, Col and Aleks told me. You thought they wouldn’t?”
The skin of my neck flushed.
“You can’t do that,” Raines said, his eyes flashing. The knot of his tie was slightly loose, his jaw tense. “Do you have any idea what kind of danger you could be in?”
“As a matter of fact,” I said, “I don’t. Harlowe just told me it was something I shouldn’t worry about.”
Raines looked smugly satisfied. “Well, that’s good.”
“Why? Is that information reserved for just the Infernal Three?” I snapped. “Come on. The kyrioi and everything? Something’s not right. I may be half-human”—I drew the words out with contempt—”but I know when something’s wrong. I can always sense when things are wrong.”
Instead of answering, Raines grabbed my wrist.