by Kant, Komal
He leaned in so close that I could see every imperfection on his handsome face. “You’re a mortal. You have advanced senses. You don’t seem to be too stupid. You must’ve known we were in here waiting for you.”
I tried to appear casual as I answered him. “What are you getting at?”
Loire ran a hand through his hair, appearing frustrated. He could tell that he wouldn’t get any easy answers from me. “I’m getting at the fact that you strolled in here expecting us. Why would you do that when you’ve been on the run for a month?”
I had to hand it to him; he was pretty smart. “I had nothing better to do and I was getting kinda bored. I figured the only way you guys were ever going to catch me was if I made it easy for you and handed myself in.”
Tyrone jerked as though he had been stung. Demons were competitive by nature and I was pretty sure he wasn’t pleased with my condescending attitude.
Loire eyed me in disbelief. “So, you’re really giving yourself up?”
I held up my hands. “I swear, I’m not going to escape again and humiliate you.”
Veritas shuffled around impatiently. “Loire, our escorts will be here any second. Do not waste any more time. Read her rights to her.”
Loire still seemed unsure as he studied me. “Why did you really decide to hand yourself in? What changed?”
His gaze seemed to penetrate my thoughts, and I tried to keep my mind blank so that Veritas couldn’t read it. They had no business knowing what my plans were. I shot Veritas a pointed look which made her frown.
“That’s enough, Loire,” Veritas cut in again. “You won’t get anything from this girl. She enjoys wasting people’s time and, frankly, I have no desire to waste mine on her.” I got the feeling that, for whatever reason, Veritas didn’t like me very much.
It could’ve been that I was a wanted fugitive. Or it could’ve been because I’d outsmarted her. I made sure to think hard on that last part so Veritas could hear it extra loud.
Loire may have been the spokesperson, but Veritas was clearly the one who called the shots, because Loire nodded obediently and didn’t ask me anything further.
Instead, he turned back to me with harsh eyes and spoke as though reciting something he had learned in a textbook. I guess I was back on the record now.
“Katerina Abella Lyrille, under arrest under section 13A of the International Supernatural Reconnaissance Peace Treaty, we are here to escort you back to Esteré Academy for the Gifted and Talented where you are to await further investigation for the murder of Headmistress Avangelista Melkane.”
Chapter Four
Bend, Oregon wasn’t such a bad place to attend school.
There was enough going on in the city all year round to keep busy. During the summer and winter there were plenty of tourists flocking to the city to make the most of the recreational activities that Bend had to offer. The mountains to the east of the city looked especially breathtaking in the winter, capped with snow. Further along, the Ponderosa Pine forest and winding rivers transitioned into the high-desert which was just as beautiful.
It was better than being stuck in a town that had only one store and one gas station.
What did suck about attending school in Bend was the fact that Esteré Academy was situated just outside the city limits, surrounded by forests and wilderness. So, really, we might as well have been stuck in the middle of nowhere with one store and one gas station.
We’d been transported back via what I liked to call the “supernatural express”, otherwise known as teleportation. Just like demons, angels also specialized in a particular ability, but their abilities were psychic based instead of elemental, ranging from powers like healing, telepathy, telekinesis, and of course teleportation.
When a group of people were involved in teleporting, things could get tricky, and after four weeks of being away from school, I certainly hadn’t expected to catch my first glimpse of Esteré Academy as I lay on the ground.
Well, sort of. Veritas had kindly cushioned my fall, protecting me from the fine layer of November snow on the ground.
“Will you get off me?” she grumbled, struggling to her feet.
I glanced around, acting surprised. “Oh, I’m so sorry, dear angel. I did not notice you there.” She very well knew otherwise and showed me this by making a rather unholy gesture with her finger.
“What would God say?” I gasped, covering my mouth in mock horror.
I heard Tyrone snicker from somewhere behind me, and Veritas’ mouth formed a tight line as I got to my feet and stretched my arms like I’d just gotten off a ten-hour plane ride. In reality, the whole process had only taken a few seconds.
The three teleporter angels Veritas had summoned had transported us several feet away from the imposing wall that surrounded the school. The school was built from a combination of stone and brick and looked like a medieval castle with four turrets positioned on the highest levels. The wide windows with their black, iron frames had ivy curled around on the outside—if I didn’t hate that I was back here, I’d admire it some more.
Behind us, a forest stretched vast and expansive as far as the eye could see. It was hard to tell in the dark, but Bend lay on the other side just beyond the forest. Bend was inhabited by normal humans who weren’t aware that half an hour away lay a school where the children of Heaven and Hell gathered to train with a select few mortals like me.
I glanced over to where Veritas, Tyrone, and Loire were talking in low voices. I couldn’t hear the specifics of their conversation, but I was pretty sure it had something to do with me.
Taking a few casual steps in their direction, I strained my ears and hummed nonchalantly. Someone nearby cleared his throat, making me jump. It was one of the three teleporter angels that had transported us back to school.
He was tall and poised, almost like a marble statue, but with more color. His platinum blonde hair was styled into a pompadour which gave him an odd, old-fashioned look although he couldn’t have been much older than me. This dude needed to get with the times.
He stared pointedly at me as if to dissuade me from moving any closer to the trio and their hushed conversation.
Making a face, I instead turned my attention onto him and gave him a lazy smile. “You three with SRECON?”
None of the angels responded.
I tried again, focusing on the angel who’d caught my attention first. “I’m going to call you Pompy,” I said, as though I was naming a pet.
The angel blinked his large blue eyes at me and acted like he hadn’t heard me.
“Tough crowd,” I muttered.
“You must know that angels don’t have much of a sense of humor,” Loire said very close to my ear.
His warm breath against my cold skin was like a shock to my system, and I jerked away from him. Our interaction in the bar and the fact that I’d thought he was hot was embarrassing for me. I mean, not that I still did. Not really.
“That’s a bit stereotypical.” I met his amused expression with a scowl. “And you’re way too close for my liking. I can still smell cheap floozy on you.”
“Well, you were the last girl I was close to, so that makes sense.”
“Do you always have to be such a jerk?” I shot back.
He smirked. “What can I say? You bring out my sensitive side.”
“You have a sensitive side?” My mouth fell open. “Is it very different from your douchey side?”
“No, my douchey side is when I effortlessly seduce naïve girls in clubs, minutes before I arrest them for a felony.” His tone was incredibly smug as he shot me what he probably thought was a winning smile.
A few choice swear words were on the tip of my tongue, but realizing that we could go on like this all day, I decided to ignore him. I wanted to be inside the school already and get this over and done with. Tyrone and Veritas were taking way too long.
As if sensing my thoughts, because I guess that was her job, Veritas exchanged some final words with Tyrone before br
iskly approaching Loire and me.
She met me with cold eyes. “We have decided that the teleporters will leave us now and that we will accompany you inside. Do you have any questions?”
“Are you sure you can handle me on your own? We all know what happened last time you tried.”
Tyrone appeared beside Veritas and the flames around my wrist flickered once more as a reminder to behave. He flashed me a broad grin, which made me want to knock out his perfectly white teeth.
Veritas’ mouth tightened, making her pretty face appear austere. “Let’s go. Marcus, Ella, Sadie, thank you for your help.”
The three teleporters nodded in response before soundlessly disappearing. I had to admit, their abilities were pretty amazing. Anna was always insecure about her abilities, even though I thought it was pretty cool what she could already do.
Veritas turned her head slightly in my direction as if she had heard something of interest. Our eyes briefly met and her features softened for a second before she turned away. I wondered if she had heard my thoughts about Anna, and if she had why she’d reacted that way.
The four of us trudged up to the school in single file with Veritas leading, Loire in front of me, and Tyrone bringing up the rear. Since I had nothing better to do, I studied the way Loire took lengthy strides, somehow managing to make a simple thing as walking look graceful. And that butt, let’s not even go there. Did he do squats?
Quickly reminding myself that I was admiring the enemy, I shifted my attention to my surroundings as Veritas led us across the front courtyard and through the large, iron doors of the school. The gates and doors were all magically sealed and only granted access to people who were expected. I guess that was us.
We now stood outside in the main courtyard that led to different parts of the school. All above our heads were hundreds of floating lanterns, suspended in the air by magic—it was one of the most beautiful things about the school at night.
The courtyard itself was also beautiful with a large fountain placed right in the center of a crossroads. What really stood out about the fountain was the stone statue in the middle which was supposed to be a likeness of Margot Esteré, the founder of the school. Crystalline water poured out from Margot’s eyes and mouth, gathering in the stone basin below where large goldfish swam.
“This way,” Veritas said, not pausing to admire the fountain or the lanterns.
My heart sank as we followed a familiar, lantern-lit path into one of the buildings.
We were going to Headmaster Delware’s office.
***
The reception area that led to Headmaster Delware’s office was richly decorated with Grecian columns that framed the walls, spanning from the ceiling to the floor. The floor itself was something to marvel at, made up of blue and white mosaic tiles.
The Headmaster’s receptionist was a middle-aged angel with straw-colored hair. She glanced up as we all walked in, her red lips forming an ‘O’ at the sight of us.
“We are here to see the Headmaster about the return of Katerina Lyrille,” Veritas said. She was one angel who didn’t mess around.
“Kater-uh Lyrille?” the receptionist asked. Her eyes widened as she noticed me and she nearly fell out of her chair.
“Yes, Katerina Lyrille,” Veritas repeated in a no-nonsense tone. “The Headmaster is expecting us.”
“We don’t have much time, ma’am,” Tyrone chimed in. “Katerina has unpredictable and uncontrollable outbursts. God knows what she could do to you.” He sounded incredibly serious if not for the glint in his eyes.
I bared my teeth at her for effect. The receptionist looked like she was going to pass out and swiftly placed her fingers to her temples. For a second I thought she was trying to calm herself down, but then realized that she was a telepath like Veritas.
There were an abundance of jobs for supernaturals once they graduated school. A demon with a Supernatural Law degree could eventually get a job in Parlum. An angel blessed with the power of healing could go into medicine and help supernaturals recover from injuries. A telepath who didn’t do so well at school could become a receptionist.
Veritas turned to Tyrone, her forehead creasing as she frowned at him. “Acting your age shouldn’t be such a monumental task.”
Tyrone’s face fell and he looked as though Veritas had slapped him. He didn’t say anything, but his face showed how annoyed he was.
I suddenly felt the need to defend Tyrone. I had almost set him on fire, after all. It was the least I could do. “Hey, give him a break. We’re just trying to have a little fun.”
Veritas’ soft features turned venomous. “You think this is fun? Being a murderer and a fugitive is a game for you? Don’t you understand that they could imprison you for life for what you have done?”
I stared at her, stunned, as she stormed off into the corner, her perfectly wavy, blonde hair swishing behind her. What surprised me was how much concern she’d had in her voice; the same concern that parents had when you snuck out of the house late at night and they didn’t know where you were.
I didn’t know why Veritas cared what happened to me, but she had a point. They could serve me with life imprisonment or something worse. I shuddered to think what they would do to a mortal found guilty of killing a powerful angel. Mortals rated pretty low on the supernatural food chain.
I guess it was just easier to cover the serious stuff with humor—it helped me forget about the situation I was in, even if it was only for a brief moment.
I noticed Loire studying me, and quickly dropped my head so he couldn’t see the expression on my face. I didn’t want him to know that Veritas had affected me. I had to be strong—I was supposed to be a cold-blooded killer, after all.
The receptionist relaxed her hands and said to no one in particular, “You can all go in now. Headmaster Delware is waiting for you.” The door to Delware’s office swung open and we all advanced towards it; the receptionist was still eyeing me warily as I walked past her.
Inside, Headmaster Troitan Delware—or “Uncle Troy” as Misha called him—stood waiting for us. He had a surprisingly youthful face, the features were soft, the skin smooth, and the eyes a unique hazel-green. Those hazel eyes ran in the family because Misha had the same eyes. The bronze erat markings on the side of his neck immediately gave him away as an earth user.
Delware was not alone. An angel stood by him with greying hair and a sour expression like he was sucking on a lemon, wearing an expensive, red suit decked with medals. I squinted to make out what the three medals were—one was some sort of bird, another looked like a donut ring, and the third was gold and shaped like a lightning bolt. He was definitely someone important.
There was a flurry of movement around me as Loire, Veritas, and Tyrone briefly bowed their heads. The formality confused me—they weren’t bowing for Delware, so it must’ve been for the angel.
Delware stopped in front of me and studied me in a way a father might study his child. His expression was quite serious for a moment until his face broke out into the familiar smile I had known from a young age. There was the “Uncle Troy” I had known since my childhood.
“I am so relieved to see you safe and sound, Katerina. You have eluded SRECON for a long time.” He looked like he wanted to hug me, but was restraining himself, maybe because of the old angel dude.
“I could’ve been naked covered in butter and they still wouldn’t have found me,” I said nonchalantly.
Tyrone snickered, and I could mentally picture Veritas in the background looking ruffled, no doubt insulted by my dig at her tracking skills.
“Well, that is a rather colorful way to put it, but, yes, SRECON has had difficulty tracking you down. You proved to be quite resourceful.” There seemed to be a hint of pride in his voice.
“Her insubordination is anything but colorful.” The angel eyed me like I was last night’s trash that hadn’t been taken out, before continuing. “We don’t need mortals running around all over the country while we waste
expensive resources on them. They are given privileges and they abuse them. Someone like her should be put down.”
My ears burned. Put down? He spoke about me like I was a wild animal.
Delware’s jaw tensed at his words. “The death penalty seems too severe for someone so young, Parla Hampton.”
Oh. So, this old dude was a Parla, a member of Parlum. Now it made sense why the SRECON agents had bowed.
Parlum was made up of twelve Parlas and thirty-eight representatives who made the laws for the supernatural world. The representatives were important people from the supernatural community. To date there had only been a mortal representative in Parlum—like I’d said, mortals were at the bottom of the supernatural hierarchy.
“She killed someone, Troitan,” the Parla said, fixing Delware with a steel gaze. “A very powerful angel, of all people. We must make an example of her.”
Delware looked like he was fighting several emotions at once. I knew he would never allow anything bad to happen to me.
“What proof do you have that I was the one who killed her?” I demanded. This old dude was pissing me off.
The Parla’s upper lip curled in contempt. “Are you denying that you were the one who committed this atrocious crime?”
“I’ve always said I was innocent!” His accusations were frustrating me. Weren’t Parlas supposed to be objective? “I’m not the one you should’ve been looking for!”
“Then why were you seen arguing with the Headmistress mere hours before her death? How did it so happen that you were the first one to find her body? You have no alibi as to your whereabouts of that night, and you ran away from school days after you were named a suspect.” The Parla sounded smug as he recited all this. “Why should I believe in your innocence?”
I met his apathetic expression with fierceness. “What did I kill her with? Did you ever find a murder weapon that linked me to her death? Were my prints on her body? What possible reason would I have to kill her?”
“Whatever you were arguing with the Headmistress about is the reason you killed her.” Parla Hampton said this like he was Sherlock friggin’ Holmes and had figured out a great mystery. “You have yet to disclose the nature of your argument for us to verify.”