by Jen Pretty
"Why are you still walking around a free vampire?" Jax asked, walking up toward Nick with a look of determination. "Looks like they even gave you clean clothes and some blood to drink. Or did you just latch on to some poor unsuspecting witch?"
Nick's brow lowered and a sound rumbled from his chest.
"Stop," Colvin said, squirming until Nick let him down. "You can't talk to Nick that way! He would never hurt anyone." Colvin looked back at Nick. "Tell him, Nick."
Nick remained silent and my heart shattered as I watched confusion cross Colvin's face. The hero-worship Colvin once felt for Nick was about to be broken and I could see in Jax's face that he hadn't meant to be the instigation of it.
Nick knelt down and pulled Colvin towards him. "I've made some mistakes." Nick's eyes flicked to me. "Some big ones that have hurt people."
"I don't believe that," Colvin said, stomping his little foot.
"I'm sorry, buddy." Nick's eyes expressed his sadness and I could hear the waver in his voice. "I'm going to do everything I can to fix it. And make it up to everyone I hurt." His eyes flicked to me over Colvin's shoulder, but his look was so intense, I had to look away.
I found Jax watching me.
"Will you stay here?" Colvin asked. "Just for now?"
"Yeah. I'm going to stay; we have to have a ceremony for Niri, and I have some things to talk about with Selena."
Colvin turned and looked at me. "Will you stay for the funeral, too?" His lip was quivering, and I couldn't speak, afraid my voice would catch, so I just nodded my head and gave him the best smile I could muster.
Colvin turned back to Nick. "If you made a mistake, you should say you're sorry. That is what Niri always said."
"I'm sorry," Nick muttered before hugging Colvin to his chest tightly. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before letting him go. "I have a lot of work to do right now, but I'll come to see you at bedtime." Nick rose and strode off before Colvin could say another word.
"You'll forgive him, Selena," Colvin said as he turned back to me and reached out his hand to cup my cheek. His tiny fingers were warm and sticky, but I didn't mind.
"Will I?" I asked.
"I know you will. He's very sorry."
I wasn't sure if Colvin was just hoping for the best or knew something I didn't, but one of the teachers I recognized walked into the room at that point.
"Colvin, we are having a pizza party in the Auditorium if you'd like to join us," she said, holding out her hand.
"I'll see you later, kiddo," I said, hugging him one last time.
"I love you, Selena."
"I love you, too."
As he ran off with the teacher in hot pursuit, the deepness of my need to protect him almost consumed me. I had spent time with other young children when I lived in the orphanage and always felt protective of them, but this was different. I would kill for that boy and the depth of that feeling was so much it pulled tears to my eyes.
Jax stepped forward and pulled me to his chest, but I didn't need comforting. I needed vengeance.
The White Crow would pay for what he wrought with his beasts. The pain he had caused and the damage he had done were nothing compared to what I would do to him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Jax and I had dinner with Falcor, Farand and Mr. Havisham in Niri's office. Farand and Mr. Havisham went over the details of Niri's will, which in plain English said I would take over as Colvin's legal guardian and that a man I had never heard of would take over as the administrator of the Sanctuary. This last point seemed to upset Mr. Havisham but kept a smug look on Farand's face, so I presumed the new person was well known to Farand.
I just hoped they could fill Niri's big shoes. The last matter of business was Niri's funeral.
He wanted to be buried in the graveyard just beyond the Sanctuary grounds and had purchased a plot there years ago. I felt good about the fact he would be close by.
Peran and Kai popped their heads in and let us know they were being called away to handle a murder in Minneapolis. I gave them each a hug and said my goodbyes, wishing they could have stayed for the funeral but they were needed elsewhere.
"Does Nick have control of the remaining vampires?" Jax asked as we finished our dinner.
Farand nodded. "It would seem the rest of them are falling in line now that the real cause of the war has been revealed as this White Crow character."
Jax grunted and leaned back in his chair. "I'm not comfortable with him being here."
"That's not your call," I said quickly.
All eyes shifted to me. Jax sat forward, looking me in the eye, but his voice softened. "He is responsible for the death of several guards because of the attack."
"I know, but he tried to stop it."
"Did he? All we have is his word that he was attacked. He could have easily done that to himself to get entrance to this building and access to you."
"And why would he do that?" I asked.
"To hurt you?" Jax replied. "Or because he's in love with you?"
I shook my head. "He would never hurt me, and it hardly matters if he's in love with me now. But he does deserve the opportunity to say farewell to the man who raised him."
I paused for a moment and glanced around the room.
"Colvin wants him here," I continued, "and he says I will forgive him. That must mean he will redeem himself somehow. Can we just leave it alone for tonight?"
"As Selena says," Farand said, rising from his chair. "We don't need to make a decision about Nick tonight. The witches and warlocks, I and Falcor included, have been working tirelessly all day to restore some of the protection to the building. We should be safe for tonight from any attack of the supernatural kind, anyway."
"The new guards arrived," Mr. Havisham said. "They will keep out anyone else."
"Good," Farand finished. "So, let's get some sleep and we can talk more about things after the funeral tomorrow."
I rose and walked out without looking back. I wasn't sure where I was sleeping, but any empty room would do, so I head toward the residence wing of the school where all the rooms with bunk beds were.
"Selena," Jax's voice called out from behind me, but I didn't turn until his hand gently pulled me around to face him. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" I asked, impatience and exhaustion washing over me in waves.
"I'm sorry for what I said about Nick. I know you and he have a ... history."
I shook my head. "I can't talk about this tonight. I'm too tired."
Jax nodded and bit his lip. Then he took my hand and led me down a different hall. It looked like the one that led to the room I had slept in the night before. "I don't think he's a bad man."
"He isn't," I replied. He might have had some trouble with the loss of his brother and maybe made a huge ass mistake with the vampires, but he helped fight them in the end. When it really mattered, he did the right thing.
Jax pushed open the door to the room I had slept in the night before. The bed was empty now, Colvin off sleeping with the rest of the children.
The bathroom called to me, so I let go of Jax's hand and fished an oversized t-shirt out of my suitcase that had somehow appeared on the bed. Probably thanks to Falcor. I reminded myself to thank him in the morning. Then I moved to the bathroom and flicked on the light.
A deep claw foot tub sat in the corner and I couldn't help myself. I turned the taps on to ‘hot’, dumped in a ton of foam bath, and let the tub fill while I glanced around.
A black dress hung behind the door. It was probably my size and probably also put there by Falcor. It was a stark reminder of what we had to do in the morning.
I pulled off my clothes, finding my cell phone somehow still alive and well in my pocket. I clicked it on and there was a text message from Francis in Canada. It just read: “You passing by my way soon? I can’t exactly put this in the mail.”
I thought back and remembered the buried vampire in the graveyard telling me that history was repeating itself and we had
messaged Francis to get more information.
I couldn’t deal with that yet, so I set my phone on the counter and tied my hair up. My face didn’t look the same in the mirror. The blue feather that had appeared on my forehead was dull and my eyes looked haunted. I turned away from the mirror and slipped into the deep tub of scalding water, letting out a sigh as the heat and soapy bubbles eased the tension I had been carrying all day. Hell, all week. Or maybe I had been carrying it all year. Whatever.
I slipped beneath the surface and let the pure silence carry me under.
Images flashed in my mind, but I ignored them, floating in the abyss. Colvin and I would be okay. I just had to figure out how to get to the White Crow and eliminate him. It was different thinking about killing a warlock. But I knew I would do it. For Colvin, if not for the whole rest of the world.
I pushed up from under the water and came face to face with Nick.
A small squeal popped out of my throat and one corner of his lip ticked up.
"Do you mind? How did you get in here?" I adjusted the bubbles in the tub, but they were already covering me.
"I'm sorry." He didn't look sorry at all.
"You have been saying that a lot lately," I reminded him.
"And I mean it. I'll make it up to you."
"So, I've been told."
When he looked at me questioningly, I just shrugged. "Colvin might have said some things."
"I love that boy."
"I love him, too. We have to protect him, Nick. No matter what happens, he has to be protected. I don't know what the future holds for him, but sometimes I think I get a picture of him and he's important. I know that."
"Niri once told me that Colvin is the key."
"The key?"
"That's all he would say," Nick said with a shrug.
I slipped down into the hot water further. "Do you have control of the vampires? I know that is what you said to Mr. Havisham, but do you really?"
Nick nodded. "I think the majority just want to go back to a peaceful life. I took care of a few that were still causing trouble."
I knew took care meant he had killed them. He had used the same words back when I first met him, and a vampire had tried to drag me away and make me into a snack. Nick had no trouble killing people.
"I need you on my team," I said quietly.
There was a knock at the door. "You okay in there?" Jax's voice asked.
"Yeah," I replied.
Nick scowled at the door, then turned back to me. "You know he's really old, right?"
"Don't," I said.
Nick's eyes dropped to the floor.
"He was there when I needed him."
Nick nodded and rose to his feet. "I won't let you down again, Selena. We will get rid of that asshole and then we can get back to a normal life."
I scoffed. "You are the King of the vampires, and I'm the Black Crow. Life will never be normal again."
Nick's throat bobbed. "You're right. But maybe we can find a new normal... I love you, Selena."
He turned and walked out before I could say anything back, not that I was sure what I wanted to say. A few harsh murmurs beyond the door assured me that Jax was in my room. He must have left at some point. He wouldn’t have let Nick walk through.
I stepped out of the bathtub and dried myself off, pulling on the oversized t-shirt and walking out to the bedroom.
Jax was sitting in one corner and Nick in the other. They each had a glass of blood and I pretended not to notice the tension between them as I climbed into the bed and under the heavy covers.
My eyes stared unseeing up at the ceiling for a long time, but I must have fallen asleep at some point because the next thing I knew, was a shift in the bed. It was small, not heavy enough to be an adult, and that bleary thought was confirmed when Colvin's tiny hand wrapped around my arm and his cold feet pressed against my thigh.
"Hey, buddy, "I cracked in a whisper. "You okay?"
"I don't want you to go to Nevermore again," he whispered, his face pressed into my shoulder.
I hadn't told him about going there, but I wasn't surprised he knew about that. There wasn't much Colvin didn't seem to know.
"Why not?" I asked.
"Because the boogie man will catch you," he muttered groggily before his eyes slid shut and his breathing evened out.
The boogie man. That had to be the White Crow. I wished he had a different name because every time I thought his name, I remembered the phrase I read in the book about the Black Crow and how the crow should always be watched because they are either a symbol of good or evil.
There was no clock in the room, but I knew it was still the middle of the night. Glancing past Colvin's now softly snoring form, I could see the shadows of Nick and Jax in opposing corners of the room. They were sitting silent guard.
I had a feeling I would need both of them with this upcoming battle. I would need everyone I could get, though I still had no idea how I would get them to Nevermore. That was a problem for another time.
I closed my eyes and let sleep pull me under so slowly that a dream took over before I was even fully asleep.
The dream was dark and eerie. I was cold and alone. The feeling of forbidding churned my stomach as I flicked my eyes open and reminded myself: I was tucked in a bed in the Sanctuary.
Safe. For now.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
The next morning, we all staggered out of bed and flowed to the cafeteria. Colvin and I ate among the children, witches, and warlocks and then everyone dispersed to get ready for the funeral.
Some of the younger children would stay behind, but the rest of us, including Colvin, showered and changed into our black clothes and met behind the Sanctuary, where workers were busy repairing the hole in the brick wall.
"Selena," Nick said quietly as he walked up beside me. His hand slipped into mine and I squeezed it despite common sense. Nick looked dashing in his black suit with a dark blue shirt and sky-blue tie. It matched his now-blue hair and made his eyes look like two pools in the desert.
I shook my head at him. I didn't want to deal with anything today except saying goodbye to Niri. Colvin's face had been a mask of sorrow since he woke up. He had spent the most time with Niri of anyone and I knew he would miss the older man. But I also knew that Colvin and I weren't normal. We would get to see Niri again. As a wraith.
We passed beneath the canopy of trees, a silent procession following a wooden casket. A group of teachers carried it, though a couple of vampires could have done it easily. It was a show of how many people respected and loved Niri, that soon the forest was filled with vampires, warlocks and witches. Many I had never seen before, but some I recognized.
Zander walked toward me. I hadn't seen him since Phoenix and I felt bad that I had bailed and hadn't even said goodbye to him, but he gave me a tight smile and fell into step with us.
Dorothy was walking ahead of us but glanced back giving me a sympathetic look. I had hardly even known Niri, but I felt his absence. It was as if I was forgetting something. Some part of myself had been left behind in that cafeteria when Niri died.
A tear broke over my cheek, but I wiped it away, determined to be strong for Colvin.
The little boy held my hand, his small fingers gripping mine tight.
As we cleared the forest and the graveyard came into view, I couldn't help remembering the first time I had been here. Or the time I came with Colvin and he showed me how he raised a wraith. I thought back to the time that Niri had taken me to the graveyard where the little boy that Peran had tried to save was buried. All the memories came rushing back in a sea of turmoil, pain, and regret. I suddenly wished I could be anywhere else besides the graveyard. It was no longer a sanctuary for me or a place to be at peace. It was a sad lonely place where old souls lingered, and murdered people were exiled to.
My feet kept walking, but my mind banged against my skull to try and make me stop.
"You're okay," Jax whispered in my ear.
H
is voice soothed me, but not enough to slow the magic fire that writhed in my stomach, spitting and hissing. The magic wanted to escape, too. It wanted to go somewhere else. Somewhere that darkness couldn't reach us.
I let some of it slip into Jax and his breath caught.
Nick cleared his throat and when I looked over at him, he looked away as if I had done something wrong. As if I shouldn't lean on Jax just because he was here. He hadn't been there when I needed him. I snorted and took the final steps up to the hole in the dirt where Niri's casket had been set upon straps that would lower him into the ground.
White roses that lay atop the casket rustled in the breeze. A low murmur filled the area until Mr. Havisham stepped up and cleared his throat. It seemed ridiculous that this man was going to speak about Niri. I didn't like him, so I didn't want him talking about Niri at all, but he spoke of Niri's dedication to the peace between the groups and his desire to educate the young to maintain that. It was a bit scolding towards Nick and some of the others in attendance, but Niri would have probably appreciated that it was said.
When Mr. Havisham stepped back, Colvin pulled away from my hand and stepped forward.
"My name is Colvin," he said, his voice clear and proud. "I'm Selena's brother." He shot me a toothless grin. "And I spent a lot of time with Niri. He said it was because I was special, but I think it was because I'm not like the other children. Sometimes being different scares people. But I know what Niri would have wanted today, and it wasn't sadness.”
Colvin's magic spilled out, crossing the ground to my feet. He waved in a 'come on' motion, so I let my magic meet his. I glanced at Falcor who had stepped forward and let his magic out, too. His yellow sparks met our blue and suddenly every person of magic in the graveyard spilled their magic out onto the ground.
The colours mixed in a swirl of colour before Colvin lifted his little arms and the magic jumped into the air. It rose higher and higher, the colours mixing and stretching out until a rainbow was pasted across the sky in sparks. Every colour was joined together, flowing across the graveyard.