by Amanda Ashby
“Make that a crazy week,” Emma corrected as she paused to rub her eye. Ever since the fight it had been itching like a demon.
“Yeah, that too,” he agreed. Then he paused for a moment as if considering something before finally speaking. “So, with everything that happened, you never said how it went with your dad?”
“It was fine. I mean, Olivia insisted he bring me that book in case it was important,” Emma was forced to admit.
“Which it was,” he reminded her.
She folded her arms and leaned back on the bench so that she was looking up at the inky-black night sky. “I know what you’re trying to do, Curtis.”
“And what’s that?”
“You’re trying to make the point that my dad and Olivia aren’t as bad as I think they are.”
“And?” he prompted as he cocked an eyebrow and let a small smile hover around his mouth.
She took a deep breath. “Look, I never thought they were that bad. It’s just... well . . . ” She paused for a moment then turned to him. “It’s just that it’s not how I want things to be.”
“I know. I’m sorry,” he said in a low voice as his broad shoulder grazed hers. “It sucks when things don’t turn out the way you want.”
“Thanks,” she mumbled, the warmth of his shoulder making her feel at ease. “And by the way, don’t get all gloaty, but I did that thing you suggested. You know, the talking thing.”
“With your dad?” He sounded surprised.
“Yeah, and it was... okay. He said my mom had never mentioned the darkhel, but he told me some other stuff. Just dumb family stuff. Nothing big or world changing, but it was nice to hear it all the same.” Then she flushed as she realized what she was saying. She never told anyone how she felt, not even Loni, because she knew it didn’t make sense. After all, her mom was dead. She wasn’t coming back, but even though Emma knew that, accepting it seemed to be another thing entirely.
Suddenly, she was aware of the silence between them, and after the embarrassing misunderstanding of the tie incident, she decided that she had better stand up before she made another stupid mistake. She started to get to her feet, but before she could, she felt his fingers reach out for her hand.
“Jones . . . ” His voice was low and raspy and sent a delicious shudder racing through her as his fingers curled possessively around hers and he pulled her back down to the bench. She looked up to see him staring right at her, and she swallowed. Last time this had happened he had fixed her tie, but tonight she didn’t have her uniform on.
“Yes?” Her voice was croaky, even to her own ears, but instead of answering, he lowered his mouth to hers, and before she knew what was happening, Curtis was kissing her. The feel of his lips on hers, his skin touching hers, his fingers entwined in hers . . . it all made her feel something that she hadn’t felt in a very long time. Happy. He deepened the kiss, and Emma felt her whole body start to tingle. However, too soon it was over, and Curtis suddenly pulled away and leaned back against the bench, shaking his head as he looked up into the night sky.
“I shouldn’t have done that.” He groaned, still not looking at her. “I’m sorry.”
Emma felt her cheeks start to burn. She might not be an A student when it came to guys, but she was pretty sure they didn’t normally apologize for kissing. And unlike the tie incident, where she had given him the benefit of the doubt, this time there was no mistaking the pained expression on his face.
“Curtis, what’s going on?” she whispered.
“Nothing.” He gave an angry shake of his head as he refused to meet her gaze. “Look, can we just forget it ever happened? It was nothing.”
“Nothing?” Emma blinked at him, the crazy emotions of the day starting to overwhelm her, and she heard her voice start to go squeaky. “How can this be nothing? I mean, first you’re all nice and try and stand up to Kessler for me and say that we’re friends with the whole big because-that’s-the-kind-of-slayer-I-am speech. Then you almost kissed me outside the simulation labs. And then, when I asked you to come to the practice range—which, for your information, is code for kissing—you assured me that the only reason you didn’t come was because you didn’t like fighting live elementals for your training. And now this? I don’t understand.”
For a moment Curtis was silent, then he rubbed his hands across his eyes. Finally, he spoke. “I know you’re really pissed off at me and I don’t blame you. I’m pissed off at me as well. It’s just there’s stuff about me that you don’t know—”
“So tell me,” she pleaded while trying to avoid feeling like the biggest idiot in the world. “I want to understand, Curtis. I really do. Because this thing you’re doing is driving me crazy.”
“This thing?”
“Yes, this thing. I mean, sometimes you’re so sweet and kind to me that I could almost cry, and then other times you get this look on your face like you can’t bear to be near me. Is it because I was so horrible to you about the dragon designation? Because if so, then I want you to know that—”
“Jones, please. Can we just not do this?” Curtis looked pained as he avoiding making eye contact with her. “It’s just something I need to deal with on my own. You can’t help me.”
Emma put her hand up to her still-swollen mouth, but before she could even think of what to say, there was a noise from behind them and Loni and Tyler suddenly came bursting out of the darkness, racing toward them.
“Man, there you guys are,” Loni announced. “We’ve been looking for you everywhere.”
“What is it, did you find something?” Emma composed herself and quickly scrambled to her feet, despite her aching limbs. How could she be kissing Curtis when they were in the middle of a crisis? Not to mention the fact that Curtis had pretty much told her that the whole thing had been a big fat mistake. Then she realized that Loni was looking at her oddly. “So, what have you got?”
“Well, at first we thought it was going to be useless,” Tyler admitted. “Because everything we read only talked about how great the blood of the Pure One was. That it was untainted. That it had healing properties. That some people even thought it had magical protective qualities as well.”
“What?” Emma looked confused.
“I know, right,” Loni cut in as she rolled her eyes. “It was starting to sound like some new health drink or something. But then Tyler had the genius idea of not looking up the Pure One himself, but rather the spell that Sir Francis cast. You know, the one where he used the Pure One’s blood to seal the Gate of Linaria.”
“You found the original spell?” Emma widened her eyes, and Tyler blushed in a goofy way as he pulled out some printouts.
“Sure did. Even better, this guy in Florida tried to replicate Sir Francis’s ritual to see if it would work. I guess he was worried that one day we might need to close the gate again. So, apparently some of the ingredients were hard to find and he was forced to use ground horse hoof instead of unicorn hoof. Not to mention he swapped cow tongue for dragon innards, but aside from the complete gross-out factor, the important thing is he had to try it five times with different blood types before he could finally get the spell to work. Which means—”
“Which means you found out what blood type the Pure One is?” Curtis widened his eyes as he leaned forward on his crutches, though Emma couldn’t help but notice that he was studiously avoiding her gaze.
“That’s right,” Loni continued, oblivious to Curtis’s reaction. “Well, the guy who did this only managed to seal shut his closet door, which isn’t quite the same as shutting the Gate of Linaria, but still, the science makes sense. Not only that but the spell also has the ritual that the darkhel will have to do if he does try to open the gate. So we’re looking for a male who has B-negative blood and who has somehow been connected to Burtonwood within the last thirty-two years, since that’s when your mom would’ve first come here. And obviously it had to be more than five years ago because... well . . . ” Loni trailed off, obviously not wanting to remind Emma of whe
n her mom had passed away.
Emma shot her friend a grateful look.
“So I know that sounds good in theory, but how can we find that information?” Curtis asked, still not looking at Emma. “We can’t exactly go around asking for blood samples.”
“We don’t have to,” Tyler cut in with a grin. “Because thanks to the fact that Burtonwood is über-paranoid about security, every single student and staff member has to have a full medical exam before they come here. I’m talking everyone from the cleaning staff through to Kessler. And that’s not even the best part. You know that security code I gave Loni the other day to get into the system? Well, apparently it lets her in everywhere. Including medical records,” he added.
“What? So now you’re a hacker?” Emma turned to her friend and widened her eyes.
“Of course I’m not,” Loni protested before letting out a rueful grin. “But I must admit that it might make a nice side hobby. Anyway, Tyler’s going to get his laptop since it’s got better specs than mine and then we’re going to get started.”
“I can’t tell you what a relief this is. Finally we’ve got something concrete we can work on,” Emma said, but Loni shook her head and firmly took her by the shoulders.
“Oh, no, not ‘we.’ The only concrete thing that you will be doing is sleeping. You’re going to bed. You can help in the morning.”
“What? No,” Emma protested. “There’s no way I will be able to sleep. Aside from figuring out who the Pure One is, we also need to find a way to banish the darkhel. I’m still convinced that my mom’s necklace is somehow involved, so we can’t forget about that.”
“Absolutely,” Loni agreed in a firm voice. “Thankfully, we can do all of these things without you. So, say good night to Curtis and Tyler, and no more arguments.”
Emma, who was just about to protest, noticed that Curtis was looking relieved, as if the idea of being able to work without her in the room was actually a good thing. She felt the fight drain out of her and nodded obediently.
“Fine. But I still could’ve helped, you know,” she said in a defeated voice as Loni steered her away from Curtis and Tyler and back toward the dorms.
“Like I said, you can help tomorrow,” Loni retorted. “Besides, for all we know, your salt-and-steel thing worked and the darkhel’s already dead. Maybe that’s why we can’t find it. I mean, just because Sir Francis said it couldn’t be killed doesn’t mean it’s not possible to kill it.”
“Maybe,” Emma said, though deep down she knew it wasn’t true.
“So,” Loni said as they reached Emma’s door. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on with you and Curtis?”
“Nothing.” Emma shrugged a little bit too quickly, and Loni shot her a telling glance to let her know that she was all-seeing. Emma relented. “Okay, so yes, something happened, but it’s hardly important. I mean, we’re in the middle of a darkhel crisis.”
“It still matters,” Loni insisted in a firm voice. “So spill.”
Emma sighed as she turned to her friend. “We kissed and let’s just say that it didn’t go well,” she said before amending her statement. “Okay, so it went really well, until Curtis suddenly started to act like he had made the biggest mistake in the world.”
“Are you sure? I mean, look what happened last time,” Loni said in a hopeful voice. “There was a completely logical explanation for what happened.”
“Remember Tyler’s face when he ate twenty hot chilies in a row just to win a bet that he made with Gary Lewis? Well, that was nothing compared to how Curtis looked.”
“Ouch.” Loni winced and wrinkled her nose. “So what’s his deal? I mean, it’s so obvious he likes you. There must be something going on.”
“Does it matter?” Emma demanded as she recalled the humiliating experience with a shudder. “It seems pretty obvious he doesn’t like me. In fact, he more or less spelled it out, so why would I want to torture myself on the reasons why?”
“Yes, but—” Before Loni could finish, Emma shook her head.
“I’m serious. Besides, we shouldn’t even be thinking about this stuff right now. My mom wouldn’t let herself get sidetracked like this.”
“I guess you’re right,” Loni reluctantly agreed before putting her stern face on. “But this conversation is just on hold until after we’ve managed to beat the darkhel, okay? And speaking of darkhels. You’ve fought it twice in three days and there’s a good chance you might need to fight it again, which means you need your sleep. Understood?” she said in a firm voice.
“Yes.” Emma gave her a halfhearted smile as she shut the door and got ready for bed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The next morning Emma scanned the crowded cafeteria until she caught sight of Loni and Tyler in one of the booths in the far corner. The chilly November weather had settled like a polar blanket over the campus, but thanks to all the visitors, the cafeteria was packed to the rafters and the long windows were steamed up with condensation.
“So how did it go last night?” Emma demanded as she slid into the orange upholstered seat and gracefully eased the lid off the coffee cup that Loni pushed into her chilled hands.
“Well,” Loni said as she stifled a yawn, “the good news is that I’m now officially a hacker.”
“Are you serious? You got into the medical records?” Emma felt a wave of relief flood through her, and she reached across the table and grasped Loni and Tyler’s hands so that she could give them a grateful squeeze. “That’s so great. In fact, I don’t know what I would’ve done if my two best friends weren’t an electronic genius and a guy who spends far too much time betting on his five-legged cockroach.”
“For a start you could stop squeezing so hard,” Tyler complained. “I’ve been up all night. You need to be gentle with me.”
“Sorry.” Emma smiled and immediately released her grip. “I’m just so relieved. So where’s the list? Is there anyone on it that we know?”
“Okay, so the thing is,” Loni said as she gave her own hand a shake, “while I managed to get into the system, I didn’t exactly figure out how to get what we wanted right away. In fact, I sort of accidently downloaded all the medical records onto Tyler’s computer.”
“And printed it out,” Tyler added. “I think Miss Zodiac’s going to have to plant about a hundred trees to fix this little carbon-footprint disaster.”
“What?” Emma felt her relief start to sink. “So we don’t have a list?”
“Not yet,” Loni admitted. “But don’t get freaked out because I’ve finally figured out a way to separate the people who have B-negative blood from the rest of the list and now we’re just waiting for it to download.”
“And let’s just say that for a state-of-the-art computer system, not only is it very hackable but it’s also very slow. It might still be a few hours before the list is ready.”
“Okay, so no list yet.” Emma paled before shooting them a hopeful look. “I don’t suppose either of you have heard if Kessler’s back yet.”
“Negative,” Tyler said. “I spoke with Barney this morning. Well, obviously she didn’t know it was me, she actually thought it was Tony Weber, a new and enthusiastic sales rep from Good Knight Swords. But I found out Kessler’s still away and probably won’t be back until tomorrow morning before Induction.”
“Okay. So I guess all we can do is hit the books and figure out a way to banish this thing, since killing doesn’t appear to be an option,” Emma said as she pulled her mom’s pendant out of her pocket and put it on the table, as if hoping it would give her some sort of clue about what to do.
“Actually”—Loni brightened—“last night I suddenly wondered if I could make a ward that would work on the darkhel? After all, we now know that it really hates steel and salt, and remember I used my subsonic blaster on it the first time you fought it. Well, that got me thinking—why not include a subsonic pulse as well, then we can hit it three ways.”
“You can do that?” Emma shot her a blank look.
“In theory.” Loni nodded, then made a face. “Of course there’s the slight problem that no one has ever added a subsonic pulse to wards before but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Besides, the ward I made for ogres had some choppedup seagull feathers, which I just slipped it into the small space below the circuit boards, and it ended up working. Now I just need to go and hunt down some steel. Preferably as high grade as possible. I’ve been doing some research and silver would be better.”
“Definitely.” Emma nodded in agreement. “Because if the little fairies are anything to go by, they hate silver even more than they hate my nail files. That bracelet you gave me for my birthday touched one of them and it dropped to the ground like a dead fly.”
“Unfortunately, time and money aren’t exactly on our side, so I guess steel will have to do,” Loni said.
“It’s a shame you couldn’t just use last night’s fancy cutlery,” Emma said idly while she glanced over to the cutlery tray that some of the kitchen workers had carried out to a large trestle table. For a moment Loni just stared, her mouth hanging open like in the shape of a Life Saver.
“Emma Jones, you’re a genius,” she finally said in astonishment.
“I am?” Emma blinked.
“She is?” Tyler seconded as he wrinkled his nose. “Because I know I zoned out of a few ward-making classes, but I don’t remember cutlery ever being able to fit into something that only has a one-inch diameter.”
“Most wards are small so that people don’t notice them and so they can be easily placed. While normally I would prefer to melt the steel or silver down and fit it into a smaller casing, there is no reason why a ward can’t be made out of cutlery.” Loni picked up a knife and inspected it. “I mean the two circuit boards could clip onto the blade and I could just glue some salt on. Of course I’m not saying it will win a beauty contest or anything, but as long as it does the job, that’s all that matters. So now I just need to go and pocket some knives and then I can get started.”