Darkly Sweet

by Juliann Whicker

  I shook my head while I grabbed my little tin med kit out of my trunk and headed to the bathroom. I would take my chances because I needed to clean and dress my wound almost as much as I needed to get distance from his mouth-watering perfection.

  I stared at my reflection in the mirror while pink water swirled down the sink drain. I couldn’t tell if I looked pretty or not, I just looked strange, like cotton candy brought to life. Cotton candy was pretty, though, and so nice to taste as it dissolved on your tongue. I needed something on my tongue that did not taste like black cherry.

  Finally, I turned off the water, dried my hand, put on a poultice and bandaged it up.

  When I opened the bathroom door to my bedroom, the dishes were washed and stacked in their space beside my brewing things, and the table was pushed back against the wall, the lace tablecloth the only thing missing, other than Drake of course.

  Señor hung once more in his place and when I checked on him, he blinked at me sleepy from gorging on lady fingers and my flesh.

  “Señor, I know you don’t like strangers, but biting someone who is only trying to fetch your macaroon is a sign of bad breeding. Did you like him? I know you bite people you like, which is why you bite me so much.”

  I took him out of the cage and set him on my bed. He padded around and made a nice nest on my pillow while I undid my hair and got out of the ridiculous confection of a dress. As I hung it up in the largest trunk I was using for an armoire, I realized that the hat I’d made for him was missing. What on earth would he do with that?

  Chapter 6

  Mage

  Sodium vapor would make my hair look good. It would piss Pete off, make him look pasty and sallow like a zombie. Definitely sodium vapor instead of scandium light for the first round in the Chemiss tourney on Saturday night.

  I tipped my red top hat to a pretty little freshman girl who hadn’t thrown herself at me yet. She gasped and went all wide-eyed like a proper female at Rosewood Academy.

  She was so charming, and I was in such an excellent mood, I pulled one of the roses out of the hat and tossed it in her direction.

  Penny Lane was not a proper female in Rosewood. For starters… One, two, three…

  The new girl, came after me, bounced off my personal shield and into a sophomore mage who held her up by the elbows, the expression on his face half disgust, half admiration as he watched me.

  That was an appropriate reaction as well. The first time we’d met, Penny Lane should have bounced off the shield and knocked someone else over. Jackson maybe. She’d gone through it like it wasn’t even there, tackled me like a polo player. I still couldn’t

  decide if she’d done it intentionally or not. Nothing about her made sense. It wasn’t like me to think about other people. They usually weren’t particularly interesting, or at the very least I knew what to do with them and quickly did it.

  What I wanted to do with Penny Lane would make her blush. I didn’t need to tell her because she blushed anyway. Why I liked watching her pale skin go pink wasn’t something I needed to dwell on. She was like an inexperienced freshman girl, exposed to mages for the first time. Except for the part where she stepped between Zach and myself, as though she were protecting him from me. Even an inexperienced witch knew better than to get between two mages.

  I shrugged and nodded at Tony, an upcoming Junior who was going to be a solid backup man for this year’s team. I walked through the doors of the lab, swinging them open then stood there smiling at every single person until the room cleared. It was so pleasant when everyone knew their place and there weren’t any difficulties. Except that could get too boring.

  I smiled at the last mage to leave. Lars, ponderously slow, moved away from his table, nodding at me before he left the room. I bolted the door and walked past the rows of tables equipped with Bunsen burners and sinks, nozzles dangling from the ceiling. I didn’t stop until I was at the table nearest the large window that looked out on the garden. It was such a beautiful day, so many things growing.

  I glanced around again before I took the red top hat off my head, placed it squarely on the table and pulled the blood-stained tablecloth out of its depths. What I was about to do wasn’t strictly legal. It was also bad manners. Unfortunately for Miss Lane, I’d used up all my manners at her delightful tea party.

  I hesitated, fingering the lace. She shouldn’t have protected me from her guardian.

  She’d moved so quickly, her fingers sliding over my skin. I could still see her the moment she was bitten, her green-brown eyes widening until I could make out flecks of gold in them. She’d been surprised, irritated, like she’d been irritated with me the entire party, irritated that I was too stupid not to know better than to feed wild animals, irritated that I wasn’t Zachary Stoneburrow.

  Poor girl. If she had her sight set on that boy, she was in for a severe disappointment. Zach made me look practically accessible. Sooner or later, Penny would realize the way the world worked, and she’d set her sights on me, as nature and social status intended.

  I curled my lips as I bent over the cloth, breathing lightly over the fibers before I took a bottle out of the cabinet behind me and sprinkled the contents over one corner. The blood rose up in fat, red drops. I rolled them into a glass vial with my fingertips until the lace was pristine and I had enough blood to find out all of Penny Lane’s dirty little secrets.

  I tested her blood five times. The results were consistent. The thing about Darksiders is they don’t walk around in the sun beaming at strangers and offering them lollipops.

  Darkside is heavy with magic, with mystery and mayhem, which is why I love it so much, not heavy with tea parties and ruffled bodices. There was no possible way that the sweet, innocent, slightly intriguing female I’d encountered could be three-quarters Darksider.

  Where else could I have gotten the blood if not from her? Could it have been contaminated in my hat? She’d made the ridiculous top hat on the spot, sucking on her fingers when she burned them with a hot glue gun like one of those crafty mom bloggers. Her sucking on her fingers after she’d gotten distracted watching me hang up her swing made me want to suck on her fingers for her, undo the pins that held up her ridiculously long hair and…

  I blinked the glass vial and the lab back into focus. I heated up the blood and checked for a few more markers. I closed my eyes then opened them to see the swirls inside the deep red. Interesting. I closed my eyes again, but when I opened them, same result. I snapped my fingers, engulfing the blood, the vial and the Bunsen burner in green flame that singed my cheek as it roared to life.

  I flipped the switch for the air filter that sucked the fire and smoke away then I folded the tablecloth before sticking it back into the depths of the top hat. Her genetic

  makeup was extremely interesting. Mythical even. Darksiders were a lot of extremely talented folk, but a few families really knew how to make an impression, also how to raise the dead or start a plague. Miss Lane’s family was more subtle, but all the more horrifying for that.

  I took two steps towards the exit, putting the top hat back on my head when the doors blew open. Zachary Stoneburrow. I smiled at him broadly.

  “You look lively. Are we going to wrestle in the lab? Pewter would hate that.”

  He smiled slightly, a sweet smile at odds with the gleam in his eyes. I hadn’t seen that gleam for a long time. It almost made me want to smile genuinely.

  “What were you doing in my rooms?”

  I fought the urge to say something irritating. I specifically wanted him in a good mood. “Are you going to do Chemiss this year?”

  He studied me for a long time, long enough that I realized he wasn’t thinking about what I’d said so much as he was sniffing the air, trying to gauge what I’d been up to.

  “You have her blood? How did you get that?”

  I tipped my hat at him. “I can’t reveal my secrets. I know it’s hard to believe that a female would willingly cut herself open for me…”

  He
frowned, brows lowering. “She wouldn’t do that.”

  I stared at him. His reaction was too intense. Maybe she’d already ensnared my oldest friend. If that was the case, why hadn’t she seduced me first? Not that I wanted to be a mindless slave to a witch, but if you were going to choose the most ideal mage to make your helpless minion, I was definitely the top pick.

  “No, she didn’t. Her pet weasel bit her and I offered to tidy up.”

  “And…”

  “And the lace tablecloth is as good as new. Such a lovely pattern. I think I have a dozen or so in my sideboard at the grand manor.”

  His eyes glittered brightly. “You’re not going to tell me?”

  “Tell you what? Are you suggesting that an honorable, upright, law-abiding mage like myself would ever take the blood of a witch without her permission? Next you’ll be saying that I intentionally break their dear little black hearts.”

  He grunted. “Speaking of Blackheart, did you manage to convince her honor to let them all come for Final’s brawl?”

  I nodded and grinned widely, slapping Zach on his shoulder. “I told you that I would.

  Are you in?”

  He nodded but when he glanced up at the top hat, I noted the flicker of distaste.

  “Did she really make that for you?”

  “Hm? Oh, yes. Who knew that a three-quarter Darkside female could wield a glue-gun so craftily?”

  He raised an eyebrow, the expression on his face portentously blank. “And you’re in one piece?”

  “Mm. As far as I can tell.”

  “How did she get through your shield?”

  I frowned at him, fingering my lapel, adjusting it like it wasn’t already lying smoothly.

  “She didn’t say.”

  “Did you ask?”

  “I thought it would be rude.”

  “And you’re never rude.” His lips curled in a sneer.

  I grinned back at him. “I’m probably completely misreading her, you know how little I know about females, but I don’t think she has the slightest idea that I have a shield or that she broke through it.”

  He nodded. “You should ask Viney about it.”

  I pursed my lips. “I should, but as pleasant as Viney’s charming company always is, I think I’ll save that for a special occasion, when I want to have a truly inspiring day.”

  He grimaced. “You had to pick Viney.”

  I nodded soberly. “I did. Are you interested in her?”

  “Never. Viney and I… Oh, the new girl.” He frowned as he turned and walked out of the lab. I fell in beside him since we were conveniently headed in the same direction. He cleared his throat. “Interested is probably the right word. How about you? I never thought you’d agree to go to a tea party you weren’t invited to.”

  “That’s the only kind I would ever attend. On second thought, if Penny Lane invited me to another tea party I would consider it. I hope that she makes them a regular part of my schedule, Sunday tea parties after a frolicsome Chemiss tourney, could anything be more charming?”

  “How long are you going to talk like that? You sound like you’ve been reading 19th Century literature again.”

  I raised an eyebrow and fingered the brim of the hat. “A man wearing a top hat must sound like a proper gentleman even if there’s nothing proper about him.” It wasn’t the hat, it was Penny Lane, the way she spoke that rubbed off on me, like she was in a play

  and I was opposite her lead. How strange to let a female lead me anywhere. I would have to be very careful with this one.

  Zach shook his head. “Have you finished with her?”

  I raised my eyebrow. “She hasn’t fallen in love with me yet. How can I be satisfied knowing that there is a female in this world who doesn’t want Drake Huntsman?”

  He snorted. “It used to be when you made a declaration like that, you were joking.”

  I shot him a hard look. “Don’t suggest such things out loud. I’ve worked very hard for my reputation. I intend to keep it.”

  He made a rude sound, a ruder gesture, and took the next branch in the hall leading towards his room. No doubt to pick up Viney for dinner. Putting them together like I’d done was extremely risky, but he seemed to be doing much better. Perhaps this new girl, this incongruity would provide him with another distraction he could use.

  I ignored the niggling discomfort at the thought of Zach playing with Penny Lane. He would do it all wrong.

  Chapter 7

  Witch

  I sat in the dining room that evening while I nibbled on the roasted duck, not killing the idiots who walked by and tugged on my hair. The duck was incredible. I was polishing off the last bite when blonde and beautiful Jackson sat down across from me, steepled his fingers, and leered. There was nothing terribly interesting about me after I had changed out of my candy duchess outfit. I chewed while I waited for something brilliant to fall from his luscious lips. His lips were poufier than Drake’s, but didn’t look as soft. Weird.

  “Penny, isn’t it? I heard that you had a tea party this afternoon.”

  I blinked my eyelashes at him. “I’m sorry. Did it hurt your feelings not to be invited?”

  How did he find out about it?

  His smile deepened and took on an ominous tint while he covered my hand in his, the hand with the bandage. “It did. I’m also terribly worried about you being alone with the big bad wolf. Did he bite you?” He lifted my hand and turned it around so the whole dining room could see.

  Macaroons, bonbons, petit fours. “Not the wolf, the weasel.” I tried to stand and take my hand back, but he tightened his grip on my newly punctured wound, pulling me back down. He watched me with this smile, like he was waiting for me to react, to hurt him, like we could trade pain or something weird. I focused on the sensation, the sharp edges, the dull throbbing, the pressure, the feel of the gauze and herbs being ground

  into my wound. Something dark uncoiled inside my chest something that chased all the panic and irritated frustration away.

  “Now you’re calling me a weasel? I’m flattered.” Drake slid down beside me and smiled at Jackson.

  Sitting so close to Drake, his jacket brushing my arm, buried the darkness with this other sensation, something that made me blush for absolutely no reason. He had made me blush more than enough times for one lifetime much less one day.

  My heart pounded and I swallowed when he shifted closer to me.

  Jackson snarled at him. “Drake, what brings you here? Nice jacket. It’s very prince charming. Penny isn’t stupid enough to think that you’re a prince instead of the wolf.”

  Drake put his hand on Jackson’s shoulder and grinned at him, looking in fact, very much like a perfectly dressed wolf in disguise. “Didn’t we agree that I was a weasel and not a wolf? Jackson, I don’t like it when you’re so willfully obtuse. Makes me feel…

  frustrated.”

  Jackson finally dropped my hand and stayed where he was for a moment before Drake let go, still smiling at Jackson. My hand hurt much more after Jackson let off the pressure. It throbbed and I cradled it in my lap while my heart pounded. It was fine. I was not going to stand up and decapitate Jackson and Drake with the edge of my plate.

  Everything was perfectly lovely, just like me. I was nice, happy, cheerful and friendly. I cared about how other people felt and wanted to take care of them in some way that didn’t involve cement shoes or sharp knives.

  “So, what do you do here for community service?” My voice wavered, but it was the first thing that came into my head, my cute, fluffy, sweets stuffed head.

  Jackson’s eyes darted to my face while Drake turned slowly towards me. “It does seem like Jackson is a reprobate who serves time with community service, but I think he’s managed to get out of it so far.”

  I took a deep breath and smiled at Drake, wishing I had a lollypop. “Honestly, I want to get involved with the community. In the town, Fairfield, right? Do they have an animal shelter or anything like that?”

&nb
sp; Drake stared at me. He sat so close, my hand looking like a white paw on his sleeve.

  How had my hand gotten there? I really needed a lollipop.

  “There’s the hospital. I’m going on Tuesday, five-thirty if you’d like to come.”

  I blinked at him. “The hospital? What do you do? You don’t have to clean up throw-up, do you?”

  Jackson laughed, but his voice was high pitched and wavering. “If he takes you to the hospital, you’ll be in traction. Don’t listen to him.”

  I stood up and edged away from the table while I tried to laugh instead of putting them in traction. “Jackson, you’re so funny. I’ll see you both later.”

  The rest of the evening I focused on brewing a whole slew of lotions to reduce scarring and added them to Darkly Sweet. I needed the trance-like state I achieved once I lit my burner and melted my first ingredient, swirling it around in the glass bulb before I added the drops of oil, the emulsifier, swirling them up with powdered beet to make it a nice pink color. After my batch I tasted it to make certain it was as delicious as it was functional. I sighed happily as I cleaned up my ingredients. Everything would fall into place. Zach was perfectly pleasant and would soon see how nice it would be to marry me. Somehow.

  The next morning, I walked towards my class at six thirty in the morning like that wasn’t an insane time to be awake. I probably shouldn’t have stayed up quite so late with my potions. Everyone walked around buzzing with energy as they headed with purpose towards their classes. Not one person bothered me. My English class was pretty boring, the next class, Chemistry was equally so, but the teacher, Professor Pewter was kind of cute and terrifying. My third class at nine was ballet. Ballet. I am not kidding.

  Ballet was a required class for girls all four years of high school. I’d been placed in beginner ballet with the freshmen girls who were still terrifyingly good. They danced circles around me. Literally, all these pirouettes and other types of spins like we needed that in our lives.