Secret Lives

by Gabriella Poole

  She’d learned a lot. She’d go back to her old life, and survive. She always had.

  In the meantime, she might as well party.

  *

  School wallflower, Cassie thought ruefully. What a way to end her less-than-glittering career at the Darke Academy. At least the atmosphere was a lot happier without Katerina and Keiko: the band was good, the mêlée of students was in end-of-term high spirits, and the teachers chatted among themselves, watching the dancers fondly. They avoided Cassie, though. Even Herr Stolz had treated her with nervous politeness for the last fortnight.

  Jake was a fabulous dancer, and so was Isabella, and though they’d tried to include her, Cassie was glad they were so wrapped up in each other. She didn’t feel like being sociable, and loitering beside Cassandra and Clytaemnestra suited her fine. There was no better company for her in this mood.

  ‘Good evening, Cassie.’

  She jumped but didn’t turn round. The voice was unmistakable, after all: burnt honey mixed with gravel.

  ‘Hello, Sir Alric.’

  ‘You’re not dancing?’

  ‘No.’ She paused, then thought: What the hell. ‘Estelle doesn’t feel like it.’

  There was a long silence while they stood together in the shadows watching the band and the shrieking, laughing students. Alice was looking well, thought Cassie, if a bit wobbly and tearful after four glasses of champagne. Richard was nowhere in sight; he’d put in an appearance, then slunk away early. The rest of the Few seemed on top form. She’d been trying to picture each of them in a crimson hood, but it was no use.

  ‘You don’t know which of them were involved?’ asked Sir Alric quietly.

  Cassie shook her head. ‘No. But it doesn’t matter now.’

  ‘It matters to me.’

  ‘Well, then, you work it out. Thanks, by the way. I’ve had a great time.’ She bit her lip. ‘Mostly. Except for the bit with the chains and the demons.’

  ‘Cassie …’

  She waited for him to go on, and when he didn’t, she turned her head to examine his face. It was very sober.

  ‘You must come back next term,’ he said.

  ‘No, I don’t think I must. Thanks all the same.’

  ‘You don’t understand.’ He gave her an exasperated look.

  ‘Tell me, then.’ She cocked an eyebrow.

  He sighed in defeat. ‘The ritual may have been interrupted, but there’s part of a spirit in you now. It wants to join with you fully. And it won’t stop until it does.’

  Cassie shrugged. ‘Tough.’

  ‘That’s brave of you, my dear, but it isn’t enough,’ Sir Alric said with dark amusement. ‘You either accommodate it, or defeat it. You can’t run away from it.’

  ‘I can try.’

  ‘You’ll never run fast enough for that, Cassie.’ His tone was kinder than his words. ‘Never.’

  Uncomfortably she fiddled with her corsage. Isabella had chosen the stunning white orchid, plucked from the plant Jake had given her. She mustn’t spoil it. She nibbled on a nail instead, then clasped her fingers.

  ‘Go on,’ she said at last.

  ‘We’re not all evil, Cassie. You’ve met the worst of us. You need to come back so that you can meet the best.’

  Her lip curled. ‘I don’t want anything to do with any of you.’

  ‘That’s not an option, believe me. I’m sorry. I should have taken Estelle’s little fantasies more seriously, but I never thought she’d have the nerve to defy me. It’s a stubborn spirit you have inside you, Cassie. Stubborn and malevolent.’

  ‘Half,’ Cassie corrected him. ‘Half a stubborn, malevolent spirit.’

  Sir Alric hesitated, took a deep breath. ‘And one that still needs to be fed.’

  With a small moan, Cassie put her face in her hands.

  ‘You must have suspected it. Now do you see, Cassie? You have to return to the Darke Academy.’

  She didn’t speak, refused even to look at him.

  ‘By the time you come back in the New Year, you’ll be desperate to feed. The spirit will have begun to grow, to create the home it needs. That takes a lot of life force, Cassie, believe me.’

  ‘So what if I starve it?’ she growled.

  ‘Believe me, Cassie, you’ll feed.’ He sounded sad. ‘You don’t know how, yet – not without causing harm. It’s my job to teach you.’

  ‘I’d never hurt anyone!’ she said fiercely.

  ‘But you will, when you grow hungry enough. When the spirit does, that is. You’ll feed because you can’t help yourself, and you could kill someone. Is that what you want?’

  Slowly, Cassie shook her head.

  ‘You’ll feed. You’ll have to feed your whole life; you’ll feed on strangers, on people you know, on people you love.’

  ‘No,’ said Cassie desperately.

  ‘Yes. Your spirit gives you beauty, strength and power. Do you think you get that for nothing?’

  Now his voice held an aching melancholy, as if his head was bursting with memories. Cassie found she was trembling.

  ‘It sucks the very life out of you, Cassie. That’s why you have to suck it out of other people.’

  ‘Oh.’ Remembering Alice, she shut her eyes tight. ‘Oh, God.’

  ‘If you don’t feed, the spirit inside you dies, and so do you. But it won’t come to that. Before then, you will kill. You won’t be able to stop yourself. I will teach you to feed without killing.’

  ‘You’ll teach me? So how are you going to do that? Lab rats? My friends?’

  For the first time, he couldn’t meet her gaze. His voice, when he spoke, was clipped and emotionless.

  ‘That’s the price our students pay, Cassie. It’s the price they pay for being here.’ His mouth twitched, humourlessly. ‘For the … privilege.’

  She couldn’t repress a sound of revulsion as she backed away, but he gripped her arm suddenly, turned her to face him.

  ‘So, Miss Bell. Will you die, or will you kill? Or will you do what’s right, and come back?’

  Cassie glared at him, determined to brazen it out, but his eyes terrified her. She thought she’d felt scared before: well, not like this. She nodded.

  He breathed a satisfied sigh. ‘Good. Good. I’m sorry it’s necessary, Cassie, but it is.’ His voice grew level again. ‘Is there anything else I can tell you?’

  Surveying the dance floor, touching Cassandra’s cold marble arm for comfort, Cassie nodded. But she waited till her voice was as cool as his.

  ‘Where’s Ranjit?’

  EPILOGUE

  The courtyard was in darkness, silent but for the faint rattle of talk and music and laughter, and the underlying throb of a bass beat, and, very distantly, the echo of the city. No night prowlers now. Jake was otherwise occupied.

  Will you come back? she’d asked him.

  I don’t know. He’d chewed on a knuckle, avoiding her gaze. It’s unfinished business, Cassie. But what do I do? At last he’d plucked up the nerve to look at her. If the Darke Academy goes down, so do you. You’re one of them now.

  Cassie shivered. But she trusted Jake. He wouldn’t hurt her to find the truth, and real justice for Jess. They were friends. And Jake would come back to the Darke Academy. He must. Unfinished business. Besides, Isabella had wept bitter tears at the mere suggestion of Jake not returning. Cassie didn’t know if she could handle her roommate’s operatic heartbreak if the wretched boy didn’t show up next term.

  It wasn’t as cold as it had been. Cassie counted the steps down to the courtyard: thirteen. Just as Estelle had said, on that very first day.

  Funny, that. She wasn’t thinking of her as Madame Azzedine any more.

  A dark figure sat in moonlight at the edge of the pool. He didn’t raise his head as she approached, but tore intently at something in his hand. As she drew closer, she saw shreds of velvety black drift into the still green water of the pool.

  ‘Aren’t those rare?’

  Ranjit didn’t smile. ‘Very.’

&
nbsp; She sat beside him on the curved stone rim of the pool. Leda’s shadow spilled on to the flagstones, made monstrous by the swan on her neck.

  At last he said, ‘Your dress is beautiful. You look, um … beautiful.’

  ‘Thanks.’ She reddened, hoping he wouldn’t see it, certain a blush would clash with the silk.

  ‘What do you call that colour?’

  ‘I dunno. Yellow? Pale green?’

  He threw the last crumpled sliver of orchid into the pool. ‘Chartreuse, I think.’

  ‘Nice,’ said Cassie. Trailing a finger in the cold water, weed drifting against her skin, she watched the moon’s reflection shatter and re-form. ‘What’s going to happen to me?’

  He opened his mouth, closed it again, then said, ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘Oh, great. Neither does Sir Alric.’

  He gave a low dry laugh. ‘See, it’s never been interrupted before. The ritual.’

  She nodded, picked at trailing orchid roots. ‘I’m different. I know that.’

  ‘Uh-huh. Very.’ Half-smiling, he pulled up another orchid, ripping its trailing root from the stone. ‘They’re not parasites, you know.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Orchids. They’re not parasites, they’re epiphytes. They live on other living things, but they don’t kill their host. The two, they … coexist.’

  ‘That so?’

  He laughed. ‘Yes.’

  ‘Are you in trouble, Ranjit?’

  ‘That’s the first time you’ve ever called me by my name, do you know that?’ He shrugged. ‘Some of the others … yes, they’re angry. But what they did was wrong – helping Madame Azzedine, I mean. I don’t have to be scared of them. Other way round, if anything.’ His grin was one Cassie didn’t entirely like. ‘Well, they’re not scared just of me, of course. They’re afraid of what’s inside me.’

  She shuddered. ‘And what is that, Ranjit?’ Now she’d started using his name, it seemed difficult to stop.

  ‘One of the worst of the dark spirits. The strongest, the oldest, the …’

  ‘Baddest,’ suggested Cassie.

  ‘Uh-huh.’ He smiled tightly. ‘The baddest.’

  ‘Now, you see,’ she said, ‘I’d have assumed that was Katerina’s.’

  ‘No. Me and my spirit? We have a personality clash.’

  ‘Know what? I think I’m – we’re – in the same boat.’

  ‘Know what?’ He laughed dryly. ‘I think you might be right.’

  Cassie submerged her fingers in the freezing water until they hurt. ‘Katerina. Did she … Was she always like that? Or was she different? Before she was “chosen”?’

  ‘Oh, she was always a bit like that.’ He shrugged. ‘Bad spirit, nasty person? It’s not a good combination. Cormac, now: he has a good spirit, but you know what? He was always a bit of a rogue, and he still is. Ayeesha – good spirit, nice girl. You see? It’s a synergy.’

  ‘And you and me?’

  ‘Two of the worst, Cassandra.’ He seemed sad, but the intensity of his look sent tremors down her spine that were not at all unpleasant. ‘Two bad spirits, two OK people. At least, I don’t think you’re any worse a person than I am.’ He gave her a skewed grin. ‘I don’t know what’ll become of us. I suppose we’ll find out.’

  ‘Oh.’ Leaning back, Cassie studied Leda, still reaching dreamily for the savage swan. ‘Where will it be next term? The Academy, I mean. I assume you know?’

  ‘Yes. We’re going to be in New York.’

  New York! She nodded, fighting a grin, struggling to show even a little reluctance. ‘I won’t miss that swan.’

  ‘You won’t have to. That comes with the Academy, wherever we go. All the statues do. And Sir Alric’s little pets here.’ Savagely, Ranjit tore another orchid from its anchorage. ‘We’re here for the convenience of the gods, Cassie. Or we’re here to prey on mortals and take our fun. Gods and monsters. Depends which way you look at it.’ He smiled without mirth. ‘You see?’

  ‘I see,’ she said, and winked. ‘I see both ways.’

  He seemed bemused for a moment, but then he laughed.

  ‘So,’ said Cassie. ‘About this unacceptable stuff.’

  His questioning expression was nervous.

  ‘Me. Remember? It wasn’t that you didn’t like me, but that you couldn’t accept me.’

  ‘Uh-huh …’

  ‘So how’s about it now, then?’

  Ranjit rubbed his temples with his thumbs. ‘How’s about it? What’s that supposed to mean?’

  ‘For someone with centuries of experience,’ she murmured, ‘you’re not that bright, are you?’

  As she pulled him towards her and kissed him, she thought: That’s all boy, that is. Not spirit. And I like him … Yup. Part of Ranjit might be hundreds of years old, but what was a little age gap? This was fine. He wasn’t sucking anything out of her; her heart was racing, but so was his. Her breath was high in her chest, but she could hear his, too: a little fast, a little yearning. And they both tasted kind of the same.

  Of course you like him! So do I, my dear!

  ‘Estelle!’ Cassie shoved Ranjit’s chest, propelling herself away. ‘Go to hell!’

  ‘Cassandra?’

  ‘It’s OK. It’s OK.’ She pulled him back for another kiss. ‘It’s just, there were three of us there, for a moment.’

  They laughed, then Ranjit went quiet. ‘You’re coming back?’ He gave her a nervous smile. ‘Next year? You are coming back to the Academy, Cassandra?’

  ‘Course.’ Her quick smile faded. ‘Jake too, I think.’

  Ranjit grimaced. ‘He wants to destroy me.’

  ‘Yes. He thinks he’s got reason.’

  ‘What about you?’

  ‘No.’ Cassie shook her head firmly. ‘I believe you. That’s why I’ve got to come back. To stop him whupping your ass.’ She returned Ranjit’s grin, then shrugged. ‘And of course, there’s someone I have to deal with. Hear that, Estelle?’

  Silence.

  Ranjit curled his fingers round hers and squeezed hard. ‘I wish you well, Cassandra. I wish I could fight mine. But we’re one now. Joined for ever. How can you fight yourself?’

  Cassie separated his fingers, thoughtfully, then brought his knuckles to her mouth and kissed them. Grinning, she unpinned her corsage, uncurled his hand and pressed the white orchid into his palm. ‘Nothing ventured, gorgeous.’

  This time he didn’t smile back. ‘You didn’t know Estelle very well, did you?’

  ‘Huh! I’m getting to know her better.’ Cassie gave him another impudent wink. ‘She likes you.’

  ‘That’s what I’m afraid of.’

  He looked so sad and serious, Cassie grew instantly sober too. ‘I don’t want to know what she’s like. Or what she’s done or been.’ She made a face. ‘Do I?’

  ‘Well not tonight, anyway.’ He touched her lower lip with his thumb. ‘I tell you what …’

  ‘What?’

  Up at the school’s splendid entrance, light and music spilled over the top step. Ranjit pinned the white orchid back on to Cassie’s bodice, then took her hand. ‘I like it when you tell Estelle to go to hell. Tell her again for a couple of hours.’

  ‘Just for a couple of hours?’

  ‘Uh-huh. It’s all you’ll get, but it’s long enough for a dance.’ Cheerfully, he pulled her to her feet. ‘You know this one?’

  ‘Nah,’ said Cassie. ‘But I’ll learn. That’s why I came to a posh school, you know.’

  Just for tonight, she thought, burying her face in his shirt to inhale his oh-so-human smell. This was fine, this was good. Just for tonight they were a boy and a girl, and they were nothing and nobody else, and they were dancing under a starry Parisian sky. Devil take tomorrow.

  Though she hoped it wouldn’t get the chance.

  Read on for an exclusive extract from the second book in the Darke Academy series: Blood Ties.

  BLOOD TIES

  ‘Hey, kiddo. Are we keeping you up?’

  The v
oice sounded familiar, but somehow muffled and distant. As if it was coming from the bottom of a well. With an effort, Cassie Bell forced her eyes open and blinked woozily at the sight before her. The table was set with thirteen places. At the centre sat a pasty-looking turkey, clearly only big enough for eight. Cheap supermarket own-brand crackers and a paper tablecloth. Fatty chipolatas and overdone sprouts.

  Christmas, Cranlake Crescent-style.

  Could it really be only three weeks since she was eating exquisite French cuisine from fine china and crystal in the elegant dining room of the Darke Academy? It seemed a lifetime away.

  ‘What’s the matter?’

  Cassie refocused on the sandy-haired figure across the table. Oh, yeah, Patrick. Her key worker. The only thing that had made coming back to her old care home bearable. She managed a smile.

  ‘Aren’t you hungry, Cassie?’ piped up Jilly Beaton sweetly from the head of the table. ‘That’s not like you. You’ve been eating us out of house and home for a fortnight.’

  Cassie dug her nails into her palms. Jilly’s bitchy remarks had been increasing ever since she had got back from Paris. Normally, Cassie wouldn’t have given her the satisfaction, but her fuse seemed to be getting shorter every day.

  ‘Yeah, well I just lost my appetite,’ she snapped, pushing her chair back and getting to her feet. ‘Excuse me.’

  ‘Cassie Bell, you’re not excused—’ began Jilly, but Cassie was already out of the room.

  Patrick caught her at the foot of the stairs, his face full of concern. ‘Cassie, what’s up? You’ve been acting funny ever since you got back from Paris.’

  Cassie paused for a moment. What was there to say? Could she tell him the truth about the Academy? About the Few and their dark secret? About what had happened to her in that black place beneath the Arc de Triomphe? About their interrupted ritual that had left the spirit of Estelle Azzedine stranded, half-lodged in Cassie’s mind? About the strange hunger that had been growing inside her ever since, and how she knew that turkey and chipolatas just weren’t going to hit the spot?

  Impossible.

  ‘I’m just missing my friends,’ she mumbled. ‘Y’know?’