Shadow Rising

by Gabby Fawkes

  “Okay, coming!” I cried, hurrying toward Retta.

  Her eyes were round with frustration as I reached her.

  We peered round the door. The lights in the corridor had changed, dimming to a dark yellow hue. I tightened my clasp on my bow, ready to spring into action should any guards come round the corner. Not that I’d shoot them, of course. I’d just catch them by surprise and cause a distraction.

  No one came. The coast was clear. The alarm didn’t appear to be rousing any security personnel at all.

  I frowned, confused.

  “Shit, you don’t think it’s one of those alarms that calls the cops directly, do you?” I asked Retta.

  New York City cops were notorious for being trigger happy. I so did not need that right now.

  “I really hope not,” Retta replied.

  We weren’t going to risk finding out. We ran for it, clattering down the staircase as fast as we could go.

  As we went, I noticed the color of the walls starting to change. Like paint being poured over a canvas, a dark blue color had started seeping down the wall covering up the lurid white.

  That’s when it dawned on me what was happening. The school was undergoing its transformation into Eclipse. That’s what the alarm was for.

  “The school’s switching,” I panted, just as the marble beneath my feet began to turn black. “We didn’t set off the alarm because we stole the bow. It’s some kind of alarm because the school is transforming.”

  Retta’s eyes went round. “Why would there need to be an alarm for that?”

  No sooner had she said it then the floor began to shake.

  We shot each other panicked expressions.

  It made sense. For the school to undergo its transformation into Eclipse, some serious magic had to be involved. The alarm was there to tell anyone around to get the hell out of the way. Getting caught up in the process was evidently dangerous.

  Panic gripped me.

  “Go!” I cried.

  We hurried down the final steps to the ground floor and dashed through the shaking corridors. They were now dark blue, the marble floors black. Even the smell of lilies had disappeared. As we ran past the reception desk, I saw that the glass vases on top were now filled with black and red roses.

  Finally, the glass exit doors appeared ahead of us. But they, too, were transforming. Cast iron vines began to snake across the surface of the glass which was, somehow, turning into wood before our eyes.

  We reached the doors and slammed against them. Retta groped around, searching for the emergency lever she’d used before.

  “It’s gone,” she said. “We’re trapped.”

  The shaking intensified. My teeth started chattering in my skull.

  I wasn’t about to give up. With the alarm blaring painfully in my ears, I honed in to my powers. Not my Elkie ones, but my Mage ones.

  It was the first time I’d ever tried to reach inside of myself for my Mage magic. To my surprise, I found it quickly. That tingly, prickly feeling started to radiate from my stomach and into my arms. Then two white orbs blasted out my hands and into the door.

  With a huge bang the doors burst open. Retta and I were sucked outside with the force, as if a vacuum pack had been opened. The doors slammed shut behind us.

  I landed on my backside in the parking lot. It took me a second to collect my senses. When I did, I was surprised to see that the sky was still light and that dusk had barely even started. It felt quite incongruous considering the room we’d just left had been in pitch blackness.

  I looked over my shoulder at the school. An ivy plant was rapidly growing across its surface. The golden sun statue in the belltower was now a silver moon.

  “They’re changing early,” Retta said, standing up and rubbing her ass. She offered her hand down to me and pulled me up. “Unless they split the school equally. Zenith from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Eclipse from 6 p.m.-6 a.m.” She shrugged nonchalantly like it didn’t really matter.

  The petulant part of me wanted to point out that her misinformation had almost gotten us trapped, but then I saw my bow on the ground and held my tongue. We’d done what we’d come here to do, even if it hadn’t gone as smoothly as I’d hoped. But I had to admit, as an adrenaline-fueled grin danced across my lips, it had been one hell of a rush.

  Just then, a couple of cars turned into the parking lot. Some harried-looking Demonborn teachers got out, holding stacks of exercise books and thermos flasks of coffee.

  Retta and I quickly hurried away, heads bowed.

  “That must suck,” Retta said. “Imagine having to work during the light? If you’re nocturnal, I mean.”

  “Teachers are this country’s unsung heros,” I replied, at least half meaning it.

  We headed away from the school. It felt so good to be reunited with my weapon. I kept finding myself stroking it affectionately like it was some kind of pet. But I also knew I’d only feel fully relaxed once I got it safely home.

  “Thanks for your help,” I told Retta as we walked. “I couldn’t have done it without you. I think I would’ve lost my mind if I’d had to spend the night without my bow.”

  “It was fun,” she told me. Then, without missing a beat, she added, “Wanna go clubbing?”

  My eyebrows raised to my hairline. It had been quite the day already. I wasn’t sure if I could add clubbing to the mix. Then again, I was on the lookout for a new crush now that Nikolas Storm had turned out to be such a letdown.

  But then I remembered Emerald’s warning about Geiser. I shook my head.

  “I need to get home. If I’m not back by dark my new step-dad-to-be will send out a search party. I’ve had enough of people in uniforms for one day.”

  Retta flashed me a disappointed pout, then we headed along the streets away from school.

  Even though twilight had barely begun, everything was already changing. Tons of hip coffee shops and bars were opening their doors to all the younger generations who openly flouted the Twilight Curfew. The sound of faint music started in the background from clubs. The atmosphere buzzed like a festival.

  I felt the lure of it in my bones. I’d grown up in Harriman, a town that went to sleep as soon as the daylight faded. Being somewhere with a thriving twilight scene was pretty exciting. And there was still an hour until total darkness. Besides, I never consented to giving William frickin’ Geiser power over my life. That was my mom’s doing, not mine. I was an Elkie, and we were born to live free and run wild. And that, I decided, was exactly what I was going to do.

  I turned to Retta. “On second thought, let’s get a coffee.”

  Her grin widened from ear to ear.

  We went inside the first coffee shop we could find. It was super stylish, with exposed red brick walls and huge weathered leather couches. Retta ordered us drinks and we took a seat by the window so we could watch the city transform.

  Soon, the streets started to fill with Demonborn and Vanpari, and moon Mages in stylish attire of black, steel and chrome colors instead of the paler versions their sun counterparts wore. There were plenty of those too, sun Mages, as well as Celestials and Fae. Everyone was mingling, getting along, enjoying the brief few hours of time when their sleep-wake cycles collided.

  Dusk looked a million times more fun than daytime. It was a shame the leaders who’d negotiated the 1885 Peace Treaty had gone for segregation over integration. The ability of the sun and moon-class to co-exist peacefully was evident, right here in front of my eyes, no matter how loudly Immortals like Sister Celeste tried to claim otherwise.

  “This is what your mom’s standing for, isn’t it?” I asked Retta over a steaming mug of coffee. “Scrapping the Twilight Curfew once and for all. Moving toward more cooperation and integration.”

  Retta nodded. “And Geiser wants the opposite. Guess who’s leading by a mile in the polls?”

  My shoulders slumped. According to all the polls, Geiser was going to win the election. That would mean reinforcing the curfew. Stopping all of this.
/>   “He’s basically the fun police,” I murmured.

  How I wished my mom wasn’t marrying him.

  As my gaze roved back through the window to the streets outside, something caught my eye. It looked like a fight was erupting across the street. A Celestial guy in Zenith uniform was bustling someone out the door of a store. He had a huge muscular physique and dark brown and black wings.

  “Is that Trevor?” I stammered.

  I was up on my feet in a second. Retta stood too, following my gaze.

  A crowd started to form. They were cheering Trevor on.

  Finally, I saw the object of his aggression. It was a Vanpari boy. He was wearing an Eclipse uniform and couldn’t have been older than a freshman.

  “He’s beating up a kid,” I stammered, running out the door.

  Retta was right on my tail. She tugged back on my arm, stopping me from crossing the sidewalk.

  “Theia, don’t get involved. This isn’t your fight.”

  “I can’t stand by and watch Trevor beat an innocent Vanpari to a pulp.”

  I grabbed an arrow from my quiver and took up a shooting stance, sighting my arrow on my target.

  “Theia, no!” Retta cried, just as I let go.

  My arrow whizzed an inch above Trevor’s head and smashed into the flashing neon sign above him, just as I’d intended. The light zapped out. Trevor ducked as glass rained down on his head.

  I hurried across the road. The Vanpari was on the ground, a thin trickle of blood coming from his nose. I heaved him to his feet and shoved him behind me. Retta moved her body beside mine so we were forming a blockade between the Vanpari and Trevor.

  Trevor, recovering from the shock of my arrow, drew his body up to full height. He shook his huge wings, making glass shards fall onto the sidewalk.

  I raised my bow again and readied an arrow, pointing it right between his eyes.

  “Leave this kid alone,” I said through clenched teeth.

  Trevor peered at me. Then a hint of recognition flashed in his eyes. “Hey, you’re that Elkie chick from Battle Class! Theia, right?”

  His sudden switch to joviality took me by surprise. Especially considering I still had my arrow pointed right at the center of his forehead.

  “And you’re that sexist jerk,” I replied. “What are you doing beating up Vanpari kids half your size?”

  Trevor flapped his huge brown and black wings, letting out a nasty bark of a laugh. “What’s it to you, Vanpari-lover?”

  He held my gaze for a moment, a mean sneer on his lips. Then, in one sudden motion, he flapped his huge wings. A jet of wind blasted me in the face as Trevor sprang into the sky. He was briefly silhouetted against the moon before he flapped his huge wings and disappeared from sight.

  As all the tension seeped out of me, I let my bow drop to my side. I turned to see if the kid was okay, but the Vanpari boy had already fled. I didn’t blame him.

  9

  The horrible fight played over in my mind all the way home. I was in no doubt that Trevor’s aggression toward an innocent Vanpari kid was fuelled by the outcome of the Vanpari trial and the increasing distrust of suns toward moons. Now it seemed like the Vanpari didn’t even need to be accused of a crime to get hounded. They just had to have the audacity to walk down the street.

  The whole thing made me sick.

  It was almost completely dark by the time I made it home. I decided to sneak around the back way, hoping no one would spot me coming in late so I could just innocently emerge from my bedroom later and pretend I’d been there all along.

  I found the back wall to Geiser’s mansion and walked the perimeter, fumbling around for a gate. I went along the whole length without finding one. Of course William’s house would be as secure as Fort Knox.

  There was only one thing for it. I’d have to climb the wall. No problem. My Elkie strength was perfectly designed for such an activity.

  I hopped and reached up so my fingertips gripped the wall. Then in one fluid motion, I swung my legs up.

  I crouched on the wall like a cat, gazing down at the dark lawn ahead of me. Light was spooling from the windows of the mansion and the swimming pool was lit in blue, making wobbly lines dance across the grass. I couldn’t see anyone around — no maids or security staff — so decided it was safe to jump.

  I went to launch myself over the wall but as I did, I slammed straight into some kind of barrier.

  What the heck?

  An invisible force field had prevented me from jumping over the wall. I pressed my hand forward and felt it collide with something rubbery. I squinted and saw a faint shimmer.

  “Curfew spell,” a voice called up from the gloom.

  I jumped a mile. Scanning the garden beneath me, I was stunned to see none other than Nikolas Storm emerge from the shadows like a specter. He glanced up at me.

  My heart slammed in my chest. In the pool lights, Nikolas’s features looked even more stunning. His jaw was defined in that chiseled kind of way you saw on male catwalk models. I had to remind myself he was a complete jerk and I wasn’t interested. Not that my tingling nerve-endings would listen to reason.

  “A what?” I asked in the most casual voice I could muster.

  “A curfew spell,” he repeated. “Geiser’s whole campaign is centered on the Twilight Curfew. He can't exactly have his own kids out and about at night getting caught having fun with a Vanpari.”

  I sat down on the wall. “I’m not his kid.”

  “Will be soon.”

  I paused and frowned. Why was Nikolas Storm talking to me all of a sudden? He’d made it perfectly clear at school that he wasn’t interested in anything I had to say. Maybe it had something to do with the fact I’d seen his moon tattoo? He’d definitely been rattled by me mentioning it. If it was a secret, maybe he’d come out to aggressively remind me again not to speak about it aloud.

  Just then, I realized Nikolas was muttering something in Latin under his breath. The shimmering barrier disappeared. He must have cast some kind of spell using his Mage magic.

  “You can come down now,” he said.

  I pressed my palms forward. Sure enough, Nikolas had created a gap in the force field.

  I jumped down and landed with a soft thud on the dewy grass. The shimmery barrier pinged back into place behind me.

  As I straightened, I flashed Nik a skeptical look. “Why are you helping me? You could’ve just left me up there to face Geiser’s wrath.”

  He let out a dry laugh. It was the first time I’d seen anything even remotely resembling a smile on his face. It suited him. He had dimples when he smiled.

  “You have a pretty low opinion of me,” he said.

  Now it was my turn to laugh wryly. “I wonder why?”

  Nikolas turned to face me, his eyebrows raised. “You’re the one who broke my ribs in Battle Class.”

  I winced. “I broke your ribs?”

  “Yeah. Thank God for Adarna Demonborn.” He jammed his hands into his pocket and leaned his back against the wall.

  “I really didn’t meant to hurt you,” I told him. “I’ve never used my Mage magic before. It’s all new to me. I don’t know where my powers begin and end.”

  He shrugged. “Sure. Being a half-breed is confusing.”

  I frowned. “Half-breed?” It sounded like an insult. I wondered what Retta would have to say about the term.

  “Never mind,” Nikolas replied.

  I decided not to press it.

  “You never answered my question,” I said. “Why are you helping me?”

  He paused as if considering whether to say his next words or not. “You’re out at twilight. That’s a good sign.”

  “A good sign of what?”

  He turned his face to me fully and the moon reflected in his pupils. Then he shoved up the sleeve of his right arm, showing me the moon-class tattoo in its full glory. Black twisty lines forming a perfect circle. “A good sign that I can trust you about this.”

  He spoke in a slightly sti
ff manner, as if this whole topic of conversation made him tense.

  “To be honest,” I told him, “I don’t understand the significance of it. Mage stuff goes way over my head.”

  “It means I have dual powers.”

  The expression in his eyes was so intense, I could tell this was a huge deal. But I just didn’t understand why.

  “So, what does that mean? Dual powers? That you draw your magic from both the moon and sun?”

  “In a nutshell.”

  “And that matters because…?”

  A look of relief came over him. His features relaxed. “Because for thousands of years Mages have been forced to choose. You make your decision, you get your mark, and you stick with it. Not choosing is like sticking your middle finger up at tradition.”

  I smiled. “I’ve never been one for tradition,” I replied.

  For the first time, I felt admiration toward Nikolas. It took balls to go against the grain. By taking on dual powers, he was rebelling. And now that he wasn’t acting like a total dick to me, all the intrigue I’d felt about him before came flooding back. Along with those sensations. You know, the tingly ones…

  Warmth rushed into my cheeks. Luckily, it was too dark for him to see me blush.

  “But the thing is,” he continued, “No one has to choose. Moon powers and sun powers come from the same branch of magic. They’re not opposites like we’re led to believe. I mean, you can literally see the moon during the day! Kind of a give away, don’t you think?”

  I could see passion spark in his eyes. Whatever Nikolas was divulging to me, it was something he cared about deeply.

  “Go on,” I prompted. “This is already blowing my mind.”

  “Okay,” he said, sounding increasingly excited. “So the type of magic that’s opposite to sun is night.”

  “I learned about night magic at school,” I said. “It’s like some old ancient evil thing that got eradicated thousands of years ago, isn’t it?”

  “Huh,” Nikolas scoffed. “That’s what they want you to think.”

  I thought of Sister Celeste’s inaccurate History class. Could Sunny’s be just as guilty of misrepresenting the past as Zenith?