“What are you doing here, anyway?” I demanded. “The semester is over, and it’s not like you and your sister need protecting from your own. You can’t possibly be as scared as the paranormals blanketing my entry hall.”
Dobrov still didn’t move, nor did he say a word.
“Why aren’t you leaving?” I said, still glaring at him. My head had started to throb. If I didn’t sleep soon I was likely to faint.
“Your arm is on my throat,” said Dobrov, glancing down.
“Whatever,” I said, stepping back but not taking my eyes away from him.
Dobrov massaged his offended windpipe.
“I’m on your side, Charlotte,” he said. “I wish you’d believe me.”
“You don’t act like it,” I said, crossing my arms.
Dobrov nodded. “I understand,” he said. “I do. I’ll see what I can do to change your mind.”
Before I could answer he turned away and walked out the door. I watched him go, mostly to make sure he was gone. The door closed soundlessly behind him, and I hurried forward and snapped the lock closed.
When I turned around my bed looked exactly the same, but I couldn’t get into it yet. Instead, I lit the candles in my room and checked every corner. I also put my dirty ring back on and did Lisabelle’s spell to check for listeners.
Chapter Four
Darkness calls to darkness
darkness calls to darkness
darkness calls to darkness
When I closed my eyes I saw black.
Darkness calls to darkness. I was called home. No, Lisabelle was. I wish we were together, the three of us, but we’ll never be together again.
Don’t wake up. If you wake up you won’t get the answer to the question. If only you knew what the question was.
I kicked my blankets off. I felt stifled and sweaty.
A dream was coming closer, changing the blackness behind my closed eyes.
“Just not Malle,” I muttered, but it wasn’t Malle this time. I was almost relieved to see Lisabelle’s pale face, her eyes glittering like two black diamonds.
“Where’s Sip?” Her voice sounded far away.
“Lisabelle,” I cried, but I knew she couldn’t hear me. Her eyes fluttered a little, but she didn’t look away from the hooded figure she was talking to.
“Are you referring to Ms. Quest?” The voice was familiar to me, but I couldn’t place it. The sound was distorted so much that there was no way to tell if it was male or female. I quickly did a mental check of all the Nocturns I knew, but I still couldn’t place it.
“Your uncle is hot on the trail of the objects,” the voice continued.
“Yes,” said Lisabelle without emotion. “He usually gets what he wants.”
“Will he want you back?” The voice sounded amused.
Lisabelle raised her eyebrows. She actually looked bored, but I knew that was a front. Her shoulders were pulled back and her lips were pursed. There was tension in every line of her body. The tension would remain until Sip was back at Public.
“Yes, Premier,” said Lisabelle. “He will.”
The hood nodded. The darkness premier. Cynthia Malle’s boss. That’s who Lisabelle was talking to. This was bad. Like, really bad.
Sip’s voice was going off in my head, yelling at me to find out who it was. I wondered if the premier was a paranormal I knew. Probably not, despite the vague familiarity of the voice. There were still lots of paranormals out there whom I had never even seen. Caid’s party had been filled with impressive names, for instance, but Lisabelle’s parents hadn’t been there.
Lisabelle’s parents! Their only daughter.
I forced myself to turn my attention back to the conversation Lisabelle was having. This must be happening now, or very recently.
“I want Sip safe before I agree,” said Lisabelle. “It won’t be pretty for any of us if one hair on her fusspot head is harmed.”
“You speak of her in such affectionate terms,” said the dark figure.
Lisabelle shrugged. “We’ve spent a lot of time together.”
“And what is it you’re agreeing to?” The voice was silky now, filled with both interest and malice.
“Wear the black ring,” said Lisabelle. Her hands were clenched into fists at her sides.
The hooded figure nodded once. Twice.
They were in a room with a black marble floor, but I couldn’t make out anything else about the space. There were no walls or windows. I saw no furniture.
“Ms. Quest is fine,” said the premier. “You can trust me on that.”
“I don’t trust you on anything,” said Lisabelle, “especially not where my friends are concerned.”
“Ah, yes, we will have to discuss your friend Charlotte and her . . . future, whatever is left of it.”
Lisabelle’s jaw tightened, but she made no other sign that she was angry. I found myself wondering if she was. At least the premier had confirmed one thing: the black rings meant Nocturns. All of Golden Falls had gone over to darkness. No wonder Nolan had been uncomfortable there and Keller didn’t trust him. I had gotten mad at Keller for that.
“Ms. Quest is on her way back to Paranormal Public,” said the darkness premier. “She will arrive there safely if you put the black ring on before she lands. If you do not, then she will be returned here and you will both be chained. You will forgive me, but I would like to check you for any paranormal charms or enchantments that might have been placed on you.”
Lisabelle laughed, but she wasn’t amused. “Go right ahead. I’d love to know how you think any of them could put an enchantment on me.”
The black shoulders raised in a shrug. “Maybe you put it on yourself.”
“I am here to do what I said I would do,” said Lisabelle, showing her first spark of real emotion.
“Very well,” said the premier. “This will only take a moment.” I didn’t even see anything happen, just a cloud of gray smoke that floated toward Lisabelle. It started at her feet, wrapped itself around her body, and drifted upward.
“If you are telling any untruths or if the smoke finds anything it doesn’t like, it will turn red,” said the premier.
I wondered if Lisabelle could see black-clad figure’s face. Did she know who the darkness premier was?
The smoke never turned red, and I was pretty sure I saw smugness on Lisabelle’s face as she looked at the premier.
“Ms. Quest is nearing Public,” said the premier, not acknowledging the smoke at all. “Will you wear the black ring of the Nocturns and obey our rules therein?”
Lisabelle stepped forward and extended her right hand. Her veins were so blue that they shone through her pale skin like lines drawn on paper. Her hand was steady.
The premier reached over and picked something out of what looked like thin air. If I squinted I thought I might see a table there, but it was too dark to tell for sure. It was only now that I realized that the premier wore gloves, hiding every part of his hands. Or hers.
“Do you agree to follow the laws of the Nocturns? No matter what old friends you will have to destroy?” The premier’s voice rose with something that sounded a lot like satisfaction.
“I will follow the laws of the Nocturns,” said Lisabelle, her voice emotionless.
I wanted to yell out and tell her one last time not to put that ring on her finger, but I knew she couldn’t hear me, and I knew it was the only way to get Sip back. Going to Golden Falls had been the biggest mistake we could ever have made, and now we were living with the consequences.
Lisabelle held her hand steady as the premier slipped the ring on her finger. It was black on black, with one big jewel in the middle and black gold as the band. In that moment I hated that ring more than anything else in the world.
Once the ring was on Lisabelle’s finger it glowed black, and it continued to glow as Lisabelle looked at it. In fact, the intensity of the light grew, filling the air around the two dark figures.
“And so it is done. May you
always follow the right path, no longer working against the common good,” said the premier.
Lisabelle nodded once, her eyes burning brighter than the ring.
I tore myself out of bed and landed with a thud on the floor.
“Ouch,” I muttered, rubbing the elbow I had landed on.
Sip was about to be dropped off at Public by demons. That couldn’t possibly go well.
I stumbled to my door and flung it open with a thud. Dashing into the hallway I quickly made the decision to wake my friends and all the sleepers in the foyer.
As I ran down the stairs taking them two at a time, Lough came out of the kitchen. He saw me running and frowned. “Where’d everyone go?” he asked. He was wearing sky blue comfy pants and a white t-shirt. His blond hair was tousled. At least he had tried to sleep.
Instantly, I knew what he was talking about. All the sleeping bags were empty. The students had gone to defend Public against Sip. Oh, please, no.
“We have to hurry,” I said wildly, grabbing his arm. “Demons are dropping Sip off. I imagine they’re going to be attacked, which is exactly the point. We can’t let Sip get hurt.”
Lough dashed forward and we ran together out of Astra. It was still the dead of night. There was no way I’d been asleep for more than an hour or two.
“Over there,” he pointed. Orange and yellow lights lit the sky as if a massive bonfire was blazing.
“We’re too late,” I cried.
“Can you do anything about it from here?” Lough called over his shoulder.
“Not while I’m running,” I said. I had to concentrate if I was going to send my power into the earth. I still couldn’t do it from very far away.
“We have to run faster,” I said.
“What do you think we are? Cheetahs?” Lough was panting. “We don’t have physical powers. You can just create lightning.”
The lights were coming from the bottom of the large hill at the far end of campus. I had completely forgotten how tired I was and how much my head hurt. The demons were bringing Sip in, hoping that her own paranormals would mistake her for an attacker and kill her.
Chapter Five
“Stop,” I cried, when the battle came into view, but it was too late. Three demons, or whatever the creatures were that we had seen pulling the carriages at the start of the semester, were suspended in mid-air, just floating. Below them was every single paranormal on the entire campus. I couldn’t make out their faces, but I was sure Professor Dacer and President Oliva were at the front of the crowd, and it was likely that Professor Erikson was there too. I wasn’t sure how I felt about seeing Keller’s aunt for the first time after what her sister had done, but I couldn’t worry about that right now. I had to save Sip. Otherwise Lisabelle’s sacrifice would be in vain.
“Stop,” I yelled again. The demons were holding something, and I had a horrible feeling it was Sip.
“Why don’t they know who it is?” Lough yelled.
“Probably spells,” I yelled back, coming to a stop halfway down the hill. Yelling was useless.
From the watching paranormals in front of us came two more bursts of power directed at the demons. The dark shapes moved, but slowly. It was like they were goading us into a massive attack, one that was sure to kill Sip.
“You have to do something,” Lough cried frantically, coming to a halt next to me.
“May the paranormal gods forgive me,” I said. I closed my eyes.
My powers were still a dull remnant of what they would normally have been. The battle at Golden Falls and the stress of everything that had happened since then had taken a lot out of me. I had slept for a little while, but not restfully, with dreams of Lisabelle bombarding me. I wasn’t sure when I would ever be at full strength again.
“Use Astra’s old power,” Lough’s voice advised from somewhere far away. “Just save her.”
Astra, the old dorm that Queen Ashray had cared so deeply about, was the biggest concentration of elemental magic left, and Lough was right to remind me of it. When I called, the very floors of my dorm answered. Old magic, long forgotten, seeped out and rolled over the grass of Public, coming to my aid. From under my feet I felt the earth start to roll.
“Why is the ground hot?” Lough asked in wonder.
“Because I’m moving it,” I said, my eyes still closed.
“Of course you are,” said Lough in squeaky voice.
“Shush or I’ll loose my concentration.”
“Something’s wrong,” said Lough. “I don’t know what it is, but something’s not right.”
“I stopped the wind,” I said. “Well, rather, the wind stopped itself.”
Lough stumbled and I heard him start to fall. Still with my eyes closed I reached out and steadied him.
“Here,” I said, pulling him next to me as the ground started to roll, “come stand next to me.”
“Happily,” said Lough, his voice strained.
From below I heard cries of fear as the rolling earth reached my fellow students and the professors of Public.
The sounds of battle and the explosions happening behind my eyes halted in the wake of a shaking earth. I sent air to the demons. I felt their bodies, at once lifeless and hot, high above us. I also felt another body, vital and alive. I wanted to sag in relief, but I couldn’t let myself, not yet.
A pair of rough hands grabbed my shoulders, but I wouldn’t be stopped; I made the earth shake right in front of me. The hands gripped tighter, the fingertips bruising, but they were finally forced to let go. I heard a series of curses, but still I refused to open my eyes.
“Zervos showed up,” said Lough, “looking right as rain. Surprise surprise.”
But not even Zervos, who had a lot to answer for, would make me lose my concentration at this point.
“I think she’s okay,” Lough said in my ear after a long time.
The earth was heaving as if there was a rolling pin under the grass, moving back and forth, making the ground uneven, but I finally ordered it to quiet. This was Public’s ground, and it wouldn’t do to have Martha angry at me.
To my surprise, the earth resisted. It wanted to keep moving and fighting. Slowly, I calmed my magic. I couldn’t go around attacking my own all the time; I had only done it this time to save Sip. The cries of my fellow students had stopped a long time ago. There was just a pulsing, cold silence.
Chapter Six
Now, slowly, I opened my eyes. The night was lit up by a hundred tiny blurry fires. I blinked several times, clearing my vision from the magic I’d been guiding.
I saw Vanni and Trafton holding their rings out, little fires of silver or white or blue burning. The vampires did the same, only their fires were red. And so it went, on down the line of paranormals. Each was standing there staring at me, mouth agape.
I looked at Lough, but he had already broken into a run.
“Sip,” he cried. “She came down over there,” he said, pointing to the tree line. “SIP!!!”
Looking up at the sky, all I saw was stars. Nowhere did I see any sign of the demons.
I started to run after Lough. I ran right past Zervos, who was talking furiously to Oliva and Dacer. The vampire professor gave me a dark look as I rushed by.
I knew Dacer would be angry, furious even. He’d been in the middle of doing magic and I had interrupted him, but I couldn’t help it. I had had to save Sip, and there had been no time to explain.
“Well, Charlotte, you’re getting much more badass,” said Sip. There was no humor in her voice. When I met her eyes I saw how dull the purple was, its usual sparkle dimmed. She stood in front of us, looking exactly as she had when the Happiness Enforcement Officers had taken her away, only more haggard.
Lough stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Sip’s thin shoulders. I heard the werewolf almost chuckle.
“Nice to see you two,” she said, letting herself get bear hugged. Over Sip’s shoulder I saw the other Public students, all staring in our direction. President Oliva,
Dacer, and the other professors were nowhere to be seen.
I’d have to worry about that later.
The students started dispersing, not looking at us, except for Trafton, who gave me a thumbs up. I smiled tiredly at him.
Sip looked around and sighed. “It’s nice to be home,” she said. “My mom and dad will be happy.”
Hyder and Helen Quest had just one daughter, and Sip was their pride and joy.
Slowly, a frown replaced Sip’s smile. “Where’s Lisabelle?” she asked.
Lough’s mouth dropped open, but nothing came out.
“She didn’t get hurt, did she?”
Dawn was rising behind Sip, but the pale sky offered no relief to the darkness that now covered Public. As the wind returned to normal and the ground gave its last heave, I looked at my friend.
She raised her eyebrows as she continued to look around.
“She’d better not be in our room ‘decorating,’” said Sip, showing her first signs of life. “I wasn’t gone for that long, and I don’t approve.”
Lough’s lip started to tremble. I didn’t have the words to tell her.
I was too slow. I should have been the one, but Dobrov beat me to it. He strode up the hill, his legs longer than I remembered.
“Sip,” he said, without warmth. “Glad you’re back.”
Sip just looked at him, her eyebrows raised.
“Why are we wasting time?” she asked me. “Let’s get to Airlee, before she screws everything up.”
“We aren’t going to Airlee,” Lough said quietly.
Sip’s face fell a little. Now, suddenly, in the warm morning, a morning that should have been more beautiful than heart-wrenching, Sip started to realize that something was truly wrong.
“What happened?” she asked softly. “Please, what happened? Tell me she’s okay!” Sip started to look around frantically. “Where is she? What happened?” she cried. “She didn’t die fighting the Golden Falls Happiness Officers, did she? There’s no way they’d take her down,” she breathed. “No way.”
“She didn’t die fighting them,” I croaked. I couldn’t stand watching my friend in pain.
Elemental Darkness (Paranormal Public Series) Page 3