by Candy Crum
Amelia had wanted to give her a chance to fulfill the promise she'd made to her parents, while also having the opportunity to learn what had happened to them.
Suddenly, everything drained out of Arryn, her brows furrowing and her teeth grinding as her jaw tightened.
Everything except for rage, guilt, and a searing hatred for the man standing over Amelia.
Thunder cracked overhead, lightning webbing across the sky as she began walking forward. Her eyes locked on her target. She kept her hands out to her side, the tip of her staff dragging along the ground as she headed in his direction.
"Arryn! No!" she heard Cathillian scream.
But it was of no use.
That man had his sword over his head now, ready to finish Amelia. Ready to end the woman who had given her so much hope. She couldn’t save her mother, but she could save Amelia.
No…
She would.
Out of Arryn's peripheral, she saw two men charging for her. Not breaking her stride, she only briefly looked at them as she lifted her staff to the sky, a lightning bolt crashing down to the ground and striking within a few feet of them.
Screaming, they both turned and ran in the other direction.
Amelia’s attacker looked over as he saw the flash of lightning, and then Arryn’s attackers fleeing for their lives. His eyes widened as they locked on her, bringing a smile to her face.
Arryn thrust her staff forward, throwing him back away from Amelia.
She could hear shouting, people screaming her name, but it meant nothing. She couldn't actually understand their words.
The man stood, arcing his hands over his chest. Arryn planted her staff in the ground, preparing to do the same thing, but he screamed as a blade pierced his stomach, bring him to the ground.
Where did it come from?
No… It doesn’t matter…
Arryn placed her arms over her chest, but she very quickly found herself on her back, Amelia throwing herself on top of her, head resting on Arryn's chest, her hand on Arryn's face.
"Stop! Arryn, you have to stop. That's Doyle! He knows things," Amelia said, her voice weak.
Arryn gasped, like it was the first breath she'd ever taken. Suddenly, she was hyperaware of everything around her. Her eyes looked up to the sky, the black clouds dispersing as her power waned. She felt exhausted. Almost unable to will her body to move at all.
Arryn heard a grunt followed by a crunching sound. But she couldn't see anything. She’d become very aware that Amelia was beginning to feel very heavy on her chest.
Arryn saw Cathillian kneeling next to them before he rolled Amelia off her. "Everything's gonna be OK," he said.
Arryn could feel the energy that Cathillian was pulling on as he healed Amelia. Arryn felt a tear slide down her cheek, grateful that Amelia would make it.
"Doyle," Arryn said, trying to sit up before falling back on the ground again.
"Who?" Cathillian asked.
Dread suddenly filled Arryn. "Him, the man that I was just fighting. The one that nearly killed Amelia. She said that was Doyle. He could tell me about my father."
Over the roar of the fire in the distance, over the sounds of the thunder retreating in the sky, over the pain of her pounding headache, and the fatigue draining her body, Arryn could hear the hard swallow.
A sigh escaped her, her chest aching with what she knew was coming. "Cathillian?" Arryn said.
"Arryn... I’m sorry. I… He’s dead.”
Arryn wanted to break into tears, but she couldn't. There was no energy left. So instead, she did the only thing that she could do.
She gave in to the magical drain and allowed herself to fall unconscious.
Epilogue
It had nearly been a week, and Arryn slept most of it. Cathillian had been to see Amelia several times, and she’d slept almost as long.
Today was Arryn’s first day back to school and Amelia’s first day back to the Capitol building. No matter how much they liked one another before, there was a bond forged between the two now that couldn’t be broken.
They’d saved one another’s lives.
Had it not been for Arryn, Doyle would have succeeded in killing Amelia. But that life debt had immediately been repaid when Amelia had used what was left of her strength to kick Arryn’s legs out from under her, climbing on top of her and holding her tight to bring her back from the darkness.
Had it not been for that, it was hard to say just what kind of magic Arryn would have conjured in her rage, and it would have taken every last bit of energy she had, potentially killing her.
When Arryn walked in the front door, Cathillian was standing there waiting on her. Her expression was clouded with confusion as she closed the door, staring off into nothingness.
"Not exactly sure how to take your grand entrance," Cathillian said. "Did you have a good day or a bad one?"
Arryn slowly crossed the living room, flopping down on the couch across from the fireplace. She sat back and shook her head. "The day was fine. Actually—it was better than fine. I’m exhausted. Still not myself, but it was great. Teaching was something that I never in my life imagined myself doing, but it’s a lot of fun."
Cathillian came to sit down next to her, curiosity all over his face. "OK? All that sounds awesome. So, what's with the fucked-up expression? Did something happen?"
Arryn slowly nodded. "It’s about the Dean of Students."
Cathillian sat there, staring at her, obviously waiting for more, but Arryn’s head was too cluttered to process that. Finally, he said, "I swear to the gods, if you don't look at me and stay focused while we talk, I'm going to slap you back into reality. You seem so lost right now. Full sentences, woman."
Arryn smiled as she changed her position, putting her feet up on the couch and turning to face him. "I'm sorry. It's just—have you ever met anyone that seemed so nice, but there was something there that you just can’t explain?"
"What do you mean?" Cathillian asked.
"Talia. The Dean. Her voice was even, calm, and she sounds sweet. She seems excited to have me there, and there’s no reason for me to doubt her. Amelia only has good things to say about her, and the students even seemed excited to see her.”
Cathillian nodded. “But?”
“But when I shook her hand the day that I met her, and when I crossed her today, I don't know… I can't explain it, but something just wasn't right. I felt sick. There's something so familiar about her, but I just… I just can't place it. All I know is I don't like her. I just have a bad feeling about her I guess. Ugh… I shouldn’t even worry about this. I still need to meet Amelia and go over everything with her."
Echo hopped her way through the living room, bringing herself to perch on the arm of the couch by Cathillian. He scratched at her chest before turning back to Arryn. "Well, the good news is that it’s not like she knows. As long as you were nice and friendly to her, I see no reason for you to worry about it. Just be nice, but be vigilant. You know what Mom says. Always trust your gut.”
Arryn gave a sarcastic laugh. “Yeah, except trusting my gut means continuing to hate my new boss. I just can’t shake it. I feel like something’s there, but there’s no reason to.”
“If you don't like her, there's probably a reason. I'm not saying don't give her a chance, in fact, I think you should. Seems like you might be giving her a hard time without really knowing her, but I think it's important to hold onto that feeling until you know why it's there. Nature magic allows you to sense things. Don’t ignore it."
"I'm sure you're right. I've never really had a superior and real structure before, so maybe she just makes me nervous. I mean, I've known Jenna my whole life, and she never gave me a bad feeling, and she's a real bitch." They both laughed.
"Yeah, see? It'll be fine. Just stay vigilant but be kind," he said.
Arryn nodded. "Yeah. Like you said, it's not like she knows I don't like her. There isn't any awkwardness there. As long as I keep to myself and I'm nice, there
shouldn't be a problem.” She sighed. “I think I’m gonna go upstairs. I’m exhausted."
With that, Arryn took herself upstairs for a hot shower. She wanted to lie down and go to bed early that night. Celine had spent a lot of time there since they found one another—especially after the fight with Doyle.
Arryn was grateful to have her, but also grateful to be able to take the night for herself. A night to process just how much her life had changed, and just how much more would come.
It also gave her time to sort out her feelings about Talia.
She wondered if she could talk to Amelia about the mental stuff. Maybe it would come in handy. At the very least, maybe she could learn how to keep her mind closed to others.
The thought of Talia being in her head made her sick. Despite what she’d told Cathillian, that bad feeling ran deeper than she cared to explain.
It chilled her to the bone.
Something was not right about that woman, and she seemed to be the only person that saw it...
***
As Scarlett walked across the school grounds to leave for the day, she heard loud voices. Several loud voices. She made her way around the side of the building to find a group of four male students surrounding Jackson. From the looks of things, they were all Boulevard students. Scarlett took a few steps back, making sure she was out of sight.
As she listened to them, she quickly realized they all believed that Jackson had something to do with Amos' disappearance and his untimely death. Every time Jackson tried to defend his innocence, the other students would scream at him, telling him that if he wasn't such a piece of shit that had spent so much time bullying them, they wouldn't think such things.
Scarlett thought this over for a few moments, wondering exactly how she could turn this in her favor. It didn’t take long for an idea to snake its way into her mind.
She focused on the four boys that surrounded Jackson, picking out the one whose emotions stood out the strongest.
"I swear, I didn't have anything to do with it!" Jackson said, his voice quivering a bit. "I might not like you guys, but I wouldn’t hurt anyone.”
We'll see about that, Scarlett thought.
"It doesn't matter!" the largest of the four yelled. "We’re part of this school just like you are. We fought to be here. Because of us, you don't have to live under Adrien's thumb anymore. You get the benefits, too, but you still hate us. You still pick on us. Well, now you know what it feels like to be bullied by a group you feel is stronger than you."
Ugh. Fuck, this is boring. Let's see if we can make this a bit more interesting.
Scarlett focused in on the boys, connecting her mind with theirs. Doing such a thing with so many was risky, but she wouldn’t need to for long. All she had to do was convince them that Jackson was about to attack, which was easy enough to do.
She willed each of them to see Jackson pull his fist back. In reality, the now-unfortunate young man was standing still, hoping to solve the problem without violence—but that hope was lost as the others defended themselves against an assault that never happened. The four boys jumped into action, the largest one moving first to punch Jackson in the jaw. It was a free-for-all then as all of them piled on top of Jackson hitting and kicking him.
Scarlett gave it just a moment, letting Jackson feel the full force of his fear of them, his rage at being helpless against them before intervening. She ran around the building yelling at them to get their attention. The four boys quickly jumped up, Jackson left severely beaten on the ground. As she approached, she could tell that Jackson would be just fine. As anticipated, they hadn't done too much damage. Nothing seemed broken except for some bones in his face, but she didn’t care either way. Nothing the school’s new little druid, Arryn, couldn't handle.
"What the hell is going on here?" Scarlett asked, rage in her voice.
***
What a week. It was one that Talia knew would weigh on her for a while. Her plan had just hit its first snag.
Arryn.
The girl seemed very sweet, but Scarlett suggested otherwise. She said the girl had some secrets that needed further investigating. One thing was certain, though.
The girl was an enemy of Adrien. Not an angry bystander like the rest of them.
She’d wanted to rise up and take him down herself. It was blatantly obvious that she was no follower. If given the reason to be, Arryn could and would be a huge thorn in Talia’s side.
But it wasn’t like Arryn knew that Talia knew that.
All Talia had to do was smile and continue with her work. Do good things and look good in the process. Arryn was young and naïve. It wouldn’t take much to keep her happy. Talia sighed as she reminded herself that she was in control. There would only be a problem if she created one herself by being too paranoid.
Talia was just about to head out the door to go home when Scarlett walked through, Jackson's arm wrapped around her shoulders as she helped him stand.
The Dean’s eyes went wide as she looked at two of them. "What the hell happened here? Who did this?"
Jackson coughed, and blood spurted from his nose and mouth all over the floor. It would have disgusted Talia if she hadn’t been so caught off guard.
"It was a group of Boulevard bastards," he said, his voice hoarse and weak.
"They had him on the ground beating the hell out of him. I stopped them, but obviously it was too late," Scarlett said out loud, quickly followed by telepathy. Use this opportunity. It’s too convenient not to. Now is the time. Turn him.
The mystic was right. It was exactly what she’d needed, but she felt completely unprepared for it. Talia walked over and placed her hand under his chin, examining his face. "This is horrible. Jackson, I had no idea that something like this would happen."
Jackson suddenly found strength in his voice and vented. "I did! I've been trying to tell everyone! Those bastards are terrible people. It’s not about them being poor. It's how they were raised. All I wanted was to talk it out. I tried to be civil with them. Yes, I have my problems with them, but I still tried to do it without violence. They can't be trusted! Do you see now? Something has to be done. It has to be. Otherwise, this will just keep happening."
"But what can we do? I can punish them. Give me their names, and tomorrow I’ll bring them in here, and I’ll expel them. You have my word," Talia said, faking the deepest level of concern in her voice and expression that she could manage.
"No!" Jackson said forcefully. "That's not going to work! They're just going to continue. Do you really think that being kicked out of school is going to stop them from taking an entire lifetime of hatred out on the nobles? No. They have to be stopped."
"Oh, Jackson," Talia said. "You’re the first student to give me a real chance around here. I hate to see you hurting like this. I don’t know… Maybe those Boulevard kids aren't as good as they seem. I suppose you're right, but what could I possibly do? I’m the Dean. I have to remain neutral."
Jackson’s eyes lit up with hope. "Please! Please help us. I'm not the only one. I told you about them before, in my letter. But it's more than that. We have a tight group—meetings and everything. We use it to safely talk to one another, but really, we've been hoping and praying to find a way to get things back to normal. We didn't like Adrien any more than anyone else, but he made those rules for a reason. It doesn't change the fact that he was right. This Academy has been ruined, and so has the city. If anyone can help, it's you. Please. I'm begging you. We would never breathe a word of this to anyone! I swear on my life."
Talia pulled him into a hug, sealing the young man's fate. His body shuddered against her as he began to cry—completely broken, completely battered, completely vulnerable.
At that moment, he was completely hers. She looked over to Scarlett, grateful that the woman had stumbled across the fight. It had been the perfect time to turn him.
A dark smile spread across Talia's lips as she looked over to her new partner, a smile that rivaled Scarlett’s.
"Jackson, I think you're right. I think it's time for me to meet your friends. I think it's time for some big changes around here."
— FINIS —
Author Notes - Candy Crum
Written July 18th, 2017
Sitting here, thinking about what to say to the readers and how to properly introduce myself, I can’t even believe I’m here. It’s surreal to me. I began this crazy ride with Michael’s group as an editor, and now here I am.
When I was told about how amazing his fans were, how dedicated, and how excited they are to read all things KGU, it was a dream come true to work to create something worthy of him and of his fans. You guys are epic, and the opportunity to be able to do this is monumental.
So, since this is the first time (but hopefully the first of many) you’re reading anything about me, I’ll introduce myself so you know exactly who I am and why I think this and all of you are so bad ass.
I began writing eight years ago. I started my first book (The Eternal Gift) in April of ’09 and finished it in September of ’09. It was NEVER supposed to be published—I didn’t even know that was possible! And I wrote it all while going to nursing school full time, working full time as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) in a long-term care facility, with two very little boys (only twenty months apart at one and two years old), and with my husband several states away in basic training.
It was one hell of a ride, and I’m still shocked that I didn’t rip my own face off at some point out of exhaustion and confusion. I think writing was a huge coping mechanism for me. It started with reading. Because even with all that, I read one book every single day—until I started writing. And as I said before, that book was just for fun. In fact, I only ever planned to write it for my co-workers. I didn’t know self-publishing was a thing, but I soon would.