But no matter what I tried, it remained.
And so did his dire warning.
My last class of the day was Home Décor. We still didn’t have a teacher, and it was none other than Thorsten who stood impassively by the teacher’s desk, overseeing our activities. It felt like he was a million miles away. He would be of no help.
Lily tried to come up with a business plan and was scribbling quickly into her notebook while I sat next to her and pretended to learn how to draw to please my future master while actually mulling over how to create a glamour.
“I need another outing.” Lily let out a heavy sigh. “This plan is worthless unless I can show it to someone. It’s about running a deep cleaning company. Vampires will need specialists to clean up blood spills, won’t they?”
I looked at her organized plan, trying to force myself to look interested and not too absorbed in my own problems to care about hers. Yes, there had to be a market for that. Lily might have a chance. I didn’t reply, because Virgie had just wandered over to our table to grab a few brushes and fill her palette with colors. Clearly, she too was doing art today.
“I wouldn’t mind another outing as well,” Virgie said quietly, staring intently at the red tube of color as she squeezed a dollop onto her plate.
I snorted. “So now you’re talking to us?”
She glanced up, hurt in her eyes, as if she was the wronged party. “I thought you understood. I can’t be seen with you.”
I leaned forward and hissed, “Oh, I understand very well. All you care about is protecting your hide.”
Virgie gulped, then replied in a trembling voice, “You’re right. I’m a coward. Not everyone can be as brave and fearless as you, Onyx.”
I blinked, not having expected that response. In the face of Vulthus, I was not brave.
Virgie hiked her shoulders up as if she were facing off with me. Behind her, Peony and Kristen stood over a row of plants in the gardening area, not paying us any attention. “But just because I can’t associate with you openly doesn’t mean we can’t secretly work together.”
I clenched my jaw. “Playing both sides. Getting your cake and eating it too.”
Virgie squeezed green onto her palette, nervously glancing over to Peony.
“Yes, I’ll take any advantage I can get. Pretending otherwise is stupid. Things are getting a little better for me. I don’t want to die or worse.” Virgie glared at me, and I swallowed hard, remembering the twins’ promise of finding her the worst buyer. But even though I had screwed up, so had she, and I wasn’t willing to accept all the blame.
I smiled bitterly. So her posse had been helping her secure a better future. “Don’t worry. Vulthus is interested in me. Whoever will buy you won’t be as bad as him.”
Virgie nodded without shock. “The Onyx I knew wouldn’t give up this easily.”
I put my paintbrush down. “I’ve tried everything. I don’t have powerful vamp friends.” I badly wanted to ask her how to use glamour, but I couldn’t risk it, not after she had discarded me as soon as Peony had returned from the dungeons.
Virgie dropped a piece of paper as she pivoted and sashayed away.
I groaned as I grabbed the note, annoyed that I’d have to endure another putdown. But then I hesitated. Virgie wasn’t clumsy. She was clandestine. Was this a peace offering?
I glanced at Lily, who nodded, encouraging me to open the note.
Carefully, I unfolded the piece of paper.
To learn new magic, use your own magic as a base.
I searched for Virgie, wondering how she'd figured out what I was doing. Had Candice put in a word to her? We shared the same class. Virgie might have seen me talking to her that day I asked about glamour. Maybe she had even read the frustration on my face. Virgie was consumed by her canvas, nodding along as Kristen chirped about something.
I handed the note to Lily, who frowned.
“What do you think?” I asked.
“It’s better than nothing. And no, I haven't had the chance to talk to her.”
I nodded. She was right about this being better than nothing. And also, the interaction with Virgie had given me another idea. Lily and I both desperately needed another outing, an opportunity to meet more rich vampires. And so did Virgie. Sure, there was a chance that Mei would vouch for her, but given the Hong Kong heiress’s closeness to the twins, and Virgie’s unease about putting all her eggs in one basket, Virgie would only welcome a second chance. And unlike Lily and I, she could gently nudge and convince the right people to grant us one.
Yes, Virgie might not have a backbone, and she didn’t want to be my BFF, but a friendship with her still had perks, even if neither of us could fully trust the other.
Since Home Décor was the last class of the day, and Peony stuck to Virgie like glue during dinner, I didn’t dare to broach the subject, deciding to wait to talk to Virgie when she was alone.
Determined to get a grip on using glamour, I spent two hours before bed once again in front of the mirror as Lily watched in silence. This time, however, I didn’t visualize Kristen’s face. Instead, I called on my ice, willing it into my veins. It came, and finally, I released it, slowly, one breath at a time. For some reason, I imagined Kristen as a barbie doll. The ice sprang from my fingers, gathering moisture from the air, freezing it, growing it. And floating between my hands was the ice doll I had imagined and brought to life.
“Whoa,” Lily said.
My breath caught as I turned my hands, and the floating doll twirled like a dancer. It was beautiful. True, the female could’ve been anyone, not just Kristen, but it was something.
How I wished I could create an ice doll of Vulthus and then destroy it. Alas, I doubted my powers had anything to do with voodoo, and a powerful vampire like Vulthus would feel anything even if I had a proper voodoo doll and the right needles.
I released my magic, and the doll melted onto the stone floor, forming a puddle.
“That was amazing!” Lily jumped from her bed. “I didn’t know that was possible.” I glanced at the door meaningfully, and she cringed. “Sorry,” she whispered.
I let out a loud sigh. “Yes, I suppose it’s a nice skill to have if I want to join Vulthus’s personal circus.” A hysterical laugh bubbled from my lips. Blair the fire fae and me the ice fae. What a misfit duo we’d make. I shook my head. “But it’s not useful with the whole glamour thing.”
Lily shrugged. “I don’t know. Creating shapes with your magic seems like a step in the right direction to me.”
I hoped she was right. Deciding this was enough for one day, I crawled into bed. Exhaustion soon lulled me into dreams where I created ice owls and snakes with my magic that later rebelled, diving for my head and trying to choke me.
The dreams got worse and worse until I woke up with a start, shooting into a sitting position. In the last dream, an owl was about to peck out my eye while a snake pushed between my legs, hissing in Vulthus’s voice, “You’re nothing.”
Knowing there was no chance in hell I’d fall asleep again, I put on my uniform and made my way toward the library. If there was one thing I had learned at Nocturnal Academy, it was that one could never be overprepared. A random test or quiz was standard here, not the exception.
The library was empty, not surprising given that it was five in the morning. Hoping I wouldn’t run into a nest of vamps who had returned from a night of clubbing, I made my way onto the third floor to find Thorsten sitting on the ground, his legs stretched out, his back against a bookshelf as he read, And Then There Were None.
I chuckled. “Agatha Christie? Are you kidding me?”
He glanced up, and damn it, but a little bit of color filled his face, which made him look irresistible.
“It’s my time off,” he said, almost apologetically.
I sat down next to him. Who was this stranger, and what had he done with angry, tense Thorsten? Since I couldn’t ask that, I said instead, “You like to read?”
A smile worked its w
ay up his face, making him look twice as handsome as usual. “Very much. German literature was always my favorite subject in school.”
I swallowed hard, thinking back to my old high school and how I had complained about calculus and physics. I’d give anything to turn back the clock and obsess about exponential functions and thermodynamics. And Thorsten had once been human. The vamps all had. I tried to wrap my mind around that thought. What had Thorsten been like in high school?
“Why are you up so early?”
I snapped my gaze back to Thorsten, ready to defend myself, but all I found was concern in his blue eyes. They didn’t look cold today. They looked like a calm, safe lake on a beautiful summer day. They made all my walls and caution collapse. “I had a nightmare. Guess my subconscious was trying to process Vulthus’s visit.”
His jaw clenched, and without thinking I reached out, smoothing the tension from his face. Or at least that’s what I thought I was doing, because Thorsten pulled back, slamming his shoulder into the bookshelf as if I had attacked him.
I clasped my hands together. “Sorry.”
“I should get going.” But he didn’t make a move to stand up.
Since talking about anything personal was Thorsten’s least favorite topic, I decided to broach the other thing that was on my mind. “I’m trying to learn how to use glamour. I’m having trouble.” Foolish, so effing foolish to disclose this information to a vampire, to my enemy, and yet that was exactly what I was doing. Because Thorsten didn’t feel like an enemy. He felt like an ally. No, he was more than that. Much more.
He snapped his book shut. “I don’t know much about glamour.”
I bit my lip, not surprised, but still disappointed by his answer.
“But I’ll find out for you what I can.”
I met his blue gaze. “Thank you.” I hesitated, not wanting to sound weak, yet having to ask once again. “I understand that your sire won’t buy me, but is there someone else who you could convince to bid on my contract?”
Pain marred Thorsten’s face, and he pinched the space between his eyebrows. For a long moment, he didn’t reply. Just as I thought the conversation was over, he said, “Our family doesn’t exactly have the power to influence anyone right now.” He paused, then nodded, as if making a decision to go on. “Griffin Steinberg was a proud man and a bit of a loner. He was raised in isolation by his sire, and he preferred to keep his distance from others as he matured. But with time, he felt the pressure to have an heir. Older vampires gain power, but only to a certain extent. After a while, they need younger vampires in their family or they’ll lose their standing.” Thorsten ran a hand through his blond hair, which right now was on the longish side, something I really liked. “Griffin decided to kill two birds with one stone and get two heirs in one year. His search seemed thorough, and he hoped that I and Jason would entertain ourselves and learn from each other.” He shook his head and fell silent again.
“Jason is the other vampire Griffin sired?” I asked carefully, afraid that if I pushed too hard, Thorsten would shut down once more.
Thorsten nodded. “Yes. Jason messed up.” He snorted. “Well, he did the right thing, but in a bad way.” His stormy gaze meant mine, several emotions flitting through his face. “Jason freed three of Vulthus’s courtesans.”
I couldn’t hold in the gasp that came over my lips. “He did?”
Thorsten nodded once more. “He was caught on tape doing it. The fae were dragged back and executed in front of everyone. Freeing somebody else’s property is illegal in vampire law and a dishonor to our whole family. Jason was imprisoned, but his punishment didn’t end with him. He besmudged the whole Steinberg name. We lost a lot of allies.”
I felt my forehead scrunch up. “But then why did Griffin Steinberg get to judge our Placement Tests?”
“My sire called in a favor. Lady Cardinal wasn’t as harsh with him as the other vamps.” He shrugged. “In fact, it was her suggestion for me to work here.”
“To prove yourself?” Thorsten nodded and it all began to make sense now.
He stared up at the ceiling. “I must clear the Steinberg name. Only then will my family be admitted back into the Elites. Mei’s family is banking on me to fail.”
“So the Wus can keep your place in the Elites.” I licked my lip. Thorsten had risked so much more than I could’ve ever imagined by getting involved with me. He wasn’t cold or a jerk. He was borderline selfless. “It wasn’t smart of you to help me and get me out of all the messes.”
He tilted his head. “It was the right thing to do.”
A vampire who still thought like a human. Thorsten’s looks were hot, but it was who he was as a person that did me in. Why wasn’t he like the other vamps?
I didn’t know, but what I did know was that I could no longer keep my distance. I leaned forward, throwing all caution and reason to the wind, and pressed my lips against his.
Chapter 16
Thorsten was tender strength, merging with me, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me into his hard chest. He smelled like fresh mountain air. Freedom. But there was also a hint of salt and sadness. Electricity raced under my skin as he caressed the inside of my lower lip with his tongue. I ran my hand through his smooth hair, grasping the strands as a moan of pleasure rose from my throat.
“Release her!”
A strong male voice rang out, filling our level of the library. We both jerked, and I shuffled away from Thorsten as he turned his wide-eyed stare at someone standing at the end of the bookshelf.
Griffin Steinberg.
Thorsten’s sire wore an expensive, tan suit that hugged his well-built form, and his dark, slicked back hair and mustache spoke of money. Unlike Vulthus, Steinberg carried a distinguished air that spoke of control. Despite discovering us, he kept his hands folded behind his back and puffed out his chest in an official manner.
He had just seen Thorsten and I doing exactly what we were not supposed to do. The vampire turned his intelligent, brown eyes on me, then slowly turned his head to face Thorsten, who scrambled to stand, despite his natural grace.
“Sire.” Thorsten brushed off his black guard uniform and bowed his head respectfully, but it was too late to salvage the situation unless Thorsten could come up with an amazing excuse. We could say we were drunk, but without the reek of booze in the air, Griffin would never believe that.
“Leave,” Griffin said, flashing his fangs at me. “Now. Do you hear me, fae?”
I flinched. I wasn’t even worthy of a name, and for a moment, I’d been hoping Griffin, like Thorsten, was different than the other vamps. Griffin intensified his stare as he slowly stepped between me and Thorsten, the way I imagined a mother bear would step in front of her cubs.
Shaking, I backed away without a word and descended to the second floor. Faint sounds of vamp students returning to school filled the corridors outside the library, and I could see a few red-uniformed students hanging outside the main floor doors when I peeked over the railing of the spiral staircase.
I ducked out of instinct, rooting myself to the spot, almost underneath where Thorsten and Griffin stood. We’d taken an enormous risk. Griffin wouldn’t reveal what we’d done, but others might. And Griffin might choose to get rid of me to avoid unnecessary complications. He had a lot at stake.
I should’ve left, but I didn’t. Instead, I waited. For a long beat, there was just silence and I began to wonder whether they spoke too quietly for me to hear, but then...
“Do you not understand the danger? Having any relationship with a fae beyond a strictly professional one is an extreme risk, especially for you.”
“Yes, sir,” Thorsten said.
“Your actions could place all of the Steinbergs in danger. The Wus have eyes and ears everywhere.”
I shuddered as I thought of Mei down in the corridor. The seriousness of Griffin’s tone only added to the nausea gathering in my gut. Why had I allowed myself to put Thorsten in danger?
“Do you understand?�
� Griffin asked, his voice taut.
“Yes, sir.”
“It is clear that you do not. You have demonstrated enough altruism already. It’s time to let that go if not for the sake of our family, then the one you left behind.”
My throat dried as my legs began to cramp from the squatting. Sweat formed where I grabbed the wooden railing. More silence dragged out, leading me to assume the conversation was concluded. Knowing Griffin would be furious if he found me eavesdropping, I darted down the rest of the carpeted steps.
Despite the close call and the fact that someone was now aware of our secret, a ghost of Thorsten’s kiss remained on my lips for the rest of the day and throughout my classes. A mixture of hope and dread gathered in my chest. One moment, I felt as if I had a chance at escaping this, and the next, the walls of Lord Sullivan’s classroom seemed to be closing in. But at least, Vulthus didn’t show up again to escort me to Courtesan Studies.
I was halfway to her class when I spotted Mei and Peony talking, both their faces tight while Virgie and Kristen stood a few feet away, patiently waiting to be included.
My skin tightened and my muscles tensed at the sight of them. What if word had already gotten out about Thorsten and I? It was just one kiss, but even that could spell the death of me at Nocturnal Academy.
No, it had been too brief. If anyone had seen anything, they would’ve gone to Headmistress Cardinal by now.
Faking confidence, I squared my shoulders and walked into class.
“How are you, Onyx?” There was genuine concern in Candice's voice. I appreciated her caring even if she couldn’t do anything about the threat hanging over my head. I didn't even mind that she had probably told Virgie about my interest in glamour. Candice must have figured out my attempts on her own, especially after Vulthus had come in.
“I’m fine, thanks,” I lied as I shuffled to my seat.
Virgie snuck a smile at me as she sat down across the room. What did that mean?
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