“Alright,” I said, holding up my hand. “That’s enough. How dare you? You don’t even know me!” To tell the truth, he wasn’t even right. I had no time to think about my mother’s murder and no leads to follow even if I did. His words were just cruel.
Nolan turned to face me. “What have I said that isn’t true?” he said. “I don’t know where your head’s at, but it needs to be right here, right now.” He tapped his temple for emphasis.
My jaw worked, but no sound came out.
“Think about what I said. And if you ever need anything,” he murmured, stepping toward me to whisper in my ear, “come to New York. We like everyone there.” He paused and glanced away from me, then said quietly, “Ah, here’s another one of your protectors coming. How silly of me to think I could ever catch you alone.”
Expecting Keller, I turned around with a smile. But instead of my boyfriend I saw Dobrov loping down the path.
It was probably the first time all semester I had seen the hybrid without his sister. They were inseparable these days.
“Hi, Charlotte,” he said, raising his hand in greeting. This was the first time Dobrov had sought me out all semester.
“Hi,” I said, glancing at Nolan, who stood there with a slightly smug smile.
“How’s it going?” Dobrov asked. “I hear Sip is working hard on the gala preparations.”
“Yeah, she is,” I said. “She’s really excited. She got a preview at Caid’s summer party and now she’s all about it.”
“I heard about that party,” said Dobrov. “Demons had their way.”
I nodded. Nolan didn’t look surprised by this revelation either. I’m sure Caid would have liked to keep that little fact private, but it just wasn’t possible given that so many paranormals had been there.
“Caid handled himself well,” I said. In public I always defended him. Besides, there was no way I was going to tell Nolan about the little meeting I had seen between the president of the Paranormals and Malle. “None of us felt like we were in danger.”
Nolan chuckled. “But was that because of Caid or because you knew many of the strongest paranormals now living were there?”
“Caid cares about us,” I argued.
“Caid cares about himself and votes. The senior paranormals aren’t anywhere near as worried about the demons as the students are, or as worried as they should be,” Nolan countered. “They always think they know best, and they aren’t listening to us at all.”
“What us?” I said. “Who’s talking, other than Lisabelle and I?” We had tried to convince Caid that we had to do something about the demons, but he thought the Police Academy was sufficient, more than sufficient, and hadn’t listened to us. Even after the demon attack on his party he had done nothing. In light of the conversation I had overheard him having with Malle, that wasn’t really surprising, but Nolan didn’t know about that.
“I heard you accidentally got locked in the freezer,” Dobrov said, his dark eyes filled with concern. I glared at the hybrid; I didn’t like to be reminded of that little interlude, which had made me feel weak in a way that nothing else had since I found out who and what I was. Locked in that freezer and having to be rescued, I had felt like I couldn’t take care of myself. And I hated that. Lisabelle and Sip were great, but I didn’t want them to feel like they had to rescue me all the time.
“I’m fine,” I gritted out. “It was an accident. Anyway, I need to find Keller.”
With that, I turned on my heel and stalked away from my classmates, glancing back only once. Dobrov and Nolan were talking quietly, comfortably, as if they had done it before, and not paying the least bit of attention to me. Frowning, I kept walking.
Chapter Twenty-Three
We were all in the new dining hall the next morning in a sober mood. The sun was shining through the glass ceiling, but all around campus everyone was talking about yet another demon attack. The incursions were now coming almost daily. This time it was someone I knew, Vanni. She had been walking back to Aurum by herself when three demons had appeared and attacked her. They would probably have killed her if she hadn’t been able to heal herself. She was knocked unconscious, but when she came around she managed to crawl away with a blast of light and collapse inside the fallen angel dorm.
What was worse was that when she woke up there was a strange black mark, under the which was written ‘The Sign of Six.” She had no idea what it meant, and neither did anyone else.
Now we all expected Oliva to make an announcement that the school was on lockdown until further notice.
I was sitting with Lisabelle, Keller, Trafton, and Lough when Sip came rushing in. Her hair was a mess and her shirt was one button off.
“Morning,” she said, as a pile of books tumbled out of her arms onto what was left of the free space on the breakfast table.
“Where have you been?” Lisabelle asked. “If I didn’t know better, I would think you spent last night with a guy.”
Sip ignored Lisabelle.
“How’s it going?” Lough asked as he took a big bite of scrambled eggs.
“Frustrating,” said Sip, sitting down heavily. “We wanted a special shipment of honey-covered beeswax for the dessert, but of course they’re being difficult about it. How hard is it to get two tons of beeswax by December, really?”
“Yes, I hate it when I can’t get my honey-covered beeswax on time,” said Lisabelle.
“What are the odds that after today planning is going to come to a halt because of the demons?” asked Lough.
“They’re blaming the Sign of Six for everything,” said Sip, as if she knew all about it. “It’s totally ridiculous. They think that a couple of the professors are behind all of it, and I’m worried that Dacer’s going to get in trouble.” She glanced at me as my chest tightened. They couldn’t sack Dacer for something he obviously had nothing to do with.
I swallowed a lump in my throat. “I’m sure it’s not Dacer.”
Sip shrugged. “I’m just telling you what I’ve heard.”
“Have you ever heard of the Sign of Six?” Lough asked.
“News to me,” I muttered.
“Excuse me, can I have your attention, please?” It was Oliva, standing up at the lectern and ready to address the room. I took a deep breath. This was the moment of truth, and judging by Oliva’s stern face it wasn’t going to be good news.
Silence fell. We weren’t the only students to realize that something bad was coming.
“As many of you know,” said Oliva, smoothing his hands over the shiny lapels of his coat, “we are planning a gala at the end of the semester.” He glanced around the room to make sure we were all listening, then continued. “What is happening this semester is simply unacceptable. We are trying to have a more productive semester than we’ve been able to have recently, ever since our former president decided to shirk her responsibilities to the paranormals and join the darkness.”
It surprised me that Oliva was saying out loud that my entire college experience hadn’t gone according to plan. I had learned a lot about elemental powers since I arrived as a Starter, even if I was just an ordinary elemental. Sip and Lisabelle were progressing nicely with their abilities. Sip had kind of let her practice become secondary to planning the gala this semester, but once that was over I was sure she’d be back to becoming the best possible werewolf.
“As I’m sure many of you have heard by now through gossip, at the sites of the various demon attacks that have taken place around campus there has been a marking by a group calling itself the Sign of Six. We do not know who the members of this group are, and I must tell you that I do not care. What I do know is that this Sign of Six must be caught and punished for their actions and for putting our students at risk. The demons cannot keep attacking our campus. Public is old and powerful, but even Public has its limits. I will have peace,” Oliva said, pounding on the lectern. I had never seen the quiet pixie so animated and angry.
“Maybe the job of president at Public just m
akes paranormals crazy,” Lisabelle whispered to me.
“Shhh,” Sip glared.
“Until such time as the perpetrators of the demon attacks are caught, every paranormal is restricted to his or her dorm,” said Oliva, as the room burst into angry protests.
“Silence,” Oliva insisted, pounding his hand once. When the students ignored him, still yelling arguments, Zervos stood up. He was also ignored.
Dacer wasn’t. Sometimes I forgot that my mentor was almost universally beloved.
He stood up and almost all the students quieted, while Oliva gave the vampire a sharp look. I suddenly realized what my friends meant when they said that Dacer was on thin ice. The students listened to the museum curator and they respected him, in a way they had clearly never respected Oliva or Zervos. And that was turning into a problem.
Dacer raised his manicured hands, asking for silence. No student spoke. Even the pixies were silent.
“This is a necessary step,” said Dacer. His voice was soft, but it carried to every student in the room. “We cannot have another attack like the one we had last night. The next time we won’t be so lucky as to have the demons attack a fallen angel who can heal herself.”
“What about students’ rights?” someone called out, I think from the vampire table. “It’s not our fault, yet we’re all being punished.”
Oliva jumped back in, saying in an urgent voice, “Then help us catch these criminals. These vagabonds should be brought to justice, and the sooner the better. If any of you knows anything about the Sign of Six, please come forward. They are bold and brazen, marking their crimes.” Again Oliva glanced at Dacer, but it wasn’t in apology for interrupting him. Instead it looked more like an accusatory look.
I sighed. This was going to get worse before it got better, much worse if I was any judge of paranormal politics. All the students got up at once and headed off to classes, but the room was filled with grumbling as we went.
“At least now we don’t have to worry about where to study, since the library isn’t open,” said Lisabelle. Sip sniffed and turned away. Lisabelle threw up her hands in exasperation.
“Was that an attempt to be positive?” Keller said, laughing.
Lisabelle shrugged. “Sure, stranger things have happened.”
“Like the Sign of Six on campus,” said Lough. “Very strange indeed.” Sip quickly packed up all her books and scurried away.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Later that night we were all waiting in Lisabelle’s room for Sip to come back from a gala meeting. Keller and Lough were there. Trafton had been there, but he’d gone off to play a game of Dash with whoever wanted to join. We hadn’t seen much of Rake recently, because he was busy studying, and now outside of class we might not see him again until the semester ended. Since I lived alone in Astra, I refused to follow Oliva’s restrictions. I was lucky my friends also enjoyed flouting authority.
“Sip is spending all her free time on that gala,” Lough commented. “What about her studies?”
“Zervos doesn’t seem to care this semester,” said Lisabelle. “Or rather, he cares even less than usual. I’m surprised he’s coming to Oliva’s defense as much as he is.”
“Zervos is power-hungry,” said Keller. “Oliva’s the one with power.”
“This week,” I muttered. “If today’s any proof Oliva, isn’t the one with power anyway.”
“I had no idea Dacer was so well respected,” said Lough with wonder as he sat on the floor and had an evening snack of basil, barley, and pepper popcorn.
“Of course he is,” I said. “He’s wonderful.”
“But doesn’t that mean the other professors will have it in for him? I mean, with the demons getting onto campus whenever they want, what happens if they really start to suspect Dacer?” Lough said as he took another handful of food. “He’d get into a lot of trouble.”
“But we know he has nothing to do with the Sign of Six,” I protested. “We don’t even know if the Sign of Six are the ones letting the demons onto campus. The Sign is probably just one professor, or Nolan, or someone like that, and no one else. Just because the mark is at a couple of scenes of attacks doesn’t mean it was made by whoever carried out the attacks.”
“Nolan, huh?” Keller teased, his eyes meeting mine. I blushed a little. I hadn’t told Keller about my little chat with Nolan and Nolan’s insistence that he had come to Public to see me.
“You think Nolan is behind the Sign of Six?” Lough asked thoughtfully. “He might be. He knows a lot about markings, obviously.”
“Are you stereotyping because he has a tattoo?” Lisabelle asked. “You think that makes someone a member of the Sign of Six?”
“He has lots of tattoos, not just one for his wand,” said Lough. “I think he might be part of the Sign of Six because it started after he got here and he keeps to himself. He lives in this dorm and we never see him. What does he do with his time?”
“Runs around under the cover of darkness and draws scary pictures, obviously,” Lisabelle drawled.
Lough rolled his eyes. He was more used to Lisabelle by now and didn’t go to pieces every time she talked to him, but he wasn’t a big fan of arguing. “I have a point,” he said. “If it isn’t Dacer it has to be someone. I would rather it be someone who isn’t a real student here.”
“I would rather it be a pixie or a vampire than a paranormal in Airlee,” I said.
“That’s true,” Lough agreed. “I hate it when the sterling reputation of our dorm is tarnished.”
The door burst open and Sip came in. She was positively glowing.
“We got three dragons,” she cried happily, looking around at all of us with shining eyes. “Three. It’s going to be grand.” She flopped onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling. “This is going to be the best party ever. All the important paranormals are coming. I can’t wait.”
“We’re all just as excited as you are,” Keller assured her, squeezing my hand and giving me a wink. Sip raised her head off the bed, smiled, and dropped it back down. “I can’t wait,” she murmured again.
“I have no doubt,” said Lisabelle, “that it’s going to be a night to remember. Whatever that means.”
Class with Korba the next morning was very subdued. None of the students were happy about being forced to stay in their dorms. On the other hand, I had never seen Martha so elated. I had gone home the night before and she had the entire kitchen covered in baked goods.
“Is there any flour left on campus?” I asked dryly as I came into the room. The woman did know how to bake. I had never smelled so many sweet smells before as when I inhaled deeply in Martha’s kitchen.
“I hear you’ve been confined to the dorm,” said Sigil, floating in.
“Sigil,” I cried happily. “Nice to see you.”
“I thought I should leave the library every so often,” he said bashfully. “Gosh, I wish I could eat those.” He looked longingly as a pile of strawberry tarts.”
“If only you weren’t dead,” said Martha unsympathetically. “And they’re not for you.”
“Who are they for?” Sigil and I asked at the same time.
“My charge, of course,” she said, smiling at me.
“Uh huh,” I said. “Is there such a thing as sugar poisoning?” There were at least two hundred cookies and cakes in the kitchen. How could she possibly expect me to eat more than a fraction of them?
“I can freeze some for later, dear, and you can take some to your friends,” Martha said, smiling at me. She had a long streak of flour on her right cheek, but she didn’t appear to care.
“Um, thanks,” I said, wondering at the change that had come over my dorm mother.
“I think I’ll just grab a sugar cookie for now and go to bed,” I said. For emphasis I reached out, grabbed a cookie, and quickly headed for my room off the kitchen. “Goodnight,” I said as I went. Sigil waved at me and quickly disappeared back upstairs. He didn’t like to be alone with Martha, and I didn’t blame him.<
br />
Long after I was trying to sleep, I could still hear Martha moving around, and the oven door opening and shutting.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Ms. Rollins?” Professor Korba was standing over me, his bushy eyebrows raised.
After I fell asleep in Korba’s class the next day, I decided it would be best if Martha didn’t bake late into the evening. I just wondered if she would listen to me if I asked her not to. She seemed more concerned with Public’s wellbeing than with mine.
One thing I had managed to keep from her was the mask Dacer had given me at the end of the summer. I had left it with Keller, feeling that my boyfriend would have more privacy than I did. Now I decided that I wanted it with me in Astra, and when I asked Keller for it he returned it without comment. I solved the problem of how to have it in Astra, but not where Martha could get her hands on it, by leaving it with Sigil for the time being.
“I figure if I can trust you with the Mirror Arcane I can trust you with this,” I explained, handing it over to the resident ghost, who oohed and aahed appropriately.
“This is a work of genius and beautiful craftsmanship,” he said, his voice soft and filled with respect. “Professor Dacer gave this to you?”
When Dacer had given me the mask, I had in fact had a moment of unease, not knowing where he had gotten it. But I knew he would never give me anything that had been stolen, so I let the unease drift away. If it had been Risper, on the other hand. . . .
“Professor Dacer gave it to me,” I confirmed. “I don’t know where he got it.”
“It’s very old,” said Sigil. “See the sequins outlining the eyes? That was a paranormal trick that was popular in the eighteenth century.”
I stared at the mask. Sigil had a neat little trick of turning his hands solid enough to hold something when necessary, but he usually couldn’t do it for a long period of time.
“I had no idea it was that old,” I breathed. “Why is it green? I thought that was predominantly the pixies’ color.”
Elemental Air (Paranormal Public Series) Page 17