“Mind if we join you?”
I looked up from pudding #1 (a fine tapioca-light) to find Susan Collins, daughter of Section Chief Ralph Collins, staring down at me with a smirk.
Susan Collins wasn’t much to look at. She was built like a long distance runner and wore her cardboard brown hair cropped short and tight. You’d never notice her in a crowd if it weren’t for that mismatched pair of arms. The ebony left had been grafted onto her torso a few months back. She’d lost the original in our first fight with Talmax. Aside from Rei and I, Susan was the only other student to survive. She’d done it all alone too. She didn’t have some uber-vampire backing her. But as I was saying, Susan wasn’t much to look at. It was her two huge buddies that were blotting out the sun. I knew them only by their nicknames, ‘Tank’ and ‘Truck’.
And no, they weren’t professional quilters.
“Do you know the five S’s of pudding?” I asked.
Susan’s eyebrow quirked. “The five S’s?”
“Yea. See it. Swirl it. Sniff it. Taste it. Savor it. To truly appreciate the partially hydrogenated oils arranged in one of these tiny plastic cups, you’ve gotta be sure to do each and every one.”
Susan frowned. “But ‘taste’ doesn’t start with an S.”
“And the ‘seeing’ part doesn’t work without light.” I gestured to the two lugs.
Susan rolled her eyes and told her muscle to get lost.
The two cataphracts gave me looks of great constipation, but headed over to the crowded student lounge.
“I’m still not sure which one is Tank and which one was Truck.”
“Tank is the one with the tattoo of a tank on his shoulder. Truck is the one with the rose.”
“Oh.” I blinked a few times. “You’re the captain of Iota, right?”
“And you’re Dieter Resnick.” She extended her white right hand. “I don’t think we’ve officially met.”
Because Susan had interrupted me in the middle of pudding time, I decided to be a prick. I extended my left hand instead. Frowning slightly, Susan switched. The replacement felt clumsy in my fingers—but worked well enough to form a death grip. She traced the scars lining my palm as she pulled away.
“Wow. Electrical burn?”
I raised an eyebrow. That was one hell of a guess.
“Compliments of New York.” Any additional detail would be nothing but trouble. I didn’t care to explain how Rei mended it (swapping blood with a vampire was generally frowned upon), and glanced over at the lounge instead. The group of cataphracts arranged around the TV looked like they could be playing in the football game they were watching. One glared at me before muttering something to his friends. “Those guys always so protective?”
Susan shrugged. “Only when they think I’m doing something stupid.”
Honesty won her a chair. I gestured for her to sit.
Susan unbuttoned her Elliot robe and slid in opposite me. My eyes lingered on her low cut v-neck for only a second. (Okay, maybe Susan wasn’t totally forgettable.)
“Why the concern?” I asked.
“I think you know.” Filching pudding #2, Iota’s captain peeled off the wrapper and stuck it on my plate. It was a chocolate vanilla marble. The delicate dance between light and dark was intended to contrast with the airy levity of the tapioca-light. But that dream was lost now. I fidgeted with my spoon.
“Enlighten me, captain. What have I done to arouse them?”
“Well, Initiate Resnick, word is you’re that hell spawn’s pincushion.”
My jaw tightened. So Susan was a straightforward gal. I could do straightforward.
“And word is you’re a fame-seeking missile.”
The burgundy false-leather bench squeaked under Susan’s spine. But that’s the funny thing about America. You’re expected to achieve great things, but heaven forbid you look like you’re trying hard to achieve them. That’s the kiss of death. The veritable scarlet letter of doom. And it was a well-known fact that Iota’s captain was obsessed with achieving many great things in her life. Right now, she wanted to be considered the big witch on campus. In the future, it was pretty obvious she was gunning for the DEA Council. I didn’t really give a shit about all of that. I didn’t care about people with goals that didn’t concern me. But Susan looked none too pleased with that assertion, and even less happy that she was showing it. I took a deep breath and sighed. She’d dumped her bodyguards and absorbed quite a bit of my snark. Even I could see I was being an asshole.
“Listen, all I’m saying is that some rumors are—as the Druid would say—utter bollocks. The hell spawn and I are just friends. No one is swapping any blood.”
Susan’s eyes narrowed. “Then why did you look so angry, Resnick?”
Did I look angry? I wasn’t too certain.
“Because you stole my pudding,” I managed. I started scooting out of the booth. “And it was nice to meet you.”
If I was going to survive Spinoza’s daily drubbings, I needed to avoid any extracurricular ones. Next time I’d get my food to go. I was a terrible liar. Conversations like this could only lead to trouble. I’d nearly escaped when Susan grabbed my arm. It was hard to describe, but the room suddenly felt warm. The magic oozing off Susan…I was nearly certain that we favored the same elements…and I was nearly certain that she was the stronger.
“Resnick, she’s going to betray us.”
“Excuse me?” I tried to pull away.
“Sit.”
I sat.
“‘We’re all the same on the inside.’ I know that’s what you Imperiti children learn. But, Resnick, those words are intended for mankind.”
Egads. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“That a hug means one thing to you and another thing to a snake.” Susan looked at me with pitying eyes. “That creature you’ve befriended is not a mage, Resnick. She’s not even a human. And no matter how pretty you boys think she is, no matter how enamored you become, you’d all do well to remember that.”
“Enamored…I’m not…I mean, we’re not…”
“Don’t play dumb, Resnick. I caught Roger with another copy of that photo just last week.”
That comment threw me.
“What photo?”
Now it was Susan’s turn to look surprised.
“You didn’t hear?”
“Captain, I’m being trained by a Druid. If you want to know where the squirrels are hiding their nuts, I’m your man. Otherwise, I’m in the dark.”
“Oh, man…” Susan got the pre-gossip glow. “It happened last year. Theodus’ little princess had just gotten here, and she decided to go for a dip in the pond.” Susan chuckled. “Get this. She thought it was for swimming. Claimed it looked like her ‘swimming pond’ back home.”
“They have those?”
“Who knows.” Susan shrugged. “Anyways, some idiots started taking photos. She caught one and punched him in the nose.”
“Sounds reasonable.”
“She fractured his skull, Resnick.”
“Oh.” Okay, not great.
“And then she tried to drowned him. Lucas had to drag her off him.”
“Oh.” Okay, somewhat psycho.
“Lucas was always getting her out of trouble—and look what he got for his efforts!”
“Hold on, what do you mean by that?” Lucas was the previous captain of Lambda. He’d died during the attacks over the summer.
“Lucas was supposed to pick you up, but that other initiate’s parents threw a fit about Rei Acerba escorting him to campus.” Susan shook her head. “If the two of you had been together…”
“You think I…” Okay, wow. “Captain Collins, I only managed to get myself electrocuted in New York. Rei saved me.”
Susan granted me a genuine look of approval.
“You’re being modest, Resnick. We both know that the attack happened in the middle of the day.”
“What does that…” I shook my head. Rei could tolerate sunlight; it ju
st made her act like a drunken sailor on Valium. “Listen, I never knew Lucas, but if he watched out for Rei, he was doing a damn good thing. Rei is the only reason the faculty is still breathing. Dante and I couldn’t have stopped those bombers alone.”
“Or the only reason they were in trouble in the first place.” Susan looked at the workers assembling the giant tents. “You’ve considered it, haven’t you?”
I clenched my fists. No wonder Jules never bothered with the social scene.
“No, I most definitely have not.”
“Think about it, you idiot.”
“I don’t need to, captain. I was there.”
“Someone let those Talmax thugs in!” she shouted.
In the lounge, the cataphract posse quieted. She’d managed to get the attention of every student in the place.
Susan looked down at her replacement arm and sighed.
“The new arm…it’s not the same…it’s not right.” She turned to look out the darkened window. “I wake up every morning thinking I’m captured again. I have to check. I have to check my arms and legs to make sure I’m not chained to my freakin’ bedposts. Can you believe that? Then I remember I’m back at Elliot. Safe old Elliot. But then someone lets them in, Resnick. Someone lets them into my bloody dorm!”
Susan was right, of course. Without an ID card or an escort, you’d be turned around by the wards or toasted by Elliot’s defenses. But Talmax had managed to get men in past the wards. And that meant someone had been a very naughty mage. Even Albright thought so. But fingering Rei? I rubbed at the scars burnt into my palms. There was a reason I wasn’t afraid at night. Susan had it all wrong.
“You need to stop staring at the fangy object, captain. Subterfuge isn’t Rei’s thing. If she wanted us dead, she’d sink a blade straight into our chest. I’m pretty sure there would be bugles and a cavalry charge first.”
For an instant, Susan’s calm veneer faltered. “You can’t be…”
“Sure I can. Rei might be a killer, but she’s not a sneak. She’d probably call you out in the middle of the quad, slap you with a glove, and demand to see your second. And don’t start acting all high and mighty about killing. You can’t tell me your hands are still clean. I’m pretty sure Talmax didn’t give you a day pass out of detention.”
“Talmax?” Susan raised an eyebrow.
I tried to ignore the beads of sweat running down my back.
“What is your squad doing in Central’s basement?”
“Ours is not to reason what, captain.”
Susan rolled her eyes. “Resnick, no one’s spelling it out, but we all know that there is a war on. Iota, Kappa, and Mu are on the football field training every single day. Even some of the students from the non-combat squads were drawn up. What I want to know is why your squad was excluded. You’ve got a few good people. They should be getting ready too.”
Because your dad said so?
Because we’ve been tasked with a secret mission?
Because our enemy was a master of glamour?
“You’ll have to ask Captain Rice or Dean Albright about that.“
“As if those two hacks…“ Susan shook her head. “What’s going on, Resnick? What are you up to?”
I slid out of the booth. This was a bridge too far.
“Excuse me, captain, but I’ve gotta take a dump.”
“Wait,” Susan said.
“What now?” I groaned.
“You should join my squad.”
“Excuse me?”
“Albright is a walking disaster. That man…there’s a reason they locked him up out here. And I’ve got plans, Resnick. When I graduate, I’m going to work for Cerberus. They actually get it over there. They know what we’re up against. And they can get you out of that DEA contract. They can buy you right out of it. Switch squads, Resnick. You don’t have to live under that man’s thumb.”
I might have been new to this magic stuff, but the smell of rotten fish was universal.
“Lady, a few months ago I was scrapping leftover hamburgers into my lunchbox. Now I’ve got room, board, a free education, and money to send home to my father. Dean Albright’s been treating me just fine. Now if you’ll excuse me, the porcelain goddess awaits.”
“Resnick!”
I dashed out of the cafeteria and across the lawn. The suspicion of Rei was nothing new. I’d discovered that the day I got here. But that stuff about Albright…I’d never heard that before.
“You handled that pretty well,” Dante said from behind me. “No explosions. No floods of juice. Not even a bloody knuckle.”
“Jerk. You were there the whole time?” I punched him in the arm.
“Yea, I use a shroud whenever I go in there solo, but I totally had your back, bud.”
“Gee, thanks, Dante,” I grumbled. “What do you make of that last thing Susan said? Albright’s locked up here?”
“Never heard of anything like that before—but what would I know? I’ve only been here a semester longer than you.”
“And how about what Susan said about Rei?”
Dante shrugged.
I stopped walking towards Central and crossed my arms.
“No, Dante. Out with it.”
Dante scratched his head and sighed.
“Listen, Rei’s cool and all, but…it’s just, well, Susan’s got a point.”
“Dante, you were there!”
“Easy, bud. I’m not talking about the attack. Rei save our butt, no doubt. But I’m thinking more long term. You see, this whole Talmax thing could put us at odds with the Fiefs.”
“With the Fiefs?” I frowned. “What do the Fiefs have to do with Talmax?”
“Borders, bud. The Department signed a treaty with the Nostophoros back in the 1850’s. We protect their borders. They stay out of our jugulars.” He gave a meek smile. “It’s a pretty good deal.”
In my head, a scenario shifted into place.
“If the Department of Mana Affairs were to surrender the West Coast…”
“Right. We wouldn’t be defending their borders anymore. Then the vamps might decide to…renegotiate.”
I hadn’t considered how the Nostophoros might respond to Talmax’s attack…which was sloppy now that I thought about it.
“Dante, are Rei’s people strong enough to push the Department around?”
“Normally, no. But, bud, you heard the same casualty figures I did. The DEA is running short on manpower. And we don’t just have to worry about the Nostophoros taking advantage. There are other players that would love to fill a vacuum. The Weres for one. The Department is in a serious bind, man. That’s why our mission is so important.” Dante let out a sigh. “And speaking of binds…”
“What?”
“I could really use an escort.” He handed me a large manila envelope. It was addressed to one Rei Acerba Bathory.
I flipped threw the pages and frowned. “You need my help to deliver battle plans?”
“And I need to get Rei’s photo.” He pulled a beat-up camera out of his Elliot robe.
“Why?”
“For her new papers. I need a photo of you too, actually. We’re going in under fake names.”
“And you need me to hold your hand?” I rolled my eyes. “Come on, Dante. I want to go take a nap.”
It occurred to me that we were already crunching through the thin sheet of snow leading to Rei’s cabin.
The sneaky bastard…
Dante thumbed his camera. Digitals weren’t allowed on campus. It was one of the old ones that used film.
“It’s just that she doesn’t like to have her photo taken.”
“Yea, Susan mentioned that.”
Dante cleared his throat.
“We could…trade.”
I raised an eyebrow. So Dante was in on it too.
“Was she wearing a one piece or a two?”
Dante gave me a nervous smile.
“That’s kinda what’s so interesting about it…”
I facepalmed.
“They’re nudes? You idiots tried to take nude pictures of a vampire?”
“We didn’t just try, bud.” He nudged me in the side. “We got the goods.”
“Stars above, Dante. How many copies are left?”
“Well, Susan confiscated Roger’s last week. That just leaves Roster’s and mine. But Jasper totally owes me. I was the one who shrouded his sorry butt out of there. I can get you a fresh print from his negative.”
I put my arm around Dante.
“Naw, bud, here’s the deal. You’re gonna make yourself another shroud, you’re gonna collect every last copy plus the negative, and then you’re gonna put them all into another one of these nice manila envelopes.”
“Come on,” Dante groaned. “Bros before—“
“Or I can tell Rei who has them. I’m sure she’d be more than happy to do the footwork herself.”
Dante blanched.
“Good. I’m glad we could do business together.”
+
Dante poked at the sign hanging from Rei’s door.
“Out to lunch?”
“Sheila has been encouraging her to immerse herself in our culture.”
“But you could see how I might interpret this as a threat, right?”
“Definitely. But don’t tell Rei that. She gets really frustrated when she makes one of those faux pas.”
“Frustrated?” Dante shivered. “Good to know. So she’s not here?”
“I doubt Rei would put that sign out if she was.”
“Well then where is she?”
“Class?”
“Na, second year classes are done for the night. It’s open time for their apprenticing.”
I nodded. Most Elliot students apprenticed with an upperclassmen until their third year. Then it was their turn to teach. It was a pretty good system. Teaching underclassmen helped cement the basics.
“Maybe she really is out to lunch. Let’s check out back. That’s were she keeps the sheep.”
“Na, it’s cool.” Dante took a step towards the road. “I’ll try later. Like midday.”
Which meant he wouldn’t have to get the photos…
“Not so fast. We had a deal. I’m not letting you skirt this.”
“Jesus, bud, give me a break.”
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