There were no trumpets, bubbles, or fanfare, just a deafening silence.
Still, none of us moved.
“You will be glad to know that the criminal who murdered Kia was apprehended last night,” said Sectar, his voice now so low that we had to strain to hear. “The Enforcement Officers caught a Public student trying to sneak off campus. In all my years here this is the first time the Officers have had to arrest a paranormal. It makes me ill. I take comfort in the fact that it was not one of our own, but an outsider, who did the deed.”
If we had been at Public it would have taken all semester to find out who had killed Kia, and Lisabelle would probably have been accused and arrested at some point. Who was it? Camilla? Faci? Would the vampire finally get his due?
I had to give Golden Falls credit. They didn’t like darkness, but Lisabelle was still standing safely next to me. I wondered if it was Camilla they had arrested. She was Kia’s best friend, but the two had been on the outs recently. I wished I knew why.
“We have a long and storied history here at Golden Falls of taking care of our own, and for anyone who comes through our gates, of being responsible for our own behavior. That this girl was trying to leave campus after having committed such a heinous act is unforgivable. We have dealt with her and, given her circumstances, will henceforth insist that she be kept a prisoner.”
I glanced at Zervos, feeling nervous. His head was down and he was motionless. If it was Camilla who was being brought before us, it meant that a Public student had committed the murder. That was bad, and I wondered what Zervos would be forced to do. I looked around frantically. Standing at the very back, where she hadn’t been when we entered the square, was Camilla. My heart sank. That meant he couldn’t be talking about her. Then who. . . .
“Bring forth the traitor,” Sectar cried, waving his hands in the air.
A line of Enforcement Officers came forward, then two students who stood facing us at one end of the ring parted. Behind them was Faci. At first I couldn’t quite see what he held in his hand, but when I did, I started to choke.
Faci dragged Vanni forward in chains.
Chapter Seventeen
I was used to Faci doing evil, but I was shocked that Golden Falls was letting him. I was equally shocked that Vanni had obviously been beaten.
As if reading my mind Sectar said, “Faci was instrumental in assisting the Happiness Enforcement Officers in the capture of the murderer. To the victor go the spoils.”
Not that I would put anything past Faci and Daisy at this point, that’s not what was so surprising. But Vanni’s wounds weren’t healing, and that was unthinkable. As a fallen angel she should have been able to heal herself quickly, but she was still dripping with blood. Murmurs went up amongst the other Public students. The Golden Falls students remained impassive.
“Here is your murderer,” said Sectar. “She will be held in the dungeons until such time as we can decide what to do with her. We at Golden Falls have a reputation of acting swiftly. We plan on keeping it.”
Now Zervos had started forward. Sectar noticed and shrugged. “In consultation with her chaperone, of course. I must urge the rest of the Public students to be cautious as you go about your day. These are dangerous times, and if you cannot trust your own” - he looked at each of us in turn - “there are few places where you will find safety.”
“When they said come to Golden Falls and experience a new kind of college, I didn’t realize that this was what they had in mind,” said Sip, looking sadly at Vanni.
The fallen angel whimpered as Faci pulled her chains tighter. Of course the chains were bright gold. I imagined that they’d never actually been used before to restrain or imprison a paranormal.
I glanced at Keller, who had moved to stand next to Zervos. His face was unreadable, but his bright blue eyes flamed. Vanni was an old friend and a fellow fallen angel and we all knew that she hadn’t touched a hair on Kia’s head.
“You know,” said Lisabelle, “this presents another problem.”
“What’s that?” Sip asked.
“Who really killed Kia?” I whispered.
Sip marched up to Zervos. “How can you let them do that?” she cried, gesturing wildly at the captured Vanni. “She’s a student at Public and he has her in chains without so much as a trial, and you’re just standing here There were tears of anger on Sip’s cheeks, but she wasn’t going to stop. Zervos’s jaw tightened. Apparently Sip’s approval of the Golden Falls doctrine of peace went only so far.
“She tried to run away,” said Sectar smoothly, gliding over to us, his tall frame casting a long shadow. “That is pretty damning evidence.”
“It’s not evidence at all,” Sip yelled, swiping at the tear. “She was scared because one of us was murdered.”
Sectar shook his head. “We have done something about it. We have arrested the culprit. Really, I don’t know what else you could possibly ask of us. We have done so much already.” He spread his arms wide and smiled around at the other Falls students. They smiled back.
“What use are you?” Sip cried at Zervos, stamping her foot.
She looked like she was about to shove him. I hurried forward, but Keller was faster. Gently, he stepped between Sip and Zervos, who was starting to show the strain of keeping his temper. I was surprised he hadn’t already slapped Sip across the courtyard.
Keller bent down and whispered something to Sip. Her expression didn’t change, but her hands unclenched a little. She nodded once and then stalked back to us.
“Lough,” Sip motioned to the dream giver, who was already starting in our direction, “let’s talk.” We started to walk away, and I didn’t dare to look back at Zervos or Keller, because I was afraid of what I might see.
“Yeah,” Lough said, still eyeing Sip as if she might explode, “let’s talk about how high the body count’s going to get by the end of the semester at this beautiful place of peace.”
“Do you think more of us are going to die?” Trafton asked quietly.
“Not if we can find out who did it first,” said Lisabelle, clenching her fingers at her sides.
“I thought you hated Kia,” said Rake. The burly vampire stood with us, his beefy arms crossed over his chest and his eyes filled with worry. I was relieved to have all of us there as we streamed back to the girls’ suite, ignoring the curious stares of the Golden Falls students. There was nowhere else we could go.
“She was alright,” said Lisabelle. I could tell she was thinking about Kia having saved her life.
Nolan had started to follow us, but Sip stopped again and held up her hand. “I’m sorry,” she said, “but you need to give us some space for now.”
Nolan didn’t argue. He looked ashen against his gold uniform, but instead of saying anything he just turned on his heel and walked away. Lisabelle raised an eyebrow at Sip. “‘Give us some space?’”
Sip shrugged. “I wanted to be polite about it.”
“When a demon is trying to kill you are you going to be polite about it?” Lisabelle grumbled.
“I certainly wasn’t on the way here,” Sip glared.
“Come on, let’s get back to our suite. We have rules to break and ‘privacies’ to violate,” I muttered. I whipped around and stalked away from the square.
“First we have to find out how she died,” I said, pacing back and forth. My friends stood watching my frantic movement. We were back in the privacy of our suite, but we had gone into our own room, just in case Camilla decided to be around. The bedroom was just as lavish as the rest of the suite. Everything was exactly where it should be, except that there were blankets rumpled on the sky blue sofa, because that’s where Lisabelle had decided to sleep, or rather nap. The darkness mage barely slept these days.
“How do you propose to do that?” Lisabelle demanded, hands on hips. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but this place doesn’t exactly support asking questions, or the notion that their security might be lax. They have Happiness Enforcement Officers!
”
I threw up my hands. “We could ask Sectar how she died.”
“He let Faci have Vanni,” said Sip quietly. “You really want to talk to Sectar?”
“No,” I said, looking away. “You’re right, of course. You know, I’m thinking more and more that this place might be nothing more than a very pretty cage.”
“Why does sneaking have to be involved?” Sip complained. “Can’t we problem solve another way? Why do you say it like it’s no big deal?”
“Look,” said Lisabelle, “I’ve been wanting to explore anyway. What do they have hidden behind the gilded walls and smiles? We should just see if we can find where they’re keeping the record of Kia’s death. They must have it somewhere.”
“Okay, so after lights out we go,” I said. “Do we know where we’re going, though? Where would they keep records of what happened?” I hesitated, because I could barely get the words out. “In the same place where they have her . . . body?” Over the past two years we’d been in battles and I’d seen dead bodies. I’d even seen Princess Dirr blown up. But that didn’t make it any easier.
Sip hopped off the couch and hurried over to one of the bookcases. She fingered through several volumes before hefting down a massive tome.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“It’s the history of this place,” said Sip. “Histories are infinitely useful in telling you things the current generation wishes you’d forget, or never known in the first place.” She bent her head over the text as Lisabelle and I exchanged glances.
“Here it is,” she cooed triumphantly. “All about the Golden Falls old medical wing. Of course, it’s in a part of the castle we haven’t been invited to see.”
“Perfect,” said Lisabelle clapping her hands together.
“Why would they take Kia to a part of the castle that isn’t used anymore?” I wondered.
“It makes sense,” said Sip. “If they don’t have murders and don’t tolerate anything bad happening, there’d be no need for a medical wing.”
“Will they have Happiness Officers patrolling?” I asked.
“Who knows,” said Sip. “Maybe they let those demons loose.”
I shuddered at the thought.
“Alright,” I said. “I don’t like it, but alright.”
“Maybe it’s too dangerous,” said Sip all of a sudden. “We’re going to break the rules of our hosts and we’ve only just gotten here.” She was still going in and out of the mood she had been in after Dove died.
“One of our own was murdered,” said Lisabelle. “We have to find out why.”
“And what if Golden Falls is trying to do just that?” Sip demanded.
“They aren’t,” I said, “because they arrested Vanni for the crime.”
Sip couldn’t argue with that.
“Okay,” I said, “so, after lights out we go to the medical wing. Sip, do you know how to get there?”
The werewolf nodded, then we all settled in to wait.
Later, once we were ready, we said goodbye to Lough. “I wonder if they’re going to send Kia’s body home to her parents,” said Sip quietly. “I bet her mother would like that.”
“Want me to create a good enough dream to scare them away?” Lough offered.
“You can do that?” Lisabelle asked.
“I like that you’re constantly surprised by my competence. At least it keeps the bar low.”
“It probably depends on how she died,” said Lisabelle thoughtfully. “Let’s go find out.”
Once Lough had left and it was just us, Sip said, “Charlotte, I’m not sure you should go with us tonight.”
I looked at her with surprise, but I should have known it was coming.
“I’m going,” I said flatly. “I’m not going to sit here while my friends risk their lives.”
“We can’t talk you out of it?” Lisabelle asked quietly.
I threw up my hands. “Kia’s dead,” I said fiercely. “She’s dead and it’s probably because she was trying to talk to me. No way I’m going to stand by and not find out who killed her. Faci or Camilla probably killed her and then beat up Vanni for it. It’s despicable.”
“She wouldn’t want you to put yourself in danger,” said Sip. “She would want you to stay safe.”
“I’ll be safe the day Malle is dead,” I said quietly. “I’m always safe when the three of us are together.”
Lisabelle stood thoughtfully for a few moments, then, with a nod, she whispered, “Ready?”
I gave her a small smile in return. “Let’s go.”
As quietly as possible, the three of us filed out of our suite. Golden Falls refused to act as if anything was wrong, which meant that there were no Happiness Officers in the halls outside our rooms. I was relieved. I didn’t want to feel like a prisoner in my own home.
Candles blazed so brightly along the walls that it felt like broad daylight, and through the floor to ceiling windows in the corridors I could see the outline of the mountain in the distance, with the moon shining down on the rushing water of the falls.
“It’s still the most beautiful place I’ve ever been,” I murmured.
Sip and Lisabelle agreed.
“Are you alright?” I asked Sip. She hadn’t said a word, but now she nodded.
“I’m fine,” she said. “In fact, yelling at Zervos helped me feel better.”
“Any one of us could say that,” Lisabelle muttered.
“What if Sectar’s not posting guards near our door is intentional?” Sip asked worriedly.
“What do you mean? He doesn’t believe in it and he trusts us,” I finished, but even my words sounded hollow.
Sip shook her head. “Maybe he’s giving us just enough rope to hang ourselves with,” she muttered. “First Kia and then Vanni.”
“Good thing we’re not taking the bait,” said Lisabelle dryly. We were walking in single file, but Lisabelle had insisted on going first. Sip brought up the rear.
“You think Sectar expects us to do this?” I whispered.
Lisabelle shook her head. “No, I’m pretty sure he doesn’t think we’re that stupid.”
“Boy, did we fool him,” said Sip.
We followed Sip through a maze of doors. The further we got from our part of the castle, the less pretty it became. The doors were no longer gilded and the walls weren’t wallpapered in gold. The air felt close and musty, as if very few paranormals came this way.
“We shouldn’t be doing this,” said Sip, touching her fingertips to the dusty walls. “There are probably guards and magical traps that we’re walking right into.”
“Ah, there’s the Sip I know and love,” said Lisabelle, but she didn’t stop. Instead she increased her pace. The air was getting colder as we moved away from the heat sources Golden Falls used in the winter.
When we reached a set of stairs, Sip paused for a split second, then headed upward. Now there was a smell beyond must, with something tangy under the odor.
As the stairs got steeper and narrower, Lisabelle slowed.
“We should have seen a guard by now,” I whispered. “They can’t be so trusting that we just have the run of the place. Lisabelle, are you sure we haven’t triggered any magical alarms?”
The darkness mage shook her head, “But I do think we should have seen guards by now.”
“Yeah, where oh where are the demons? I so miss them,” said Sip sarcastically.
Lisabelle went flying backward so fast I had to duck. She slammed into the wall of the stairwell and slid down it. The light she had held, a black tint from her ring, went out, and we were plunged into thick darkness.
I knew Sip had transformed into a werewolf even though I couldn’t see her. My own ring started to blaze, stabbing at the inky blackness.
I heard a snarl in front of us.
“Defenses,” I breathed. “Wonderful.” Golden Falls wasn’t so trusting after all.
All I could see was a pair of burning red eyes.
“Lisabelle, you okay?”
I called out, without taking my eyes off the hellhound.
From a bit down the stairwell Lisabelle’s voice floated up to me. “Yup, all’s good here. Just broke my back, shoulder, and both kneecaps. No big deal.”
“Good,” I called back. “I’d hate to think something was really wrong.” After a pause I added, “This one’s mine.”
Sip snarled, but she let me pass. I couldn’t see the hellhound in front of me, but I didn’t need to.
To my magic, the stones of the walls and stairs felt moist and damp. I sucked the water out of them, and then, swirling my ring in front of me, I created a shield. I pulled cold in around me and pushed it to surround the water, making it ice. My next step was to make it as jagged and sharp as possible, then, just as the beast lunged at me, I sent the ice flying at its red eyes.
The hellhound might have avoided my attack if it hadn’t already been airborne, mid-jump. I heard the shattering of ice and the thud of hard object impacting hard object, then a whimper as the hellhound dropped.
I stepped forward. My eyes had adjusted to the dark enough so that I could see the body of the creature shivering on the ground. It wouldn’t be down for long. My heart was racing.
This is what Golden Falls used to defend its castle? The very thing it preached against?
But I didn’t have time to worry about it now. We had to find out what we could about Kia, and time was short.
“Lisabelle,” I said, “do you have anything to tie and muzzle that thing with?”
“You don’t want to just kill it?” she asked mildly. Her voice was closer now. She had come back up the stairs.
I shook my head. “It’s a prisoner too, like the demons. I don’t want to kill something that can’t defend itself.”
“You’re complicated,” Lisabelle muttered, but I think she did as I asked. I couldn’t really see.
Carefully we made our way past the first guard. We knew there’d be more.
“What kind of game is Golden Falls playing at?” Lisabelle asked quietly.
Elemental Earth (Paranormal Public) Page 11