Darke Academy 2: Blood Ties

by Gabriella Poole

  So it was inevitable that she’d feel a gaze if it was focused on her.

  She was being watched. She knew it quite suddenly. Her forehead prickled with the stare, and for the first time she forgot the orchestra, forgot the soaring thunder of the music. When she lifted her own gaze, she knew the exact direction and she found the watcher immediately.

  Shock hit her so hard she was left breathless. Across the auditorium, in the opposite box to their own, four girls sat. She knew them all: three sixth formers from the Academy, all Few. The superior Sara was one of them; Cassie didn’t know the names of the two on either side of her, only that they’d never been friendly.

  But the fourth face was one she knew all too well. Palely lovely, cold as the Arctic but glowing with beauty. An ice queen, a Hitchcock blonde. Perfect in every way – except for the scar slashed across her left cheek.

  Cassie felt Ranjit’s fingers tighten questioningly on her hand, but she was too frozen with shock to respond. Only when applause erupted to signify the interval did she snap out of it. The explosion of noise shattered her trance of horror and she turned to him with desperation.

  ‘Katerina. Katerina’s here!’

  Ranjit frowned, but he didn’t question her. He turned at her nod and stared in the direction of the opposite box. When Katerina lifted a delicate hand in a mocking little wave, he didn’t react, but Cassie saw his eyes light with familiar fire. It was that swirling dark glow she’d seen before, like molten lava. It had been frightening the first time she’d seen it. This time it was strangely reassuring.

  ‘I’m really sorry, Cassie.’ Ranjit’s voice was cool and deadly. ‘I had no idea she was in New York.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter. Really.’ Her heart was thrashing, at odds with her words. Katerina was in New York. Her mind flew to Jake. He had been hunting her all around the globe. What would he do if he found out she was here, in his home town? Within his reach … Ranjit’s voice interrupted her thoughts.

  ‘I had ordered champagne for the interval in the Members’ Bar,’ he said. ‘But if you’d rather we stayed here …’

  Cassie shook her head violently. ‘I’m not about to let her spoil a lovely evening. We’ll avoid them.’

  He squeezed her hand. ‘We’ll certainly try. Come on.’

  They should have been able to stay well out of the way of Katerina and her friends, but despite the swelling crowds heading downstairs, Katerina was clearly determined not to stay out of theirs. Ranjit had just poured two frosty flutes of champagne in the Members’ Bar when the blonde girl emerged from the smattering of well-heeled patrons, her friends flanking her like some kind of praetorian guard.

  ‘Well, ding-dong Bell,’ she drawled, giving Cassie a disdainful once-over. ‘If it isn’t the scholarship girl.’

  ‘That’s enough, Katerina.’ Ranjit’s voice was low and even, but there was a distinct undercurrent of threat to it.

  ‘I quite agree. It’s more than enough. For this lowlife to remain at the Academy while I was expelled is simply … Oh dear, how shall we put it?’

  ‘A crime,’ murmured Sara.

  ‘That’s kind, dear Sara, but crime can be fun and sophisticated.’ Katerina gave a thin-lipped smile as the other three girls chuckled. ‘There must be another word.’

  ‘A disgrace,’ suggested the brunette at Sara’s side.

  Cassie took a gulp of her champagne. The icy coolness hit her tongue and throat and rebounded straight to her head, but she didn’t feel drunk: only cold and fierce. It felt good. Ranjit’s arm was around her waist, at once protective and warning, but she didn’t feel the need for his support. She took another swig from her glass, emptying it.

  ‘Heavens, this isn’t Sheffield town centre.’ Sara’s English accent was cut-crystal. ‘We’re not here to binge drink and vomit, Miss Bell.’

  Katerina was still tapping her jaw gently with a finger. Cassie watched her face, fascinated by that scar. She remembered putting it there, back in that dark tunnel as she made her escape from the twisted Few ritual beneath the Arc de Triomphe. For the first time she was actively glad. Yes, that had been a good moment. In fact she’d like to do it again. Right now.

  But Katerina was speaking again, distracting her.

  ‘Hmm, I’m still trying to think of the appropriate term. Disgrace just doesn’t begin to describe what happened last term. Sir Alric has plummeted in the estimation of many people. Such a decline in standards.’

  ‘Leave here, Katerina.’ Ranjit was absolutely still, but his voice was heavy with menace.

  ‘Ah! I know the word,’ said Sara, ignoring him. ‘Let’s see: a noble spirit inside something so unworthy. A mismatch. A freak. It should never have happened, Katerina darling, just like your expulsion. It’s an … abomination.’

  All four girls sighed out their satisfaction.

  ‘Yes,’ smirked Katerina. ‘That’s it precisely. An abomination.’

  WHAT DID SHE CALL US?

  The stem of Cassie’s champagne flute snapped in her hand. She heard a strange growl, but it seemed to come from far away – or perhaps somewhere deep inside her. Her eyes burned hot, so hot, and everything had gone red, as though she was looking at the world through a scarlet filter. She registered the shock on Ranjit’s face, and knew he was staring at her.

  She could see the glow of the girls’ spirits too, shining from their chests. They were all strong, particularly Katerina’s, but she found she didn’t care. Her own aura of power shrouded her, invisible but irresistible – and Cassie suddenly knew she could do anything she liked with this power, using nothing more than the force of her mind. She was entirely still. She didn’t move a muscle.

  And she lifted Sara’s body clear into the air.

  The girl took a breath and screamed. Her legs kicked the air, arms flailing in hopeless resistance, abject terror on her face.

  Cassie enjoyed that. It was like feeding: the buzz, the thrill that went through her. She could almost taste Sara’s fear in the air. It tasted good. So good.

  She smiled, coldly fascinated, as drinkers around them backed away, silenced but for an occasional gasp or cry. Even Katerina and her cronies stood back, aghast.

  ‘Cassie!’ shouted Ranjit. Blood pumping through her ears seemed to drown his voice out, along with Estelle’s fevered cries.

  Kill her! KILL HER!

  Yes. She was tired of the pathetic girl, trailing after Katerina like some kind of handmaiden.

  She called us an abomination!

  Kill her!

  Yes! Kill her!

  ‘Cassie, no!’

  People in the bar stumbled away, frantically forcing their way out of the secluded Members’ area. Cassie ignored them, laughing as she watched Sara flail. The girl’s face! Ridiculous! She laughed again and, still without lifting a finger, flung the screaming sixth former across the room.

  The girl shot backwards, slamming hard against the far wall. Katerina howled with rage, and the other girls screamed – but they seemed rooted to the spot, unwilling to challenge Cassie. Afraid of her.

  As well they should be. We should have thrown her further! Hold her!

  Cassie studied Sara. It was a fine sight, the girl struggling to get to her feet. Yes, Estelle was right. Hold her. She must hold her. Just like this. By the throat.

  ‘Cassie, stop!’

  The dear boy. But such an irritant! Don’t listen.

  Shaking her head free of Ranjit’s cries, she tightened her mental hold on Sara’s neck, squeezing. The girl was purpling, fighting for another breath, kicking violently, tearing at her own throat and the invisible grip around it. Odd noises came out of her. Gagging, choking, strangled sounds.

  ‘CASSIE!’

  She felt arms lock around her waist, and suddenly someone was struggling with her, trying to pull her away. She took a breath to give a contemptuous laugh, and raised an arm to brush them away. But the hand that seized hers was just as strong as hers.

  Ranjit!

  The shock of his
touch brought her back to herself, and she realised where she was. Who she was.

  What she was doing.

  ‘STOP IT!’ Ranjit’s snarl was inhuman, catlike, but she understood it clearly.

  Besides, she’d already stopped. In the silence of the emptied Members’ Bar, watched only by monsters like herself, Cassie stared at Sara’s limp form as it crumpled, sobbing, to the floor.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Oh yes, you could run in Jimmy Choos. Really, really fast. Cassie shoved through the crowds in the foyer, the bewildered ones who hadn’t been in the bar to see what had happened. Outside, the cold air hit her like a slap as she bolted across 57th Street and Central Park South, into the dark safety of the park itself.

  She went on running until the high heels began to – not hurt her, but annoy her. Anger again. No. She mustn’t get angry. Stumbling to a halt, she tugged off the shoes and ran on barefoot, her breathing hard and ragged, the straps of the stilettos hooked into her fingers.

  Something soft and cold touched the skin of her face. And once more. Halting, she stood uncertainly for a few seconds. The coldness turned to wetness as it brushed her cheek.

  Snow. The flakes drifted faster and thicker across the city’s lights before vanishing in the dark oasis of the park. Her bare feet were freezing. She was freezing. She could see only scattered pools of light on whitening patches of grass, and the ominous shape of trees. She wrapped her arms around herself, shaking with terror. Oh, God!

  A dark shape moved behind her, and she gave a sharp cry of fear.

  ‘Cassie.’

  His voice was quiet, and the animal ferocity was gone. She turned into Ranjit’s arms with a desperate sob of relief.

  ‘Come on, Cassie. Let’s go.’

  ‘I don’t know what this is. I’ve never heard of it.’

  Sir Alric Darke’s back was turned to them. For several silent minutes now he had been staring out of the glass walls of his penthouse on to the glittering lights of Manhattan and the blackness that was Central Park.

  Cassie shivered. She could hardly believe she’d run into that absorbing darkness without a thought. The hunger was growing again; she could feel it. It had gnawed at her insides since she’d run in a blind panic from Carnegie Hall. The spirit was awake and it was ravenous. And that was one more thing she didn’t need, because she’d been just as sure as Ranjit that Sir Alric could explain what had happened at Carnegie Hall.

  No such luck.

  ‘You say you picked Sara up?’

  ‘Not – not physically.’ Her voice trembled, and she cleared her throat. ‘But yes, I picked her up. Some kind of force. Outside me, but it felt like I was controlling it.’

  ‘This is baffling. And it worries me a great deal.’

  ‘It worries you?’ She tried to laugh.

  ‘Sir Alric,’ Ranjit broke in. ‘If you can’t explain what’s happened, no one can. There must be something. Something you’ve forgotten, something from the past.’

  ‘I’m touched by your faith in me, Ranjit.’ Sir Alric sounded unusually bitter. ‘But no. I’ve never heard of any such thing. I’d remember, believe me.’

  Ranjit squeezed Cassie’s shoulders in an attempt to reassure her. ‘Are you sure that the joining ritual has never been broken before?’

  Sir Alric gazed out on the city again. ‘No. No, Ranjit, it hasn’t. And you’re right, it’s the only thing that’s different about Cassie: her interrupted ritual.’

  ‘Some of the spirit was shut out,’ said Cassie quietly. ‘Some of Estelle. She talks about being out in a void.’

  Sir Alric spun sharply on his heel. ‘She talks to you? You hear her voice?’

  ‘Yes.’ Cassie’s shoulders sagged.

  ‘That shouldn’t happen,’ he muttered, rubbing his forehead. ‘That shouldn’t happen.’

  ‘She wants to be let in. Like you told me at the end of last term. You said she wouldn’t stop until she joined with me fully.’

  Sir Alric stayed silent but nodded slowly, his brows knitted.

  ‘What’s happening to me?’ Cassie’s voice took on an air of desperation.

  Sir Alric’s eyes met hers. ‘I don’t know.’

  Gently easing from Ranjit’s hold, Cassie rose to her feet. ‘You’re hardly filling me with confidence here.’

  ‘I’m sorry. There are some people I can ask and some ancient texts I can consult, but for now, Cassandra, I can’t give you any firm answers.’

  ‘Oh, brilliant.’ She folded her arms.

  ‘Part of the spirit you think of as Estelle was shut out of you. She’s divided, so perhaps your power is divided, too.’ He shook his head despairingly. ‘It’s the only explanation I have, Cassandra. When we join with our spirits, the power that they provide goes inside us, becomes part of us. But your spirit is not fully joined with your body, so perhaps you can project some of your power beyond yourself. I’m not sure.’

  Resting a shoulder against the glass, Cassie too gazed out at the sparkling grid of the city streets. Then she straightened, brightening suddenly.

  ‘Then … hang on a minute. If part of the power is outside, maybe I can get it all out?’ She turned to face Sir Alric, excited. ‘Get rid of it and get rid of Estelle!’

  Deep inside her she thought she heard a whimper of fear, a whine of protest, but she ignored it.

  Ranjit stood up now, his jaw tense. ‘Is that what you want, Cassie? Truly?’

  ‘Of course! Wouldn’t you?’

  He didn’t answer, only held her gaze. For a moment they regarded one another silently.

  ‘Cassandra,’ said Sir Alric finally breaking the silence. ‘You have to be extremely careful. We don’t know what you’re capable of. Whatever this power is, it appears to be very dangerous. What’s more, your spirit absolutely will not want to leave you. Without your body, it will be lost in the void for ever. Believe me, it will hold on to you at all costs. Who knows what Estelle might do if she believes she’s threatened? Until we know more about your power, you absolutely must not provoke her.’

  ‘And how exactly do I avoid provoking her?’ Cassie glared at them both. ‘She’s got a mind of her own, let me tell you.’

  ‘You can start by controlling your emotions,’ Sir Alric snapped sharply. ‘It was your fury that sparked the spirit’s power tonight. Do not let that happen again.’

  ‘Oh, sure, no worries,’ she growled sarcastically. ‘Piece of piss.’

  Ranjit gave an exasperated sigh. ‘Cassie, he’s trying to help.’

  She whirled to face him. ‘Don’t patronise me! “Control my emotions”? Well, guess what, that’s far bloody easier said than done. I didn’t ask for this, so just how the hell do you expect me to know how to control it?’

  ‘You must try, Cassandra,’ Sir Alric said wearily.

  ‘Come on, Cassie,’ Ranjit said gently. He reached over to take her hand, and she reluctantly allowed him. ‘There’s nothing more we can do tonight. Let’s leave it for now. See what Sir Alric can find out.’ He nodded towards the principal. ‘Goodnight.’

  Cassie noticed a shadow cross Sir Alric’s expression as he watched Ranjit put an arm around her and lead her out.

  ‘Goodnight.’

  The door closed silently behind them. Cassie was all too happy to leave the penthouse office. Ranjit, though, was silent and withdrawn. Hardly surprising, she decided. He’d taken her straight to Sir Alric, certain that he would provide both an explanation and assistance. And look how it had turned out. Sir Alric Darke was no more use to them than Sara’s feeble Few powers had been to her …

  ‘Are you sure Sara was all right?’ she ventured, reddening as she remembered the reason for her flight from Carnegie Hall.

  Ranjit shrugged. ‘Well, she was alive.’

  Cassie sighed deeply. ‘I wish none of this had ever happened.’

  ‘Too late, Cassie.’ He was quiet for a long moment, but then spoke again, a glint playing darkly in his eyes. ‘But you know what? Whatever the reason for it, the
truth is you were magnificent tonight. So strong. I … I couldn’t take my eyes off you.’

  Cassie stayed silent for a moment, unsure what such an admission might mean, or how to reply. She settled on the truth.

  ‘Whatever the reason … I enjoyed doing it.’ She paused. ‘Doesn’t that scare you? I know it scares me.’

  ‘Yes, it does. But I can’t deny my nature.’ He shook his head. ‘Let’s not talk about that right now. You’ve been through a lot tonight. You should get some sleep.’

  ‘But I – I thought we could hang out a bit.’ Cassie found she was desperate to keep him with her, to have presence for a little longer. ‘I’m not tired …’

  ‘I am.’ But he reached out to her all the same, pulling her closer, almost as if he didn’t know he was doing it. ‘Surely you must be too.’

  ‘I’m not,’ Cassie murmured. Her eyes swept urgently around his face, her hands moving up to caress it, unthinkingly. He seemed bewildered, his breathing heavy.

  She drew in a breath to say something else. Too late. His mouth was suddenly on hers, his tongue finding her tongue and striking sparks off her nerve endings. For an instant the tide of lust held her immobilised; then she was returning the kiss, passionately, almost violently. Her arms snaked round his neck, warm under her touch, and she drew him closer, so close, as if their bodies were trying to fuse together.

  Yesss …

  Estelle’s voice inside her mind, echoing her thoughts once more.

  Together, we must be, all of us … !