“What why?”
“Um, maybe because you’re the walking, talking equivalent to solarium bed on the fritz,” Chris pointed out. “Don’t get me wrong; it’s not a bad thing that the role is reversed, and you might be the one to accidently kill him, but I mean…”
Ari frowned. She didn’t need Chris to remind her of that.
“No were fine, he’s fine. I’m not going to do anything that hurts him.”
“You hope,” said Chris.
“No, I know.”
“So what’s the plan now?” he asked, standing as though ready for action.
“Well, that’s kind of what I wanted to ask you,” she admitted, looking sheepishly down at her lap. “I think that we need to tell Ragon and the others that you’re a wraith.”
“No! What, why? They will try to kill me if they find out.”
“Don’t be stupid, of course they won’t,” Ari said uncertainly. “Ragon thinks that Lea might be able to help us work out what I am, because she’s a witch, and I thought that maybe your dad might have-”
“-no way!” he said abruptly, cutting Ari off midsentence.
“But-” Ari began, until Chris stood and began pacing his room.
“-there is no way that I am contacting my father. I’ve seen him once since I was born. He couldn’t care less about me and I am not about to play nice with him, to find out something that he probably has no idea about.”
Ari looked down at her feet.
“Chris it’s... it’s not just about the Grandor legend. I don’t know if I can keep lying,” she admitted. “Clyde saw us after you had transformed. He thinks I cheated on Ragon.”
Chris’s face softened and he said, “I know how hard it is to lie to people you care about. I have been doing it my whole life. But being a wraith… if anyone knew, especially vampires, it would be bad.”
“Especially vampires?”
“The powers wraiths have… their not good powers like what you can do, their evil. I don’t want to have to use them.”
“But I don’t-” Ari began to say.
“-wraiths and vampires usually work hand in hand. If the vampires found out that I was a wraith, they would want to take advantage of my powers, and I won’t use my powers to hurt people.”
“But you could just say that you aren’t interested, that you don’t want to help them. I mean, vampires can’t control wraiths, so what could they do to-”
“-what they could do is threaten everyone I care about. They could go after my mum, or anyone else I love.”
Ari stopped to think about what Chris had just said. Until that moment, she had been ready to tell Ragon everything about Chris; now she wasn’t so sure. Though Ari was an orphan, she could still sympathise with Chris and his desire to protect the people he loved. Was it fair for her to go and tell Ragon Chris’s secret, especially when it could put his friends and family in danger?
“I’m sorry, and if you don’t want me to tell Ragon then I won’t,” said Ari.
“Thank you,” Chris said, folding his arms, before slowly slacking them. “Look I do want to help. I just can’t risk people knowing what I am. How about we go out tomorrow and try to get you to learn your new power?” One of Ari’s eyebrows rose and Chris quickly added, “What better way to make sure you don’t accidently burst into sunshine. Besides, who else can you practise with? The worst you’ll do is add to my tan.”
“To be honest, I was kinda hoping you would offer your services again.”
“Always happy to help,” said Chris winking. “Speaking of help, what are you going to do about the mid-sem you missed? You will have to get a sup if you don’t want to repeat the course.”
“Apparently there is a new Vice Chancellor that I can talk to. The coven said I just need to tell him that I was required by my, err, vampire, and that’s why I couldn’t attend.”
“Seriously?” said Chris, looking bewildered.
“Don’t start.”
“Ok, ok. So will you be free after 10 tomorrow morning?” said Chris, just as Ari stood to leave. “Hey wait a minute, the wraith that was with the Triad… what could he do?”
Ari was a little taken aback by this question but moved back into the room, saying, “To be honest, I am not entirely sure. Ragon thinks he must have transported us from the Isle of Man to Latvia, but other than that I don’t really know. He was pretty powerful though because he fought off Lea’s protection spe…”
Instantly Ari stopped talking, but not before Chris’s eyes widened and he said, “What?”
Ari had purposefully left Lea out of the story that she had recanted to Chris. This was not because she didn’t trust him, but like his secret, she felt she had no right to tell Lea’s. Now as she looked over at Chris, she considered stopping time. But that would not change the fact that she had already spilled the beans; she had no choice but to explain.
“Lea, as in Lea who lives in our hall on the first floor… she’s a witch!” asked Chris, shaking his head in disbelief.
“Ah, yea, I guess you could say that.”
“Wow, just when you think there are enough sups around, you go and add a witch to the cauldron,” Chris said, laughing.
Ari shook her head; what a bad joke.
“But why the hell was Lea there?” asked Chris.
“Well, she worked out that Ragon was a vampire, and I guess, thought the same thing that you did; that I was his source and he was using me.”
“So she made a deal with the Triad to given them Ragon, but they really wanted you?” asked Chris.
“I don’t think she knew it was the Triad she was handing Ragon over to.”
“But the Triad obviously thought she might fight against them when they tried to take you; that’s why they had a wraith there?” asked Chris.
“Yea, I guess so. She sort of had, like, a shield in front of her that the wraith broke through,” Ari explained.
“Hmm… that makes sense. Wraiths and witches are kind of like ying and yang, or fire and ice. I’m surprised that there is a witch here with so many vamps around; they usually travel in groups.”
“Have you ever spoken to Lea?” asked Ari.
“Not really, just in passing. She seems nice enough though.”
“What would happen if she knew you were a wraith?” Ari asked.
“Depends,” said Chris, sitting back on his bed as he considered this question. “If she were powerful enough she might want to do me in, but most witches can sense evil, so hopefully she would be able to tell that I’m not into raising the dead.”
“So you’ve never used that side of your magic?” Ari asked, before she could stop herself.
The silence that followed this question was filled with tension, but when Chris spoke, Ari looked up suddenly very interested; “Only once,” he said.
“What?”
“Yea, but it’s not what you think,” he said, reaching for a picture frame on his bookshelf. “When I was a boy I had a dog called River; she was five when she was hit by a car. I heard the scream of the tires and raced outside to find her on the side of the road, dead. I don’t know how I did it, but I brought her back,” Chris explained, as he handed her the photograph.
Ari glanced down at the image. There were two people in the picture. The first was a tall but skinny boy who was clearly a much younger version of Chris, and the second was a dark woman with heavily drawn eyelids, whose strong jaw and brown hair, made Ari certain that she was his mother. Next to them was a dog, and when Ari looked at the hound she gasped. It was a husky, almost identical to the one that Chris morphed into when he transformed from man into beast.
“After that River lived until she was thirteen,” Chris added, smiling as he took the picture off Ari and placed it back onto the bookshelf. “She was the reason I wanted to study vet; I didn’t want to have to use the darkness in me to save her, or any other animals.”
Ari didn’t quit know what to say. Her eyes were still locked on the photograph on the bookshelf o
f Chris with his family. When she left his room a few minutes later, she felt like crying. There was something so surreal and beautiful about his story that made her certain Chris could not be evil. She didn’t care what the coven or any book that she read said; there was no way that Chris had a bad bone in his body.
The last person that Ari went to see that night was Lea. Racing down the stairs she reached Lea’s dorm room and knocked once. Immediately the door swung open. Lea looked tense, though the moment she saw Ari, her already pale skin lightened considerably, as if she had just seen a ghost.
“Oh Ari; thank God you’re alright!” she said, opening her door all the way and ushering Ari inside. “I am so sorry for everything. I never meant for-”
“-it’s ok; it all worked out fine in the end.”
“But what the hell happened. Where have you been?” said Lea. “I tried a scribing spell and it said that you were in Latvia. So then I asked the vampires that you hang out with, and they made up some stupid story about you being on your honeymoon.”
For the third time that day, Ari explained what had happened after the Triad had taken her.
“The Ancients?” said Lea, taking in a sharp breath. “Jesus Ari, I am so sorry. But how did you create sunlight? That’s supposed to be the most powerful source of energy to channel.”
“No idea,” Ari answered truthfully.
“I’m so sorry. If I had of known that it was you that the Triad was after, I never would have made a deal with them. I didn’t even know it was the Triad. They told me that they worked for an Elder in Australia, and that Ragon was on the run, and that if I helped them lure him out, they would agree to take him back for punishment. I just thought… thought that you would be better off without a vampire controlling you. I’m so sorry. But why did the Ancients want you in the first place?”
“Well, to be honest I am not entirely sure. After I met Ragon, I started being able to do things-”
“-like stop time?” interrupted Lea.
“Yea, and so Ragon traced back my ancestors but we couldn’t find a living relative, so we came to England to look in their archives and found out that I was related to a witch called Mary Grandor. I was kind of hoping, seeing as you’re a witch, you might know something about it. There is also a constellation with that name; have you ever heard anything about it?”
“But if you were a witch, then your parents would be also,” said Lea. “Witchly powers are inherited; I don’t know about this Mary Grandor, but if she was a witch and you were related to her, then your parents would have to have powers as well. Did your parents not tell you about your heritage?”
“Both my parents were killed when I was a baby. The Ancients had them killed.”
“Shit,” Lea said, “Ari I am so sorry. If I had of known any of this I would never-”
“-it’s ok. I just wish I knew what other powers I have and what I’m supposed to do with them? And… and how I can stop them from hurting the people I love. Did your parents help you control your powers? Is that how you were able to create that protection spell?”
“Yea, my grams mainly, my dad is also a witch, but ever since my real mum died and he re-married, he doesn’t practice anymore.”
“Oh,” said Ari, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s ok. When I first found out that I was a witch, I was scared shitless. But then I started being able to help people. I realised that I could heal injuries or protect others. That’s why I thought that Ragon was using you. I have seen the way the vamps here treat the students. Half of them are jacked up on blood candy. That boy, Greg, I don’t think he was actually killed by a bear. That seems to be the general line every time a vamp loses control.”
“But not all the vampires here are bad,” said Ari, thinking of Ragon and trying desperately to push the image of Sandra attacking Greg out of her mind.
“Look Ari, I know that you care about Ragon… I know that you aren’t his source but vampires’ are-”
Sensing Lea’s next words, Ari cut her off, saying, “-I need him Lea… I love him. If I do anything to hurt him I won’t be able to live with myself. The only reason I have been able to do any of this stuff, is because of him. I didn’t burst into sunshine to save myself. I did it to save him.”
“Maybe you can still be together,” said Lea, her voice betraying scepticism.
“Do you know a way that I can stop sunlight from bursting from me?”
“I don’t know. That sort of power is volatile, being so strong. Like I said, I have never heard of anyone able to control it. I mean, maybe if you were injured your powers would lessen, but I don’t see how that would help you.” Ari looked down at her feet, and Lea swept over to her, reaching for her hand and squeezing it. “I don’t know why you can do the things you can… but it must be for a reason. I promise I will do everything I can to help you find out why; if there is a Grandor legend that has anything to do with witchcraft, I won’t stop till I know what it is.”
Ari stopped to consider this. Though she had only known Lea a short time, it was perfectly obvious that the girl wanted to help her. With this thought in mind, Ari smiled and nodded her head.
Chapter 17 – There’s a Were in There
The next morning Ari went to see the new Vice Chancellor. It was a Saturday and the campus was particularly frosty. The conifers that lined the walkway to the administration office seemed to shudder with each small lick of wind, throwing down many pine needles in Ari’s wake. Though the sky was as always, overcast, today even the birds didn’t bother to come out and sing as they normally would, but remained perched high up, as if hoping to escape the wind and the cold. It was the start of March, and Ari was just wondered just how much cooler it was going to get, when something frosty landed on her nose. Looking up, she watched as tiny white snowflakes glided down from the sky.
Snow; it was snowing! It was the first time she had ever seen it. Without thinking how much colder it was going to get, Ari smiled up, opening her mouth in preparation for a snowflake to land neatly on her tongue. It dissolved in an instant.
Professor Jack Phillips was not like any other vampire Ari had met before. He looked to be in his early thirties, although owing to his immortal nature, Ari didn’t find his rise to power particularly shocking. No, there was a charismatic charm to him that she had not noticed before in other vampires. Where Ragon and Clyde were mysterious in the tall dark and handsome kind of way, Jack was poised and straight edge, giving him the appearance of someone with a military background. He was tall and well-built, with short light brown hair, and a beard and moustache. His eyes were small and dark, and when he smiled there were two dimples at the corner of his mouth.
“Hello, Miss Ariana is it? Come in, come in,” said Professor Philips.
Ari pushed the door all the way open and moved over to the chair in front of his desk.
“Now what can I do for you?” he asked. “It said in your email that you wanted to discuss your absence for a mid-semester exam?”
In as least detail as possible, Ari tried to explain why she had been unable to attend her mid semester exam. She had not mentioned anything at all about the Ancients, or Ragon, or the Triad. In fact she had not mentioned anything supernatural at all. By the end of it she had basically told him that she had been away for a week.
“Please don’t think me prudent,” he said, when finally Ari had finished, “but I assume you realise that applying for exemptions for missed examinations, is usually submitted to the course co-ordinator. Is there any particular reason you have brought this matter to me?”
“Yes, it’s just I don’t have a medical certificate for my absence.”
“Then I am afraid that it will be difficult for you to be granted a sup exam,” the Vice Chancellor said, looking at Ari sternly.
“Yes but Thomas and Patrick suggested that I talk to you about-”
Before she could explain further, his face had broken into a smile and he stood, moving to sit on his desk as he said, “-oh, you kno
w Thomas.”
“Yes and I kind of got caught in some vampire drama’s and ended up missing-”
“-say no more and please call me Jack. I will organise a re-sit.”
As soon as Ari had finished talking with Jack, she raced back to Omega Halls, late for her 10am meeting with Chris. Though it had taken almost no time at all to sort out the details for a re-sit of her missed exam, it had been another half an hour before she got out of the Vice Chancellors office. Once Jack had realised that she knew all about vampires and was friends with Thomas and Ragon’s source, he had spent ages talking to her. Though it was mainly small talk, Ari couldn’t help but feel strange talking to the head of the school about her vampire friends; she had to keep reminding herself that she was supposed to be a source. At one point he had mentioned Sandra and Ari had to bite her tongue not to mention the blood candy incident.
Blood Hunter (The Grandor Descendant Series) Page 27