“Okay, so what’s the problem?” I asked.
“Ask your friend!” Esyn spat back, as I pulled Valenthia away from being too close to throwing a punch.
“The last thing we need is for any of us to get expelled!” I hissed in her ear as she glared back at Esyn. Sibel came and pulled at Esyn’s arm with the same determination I had at getting Valenthia the away.
“She started it!” retorted Valenthia, though she let me pull her away and to a vacant table.
“Hush up!” cried Rhonen, appearing at the entrance of the food hall and the chants slowly died away.
“She started taunting me about being banned from Silver Scape – in front of everyone!” protested Valenthia.
“But Val, that’s what she wanted,” said Natalie, “and you totally took the bait.”
“Screw this place!” concluded Valenthia, smoothing her hair back.
“Yeah? Well, it’s not like our old academy is much better right now,” I said. I couldn’t help but wonder if the blood she’d consumed that morning had made her bolder. But then again, Natalie had had the same batch and she seemed fine. And besides, pure-blooded vamps didn’t get as high off the stuff as a half-vamp like me.
“Sorry about that,” said Rhonen, coming and joining our table.
“It’s okay,” grinned Natalie, completely bowled over.
“No, we’re your hosts here and that was no way to behave,” he said, gesturing with a shake of his head at where Esyn sat.
“Yeah, and getting me banned from that dumb forest was,” muttered Valenthia as Natalie made googly eyes at Rhonen. She sharply looked down at her lap the moment he caught her gaze.
“It’ll get better,” offered Rhonen, “it’s been a hard path for us, out here in the middle of Sanguine central. Once everyone gets to know you and the wood sprites know for sure that you won’t snack on them, I promise this will all be behind you.”
“Glad that’s sorted then,” Valenthia continued to sulk.
“Anyway, I thought I’d come over and make sure everyone’s okay,” said Rhonen, speaking only to Natalie.
“That’s so kind of you,” cooed Natalie and I couldn’t help but smile. They were both really smitten. And as soon as Rhonen went his way I decided to share the one shred of good news I had and put Natalie out of her misery.
“Last night when I left our room, I bumped into Xanthe,” I began.
“So?” asked Valenthia.
“You’ll never guess what she told me!”
“Then why don’t you enlighten us?”
“Nat?” I asked, ignoring Valenthia’s foul mood.
“Erm, I don’t know?” replied Natalie slightly nervous.
“Rhonen!” I announced as quietly as I could, so as not to be heard away from our table.
“What about him?” asked Natalie, sitting up straight in her chair.
“He’s totally into you!”
“Like that’s news,” replied Valenthia, though she perked up a bit too.
“What, really? Me?” asked Natalie, the closest I’d seen her to blushing.
“Because it’s not obvious,” said Valenthia.
“Shh!” I said and turning to Natalie I pushed, “So yeah, I think you should ask him to do something.”
“Oh, I don’t know, what if she’s wrong? Or it’s a setup?” asked Natalie, as her smile diminished.
“I bet it’s not, dummy,” said Valenthia, looking over at Rhonen across the room, “I’ve seen the way he watches you. Couldn’t be more obvious if he tried.”
“What did Principal Silverstone say?” asked Natalie, changing the subject.
“I’m not going to get distracted that easily!” I replied, happy as the general mood between the three of us seemed to lift.
“Fine, I’m going to let him approach me,” said Natalie suddenly nonchalant, although it was more likely a lack of confidence. “But seriously, what did she say?”
“Nothing much,” I replied feeling annoyed and promising myself that the Rhonen issue was far from over, “and apparently she wants to separate one-to-one chats with both of you, that’s the only reason she gave for not letting you come in too.”
“Hmm,” said Valenthia, skeptically. “Don’t look now.”
“Oh no!” I groaned as Ulric came into the food hall.
“I’m sure it’ll be okay,” tried Natalie, “at least he’s coming over.”
“Amazing how different things are when the shoe’s on the other foot,” I rolled my eyes, wanting to sink into my chair as he made his way towards us.
“Hey,” he said, “I wanted to let you all know that Principal Silverstone has made me a member of the real Silver Shadows pack,” he said proudly holding out a moonstone.
“That’s amazing!” beamed Natalie.
“Yeah, congrats,” said Valenthia.
“Congratulations,” I said wanting to give him a hug but a quick read of his mind told me that wasn’t the way he wanted things to go.
“We should leave you guys alone,” suggested Natalie, getting up.
“Nah, that won’t be necessary,” answered Ulric in a conclusive tone, cementing how uncalled for it was by adding, “I just wanted to keep everyone looped in,” and making to leave.
“Fine,” I replied, so done with him but then remembered that I really needed to tell him about his sister. Damn it. That girl – or rather her prevailing absence, always meant that I had to talk to him, even when I really wanted to do anything but. “Wait,” I blurted, aware that I now had not only his attention but that other students were staring at me too. Ulric stopped and gazed across at me as I got up and walked over to him. “Let’s go somewhere else,” I suggested and he nodded.
“What is it?” he asked, once we were outside of the food hall.
“You’re mad at me,” I began.
“It’s not that,” he interjected.
“No, it is exactly that,” I argued, “and frankly, I have much better things to do with my time right now, than chasing after you. I don’t even know what you saw…”
“Woah, hold up – what was I meant to see, or not see?” he asked getting defensive.
“Nothing!” I said, getting really irritated at how poorly this was going. God, I wished I’d told him about Winnie earlier. Before things had gotten so complicated between us. That way we could have kept out of each other’s way while he was still mad at me.
“Really? Because now I’m starting to wonder what I missed,” Ulric pushed.
“Nothing! This isn’t even about last night!” I said, not hiding my frustration.
“Then what is it about?”
“Your sister,” I said plucking up all my courage. No matter how annoyed I was with him – and I wasn’t even sure I should have been – I knew this would hurt him more than anything else. And being the one to cause him pain was the last thing I wanted.
“You know something about Winnie?” asked Ulric. I immediately picked up on his thoughts which were mushrooming with worst case scenarios by the second.
“She’s still alive,” I assured him.
“That’s great!” Ulric breathed out a huge sigh of relief.
“Of course,” I agreed, “but Safi told me something and I know it might be a bit hard to handle.”
“What is it?” asked Ulric, tensing up again. The cynical side of me wondered how, knowing what he knew about his sister’s last actions, he could even assume it could be anything good. But the deeper part of me knew that no matter how unbelievable something was, if it was about someone we cared for, all there was to cling to was hope.
“The Black Banes of New Orleans have a new alpha,” I said trying to say it as sensitively as possible.
“Okay?” said Ulric, completely missing my cue “Where’s Kane?”
“Turns out, he was on exactly the same side as you,” I said, “so he left with a few other like-minded Black Banes.” I left out the bit that it probably meant he was dead or soon would be if he was found by Winnie and her pa
ck, or any member of the Dark Legion.
“So, you’re saying this new alpha has found Winnie?” asked Ulric, still trying to make sense of it.
“I’m afraid that the new alpha is Winnie,” I replied.
“What the actual hell?” said Ulric more aggressively than I’d expected, “you’re saying my sister has suddenly resurfaced and now runs the New Orleans Black Banes?”
“I’m not the one saying it, Safi told me and she should know – the Black Banes have been trying to attack Superno students ever since we left and came here,” I replied defensively. It felt like he was accusing me.
“This is insane!” said Ulric, “Why would she do that?”
“I have no idea,” I said, trying hard to keep my cool. I was glad he couldn’t read my mind because what I was thinking was that his sister was no better than Goth Girl. “Anyway, I wanted to let you know,” I said and though I really didn’t want to, I walked away leaving him standing there.
Chapter 13
“Here’s the last bottle of blood,” said Valenthia, offering it to me.
“Why don’t you guys split it?” I suggested. I’d been feeling a strong urge to call Moldark for more and now I could. I absolutely hated to admit it to myself – and certainly wouldn’t to my friends – but I’d actually been wanting to see him. A lot more than I should have. I knew it didn’t help matters that Ulric and I were barely on speaking terms but still.
“Are you sure?” asked Natalie, as the two of them got ready to go to class. One of the few blended theory classes that were delivered at night to students in all years.
Of course,” I replied. I was glad that Principal Silverstone had told them to resume their nocturnal schedule. They were both looking so much brighter since they’d started going to bed again when the sun came up. Well as bright as they could be. Of course, the blood had helped immensely but I knew that being out and about in the day did nothing for their longevity and this had been on my mind since we’d entered Silverstone Academy. I’d found that I could do either days or nights without being much affected and suspected that each of my witch-vampire sides kicked in as they needed to, to help me feel healthy. But the vampire in me was starving. Again.
“Are you seeing Moldark to get more?” asked Valenthia, pulling on her hoodie.
“Soon,” I said. It wasn’t a lie, exactly. I was just planning on seeing Moldark a lot sooner than they assumed.
“Guess who’s in our class?” asked Natalie excitedly, making it pretty obvious.
“That Willhelm douchebag?” replied Valenthia, winking at me.
“No, silly – Rhonen!”
“Oh Rhonen, wherefor art thou, Rhonen?” sang Valenthia, wringing her hands together and narrowly missing being hit by a flying textbook that Natalie had hurled at her.
“What’s the class called again?” I asked trying not to laugh at Valenthia’s dramatic display.
“The History of Moon Magic,” Natalie read from her timetable.
“That should be interesting,” I said.
“You should come along,” said Natalie, her eyes lit up, “although werewolves can’t do magic, apparently Esmeralda Quartz taught the first wolves born in the pack detailed methods of enhancing their werewolf instincts by using the cycle of the moon and their individual moonstones to divine of the moon’s powers!”
“Still don’t know what we’re going to be doing there,” complained Valenthia.
“It’s not that hard to see why Professor Norden thought it would be a good fit,” offered Natalie, “after all, our senses are greatly heightened by the moon too. I think you’d love it, Kat.”
“Where are you going?” asked Valenthia raising her eyebrows.
“I’m going to try and talk some sense into Ulric,” I said. Okay, so there was no way around it, that was a lie. But it was a plausible one as I knew that it was a class Ulric didn’t attend.
“Oh, and right afterwards we have ‘Combat: Light & Dark’,” said Natalie.
“That does sound interesting,” agreed Valenthia, “if it means what I think it does, it means the Silver Shadows have to know how to fend off both, the Dark Legion and the S.L.A.”
“Makes sense though,” I said, thinking of how Principal Silverstone was planning to jailbreak Professor Frewin from an S.L.A. prison.
“Can you attend?” I asked Valenthia, a pang of guilt immediately hitting me.
“Yeah, actually in my one-to-one Principal Silverstone told me that normally they’d hold this class in Silver Scape but because the sprites are still suspicious of my bloodsucking tendencies, she’s rescheduled the class to take place in the forest. Outside the academy but with many reinforcements, of course.”
“That’s great!” I said, relieved for Valenthia but feeling like a weight had just fallen inside me. It meant that I’d have to hurry my meeting with Moldark as I’d totally get sprung if we lingered by the time the class started.
“She’s cool,” replied Valenthia, “you’ll come, right?”
“Yeah, definitely,” I promised, waving them off as they finished the blood and left our dorm room.
I sat down on my bed and tuned into Ullric’s mind to try and get a sense of his whereabouts. I quickly picked up that he was having a class somewhere and concentrating hard on learning some concept about the history of werewolves. I was also quietly comforted that he hadn’t rescinded my permission to be able to read his mind. Ulric seemed very interested in the subject and I was happy for him to finally be learning the true origins about his kind, instead of the hate-filled propaganda he’d been fed by the dark-blooded werewolves and vamps of Bloodline Academy.
Suddenly, a thought echoed in my mind about Winnie. It confused me as it was very dissonant with the rest of what I was picking up about Ulric’s demeanour which was calm and focussed. I pulled back, out of Ulric’s mind and shook myself free of the panicked tone that thought had taken. I heard it again, accompanied with, “Kat! It’s me! I need you to say something back so I know you’re listening!” I knew immediately that it hadn’t come from Ulric, but from Safi.
“What? I’m here!” I sent back, having caught her alarmed tone which now sounded inside me too.
“I need to let you know something urgently,” said Safi.
“Okay, I’m listening,” I replied.
“In the last couple of days, the Black Banes have stopped trying to attack Superno.”
“Alright,” I replied, wondering why that didn’t make me feel any better.
“At first, I thought they were just upping their tactics – hoping Superno students would start going out again.”
“But?” I asked and I couldn’t believe that I caught myself checking the time, despite knowing her information was important. I felt a stream of magic running through me as I fought off thinking about calling Moldark. If I did, Safi would instantly know. And yet he was suddenly on my mind. It was as if I was calling out to him without even trying.
“Are you even listening to me?” asked Safi, picking up on enough to know I wasn’t all there.
“Yes! Of course!” I sent back.
“Anyway, they haven’t been prowling outside the academy.”
“So?” I asked.
“I know Ulric’s sister is awful and I feel weird even saying this but I hope they haven’t killed her due to her lack of success at mauling one of us…” Safi paused.
“Why would you think that?” I said, already having an inkling as to what she’d say.
“Because that old alpha, the one that had escaped, has turned up dead.”
“Where?” I asked, dread beginning to take over.
“Outside one of the town’s hottest werewolf owned bars,” said Safi.
“The bar - please tell me it wasn’t called Lupine’s,” I weakly sent back.
“How did you know?” asked Safi.
“Because that’s the place that belongs to Samantha Silverstone,” I said as I lay back on the bed, “she’s a huge deal with the Silver Shadows here a
nd in New Orleans – and she’s Principal Silverstone’s daughter.”
“I heard that bar was significant,” said Safi, “it’s been closed down for now. The owner’s gone.”
“Shit! I’ll need to make sure her mom is in contact and knows what’s happening,” I said.
“I thought you should know, Kat. My mom and other profs here think something’s going to have to be done soon. If they’re getting rid of traitors, its only a matter of time before the Dark Legion makes a move on us.”
“Right,” I replied, holding back from Safi that her mom had done exactly the same to Professor Frewin.
“Be careful out there,” said Safi.
“You too,” I replied before saying goodbye.
Sneaking out of the dorm room and through the academy, I felt a knot tightening in my stomach. I told myself that it was simply because of all the new information Safi had given me. Everything that I would now have to relay to our principal with the hopes that she was already in contact with Samantha and knew what she needed. It beat reporting back to Pearl, whose hatred and disdain had been so obvious that each time, I’d interacted with her, I’d felt a sharpness coming from her, straight at me. It was mindboggling how she was Safi’s mom.
I knew it was also in part due to the fact that I only had a limited amount of time to call Moldark, meet up with him and then come back into the academy so I could pretend to leave it again for the Combat class that was to be held in the very space I was going to beforehand. I stepped outside and took in the darkness of the forest. It was definitely less intimidating than it had been before. However the contrast of the enormity of the place and the dark energy it carried still washed over me. There was still the startling sound of Black Banes howling in the distance and stalking in the night. I got as far away from the general location of the academy as I could without venturing out too far on my own and called out to Moldark. I wondered if the connection vampires had to one another was the same as the magical mind-meld Safi and I shared. This time, it didn’t take long before I heard the whirring sound of his presence drawing near.
“Hey,” he said with a devilish smile, coming to stand a few feet from me, “I was just thinking that it had been too long.”
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