by Lan Chan
“Pendragon really dug himself in this time,” Andrei said with a smirk. “I’ll be seeing you around, squirt.” He was gone in a blink.
The boy in my arms sniffed. “Come on,” I said, “Let’s get you to the infirmary. What’s your name?”
“Billy.” I held out my hand. He put his clawed one in it.
“That’s an unusual name for a goblin.”
He swiped at his nose again. “It’s not my real name. My dame told me to call myself Billy so the others could understand.”
“I see. What’s your real name?”
He said something in the goblin tongue that went in one ear and out the other. “Umm...I’m not that great at Dead Languages...”
He pouted. “It’s not a Dead Language. It’s Alacanthean.”
Alacantha was the destroyed para-human dimension. “Sorry, my mistake.”
“I know who you are,” he said. When I looked down at him in surprise, he smiled a pointy-toothed grin at me. “My sire works with our king. He says when Alessia Hastings bonds with Malachi Pendragon, we won’t have to wear clothes anymore.”
I choked on my own spit. There were so many things wrong with what he just said that I couldn’t even pick one to dissect. Thankfully, we’d reached the spot where the infirmary used to be. It was missing. In its place was yet more rubble.
“Over here,” Doctor Thorne’s voice called from behind a pillar of stone that was just sitting out in the open.
I dragged Billy with me. A tent had been erected beside the ornamental lawn just in front of the Fae forest. Neither of those things was in the right place. Doctor Thorne’s hard reptilian eyes looked at Billy. “Another casualty?”
I didn’t like the sound of that. “There’s more than one?”
He pulled open the flap of the tent to reveal several Bloodline students in various stages of injury. “It happens every Unity year. Frankly I’m surprised you’re not one of them.”
“Give it time. I have a new patient for you.”
Billy held tight to my fingers. He wouldn’t look up at Doctor Thorne. The doctor tried to appear innocuous. Oh, right! In another lifetime, basilisks and dragons would have crunched on goblins for breakfast. I kept forgetting Doctor Thorne had mind-control powers over the para-humans.
“It’s okay,” I told Billy. “I’m in here all the time.”
He shook his head at me. In the end, I stayed with him while Doctor Thorne patched him up with some extra-dimensional herbs that made me want to gag. Billy drank the sludge like it was a milkshake. Though he’d been afraid, he was a breezy patient.
“You should take notes from Billy,” Doctor Thorne told me as he did his final check-up.
“How’s that bedside manner coming along?”
“I’ve decided it’s surplus to my requirements. You’re just about the only human who ends up in here, and well, I don’t think kind words work on you.”
Everyone was a comedian.
It was nightfall by the time I dropped Billy off at the junior Academy. We walked around aimlessly for ages because everything had moved.
I was getting sick of all the strange new faces. And even sicker of the too-interested glances they snuck at me. There was a crowd gathered at the entrance of the corridor to my room.
When they saw me, the crowd parted. I shouldered my way through them, worried that something had happened to Sophie. I kept thinking about the kids in the infirmary. But when I got to the front of the crowd, Sophie was just standing there mute. She pointed at our door. Somebody had hammered a nail into the wood. Hanging on the nail was Kai’s mother’s necklace. Blood dripped from the emerald pendant and was pooling on the floor. What got me was the poorly scrawled message also done in blood: Nice to meet you, squirt.
10
Professor McKenna cleared the hallway with her mere presence. She was Sophie’s favourite teacher, so naturally Sophie called her on the mirror as soon as we walked inside the room. I stood at the door guarding the evidence.
Sophie was all jittery by the time Professor McKenna arrived. I forgot this wasn’t the first time somebody had messed with her room. Our room. I was giving her a hug when a low growl permeated the small space.
“Move!” Max snarled. The silly students who lingered ran for their lives.
“Really, Mr. Thompson,” Professor McKenna said. “You’re the one who isn’t meant to be in this hallway.” She didn’t actually kick him out, though. I was still mid-hug with Sophie, but the way she and Max were making eyes at each other made me roll mine. I disengaged and she sort of forgot I was even there.
I heard Max’s low rumble behind me as they disappeared around the corner. Professor McKenna brushed a bit of her magic over the blood. “Anything?” I asked.
“It’s the same blood from inside the cartons from the dining hall,” she said. “It’s the message I’m more concerned about. You know who did this?”
Snitches get stitches. But how could I deny it? “Umm yeah. But I didn’t actually get their name.”
She pursed her lips. “We’re not going to get to the bottom of this if you won’t tell us who did this, Alessia.”
Oh, I knew why he’d done this. He was a lunatic. “I don’t know if I want to get to the bottom of it,” I said. I glanced at the necklace. “I mean, technically they did me a favour.”
The professor huffed. “Well, I can’t detect any signs of foul play aside from the obvious. Can you feel anything malignant?”
“No. Nothing out of the ordinary.”
“An idiotic prank, then,” Professor McKenna said. “They do this every Unity semester. It gets tiresome. Judging by the blood, I would hazard a guess there was a vampire involved. They’re so unoriginal.” She flicked her hand and the blood disappeared. I held my breath as she unhooked the necklace and handed it to me.
She left to help with the magical construction. “Do not spend all night in here,” I heard her say as she rounded the corner. Max’s response was a contained growl. Five minutes later, Sophie managed to extract herself.
“What the hell is this about?” Sophie said, closing the door behind her. I lay on the bed, one arm over my face like some fragile Elizabethan lady. In my head, I was trying to recount the worst possible ways to inflict pain on a vampire.
While she worked on the spell that would stop anyone from entering, I drew my usual protective circle and reinforced it with a bazillion layers.
I’d put the necklace down on my bedside table. “Beats me. I met this psycho vamp today, and I think he’s playing tricks on me.”
Sophie turned around from where she was standing. “Which psycho vamp?”
“I don’t know, Andrei something.”
Her face became ashen. “Andrei Popescu?”
I shrugged. “We didn’t get that well acquainted.”
“Lex!” she shouted. “He stole your necklace back and nailed it to our door! What did you do?”
She was obviously still in shock. I slumped down on my bed. She came and sat down beside me. “I didn’t do anything!” I told her what had happened.
“Who is he?”
She rubbed at her face. “I don’t know much about it. He’s the most infamous of the Nightblood students. And he’s got some kind of grudge against Kai.”
“Can I stash the necklace in your ingredient chest?” I asked Sophie. She made a spectacle of removing the spells around it.
“I’ll put it in,” she said.
“Jeez, Soph. I’m not going to break anything.” I pretended to trip near her prized bottle of dragon’s breath. The grip she had on my arm was only slightly less tight than her fake smile. “Okay, okay. No physical comedy around the ingredients.”
She was going to be a hoot and a half in her Magical Ingredients class. I was about to tell her so when Kai’s angelfire brushed up against my circle. “Blue!”
“I was wondering what was taking him so long,” Sophie asked.
“I have half a mind not to let him in,” I said. She pressed a fin
ger to her lips hurriedly. I kept forgetting about the supernatural hearing.
“Either open the door or I’ll take it off,” Kai said. Right. I stomped to the door. Sophie just managed to retract her spell before I flung it open.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” I spat at him. “You don’t just get to –”
He pressed me against the wall, his palms either side of my shoulders. “Don’t stay out too late,” Sophie called before she shut the door on us.
Kai stood there without blinking, his body a cage around me. The green glow of his angelfire reflected in the depths of his eyes. His gaze feathered over me, doing that intense thing where he checked if I was injured.
“You okay?” he asked.
I nodded. His palms shaped my hips as he leaned down and kissed me. We heard other doors opening. Kai’s top lip curled. “I won’t let anything take you,” he said. I found myself squeezed against his chest as he teleported us. The pleasure and pain sensation felt dulled as we hung in limbo. It was for the barest second. On a whim, I allowed myself to drop into the Ley dimension. The line of my magic had expanded even further.
I was apprehensive as we landed in the Grove.
Kai sensed my unease and didn’t let go. All I could hear was my heartbeat thudding against my chest. He ran has palms along the underside of my arms. I hadn’t realised I was shaking until he gripped me tight.
“It’s okay,” he said. “You’re still here.”
I couldn’t tell if he reassuring me or himself. Before I could open my mouth, he tilted my chin up. His eyes darkened. “Your door.”
“Who told you?” Max was a lot of things, but he wasn’t a snitch. He wouldn’t have said something. I tried to wrestle out of his hold. “It was her, wasn’t it?”
“Blue.”
I let out a frustrated grumble. “I can’t move two steps with another guy without you going cave man. But you let her get away with murder. Do you have any idea how that makes me feel?”
“Blue...I…”
“Don’t bother. I’ve had enough of the both of you.” I wish I had the stupid necklace with me so I could throw it in his face. “If she wants it so badly, she can have it.”
He caught me as I tried to turn around. I had every intention of walking back to the dorms. “Wait,” he said.
“I’ve heard it all before, Kai. So you weren’t very nice to her before. So what? She doesn’t sound like she’s Mother Theresa either.”
“Who?”
I stomped on his foot. Now was not the time for supernatural obtuseness. “She’s a raging bitch, and instead of putting her in her place, you keep making excuses or her. It’s no wonder she thinks she’s queen of the Nephilim.” My voice was growing louder. Dozens of coloured fairy lights winked into existence around the Arcana tree. “I might just be a low-magic, demon-spawned human, but you can go to hell if you think I’m going to stick around for this.”
The branches of the trees began to shake. Autumnal leaves that had managed to cling onto the last of the season rained down on us.
He pinched the bridge of his nose. In the shadow of the moonlight, I thought I could see steam coming out of his nostrils. “You said you didn’t want it back.”
True. I had said that. But so what? That didn’t change the fact she still thought it was okay to go crying to him.
“Blue.”
If he said my name like that one more time, I was going to deck him for real.
Inside me, the magic was turbulent. A nymph piped up with warning. I knew I was close to losing control too. I couldn’t have a repeat of what happened on the beach at Terran. I breathed out through my nose.
Kai grabbed me by the shoulders. “Why does it matter who told me?”
I tried to pry him off. He only held on tighter. I pretended to wince, but he knew exactly how much pressure he was exerting. It only pissed me off more that he remained calm enough to be thoughtful while I was raging inside.
“Why does it matter who nailed the necklace to my door?” I threw back.
“Taking a necklace because she’s spoiled and selfish is miles away from nailing said necklace to your door because he’s a psychopath!”
“I would take crazy over bitchy any day of the week.”
He clamped his jaw shut. I saw his nostrils flare. He just stood there breathing heavily. “What are you doing?” I kicked his shin.
“Durin says imagining killing something helps when Yolanda tries to use him as a scratching post if she’s frustrated.”
“Excuse me?”
“Right now, I’m thinking about slicing Andrei’s neck half off and ripping the sinew out of his muscles while he watches.”
“That’s disgusting. He did me a favour. I should thank him.”
Pure vehemence flashed across his face. I remembered Durin’s comment about Kai being raised inside the Reserve. He grabbed me and pressed my back against a tree. It made my stomach flip. “Is this funny to you, Blue? Do you want me to kill him?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I think I’ll make friends with him instead. Think about that the next time you’re fawning all over Princess Nephilim!”
He shrugged. “The next time he comes near you, I’ll make it a reality.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“Yes, you can. But I’ll still do it because it’ll make me feel better.”
“How is this about you? I’m the one whose door was defaced!”
The corner of his eye twitched. “Don’t change the subject,” I snapped. “Why did Chanelle feel like she could run crying to you because somebody finally took back your mother’s necklace?”
“Your necklace,” he corrected. “I don’t know why she does anything.”
He was too intelligent to be this dense. “Have you considered that she really means what she says?” Granted I had very little experience in this field, I just couldn’t discount the fact that she might really be in love with him.
Kai shrugged. “What she says doesn’t interest me.” He flexed his hands where he gripped my shoulders. “Stay away from Andrei. He’s insane.”
“Why does he hate you so much?”
Kai swallowed and his expression closed over. “I killed his family.”
I didn’t think I heard right. “Come again?”
He let go of me to scrub at the back of his neck. “His family, they gave into the bloodlust and massacred a village in Romania. I tried everything to bring them back, but it wouldn’t work. I know why he hates me. I understand why he hates me. But I would do it again.”
He said the words as though he’d rehearsed them. There was a good amount of the trademark Pendragon arrogance in them. But all I heard was the bitterness. I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around his waist. After a few moments, he dropped his head and rested his cheek on my forehead.
“Stay away from him,” Kai repeated. “He’s been out to get me for years.”
I didn’t know how to react to that. So I threw it back at him. Not exactly mature, but I was too flustered from how close he was standing and the frightening implications of his words. “The next time Princess Bitch-Face walks in the room and you fall over yourself to protect her, I’ll kick you in the balls so hard there will definitely be no more Pendragons. What? What’s so funny?”
He tried to temper the self-satisfied smirk that kept breaking out. Cupping my face in his hands, he leaned down and kissed me. “I know it’s hard,” he said. “But promise me you’ll give this a shot. Please.”
I didn’t even know what exactly he was referring to. But I was too far gone not to agree.
11
I had hoped a good night’s sleep would calm some of my nerves. Unfortunately, the sound of supernatural construction was no less irritating than human construction. There was all manner of banging and explosions. At one time during the night, a flash of such bright light flared outside the window that I thought it was morning.
“I’m going to kill someone,” Sophie groaned. She rolled
over and stuffed a pillow over her head.
When morning came around, I was so tired I thought I would fall over. It was why I just stood there staring at the Arcana tree in the Grove until a rock hit me in the cheek. The purple nymph wagged her finger at me. I scowled. I was only going to lick the fruit a bit to feel more alert.
Instead, I settled for splashing my face with the water from the pool. It helped a little. Enough for me to realise I’d walked here along a familiar path and with the same ease as always. By some miracle, the construction had been completed on time.
The scowl of death Brigid gave me while I waited in line for food was almost comforting. She wasn’t the only one watching me. I thought I’d had enough of this but here we go again. After what I’d done while at Terran, I wasn’t surprised.
Sophie had some kind of facial recognition radar because she always managed to find our group amongst the throng.
I smiled when I saw who else was at the table. “So,” I said to the Evil Three. “First days at Bloodline Academy, huh?”
Harlow pointed her fork in my direction. “Sorry to burst your bubble,” she said, “but we’ve been here for two weeks. Peter’s been giving us the rundown.”
“Hey, Harlow!” One of the Fae girls walking past waved at her. It wasn’t an ironic wave either. Great. She’d managed to make friends in two weeks while I’d been here almost two years and my circle still consisted of the people around our table.
“It helps if you’re not demon-spawn,” she said.
I groaned. “Remember this was your idea,” Trey said. He was tight-lipped. I noticed Winnie sneaking looks at him from beneath auburn lashes.
“How are the repairs at Terran?” I asked.
Harlow sniffed. “It’s taking a while. With all this rain we’ve been having, the contractors have to keep stopping and starting.” She glanced up at the ceiling. “I can see the advantages of being able to control the weather.”
I took a bite out of my breakfast muffin. “How’s Rachel?”