Dark Abandon

by Nicole R. Taylor

  Ravenwood is most likely a pseudonym, I read. Perhaps a name Scarlett was given or she took as a child. There is no reference to it in the Natural heraldry, which suggests her family’s identity could have been a matter of secrecy.

  Aiden was researching my family tree? What for? Was this coming from a good place or… I shook my head, clearing the bad thoughts before they entered my mind.

  I’d asked him for help decoding the coin, but this? I wasn’t sure if it was creepy or extremely helpful.

  Why would he keep this to himself? Why wouldn’t he just tell me what he was doing? It wasn’t like we weren’t friends—I’d trusted him with something important. Something that meant life or death for billions of people. Something that the demons would kill to get their hands on. Something… My heart seemed to stop beating for a full thirty seconds.

  I opened the folder and began shuffling the papers, my Light ebbing out of my fingertips. There were all kinds of records here. Reports from the London Sanctum—including the one I’d written after the Necropolis—training schedules, progress reports, my file from social services, school records from the various places I’d been throughout my teenage years… He even had a copy of the police report from that one time I’d been arrested as a teenager and released without charge.

  I cast them all aside and gasped when I saw a separate folder at the bottom of the pile. There was a telltale emblem on the front and my blood ran cold. My medical records.

  My skin began to prickle, and I felt like I was going to throw up into the bin beside the desk. What was he doing with all of this? What did it had to do with Arondight or the coin?

  I tapped into my Light and let it flow freely around the room. The release of power was like opening a pressure valve and as it trickled around the office, my unease began to grow.

  Aiden had gone too far, but why? Why?

  Think, Scarlett… Why did Greer and Aldrich send you here?

  That’s when I felt it.

  It wasn’t just the piles of personal papers that had me reeling. It was the fingerprints all over it. Shadowy, slimy, nauseating. Darkness had been here… and recently.

  I glanced at the door, a sudden wave of panic slamming into me, but I was alone and the library was silent. Clearing up the mess I’d made of Aiden’s research, I set it back how I found it, or at least as close as I was able.

  My whole life I’d never been important, but now I was the centre of everything and I wasn’t sure who I could trust. Too many people had more than one face. I let down my guard… I mean, I should be able to amongst my own people, but Wainthrope had taught me an important lesson. Power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely.

  I left the office, closing the door behind me. Crossing the library, I lingered between some shelves at the back and screwed my eyes shut. I counted to ten, sucking in breath after breath, settling the burning in my throat.

  All this time we’d been looking for a student, and it hadn’t occurred to anyone that a teacher could have been compromised.

  My only saving grace was that I didn’t tell him about my real reason for being here. To him, I was just a clueless woman trying to get a handle on her powers and place in the world, not a double agent attempting to root out a mutated Natural.

  I had to go on like nothing was amiss, though. I had to pretend. If Aiden was mutated, then… He’d chosen it, which made him a Vessel—a willing participant in demonic possession.

  Oh, Aiden.

  Pulling myself together, I walked out of the library and into the hall beyond.

  Outside, the sun was already setting, orange fingers of light streamed through the windows and across the polished terrazzo floors. The days were getting longer as summer approached, but my mood wasn’t lifting with the temperature. The sun could be illusive in Britain, kind of like my faith in others.

  It was past dinnertime, and Wilder was still in the gym, pumping some serious iron. He sat on the end of a bench, lifting what looked like a five-kilo weight in his right hand. As I approached, everything I felt for him was overshadowed by what I’d have to do after this moment.

  “Hey, Purples,” Wilder said, not looking up from the movement of the dumbbell in his hand. “Back for more punishment?”

  “Wilder…”

  His gaze snapped to mine in an instant. When he saw the look on my face, he dropped the weight and rose to his feet.

  “What’s happened?” he murmured, moving close.

  I told him everything. About the research, about the files Aiden had, and about the Darkness I felt all over it. I left nothing out.

  When I was done, Wilder took my hand and squeezed.

  “You were wrong,” I whispered.

  “About?”

  “How can I survive this war? I’m alone, Wilder. There’s nowhere left to turn. I—”

  He wrapped his arms around me and held me close, his embrace the only thing that was keeping me from falling apart.

  “You’re not alone,” he whispered. “You never were.”

  Wilder and Islington followed me down a darkening hall, both men silent for the first time in both their alpha male lives.

  The moment I’d walked into the headmaster’s office and told him what I’d told Wilder, his annoyance at my presence had dropped, along with his apparent rivalry with his past incarnation. Seemed like I’d done something right for a change.

  After finding Aiden’s rooms in the southern wing empty and no sign of him in the kitchens, our next stop was the library.

  I still didn’t understand how I missed this. The only way he could’ve gone under the radar was if he was working with the demons. The mutation inside him would’ve been detected if it was always active, so he had to have been fading in and out to maintain his cover.

  Islington and I waited outside when Wilder insisted on scouting ahead.

  “Thank you,” the headmaster said.

  I raised an eyebrow.

  “I know I’ve been hard on you, but you were right about a lot of things. Things have gotten too…” he trailed off as the library door opened.

  “He’s in his office,” Wilder murmured.

  I nodded and took a step forwards, but he caught my arm.

  “Do you want me to come with you?”

  “No. I have to do this myself.”

  He nodded, his eyes flashing silver in the muted light. “We’ll be outside, okay?”

  “Sure.”

  I schooled my expression into calmness and strode into the library. Wilder and Islington followed close behind, breaking off and disappearing as soon as they’d crossed the threshold. They lingered amongst the rows of books as I approached Aiden’s office, silent watchers in the shadows.

  Warm light spilled through of the crack in the office door and I knew Aiden was in there. I could feel his presence just beyond.

  Nudging the door open with the toe of my boot, my heart lurched painfully as I saw him bent over his desk, reading intently. Was it more of his creepy research? It hardly mattered now that the net was cast around him.

  “Hey,” I said.

  He looked up, a smile spreading across his face. “Oh, Scarlett, there you are. Madeleine said you were looking for me.”

  “I was. And now I’ve found you.” I narrowed my eyes, my gaze sliding over the pile of research sitting in full view on his desk.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked. “Did you find the cypher?”

  “No,” I replied, moving around him, “but I found something else. It’s quite interesting, you know.”

  I flicked open the cover of the folder directly on top of the pile, uncovering the photograph of Andromeda. Aiden’s gaze followed my movements, his face slowly changing colour.

  “There’s some situations where thorough research would get you points,” I began, turning to the next page. “Like PhDs and thesis’. But there are times where it’s just downright creepy.”

  He swallowed hard, a thin sheen of sweat erupting across his forehead. “Scarlett, it�
��s not what you think—”

  “I would’ve given you the benefit of the doubt,” I went on, snapping the file closed. “But why does a historian need my medical records? Why does he need my social services file? What does any of that have to do with anything?”

  “Arondight,” he replied. “You want to find it and I’m trying to help. I’m trying to help.”

  “Then tell me something,” I snarled, slamming the Darkness-soaked folder against his chest. “What do you get out of it? Money? Immunity? A place in the new world order?”

  His eyes widened. “What are you talking about?”

  “Darkness, Aiden. I’m talking about Darkness. Open your eyes.”

  His breath caught as his fingers brushed against the folder. “No…”

  “Your fingerprints are all over it.” I let out a strangled cry of frustration. “I trusted you.”

  “This wasn’t me, Scarlett!” he cried. “You have to believe me. I gathered the research, but someone else did this. I—”

  “I think that’s about enough of that,” Wilder declared, slipping into the tiny office.

  Aiden turned, letting out a yelp as he realised he was trapped between us. “This isn’t what you think,” he said, becoming increasingly agitated. “You’re in danger, Scarlett. Something’s in the Academy.”

  “Oh, we know,” Wilder drawled, wrenching Aiden’s arms behind his back. The folder fell to the floor, spilling papers across the hardwood.

  “Stop!” he cried. “I’d never betray you, Scarlett! I care about you!”

  I turned away as Wilder dragged him from the room, fixing my gaze on the antique arondight blade on the shelf.

  “I’m sorry, Scarlett,” Islington’s voice echoed from behind. He’d used my name for the first time, and I bristled, wondering if this meant I’d finally graduated to adult status in his eyes.

  “The students have a way through the wards,” I said. “I’d hope they’d have enough sense to come to you, but it looks like they didn’t. I can’t blame them, considering you’re so approachable. That’s likely how the demons have been getting in and out, and why no one’s found any trace. The demon tripped the alarm either by accident or was testing the response. Either way, you have to plug the hole because something big is about to go down.”

  “We will.”

  “They have everything,” I murmured. “Everything we know… It’s only a matter of time before someone finds Arondight.” And I didn’t know who that would be.

  “I’m going to summon Greer and the Regula,” Islington replied. “Nothing will get into this school and nothing will get to you. Do you understand?”

  I drew in a deep breath and nodded. “I think it’s time to give me back my arondight blade, don’t you?”

  16

  The entire Academy was summoned to the ballroom the next morning.

  As a result, the entire student body was squashed into a space that was meant to handle half the number. Some kids were sitting in groups, others were standing or leaning against the walls. The few window boxes were crammed with bodies, and the air was growing a little too warm for comfort. It seemed as if air vents hadn’t been invented in the seventeen-hundreds, along with the ability to open a fancy window in a fancy hall.

  My arse was starting to numb from the hardwood underneath my cheeks and I longed for a chair. It seemed like the Academy didn’t do school assemblies very often—if at all. There was definitely no drama class that required a stage, or a school band. I snorted, wondering what that’d look like. Probably a million times better than the shite we were forced to perform when I was in high school.

  I sat cross-legged beside Trisha, who was talking intently with the other seniors. My arondight blade was pressed comfortingly against my side, hidden underneath my jacket. I hoped I wouldn’t have to use it, but if it came to the crunch, I’d whip it out in a flash.

  “Something big is happening,” Trisha said. “They never call all of us together like this.”

  “Do you think we’re in danger?” Maisy wondered aloud.

  “It’s gotta be something about that Infernal,” Trent replied.

  “Andy said they found where that kid was smuggling in the beer and stuff,” someone whispered loudly. “Do you think that’s where it got in?”

  I glanced at Trent and he paled. I would’ve said I was disappointed in him, but I wasn’t even surprised. That kid had a lot to learn about accountability if he was ever going to graduate at the end of the year.

  “Did you go to see Wilder?” I hissed, keeping my voice low enough so the others didn’t hear.

  He gave me a sheepish look.

  “Trent.”

  He opened his mouth but was interrupted by a commotion at the head of the ballroom.

  “Listen up!” Islington’s voice boomed. “Naturals, stand to attention!”

  Everyone stood, forming perfect lines across the breadth of the room and folded their hands behind their backs. I joined them, blending into the swarm of students as the faculty formed a guard at the opposite end.

  Adelaide stood next to the headmaster, followed by Masters on his other side, then Patrick and the other combat instructors—including Mr. Wilder—and the various other authority figures. The older woman who taught ethics, the demonology professor, and the teachers of all the other disciplines—history, sciences, and languages. One person in particular was glaringly absent.

  “Effective immediately,” Islington announced, “the Academy is on high alert.”

  The room erupted into a burst of hushed whispers.

  “Silence!” he shouted, reigning in the one hundred or so students with practiced ease. “Now, more than ever, we must remain vigilant and look out for one another. We must uphold all the virtues bestowed upon us from the Codex and remember why each and every one of us is here at the Academy.”

  “For the Light,” the students declared in unison.

  “For the Light,” he echoed. “From this point forwards, all students are confined to the immediate Academy grounds. Wards will be put into place for your safety, and if anyone attempts to test these limits, you will be punished. Am I clear?”

  “Yes, sir!”

  “All students will adhere to their schedules and be signed in and out of all activities, including free study periods. A curfew will be strictly enforced, and you all must sign into your dormitories with your Light.” A few annoyed moans echoed from amongst the students. “Remember, this is for your protection.”

  A hand rose into the air a few rows ahead of me. “Sir? Are we in danger?”

  The headmaster lowered his gaze and took a deep breath before his eyes met the crowd. “Demon activity has been on the rise,” he said. “Every student here is our future, and our future must be protected.” The murmuring began again, but this time Islington didn’t put a stop to it. “Return to your classes, but remain vigilant. Dismissed.”

  The students fell out of three ranks and the volume began to increase as they talked furiously amongst one another. As we all moved towards the door, the heaviness in the air increased.

  “You were right, Scarlett,” Trisha said. “Something’s coming, isn’t it?”

  “I hope not,” I murmured. For all our sakes.

  “They never tell us anything,” Kayla said with a pout. “They just bark orders at us and expect us to jump.”

  “That’s what being a Natural is all about,” I said. “We’re soldiers and we must work together. That’s the only hope we have against the Darkness.”

  She narrowed her eyes at me, obviously thinking her way was better and led the seniors out of the ballroom. I hung back, attempting to quell my annoyance at her continued temper tantrums. You think she’d have learned something by now.

  Catching sight of Wilder at the head of the room, I wove through a few stragglers so I could catch him before he left.

  “Hey.”

  Wilder stopped when he heard my voice and turned. I stood in front of him, glancing as the last of the stu
dents filed past us.

  “Islington has summoned the London council,” he told me once they’d gone. “They’ll be here by nightfall.”

  “And the Regula?”

  “They’re sending a representative. They’ll interrogate Aiden, then likely hand him over to Ramona and her team.”

  “Can the mutation be reversed?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer, knowing that he’d willingly worked with the shadow that was growing inside his body.

  I hadn’t seen a Vessel since the first night I’d met Wilder and I still didn’t understand it. Was it a power thing? There was no logical explanation for someone being a willing host to a demon, let alone a parasitic mutation.

  “We won’t know until Ramona can do an assessment.” He shrugged, his expression giving away that he thought it was hopeless.

  What would become of Aiden? But I already knew the answer—he’d be executed.

  “Keep an eye on that lot,” Wilder said, nodding towards the hallway where the students had exited.

  “I will,” I said, following his gaze. “I won’t let anything happen to them.”

  A full day of classes hadn’t softened anyone’s nerves, least of all mine.

  As far as I could tell, Greer or the Regula representative hadn’t arrived yet, which only added to my worry. London wasn’t that far away. What if something had happened to them en-route?

  I stepped into the ruined chapel, the quiet of the early evening was unsettling, but the moment I passed over the threshold, I felt an odd sense of calm. Light must be interwoven in the stone here.

  I moved up the centre of the room and chose a spot on a pew at the front, perching directly opposite the altar. The stone was cold on my arse, but the connection to this place was stronger that way. The Lady of the Lake watched over me with her marble eyes, her silence deafening.

  Ivy wrapped around her body, the vines snaking upwards around her outstretched arms. She was a formidable figure frozen in the midst of a battle cry. I wondered what had happened to her. Something must’ve, because where was she now? Not here where the Naturals needed her the most.