Sin reached around me to pat his shoulder. “It’s tough being the least talented sibling. Lily is a mage prodigy, obviously, since she won a scholarship here. And Anna is only a year older than me but three years ahead in her alchemy apprenticeship. We just have to soldier on, Ezra.”
Aaron and Kai did several more mind-boggling demonstrations of their switch control before Tobias concluded the lesson. While he dismissed his class, the two super-mages sauntered over to join us plebian spectators. Sin, Ezra, and I got to our feet.
“Nice demo,” I said.
Aaron grinned, oozing satisfaction. “I broke the discs first on the last round.”
Kai’s dark eyes flashed with annoyance. “We broke them at the same time.”
“You wish. I’ve always been faster on the draw with a direct line of sight.”
Ezra rolled his eyes. The two mages continued to bicker as, across the arena, the students filed out.
“Excellent work, Aaron,” the headmaster said, striding over to us. “Impressive as always. The students will be talking about this lesson for weeks.”
Aaron’s proud smile returned. He might complain about having to teach while he was here, but he didn’t mind showing off his skills for his father. What boy, even a grown one, didn’t want to impress his dad?
“And you as well, Kai,” Tobias added. “Thanks for your help.”
As the headmaster’s gaze turned to his son’s other guests, Aaron quickly introduced me and Sin. I shook Tobias’s hand, feeling oddly starstruck. I had no idea how much weight he and his wife pulled in the mythic community, but I was beginning to grasp that the Sinclairs were on a whole different level than I’d seen in my dealings with mythics so far.
Clapping a hand on Aaron’s shoulder, Tobias led him to the door. “Are you looking forward to the end-of-term Christmas party? Shane Davila is attending this year. Rumor has it he’s coming to Vancouver to take a crack at their infamous rogue, the—”
They stepped into the corridor and a wave of noisy chatter drowned out the headmaster’s voice. Students had flooded the hall, ranging from groups of fresh-faced thirteen-year-olds to lanky eighteen-year-olds with lean muscles yet to fill out. As we followed the headmaster and his son into the crowd, I counted three boys to every one girl. Huh.
The practice arenas were plain concrete boxes, designed to withstand daily magic damage, but spotless white walls, marble floors, and stained wood trim lined the corridors. The classrooms, as I’d seen earlier in our tour, featured high-tech projectors and smart boards, glossy tables and cushioned chairs on tiered floors, plush carpet, honeycomb walls for optimal acoustics, and huge windows that offered breathtaking views of the forest, the coast, or the beautiful Tudor masonry of the Sinclair castle.
Castle. I still couldn’t believe it.
Aaron shook off his father and trotted back to us, weaving through the students.
“Shane Davila?” Kai said as soon as Aaron was within earshot. “A renowned bounty hunter will be a nice change from the usual guest list.”
“Yeah.” Aaron rubbed his hand over his mouth. “I’d be more excited, except my dad knows I’m a fan of Shane’s work.”
Kai nodded knowingly, but I was confused.
“So what if your dad knows you’re a fan of this guy?” I asked.
“My dad’ll have an ulterior motive for inviting Shane,” Aaron said, unduly grim. “Let’s head to the house. I’ll show you your rooms and stuff before dinner.”
He and Kai led us into the flow of students, but they didn’t get far before an older teen called out, “Whoa, Aaron Sinclair! I didn’t know you were here.”
Aaron stopped as a band of boys rushed up to him. A moment later, three sixteenish girls squeezed into the group, their eyes forming heart shapes as they ogled him. Kai was getting almost as much attention, though the students seemed as intimidated as they were awed.
I tugged Ezra over to the wall as another wave of students flowed past us, chatting about dinner. We shared a look of amused resignation. Across the hall, Sin was talking to a girl with vivid pink hair—probably discussing hair dye.
The door beside us opened. Men and women walked out, and I figured these were the advanced-training alumni Ezra had mentioned. Twenty to twenty-five years old, the women lean and strong, the men broad-shouldered and sturdy.
They joined the throng of younger students, some stopping to greet Aaron and Kai. The stragglers halted in the doorway, blocked by the traffic jam. I eyed them curiously. A tall, handsome blond, a shorter guy with an upturned nose, and a woman with long black hair shaved on one side.
The blond guy glanced dismissively at Aaron and Kai. “Look who’s back,” he said to his friends. “How much do you want to bet Sinclair spent the afternoon showing off in lessons while daddy’s staff kissed his ass?”
My hackles rose. Holy crap, talk about venomous jealousy.
“Now he’s soaking up the adoration of teenagers like a complete tool,” the woman sneered. “How can he act like the academy king after years at that trash city guild?”
The first guy laughed nastily. “Wait till he goes back. His mates will be licking his shoes for a taste of a real guild.”
Hands balling into fists, I shoved off the wall—and Ezra caught me around the waist. He hauled me right past the savage trio and into the crowd of teens.
“Let me go!” I hissed. “I’m going to break that guy’s teeth off and jam them into his eye sockets.”
Ezra laughed like I was joking. “That’s actually kind of scary, hearing you say it like that.”
“Because I mean it!” I squirmed determinedly and he loosened his arms enough for me to spin around and glare at him. “What those shitheads said is—”
Some clumsy nitwit thudded into my back on his way by and I bumped hard into Ezra’s chest. His hands tightened on my arms, and when I looked up, our faces were inches apart. Milling students jostled us on all sides and there was nowhere to retreat.
My anger dissolved in a rush of sizzling nerves. What had I been saying?
“Nothing we do will change their attitudes,” Ezra said quietly.
Oh right. The shitheads. “But—”
“Just forget about them, Tori.” With a smile that scattered my thoughts all over again, he took my hand and pulled me down the hall after Aaron, Kai, and Sin; they’d drifted along with the crowd and were waiting at the doors. I walked at his side, my head a complete mess and my attention frozen on our entwined fingers.
* * *
Back in Château de Sinclair, I stood in the center of my guest room, afraid to touch anything. Soft light from the low chandelier shimmered across the rose-red carpet. The dark wainscoting was gracefully lightened by colorful oil paintings, lush drapery with a pattern of cream on ivory, and a pale bedspread smoothed across the monstrous four-poster bed. Its weighty headboard was piled with—I counted—nine pillows of various sizes and fabric cases.
I walked past a fainting couch, which matched the drapes, to stand in front of the window. The ground sloped away from the castle for half a mile before sinking into a wide lagoon. A narrow strip of land separated it from the churning ocean waves that stretched to the darkening horizon. On a clear day, could I see the mainland?
Tugging on a lock of hair, I tried to imagine growing up in a place like this. A four-story, twenty-thousand-square-foot castle with butlers, footmen, maids, and chefs. The only son of the headmaster, gifted and impeccably educated, doted on by family and staff. Center of attention. Star of the academy. Amazing opportunities offered to him everywhere he turned.
But Aaron had left all that to join the Crow and Hammer. No wonder his parents didn’t approve.
I straightened my spine. Time to stop cowering just because these people had enough money to sink several cargo ships. The guys didn’t care how much money I had, and that’s all that mattered. Grinning, I pivoted on my heel and exited the room.
Sin was fretting in the hallway outside Aaron’s suite, which sat de
ad center between the east and west wings. I hadn’t been inside, but I knew it was ridiculously massive. I could tell by the length of the wall that separated my guest room from Sin’s.
“Let’s go downstairs,” I said confidently.
She fidgeted with her teal hair, styled into loose waves. “I hope dinner isn’t too extravagant. What if there’s more than one fork?”
“Just wait for someone else to choose a utensil first,” I advised, leading the way to the spiraling staircase that carried us past the second level. We came out on the gallery halfway between the main floor and second floor. The balcony overlooked the grand entrance hall, while the opposite side was dominated by a truly monstrous window that offered a breathtaking view of the winter-clad front garden, the circular driveway, and a long set of shallow steps that ran uphill toward the academy campus.
I trotted the rest of the way down the stairs and past the fireplace, now lit with crackling logs. To my relief, Aaron, Kai, and Ezra were already lounging on the living room sofas—along with a fourth, much smaller person with long, mousy brown hair. As we walked in, she sprang up from her spot beside Aaron, her eyes lighting up just like Sin’s did when she was excited.
“You’re here!” she squealed, then checked her enthusiasm. In an obvious attempt to act cool, she tucked her hair behind one ear. “Mrs. Sinclair invited me to dinner. Pretty sweet.”
Sin fought back a smile as her sister surreptitiously checked Aaron’s and Kai’s reactions to her coolness. “Hi Lily. Good to see you too.”
“I was just talking to Aaron,” Lily added, all casual like she chatted with academy legends all the time. “He’s subbing for one of my lessons tomorrow afternoon.”
“News to me,” Aaron admitted. “It isn’t on my itinerary”—he shot a nasty look at the paper we’d abandoned on the coffee table earlier—“but I don’t doubt Dad crammed in another lesson or two.”
“Will we see you at all this week?” I muttered.
“Hey, I know.” Grinning, Aaron leaned forward. “Sin, you should sub for me. Teach the mage kids why taking a sleeping potion to the face is bad.”
Lily snorted dismissively. “We want to learn about real magic, not alchemy.”
Rocking back on her heels, Sin stared at her little sister as though she’d never heard Lily disparage her magic class before.
“You’ve gotta learn about the other stuff too, Lily,” Aaron said easily. “We’re not immune to all magic.”
I blinked slowly. That … hadn’t been the swift verbal correction I’d expected Aaron to deliver. He didn’t seem to have noticed that Lily had all but said, “Elementaria rules, alchemy drools.”
“Alchemy is useful and all,” Lily went on, missing every possible cue from Sin that she should change the subject, “but it’s got nothing on combat magery. I’m so glad I’m a mage.”
“Lily Belle!” Eyes flashing angrily, Sin planted her hands on her hips. “You used to cry that you weren’t an alchemist like Mom.”
Lily’s face flushed. “You’re one to talk, Cindy Lou.”
Sin went rigid, her cheeks skipping pink and turning beet red. She took a stumbling step back as Aaron’s expression morphed from surprise to what I could only describe as pure evil. Kai had surpassed evil and was radiating undiluted essence of doom.
Ezra twisted on the sofa, his eyes sparkling with suppressed mirth. “Two sisters,” he said musingly. “Lily Belle and …”
“Cindy Lou,” Aaron and Kai finished in perfect, terrifying unison.
Sin cringed so hard her head almost inverted with her shoulders. “Sin. My name is Sin.”
I sighed. Though I was torn between two basic instincts—tease my friends and protect my friends—I knew what I had to do. Sin needed someone in her corner, especially against three mages who never passed up an opportunity to tease someone.
“You three—” I began.
“You’re such a fake, Cindy,” Lily interrupted, her face as red as her sister’s and her hands balled into fists. “You wish you were a mage too. You’re always going on and on about how cool mages are and how if you were only a mage, maybe Aaron would finally notice you.”
If Sin had been embarrassed before, now she was imploding on the spot. Her stricken stare darted to Aaron’s shocked expression, then she choked out something unintelligible and sped out of the room.
Aw, shit.
I shot a death-beam glare at Lily, who shrank with guilt, realizing she’d gone too far. Aaron awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, a crease between his eyebrows. Turning, I headed for the doorway to follow Sin.
Valerie swept in, her dark hair perfect and peach blazer pristine. Tobias followed her, his arena gear replaced by black slacks and a cobalt dress shirt that made his blue eyes pop even more. At the sight of the headmaster, Lily minced behind a sofa.
“Boys!” Valerie said brightly. “How was your afternoon?”
She gave us all hugs, then Tobias did a new round of manly handshakes with Kai and Ezra, as though they hadn’t seen each other an hour ago. Before I could escape to follow Sin, I was getting my hand firmly shaken by the headmaster too.
“Tori,” he said, “I didn’t have a chance to thank you earlier. I owe you a drink.”
“You—you do?”
“For saving my son’s life back in May.” He glanced around expectantly, and as though summoned from the ether, the butler who’d greeted us on our arrival appeared in the doorway. “Dominic, my man, bring the decanter of Lucchese.”
“Ooh,” Aaron remarked. “You’re spoiling us.”
“I never said you were getting any.”
Kai, Ezra, and Valerie laughed. A moment later, Dominic returned with a tray balanced on his arm, holding a crystal decanter and seven tall cordial glasses. The man set the tray on the sideboard bar thing and poured two finger-widths of liquor into each glass. Tobias waited silently, his hands folded behind his back.
Dominic passed around the glasses. I accepted mine and sniffed curiously. A sweet, nutty aroma with a hint of vanilla tickled my nose.
“Amaretto?” I guessed.
“A girl who knows her liquor,” Tobias said approvingly.
“She’s a bartender, remember?” Aaron rolled his eyes. “Of course she knows her liquor.”
“This amaretto is handmade by my dear friend Giovanni Lucchese,” Tobias told me, “using a recipe his family perfected over five generations. They use bitter almonds grown in their orchard in Tuscany and the liqueur is aged in vintage wine barrels.”
I licked my lips eagerly, waiting for Tobias’s signal to try it, but he was looking around the room.
“Who’s missing? We have an extra glass.”
“Sin had to step out,” Kai said smoothly.
“I’ll have hers,” Lily piped up.
Tobias laughed like it was a good joke, and the girl’s face fell.
“We’re spoiling you already, darling,” Valerie said lightly. “You’re out past curfew.”
“Curfew?” Aaron glanced at the window, but it was so dark outside that the glass reflected the bright room back like a mirror. “It’s way too early for curfew.”
“We had to move it up temporarily.” Tobias raised his glass. “To family and friends!”
We raised our drinks, cordial glasses glittering under the chandelier, then I brought my glass to my lips. Delightfully spicy sweetness, underlaid with nutty almond and tingling vanilla, rushed across my tongue.
“Divine,” Valerie sighed.
“What were you saying about moving the curfew?” Kai asked, his glass poised by his mouth.
Tobias took a slow, savoring sip of his amaretto. “Temporary, like I said. We’ve had a few incidents recently.”
Aaron glanced over, then began chatting with his mother about her plans for Christmas dinner.
“Incidents?” Kai pressed.
Tobias’s relaxed manner slid away. “The surrounding woodland has never been an issue in the past, but five students have been stalked or atta
cked by wildlife in the last few weeks.”
“Wildlife attacks? Here?”
“It’s a surprise to us as well. So far, we’ve only found tracks. Large coyotes or perhaps a stray dog. A species of gray wolf inhabits the northern half of the island, but they’re almost never seen this far south.” Tobias rubbed his smooth jaw. “We’ve hired a specialist to deal with it, but until the beast is caught, we’ve moved the curfew. All students must be indoors by dark.”
“Are the attacks taking place at night?”
“After dark, yes, and always at the edge of the woods.” Tobias took another slow sip. “The injuries have been minor—only two bites. One student got dragged into the trees before her friends—”
“Tobias,” Valerie interrupted sternly. “Enough about that. We hired the best trackers—even a psychic. They’ll handle it.”
I wrinkled my nose. Was it just me, or had her “even a psychic” come out on the condescending side? I mean, yeah, not all psychics were powerhouses, but they could do some pretty freakin’ crazy stuff.
“Anyway,” Valerie said brightly, “boys, will you be attending the Seattle Elementaria Convention in March? The academy has a double booth, and we’re hosting two panels. Tobias is a keynote speaker as well—though Aaron, I’m sure you could join him and share your experiences with field combat …”
As she slid neatly into cajoling Aaron with another great opportunity to advance his career, I looked away from his deepening scowl. My gaze found Ezra, who stood at the window, silent and alone. His untouched drink hung from his hand as he stared out into the grounds. The glass reflected his shadowed face, and for an instant, our eyes seemed to meet in his reflection.
But no. He was looking beyond the glass. He didn’t see me—didn’t see any of us as he stared into the darkness.
Chapter Six
The bed was too soft.
I flopped onto my stomach and the cloudlike mattress sucked me into its embrace. Punching my goose-down pillow, I tried to relax. It’d been a long day and I needed sleep, especially since Aaron had scheduled me for a 7:00 a.m. run. He hadn’t been kidding about keeping up with workouts while on holiday.
The Alchemist and an Amaretto: The Guild Codex: Spellbound / Five Page 5