by Lucia Ashta
A shiver racked the entire length of my body. Rasper the Rabbit had been downright terrifying, and that was before he’d died and come back to life. I gulped and willed my feet to continue moving forward.
“Come on, squirt,” Ky said gently. “The sooner we pass Rasper’s inspection, the sooner we can put it behind us.”
I nodded fervently, but my legs still wouldn’t move.
“I won’t let him intimidate you, Rina,” Leander said, squeezing my arm reassuringly. “I promise.”
Again I nodded as if in a dream—more like a nightmare.
It wasn’t like I’d been happy the poor rabbit had died. To boot, he’d died a gruesome death while defending us, fighting the shifters who’d invaded the school until his last breath. I’d grieved his death in my own way, realizing it wasn’t his fault he’d been so freaking scary—or maybe it had been his choice to be so frightening—but it was still easier to forgive his gnarly disposition when he was no longer around.
Ky took my hand again and tugged me gently in the direction of the academy’s humongous gates. “No point putting off the inevitable.”
I nodded absently and allowed him to guide me forward … toward the scariest creature on the entire campus.
After several paces I gasped, choked on my own saliva, and ground to a halt.
Ky stopped on the pebbled path, dropped my hand, and turned to face me, hands akimbo. “Come on, Rina. I get that you’re scared, but get over it, will ya. This is getting ridiculous.”
I didn’t even bother resenting my brother for calling me scared in front of Leander. I lifted the same shaky arm and pointed toward the gate again.
Ky scoffed loudly. “Enough with the theatrics. We have—”
“What the...?” Leander trailed off, squinting in the direction of the gate.
My brother swiveled toward the entrance to the school and his jaw dropped for a moment before he snapped it shut. “What the fuck is going on?”
“There are two of them,” the prince of elves said.
“No,” I squeaked. “There are three of them. You can barely see the third one behind the pillar. See him now?”
Leander’s only response was to press his lips more tightly together. Up ahead, Adalia and the rest of the fae also hesitated, their heads canted toward each other as they presumably discussed the three Raspers.
“Come on.” Ky grabbed hold of my arm and pulled. I allowed him to lead me toward the group of fae. Better to face the triple terror in a horde.
I figured we’d talk about it together before advancing, but neither Ky nor Leander slowed once we reached the rest of the fae, who immediately fell into step behind their prince.
Adalia found her way to my other side when Leander drew up to the gates, at least twenty vertical feet of splendor. Its precious metals, resplendent gold in white, yellow, and rose tones, woven into braided patterns across the tall bars, shone in the early morning light. Its precious gems glittered, the bright blues, greens, and reds of sapphires, emeralds, and rubies beaming colored rays across the ground as if we were at a rave.
Even so, I barely noticed the gate. I was too busy previewing what my nightmares would look like for the foreseeable future.
Leander stopped in front of the gate and two of the rabbits squared off with him, the third rounding the pillar that had partially concealed him to join the others. When Ky united with Leander in facing the rabbits, I cowered behind him, and Adalia cowered behind me.
“Good morning,” Leander said, using his regal voice. “I am Prince Leander Verion, prince of the elves. And you are?”
The three rabbits lined up next to each other and straightened to their full height, which made them exactly as tall as Leander and my brother—before taking into account their erect jackrabbit ears, which put them over seven feet tall.
“We’re Rasper’s brothers,” the one in the middle said, his voice like sandpaper. “We’re here to exact vengeance for Rasper’s death.”
I swallowed dryly, infinitely grateful their wrath wasn’t directed at me. Their black beady eyes studied the crowd as they crossed their arms over their chests in three identical movements.
“We’re also here to protect all of you,” the one to the left said. “If Rasper believed it was an important mission, so do we.”
His two brothers growled at that, making me wonder whether they weren’t in agreement with the importance of Rasper’s mission, or if they simply wanted to eat us or something equally horrible. With the rabbits, it was difficult to tell.
The three of them were identical to Rasper in every way, down to the way they were dressed. The brothers wore the same white button-down shirts, and only differed in how many buttons were clasped. Left had all but the top button closed, whereas Middle and Right wore their shirts half unbuttoned, revealing a lot of chest that would’ve been cute on a cotton-tailed bunny. On them, it was eerily disturbing—it gave them a Miami Vice look that was entirely out of place on a killer rabbit. With plain black slacks that displayed a sizable, lumpy bulge, bare feet that revealed claws better reserved for predators in the wild, and sharp, needle-pointed teeth, my nightmare was complete.
“We won’t allow admission to anyone who doesn’t pass our test,” Left said.
“And there are a fucking whole lot of you,” Right said, “so you’d better get to cooperating before we cut you.”
“We don’t cut the students,” Left admonished. “We only frighten them when necessary.” His tone was actually peppy, and here I’d been thinking that Left was the more reasonable of the three.
“We have a schedule to keep,” Right rasped, “so enough with the fucking around.”
Adalia clutched my arm a little too tightly as I attempted to shrink out of sight of the rabbit mafia.
“We’re not ‘fucking around,’ as you so elegantly put it,” Leander said. “We’re waiting to hear your names so we can proceed with admission to the school.”
Right grunted, Middle picked his teeth with a claw on his paw, and Left glowered at Leander. A few beats passed where I was pretty sure all of us standing behind Leander and Ky were praying the earth would swallow us before we could become rabbit stew, in the twisted sense.
Finally, Left took half a step in front of his brothers, his big floppy feet smacking against the pebbles, scattering them. “I’m Rammer. This is Raider”—he pointed to Middle—“and that’s Raker.” Right inclined his head toward us, scowling.
“We’re pleased to meet you,” Leander said. Even though what he said wasn’t true in my case, I was glad he was speaking for all of us. “We offer our condolences for Rasper the Rabbit’s death. We were all very sorry to learn of his passing.”
The tension across the rabbits’ faces ebbed a bit. Raider nodded tightly.
“We also thank you for coming to help protect the school and its students. These are troubling times, and we honor your contribution.”
Whoa. Leander was working it, all right. And his diplomacy was effective. The rabbits’ tension eased by another fraction.
“We’re ready to begin the admission process, if you please.” Leander closed the distance between him and the rabbits, Ky shadowing him, perhaps unwilling to allow Leander too close to the killer rabbits without him.
I didn’t follow. There was no way I was getting any closer to the rabbits until I had to.
“State your full name for the record,” Rammer said, though Leander had already offered it.
“I’m Leander Verion, prince of the elves.”
“And you?”
“I’m Kylan Bond Mont.”
“Your arm,” Rammer said, while Raider and Raker circled around them. Raker pulled the glass straw-looking thing from a holster on his hip while Raider proffered the compass-compact-mirror apparatus that magically confirmed our identities.
Leander offered Rammer the crook of his elbow and my pulse began hammering in my head. I realized that Leander wasn’t as vulnerable as he appeared, offering the vicious rabbit t
he soft flesh of his inner arm, but I couldn’t help but be nervous for him.
Rammer brought the tip of the straw device to Leander’s arm, but instead of resting it against his flesh as Rasper had done, he punctured his arm with the blunt tip of the element, the diameter of which was almost as wide as my pinky finger.
Leander grimaced, and Ky hissed, “You’re not supposed to cut him with it. You’re only supposed to rest the tip of the sanguinator on top of his skin.”
“Oh,” Rammer said, pulling out the straw thingy—a sanguinator, apparently—not appearing the least bit concerned that he’d created a gouging hole in the elf’s arm. “That’s probably enough blood,” he said to his brothers.
“Ya think?” said Ky, sarcasm on full display.
Rammer ignored him, but Raider and Raker pinned Ky with matching rabbit death glares. Ky bared his teeth at them before Leander said, “It’s fine, Ky. Let it go.”
Ky growled, as did Raider and Raker. This wasn’t going well at all...
When Rammer finally placed the tip of the sanguinator against the compass-mirror thingy, it took only ten seconds for the apparatus to whir and flash like a boiling kettle with confirmation that the prince of the elves was precisely who he said he was.
“You can go in,” Rammer said, but neither he nor his brothers moved out of the way.
“Thanks, but I’ll wait for all of my people to be approved before entering,” Leander said while he flicked a backward glance at me.
“Whatever. Next!”
Ky bared his arm and walked to the rabbit, and I could barely stand still from the nerves. I leaned into Adalia, comforted by the fact that we were both in this together. This time, Rammer only pressed the tip of the sanguinator against my brother’s arm, and thirty seconds after he’d deposited Ky’s blood in the compass-mirror thingy, he received his approval.
“In ya go,” Rammer announced.
“I’ll wait for my sister, to enter with her please.”
My brother hardly ever said please.
“Which one’s your sister?” Raider said, the roughness of his voice making me squirm. At my slight movement, his gaze landed on me like a laser beam. He sneered with a little too much pleasure, as if he were preparing to feast on my fear. “Ah, that tasty one.”
“Tasty?” I squeaked, and then wished I hadn’t.
Raider grinned. “Tasty.”
I shot an alarmed look at Ky, who moved to my side. Leander took up a protective position on my other side, moving Adalia out of the way. The prince was squinting at the mobster rabbit, displeasure etched across every one of his beautiful features.
“I’ll be meeting with the headmaster as soon as I get inside,” Leander said, diplomacy absent, the tacit threat of his words vibrating across them. “It won’t be good if I have to tell Sir Lancelot that your behavior toward the students is inappropriate. The headmaster values etiquette and respect above all else.”
Raider waggled his beige furry jaw, petite bunny nose twitching. “State your name for the record, girl.”
“My name is Rina Nelle Mont,” I said in a rush. With a thick swallow, I stepped from between Ky and Leander and toward Rammer, offering him my arm. I clenched my eyes shut while he pressed the sanguinator to my skin. I didn’t open them again until I heard his pronouncement.
“You may enter the Magical Creatures Academy. Your identity has been confirmed,” Rammer said.
The breath I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding left my body in a whoosh. I snatched my arm back when I realized Rammer was still holding it and scampered out of the way. I circumvented the rabbits and had to refrain from running toward the closed gate.
“Open the gate!” Raker said, his voice like the exhaust of a dirty diesel engine.
Both doors of the gate swung open inward, though nothing visible caused the motion; it had to be one of the many magical spells that governed the functioning of the academy. The precious metals and gems glittered, but I was in no mood to appreciate their beauty. I hustled through the gate as a trumpet blared some fanfare above my head. Once I was on the other side of the gate—and away from the monster triplets—I glanced upward.
The same foot-tall fairy from last term was there, but his heart just wasn’t in it. Where his too-too-do-doooo blare had been crisp and joyful in January, now it was limp and deflated. Seated atop one of the gate’s massive pillars, his tiny trumpet hung dejectedly by his side. His sigh was so heavy, I could make out the rise and fall of his chest from where I stood, twenty or so feet below.
Poor little guy. The rabbits were probably scaring the crap out of him too. The bunny mob had likely threatened to eat him and pick their teeth clean with his bones or something.
When Ky waltzed through the gate after me, the fairy brought his trumpet to his lips, but only emitted a single toot before allowing his brass instrument to plop against his lap.
I feel ya, little guy.
“Let’s go,” Ky said. “You’re acting weird.”
I was acting weird? “Are you serious right now, Ky? Did you see them?”
“Yeah, and they’re just terrifying enough that maybe we’ll be safe at school this term.”
That was uncomfortably sobering...
I insisted on waiting for Adalia, but the moment she ran through the gate to a wheezing toooo that sounded like a deflating balloon, we booked it out of there. We didn’t stop walking until we reached the administration offices inside Acquaine Hall, which I knew from experience held its own breed of unsettling creatures.
“Welcome to the Magical Creatures Academy,” I muttered to myself as I yanked open the double doors and slid into the building’s cool interior. Adalia and Ky followed me in as my sneakers squeaked across the marble floor.
“I don’t need you to tell me how to do my job,” a deep voice growled from the open door to the admin office. “Someone oughta teach you some manners. We’re not slaves of the Menagerie. We’re employees.”
I sighed. Pygmy trolls. Ornery, ugly-enough-to-be-cute-if-they-weren’t-so-mean pygmy trolls.
Better to get it over with. Surely they’d be better than the triplet rabbit mobsters. I steeled myself for their colorful fro-hawks and round, tiny butts, and walked inside.
4
Check-in went surprisingly smoothly, probably because Adalia and I did everything Pink Fro-Hawk told us to do, offering our acquiescence via monosyllabic responses that suited the troll just fine. Also, compared to the rabid rabbit triplets, the ornery pygmy troll didn’t seem quite as bad as usual. It was easier to ignore the perma-frown that etched lines into his little-old-man face when I wasn’t afraid he’d kill me on the spot.
Even Ky was unusually quiet, and I wondered if he would have preferred to wait with Leander and Boone. After all, they were his best friends; I was just his “squirt” of a sister. Since the Shifter Alliance had attacked the school at the end of last term, he’d rarely left my side. We’d spent more time with each other recently than we had since he hit puberty.
But we met up with Leander, Boone, and the rest of the fae soon enough, sprawling out on the open rectangular quad enclosed by the campus’ buildings. There was little to do but wait since we’d been assigned the same dorm rooms and roommates as the term before, and the school provided for most of our needs. After last term, I knew to expect that my spare uniforms and course materials would already be in my room when I arrived. I suspected pygmy trolls were the ones who kept the dorm rooms up, but I didn’t linger on the thought. I didn’t think I could handle the idea of mostly naked pygmy trolls rifling through my drawers.
Time rolled by slowly, which suited me just fine. Life was about to get extremely busy, and the magical springtime sunshine was bliss on the bare skin of my arms and legs now that I was back in my crisp uniform.
“Those rabbits were freaky,” Adalia said, not for the first time since we’d claimed seats on the grass. I’d mostly managed to forget about Rammer, Raider, and Raker, but Adalia and many of the smaller fae still
appeared rattled.
“At least we only really have to see them at the start and end of term,” I mumbled, leaning into my hands behind me and stretching out my legs and crossing them at the ankles. I closed my eyes, sighing. While the fae’s Golden Forest had been magical in its own way, I’d missed the Menagerie—the good bits of it at least. Bright sunbeams snaked down between the thick tree trunks of the campus’ wily willows and other trees old and tall enough to defy logic. Then again, most everything within the Magical Creatures Academy defied logic. When magical spells controlled much of the school’s functioning, nearly anything was possible.
“I’m sorry for what that rabbit said to you.”
I didn’t need to open my eyes to attach the voice to its owner. My heart began to thump noticeably in my chest.
“My prince,” Adalia said as I slid my eyes open to linger on Leander.
“Would you mind leaving us for a few minutes?” Leander said.
Before he’d completed his request, Adalia was jumping to her feet. “Of course, My Prince.” She bowed low, swiveled on her heel, and moved to join the other fairies.
Unreasonably nervous, I stared at him. Though we’d spent an entire summer in proximity to each other, there’d been far too little of the closeness I’d hoped for. Leander’s father had proven remarkably skilled in orchestrating interference. I suspected even Ky had worked to keep the two of us apart, but whether because of his own reasons or the king’s orders, I didn’t know.
“He shouldn’t have said that you’re tasty,” Leander said, taking a seat beside me on the grass, and I blinked a few times to remember what he was referring to. Right. The rabid rabbits.
“It’s okay,” I said with a shrug.
“Is it?” The elfin prince’s silver eyes pinned me in their stare and I resisted the urge to fidget.