by G. Bailey
“Ah, I have heard such—”
“As her guard, I would like to challenge the student in your place.” Warren shocks us all by stepping in, but it makes me almost smile. In his own way, he is protecting me. “You know of Miss Dormiens’s powers and how it might be a little too easy for her to beat you.”
“It wouldn’t be easy,” Mrs. Frostan says, getting all flustered as I keep my eyes on Warren.
“Then it shouldn’t concern you if I step in,” Warren retorts.
“Fine. It would be a good show to watch. Everyone, go and sit down out of the way,” Mrs. Frostan demands, clapping her hands together. I smile sweetly as I go and stand opposite where Warren stands in the middle of the room, his hand on his spear, and I wish I could see his expression.
“You surprised me, Warren Nightshade,” I say, placing my hands at my sides and getting ready. They all want a show, and I’m sure not going down without a fight.
“I’m surprised you know my last name. Who told you?” Warren actually sounds surprised.
“That is a secret,” I reply, grinning, and I wink once at him.
“I won’t play nice, Miss Dormiens. I suggest you treat me as nothing more than an enemy,” he gruffly tells me, and I watch as he places his spear right in front of him, placing both hands around the shaft. I can’t see his face or hear the words I’m sure he whispers, but suddenly the glowing grey energy shoots up into the air and comes down around us like a dome. It completely blocks us from the outside; the grey is so dark that I can’t see out of it. When I look back at Warren, he is gone, and the spear is standing on its own.
I call my magic as I spin around slowly, watching in the darkness for anything. Thanks to my senses, I hear him to my left, and I turn around, flashing a shot of dust at him. Warren simply waves it away with grey energy, and I’m left shocked as I step back. I step back again, calling more dust, and I hold my hands out, pushing more of it towards him, but it does nothing. He covers himself in grey energy and walks through the dust until he is right in front of me. He knocks my hands away and steps closer, placing a finger under my chin.
“I win,” he tells me, sounding smug.
“So do I,” I reply and quickly pull his hood down before he can stop me. Wavy white hair curls around a very handsome face, with bright big eyes and a sexy jawline. He is my age, I think, but it takes me a second to realise why he didn’t want me to see his face. A long, thick scar is drawn on his face diagonally. It is the shape of an F, and it is so big you can’t miss it. The scar itself is odd; it’s not red, it’s blue. A direct clash against his skin, and it almost glows.
“Rueben Frostan did this to you, didn’t he?” I say, gathering from the little Warren has told me about himself.
“I’m his. I’ve told you this already, but I didn’t want you to see me,” he angrily says, dropping his hand.
“I think you are beautiful with the scar or without it. If anything, that scar makes me admire you more. You are braver than I ever thought. You shouldn’t hide who you are, Warren,” I tell him, knowing he likely doesn’t want to talk to me. Warren surprises me by looking back and meeting my eyes. He very slowly lifts a hand to my cheek, frowning at me.
“No one has ever told me that. No one. I don’t remember my mother to know if she thought I was beautiful, and my father never spoke to me much other than to say I looked like his sister who died as a child,” he tells me.
“Warren, you are beautiful. Very much so. I’m sure you could win any girl’s heart,” I tell him, but the words feel so close to my heart as I speak them. I shouldn’t be speaking to Warren like this or looking at him the way I am right now.
“What about yours?” he asks, and I’m shocked for a moment. I can’t let him have my heart, not without telling the three men who already share it. I can’t betray them, even if I want to kiss Warren. It’s not fair. I wait until he is inches away from my lips before I place my hand over his mouth and call my power. He realises too late what I’ve done as he tries to fight off falling to sleep as he falls to the floor.
“W-why?” he asks as I pull his hood up, and I cheekily smile down at him.
“Sorry, I just really like to win.” To my surprise, he laughs as his eyes begin to close. “But I meant what I said. It wasn’t a trick,” I add before he falls to sleep, and I can’t help but smile. I think I really like Warren Nightshade.
Chapter 19
“You nearly died the last time you did this. We should say no,” Warren says as I try to leave my room after he told me Rueben sent for me. He doesn’t wear his hood down since I saw him, but he does push it back a little bit so I can see his eyes more as we talk, which is better than nothing. I know a lot of what he thinks is in his head, and that is a battle I can’t fight for him. I try to push away the thoughts of his lips and how he looked at me.
“Is no actually an option when it comes to Rueben?” I ask, crossing my arms and raising an eyebrow at him. “I don’t think it is, and neither do you. If I scream too much, pull me out, and then I can be healed with the Tale brothers later.”
“I don’t like this,” Tavvy says, coming to my side. “I will get Quin; he needs to be there again. We need to make a plan soon, one that will get you out of here.”
“Okay, thanks. I think I can handle it this time,” I answer. Though Tavvy and Warren can see straight through the lie, if their simultaneous sighing is anything to go by. It’s been four weeks since the last time Rueben called me to his office, and I honestly hoped he would never ask me to do this again. Since the books went missing, they have been madly searching the academy, and Warren told me he cancelled the lessons until further notice.
The Tale brothers and what is left of the good tale community are going stir crazy in that place, all of them desperate for contact with the outside world or to find family out there. We don’t have a plan, and I’m no closer to the answers the people always ask for when I’m there. I can’t tell them my own game plan is to wake the goddesses and ask for Sin’s life back. It’s a selfish move, because I know I should ask for her to save the world. We all stay silent as we pass a group of students, their dark tale guards following closely behind them.
“Without nearly dying?” Tavvy asks once the corridor is silent and empty once again.
“Maybe...I don’t know,” I admit, remembering what Lane said about the raven stone. It should drain anyone that touches it, because it uses our energy for the power. So if I’m going down, I’m taking Rueben with me. He can pull us out of the vision and take the pain with it to boot.
“I won’t watch you scream,” Warren warns me and steps out of the way. We all walk to the stairs before Tavvy heads down the corridor, and it makes me wonder how she knows which room Quin is in. Tavvy has been quiet for the last couple of weeks here, but then again, this place would make anyone struggle. Ella is a ghost of herself, but Roger is doing a good job of keeping a close eye on her around the academy, so no guards have gone near. I never did see the guards that hurt Ella again though, and I know we all have Warren to thank for that.
I have Warren to thank for keeping me alive a lot of the time, and I still haven’t been brave enough to really tell the Tale brothers about my feelings for Warren. I sat with Knox, Tobias and Noah all night yesterday, and somehow it works with us all, though the peace we have found relies highly on the success of Quin’s mad plan working so the goddess can bring Sin back to us. We get outside the room, and instead of knocking, I go straight inside. Rueben is talking with a woman when I step into the room, but they soon go quiet and turn to face me.
“You must knock, Miss Dormiens,” Rueben says and shakes his head as I tightly smile and look back for a second to see Warren close the door. “Never mind. This is Miss Fletcher, and she is a healer for the dark tales. I do not want you sick like last time, so Miss Fletcher will heal us both until we see what I want.”
“I promise neither of you will die with me here,” Miss Fletcher proudly states. I’m glad she has that much co
nfidence in herself, but I certainly don’t, considering I’ve never met her before this moment. I roll my eyes as I go and sit down on the chair and hold my hand out flat.
“Let’s just get this over with. I don’t want to chitchat,” I say.
“Always straight to the point with you, Madilynn. I’m guessing you don’t want a cup of tea then?” he asks, and I hate hearing him say my name. He always calls me Madilynn now, every time we pass in the corridors or when he creepily comes into class to stare at us.
“Not from you, no,” I dryly respond. “I do have homework to do, so shall we get on with it?”
“Teenagers are always so fun to work with,” Rueben jokes to Miss Fletcher, and she laughs. Dear god, how much this teenager wants to kill them both. Rueben finally pulls out the raven stone from his pocket and comes over. Miss Fletcher moves to stand right next to us as Rueben places the stone on my hand and covers it with his own. Seconds later, light blasts into my head, and I feel like it almost knocks me out until it disappears. I suck in a deep breath, even though my body instantly starts to hurt. I try to push the pain away, but it doesn’t work as I really open my eyes to look around. We’re back in the same room, but this time, one of the goddesses is passed out on the floor, and the other is in the arms of a man.
“If I do this, it means I will never see you again. Never hold you. Never kiss you,” the man desperately tells her and kisses her. I can see they deeply love each other in this moment before she pushes him away to break free.
“If we don’t do this, then the world ends. That is what she will do, I saw it,” the goddess says. She is the one without the scar, the prettier of the two, I think. Even though they are identical, there is something so special about her.
“Is there truly no other way?” a man asks. The man looks familiar to me as well; his blonde hair and build almost look like my father.
“I’m sorry, but you have to lock us away,” she says and turns away, tears streaming down her cheeks as she goes to her sister. She picks her up and moves to stand on the stone platform where there are holes with markings all around it. The man pulls a bag off his shoulder and pulls out a bundle of daggers. He takes the six very recognisable daggers with jewel hilts out of the bag and goes to the statue. He starts pushing a dagger into the marked holes and turning them to the right. They light up, the stone on the hilt glowing brightly after he pushes each one in. He stops at the last one and looks up. The awake goddess waves a hand over her sister, who magically straightens to stand on her own, and holds her hands out. She holds her hand and looks once more at the man, with clear pain in her expression.
“I love you, I always will, but find another to love. It is your future. Have a life, my love. A real life, one that doesn’t have big cost. I will always bless your line in spirit,” the goddess says. “And only your blood will ever have the key.”
“I love you. I always will, my goddess. My light. I will dream of you, forever,” the man says, and the goddess smiles as he slides the last dagger into the space, and it glows red. The goddess looks up as the ground shakes a few times before the two goddesses turn into statues that look up at the ceiling.
The statue in the library. That is them, trapped like that forever, and they have been in the academy all this time.
“Oh my god,” I whisper.
“Finally!” Rueben shouts in joy, but I feel nothing but horror as the vision fades away and I’m back in Rueben’s office, gasping for air. Miss Fletcher has her hand on my arm and the other hand on Rueben’s arm, but as I look at her, she is pale. A sickly pale, whereas I feel fine, and her eyes are frozen still.
“Thanks, we are back now, Miss Fletcher,” I say, placing my hand over hers, which is freezing cold. She cries out only once before collapsing to the floor. I fall to the floor with her as Rueben steps away, gasping for air himself. I roll her onto her back and check her pulse, finding nothing there.
“Sh-she is d-dead,” I stutter, standing up and wiping my hand like I can catch death or something. I know it’s a silly thing to do, but I can’t think straight as I stare at her. Seeing the goddesses has taken another life. How many lives am I willing to give up to bring Sin back? Can I even tell him I literally told the world to burn just so I could have him back? I look over at the window, where three ravens are flying in the air outside. They swoop in circles, round and round each other in an endless circle. I haven’t seen Sin’s soul since the funeral, but the ravens are always close. Always watching and waiting. They know I’m going to pay the price to bring Sin back. Any price.
“Never mind. We don’t need to go back. I have daggers to look for,” Rueben says, sitting at his desk and smiling at me. “Good work, Miss Dormiens. Now get out.” I glare at him, feeling a sick sense of dread. I know he will look everywhere for those daggers, and funny enough, I know where all of them are.
And there is no way he is getting them. They are my last chance to save Sin’s life.
Chapter 20
“I don’t think they want me to come with you. You two should go, and I will stay here,” Quin states, looking awkward as he leans against the door in our room. Tavvy is anxiously cleaning the room, something she only does when she is nervous. I know her well enough to figure out there is something going on that I’m missing. It’s not just the cleaning right now…it’s all the time lately. I would blame it on the stress of the academy and everything we are going through, but Tavvy is usually so strong. Right now, she is a mess, and I don’t understand the actual reasoning behind it. Every time she looks at me, she parts her lips to say something before just deciding against it or walking away.
“Of course they don’t want you there, but this is partly your plan, Quin. So you are coming with us, get over it,” I tell him, still watching Tavvy.
“They won’t hurt you or judge you any more than they already have done,” Tavvy gently tells him, and they weirdly stare at each other. I go to ask them what the hell is going on with their strange eye contact thing when the portal appears. I don’t wait for any of them as I walk straight through it and bump into Knox on the other side. He grins, wrapping his arms around my waist and lifting me off the ground as he picks me up and hugs me.
“I’ve missed you, Sleepy,” Knox states as I lift my head and stare down at him. I admire how handsome he is up close for a moment before pressing my lips to his, only for a second.
“I’ve missed you too,” I admit, and he smiles widely as he slides me slowly down his body, and I turn around just as Quin and Tavvy come through the portal. Knox links his fingers with mine as he locks eyes with Quin, and Tavvy awkwardly stands at his side, rubbing her arm with bright red cheeks.
“Why is he here?” Knox asks. All smiles and kindness he had a moment ago are swiftly gone when he sees Quin standing right here.
“It’s a long story. We need Tobias and Noah,” I tell him.
“Tobias is down the river, on his usual run to burn off some energy,” Noah smoothly says as he walks out of the corridor and into the room. Burn off energy means it is one of his coping mechanisms for his drug withdrawal problem. “We should talk and catch him later. Hey, Sleepy. You okay?” I nod and hold my other hand out as Noah comes over, linking his fingers with mine. It’s a little odd to be holding both their hands, but considering they don’t say anything, I’m not going to mention it. I like having them both near like this.
“Why don’t we sit down?” Tavvy suggests as it gets more than awkward in here. We take seats on the sofa, with me sandwiched between Knox and Noah.
“So I used the raven stone again with Mr. Frostan—”
“You did fucking what?” Knox roars. “Have you got a death wish? You nearly died last time, and I cannot fucking lose you too.” Knox gets off the sofa, and I gulp down the guilt he makes me feel.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t have a big choice in the matter. If we don’t find out where the goddesses are, then we never get Sin back,” I remind him. “I will pay any cost to save him, you know that.”
“Sin wouldn’t want you to die a painful death to bring him back,” Noah gently tells me, and I know that.
“Well, he isn’t here to offer his opinion, so I did what I could, Noah,” I remark and regret it the moment the words leave my lips. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that. It isn’t easy at the academy anymore, and it is starting to get to me. Everything from seeing the teachers slowly dying, to Ella being beaten and Tavvy nearly dying, to fight class being nothing more than a bloodbath that we are lucky no one has died in. I want Sin back, and then I want to get out of that place with everyone good.”
“Are you okay?” Noah finally says, and I nod. Knox comes and sits back at my side. He doesn’t say anything, but he links our fingers and holds our joined hands on his knee. It’s enough. I know I’m not the only one finding it hard right now, and we just have to keep going.
“Mr. Frostan brought a dark tale healer in with us. Only she died keeping us alive,” I explain.
“I’m sorry you had to see that,” Knox tells me. I’m sorry she died, and I didn’t even know her. She was so scared of letting Rueben down that she happily gave up her life for him. That’s a lot of dedication to have. One thing is for sure, Rueben is loved by all of the dark tales at the academy from what I can tell.
“I didn’t even really know her, and it sucks that I’m almost finding this normal now for the academy, for our life,” I admit, and I try to ignore the looks of sympathy they all give me or the understanding I can see Tavvy feels. “Anyway, we found what we wanted. A way to bring the goddesses back.”
“How?” Noah asks, and everyone is quiet as I explain it. I haven’t even told Tavvy and Quinton the how or what I saw yet.
“The goddesses are the statues in the library, and the daggers, the ones we found, are the keys. Everyone is going to be looking for them. It’s almost funny that we already know where they all are,” I say, reaching into my cloak and pulling out a dagger, the one I kept with the blue stone. Everyone is silent as we stare at the dagger, because no one really knows what to say. Somehow we found the keys all along, and it has been literally under our beds the whole time.