by Cara Wylde
I was following him… How did I end up here, again? I’d been avoiding the hidden tunnel like the plague, yet here I was. I was following him. I swallowed hard and descended one step at a time. The further I went down the tower, the darker it got. But the only way out was through. I’d done it once… found myself down there, ankle-deep in warm, rusty water, my scared little voice bouncing off the walls and down the tubular body of the well. And I’d survived. I could do it again.
He was here. I can swear he was here. I was following him.
Had he gotten down the stairs so quickly? How? Could he see in the dark? I remembered his eyes. Not mossy green and gentle like when he was up there, at the surface, in the light. Yellow irises, elongated pupils. Like a reptile’s.
This time, I’ll ask him, and he’ll answer me. What’s wrong with your eyes, Francis? Why are your eyes yellow?
I few more steps to go. I could see the familiar glow of candlelight pouring through the narrow tunnel. I reached the last step and stopped to study the water. What if there was something there, below the surface, waiting to grab me? I hadn’t been scared the first time, but now I knew better. What if the tentacled thing had babies? And the babies were tiny, and they swam in the rusty water, and when they got a whiff of warm blood running through some uninvited guest’s veins they… they…
I saw my own reflection in the pond. I was pale. My blue hair had faded, and… when had I lost so much weight? I was almost skeletal! I could see my cheekbones protruding underneath my skin. I touched my face reluctantly, shivering at how sharp and bony it felt. My hands moved down my jaw and neck, in search of some part of my body that had more meat on it. My fingers reached my collarbone, and I felt it cold and smooth… Bone. Pure bone. No flesh. The reflection in the dirty water confirmed my greatest fear. I was turning into a skeleton. I gasped and looked away.
Something fell from the sky. No, not the sky. I was inside the north tower. From the ceiling. Something white. Something soft. It floated before my eyes, touched the surface of the water, and just stood there, pure and plump, in hard contrast with the red of the puddle. An angel feather.
An archangel feather.
“They can create illusions,” Francis had said.
I looked up, searching for him. Searching for the archangel. I should have heard the wings beating, but in this dark hell, the only sound was the feeble whisper of the air currents chasing each other through tunnels and caverns. I looked harder. Another feather fell, and I caught it. There was someone there. I could feel him flying closer and closer. It had to be him. He was the only one who could fly.
Sariel…
I expected to see a pair of beautiful cerulean eyes. Instead, two yellow slits blinked at me. I was so shocked that my foot slipped, and the next thing I knew, I was falling. Falling falling falling, and never hitting the ground.
I woke up with a startle. I was in GC’s bed still, the curtains were drawn, and by the orange light in the room, I could tell the sun was setting. GC’s oversized T-shirt was soaked in sweat clinging to me uncomfortably.
“Fuck!” I ran my hands through my hair. I’d gone to sleep with it still damp, and now it had the delightful texture of a witch’s old broom. “Fuck!” I rubbed my eyes and temples, trying to clear my head. “What does it mean? Why do I keep dreaming myself in that wretched place? Yellow eyes. Why does Francis have yellow eyes?” Since his Great Old One had almost eaten me alive, I’d had these nightmares almost every night, and now, apparently, also when I took an innocent midday nap. But I’d been dreaming about his yellow eyes way, way before I’d found out his secret. There was this connection between us. I could feel it. I didn’t want it, but it was there.
I shouldn’t have discontinued my therapy sessions with Headmaster Colin.
CHAPTER SIX
The second-year classes were different. We pretty much only had Anthropology and Geography together, students from all the four cabals, and the rest were tailored for each cabal according to their unique abilities. Now I only saw Klaus in Geography. It was a good thing it was one of the most important classes and we had it three times a week, otherwise I would have really missed him. When he wasn’t in class, he was with his boyfriend. And when we were all in the dining hall, he was at the MDC table and I was at the VDC table. The next day after the puking disaster Lorna had caused and Sariel had to suffer, Klaus and I were at the back of the class as Mrs. Maat was going through a quick introductory presentation of the Nine Spheres of Heaven. We were going to study the Geography of Heaven this semester, and the Geography of Hell the next. Grim Reapers didn’t only reap on Earth. That was only the beginning, and Earth only provided the most basic jobs. Angels died, too, and so did demons. Not to mention the rest of the creatures that dwelled there. If first-year geography had proved to be tougher than expected, – no, we hadn’t only learned about countries, and capitals, and mountains, and deserts; long-forgotten tunnels, hidden caves, lost cities that were still inhabited despite what human geography and history said… yeah, way more expansive than what I’d learned in high school, – then second-year geography was going to be insane! Still, what Klaus and I had to talk about was currently more important than the Nine Spheres of Heaven.
“Tell me again.”
Klaus blew out his cheeks, thought for a second, trying to make sure he had all the details in place, then shrugged.
“That’s it. That’s all we could see from the ground. Lorna was doing that thing with the leaky eyes and the booming voice, you were going higher and higher until there was a moment when we couldn’t see you anymore, and then Sariel ran out of the building, took off his uniform jacket, threw it God knows where – because he certainly couldn’t find it after, – spread his wings rather violently, if I may say so myself, and flew toward you. Lorna saw him, did this screeching sound with her teeth, like… I swear to God! We could hear it! It was so loud we could almost feel it in our bones!”
“I saw her aura. When she does that level of magic, her energy expands until it fills the entire space she occupies. That’s why we can hear her voice louder.”
He nodded thoughtfully. I wondered if he too could do what Lorna had already done twice.
“Anyway, when she saw him jump to your rescue, she got super mad. She moved like a couple of feet to the right, and the whole vortex thing moved with her. Like, she dragged you away from Sariel.”
“Makes sense why I was so damn sick. It’s no fun being whipped about like a poppet.”
“Well, you weren’t exactly a victim this time,” he chuckled. “I heard you said some pretty harsh things to her.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “They were perfectly true.”
“You know people can’t handle the truth.”
“And how is that my problem?”
“Did you handle the truth when you found out that…” He stole a glance at the students sitting closest to us and leaned in to whisper in my ear. “That Morningstar is your father?”
Burned.
I straightened my back and looked ahead, at Professor Maat. She’d drawn a loose sketch of Heaven on the white board.
“This is not the place, nor the time. I told you I never want to talk about it. Not in public.”
He shrugged, unaffected. “It was something worth pointing out. I’m not in the business of lying to you, sister. Just like when you didn’t lie to Lorna. So, I guess we have that in common. We’re both ruthlessly honest, even when it might get us in trouble.”
“You’re not in trouble,” I said in a softer voice. “It’s just that… it’s uncomfortable. And dangerous to talk about it in class. No one needs to know, remember? Not about my father, and not about the prophecy. Or it all goes to shit.”
“So, you do believe in the prophecy. You believe you’re going to be the one to retire Morningstar.”
I sighed deeply. “I don’t. And I don’t want to, either. Retiring him means… killing him.” Crude words, but I needed to say them out lo
ud from time to time. That was how reality checks worked. “But Headmaster Colin does, and I made a promise to him.”
Klaus was silent for a while. When I thought he’d gone back to paying attention to the lesson, he whispered so softly that I could barely hear him.
“If they knew who you are… If Lorna knew, she would never touch you again. You’d be indestructible.”
His words felt like a punch to my stomach. “But not because of my skills or my brains. Because of my name.”
“So what? Most of the kids here are just that. Names. And those names open doors for them.”
“Then I’d be no different. Gracewing, Darkmoor, Chiaramonte, Saint-Germain. Morningstar.”
“Would it be so bad?”
I thought for a moment, chewing on the end of my pencil. “I don’t know. I’ve never been in that situation.”
He leaned back in his seat and trained his eyes on Mrs. Maat.
“You might find out sooner than you think.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Call it a gut feeling.”
I huffed. “Mages have all kinds of gut feelings.”
“And they always come true.”
“Miss Lazarov, Mr. Hamelin!” My heart jumped when Professor Maat called our names. We both sat up straighter. “Are you done catching each other up with the latest gossip?”
“We apologize…” Klaus started, but the teacher cut him off with a gesture of her long, dainty hand.
Nefertari Maat was a sphinx. An ancient creature with the head and the upper body of a beautiful woman, the lower body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle. Not that we’d ever seen her in that form. Just like GC, she was a sort of shifter. When she took the form of a woman with legs and no wings, she was tall and graceful, with long limbs that made you wonder how the hell she managed to move like the rest of us. Her golden eyes and golden hair, her tanned skin and high cheekbones – they all spoke of the noble race she belonged to.
She fixed us with her breathtaking eyes for a second longer, eyebrows furrowed, then returned to the white board. I released a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. I could swear she was going to take a bunch of worth points from both of us, but she didn’t. I stuck my head in my notebook, drawing what she’d drawn on the board.
“I want you to study this map and read the bibliography on the Nine Spheres of Heaven. I know it’s two big, consistent books, but you’ll have to read them in three weeks’ time. The second week of November, we will visit Heaven for the first time, and I want you all to be ready. It’s going to be a one-day field trip, one of many. I don’t want you wandering about and getting lost. So, study study study until you know your Spheres like the back of your hands. Understood?” She took a moment to look around the classroom, then nodded in satisfaction. She’d gotten our attention, alright. A field trip to Heaven? Hell, yes! “Now, for next time… Sheba, prepare a presentation of the First Sphere, Lorna, you’re in charge of the Second Sphere, Klaus – the Third Sphere, and Mila, you get the Fourth Sphere.”
Great! As if we didn’t already have a fuckton of assignments for the other classes! It was as if each professor thought his or her subject was the most important and had precedence over everything else, including out personal lives. Huh. How I’ve changed. A year ago, I would’ve been grateful for the extra work. But a year ago, I didn’t have two hot-as-sin boyfriends to keep me up all night. I smiled to myself, making sure to cover my mouth with my textbook, so Mrs. Maat wouldn’t notice.
“Professor, could I prepare the Fifth Sphere for next time?” Sariel raised his hand.
She cocked an eyebrow. “No, you may not. Four will be enough for one class.”
“Then maybe for next week?”
She shook her head as she sat down behind her desk. “Let’s leave the Spheres to the students who haven’t seen them before. I bet you know your own home very well, Sariel. Don’t worry, you’ll get the chance to earn some worth points next semester, when I’ll make sure you’ll present at least one Circle of Hell.”
Sariel pursed his lips and cast his eyes down. I studied his profile for a long moment, wondering what could be going on in his head. Since he’d saved me, we hadn’t gotten the chance to exchange a single word. He was keeping away from me, just like before, pretending nothing had happened.
“I wonder why he couldn’t find his uniform jacket afterwards,” I whispered to Klaus.
“Really? That’s what’s eating at you?”
“Don’t you think it’s strange?”
He sighed. “What I think is strange is you suddenly thinking about him so much.”
“You’re right. It’s stupid.”
Lorna was sitting on the other side of the classroom, which was something she had never done before. Even if Sariel hadn’t allowed her to sit next to him these past two weeks, she’d still made a habit of sitting right behind him. Breathing down his neck – literally – had been her latest hobby. Now, that was a thing of the past too. The only one who was still allowed to sit next to Sariel – or talk to him, for that matter, – was Francis. But Francis didn’t have Geography with this group of students.
The bell rang, and we all hurried to gather our things. I had to make a dash for the north tower to grab my scythe for PE. Having PE with the VDC was weird as fuck. I was the only girl there, and sometimes I felt like Mrs. Charon tended to go easy on me. I hated it. I was just as capable as the guys, and even though I knew she was trying to be nice, I wanted her to treat me like she treated everyone else. I could bet she didn’t go easy on the RDC, MDC, or NDC girls. Just me. She’d developed some kind of liking to me, and that made me wonder whether Headmaster Colin had told her something. But I couldn’t worry about each and every person I interacted with, or I’d become legit paranoid. I’d been paranoid enough the year before, and it had been exhausting.
Pazuzu caught up with me as I took two steps at a time.
“So, are you coming to the party?”
“What party?”
“Some of the girls are throwing something for Mabon. In the woods. I think Sheba and Sammy. They’re like best friends now, and they’re organizing this thing that’s supposed to be rad.”
I frowned. “No one invited me, so no. Not going.”
He stopped in his tracks for a second, then recovered and rushed after me.
“I’m inviting you now.”
I rolled my eyes. “Really, Paz? Can you do that? It’s not your party.”
“Well, Sheba invited me and GC, and she knows we’re not going anywhere without you. I think it’s implied that you’re invited, too.”
“Right. By default?”
“Yeah?”
“That’s just grand.” We stopped in front of his room, and I was the first to take out my keys. I’d left my scythe at his place. “You and GC can go, I don’t mind.”
“Come on, don’t be like this.” He hugged me from behind, and I couldn’t suppress a smile. “It’s gonna be fun.” He kissed along my neck, knowing that would eventually melt my resolve.
“You’re manipulating me.”
“Am I? I don’t think so. Not yet.”
“Oh?”
His hands sneaked underneath my uniform blazer to rub at my sides. With each caress, Paz got closer and closer to my breasts. He wasn’t doing much, but oh my God, how his every touch and kiss set small parts of me on fine, one by one! First, a rush of heat spread up my neck and cheeks, all the way to my temples, making my head buzz pleasantly. My pussy was next, the muscles tensing and relaxing as he breathed against my skin, then tensing again, until the throbbing and the squeezing sent waves of pleasure to my clit. I felt something warm growing in my stomach, and then my heart, and I knew it wasn’t physical. My knees turned to jelly, and I leaned my weight against him, knowing that he was more than happy to hold me, more than happy to carry the burden of my body.
“You’re being very persuasive,” I moaned.
; “Still haven’t even started yet.”
He turned me around and looked into my eyes for a second, then dived in for my lips. I wrapped my arms around his neck and let him ravish my mouth, all the while anticipating where his hands would go next. They went underneath my skirt, pulled at my red tights, then at my soaked panties. As he rolled them both down my legs, he broke the kiss and moved down my body, one painful inch at a time.
“Hurry up,” I breathed. “We have PE in a few minutes.”
“PE can wait.”
He stuck his head under my skirt, and the next thing I knew, my left leg was perched on his back to give him better access, and my hands were on his head, pushing him gently and guiding him.
“There. Oh, right there.” I threw my head back and bit my lower lip hard. The things he did with his tongue… magic! He was just as good as GC, but in an entirely different way. They had very distinctive techniques.
Paz swirled his tongue around my clit just two or three times, then went right for it, sucking and licking eagerly. He pushed two fingers inside me, earning himself a muffled scream. GC liked to take his time, tease me until I begged. Paz was the kind of guy who’d rather hear me scream than beg. I could appreciate that, especially when we didn’t have more than a few minutes at our disposal.
I was close. So close…
The creak of the door made my heart jump in my throat. I almost pushed Pazuzu away, but then I saw it was only GC. He sneaked into the room, a wicked smile playing on his lips.
“I knew you guys were cheating on me.”
“It’s not cheating, idiot!” Paz yelled from under my skirt.
I thrust my hips forward as I grabbed him by the back of his neck and pushed his face against my wet pussy.
“Shut up and finish what you started,” I said in a slightly frustrated voice. But I wasn’t angry at him. I was pissed at GC. He’d ruined my orgasm. No matter, he could actually make it better now. “You, take off your pants and jerk off. I want to watch.”