The Pixie Prince

by Kirsten Krueger

  “Ruse, hello,” Zeela greeted wryly. “I was just befriending this primie, whose name is…”

  “Calder,” he finished, eyeing Ruse’s elbow. “What can you do?”

  “Well, I used to be able to walk on my hands, but I haven’t practiced in a while. I’m pretty good at eating, and I can run but don’t like to—”

  “Ruse is a shapeshifter,” Zeela interjected, “though he always looks the same to me.”

  “Oh, I play the drums, too,” Ruse added, as if she hadn’t uttered a word. “I saw the t-shirt you were wearing last night—sick band. Saw them in concert a few weeks before I got dragged here. I’ve been begging Periculy to let them do a show for us—like, maybe they could play on top of the Residence Tower and we could all watch from below—”

  “He must be in love with you,” Zeela said to Calder, shaking her head. “I can never get him to talk this much to me.”

  “We don’t have anything in common,” Ruse insisted. “This guy likes music. You play?”

  “Guitar,” was all Calder could say, his brain still processing the words his new acquaintance had spewed.

  “Dude, we should jam some time. There’s a music room in the Mentals Building—”

  “Can I join?” Zeela asked, her dry tone indicating she already knew the answer.

  “You can’t read music.”

  “I can if it’s in Braille.”

  “How’d you know what t-shirt I was wearing last night?” Calder finally demanded, shrugging Ruse’s elbow off his shoulder. With narrowed eyes, he scrutinized the boy before him. He was physically unfamiliar, but if he was a shapeshifter… “You’re the kid who got pushed down the stairs.”

  Zeela placed her hands on her hips as her eyebrows shot up. “What’d you do to piss off Nero this time, Dispus?”

  Ruse expelled an awkward laugh as he scratched the back of his green-haired head. “I may have posed as Jerry and given Nero some lies about what Orla thinks of him.”

  Though Zeela’s lips pursed in admonishment, there was a spark of amusement in those pure white eyes. “I have no pity for you, then. Jerry’s Nero’s mind reader,” she added to Calder, nodding toward the gangly, pink-haired boy, whose face was dull and whose mouth was slightly ajar as he watched the acid-spitter destroy one of the orange mats. “I didn’t know you could mimic Jerry’s features so well, Ruse.”

  “I’ve been practicing with different heights,” he informed her, motioning to the tall form he currently assumed. “Getting the shade of his hair right was tricky, but it was those buck teeth that made Nero realize who I was. Apparently, I didn’t look enough like a chipmunk to pass as Jerry.”

  Zeela snorted, but her expression mollified when she noticed how stony Calder’s face was.

  “Nero hates both of you?” he clarified with a wary peek in the bully’s direction. Like his followers, Nero was cheering on the acid-spitter, still unaware of Calder’s existence.

  “Nero hates anyone who doesn’t treat him like a god,” Zeela said with a disdainful glance in the brute’s direction.

  “And he especially hates those who directly oppose him,” Ruse added, meeting Calder’s eyes. “Thanks for trying to help me up last night, by the way. Not many do.”

  “I didn’t,” Calder replied automatically, “and I don’t want to be seen with either of you if you’re enemies of Nero.”

  Zeela’s eyes slivered, catching the meaning behind his words. “You’re either an enemy of Nero or you’re an ally of Nero.”

  “I prefer to be on my own side,” he said, meeting both their gazes with nonchalance. Zeela’s casual demeanor had turned antagonistic, but Ruse seemed almost hurt that Calder wasn’t the hero he’d initially appeared to be. “See you two around.”

  Calder had only taken two steps away from them and toward his sister—and consequently Demira, Nero, and the acid-spitter—when he halted. A boy with deep olive skin and neon-yellow hair had crossed the mats before him, and an altercation was brewing because of it.

  “All right, Dave,” the yellow-haired boy said, addressing the acid-spitter, “why don’t you quit it with the acid? Fraco told you to stop.”

  “That is Mr. Leve to you,” Fraco spluttered, his oily face red with ire. He stood a few paces from Dave, careful to avoid the acid eating away at the orange mat. “You are, however, correct, Mr. Stromer. I have told Mr. Byle to stop, and he should do so instantly.”

  “He’s demonstrating his Affinity,” Nero defended as he stepped up beside Dave, his large feet only inches away from the searing acid. With his meaty arms crossed, Nero towered over Dave, Fraco, and the Stromer kid, who was almost as tall as Ruse. His eyes met Fraco’s and then Stromer’s, a malicious challenge twinkling in those steel gray irises. “Is that a problem?”

  “He is destroying school property!” Fraco snipped, flinching slightly when Nero’s lips stretched into a violent grin. “Mr. Periculy will be displeased—”

  “Periculy isn’t here,” the brute huffed with a chuckle his groupies echoed. “What are you gonna do about it?”

  Stromer’s yellow eyes cut toward Fraco knowingly. “Say the word and I’ll do it.”

  The man visibly winced now, his glossy eyes darting between the two boys. “I do not want violence.”

  “I do,” Nero growled, his eyes alight with aggression as he untangled his arms and plowed toward Stromer. Before the yellow-haired boy could react, the bully lifted his massive leg and slammed Stromer’s chest, launching him backward. He laughed as his opponent skidded across the mats, stopping a foot from where Calder stood.

  “Avner,” Zeela said—not with worry but in warning—as she took a hesitant step toward him. Her white eyes were on Nero, who marched across the mats for a second attack.

  Avner Stromer coughed as he propped himself onto his elbows, but he didn’t groan or complain or surrender; instead, when Nero was only three paces from stomping over him, he lifted his right hand and grunted as a surge of blinding electricity streamed from his fingertips and blasted Nero’s core.

  The bully flew backward with the same amount of force Avner had only moments before, landing in the pool of Dave’s acid and howling with rage. When he stood, seething through his teeth, the majority of the back of his shirt had been burned, exposing the bulging muscle that lay beneath. Nixie and Demira, who stood behind him at the bottom of the bleachers, gaped in astonishment, for Nero’s flesh was now red and raw from his brief contact with the acid, yet he did not acknowledge the pain. Dave, who had been the partial cause of his leader’s injury, now cowered away from the fight in fear.

  “Stand down, Nero,” Avner panted as he pushed himself to his feet, his body trembling from the impact of Nero’s punch and the exertion required to conjure such intense electricity. “End this now and maybe Fraco’ll let you off with a warning.”

  Eyes practically protruding from his skull, Fraco nodded vigorously, spraying oil in every direction. Nero wasn’t looking at the anxious authority figure, though; his aggressive glower was trained only on Avner, his intentions of destruction clear to all who had gathered to spectate. Anticipating the blow that was sure to come, Stromer rubbed his hands together, sparking electricity between each of his fingers. The raw killing power he possessed didn’t faze Nero in the slightest; deeming the electricity inconsequential, he charged across the gymnasium.

  There was nothing Calder could have done to prevent the collision of lightning and strength about to rock the room. There was nothing anyone could have done to counteract the damage these two boys were about to inflict—nothing except a harsh jet of water that gushed past Nero, halting him in his tracks, and crashed into Avner.

  Even as Stromer was knocked from his feet, his electricity met that endless stream of water and passed through the ions within until it collided with the source of the flood. Calder was paralyzed in horror as his sister convulsed and writhed before collapsing onto the orange bleachers, the water fading with her consciousness.

  Demira dropped to he
r knees beside Nixie, hastily checking for her roommate’s pulse before anyone else could conceive a thought. Avner, choking up water as he strained to lift himself upright, looked appalled at the sight of the girl’s unresponsive form—at the sight of what he’d unintentionally done. He seemed inclined to approach her, but then Nero regained his ability to speak.

  With a murderous scowl, the bully stomped over to Nixie and shoved Demira away, growling, “No one else touches her. She’s mine.”

  “Yours?” Calder breathed, his voice inaudible as Nero scooped her thin body into his thick arms. His back was still a mosaic of sweltering burns, but he showed no sign of pain as he stalked out of the gymnasium, Nixie tucked safely against his chest.

  Fraco, like most others, had been rendered speechless, but after a moment of recomposition, he straightened his suit and nodded to Avner. “Thank you.”

  “Thank you?” Calder repeated, his voice now loud enough for all to hear. “Thank you? This punk just electrocuted my sister!”

  “It was an accident,” Avner implored. “The electricity and water… I didn’t expect… I’m sorry. I should go make sure she’s okay—”

  “No,” Calder barked, his blood boiling. Perhaps it was Nixie’s fault that she’d been electrocuted—she should have known water and electricity were a dangerous combination. Then again, though, she hadn’t known her Affinity was water—not for certain, at least. Now that it was confirmed, Calder didn’t want to think about what this might mean for her…or for him. They’d both always hated water, but this puddle that soaked the mats of the gymnasium felt different.

  Shaking his head to clear his mind of the image of his sister shooting that deadly spurt of water, Calder backed toward the entrance, his hateful scowl fixed on Avner. “Stay the hell away from her.”

  5

  Two Marduruses

  “Heal her, or I’ll crush your skull.”

  Nixie didn’t dare show she’d awakened to the sound of that rough voice. Nero’s tone was the same now as it had been when Calder had tried to defend that boy the night before, and if the bully was feeling that aggressive…

  “I will have to touch her to heal her,” a calm male voice replied, “and you’ve stated I’m not to touch her.”

  Nero’s snarl chilled her core—enough that she felt sympathy for whomever he’d demanded heal her. With a wince that wasn’t forced, Nixie opened her eyes and squinted, letting the harsh, florescent lights flood her vision.

  Lying on a white-sheeted bed, her body was completely dry, but her nerves felt tingly, as if she’d touched an electrical socket—a massive electrical socket. Whatever that yellow-haired boy had done to her with his lightning powers, well, she was lucky she’d awoken at all. The unfamiliar man standing on the right side of her bed seemed to think the same, since his bruise-purple eyes protruded with surprise.

  “Liar,” Nero snapped at the man, who wore orange scrubs and looked old enough to be a grandfather—the nurse, Nixie assumed. “You said you couldn’t heal her—”

  “He didn’t need to,” Nixie interjected, her throat hoarse and dry. Suppressing a grunt, she pushed herself into a sitting position and met Nero’s critical gaze with indifference. “I’m fine.”

  Those granite eyes raked over her as his lips pursed. “That you are.”

  “I should check her head for a concussion—”

  “You should get the hell out of here,” the brute retorted, his meaty hands balling into fists. More tired than afraid, the old man sighed and trudged across the small infirmary before disappearing through one of the doors.

  Once they were alone, Nero sniffed and then allowed his eyes to slide back down to Nixie. Apparently he had the guts to murder the nurse but not to meet her gaze directly.

  “You’re a primie?” he asked, the word flowing with a hint of disgust.

  Nixie held her head high, even though it throbbed. “Yes.”

  “And you’re that skilled with your Affinity?”

  The admiration buried in his inflection erased any notion of explaining she was a novice. “Yes.”

  Nero looked away again, resentment contorting his features. “Stromer will pay for this.”

  Excitement danced through her prickling nerves at the prospect of the bully pummeling that kid. If she hadn’t feared the electricity would harm him, she would have let him do it in that gymnasium, rather than succumb to the subconscious will of her Affinity. “I have no doubt you’ll make him pay.”

  His eyes shifted back to her, narrowed with promise and…possession. “We will make him pay. You’re mine now, whether you like it or not.”

  A grin finally cracked across her lips as she raised her dark, bluish eyebrows at him. “I like it.”

  Nixie hadn’t just saved Nero; she’d saved Calder’s ass from Nero.

  If she hadn’t defended him—if she hadn’t put herself on the bully’s good side—her brother surely would have become a target, not just for saving Ruse the previous night but also for conversing with Nero’s enemies during training.

  When Calder stormed out of the gymnasium to find his injured sister, it had only taken him a few minutes to locate the nurse’s office and discover his sister and Nero having a rather intimate conversation within.

  The big bully was seated in a chair—one he threatened to break with his colossal form—beside her bed, while Nixie sat on the edge, whispering to him in a way that made it look like they were scheming. Though Calder fumed over what happened to his sister, he was levelheaded enough to know not to barge in and cause a scene.

  His twin instincts had him on edge, though—especially when the entire school gathered for dinner in the cafeteria and Nixie and Nero were nowhere to be seen. After the meal, during which Colton mumbled about the Otherworld, Demira chatted about cars with acid-spitter Dave, and Calder ate in complete silence, he was about to stalk back to the nurse’s office when Demira looped her arm through his and guided him toward the Residence Tower.

  “I know we had fun in the car,” she began, her voice low enough that the students trekking back to the tower around them didn’t hear, “but wouldn’t you like to try it in a bed?”

  “I don’t think either of our roommates would appreciate that,” he answered flatly, his eyes still on the Physicals Building.

  “Yes, but my roommate will be out for the night.” Demira raised her turquoise eyebrows when Calder’s head whipped toward her. “I checked on Nixie before dinner—said she and Nero are spending the night in the nurse’s office.”

  “Why?”

  She shrugged, leaning into him as she impishly whispered, “Probably for the same reason I’m inviting you back to my room.”

  Calder’s face was hard with neutrality, even as his mind roared. “Nixie isn’t like that.”

  “No? Well, she seemed like she wanted to be like that—at least when I peeked in.”

  “She probably has a concussion—”

  “She probably has a crush on Nero,” Demira insisted, pulling her arm from Calder’s when he stopped in the middle of the path. The tower’s entrance was only a few paces away, but the thought of Nixie and Nero doing what Demira implied… Nero would crush her—if not physically, then emotionally—when he was done using her and broke her heart.

  Nixie was tough, though. She’d been in bad relationships before, and Calder knew she was smart enough not to fall into that unhealthy rhythm again. Nero, however, wasn’t some boy she’d dated in middle school. Physically, he was a man, and socially, he was ruthless; emotionally, he had to be unstable…

  “Are you coming?” Demira demanded, her voice dripping with impatience.

  The moment Calder gave the Physicals Building one last look and then decided to follow Demira up to her dorm room was the moment he surrendered his twin to Nero. When they entered the cafeteria for breakfast the next morning, something had altered in his sister. She wasn’t some unknown primary, anymore—she was Nero’s in a more concrete way than any of his other minions were. The two walked i
n synchronization, and Nero didn’t even have to invite her to take the seat next to him at his table in the corner—she claimed it as if it had always been hers.

  The purple-haired girl, who had occupied that seat the day before, was momentarily baffled to see she’d been replaced; one look from Nero, however, had her slipping into a different chair without complaint. No one else questioned the shift, and when Nixie met her twin’s gaze, she merely smirked with triumph. She’d wanted to get on Nero’s good side, and she’d succeeded. Maybe that was why she showed no hint of trepidation when Nero’s groupies asked her to display her water Affinity.

  Calder, who had been invited to sit at the table next to Nero’s, along with Demira and Colton, could only gawk when his sister guided water from cup to cup, as if she’d been practicing for years. As far as he was aware, Nixie hadn’t had any knowledge of her water Affinity until yesterday. She was just naturally powerful—powerful enough that Nero actually looked at her with awe as she wielded droplets of water ranging from the size of a penny to the size of her head.

  Demira wasn’t petty enough to let her jealousy seep through her amused expression, but Calder could tell she envied her roommate’s skill. He didn’t. As the days and weeks went on, Nixie improved dramatically, but Calder didn’t want his sister’s power. He didn’t even like watching his sister’s power. That she was so in tune with water, the element they’d both hated most, gave him a migraine—one more intense than any storm had ever inflicted.

  Nixie was no longer negatively affected by the rain or even the pool, which she and Nero’s gang visited frequently. The secondaries all loved to watch the gifted primary girl morph the water into shapes—and she was always helpful with drying bodies after a swim. Demira often joined them, but when she begged Calder and Colton to come, they wouldn’t acquiesce.

  The two roommates found themselves slowly becoming recluses. This was no surprise for the odd boy whose head was in the Otherworld, but for Calder it was abnormal not to be socially involved—especially when Nixie was. There was no way he was going down to that pool again, though—not if Nero was around to potentially throw him in. With Nixie’s Affinity estranging her from him, Calder started to prefer Colton’s company, anyway. Throughout September, the two had spent their afternoons in the school’s library in the Mentals Building, Colton reading works of fiction while Calder scribbled poems and lyrics.