Betrayal: An Urban Fantasy Academy Series

by Bob Dattolo

  Fear came from her in thick waves as I stood and stepped back into the shower. She was lying in such a way that she could see as I wiped the blood away and licked it again and again before getting under the water.

  And rubbing one out.

  There’s the terror smell I was expecting. So much stronger than before. Now she understands what I meant. It probably didn’t help that I stared at her the entire time while I did it.

  She was back to crying, silently this time, when I got out and stepped over her, careful not to get blood on my feet. Eva’s in our room smelling of pure fear as I grab my things and get dressed. “Well, you gonna help her or not? You don’t have to hold off because of me. She’s your ally. Feel free to help her all you want. My recommendation? Shifting should help her a bit. It won’t heal it with one, but she might be able to get her nose set again if she goes back and forth a bunch. Grab her a ton of meats. She can eat them when she’s in dragon form. That’ll help too. Like…I don’t know, 50 pounds?” She blinked slowly, “I’m not kidding. 50 pounds of meat. Tell the people in the caf you have a hurt dragon; they’ll know what to do.”

  She didn’t move, so I shook my head and headed for the door. “I’ll be in the caf if you want to hunt me down and challenge me. I’m starving now, and if I’m not gonna get more fresh blood, then I need something else in my stomach.”

  Neither of them spoke as I headed towards the caf, leaving them behind to do whatever. I don’t want to be challenged. I really don’t. No matter how that seemed. What I do not want is to be dominated. And that mess was heading down the wrong path for me. Now she has grounds to challenge me. She’ll either do it or not. If she does and I die, then too bad so sad, no little car in a garage in town for me. I’ll get over it in the afterlife. If she does and I win? Then I’ll still look for a little car and a garage after I masturbate with her power inside of me.

  Assuming I can get my magic to work enough to actually drain her. I’m thinking that might be a no-go.

  Which way do I think she’ll go? I honestly can’t even guess. I really can’t. She was freaked the fuck out there at the end. I think because she finally picked up my body language. I’ve tried hard not to let it show, at least where someone might be able to interpret it. The one that screams that I’m more than fine with her being a corpse. I try so hard not to be a sociopath, I really do. It’s just that at times like that when people push me enough, it slips out through the curtains, so to speak.

  I don’t know what she’ll do with that information. Good things? Bad things? It could go either way. I don’t think others will really believe her if she tells them what she picked up. Who really thinks that someone they see every day can be a monster? A real one?

  I hate to think that it’s me that can do that, yet I know I can. Like I said, I hide it a tremendous amount, sometimes I just can’t keep it hidden any longer. Like right there.

  Since it’s pretty late, the caf only has a smattering of people in it. Some aren’t really eating; they have laptops out and are doing this or that. Others look to be having a late dinner. Or are eating ice cream and desserts and things like that.

  I can get behind that.

  Instead of doing that, my tray gets loaded up and I head for a table. I’m down maybe 20 seconds before some others come in and head straight for me.

  Levi reaches me first and sits without saying anything. Stacey, Cleo, and Cesar are next. None of them have any food, obviously. They don’t seem to understand my choice of food.

  Like I said, I’m in the mood for blood, so I have raw meats predominately. Something most dragons stay away from in their human form unless they’re literally starving.

  None of them say anything as I finish my first steak, tearing it apart with my teeth. Cleo speaks as I move on to the second, “We heard you with Tiffany.”

  I knew they were in their room; I just didn’t really think about it much. “Okay?”

  “What happened with Tiffany?” Levi watches me tear into the second one.

  She sniffs, “She’s right, you do smell like shit. But…we heard you. We looked in. You wrecked her.”

  “What the hell happened? You do smell like shit, but I thought things were at least somewhat okay with Tiffany?”

  Hmm, “She tried to dominate me again. Wouldn’t let me out of the shower. Kept demanding answers. So I gave her a reason to challenge me if that’s what she wants.”

  “Oh…fuck. What’d you do?”

  Cleo sighed, “As far as we could tell by looking at her? She has a brutal black and blue mark on her throat in the shape of a hand, then her nose is fucking destroyed. Her eyes were nearly swollen shut.”

  “What the hell? What’d you do?”

  He’s asking nicely, so I’ll answer him. “I grabbed her by the throat and headbutted her in the face a few times. She’s in a mountain of pain.”

  All three dragons sniffed, making it obvious. “Not as much as you.” Cleo didn’t make it a question, so I’m not answering it, “Then she licked some of the blood away.” She eyed up the steaks I’m currently demolishing, “You said that you hide a lot from people. Like you told us. With your comments and things?”

  “I do.”

  “You really left it open for her to attack you?” Cesar doesn’t seem to believe it. Not fully.

  “Yes. She’s been making threats. Now she can get her heart’s desire if she wants it. I don’t want to fight her, but I don’t give a damn, either.”

  Levi whistled quietly and sat back, “That’s something else. I can’t believe you did it. Her nose broken?”

  “Fucked up. Not just broken. She’s gotta shift a ton. I don’t know if Eva’s gonna get her enough meat. She didn’t seem to believe what you told her.”

  “That’s her problem. I was nothing but honest with them.”

  “You do have a way with that.”

  Cleo studied the others at the table, spending more time on Levi, then looked back to me, “We’re starting to hear rumors.”

  “Umm, okay? About what?”

  “You.”

  “Fuck. Let me guess? It’s probably not anything good. If it’s like last year, then my goal is to collect people and kill them?”

  “Pretty much.”

  Levi snorted, “Those were everywhere last year. I still have no idea who spread them, but they played the entire fucking class like a fiddle.”

  “You seemed to know what was happening last year. It wasn’t you?” I’ve always wanted to ask him that, yet never had.

  “Nope. Everything I said was said to you or in front of you. I wanted you dead and preferred that it be me doing it. The rumors, though? You had no clue it was happening. None.”

  “I really didn’t. What all did they say?”

  “Wow, so many of them. I don’t remember most of them. There’d be like a dozen a day. Seriously. Specific people you were going to kill. Groups. Things you were going to do. Or say. That’s how they got you. The rumors would say that you were going to offer to take in the weak students, then you were gonna turn on ‘em and kill ‘em. Then you did make the offer. That you were gonna make the same sort of offer right before the trial. That you were gonna wait in the trial before heading down hallways to catch up to the people in front of you. They were all over the place, with so many of them seeming to be real. Then things started getting worse. Other rumors about you wanting compliments from people. That you wanted to fit in. That’s when people started complimenting your clothes. Asking you to do things. That was supposed to calm you down. Except it made it worse. You started pulling back more, which just added to all of the other rumors.”

  “It really wasn’t you?”

  “Not even close. I heard plenty of them and spread some of those around. I never created one of my own like that.” He shrugged, “What’re the ones this year? I haven’t heard much so far.”

  “They vary? Collecting the weak. That you take the grimoires of people you kill. That you’re a bloodthirsty monster just waiting
for the right moment to snap. The fight with the dragons? That you’ve killed the two you let go. Made more threats. I can’t even…so many of them.”

  “I don’t know what to say. I can refute or validate some right now if you want?”

  “That’s the problem.” Stacey touched my arm, “There are also rumors that you can mask your scent so that dragons can’t really tell if you’re telling the truth.”

  Oh. Fuck.

  Levi nodded, “That’s a pretty good rumor. That’s very good. Now, no matter how you smell, people will assume it’s false.”

  “Dammit to hell. This is just…” Deep breaths. “I don’t know if it matters or if you can trust me or not, but I don’t know how to mask my scent. I get it if you can’t trust that and you want to go your own way, though.”

  Cleo tilted her head, “That’s another rumor. That if you’re confronted by us, that you’d say exactly that. Then come after us when you think we’re not ready for you.”

  Oh my fucking God!

  Levi laughed softly, “Whoever is doing this is fucking good. Crazy good. I’ve never heard of masking scent being possible like that, but if anyone can do it it’d probably be you. You pull things out of your ass that no one else can do. The best part of it, though, is that you can’t answer either way. Damn, that’s fucking devious.”

  This blows. “I don’t know where this leaves us. At all. Stay. Go. If what they said is right, then I can’t prove anything to anyone because they can’t trust it. Unless you have a truth spell?”

  She tilted the other direction, “They also said that you’d offer that. That you know how to beat them, too.”

  Levi’s smile died, “That’s really good. The only problem that I see with all of that?”

  “You see more of a problem with that?” Cesar leaned against the table.

  “Take what I’m saying with a grain of salt. Maddie and I haven’t had a great relationship. At all. I’m frankly not even sure what we have right now. But think about it this way? Who does she talk to with any frequency? Who does she spend time with? Who would she be telling these things to? She doesn’t have anyone outside of the academy. No family. No friends. No relatives. No former coworkers. So who would she be sharing her dastardly plans with? And, if she did share them with someone, who would then turn on her and share that information with others given what we’ve seen from her since last year?”

  His questions shut down the others as I finished my food. I’m feeling kinda done. I’m in a massive amount of pain and now I hurt emotionally. Mentally.

  Cesar nodded slowly, “I can see that. That’s an excellent point. She doesn’t spend time with anyone, really. She’ll talk to anyone that talks to her, yet most of those conversations are surface level at best. I’ve never seen her talking to anyone in real depth. Nothing.”

  “That’s true. And Lord knows we’ve been watching you.” She snorted at my non-response. “Which you knew. That could mean that you’re hiding things even more, yet that’s actually a really good observation. Only someone that you’re really in deep with would have that information. Which makes me wonder if any of it’s true. Which, as Levi said? That’s part of the sneakiness. How can you trust when they’ve floated the idea that truth spells and scent won’t work?”

  She stood, “We’re gonna go talk. Don’t lose hope yet.” The other two didn’t respond before joining her as they walked away.

  Levi, of all people, patted my hand, “I’m sorry about that. Someone’s got your number, that’s for sure.”

  “They had it last year too.”

  “They did. You were oblivious to it, too.”

  “You called me stupid enough times about it.” He did, too. A thought hit me, “Question? Why did you make fun of me for being naked last year? Of peeing in the fight with Colin? I know we weren’t sure I was a dragon at the time, so was that it? Although I think you made fun of me for being naked after it was known I was one?”

  He shrugged, “Originally? It was because we didn’t know. Later, it was because the mages here get all freaked out about it. I was trying to make them think less of you.”

  “It worked.”

  He waggled his hand, “Not really? Most people didn’t pay much attention to what I was saying. Whoever was working from the shadows, though? Wow. They’re like a freaking pro or something.”

  “No one ever really told me any of the rumors other than Kaylee. Since no one would really talk to me much that last week. What else was being said? Was anyone else the target?”

  He wrinkled his nose, “Anyone else? Not really? There are always some rumors out there about various things. I’ve heard plenty so far this year already. None seem to live as long as the ones about you do, though.”

  “Like they’re being started by different people?”

  “I’m not sure? I can’t really tell. For all I know, it’s just a you thing and not really the rumors themselves. You have to know that you’re a favorite topic of conversation around here.”

  “Ugh, yeah, I know. I don’t really get it, although I do a little. I wish they’d stop and move on to other things.”

  “I’m not sure that’ll happen. Maybe? I just can’t imagine what’ll take their focus. C’mon, you’re Maddie! A stricken with magic. A ton of it. You have no known affinity. Your dragon is one-of-a-kind. Why would you think they’d talk about something else?”

  “I don’t know? Maybe because I’m not all that exciting to me?”

  “Right. You single-handedly got half of our class through the trial. On your own. Including me, which…I still don’t get.”

  “I know. I know no one gets it. I really do. I just…like I said then? I do and don’t understand your hatred of me. I can blame you on one hand, but I can’t on the other. If I killed you, then I wouldn’t have to worry any longer. If I let you lose your magic, then you’d still be out there plotting and planning. If you lived and had your magic, though, maybe you’d move on? Target someone else? I don’t know. Maybe it’s wishful thinking.”

  He didn’t respond at first, then asked, “Do you worry about me?”

  Silent thinking for more than a minute before nodding, “I do. I worry about a lot that I don’t let people know about. That I try to hide. You have to remember; I went from happy as a pig in shit at my ceremony to being a stricken without warning. I went from a family and a home to being broken in an alley and waiting to die. Then the woman that saved me ends up being killed by a dragon that I then belong to for year after year. I’d be one stupid bitch if I didn’t worry about things when stuff came out of nowhere and fucked me hard for half of my life. So you? Yeah, I do. I went to sit with you to mess with you. I told you what I’d do if you came after me and slapping you. Yet you’ve been coming to me when I’m in here first. I don’t know what that means. I can guess, yet I don’t have a huge track record of things with people, so I tend to make it up most of the time. I seem to have a decent track record that way, yet it’s still guessing.”

  “So me sitting with you is messing with your head?”

  “Umm, messing with it? No. I’d still be wondering what you’re up to if you weren’t. Or I wasn’t sitting with you. You’ve been…not quite nice, but decently so. Friendly without being friendly. You shared something with me that was ridiculously personal, and I don’t know how you feel about that. With me knowing.”

  “Yet you haven’t told anyone.”

  “I promised I wouldn’t. I don’t intend to break that, either. Is that why you’re being nice?”

  “No.”

  “Then why? Why no sniping? Calling me names? Threats? Are you past that?”

  He looked between my eyes, moving back and forth, for long minutes. “I’m not sure I’m past that. I don’t really know. I look around here at everyone and I’ve started questioning things. I don’t know what that means for me. For you. With the rumors starting again, I’m not sure what will happen there.” He sniffed again, “Do you have a way to change your scent?”

&nb
sp; “I don’t know if it’ll help to say it, but I don’t have a clue how to do that. Or if it’s even possible. I was under the impression it wasn’t.”

  He nodded slowly and smiled, “That’s the funny thing. You don’t really spend time with anyone other than Cleo, Cesar, and Stacey. You talk to Samantha, Parece, Riley, Paige, Kynal, Gage, and Angelica every once in a while. You barely talk to them in lunch, and you’ve never been in their rooms that I know of. They haven’t been in yours this year that I’ve heard of. Who would you have spent so much time with that you’d feel comfortable with telling them about your plans?”

  “Umm…Kaylee?”

  Quick head shake, “Nope. People have seen you talk to her a few times and plenty have heard her tell you to basically go away. No one seems to know what’s up with that, but you haven’t been spending any time with her at all. As far as I can tell, you don’t spend nearly enough time with people to trust them enough to share something like that with them. Hell, you spend more time with me than you do people I haven’t already named, and you’ve never, not even once, made me think you had plans like that. Now me? Yeah, I can see that and people believing it. You? You’d kill them if you had to and you’re way more bloodthirsty than people understand, yet that’s not you. As for you being able to change your scent? Riddle me this? We’re in the academy. Where being weak is like painting a target on yourself and going to play in the gun range. Where people don’t want to ask or answer questions in class in case others figure out what they can or can’t do. And then you show up here today to the caf and walk in smelling like you do.” He sniffed again. “Let’s ignore the possibility that you can change your scent. The nose doesn’t lie. You’re a dragon, you know that. We can smell it all. Who thinks someone else is hot. Who’s confused by something. Who’s angry. All of that. Yet you come in here today and you’re in fucking agony. I’ve smelled you since last year and smelled you when you were injured. You didn’t smell anywhere near as hurt when that gym teacher busted you to hell. You were maybe halfway there, and you broke your skull in that. You did, right?”