by Alicia Fabel
Now Vera tensed.
“Entinmerit is an ancient Egyptian royal name. And you look like you even have some Egyptian blood. Am I right?”
“I wouldn’t know,” lied Mimi smoothly. “It’s just an old family name my mother gave me.”
“And your father is a Smith? That’s an interesting combination.”
“My mom and dad never got along.”
That was the truth. Vera was curious since she’d never heard Mimi talk about her parents.
“Well, as you can tell, I love history. I teach World History too. Perhaps you should look into it for next semester. If it’s full, let me know, and I’ll squeeze you in.”
“We were just talking about taking that course,” said Vera.
“But our schedule next semester is already pretty packed,” added Mimi.
“Thanks, Professor Eldrid, hopefully there are still some seats left,” Vera said. She’d talk Mimi into it later. “Have a great break.”
“Yeah,” echoed Mimi. “Happy spring.”
Mimi towed Vera past the rows of seats and out the back door. Vera limped along, gritting her teeth.
“Now, you’re really acting weird,” said Vera. “Slow down. I can’t walk that fast. You’re killing me.”
“Sorry.” Mimi released her and looked over her shoulder. “Something about that man feels off to me.”
“His huge ears?”
“They are massive! Like sails,” agreed Mimi. “But there’s something else too. You don’t hear languages with magic so you wouldn’t know, but it’s different for normal people like me. Do you know what Eldrid means?”
“It’s just a name. And I wouldn’t exactly consider you the poster child of normal.”
“The word is originally from Drasil.” Mimi walked slowly so Vera could keep up. Students flowed around them, hurrying to their classes or to find food. “It means fire spirit.”
“What other names are cool words? What does Smith mean?”
“No idea. It’s a human word. I told Kale to pick something common when he told me I had to have a last name to enroll.”
“You guys didn’t think to pick something more, I don’t know, exotic? I mean, look at you.” Vera waved a hand to indicate all of her.
“Common names make you less noticeable.”
“How’s that working out for you?”
“That’s what I’m saying. It’s weird that Professor Eldrid recognized my name.”
“Yeah, totally weird that a world history buff knows your ancestry because you have the same name as an Egyptian Queen.” Vera rolled her eyes. “Wait, so when I say, ‘Professor Eldrid,’ are you actually hearing Professor Fire-Spirit? How does that work?”
“No, I hear Eldrid, but at the same time I know what it means.” Mimi rubbed her temples. “Now, I’m getting a headache.”
“Maybe that’s what has you weirded out over Professor Fire-pants.”
Mimi snorted. “Now I am going to think that every time someone says Professor Eldrid. And fire, of any kind in his pants, is not something I want to think about.”
“There’s the friend I know,” Vera said with a bit of relief. “With your mind in the gutter. I was getting worried about you.”
“So, Katz?” asked Mimi. “I had no idea.”
“It was Suzie’s last name. When Kale set up my scholarship, he used that. Not sure how he managed it, but I like it. Does it mean something cool?”
“It sounds old. Like it should mean something to me, but it doesn’t. Where was Suzie from?”
“No idea. Gus was a dhalion, but he never said what realm he was from. Maybe Suzie was from the same one?”
Mimi frowned. “He told you he was a dhalion?”
“Yeah. Why? What’s a dhalion?”
“Obviously someone who turns into a big bird. Other than that, no clue.”
“You’ve never heard of it?”
“There are a lot of creatures and beings in the world. I’ve only just started learning about them. I didn’t exactly grow up royal.” At Vera’s inhale to ask more questions, Mimi added tiredly, “It’s a long story. For now, it means I don’t know where Suzie was from, but I’ll look into it when I’m back home next week.”
“Hello, ladies.” Addamas walked up behind them and slung an arm over Vera’s shoulders. “How was class with Professor McShorty?”
“Vera, tell Addamas your new nickname for our dear professor,” said Mimi.
“Ugh, get off me.” Vera knocked Addamas’s arm away. “It’s hard enough walking on my own two feet without you hanging on me.”
“You want to hang on me instead?” Addamas pumped his eyebrows.
“No, ego-maniac, she wants to hang on Noah,” said Mimi.
“Oh that’s right.” Addamas ran a hand through Mimi’s hair. “And I’m the boyfriend, so I get to hang—”
“Out a two-story window by your heels if you do that again,” warned Mimi.
“Aww, but Noah’s never going to buy it if I never touch you.”
“We’re going on a hike. Not to a frat party.” Mimi shoved Addamas away, and the satyr stepped back onto Vera’s foot.
“Dammit!” Vera hopped on one foot, tears in her eyes.
“I’m sorry, girly.” Addmas looked like he was trying to figure out what to do. “How can I help?”
“You can’t.” Vera tried to take a step and mewed with the shock of pain.
“You can’t go on a hike like that,” observed Mimi.
Vera made a frustrated sound.
Mimi pushed further, “To be fair, there was no way you’d have made it on the hike as it was. But now, you’re definitely not going to be able to make it like that.”
Vera shoulders dropped. She’d planned to try, but Mimi was right. There was no way she’d be able to go like this.
“Want me to path you to the meadow?” asked Addamas.
“I have to get to the dorm first and pack a bag. Then, you can take me to the meadow,” Vera conceded.
“Want us to come too?” offered Mimi.
“And sleep on the floor?” Vera shook her head. “Addamas can pick me up in the morning for our hike.”
“All right, girly. Hang on.” Addamas scooped Vera up into his arms. “Dang, you’re heavier than I remember.”
Mimi punched him in the shoulder.
“What? It’s not a bad thing. She’s got more muscles now,” Addamas defended. “I do wish we were in the dorms closer to campus, though, instead of that decrepit pile of garbage down the hill.”
“At least we’re going downhill and not up,” said Vera.
“Yeah, cause if I fall that’ll be fun.”
“Don’t you dare drop me,” Vera told him. “Put me down. I’ll walk.”
“I was just messing with you,” said Addamas. “You’re in good hands.”
Vera clung to him, not the slightest reassured.
“You’re going to owe me a new shirt after this.” Addamas shifted her weight to get a better hold, and Vera held on tighter.
“How about you shut up, and I won’t tell Kale you stomped on my broken toe.”
“Deal,” said Addamas. “Seriously, if you tell him he’ll probably maim me.”
“Shut up,” Vera said. “You’re his best friend.”
“But I don’t have shimmering hair, blue eyes, and curves like you do. When it comes to guys, those things always win.”
“Maybe if I affected him that way, but you’d just have to worry about his protector compulsion.”
Addamas stumbled.
“You promised you wouldn’t drop me!”
“Then don’t make jokes at a time like this.” Addamas met her gaze. “You’re serious. And I thought I had relationship issues.”
“Our only relationship is that he’s my overbearing protector, and I’m his magic-sucking ball-and-chain.”
“You seemed pretty upset the other day.” Addamas changed the conversation as only he could. “Want to tell us what Kale did to make you so angry
that you kicked his shin? I’ve seen you fight. You’re better than that.”
“No.”
“You know, sometimes Kale forgets he’s not all-powerful,” said Addamas. “Mimi and I like to remind him he’s not a god when he gets to be too much.”
“Oh yeah?” Vera was intrigued.
“Mimi sneaks up on him, which he hates. And I leave an occasional one-way path for him to accidently step through. He loves having to trek through random realms to get to a world-gate and back to his meadow.” Addamas grinned shamelessly.
“I wish I could knock him down a peg. Or ten,” Vera said.
“You can,” Addamas replied. “It’s simple. Just cross into the borderland and see how fast he jumps.”
“Wouldn’t work. The borderlands spit me back out into the meadow.”
“I bet he’d still freak out.”
Vera considered the possibilities. “Ya know, maybe I should see how twitchy I could make him next week.” And maybe he’ll get fed up and let me go to Nibiru. “Spring break might not suck after all.”
Addamas laughed. “I’m glad Mimi found you. You make life so much more fun.”
“Hey guys,” Mimi interrupted. “Is that Carrie?”
A slumped figure sat on a bench near the dorm entrance. Vera didn’t know the girl well but agreed, “Yeah, that’s her.”
“She looks like she should still be in a hospital,” Addamas whispered as they approached her.
“Hey, Carrie,” greeted Mimi. “How are you?”
Carrie jumped. “Fine.”
“Do you need anything?” asked Vera.
“No.” Carrie looked at them through bleary eyes. “My mom drove in last night. She’s up packing some things so she can take me home for break.”
Vera’s heart skittered. She reached up unconsciously to feel for the cloak beneath her shirt. A sick feeling twisted her gut. Carrie reminded her of Margory after the High Mother made her drain the young girl’s magic. Carrie’s human, she reminded herself. Even if I hadn’t been wearing my cloak, there’s no way what’s wrong with her has anything to do with magic loss. I haven’t siphoned her. The cloak makes sure of that.
“Have a great break. Get lots of rest.” Mimi patted the girl’s shoulder.
Carrie nodded absently. Her eyes went unfocused, staring across the small parking area reserved for their dorm. The single narrow road that led to the parking area cut through the trees. On move-in day, peppy upper classmen had lined the road with welcome signs. Vera suspected it was the only way the incoming students could find the secluded lot from the main road. That was something Vera hadn’t needed to worry about. Addamas had opened a pathway directly into the girl’s room for them to move across.
“I hope she’s going to be okay,” Mimi said as they walked away.
“She probably got asbestos poisoning from this place,” Addamas said, only half-joking. “Why do we live here?”
“It was available.”
“What she means is, it was cheap,” Mimi corrected.
“You have a full scholarship.” There was a clear question in Addamas’s words.
Vera wouldn’t meet his gaze.
“She’s determined not to use a cent more than she has to,” Mimi volunteered.
Traitor.
“Why?” Addamas asked. “It’s not like Kale has any use for all the money he has in those accounts. Someone might as well use it.”
“I don’t want to be indebted to anyone more than I have to.”
“It’s not a debt. He doesn’t expect you to pay it back.” Addamas sighed. “But, of course, you’re planning to pay him back anyway. Good luck with that. So we’ve been stuck in this dorm building all year because of your pride?”
Vera winced. “It’s not that bad.”
“There’s duct tape holding my mirror on the wall,” Addamas informed her. “And if I roll over too hard in bed, ceiling plaster rains down on me.”
“Okay, it’s kinda bad,” Vera admitted.
“Uh, yeah. Next year we’re doing better than this.”
“The new dorm they’re building is gorgeous,” Mimi said.
“There’s already a waiting list for that one,” Vera told her.
Mimi punched in her four-digit door code and twisted the knob. The handle came off in her hand.
“I don’t care what it takes.” Mimi jammed the hunk of metal under the door to prop it open for anyone coming behind them. “We’re getting ourselves at the top of that list.”
4
“My toe already feels better,” Vera told Addamas as they sat waiting for Kale on the porch steps.
“By morning it will be all fixed.” Addamas swatted at a gnat. “You know, we can wait for Kale inside.”
“I feel bad barging in when he’s not here.”
“I do it all the time.” Addamas crossed his legs at the ankles.
“I’m surprised he hasn’t accidentally killed you yet.”
“If Kale kills me, it won’t be accidental.”
Vera leaned back, elbows on the step above. “I’m surprised he hasn’t intentionally killed you, then.”
“Nah. He knows we’re here.”
“He does?”
“He’s tied to this place—it’s the web and he’s the spider. As soon as we stepped out of the path, his spidey senses let him know we were here. Wherever he is, I’m sure he’s on his way to us.”
“Oh. Then you really don’t have to wait with me.”
“I don’t mind,” Addamas said.
“Because he ordered you to never leave me alone?”
“Maybe,” Addamas said with a twinkle in his eyes. “But even if he hadn’t threatened to feed my favorite appendage to Ferrox if I ever left you unguarded, I’d still stay.”
“What if I go inside where it’s warded? Could you leave then?” Vera didn’t want Addamas hanging around on her account.
“You don’t have to.”
Vera gathered her bag. “Next time, just tell me to stop being a baby and go inside so you don’t have to sit out here with me.”
“I really don’t mind,” he said.
“Yeah, I know. I appreciate it.” Vera moved to the door. “But Mimi wasn’t feeling great this morning, and we left her hours ago. I’d rather you go check on her, and I’ll wait inside where I’m perfectly safe.”
Addamas hesitated. Just then, Ferrox strolled into the meadow, his side specked with dirt and grass. The horse looked them over before heading for his barn. Vera wondered what had kept him out all day when he was usually asleep.
“I have a guard dog now. Go.” Vera went inside and closed the screen door.
Addamas walked across the field. He looked back once, and Vera waved. She waited a few minutes after he was gone before pushing through the door and following after Ferrox.
Inside the barn, Ferrox’s heavy eyes followed her. They were black, at the moment, so he was not in a dangerous mood.
“Truce.” Vera picked up a comb and showed him. “I need something to keep me busy, and it looks like you could use a brushing.”
Ferrox let out a huff of air and then his eyes fell closed. Vera took that as approval. Hopefully, I don’t screw this up and lose a finger. With an unsure hand, Vera ran the brush over Ferrox’s coat, knocking the dirt and debris loose. After a few minutes, Ferrox’s side rippled. She smiled. Seemed she was doing it right. One side done, Vera stepped around Ferrox, brushing a hand across his forehead.
Take your time, a voice said in Vera’s head, your girl knows how to use her hands.
She’s not my girl, argued a voice that sounded just like Kale.
A little piece of advice? Take her for a joy ride. If her brushing skills are any indicator, the siphon girl would have her uses.
Vera’s eyes widened, and the brush clattered to the ground. Ferrox yanked his head back, eyes sparking. Slowly, he edged closer and pressed his huge head to her still-upraised hand.
Can you hear me, siphon girl?
Vera jerked
her hand away again. She stepped back, angling toward the door, but Ferrox was on her. He pressed her up against the barn slats.
Reach for that knife, warned the voice—Ferrox, and I’ll remove your throat.
Vera halted, her fingers twitching near her waistband.
It’s not nice to eavesdrop. How did you manage to link to my mind, siphon girl?
“I didn’t do anything.”
But you did, and I want to know how.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Holy crap, I’m talking to a horse.
Ferrox snorted. I can hear your thoughts, you know.
How?
That’s what I’d like to know. Ferrox pulled back. Can you still hear me?
Vera nodded.
So you don’t even need to be touching me to link your mind to mine, mused Ferrox.
“I’m not doing this,” she said emphatically.
You are. You just don’t want to believe it, but trust me, I’ve been using demon magic all my life. Not to mention, I know when I link to a person’s mind, and I did not link to yours. Although, I have threatened to before. To screw with Kale.
This is demon magic?
Obviously, siphon girl.
Stop calling me that. My name is Vera.
I know your name, siphon girl.
Vera clenched her jaw. I’m going to punch this stupid horse in his stupid face.
I wouldn’t recommend it.
Vera’s mouth fell open.
You think I’m the stupid one, but you can’t seem to remember that I can hear your thoughts.
Well, make it stop.
Would if I could, siphon girl. This is all you.
I’m not doing anything.
See that trough? Ferrox bobbed his head in the direction of a long metal tub. Why don’t you look inside it?
Vera frowned but turned to look inside. Why am I looking at water?
Wait for it.
Vera saw it—her reflection. Except her reflection had smoldering eyes, which burned like coals. She had eyes like Ferrox’s. Demon eyes.
Believe me now? Ferrox asked with what sounded suspiciously like a smirk in his voice. Vera stared, unable to form a thought. Girl? Do I need to link Kale back in?
That startled Vera. Kale’s listening?
No. I cut him out as soon as I realized what you’d done.
