Daizlei Academy Omnibus Collection

by Kel Carpenter

  “You have one hour to kill the Hydra, or you become its dinner,” Anastasia said over the intercom.

  Her voice ignited my rage, and I abandoned all self-doubt, forcing the fears down. I strangled the panic, and I used it to fuel me. To jump.

  The beast gave a mighty roar, but I didn’t stop leapfrogging from one stone to the next. Hydra. Hydra. I’d heard that before. As I fled, I searched my brain for what I knew of this beast. When I’d gone on a learning spree last spring, I’d studied many creatures. The species that controlled this world, the Supernaturals, and the ones that, if given the chance to reproduce, would take it back. Like the Hydra.

  Fucking huge? Check. Many heads? Check. Lizard body? Check. Acid spit?

  Oh shit.

  I glanced behind me in time to see it leap from the water again and emit a vat of acid, aimed right where I stood. It was clear—so clear against the ever-changing black scales of the Hydra that I almost missed it. The acrid smell hit me mid-jump, and I faltered on landing. My foot slipped off the stone disk, and a girl screamed as my body hit the water.

  Cold. So cold.

  And dark.

  I reached out into the nothingness, grasping for something, anything, that could pull me out of here. I opened my mouth to scream, and icy water rushed in, filling my lungs until they burned. That thing was probably swimming around here somewhere, waiting to eat me, but I couldn’t find it in me to move or lift my arms to attempt to claw to the surface. I couldn’t swim, not that it mattered since I didn’t know which way was up—or down.

  The burning in my chest reached a climax then faded into a warm blanket as I floated in the icy depths of a lake that never ended.

  “Is this what peace feels like?” I asked myself, but no one answered.

  “Violet?” I asked again, unease flickering somewhere in the back of my waterlogged mind. Where had she gone? And why did this silence feel so cold?

  Something reached into me and ripped my ease away, pulling on a thread in my chest.

  Stop. I writhed, no longer wanting to feel anything at all.

  “No.”

  My eyes snapped open, because I knew that voice. I knew who was tugging on that invisible line. I’d felt that warm touch against my skin only briefly, but I knew the smoldering it would bring out in me.

  The burning was gone, and my eyes were open, but there was nothing I could do. I was going to die down here.

  “You are not going to die. Fight it.”

  Some flicker of sense returned to me. Only an ember of power, but an ember was all it took for the fire to spread. The world flashed in a kaleidoscope of colors as the invisible strings that controlled everything snapped into view.

  “Violet?” My call was a whisper on the wind. I pushed further and faster into the recesses of my mind, but she was nowhere to be found. For the first time in my miserable life, I was free of the voices that plagued me.

  But I wasn’t free of all my monsters.

  If Violet couldn’t help me, there was another that could. A beast that lurked so deep underneath my skin that I didn’t let others know it was there. I didn’t let them see the savagery in my eyes. Or hear death’s words on my lips, like a lover’s kiss.

  Aaron had awakened it, though, in his call to me.

  This is it. Live or die, I said to myself.

  “Get out of there, Selena. It’s coming for you!” Aaron yelled down the bond.

  I didn’t give myself time to think. I knew what needed to be done. The beast knew it too, because the moment I opened the door, I was no longer the Selena the world knew.

  I was no longer the prey.

  I was the beast.

  And I roared.

  A new fire burned in me as power consumed my veins. Water rushed far and fast from me. Fleeing like it would for no other.

  The hounds of darkness were chasing the tide, though, and even the water couldn’t move fast enough as I forced it out. My feet hit the bottom of the lake as I parted it into two mighty walls. The Hydra was here, though, and it still thought it was hunting.

  Little did it know the huntress had come.

  Violet’s presence came back to me when the water cleared—joining mine and the beast’s, meeting as one, an unholy trinity. We didn’t speak as I parted the walls further, forcing the water higher on both sides of the chamber. In the middle stood one of the lone poles—my fishing rod, for all intents and purposes. I didn’t let myself think as I wielded my knives like picks, and climbed.

  Water drenched my clothes, but I wouldn’t falter. Exhaustion made my muscles burn, but I wouldn’t fail.

  Higher. Higher, I urged myself, until I sensed its eyes on me from where it was waiting me out, seeing what I would do. When the acid came for me, I was prepared. Swinging myself up by the hilt of the knife now firmly planted in the wooden base, I didn’t have to wait long until the acid began eating through the pole. But the Hydra was hungry, and that made it impatient.

  When the monster jumped from one wall of water for me, I was ready. The wooden pole cleaved in two, and the top half, the one I was riding down, was already falling. The central mouth opened wide as it dove for me.

  I flashed it a wicked grin and took off running down the pole as the Hydra dove for its dinner—only to find a mouthful of wood too wide to break. It didn’t know what to do when I mentally thrust the forty-foot-long pole straight through its body.

  It may have survived having its heads cut off, but good luck surviving being impaled straight down the middle.

  I flung myself around as I fell to the earth, flipping off the serpent as I went. The monster was still falling, but it wasn’t quite dead yet. When my feet touched the ground, I didn’t look back.

  Not when I exploded the pole inside its body with a thought.

  Not when blood rained down on me.

  Not when a chunk of bone the size of my arm almost slammed into me.

  Not even when its heads dropped like flies, and those cold reptilian eyes stared at me, almost as if it were acknowledging me in death as the more cunning monster.

  I smiled to myself as I gathered the water under me, using it propel me upward, then ripped a hole in the wall with a spear of water.

  Cold settled in my bones, more comfortable than any heat. More natural than the burning. I stepped onto flat land, and beheld the faces of the Council.

  Disbelief. Awe. Fear. Greed. Jealousy. Hatred.

  I didn’t give them the satisfaction of groveling, and only graced Anastasia with the briefest of glances, the smallest of acknowledgements, as I said, “Don’t ask for a demonstration if you’re scared of what you’ll find.”

  I looked past my friends, past my cousin, who was frozen to the spot, and my sister, whose mouth was grim. I looked east, to where the sun was still rising, and I thought of my father. I still wasn’t sure if dreamland was real, but I thought of the man who’d forged the beast in me—out of my own blood, and tears, and broken bones—and I thanked him.

  Chapter 92

  The cold didn’t stay as the hours passed, but the monster lurking within me did. Prowling. Hunting. We moved as one when I stepped under the shower, and my sister came in after me. Naked as the day we were born, she was babying me, but I didn’t think it really had anything to do with me being injured. She was calming herself as she scrubbed my skin clean of the Hydra’s blood then passed me off to Blair, who wrapped a plush bathrobe around my shoulders. Maybe they were both shaken. I couldn’t imagine what I would’ve felt seeing either of them go under… I shivered, leaving the memory of the lake where it belonged—in the past.

  They whispered about me when they thought I couldn’t hear. Or maybe they knew I could and were just waiting for an ember of the fire I’d felt in the simulator to resurface. The others, the nine, were stuck somewhere between fascination and fear. All but one. It was the heir to House Graeme who dared to approach me as I sat stiffly on Blair’s bed, while she worked a comb through my matted hair.

  “Remind me not
to piss you off, matter manipulator,” Scarlett said. She met my gaze, and nodded.

  It had been bound to happen sometime, but I was surprised it had taken them so long to realize who I was and what I could do. Everyone in this room was deadly in their own right, but I didn’t believe for one second that any of them were as bloodthirsty as me. And I was glad.

  I didn’t say anything to her before she walked away, but gave her the briefest nod of acknowledgment. Blair and Alexandra were the only ones who talked to me after that as the day wore on. The nine stayed on their side, and my friends stayed away. Aaron hovered, out of sight from the moment I’d left the simulator, but though I couldn’t see him, I felt him. I still didn’t understand what had happened in the depths of those waters, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to. Not yet. I would need to go to him eventually, to figure this out, but not yet. Not today.

  Inside, I danced with the monster—trying to put it back in its cage. Violet watched me from a corner of my mind. She wouldn’t get involved, though. This was a test of wills I had to face alone. We were no longer bound as three, but that didn’t stop her from lurking—and now that we were out, I had questions, and as usual, she evaded giving me answers.

  “You weren’t ready. Still aren’t, but you’re getting there. You’re growing,” Violet whispered.

  A caress for my ears alone. Well, mine, and possibly Aaron’s, judging by the way he shifted uneasily when she spoke. Violet was quickly becoming more than just some demon that lurked in my dreams, and I think he sensed that. Either way, she wasn’t going anywhere long-term, so I didn’t think too much of it.

  “Why did you leave me, when I was underwater?” I asked, recalling those moments of confusion, when I’d called and she hadn’t come.

  “Even I have my limits,” she said.

  I didn’t know what that meant, but no answer came when I said as much. I groaned in exasperation, and Alexandra’s head snapped up.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, more jumpy than usual. Fiercer than ever. I waved her off, kicking my legs over the bed to pace. The monster was restless.

  “I’m fine,” I said. My voice was nearly devoid of emotion, but I tried to show her that ember of heat so that she could maybe fan the flames. I didn’t know how to control the monster, though, and so I stayed silent when she announced it was time to get ready—and left her to it.

  Alexandra dressing me wasn’t as strange as one might think, since I let her dress me for our birthday every year. It wasn’t hard to sit in the cold metal chair, still as stone, while she applied makeup to my face and Blair arranged my hair. It wasn’t odd to feel like a mannequin in my own skin, while the girl underneath recouped.

  I used to think I was a dead girl walking, but that wasn’t entirely true anymore. Because I’d learned how to live. Learned that I could live. But I still didn’t understand happiness. The closest I came was the contented numbness that Violet’s presence pushed onto mine, helping me build weak barriers around the monster while we all regained our strength.

  It wasn’t as easy, though. While I’d kept the monster in a cage before, it didn’t want to be caged anymore. It shot fire through my veins, only to be turned to ash as Violet weighed in. It was an exhausting process, rebuilding the barriers while the monster lurked. They wouldn’t be built in an hour, though, or even several hours. It had taken a lifetime to lock the creature in the dungeon and keep it there, and the monster was fighting tooth and nail to never return. I didn’t move a muscle, though. I didn’t flinch when it roared, or buckle when it stared me in the eye with more emotion than I was capable of feeling.

  I sat straight as bone as my sister and cousin prepared me for the final test of my power and restraint. A ball with Anastasia Fortescue, where I assumed the Council would be watching our every move, no doubt seeing how tight a leash she had me on after my demonstration.

  My hands curled into fists, the only sign of my internal struggle, as Alexandra finished painting my lips. She took two steps back, her own cherry red lips curving into a sly smile. She was as gorgeous as always, a living flame in a dress of dark red satin. She motioned for Blair to come around and have a look.

  “She’s…perfect,” Blair said. Her eyes were frigid but glowed with pride and something else. Her gown was more ornate than Alexandra’s, with a tight bodice of ice-colored lace that fell freely past her waist and all the way to her feet. A single split to mid-thigh revealed a pair of pristine white ankle-boots. An odd choice for this type of party, but if it came to a fight, she was prepared. I had no doubt she’d strapped weapons where no one would see them, as had Alexandra.

  My own arms were bare, though, and my legs were entirely visible through the chiffon fabric. No weapon’s belt or straps adorned my body. I wasn’t even wearing a bra.

  “Are you ready?” Alexandra asked, reaching out for my hands, which never moved.

  The monster quieted when I slammed down another brick in an attempt at forcing it into submission. The wall climbed higher and higher, still fragile while the mortar set, but there, nonetheless.

  No part of me had been left unscathed. Even my fingernails now shone like amethyst gemstones, and I wasn’t sure I was ready to see what the rest of me looked like. Alexandra gripped my hands, spreading a pleasant heat across my skin and countering the numbness that threatened to overcome me. Whatever shoes she’d put me in didn’t suck as much as the usual strappy heels. I glanced down, past the see-through chiffon, at the sky-high black ankle-boots, more edgy than Blair’s but just as functional. They were similar enough to my combat boots that my feet didn’t complain much, despite the added height. Two fingers went under my chin, lifting my face to the mirror.

  The chiffon was draped over both shoulders, covering my breasts, but not my chest, not my scars. It bunched at the waist—where the solid black slip underneath formed the tiniest of shorts—then flared out like billowing smoke when I moved. Every inch of my legs was visible, and my arms were the barest of all. My scars on display as tattoos against my ivory skin.

  “No weapons?” I asked stiffly.

  Blair flashed me a wicked grin as she motioned to my hair. Lo and behold, she’d braided it around my head in an elegant updo, with intricate dagger handles sticking out like the jewels in a crown. My eyes were almost fathomless, but also inexplicably violet. It wasn’t the same as my other’s, not quite that hue, but it was there, and it paired beautifully with the dark purple lipstick that sealed the package.

  “I approve,” I said, turning from the mirror. I was death incarnate, with a beauty so dark only the bravest of souls wouldn’t quiver.

  “That’s all?” Blair scoffed.

  Alexandra shrugged, turning to the counter and playing with something there. “Coming from her, that’s high praise.”

  I wandered over, stopping when I saw what was in her hands. “A mask?” I asked, marveling at the red feathers of the phoenix.

  “It is a masquerade,” Alexandra replied, slipping her new identity on. It was striking with the dress, and took her from elegant beauty to an unforgiving bird of prey.

  “What do you think?” Blair asked.

  I glanced in the mirror at her porcelain white mask, with delicate little ears. Silver glittered around the edges where there would’ve been fur. The nose made it unmistakable. I grinned at the white wolf, because she couldn’t have chosen better for herself.

  “Fitting. Where’s mine?” I asked, startled when they fastened a mask of raven feathers around my eyes. Simpler then either of theirs, but a statement nonetheless. An animal of death. A warning and a promise.

  I smiled in the mirror, and a shadowed goddess smiled back.

  Chapter 93

  “You look like a queen,” Alexandra said softly.

  “Of death,” Blair added, and my sister nodded in agreement. I didn’t disagree.

  “Where is everyone?” I asked. The leaky faucet was the only sound apart from us, and that unsettled me.

  Today had been a big day, and that dem
onstration had had a lot riding on it. Now, hours later, I was feeling spent, and the party hadn’t even started. Rebuilding the barriers that kept the monster locked up had exhausted more energy than I was used to, and after facing the Hydra…I needed food, and sleep, and to never see a Hydra again.

  “They left a while ago. You were pretty out of it, though…so I’m not surprised you didn’t notice,” Alexandra said.

  I nodded in silent understanding, letting her lead me away from the bathroom. Something ate at the back of my mind. Something I needed to remember. When Alexandra stored her phone inside a tiny black velvet clutch, it came to me.

  “Has anyone heard from Lily today? We leave tomorrow, and I told her I would come find her,” I said. My voice sounded as scratchy as my throat felt, despite my ability to heal from pretty much anything.

  “I talked with her a few hours ago. She told me to tell you to she’ll be in the library after the party,” Blair said.

  I nodded, but despite her assurances, I checked my phone for messages and found none. Loosing a nervous breath, I typed out a quick message and stashed my phone under my pillow.

  “Okay. Let’s go,” I said, lifting my dress with half a thought while we ascended the stairs.

  The top level was dark, and the hole from the simulator hadn’t been fixed. I shivered at the sight and kept walking, wanting to forget all about the Hydra, and the boogeyman that lived in my mind.

  My sister didn’t need to show us the way—we all knew where the ballroom was—but she did anyway. I suspected she needed to feel in control, and know that I was safe. I would’ve, if the situation had been reversed. I shuddered to think what the Hydra would’ve done to her, because in a world made of water, even a phoenix couldn’t fly.