by Kat Cotton
I rubbed my face. I had. I’d done exactly that. Now everyone would know and I’d be booted out of this school so fast. I’d totally screwed up any chance I ever had of staying under the radar, probably screwed up things for the rest of the scholarship gang too.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Ren got to his feet. “She just fights better than you. You got beaten by a girl. Again.”
Oscar shook his head, fear in his eyes. “But she didn’t touch me.”
“Don’t be stupid.” Ren rolled his eyes. “She punched you.”
“Don’t tell anyone, Ren,” Oscar pleaded. “Please don’t tell anyone.”
When Ren turned to me, it wasn’t with fear or hate. He stared at me as though recognizing something for the first time.
Chapter 18
Only one of the pudding jars had broken. I cleaned up the other two then slipped through the shadows to the boys’ dorm and sat them on Tarragon’s desk.
“What’s wrong?” Lucas asked.
I hadn’t expected him to be in the dorm. I was going to say nothing but the way my body shook would prove that a lie.
Lately, a distance had grown between us because I had so many secrets to keep. I hated that, and I hated not being able to talk freely to him. I needed to clear the air as much as possible.
“Want to go for a walk?” We had an hour before curfew and I sure didn’t want to go back upstairs, even if it was to lock myself in my room.
“I can’t. I’m...”
Before I could ask what, Britney called to him.
Sorry, Cherry.” Lucas rubbed my arm. “Did you want to talk about something important?”
“It’ll keep. It’s fine, really.” My smile didn’t need to be forced, not when Lucas looked so happy. I punched him on the arm. “So, you finally manned up?”
Lucas grinned, that stupid grin people get when they’re all love struck and trying not to smile.
“I guess I did.”
“Good luck, buddy. We’ll talk soon. Promise.”
I got back to my room without seeing anyone, locked my door then put a chair under the handle. After finding out that Angela could access any of our rooms, I didn’t feel safe. I couldn’t afford to replace the lock but a locksmith had been working on Ren’s door earlier in the day. If news got around about this, everyone would be replacing their locks.
I studied until late then got woken by a message.
Ren.
We need to talk. Come to my room. Do that thing you do so you won’t be seen.
Huh? He thought he could just command me and I’d go running. I rubbed my eyes. I’d go back to sleep and pretend I hadn’t seen that message. I might be here to protect Ren but I wasn’t his slave girl.
My phone beeped again. I know your secrets.
Oh bollocks, he did too. Not all of them, not by a long shot, but he knew enough to get me booted from this school. I jumped out of bed. I would not check myself in the mirror. I did not care how I looked. I did chuck on my favorite hoodie to cover myself though since my PJs were pretty skimpy. Everything I’d ever believed about Ren had been proven true last night.
Slipped through the shadows, I hoped this wasn’t some kind of horrible trap. Ren’s door was ajar so I got into his room and I stayed in the shadows until I knew it was safe.
“I can see you, you know.” Ren sat on the edge of his bed, looking straight at me.
I’d forgotten about that. I sat at his desk, swinging the chair to face him.
“So, what’s up?” I folded my arms. He could make me be here but he couldn’t make me like it.
“You threw Oscar and I across the hallway.”
“Yes, and I’d do it again. I can’t believe that he’d accuse me of stealing and I can’t believe you believed him.” I huffed. “Actually, I do believe it because you are both spoilt, selfish little rich boys who think the world revolves around you. But it doesn’t. So, fine. Whatever. I’m leaving.”
I stood up. I wasn’t sure why Ren had wanted to me to come in here but I’d had enough already.
“You attacked my horse, for no reason.”
“I did not attack your horse.”
“Whatever you say, but I need to know. How did you throw us? We’re both much bigger than you, and you threw us both at once.”
“I’ve been working out lately.”
“Don’t mess with me. I have no idea what’s going on with you, but it’s not natural. People can’t see you except for me, you do weird things with my horse, who is now better, thanks for asking—”
“I would’ve asked if you’d given me a chance. And those other things, well it’s probably better you don’t ask too much.”
That contract had stated pretty clearly that Ren wasn’t find out about my powers. I couldn’t deny what he’d seen but I wasn’t about to go into a big explanation either.
Ren’s gaze swept over me like he wanted to crack open my soul.
“I want you to help me with something. I’ll pay you.”
“You’re kidding me, right? You’ll pay me? Listen here, rich boy, you don’t get everything you want in this life just by offering people money.”
“Of course I don’t. Sometimes my charm and good looks are enough.”
I stopped to stare at him. There was no doubting it was true but he didn’t seem to understand that you don’t treat people like shit then expect favors from them. There was nothing, no money or bribes, that would tempt me to help him right now.
“You just accused me of stealing. That’s a really super shitty thing to do. I might be poor but I don’t steal. I do have morals, you know. You’re lucky I only threw you across the hallway and didn’t rip out your windpipe. If you expect me to help you with anything after that, you’re a fool. This is one time where you don’t get your own way.”
“There must be something you want.” He didn’t meet my gaze. “You can’t tell me you have everything you need in life.”
I thought about that for a minute then gave him a “screw-you” shrug. “You know what, buddy, I think I do. Your creepy friend attacked me. And after what he did at the gatehouse...”
“You seemed to manage him okay. You gave him a black eye after all.”
I hated that smug look. I hated it so much. Oscar and Blake might be jerks but Ren was the biggest jerk of all.
“Do not start. Do not tell me boys will be boys or that Britney and I were asking for it when we were just minding our own business or that they were just joking around, because if you say any of those things, I’ll make you regret ever speaking to me.”
Ren looked up. “But you attacked him that day.”
I stared at Ren. I stared at him so hard. He could lay on the charm all he liked, I wouldn’t fall for that crap. After a while, his face reddened and he lowered his gaze.
“You didn’t attack first?” he finally asked.
“Of course not. Why would I even go near them?”
I waited for him to justify his friends’ actions but his nostrils twitched and he clenched his hands. “They shouldn’t have done that.”
“Exactly.”
“Seriously, I didn’t know. Oscar said he was teasing you and you lashed out at him.”
I sat back down, folding my arms. “Well, you know even that isn’t right. It’s nasty and discriminatory. They could just, maybe, keep their fat mouths shut instead of bullying people.” I didn’t add the “you could too” part with my words but I let my eyes say it all.
I tried to leave again but he jumped up and grabbed me.
I flew back as electric current smashed through my body. My body chilled and a metallic taste filled my mouth.
“What the hell was that?” Ren asked.
“No freaken idea. Just never touch me again.”
Chapter 19
I told Lucas and Britney about my newfound powers while we waited for training to start. I still needed to talk about it with Mr. Norton. While we waited, Lucas and I slouched around on the training mats. I didn’t have it in
me to start training early but Britney jumped rope to warm up.
“You said it wasn’t important. That’s about as important as it gets.”
I shrugged. “I’m telling you now.”
Britney’s feet beat out a rhythm as she jumped rope.
“Where did she get a skipping rope from, anyway?” I stretched out, staring at the ceiling.
“She brought it along herself. Said the equipment here wasn’t right for her. She’s not a fighter.”
I marveled at how nimble she was on her feet.
“Don’t change the subject.” Lucas nudged me with his foot. “You used your powers. You finally had powers to use. That’s much more important than Britney’s skipping rope.”
“I used them and then Ren denied my powers to Oscar. I’m not sure if that’s going to be enough to get Oscar off my back, though. I don’t want him knowing too much about me.”
Lucas made me go through what had happened again.
“So, maybe you’re not a vampire.” Lucas frowned. “You aren’t easy to classify.”
“Night deity.” Britney called out between jumps. “Night deity for sure.”
“Of course.” Lucas clapped his hands together. “That explains everything.”
“Like why she’s so grumpy in the mornings.”
Britney could skip more and talk less.
“Yes. It takes her half the day to wake up.”
“And she always wakes up with that crazy Medusa hair.”
The two of them exchanged one of those lovey couple looks so it took me a minute to click what they were saying.
“Oi, a lot of people aren’t morning people, it’s a normal thing. A human thing. That’s why coffee exists.”
They exchanged glances and laughed.
“You take it to deity levels,” Lucas said.
“It seems unlikely. I mean deities are really super powerful, like gods.”
Again, they laughed. Damn it.
“I know, they aren’t like gods, they are gods but I’m so not godlike.”
“Not a god but a demi-god. It’d explain why vampires can’t bite you,” Britney said. “Because you’re like the boss of them.”
Whoa, being a night deity sounded kind of cool. I could get me an army of vampire minions.
“I think you need to worry more about the Ren Worthington thing. He’ll be gunning for you.”
I groaned. “I know. Luckily we had no classes together today but I have to tutor him tonight. I can imagine he has some nasty surprises planned for me.”
Britney put down her skipping rope and dropped onto the mat beside Lucas. She wasn’t even red-faced or sweaty like I’d be.
“What did he want help with?”
“Dunno.” I shrugged. “Didn’t ask him.”
Mr. Norton walked in so I couldn’t say any more.
“Good to see your punctuality has improved,” he said to me. “No need to warm up. We’re working on your mental bonds today.”
I jumped up. “We need to talk.”
I filled him in on what happened but his only response was to nod. I wanted more. I wanted him to say “aha” then give me a total explanation of what I was.
The others arrived while we talked.
“Boring,” Mark said when he found out we were working on bonding. “We need to improve our fighting. We caught those vampires the other night but one got away.”
The look he gave left no doubt. He blamed me. I hadn’t gone into details about what happened but he knew enough.
“We need to improve your bonds. Not in fighting but as an early warning system. I’m sure you all know that Cherry has infiltrated upstairs. If we have an emergency situation, she’ll need back up.”
I’d need back up like crazy.
Tarragon slumped on the floor. “She could use her phone or you know, we have these high-tech watches.” He held up his wrist just in case any of us had forgotten we had those watches on.
“Phones might not work. We could have an enemy who takes out the phone system or she might not be able to get to her watch. We can’t rely on technology. We have to plan for any eventuality.”
“Ah, Mr. Norton...” Tarragon crossed his arms, giving the teacher a smug look. “How do we get to the upper level? We don’t have swipe cards and there’s some pretty tough security up there.”
Good question.
“That’s why we need to train. Cherry has to be able to operate the locks.”
“With her mind?” Lucas asked. “I’m not sure that’s a good skill for her to have.”
“It’s a perfect skill for me.” I snorted. “What, you think I haven’t broken into that drawer under your bed already?”
I laughed as Lucas’ face turned tomato red. A bright red that said porn stash. I hadn’t even broken into that drawer, it’d been a total bluff, but now I knew.
We started with easy stuff. Well, what was supposed to be easy stuff. In pairs, we picked up cards and had to guess what our partner had.
“Queen of hearts.” Lucas grinned as he stared at the back of my card.
“Lucky guess.”
Unfortunately, Mr. Norton heard that. “Cherry, we’re not guessing. You have to visualize the card.”
We went through the pack of cards, Lucas got most of his right, I got most of mine wrong. I couldn’t visualize those cards. No matter how much I screwed up my face and tried to get a picture in my mind, I only drew a blank.
Then Mr. Norton told Lucas to work with Britney while I did meditation.
“I’m in no frame of mind for this.” I stood up from my cross-legged position. “I told you I was the wrong person for this job.”
“You’ve got some kind of block and we need to deal with that.”
He wasn’t wrong about that.
“Well I can’t just unblock myself, can I? It’s not like there’s some kind of paranormal laxative. How did I unblock last night?”
“I have no idea. We have to find out.”
Then I glared at Lucas because he totally was picturing Britney naked instead of her card. I didn’t need that in my head.
“You just did it, didn’t you?” Mr. Norton asked.
I folded my arms. “What?”
“You knew what Lucas was thinking.”
“Well, der, yeah. That’s not difficult. He was thinking about—”
Lucas lurched across the room, clamping his hand over my mouth.
“That’s interesting.” Mr. Norton tilted his head and peered at me. “Seems you can’t do a visual read but you pick up on some kind of emotional energy.”
“Or I just know what 17-year-old boys think about.”
Lucas kicked me.
“That’s okay.” Britney beamed her cheerful grin. “Guys think about me naked all the time.”
“And you don’t kick them in the nuts?” Maybe that was the secret to why guys liked Britney more than me. If I thought a guy visualized me naked, I’d definitely kick them.
She shrugged. “It’s just a hormonal thing.”
“Who thinks about you naked?” Lucas went into fight mode. “Give me names.”
The other guys stood up and came over.
“This is way more interesting than looking at cards,” Mark said.
Mr. Norton broke them up and we went back to the meditation.
“Okay, Cherry, we need to get this working. We can’t rely on you getting angry to trigger your power next time.”
“I’d really prefer there wasn’t a next time.”
But Mr. Norton didn’t reply, he just kept telling me to breathe in that really annoying meditating voice. I shut my eyes and did as he said. The others talked and laughed me but their voices retreated.
My right leg twitched like the start of cramp. I stretched it out, rubbing my calf.
I didn’t focus on Mr. Norton’s words, just the tone of his voice. He wanted me to go to my safe place. Did I have a safe place?
My mind blurred and I became light. I went to a place alright but n
ot a safe place. I knew the house. Sour milk and rotting food smells in the air, smells I hadn’t noticed when I lived there but gave me a rush of familiarity now.
A voice roared through the house like an injured buffalo. That man. My foster “dad”.
With a pounding heart, I ran toward the stairs. I had to get to my room. I’d hide in the wardrobe, in the shadows where he’d never find me.
“Girl!” He never called me by name. “Girl. Get here.”
The slap of leather against flesh. I knew what that meant. I tried to move as fast as I could without making a noise. If he heard me, I’d be screwed. If my feet got tangled and I couldn’t get away, I’d be screwed. If I didn’t make it to the wardrobe...
“Get here, girl.”
I made it to the foot of the stairs. I pressed myself against the wall, body shuddering with fear. If I pressed hard enough, maybe I’d merge with the wall. Maybe I’d get away. Maybe this time I’d be safe.
The footsteps pounded, closer and closer.
Someone shook me and I screamed.
I wasn’t safe. I’d never be safe.
I opened my eyes, not sure where I was. I lowered my hand to the floor, surprised at the softness of the training mat beneath me.
“Are you okay?”.Norton’s voice softened.
I nodded but sweat drenched my body. I hugged my arms around myself and Lucas handed me my hoodie. Everyone gathered around me, concern on their faces. They crowded too close, taking up all the space, all the oxygen.
Damn. What had happened?
I tried to stand up but my legs shook. I reached for Lucas, using him to steady myself.
“Take her to the dining room,” Mr. Norton told Lucas. “Get her a warm drink. Sweet tea is probably best.”
Lucas put his arm around my shoulder but I shook him off.
“I’m fine. Really” I took a tentative step. My legs still trembled. I took another tiny step. “See, I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine.” Britney tried to grab me. “You need help.”
I shook her off. She meant well but even Lucas’ touch was more than I could handle.
“I think I’ll just go back to my room and sleep this off.”
