by Lan Chan
“You think that was funny?”
Sophie was making mayday signals beside me, but I was too riled up to take heed. “I thought it was useful.”
“Oh, well then, I guess it’s okay as long as Malachi Pendragon thinks scaring the shit out of people is useful.”
“You didn’t seem scared to me.” Something sharp and shrewd danced across his face. That’s it. I was going to punch him again. He must have noticed because he took a single step back. He crossed his arms over his chest. Sophie just about swooned beside me. I grit my teeth to stop my own faint from overwhelming me.
“Don’t tell me how I feel,” I said. “You even think about using my nanna to hurt me again and I’ll run you through with your own damn sword.”
Sophie’s face turned a shade of pink. It gave her dark skin a nice healthy glow. If only she wasn’t embarrassed for me.
“Noted,” Kai said. “The headmistress thought it might be a good idea for you to get some supplies given your classes start tomorrow.” He needn’t have looked so pointedly at Sophie’s T-shirt that I had somehow ripped all the way across the hem. “So if you’re done with your tantrum, I’ll be waiting outside.” He was about to turn and leave when he glanced back. “Good going, Sophie. I think Max is in the commons right now rubbing it in to Drake’s face that he picked you.”
The door was barely closed before Sophie screamed so loudly it made the other patients groan. “I think I’m going to burst into flame,” she said, throwing herself backwards onto the bed.
“I think I’m going to throw up.”
“Aww, c’mon. Don’t be like that. It was just a part of the trial.”
“I thought she was going to die.” My fingers were gripping the sheets so tight I heard a tear. Sophie scrambled up into a sitting position and hugged me.
“Okay,” she said. “I get it. I’m sorry. I guess the rest of us, besides Fred, are kind of used to the things this place throws at us. I forget how bad it must be for someone who is new to it all.” She rubbed soothing circles around my back.
But for all her placating, I could still feel the pulse of excitement in her jerky movements. “Alright,” I said. “That’s enough of that.”
“He is seriously gorgeous,” she stammered.
“The assholes generally are.”
Her lips turned into a thin line. “You think he’s an asshole?”
“Did you not see the way he spoke to me?”
She scratched at her head. “You weren’t exactly being a cupcake yourself.”
I grabbed the pillow and flung it at her. She braced and it bounced off her arms. “Oh, is this how it’s going to be? What happened to chicks before dic –?”
A gruff throat clearing interrupted our giggling. “Ladies,” Doctor Thorne said. “If you’re recovered, please spare some thought to our other patients.” With a slew of apologies, we hightailed it out of there.
“Should we go see if Fred is okay?”
Sophie shook her head emphatically. “Don’t bother. He’s kind of freaking out right now. Let’s give him a bit of time to recover and then we’ll go and see him.”
“Maybe after we get back from this shopping trip then.”
“We?” She turned big, doe eyes at me.
“Did you think I was going to suffer through this trip with that jerk-face by myself? As my roommate, isn’t it your obligation to come with me?”
“I don’t know how he’ll feel about that.”
I wasn’t intending on giving him a choice. So why was I slightly offended when we got to the front of the infirmary and he simply shrugged his shoulders when I informed him Sophie would be coming along with us.
I also didn’t know why I expected to see a vehicle. All of the evidence to the contrary said that we would teleport. Kai didn’t even give us a chance to prepare ourselves for it. One minute we were standing in the open courtyard of the rather illustrious infirmary and the next he grabbed both our shoulders. That disturbing interplay of pleasure and pain ripped through me as a kaleidoscope of colour burst across my eyelids. I blinked and we were standing beside a wishing well in what I could only describe as some sort of medieval fair.
Sophie whistled. “Are we in Rivia?”
He nodded.“It’s the closest place I could think of to get this out of the way.”
What a typical guy thing to say about shopping. Not that I particularly loved it either. Nanna used to take me when I was younger. At that age, all I’d wanted to do was hang out in the toy store and the bookstore. I couldn’t think of the last time I was in a mall or shopping centre since Nanna was put into the Institution.
“What is this place?” It was like an intersection between a role-playing game and a movie. Everywhere I looked there were people dressed in ephemeral clothing. Others walked around with all manner of weaponry strapped to their backs. I stared outright at a pointy-eared Fae who hover-walked by. She had burnished-orange wings and wore a gown of the same colour. It billowed around her knees. Behind her, in the trail where she floated, flowers and plants burst from the earth to bloom. A second later they returned to their normal state. She turned her head towards us. As I watched her, she swept her gaze over Kai’s muscular form. Her bowed lips curved into a smile.
I tried to roll my eyes so only Sophie could see, but Kai caught the last of it. The vein in his jaw tightened. “This place is protected by the Nephilim,” he said. I could see the dismissal coming and part of me was relieved.
“Good,” I said, before he could get more words in. “Sophie and I will buy stuff and you can brood in the corner.” I didn’t know what money I would use for said stuff but it didn’t matter. At the moment, all I wanted to do was get away from him and his incessant scrutiny.
For a second, he seemed to be considering what I was offering. Sophie was giving me a death stare.
Finally, he sighed. “My grandmother will kill me if anything happens to either of you.” I deflated a little even as something inside of me twisted. Why hadn’t he taken the offer? He said so himself that the place was guarded. Now that I knew the whole trial had been a scam, the pulse of fear in me had dissipated.
I grabbed Sophie’s arm. “Let’s make this quick.” She pulled a face.
“You’re not fun at all.”
That wasn’t the first time someone had said something like that to me. I pushed the listless feeling it gave me aside. For all its oddness, this place didn’t seem all that dissimilar to the stores I’d been to as a child. Sure there were one or two shops that had an odd stench stretching out way past their front doors. And instead of trinkets and toys, some of the shops had shelves holding what appeared to be severed limbs and live bugs in them. But for the most part, shops were shops.
“You’re going to need everyday clothes,” Sophie said, giving me the once over. Then she leaned in close and whispered, “and underwear I’m assuming.” We both glanced sidelong at Kai who was giving me his best bland expression while engrossed in a paperback that he’d pulled from his back pocket. It figured that there looked to be a dead body on the front cover.
Sophie did most of the shopping. I tried on things and expected them not to really fit. I had a...difficult body shape. Skinny but too tall to fit kids’ clothing. My hip bones were a little wide so I didn’t fit into the smaller sizes either. But whatever Sophie offered me—and she stuffed a lot of things under the change room door—always fit perfectly. I’d never win any modelling contests, but I wouldn’t look like I’d just rifled through the charity bin either.
I glanced warily at the clothes she kept piling into my arms. “How are we going to pay for all of this?” I asked. Once or twice I might have slipped some medication into my pocket in the drug store when I was really desperate. But doing a runner dragged down by all this stuff would be impossible.
“I’m assuming the Academy is going to pay for it,” Sophie said. “We’ll charge it at the register and see.” Despite her casual words, I was still slightly apprehensive when the total flash
ed up on the register. It was the most amount of money I’d ever spent in my life.
The girl behind the counter looked at where Kai was engrossed in his book on a bench. “Bloodline Academy?” she asked.
Sophie nodded. “I’ll put in on their account then.” It was as easy as that. I didn’t know how I felt about it. Then I remembered the awful scare they’d put my through and decided that it was worth some clothes.
Kai ground the heel of his boots into the cobbled path when Sophie pointed to the store with mannequins in underwear in the display.
“I’m going into that store.” He pointed to the black cavern of a store with the racks of spiky weapons on display. “Yell out if you need me.” He walked away then came back. “Only if it’s an emergency. Needing an opinion doesn’t count.”
“As if I’d ask you,” I muttered under my breath. Sophie clamped her hand over my mouth when his shoulders tensed before he walked away.
Her eyes got huge. But then he disappeared into the weapons store. “Gargh. Have you got a death wish or something?”
I shrugged. “He’s so bloody smug. I was just pointing out that I have less than zero interest in his opinion.”
She only grinned at me like she didn’t believe me and then crooked her finger to lead me into the underwear store. Or, the feminine torture store as I wanted to rename it. Sophie had almost no sense of personal space. She barged into the change room while I was trying on a bra. “What the hell?” I screamed, cupping at my boobs. “What are you doing? Get out!”
She dissolved into a round of giggling. “What’s the problem? We share a room!”
“I don’t care, you creep!” I tried to swat at her with a pair of hot-pink panties she’d picked that I was so not going to buy. Somebody banged on the door.
“Is everything okay in there? Only one person allowed in the change rooms. Store policy.” We both held our breath until the store person huffed and walked away.
Sophie burst into uncontrolled laughter, her chest heaving so loudly it sounded like sobs. After a moment, a grin split across my face.
“I’m not kidding!” She was fanning her face with her hand, trying to take big gulping breaths. Finally, she managed to get a hold of herself. By this stage, I looked like a beetroot from head to toe. It didn’t help the situation at all that I was almost completely naked and still trying to hide my body.
Wiping at the tears on her face, Sophie held up yet more choices. There were more colours in her hands than in a rainbow. “No,” I said.
“But they’re so pretty!”
“I don’t know what fantasy Academy you think I’m going to, but if the trials are anything to go by, pretty is the last thing I need. I want black. I want flesh tone. I want grey. Those are my colours.”
She scrunched her nose and took a step towards me. “Once we graduate from the Academy, if we’re any good, we might find ourselves on the front line of the war,” she said. “What’s wrong with trying to have a little fun now?” Her ample lips turned up into her version of a smirk. Those brown eyes were dancing. She was so pretty it was ridiculous for me to think nobody wanted to hang out with her just because of her powers.
“Besides,” she took another step forward, “If you have a colour, it’s definitely blue.” Her brows practically reached the sky as she announced this. The meaning of her words turned me from a beetroot into a tomato.
She was laughing. “C’mon! If you’re sparring with him, and things get hot and heavy, you don’t want to be wearing a flesh-tone nothing sports bra if you need to take your shirt off.”
As she spoke, I awkwardly wriggled back into my T-shirt. Or her T-shirt, to be exact. “On what planet,” I said, my head getting stuck in the sleeve, “would I be sparring with him?”
She gave me a quizzical look. “Did you not look at your timetable? I heard Jacqueline talking to Professor Mortimer about it while you were unconscious.”
“No, I just stuck it in the back pocket of my jeans.”
Now that she mentioned it, I was curious. I rifled through my pockets, taking out a few remaining rose hips and the envelope in question. Ripping it open, I sat down to go over the classes that had been designated to me. Sure enough, the last lesson of every day on my schedule was reserved for Malachi Pendragon. Sophie read over my shoulder and squealed. “I don’t care what you say. You’re getting this and this.”
I registered something sapphire blue and something else magenta before she unlocked the door and stalked out, leaving me bewildered. There were some classes that I could understand like Herbology and Demonology 101. But what in the hell was Arcane Magic and Portions and Alchemy?
Furthermore, most of my morning classes had “for beginners” written after them and they were held in the junior campus. The sales girl scowled at me when I came out of the change room with a mountain of underwear in my arms. I slunk away after setting them down in the unwanted pile.
I found Sophie inspecting something lacy and bright red. She held it up to the light. “Unless you’re planning to get that for yourself, I suggest you step away from the lace.”
She placed the lingerie set in front of her chest. “What do you think?”
“For real life or a porno?”
She threw a pair of socks from the rack at me. “You’d look hot in it,” I said. “But I don’t know, maybe something leopard print might be more what you’re intending.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What is it you’re trying to imply?”
“Oooh. Shoe doesn’t fit so well now that it’s on the other foot, does it?” I made a sound that I hoped would translate into a lion’s roar.
She blushed so hard it was adorable. “You’re the worst!” she said. But I could see her eyes darting to the animal print section. I wagged a finger at her.
“I’m no expert, but even I know that would be so lame. Go with the red. Or if you can find something gold for your skin tone.”
Of course we then had to traipse around the store looking for things that suited her. While I followed behind, I asked her why my morning classes were in the junior campus. She paused. Frowning, she snatched the papers from me.
“Oh jeez.”
“What?” I snatched them back.
“You’re not just having classes over at the junior campus,” she said. “You’re actually in the junior class. The under twelves from the look of it.”
I glanced down at where she was pointing to the code next to the classes that I hadn’t paid much attention to. Sure enough, there was a number 12 next to the class. Forgetting all about the underwear, I turned around and walked right out of the store. I almost collected two older women on my mission to get to the weapons store.
“May I help you?” A salesman jumped out at me almost the very second I walked into the store.
I ignored him which only prompted him to follow me. “Miss,” he said. “Is there something wrong?”
“Nephilim,” I grit out. “I need to see the Nephilim.”
“Nephilim? Oh, you mean Mr. Pendragon? He’s over –”
But I’d already spotted my intended target at the back of the store in what appeared to be a small version of a boxing ring. He was standing on the stage with a girl in a red shirt that must have been the store’s uniform. She was smiling at him like he hung the moon while he held yet another broadsword in his hands. He seriously had some kind of phallus complex.
The girl saw me first, her smile erased by the deranged look on my face. When Kai noticed her attention had wavered, he turned and caught sight of me. “Blue,” he said. My teeth ground so hard it was a wonder they didn’t shatter. “What’s wrong?”
I don’t know why his sudden alertness made the fire blazing in my chest roar. I held up my timetable. “Explain to me why I’m being made to take classes with little kids?” The bell at the front of the door jingled.
“Lex?” Sophie’s voice called out.
The expression of worry on Kai’s face morphed into irritation. He brushed past me, his sho
ulder almost clipping my outstretched arm. The shop girl looked from one of us to the other but chose to remain out of the way. Smart.
“You know basically nothing about our history and our purpose,” Kai said as he replaced the sword in its scabbard on the rack by the back wall. “It made sense that since we already have beginner classes that teach those things, that you should join them.”
“Why couldn’t someone just tutor me?”
He whirled on me. “Why would someone do that, Blue? What are you, a bloody princess?”
As much as I wanted to, I didn’t take the bait. But man, was I tempted. Instead, I pointed to his name on our schedule. “What’s this then?” I snapped. “Why do I have to have private lessons with you? How is that any different?”
Something in the way his eyes darkened made me think something I’d said really got to him. But when he spoke, his tone was even. Frighteningly so. The way a predator becomes eerily calm before it strikes. “You’re having private coaching lessons because after that display at the trials, nobody on the school board thinks it’s safe to have you running around out there untrained. And, surprise, surprise, nobody else wanted to train you. So I got stuck with it. Is that explanation enough for you?”
Sophie found us. I’d never seen her upset before, but those gentle brown eyes were pieces of flint. She wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
“Back off!” she said, giving Kai a death stare. “As if she needs you being a jerk after everything she’s been through.”
It was that unexpected snipe that had the indignation in my chest calming. After a second, Sophie seemed to realise what she’d said as well.
Kai raised a brow at her. But she squared her shoulders and jutted out her chin. I was feeling all kinds of proud. “If you’re done sniping,” he said. “I don’t have all day to babysit you.”
I waved the timetable at his retreating back. “That’s where you’re wrong,” I said. “According to my schedule, you have all kinds of time between three and five every evening!”
But he was already gone.
17
