by Kim Faulks
We all froze.
The walls groaned and trembled, the lights flicked on and off.
“Earthquake,” someone yelled.
Bond ripped me off Brylee, who choked and gasped for air, glaring at me with the promise of retribution.
Bring it on.
She rubbed her face, a purple bruise the size of my fist already darkening around her eyes. And when she looked at me, it was different… there was something else beyond the hatred she held for me. Fear.
Ava shoved Nesrin aside before joining me. Us against them, encircled by students, while the room around us shook.
Only then did I notice Salome sat back and didn’t join the combat arena. Since when did one of the cat gang have a conscience?
The door to the gym opened with a bang and Principal Stone marched inside, her boots thumping the wooden floor, her lips twisted into a grimace, her eyes darkened.
“Shit,” Ava murmured.
“What the Hell now?”
Chapter Fourteen
In The Darkest Hour
The walls stopped shaking….
The floor now solid under my feet.
But the claws marks on my cheek stung like a bitch. I lifted my hand, trembling fingers skimmed the pain coursing down my jaw and came away bloody. “You really are a bitch, aren’t you?” I snarled at Brylee.
“I’m a fucking cat!” she howled at me. Long strands of brown hair flying, amber eyes wild. “And don’t you forget it.”
“That’s enough!” Ms. Whitecotton snapped from across the room.
Bond stepped in between us, one hand splayed in the middle of my chest as Brylee snarled. She wasn’t coming near me, not now...not ever. “You’re losing your shit, shifter.” I just shook my head.
Hate poured from those eyes, and I had no idea why. She took a step closer, meeting Bond’s outstretched hand.
“Easy,” Bond warned.
“You Vampires think you’re so good, don’t you?” Brylee snarled. “Let’s see how long that lasts.”
I looked to Nesrin, who seemed just as shocked as I was, standing in the middle of the room. And I turned my head, watching Principal Stone marching closer. “Great...”
“Morwenna Livingstone,” our Principal snapped. “My office...immediately.” I ground my jaw and glanced at Judas and then Ava.
“I’m coming too,” she snarled.
“No, you aren’t,” Principal Stone snapped.
But my spunky best friend shoved her hand into her pocket and yanked out her cell phone. “I am...and I’m taping this, we’re gonna plead the fifth and the fourth if we have to.”
Principal Stone just looked at her. “You really are a little special, aren’t you, child?”
Ava just flinched with the words. I could see they hurt, see the flare of pain before she swallowed hard and then straightened her spine. “Special enough to know what’s right. Brylee started it, Mor was just defending herself.”
“I’ll do the defending around here,” Principal Stone roared. She took a step closer, and the moment she moved, pain flared through my side from the diamonds in my pocket.
“Oww,” I muttered and dragged out the velvet bag from my pocket.
Principal Stone’s eyes widened at the sight, darkness moved in, filling her brown eyes with Demon black. Her lip curled, white teeth shone under the overhead lights. “Give those to me.” She took a step closer and snatched them from my grasp.
The diamonds brightened the purple bag, shimmering with a power of their own. Agony ripped through me as she gripped them in her hands. “Wait.” I took a step closer. “I don’t think you should—”
“You shouldn’t think at all…” the Principal snarled.
She lifted her hand, and a dark demonic power coursed through the room, pinching along my flesh. Gasps and cries echoed all around me as the Principal hurled the bag of diamonds to the ground.
They hit the floor with a thud. The blow was a gunshot to my chest. I stumbled backwards and grasped my chest.
“Mor?” Ava’s voice crowded in. “Mor, what’s wrong?”
But I couldn’t answer.
I couldn’t do a thing other than slap my hand to my chest.
The diamonds sparkled in the bag as Principal Stone lifted her foot, the heel of her boot aimed at the center before she drove it down on the bag, smashing it right in the middle.
Crunch, the echo ripped through my head. My knees trembled, and then let go. I was falling before I knew, hitting the floor in a second. Hands gripped me, faces so close to mine.
Ava’s...Bond....
Nesrin.
“Stop.” The word was a croak as I shoved forward, reaching out to snatch the bag of diamonds from the ground. The Principal’s foot lashed out, narrowly missing my hand as I dragged the diamonds toward me.
Energy coursed through me, shaking my bones, gnashing my teeth. My friends were there, grasping my arms, dragging me to my feet. But they shouldn’t be here...they shouldn’t be anywhere near...me.
The lights flickered as I slowly pushed from the ground.
“What the…” Ms. Whitecotton muttered.
Bulbs brightened overhead, burning white hot until they couldn’t withstand the power, and in a heartbeat died...thud...thud...thud….
Ava lifted her gaze as darkness swallowed the corners of the room, and edged closer to us. “Ah, Principal Stone...I think you pissed something off.”
The Principal just stood there and lifted her gaze to the light overhead as it quivered and flashed. But the diamonds were all I felt as inside the bag they slowly changed.
Gone were the shimmering stones, now there was...emptiness and darkness. My fingers trembled as I yanked the string binding the top and opened the bag. Power raced through my fingers as the faint shimmering glow inside the jewels petered out. There was a chip on one jewel, broken fragments clinked at the bottom, a remnant from the Principal’s rage.
I lifted my gaze as rage tore through me. Darkness crowded in, but this time it wasn’t from the lights overhead. It was inside me, right in the center of my chest. Right in the place where the Ancient power hummed…
A scream tore along the hallway. High-pitched and tortured, terrifying, and everyone inside the classroom turned their heads...everyone but me.
Power rippled through my body, shaking my hands. The diamonds weren’t just diamonds anymore. They were funnels...pouring dark hunger into my body. I felt it spreading through me.
The scream from outside grew, male and female, shrill and snarling, and it echoed in the room.
“Brylee?” Nesrin called.
I turned my head as Brylee’s knees buckled and she fell to the floor. She shuddered and shook. Fingers splayed against the hard floor. But her nails were changing, turning into wicked claws as fur raced along her arms. Her joints popped, bones snapped. She bowed her spine, muscles strained, tendons bulging from the sides of her neck as she screamed.
Then that scream turned into a snarl as she shifted in front of me.
Others cried out and hit the ground; Wolves snarled and gnashed their teeth, a Selkie slapped his fin against the floor...a Lion snarled and shook her mane. Nesrin tried to hold on, refusing to give into the power swirling in the room.
Bond fell, shaking and whimpering.
But it was me who Principal Stone stared at. It was me they all turned to, and the howling rage that filled my head. I could hear the thunder of hooves from somewhere outside the academy. Light flared from the diamonds in my hand and was swallowed by darkness as the diamonds turned ink black.
“What the Hell is going on?” Principal Stone snarled, but it wasn’t Principal Stone anymore...it was a Demon. Black eyes like midnight stared at me from the creature.
“Mor,” Ava whimpered. “Y-you c-can stop this n-now.”
I shook my head and turned to find her convulsing as she changed. Bond was writhing on the ground in front of me, fighting the change. “I’m not doing this.” I shook my head and glanced at the gli
nting midnight diamonds in my hand.
Lies, that word whispered across my head as the sounds of screamed grew in crescendo.
“Stop it,” Nesrin snarled, her voice deep, and guttural. “Stop this now.”
A tentacle flew out from the corner of Ava’s eye and slapped her across the face. “You stop it,” Ava growled as another arm flung out from under her skirt. She tried to grab them, tried to keep her modesty as another arm unfurled and hit the floor with a slap. “You did this...you and your fucking friends.”
And as the last bulb brightened overhead and gave a flicker Bond succumbed, falling to his knees as he tried to hold onto his mortal form. But he failed. Brown fur peppered with silver sprang out across his body as his nose turned into a snout.
Movement from the doors caught my attention and I turned to find Judas and Nero rushing in, their bodies shuddering, also affected. Their eyes were wild with fear, expressions full of questions.
Nesrin snarled and shook her long black hair as it shortened. “No... Not like this.” She wrenched her gaze to mine. Green eyes burned with fury. “I do not bow down to you.”
But she did...they all did. Every one of them fell, all except for Ava who just stood there, balanced on thick arms. Blood red suckers pressed against the floor. The markings raced along the side of her shimmering, pale face. Brown eyes turned black as she grew in size, pushing upwards and outwards, until she commanded the room.
And still this dark power swelled inside me.
Like it was limitless.
“Mor,’ Judas snarled. He was on his knees, staring in horror as Nero shifted beside him. Black fur swallowed his beta, white fangs showing as he snarled.
Agony filled me as the sight of the Alpha fighting the change as Judas lifted those silver eyes to mine. Everyone else in the school had shifted, turned. I knew it without question, just as I knew the diamonds were not just a power...but a conduit for power.
And it was this power that filled me...consumed me. It was this power I felt in the height of the dream, when the woman pressed the diamond into my chest. I lowered my gaze, finding the flicker of something against my heart. Power burned. Power trembled. Power rippled.
“Mor,” Judas snarled and gnashed his teeth. He was changing, pale pink skin darkening with fur.
I didn’t know how to stop it, how to do anything but swallow, and swallow this energy. No, I roared inside my head. No more!
And at the height of the tsunami of terror...the wave crashed.
Screams stilled.
Snarls turned into whimpers and fell silent.
The entire room seemed to collapse, even the Demon that was Principal Stone wobbled on her feet, before she crumpled, hitting the ground with a thud.
Even Ava. I glanced to her as she shoved out a hand and sank to the ground.
I stared at Judas who held onto his mortal form. He’d already started to shift...already had that glazed feral look of hunger in his eyes.
“I’m sorry.” I dropped to my knees as the diamonds turned from black to sparkling clear once more. I shoved them back into the pouch then into my pocket. “I didn’t mean…”
“You…” Principal Stone gasped and lifted accusing eyes to mine.
The rest of the classroom turned to stare at me...even Ava. A look of sadness and pain tore across my best friend’s gaze before love pushed in. She shoved her foot against the floor and scooted toward me.
“Are you okay?” Judas croaked and lifted his head.
There was still a shine of silver in his eyes, still his Wolf waiting just under the surface. Nero shoved against the floor and pushed to hands and knees as he made his way closer. Bond did the same. All three of the Wolves and my best friend reached for me.
Warmth skimmed across me as they gripped my arms, my legs. Judas dragged me closer, pulling me into his lap as tears blurred my vision.
“I don’t know what happened.” I gripped his shirt, holding on as tears slipped down my cheeks. “I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t…”
“Shhh,” he whispered, his voice husky and raw. “It’s okay now, you’re okay, we’re okay…”
Sounds echoed from the hallways. Husky, terrified murmurs. Slow, stumbling steps. Movement came from the doorway as Nefarious Leathers stumbled in, looking disheveled, startled. He glanced around the room and then settled on me. “Morwenna.” His frantic gaze searched my hands, and then settled on my jacket pocket. “The Ancient,” he stuttered. “The Ancient is coming.”
I swallowed hard and then pulled away.
The Ancient was coming.
To see me.
Because of what I just did.
I looked to Judas, trying to find the truth in his eyes.
I didn’t think it was okay. Not anymore.
Chapter Fifteen
Ancient Midnight
“I won’t call your father on this incident,” Principal Stone snapped, stiff as a board behind her desk, her cheeks red, her normally perfect hair ruffled around her face.
Everything about her was ruffled.
She glared my way.
Incident? Yeah right. More like she didn’t want another incident of my Dad.
“This is your last warning,” she started. “I won’t allow my students to break rules and put others in danger.”
“Rules?”
“Silence,” she barked. “Being the daughter of the Master Vampire does not give you a free ride here. One more incident and you’re out of the Academy.” She almost snarled when she said the word Vampire. Wasn’t she supposed to be impartial to all races as the Principal? Yet she stared at me with so much hatred. It wasn’t as if I could control what happened in the gymnasium. It shocked me as much as everyone else.
Ms. Stone patted down her hair and dug for something inside the top drawer of her desk. She popped open a small bottle with shaky hands and tapped out two aspirins. Without a word, she threw them into her mouth and chased them down with several gulps of water from her glass. Demons felt pain, huh? That was a new one for the books.
“For now, it’s best you keep the diamonds with you,” she hissed.
I shifted in my seat, the bag of diamonds bulging from my skirt’s pocket. Power buzzed and hummed through my veins.
I could still see the silver shine in Judas’s eyes. Still see the fur swallowed by Nero’s body.
Still see Ava slap the shit out of Nesrin with the tip of her arm.
All because of the diamonds.
All because of me.
How did I do that? How in the world had the diamonds affected me or forced everyone else to shift into their supernatural forms?
I do not bow down to you! Nesrin’s snarl filled me.
I sat there, waiting for the punishment for what I’d done. I didn’t want anyone to bow to me. I didn’t want this at all. But it seemed someone did. Someone far more powerful than I was. My hand slipped to the bag of diamonds.
I just didn’t want any part of it.
“Why are you still here? Off you go,” Principal Stone snapped without meeting my gaze.
I pushed the chair back and rose.
“Stay in your room for the remainder of the day. Think about what you did.” Her fingers fluttered at the side of her temple.
“Fine,” I muttered. I’d think all right about how unfair she was being.
The bright sun beat down on me as I strode from the building and headed to my dorm.
I kept my gaze to the ground, not making eye contact with anyone I passed, and shoved through the door to my dorm.
I swiped my card at the vending machine and grabbed two vials of blood. I still didn’t fully trust the stuff, taking a taste before I drank anything, every single time. Seems like trust was becoming the theme of my damn days.
I trudged upstairs and slipped into my room, dumping the blood and the diamonds on my desk and stared at the purple bag. “Why the hell are you in my life?”
Nothing made sense. The only thing that came out of any of this was more damn h
aters.
I snatched the first vial of blood, tasted it on the tip of my tongue and guzzled the rest before reaching for the other. Then I flopped onto the bed not wanting to leave my room ever again.
I kept myself busy and tried not to look at the bag of diamonds for the rest of the day. Instead, I sat outside on the balcony with textbooks piled on my lap. Still, I couldn’t stop the thoughts sprouting like damn weeds inside my head. Finally, I shoved the Demonology manual aside and sighed.
I wondered what the Ancient would say? And why the Hell was he coming here? It couldn’t be from what happened today, I mean, how could he know? Surely word didn’t travel that fast.
My phone chimed with a message, and I headed back inside to find it buried under my papers on my desk
Ava: Stone said I can’t visit you today. Want me to climb onto your brûlée?
What the fuck! I reread her message and shook my head, convinced she was the one losing her mind not me.
Another text.
Shit! Stupid autocorrect
Brûlée
Brûlée
Ahhhh I’m going to throw this piece of shit
I burst out laughing, still having no idea what she was going on about, but I loved that she still managed to make me laugh. And I typed my response.
If you come over, bring me a blood brûlée LOL.
Seconds later she responded.
Balcony. Fucking stupid balcony. I’m gonna climb your brûlée! Gah, I give up!
I exploded with laughter, holding my stomach as it hurt so much in the best possible way.
Next thing, my door opened and Ava slipped inside and shut it as if she’d been chased. She turned and eyed me with a smirk. “I can hear you howling with laughter from downstairs.”
“Did you bring my brûlée?”
She chuckled and stuffed her cell phone into her pocket of her white school shirt. She rushed over to me, and without a word, collected me into her arms.
“How are you?”
I melted against her, loving how much she cared, and despite me being some kind of monster, she wasn’t afraid nor did she pull away from me. “Considering I just forced everyone to shift against their will, and now I’m hated more than I was before, pretty damn good.” I pulled back and she sat on my table, her legs swinging.
