by Kim Faulks
“Sounds wonderful, but I better go. I have a clan meeting in a few minutes. Love you.”
“Love you too, Dad.”
He hung up, and I turned toward the bag of tea leaves before opening it and sniffing. My skin didn’t tingle with the presence of magic, or if it was, it was so subtle I barely felt it at all.
I stuffed the bag of tea leaves into my jacket pocket when Ava emerged from her room. She glanced over and smiled.
“Morning, babe. You’re looking alive today.” She walked closer. “Ready for breakfast?”
“For sure, I just need to do a quick stopover at Chuck’s.”
Her eyes lit up, doubling in size. “Let’s go.” She looped her arm around mine and dragged me outside.
On the third knock, the distinct sound of shuffling feet reached us from inside the hut. The door opened. Chuck stood there, shoulders curled forward, his face chalky, lips white, and eyes cloudy. He wore jeans and a hoodie, which was completely unlike him.
“What happened to you?” Ava blurted.
While I wouldn’t have phrased it that way, I agreed. “What’s going on?”
“Got a flu bug or something,” he groaned, his voice croaky.
“Can Vamps even catch the cold?” she asked, staring at me for answers.
This was all about the diamonds. Not only had they been affecting me, but it seemed it impacted Vamps outside the school too, like Dad. I dug into my pocket and pulled out the bag of tea, then handed it to Chuck.
“This tea mixture will help you, then please take the rest to Dad and Mom.”
He sniffled and accepted the bag before retreating into his home, coughing.
We headed toward the cafeteria.
“Shit, he looks like hell,” Ava added. “Maybe I should go back there and nurse him back to health?”
“Don’t think that will work. Listen, you go to breakfast, I just have to go see Nefarious first. I’ll catch up with you soon.”
She eyed me, suspiciously. “You sure?”
“Absolutely. Will see you soon.” We went in different direction, me following a worn path in the lawn toward the cottages where the teachers stayed. I just had to check the status on Mr. Leathers to confirm if this affected all Vampires or a select few. If he wasn’t sick, then it might also indicate he could be involved in whatever was going on. After all, he’d appeared in my dreams and despite his insistence he was innocent, I needed to be sure.
On my fast walk, I pulled out the bag of diamonds from the inner pocket of my jacket and peered inside, noting the diamonds had turned a shade darker. Lately, they’d been changing, which just happened to coincide with Vampires getting sick. And I didn’t believe in coincidences.
When I approached the teachers’ cottage, Mr. Leathers emerged and closed the door behind him. Damn, he looked like death too, just as Chuck.
His gaze found me. “Morwenna, what are you doing here?”
I swallowed hard. “Came to check on you.” And I suddenly sounded creepy. “Chuck and my parents are sick, like me. So wanted to see if you were too. Seems all the Vamps have come down with something.”
He ran a hand through his hair while pushing the strap of his bag over his shoulder. “Something isn’t right,” he croaked. “I’ll be away for a couple of days with Vlad so I hope to have answers when I return. Until then, attend classes and stick to your schedule.”
I nodded. “Of course.”
And without pause, we both marched toward the main Academy building, towering over the land with its black pointy roof, and several levels of classrooms. It could easily be mistaken for a mini castle. Though most called it a mansion. Once we arrived, we went separate ways without a word and I headed to my first class of the day.
The next few days blurred into weeks and the time flew past.
Classes. Practice rituals and hunts, and more dance classes. Plus, lots of tea from Nero’s mom to keep me going.
That late afternoon as I headed back to my dorm, storm clouds gathered overhead and the first trickle of rain hit my nose. I hurried along the path in the darkened grounds. There were no other students around since most were at the cafeteria, but I didn’t have the stomach for food.
Ava skipped dinner as she had a late class on shifter practices and would most likely attack the vending machines once she finished lessons.
I tucked my head low, pushing forward as an icy wind came rushing up behind me, leaving me covered in shivers.
The rains started.
Moving faster, I decided I’d ask Mom to take my winter coat out of storage if it was going to get this cold.
The gust of wind came again, more ferocious this time, pulling on my hair, my clothes.
“We will reign supreme once more,” a deep voice growled in my ear.
I shuddered and spun on my heels.
Principal Stone emerged out of the darkness several feet away. Her steps slow and predatory. “You will be confined to the darkness, blood sucker.”
I flinched at the sound of those words and shook my head. “Principal Stone?”
But this wasn’t the Principal I knew.
This was a Master Demon.
Pale lips curled, revealing jagged edges of razored teeth.
Teeth that would carve right through me.
She kept coming, stalking slowly with seamless steps. I was hypnotized by the movement, her eyes glowed like burning coals. Black smoke fluttered from her body as if she were on fire.
“Ms. Stone,” I mumbled as she lifted her hand and reached for my chest.
My heart.
She intended to pull the damn thing right out of my body.
And kill me.
My brain was numb and adrenaline thundered through me.
“Please, stop this.”
Her lips curled against white teeth, her eyes completely black now, and stubs of horns pushed through her forehead.
With a sickening roar she lunged, crashing into me. Claws jabbed the middle my chest and pain followed. Digging. Piercing. Tearing at something.
A sharp pain jolted across my ribs. I whacked her hand out of the way, recoiling, but her other hand moved too fast. Grabbing my neck, she squeezed, catching me off guard. With a fast kick, she knocked my legs out from under me.
I fell backwards.
The Demon was on top of me, her hand pushing against my chest.
I shoved my hands against her, kicking and bucking, but she was a mountain on top of me.
“The Demon’s time has come,” she snarled, drool seeping from the corner of her mouth. “We will rule.”
I thrashed and gripped her arm with two hands now, shaking in my attempt to push her back.
Fear came at me in waves. If my heart could beat, it’d explode. All I could think about was why the principal was attacking me. I flashed on her trying to destroy the diamonds weeks ago, her glares at me, the way she snapped at me at every chance she got. The only time she backed off was when Dad was around… If it wasn’t for him, I suspected she would have kicked me out long ago.
She shoved down on my chest, and a gash of pain jolted across my chest.
In that moment of me screaming, fighting the demon, something new surged through me. It rose so fast that it tilted the world around me, just like the time I’d forced every shifter into a transformation at the same time.
This time instead of fear, I called to that power, opened myself to harness its strength. Catapulting down my arms, a surge of energy exploded from my fingertips, slamming into Principal Stone. She was flung backward, tumbling and rolling across the lawn.
I gasped for air even though I didn’t need it, pure instinct had kicked in.
I scrambled to my feet, my whole body purring with power.
The rain fell hard now. No one else was around the grounds but me, and the principal who was trying to kill me. Great.
“Your death will show all Vamps, even your monster of a father that your kind are no longer in charge on Earth. Things are changing.” The Demon
unleashed a guttural growl so deep, it left me quaking. It shouldn't have, but what was rising from the ground wasn’t the Ms. Stone I knew but something else completely. A Demon in its rawest form, disfigured, hunched over, claws and fangs, a body as dark as shadows, and only the pink of her tongue stood out as she licked her lips.
“You were supposed to take the diamonds to the Ancient and then come back, but you couldn’t even do that. A complete waste of space, just like the disgusting Vamp from the sewers,” she growled.
Her words thumped through me. “Y-you sent the Vampire to my room with the diamonds?”
“This is not what you’re supposed to be.” She pointed at my clenched hands, the energy sizzling over my flesh, prickling my skin. “Your power is cursed. Your power is abhorrent.” Her noise wrinkled with disgust.
Was that how she saw me? As a courier to take the damn diamonds to the Ancient? Fuck! This was why she insisted I hold onto the diamonds after I accidentally forced the students in the school to transform into their supernatural forms.
"Why? Why Me?"
"Because you were the one who would lead us to him. You were meant to visit him, give him the diamonds. But instead you kept them, and they did something to you. But no matter. Now, I’ll take the diamonds back. They don’t belong to you."
With one shake of her arms, the claws on each finger merged and extended into swords, black as her soul, and I stumbled backward.
Oh, fuck.
Of all the times to not have the Wolves or Ava or Chuck around. They’d find me dead, my heart ripped out of my chest. Then Dad would turn psychotic and probably kill hundreds of souls until he felt he’d gained some form of revenge. And I didn’t want my friends in that firing line.
Except, Principal Stone’s admission rattled me. She planted the diamonds on me so I’d deliver them to the Ancient, then she probably killed the sewer dweller. But what was the big deal with the Ancient having the diamonds? I still remembered the sharp pain I’d felt when he touched the stones for the first time, his shuddering, the red eyes. That was why he pushed them back into my hands. They did something terrible to him--whatever Ms. Stone had intended.
In a flash, the Demon’s agile movement had her darting toward me, swords raised, but instead of fear, a newfound anger thrummed through my veins.
The diamonds in my pocket trembled, and I felt them deep in my core.
I wouldn’t die.
Not today.
I stood my ground.
Without hesitation, I tapped into the burning energy in my chest and let out a battle cry. I unleashed the energy rushing through, and it poured out of me as fast as a tornado. Tearing across the grounds in the form of a white fog, it collided into the demon, wrapping around her, strangling her.
She howled with agony, but for those moments, I felt nothing but anger. She’d tried to kill me. Take my life. Kill all Vampires. I clenched my fists, feeling as if I held onto the energy constricting the Demon. This wasn’t my principal, but a monster, and I’d take her to my father and the Ancient and let them deal with her.
I moved closer. One step, then another, my fists curled tight, just like my insides. I had no clue what I was doing, but if I knocked her out, I could tie her up and call Dad. He’d know what to do. He always did.
But sudden laughter caught me by surprise, and I stopped just as a sword jabbed out toward me, straight for my chest.
Swiftly, I blocked the attack with the energy still humming inside me, driving it sideways, and I screamed as it poured out of me so fast it left me lightheaded. The power smacked into the Demon. It knocked her off her feet and sent her flying toward the woods. She slammed into a tree so hard all the branches shook. Birds flew from its canopy.
The Demon slid down and slumped into shrubs.
Frozen, I took in sharp, short breaths, shaking, unsure what I’d just done.
Fuck.
The faintest wisp of darkness emerged from the Demon’s body, then dissolved on the wind.
I turned away, needing to run, but I couldn't move. Not until I made sure the Demon was indeed dealt with. What if it took down someone else? I’d never forgive myself, so I whirled around and hurried toward the forest, trampling foliage.
This was such a stupid decision. Stupid. Stupid.
Once I neared, I slowed, rain rolling down my face, under my clothes, soaking me to my bones.
I inched closer to the shrub the demon had fallen behind, my skin crawling. Behind me lay the school, but only the last threads of daylight remained. If I died my final death out here, no one would hear me scream.
But I pushed on and peered over the shrub, slowly. Needing to know.
Ms. Stone lay there in a tangle of limbs, unmoving, dead. No Demon form or sword hands, and now I was certain of what I’d seen rise from her body after her fall. Her Demonic essence vanquished.
Fuck. My hands trembled and my eyes teared up. What had I done? I turned and ran toward my dorm, through the pouring rain, through the puddles, though the fucking realization of what I’d done.
I’d killed Principal Stone.
Chapter Eighteen
Six Feet Down Is A Long Way To Fall
I couldn’t stop pacing from the door to the balcony, chewing my nails, convinced someone would burst into my room any minute now and accuse me of killing Principal Stone.
And it was true. I murdered my Principal.
I stifled the scream wedged in my chest. Not as if I meant to finish her, but she’d attacked me.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Killing any supernatural came with the punishment of death. The whole eye for an eye thing was popular with our kind. Dad would most likely get pulled into it too since I was considered young in Vampire years, and I’d heard tales of parents getting punished for their kids’ behavior.
Hell! Sweat rolled down my back, drenching my skin. My fingers were curled into fists, and fear engulfed me completely. I felt trapped and dread was a knife in my gut, twisting.
When the familiar sound of a door shutting sounded, I darted into the hallway.
“Ava!” I hurried to her room and knocked nonstop until she opened it and stared at me with exhaustion.
“This better be life or death because I’m busting to pee.”
“It is.” I ushered her back into her room with a wave of my hand and kicked the door shut behind me. “Something happened. Something so fucking big.” I gasped, unable to bring myself to say the words.
Ava took me by my arms and sat me on her bed. “Okay, whatever it is, we’ll work it out. Just let me go bathroom before I pee my pants.”
I wrapped my arms around myself, and rocked. But I couldn’t wait a second longer and I blurted it out.
“Principal Stone is dead. Like you know, really gone, and I... I killed her. She attacked me, and I defended myself, but I don’t even know why she attacked me.”
“Wait...what the fuck?” Ava wailed from the bathroom. It didn’t take her long before I heard the toilet flushing and she emerged, drying her hands on a towel.
I was shaking, then I lowered my hands to my side, unable to sit still. “Principal. Stone. Is. Dead.”
“Like Dead, dead?” Her eyes widened.
I threw my hands in the air, stressed and filled with terror. “Yes, dead, dead.”
“Another one?” Ava half smiled as if unprepared to fully commit to a full joke yet. “Her body’s not in your room like the last one, is it?” She laughed.
“Not funny, Ava. Are you even listening? I killed our principal.”
“Okay, okay, slow down and tell me everything.”
So, I detailed the whole incident, the Demon attack, my power, her Demon essence, and how I fought back like a goddamn superhero with powers.
“Holy fucking shit!” Ava tottered on the spot before flopping onto the bed next to me. It took her a while before she spoke again, and I swiveled on the bed to face her.
“They’re going to punish me with death.”
She was shaking
her head. “No, they won’t. You were defending yourself.”
“It’s my word against hers. No one saw us. And she’s never hurt anyone else. Me, I forced everyone to turn into their animal forms.”
Damn, was the room spinning? My mouth had dried and I could barely swallow. I was pacing again and I didn’t remember getting up.
“Well, you saw the way she reacted to your diamonds in the gymnasium. We should have seen something strange with that. And hell, she’s a Demon, and Dad always tells me I can’t trust those soul suckers, no matter how much they integrate into our world.”
I thought of all the Demons my dad dealt with, the boyfriend he’d tried to set me up with and who I insisted wasn’t—Thorin—was also a demon. I didn’t think they were all bad, but what if I’d been wrong, too secluded, too naive as Mr. Leathers had blurted out in front of Vlad? That’d mean I had reason to think the principal was up to no good…
“What I don’t get is how this is all connected to the diamonds.” Ava was on her feet and walked over to the windows before pulling aside the blinds to stare into the night. Rain pelted the window; I loved snuggling in bed on such days.
“I think our first problem is dealing with Ms. Stone’s body.”
Ava twisted her head to face me, already rolling her eyes. “I know what you’re going to ask and it’s no. I helped you hide one body already and that guy grabbed your boob and my neck muscles strained for a week from carrying the body into the basement.”
“I can’t leave her body out there. Someone will find her, and how long before someone finds out it was me? I used my power on her, so there’s probably residue of my energy.”
Ava sighed, her shoulders sagging. “Goddammit. I swear, you will owe me for life after this. And you have to promise me no more dead bodies. I mean, why can’t you ever run in here and say you found a unicorn. That would be amazing.”
That time I stared at her incredulously. “Really, unicorns? They don’t exist.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. Mom’s cousin said he once saw one in Ireland.”
