by Oxford, Rain
“What does it do?”
“The council attained it from a cult in Egypt that was using it to eradicate their competition. The amulet can render all paranormals within fifty feet powerless. Shifters cannot shift, fae and wizards cannot do magic, and vampires become mortal.”
* * *
Vincent’s book was on my desk when I returned to my room. Darwin was correcting a physics book, which he did for fun, while Henry wrote in a notebook. He shut his book and slipped it back onto his shelf when I entered.
“What are you working on?” I asked him.
“A senseless hobby.”
“Why did you stop me from telling Flagstone that I didn’t want a pack?”
“You said that you couldn’t have a pack, not that you didn’t want one. You should never tell an alpha that you are incapable of handling your pack. People will naturally follow a true alpha, whether they are shifters or not. Alpha Flagstone is a pack shifter, unlike me, but he will draw even solitary animals to him. Some people, like Brian, desperately need someone in their life to teach them how to balance their inner and outer selves.”
“He should join Tanaka-sensei’s meditation class. Why did he see me as his alpha when he just met me?”
“A lot of it will have to do with his personal life; you might remind him of his father. However, most shifters can sense the characteristics of a person, and your alpha side is difficult to miss. You don’t have to challenge Alpha Flagstone, but you must not submit to him, either.”
“Alpha side?”
“Like the cop thing, bro,” Darwin said, leaning back in his chair and looking at me upside down. “You can naturally take charge and you’re good at it. Most people will sense that and look to you for direction when the shit hits the fan, but shifters are especially sensitive to it.”
I thought about past events in which I had to lead. I was never social because of my magic, but in P.E. or whatnot, when I was required to participate, I had always been voted up as the captain. It never bothered me because my team always won even when I didn’t know anything about the sport.
“I think I found out why the wizard council is here,” I said, changing the subject. They both waited expectantly. “Something was stolen from them, and they think Hunt stole it.”
“What was it?” Henry asked.
“An amulet that can render paranormals powerless.” There was nothing in his demeanor or even expression that showed a reaction to my words, but the subtlest hint of something in his eyes. It looked like worry.
He turned away.
“That’s not good,” Darwin said. “I’ve heard of talismans that can strip powers temporarily or permanently, but that’s the kind of thing where no one knows if it really exists or not.”
“This one does,” Henry said. “I only know that it is too powerful to be in the wrong hands.”
“So you have an idea who took it?”
“I was referring to the wizard council as the wrong hands. If Hunt took it, we can at least breathe easy. If someone else took it, we may all be sitting ducks.”
My roommates called it a night and went to bed while I sat at my desk to read Vincent’s book. I opened the book to a random page, since it seemed the more I read, the more I had left to go. According to my uncle, I understood it better the more I read because I absorbed the information subconsciously. This was a book that would be extremely dangerous in Darwin’s hands.
After many hours of flipping through incantations, ancient scripture, and collections of theory and practice of magic, I was able to pull myself out of the fog that reading the book always put me under. I only had four hours before I had to get up and get ready for class.
Just before I settled down, I hid the journal from the library in my pillowcase.
Chapter 4
I smelled the smoke before I saw the fire. I was in one of the underground tunnels beneath the castle. Fire spread from room to room and illuminated the halls as vampires ran around helplessly, trapped by the sunlight.
Part of me was aware that I wasn’t actually there; the same part of me that knew this was real. Several times over the holiday, I had dreams like this. I could see into the minds of vampires who passed me. They were looking for an exit, while I was looking for an answer. I didn’t try to decipher their thoughts; I just wanted an image. Someone started this, and someone saw them.
I shuffled through the minds of every vampire within my mental reach… which was all of them. There was a man that nobody looked twice at. He walked calmly among the flames and vampires. He was a shark among piranha.
* * *
At breakfast, I thought about my dream while Darwin chatted about his classes. It was the kind of thing I might see in a normal dream, but it didn’t feel the same. I had felt the heat of the fire, even though I didn’t choke on smoke.
“Devon?” My roommates were both staring at me.
“What?”
“We asked if you were learning magic yet. We were discussing how you can do things naturally and if the teachers here can teach you anything.”
“I hope so. I learned a lot about magic last semester, but I don’t really know what to do with that knowledge.”
“Well, you did pretty well in Alpha Flagstone’s class,” Henry said.
“Everyone still thinks you’re a super vampire hunter,” Darwin added. “Plus, they still talk about what you did to Zhang Wei; they believe you can control shifters. Of course, in reality, you can control everyone.”
“I don’t want to control anyone. I’ve been working very hard to keep it at bay.”
“Then what else do you want to use magic for?”
I shrugged. “I want to learn magic because I know I can now. I can use it in my job. If a door is locked, I can use magic to unlock it. Or if there is someone shooting at me, I could do something.”
“Do you get shot at a lot?” Darwin asked.
“No, and I would rather not. I have some friends who have connections with the cops, but I try not to get involved. Experience tells me that partners can get you in as much trouble as they get you out of.”
“But we’re your partners,” Darwin insisted.
“At school, we can help him, but aren’t you going to Europe this summer?” Henry asked Darwin. “You need an assistant,” he told me. “Someone who can do magic and defend himself. Especially if you plan on taking paranormal cases.”
I considered it. If I could find the right person, they could make my job a lot easier. They could answer the phone or drive Regina away. “I could ask Clara.” They both gaped at me. “If Clara can get rid of Regina for even a minute, it’s worth it working with a vampire.”
“So what has you so distracted this morning?” Darwin asked.
“I had a dream last light.”
He nodded. “Of Clara? It’s the blue hair, right?”
“It wasn’t that kind of dream. I actually dreamed of the school being attacked. Only I don’t think it was a dream. I think it’s really going to happen. I saw a man in the vampire level and there was fire everywhere.”
“You should keep that information to yourself,” Henry advised. “If you tell Hunt or one of the teachers, one of two things could happen. Most likely they will say it was just a dream and that the school is impenetrable. In that case, if the castle is attacked you will be a suspect, while if it isn’t, you will lose credibility. The second scenario is that they believe you, in which case, the council will either view you as a threat or try to use you and your ability to their advantage.”
“I agree,” Darwin said. “Based on my observations of your interactions with Hunt and his reaction to stress when his daughter missing, and the factor of the council members being–”
“Darwin, please,” I interrupted. “I want your advice, but I have to be in class in ten minutes.” Darwin had once spent forty-five minutes telling me about why I shouldn’t use margarine or butter.
“Sorry, right. My point is, there is only a one to five percent chance of
a favorable outcome if you tell anyone, not accounting for chaos theory. The odds are not in your favor.”
I continued rolling it over in my head all day and paid very little attention to my classes. When they were over, I returned to my room, asked Darwin to remind me when it was time to meet Langril, and I read more of Vincent’s book.
At midnight, I waited for Professor Langril at the edge of the forest. It was a clear, cold night and the wind was starting to pick up, so it was an uncomfortable wait. Instead of coming out of the castle, he emerged from the dark depths of the forest. “Come on in,” he said.
I peered into the dark. “Can’t you teach me where there are witnesses?”
“Not at all,” he said before disappearing into the forest.
With a sigh, I followed him, feeling more apprehensive than when I first followed Astrid into the forest around our town. After a few minutes, we arrived at a small clearing where the moonlight illuminated the dusting of snow left over from the day before. “What are we doing here?” I asked.
“You need to learn about the element of earth. What do you know about it?”
“It’s the world I live on.”
“Earth is the element of strength, grounding, and stability, among other things.”
“I thought fire was strength.”
“There are many forms of strength. Strength is not always physical. Sometimes strength means giving up something you love for a good cause, sometimes it is standing up to someone, and sometimes it is not crying at a movie.”
“You are a very odd person, Professor,” I said.
“Am I? For your first lesson, you have to find me.” He took two steps backwards into the shadows of a tree and disappeared.
My instincts warned me of danger. Trusting them, I dived out of the way and hit the frigid dirt in time to avoid a shot of red lightning. Langril had appeared behind me. Only, he wasn’t completely corporeal.
As I stood, I mentally searched my surrounding area for his mind just as he vanished again. Since I didn’t know what his mind felt like, I couldn’t narrow my focus. Thus, the dozens of animal minds, mostly small mammals, was very distracting. Unfortunately, I couldn’t sense any minds as complex as a person’s.
Danger. I felt the flicker of his mind and presence as he appeared semi-corporeal right in front of me. His lightning struck me in my chest and my legs gave out from the pain. It wasn’t a mortal attack, only cripplingly painful. He was holding back. It was enough, however, to break my slight grasp on his mind in an instant.
He disappeared again. “What the hell are you?!” I asked. If this was wizard magic, then I had a lot more to learn than I thought.
The attack came from behind and I had no warning. It wasn’t a burning sensation; it felt more like a muscle cramp through my entire body that left me out of breath and my limbs weak. I yelled, but Langril was gone a second later and I was able to catch my breath. I searched for the psychotic professor’s mind again, but it was like I was alone. My head pounded with a migraine.
Langril appeared in front of me again, though he was solid this time. “I had hoped you were better than that,” he said, disappointed. “You’re not ready.”
Panting, I climbed to my feet. “Ready for what?”
“Heather will be disappointed. Of course, she won’t listen. If she makes you an offer, you must refuse.”
“Heather died,” I said, wondering, not for the first time, how sane the man was.
“Earth is about strength. You fight your power, when you should be controlling it. Your magic is who you are; denying it will never help you.”
Once again, he turned and vanished into the dark. Assuming my lesson was over and not wanting to hang out in the dark forest, I returned to the school.
* * *
I was spot on with my predictions, as Saturday morning began with a witch hunt over breakfast… figuratively speaking.
We had a new breakfast cook this semester who tried to put a creative spin on a menu that was already teetering on the verge of being inedible. Darwin threatened to starve to death on her kitchen floor if she didn’t adhere to his “simplistic” demands. All he wanted was one item that was unseasoned so that he could eat it without having an aneurism, since his brain over-analyzed everything he ate. She gave him a bag of chips and told him to get out.
Darwin and I were discussing the particular shade of neon yellow that the chewy scrambled eggs had achieved, when we overheard Jackson and his gang trying to rile other students.
“You should probably stop him,” Henry suggested.
I sighed. Before I could say anything, Addison sat down beside Henry with her tray. They both angled away from each other and focused too hard on eating their food.
“Awe, that’s so cute,” Darwin cooed. “Look, Devon, they’re getting along. And it’s not even the full moon!”
“Henry is going to snap and bite you one of these days.”
As I said it, Amelia sat down next to Darwin. “Do you mind if I sit here?” she asked hesitantly. “Jackson is bothering my roommates.”
“No problem!” Darwin said.
I had to stop myself from saying anything. If Darwin wanted to be with Amelia, I wouldn’t try to stop him. I hoped he didn’t end up hurting. Henry and I were both very cautious about not touching him, but most people just thought he had visions if he touched them.
I got up and went to where Jackson was preaching about vampires taking over the school. “If you have serious concerns, you need to take them to the headmaster,” I said. His gang of four guys puffed out their chests. Seeing as how the last time I faced them, they ended up looking like drowned rats, I wasn’t impressed. Then again, Jackson never learned, so I shouldn’t have thought his followers would.
“You stay out of this, Sanders. I know you’re working for them.”
“I thought you hated vampires,” Cassie, one of the shifters at the table said to me. There were six others at the table, all who watched me expectantly for my response.
“There is a particular vampire I dislike.” It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the truth, either. Hunt may have been convinced that vampires killed no more than humans or any other paranormals, but I saw them for their basic nature.
Shifters had all the same predatory advantages and disadvantages as their beast did in the wild, but none of them were designed to feast on people. Fae powers ranged from party tricks to weapons of mass destruction, but most of their kind just wanted to be left alone. Wizards were in a constant struggle for power, but they all made hiding from humans their top priority. Vampires were insanely dangerous, perfectly designed for killing, and, unlike all of the other paranormals, they were built to feed on humans.
So as much as I tried to shed my prejudices, I would never trust a creature whose sole purpose was to kill. “If you attack the vampires, Hunt will expel you before you can get underground.”
“Are you going to report us?” Jackson asked.
“I don’t need to. The headmaster sees more than you know.” I purposefully didn’t glance over at Alpha Flagstone, who was standing in the dining room doorway. However they managed it, I knew that Hunt was aware of this conversation that Flagstone was eavesdropping on.
“If Devon isn’t in, I’m not doing it,” one of Cassie’s roommates said. I didn’t know her name, but I figured Addison had probably mentioned me in her complaints against Henry. Cassie immediately nodded her agreement.
“If I get expelled, my husband will divorce me,” one woman said.
“Thanik isn’t going to divorce you,” the guy next to her argued.
“He’s counting on me graduating and being a teacher next door to him.”
Seeing that I was no longer needed, I walked back to my table. Darwin was talking Amelia’s ear off about Australia and their food.
* * *
Darwin and Amelia spent most of the day at the lake and most of Sunday in the library. Henry spent the weekend trying to avoid all of the girls, who knew very well
when the full moon was. They acted like he was completely up for grabs for three days. Addison apparently agreed, because she wouldn’t let him out of her sight.
My weekend consisted of breaking up hunting parties during the day and fights during the night. My astronomy class on Saturday night was my only moment of peace, since half the class consisted of vampires and the other half were fae who just wanted to learn. I was the odd man out in the group of twenty.
Monday started with an actual cat fight between Addison and another female cat shifter over Henry. Darwin and I rolled our eyes and went to class. I had to prevent fights all day. Fortunately, some of the students stepped in to help talk others down.
Several of the vampires were extremely peaceful, which I assumed had to do with the synthetic blood they were drinking. Of course, hateful people had a way of getting under anyone’s skin. Jackson’s group would single out, ambush, and verbally antagonize a vampire until he snapped, then scream like little girls that the vampire had attacked them and that the vampires were uncontrollably violent. This went a long way in my own acceptance. I hated bullies, and none of the vampires were the ones doing the bullying.
Tuesday night, I left my room to find Hunt because my instincts told me something important was about to happen. Instead, I ended up walking right into a fight between two wizards over a young, sweet-faced vampire who looked like she wanted to run away but couldn’t get past the wizards to do so. It turned out one wizard was trying to defend her from the other. I broke it up, but by then my instincts had stopped firing.
On Wednesday, I was sitting in Kale’s class about ten minutes early. Two vampire women were speaking to each other one table over and there was almost nobody in the room, so I overheard them easily. “They’re saying we’re the damn monsters. A shifter passed me in the hallway, knocked the books out of my hand, called me a bloodsucker, and kept on walking without even looking at me.”
“I thought this was supposed to be a university. I haven’t seen behavior like that since high school,” her friend said. “There was a group of them waiting for our class when we had to go to the forest. They threw rocks at us, and the professor just ignored them. He probably made us do the lesson outside and told them so they could attack us.”
