by Megan Linski
That was an understatement. Every hour was more like it. If I was with Odette, it wasn’t unusual for Theo to be too far away.
We decided to walk, as it wasn’t that far. The streets were crowded in the late afternoon, and we had to press close together to avoid being lost in the crowd. Kiara took me to this tiny bookshop in an alleyway that twisted and turned. A stone gargoyle in the shape of a griffin blocked the door.
“Watch this,” Kiara told me. She waved her hand above her head. “The password is… password.”
White magic fluttered down from her hands, landing on the stone gargoyle’s head. The gargoyle came alive, and moved out of the way so we could enter inside.
“Keeps monsters out,” she told me pleasantly. “And those who don’t know the secret code.”
“Why would a bookstore need to be guarded?” I asked as we stepped inside.
Kiara’s lips turned upward. “Siona has some… items in here that are strictly contraband.”
Enchanting Whispers was unlike any bookstore I’d ever been into. It had a coffee shop set up in the corner, tables clustered next to the windows that looked out into Dolinska’s streets. There were shelves upon shelves of not just spell books, but fiction and poetry of all genres. Glass jars with tiny pixies hovered on their own over the bookshelves and illuminated the space. It smelled like coffee and pumpkin inside, and a bit of white sage and incense.
There were a bunch of people in here— they read the newspaper at tables or browsed the shelves while sipping on tea. Along the back wall, I understood what Kiara was getting at when she said the store was stocked with contraband items— there were twisted black wands that looked like they’d been made of roots, staffs set with glass globes, and crystals hanging from long chains.
Arcanea were forbidden to use wands, staffs or crystals to channel their magic. They were considered tools of the Black Claw. It was a scandal if a sorceress drew from any power that wasn’t her own… Lady Korva had drilled that into our heads since the moment I showed up in her class. It was seen as weak to rely on tools to use magic.
“I’ve got one,” Kiara whispered to me as we passed, and she showed me a small white crystal embedded on a gold chain, hanging underneath her shirt. “Not everything they say up at the school is right. Crystals can be used for white magic.”
“Is that how you’ve been able to catch on so quickly?” I asked.
She nodded. “I have a natural talent for it, but the crystal helps me focus and center my powers. You should pick one out.”
My eye lingered on an amethyst crystal dangling on a chain, but I shook my head. “Maybe later.”
“Kiara!” A loud voice caught our attention. A dark-skinned woman, only a few years older than us, gave us a bright smile.
Kiara grinned. “Sis!”
The woman and Kiara hugged. As they drew apart, Kiara turned to me. “Emma, this is my big sister, Siona. She runs the shop.”
“Pleased to meet you,” I said. I noticed there was a green stone hanging around Siona’s neck, similar to Kiara’s. I had a bad feeling her mixed heritage wasn’t the only reason people chose to judge Kiara.
Siona slid a hand through Kiara’s hair. “What brings you girls in today?”
“We need a book for illusion class. Lady Korva requested it,” Kiara said.
“I think I have the one,” Siona said. “Though you’re lucky. There’s only two copies left.”
Siona and Kiara went down another aisle. I went to follow, but something caught my eye.
It was an old book— covered in so much dust I couldn’t read the spine. It was purple velvet, and had rusting golden clasps. I took it down off the shelf and dusted it off, coughing as I did so.
The title was written in a language I didn’t know, though it wasn’t Malovian. It wasn’t like any language I’d ever seen— scrawling letters in a pretty, ornate cursive font. I opened the book, and the sound of crinkling, antique parchment with worn edges hit my ear. This book was super old. It could’ve come from the Middle Ages. I turned the crinkling pages and saw paragraphs of the same strange language, although there were ornate drawings of winged Marked and Companions within.
The book looked like it’d been handwritten, not printed, the drawings done by a skilled artist with a quill. They were so beautiful. I pressed the book to my chest. I didn’t know why, but I had to have it. The sketches inside were so pretty.
Siona was ringing Kiara up at the cash register. “Hey, how much for this?” I asked, putting the book on the shelf. Kiara sneezed as dust from it rose into the air.
“That old thing? You can have it.” Siona wrinkled her nose. “It’s been sitting on the shelf for ages, and nobody’s bought it. I don’t even remember purchasing it for the shop.”
“Wow, really? Thanks,” I said, pressing the book to my chest.
She laughed. “Don’t thank me. I should be thanking you for taking that old tome off my hands. Now I can put something in its place that’ll actually sell.”
Siona put the old book and our two new textbooks into an eco-friendly bag and handed them to Kiara. “So, how’s old battle-ax Korva treating you girls?”
Kiara’s face fell. I knew she didn’t want to tell her sister what Korva had said to her. “Just about as well as an old battle-ax would.”
“I thought so.” Siona’s expression was grim. “I wasn’t fond of her either when I was in school. I’ve enchanted the stone griffin outside to vomit on her if she tries to come near my shop.”
Kiara and I laughed. We waved farewell to Siona, and began the walk back up to the university.
As the city turned into heavy woodland, Kiara gave a shiver. “Something doesn’t feel right.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. What was it with Arcanea and feelings?
“I don’t know.” She bit her lip and looked down. “I can’t put my finger on it. But my stomach’s churning. Like something bad is going to happen.”
Just that very moment, the two of us heard screaming. It sounded like it was coming from a bird in distress— a very large one.
“Someone’s in trouble,” Kiara said. Her face had gone pale. “Come on.”
She ran into the woods, following the sound of the voice. “Kiara!” I shouted. I had to rush to keep up. My breath soon came in labored gasps. Shit, she was fast, and my energy wasn’t what it used to be. “Slow down, will you?”
She didn’t listen. She stopped far up ahead of me, where it looked like things dropped off over a cliff. I skidded beside her and looked down. Below us was a ravine, a nearly-vertical twenty-foot drop that ended in a canyon that was circular in formation.
A griffin had fallen down the ravine. His feathers were gold, and he was in a curled-up position on the ground, his right wing bent at the wrong angle as if broken. He tried to flap his wings to fly, but it only resulted in blood gushing from the gaping wound. He couldn’t go anywhere, nor could he climb the ravine. He was trapped. Kiara observed him in stark terror.
I cupped my hands around my mouth. “Hey! Are you okay?”
The griffin’s eyes widened when he saw us. I realized he was the same one I’d accidentally bumped into outside the train station weeks ago. “Don’t come down here!” he shouted. “It’s not safe!”
We saw what he meant when a large, hairy spider ventured out of the cave at the bottom of the ravine. It was huge, with large pinchers and dozens of beady red eyes. Venom dripped from the pinchers as it approached the griffin. The spider drew near. The griffin swung his talons at the spider, hissing at it to back off. The spider retreated, but only a short distance away. It was biding its time to attack until the griffin passed out from blood loss.
“Hold on down there! We’re going to get you help!” I shouted. “What’s your name?”
“Alexei! And hurry!” he called back. “I don’t think I can hold out much longer!”
The spider attacked again. Alexei lashed out with his beak and struck at it, causing a wound. The spider backed away ag
ain, but the effort to wound the insect had made Alexei weak. He transformed into a man, though he remained on all fours and struggled to breathe.
I worried if we went back together and left Alexei alone, he’d be dead when we returned. I didn’t know what to do. But no mind, because Kiara made up my mind for me.
“He’ll be eaten alive!” Kiara shouted. She dropped the bag of books. “You go back, Emma. I have to do something.”
Before I could grab her, Kiara slid down the ravine. She landed on the ground and ran to Alexei, putting a hand on his shoulder. “You need to stay conscious. If you pass out, it’ll be the end for you.”
Alexei’s eyes grew huge at the sight of her, and he nodded feebly. Kiara turned to face the spider. “All right. Let’s see if you like this!”
Kiara sent a bolt of blazing yellow light out of her palm. It hit the spider in the face, and the monster squealed, rubbing its eyes frantically. Kiara didn’t stop. She threw bolt of bolt light at the creature. My mouth dropped open. Kiara couldn’t tell Lady Korva off, but she could face a man-eating spider to save a stranger. This girl needed priorities.
Welp, I couldn’t just leave the two of them there, so I figured I might as well join them. I copied Kiara and slid down the ravine, taking my place at her side.
“What are we facing?” I asked.
“It’s a taranticula. One bite of its venom will kill you,” Kiara told me quickly. “They don’t like extreme temperatures.”
“Well, let’s see if we can turn it down, then.” I imagined a blue substance between us and the spider— something that would hurt when you touched it, like dry ice. I was shocked when it appeared before us. The spider put its foot into the substance as an experiment. It screeched and violently drew its limb back immediately. The limb looked frostbitten.
I smiled. Looks like I performed well under pressure.
I figured that would be enough to get it to leave us alone, but guess not, because the spider drew back and fired a large ball of green goo at us from its pinchers. I dove to the side, and Kiara grabbed Alexei, dragging him away from the goo ball before it could touch us. The liquid sputtered and smoldered on the ground, eating away at the stone beneath our feet like some type of acid.
Right. Don’t let that touch you, either.
Kiara and I had no time to make another plan of defense, because the spider started firing off venom balls like a machine gun. I dodged, and Kiara did her best to yank Alexei out of the way at every possibility.
The spider paused for a moment, as if to refill his venom. Alexei’s head was lolling on his shoulders. “Leave me. You’ll die, too,” he begged weakly.
“We aren’t leaving you behind,” Kiara said firmly. She had him propped up against her, one of his arms thrown over her shoulder. She looked at me. “What do we do?” she whispered.
“I don’t know,” I said. I was still new at this monster-hunting bullshit, and Kiara couldn’t help me when she was busy protecting Alexei. We couldn’t climb up the ravine, either, because we’d jumped in without thinking and were stuck down here. We only had a few seconds before the spider recovered and we’d have to dodge venom bullets again.
“Emma! What are you doing?!” I heard a voice from above. I looked up. Ethan stood at the edge of the ravine, alongside a dark-haired boy I didn’t know.
“I think it’s pretty fucking obvious we’re trying not to get eaten by a giant spider!” I shouted. “So if you wanna help, it’d be greatly appreciated!”
I heard the sound of Ethan swearing, and he said, “Stefan, get them out. I’ll deal with the spider.”
“It’s a taranticula,” Kiara corrected. I rolled my eyes.
There was a rushing sound— the noise of transformation. The dark-haired boy had transformed into an enormous black dragon, who spread his wings so he could drift down the ravine. He landed in front of us, blocking us off from the spider.
Stefan roared, and the spider cowered at the sight of him. There were perks to having a dragon around, I guess. Stefan opened his mouth, and flames came furling out from it, making the temperature in the area rise by ten degrees and causing the spider to flee for its life.
While the spider was attempting to get away from the flames, Ethan jumped off the ravine. He changed into a wolven mid-fall and landed on top of the spider, crushing it to the ground. Ethan raised an open mouth full of fangs before he sank them into the spider’s head, causing black blood to gush out of the monster’s skull.
The spider gave a few involuntary twitches as it died. Ethan stepped off of it once it was dead.
Totally bad-ass.
Ethan advanced toward us, changing back into a human as he did so and wiping his mouth of blood. He looked… really pissed. I couldn’t imagine why.
“The beast is dead. He won’t be trapping Arcanea down here any longer,” Ethan snapped. He shot me a harsh look. Really? What did I do to deserve that?
“What about the venom?” I asked him. “Won’t it kill you?”
“My fangs sank into its brain. I didn’t get any of the venom on me,” Ethan said.
Ew. The taste of brain was probably very unpleasant.
But we still had a problem. Alexei was fading, fast. The cut on his wing had changed as he did, and turned into a large gash that started on his left arm and went all the way down his back. It was pouring blood. Alexei faltered, and Kiara went to catch him.
“On Stefan’s back,” Ethan instructed. He lifted Alexei onto Stefan like it was no problem. By this time, Alexei had passed out. Ethan helped Kiara up. She sat between Stefan’s spikes, holding onto Alexei’s body securely.
Then I felt hands boosting me up. My entire body got warm as I felt Ethan lift me upward and set me on Stefan’s back. He got on behind me and put an arm around my form, holding me tightly while grasping one of the spikes for support.
Stefan started forward before I was even ready. He sank his giant claws into the ravine walls and began scaling them like a gecko. I clung to Ethan, because I was worried if I tried to grab onto the spikes like the rest of them, I’d accidentally slice my hand open. They looked sharp.
When we got to the top of the ravine, Stefan stopped. “We’ll get off here. Stefan will fly faster with just two,” Ethan said, and he slid off.
Stefan looked at him with glittering, red eyes. “Back off on the snacks and it wouldn’t be an issue.”
“Ha ha,” Ethan said dryly. Stefan rumbled with laughter.
As I dismounted I ended up losing my balance. I would’ve fallen forward on my face if Ethan hadn’t been there to catch me. I collided into his chest. I looked up, and for a moment caught his eyes. My heart skipped a beat. My breaths became faster as we shared a glance between us. It was so brief, I barely noticed it.
Back off, Emma. You belong to the Phantom, not this dude.
I pulled away. Ethan seemed regretful to let me go. I stooped down to grab my backpack and our bag of books from the ground. “I’ve got these, Kiara. Meet you back at the dorms.”
“Okay.” Kiara was barely paying attention to me. Her eyes were too fixated on the boy in front of her, studying his face like he was some sort of puzzle.
“Kiara, he’s a griffin,” I teased.
She blushed. “I know.”
“Oh gods, don’t start this shit,” Stefan complained. “At least not with me around.”
Stefan spread his wings. The black dragon lifted into the sky and carried the two of them off to school, in the direction of the medical chamber.
The moment he was gone, Ethan whirled on me. “Why are you always getting into trouble?”
My mouth dropped open in outrage. “Me? Yeah, because I go looking for things to kill me. It’s a pastime of mine.”
“It sure as hell seems that way,” he growled under his breath.
“Look, if you didn’t want to save me, you didn’t have to. You could’ve walked away and let the spider eat me. At least you wouldn’t be bothered to take time out of your day.” I crossed my arms.<
br />
“You’re impossible,” he grumbled. “Come on. We need to get back to the school.”
“Nah, I think I’ll just stay out here and look for something else to attack me. After all, I’m good at that, right?” I asked sarcastically.
“Now, Emma.”
I knew better than to resist the command in his tone. I shook my head and followed after him. Ethan remained close by my side as we got back on the path to Arcanea University, our shoulders nearly touching. I’d figure he’d put his arm around me if he wasn’t so pissed.
“This isn’t my fault. Bad things just happen to me,” I argued.
“Apparently. I’m in half a mind to lock you up in your room and never let you out.” He gave me a half-smile that was rugged and intense.
“A princess in a tower, eh? Funny. Usually the wolves who come to play want to keep her out, not in.” I gave him a harsh stare. “You know, so they can keep reminding her of her mistakes.”
“Look. I’m sorry for the way I treated you in Monster Hunting on your first day. It was uncalled for,” Ethan said. He took a big sigh, as if this was a hard thing for him to do— admit he was wrong. “But I… lost someone. And I don’t think I could handle it if I saw the same thing happen to you.”
My anger softened. “Your father.”
He nodded. “Yes. So please don’t take it personally. Being an Arcanea is serious business, and I don’t want to see anyone else get hurt.”
My stomach sank. I wasn’t anything special to him. Just an Arcanea he didn’t want to become another statistic, like all the others.
I crossed my arms around my torso and held myself. “Well, believe it or not, you’re not the only one who’s saved me. I went for a walk the other night and was cornered by the Black Claw. The Phantom chased them off. He saved me. So maybe you’re right when you say I go looking for trouble, even though I say trouble finds me.”
A thoughtful look crossed his face. “So you’ve met the Phantom. I wouldn’t consider yourself lucky. People who get tangled up with him often end up hurt.”
“I beg your pardon?” I asked. Anger boiled beneath my skin. How dare Ethan talk about my mate that way? It wasn’t right. He had no fucking clue.
