Every time Peony riled me up, I disappeared into the bathroom. Her triumphant smile told me she was certain I went there to cry, not to hide out and channel my power into becoming a copy of her and then waiting for the glamour to wear off.
I even considered turning into her instead of Kristen for the big night, but there was one major issue. Even if I looked like a replica of Peony, I had no plant magic. Being unable to make anything grow would make whoever bought her suspicious very quickly.
Soon, May came to an end. The written tests were done without any huge fanfare. We were at the end of the year now. And for some of us, it might even be the end of our lives.
I scored an A in Courtesan Studies, PE, and even History. Only Thorsten gave me a B in German.
“I can’t believe Sullivan didn’t try to make me fail,” I exclaimed to Lily, who received a B in History. We walked down the corridor with our grade reports in our hands.
She stiffened. “The grades don’t matter anymore, Onyx. They’re just a formality.”
I grabbed a tray as we headed into the cafeteria and loaded up grilled vegetables and chicken on my plate. “Cheer up. It will be fine.”
Lily snorted. “How? They might not have announced the bidding ball yet, but it’s just around the corner, and I still haven’t gotten any letters.” More quietly, she added, “Which you’d know if you ever bothered to ask.”
I whirled around, trying to shove certain thoughts away. If I hadn't stabbed Vulthus, Lily might have had a chance to talk to some vamps on the night of the second outing. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Lily took a step back, but then squared her shoulders. “You’ve become very self-involved.”
I shrugged. “It’s Nocturnal Academy, what do you expect?”
Whatever she was about to say next got cut off as Peony sauntered up to us, Virgie and Kristen behind her. “Guess what? I’m going to work for the botanical gardens.” Peony threw her curls back and flashed a Hollywood smile, tilting her head this and that way, giving us her best angle as if we were paparazzi eager to get a close-up of her.
“Virgie secured a nice place too.” Peony elbowed Virgie. “Tell them.”
Virgie forced a half smile. “I’m going to be the courtesan of Lord Steinberg.”
My stomach lurched, and Peony shoved me, giggling like a maniac. Then she lowered her voice just for my ears. “Oh, relax, Onyx. Your crush could never afford her. Griffin Steinberg is buying Virgie.”
Kristen stepped forward, pushing Virgie back. “I’m going to travel Asia with the Wus. Singapore and Hong Kong, here I come.” She smirked at me, all bravado when she was close to Mei and Peony. “Better enjoy tonight before you get trapped in Vulthus’s torture chamber.” Then Kristen turned to Lily and scrunched up her nose. “Sorry, little mouse, we don’t know who’s going to buy you, but there’s a few sick fucks who’re into this.” She gestured dismissively at Lily’s body, and the ice in my veins rose.
“Are you going to run to the bathroom and cry again?” Peony teased.
I walked past her, holding my head high. “No, I’m going to enjoy my lunch.”
Lily followed me to a table in the corner, but didn’t speak as we ate in silence. She was shaking. I considered saying something, but what was there to say? I had already tried to rescue her last time and look where it had gotten me. My attempts to help Virgie and Blair had also backfired. I needed to stop taking care of others and focus on Onyx. I couldn’t help everyone.
The gong rang, and Headmistress Cardinal’s voice echoed through the loudspeakers. “Students, report to your dorms immediately. Our bidding ball starts in two hours. I know some of you might be surprised at the short notice, but be assured that it was done in your best interests and for security purposes.”
My heart sank into my shoes and the strength fled my knees. Peony had known about this before the rest of us did, probably thanks to Mei. I hadn’t known the exact day the ball would take place, but I hadn’t expected it to be tonight. Forcing myself to keep a brave face, I snorted. “So that we can’t make one final dash or attempt suicide.”
Lily gave me a half smile, and my chest grew warmer before I reminded myself of my mantra. No more helping others. I had to finally focus on myself, just as my mom had done when she had taken the money. She was probably in Mexico, her toes nestled in soft sand, enjoying the salty ocean breeze.
“You will find all you need to get ready in your dorms,” Headmistress Cardinal continued. “A servant will assist you in getting ready.”
Whispers broke out all around us in the cafeteria. The vamps weren’t giving us nice clothes and assistance so that we could feel good about ourselves. They were prepping us and putting us on a silver platter like fattened pigs, all ready for the buyers to dig in.
“Fae students to your rooms. Now.” At Headmistress Cardinal’s command, everyone rose and filed out of the room. I gritted my teeth, promising my ice, that soon, very soon, I’d unleash it. Once I turned into Kristen and got out of Nocturnal Academy, there would be no holding back. If anyone would ever try to hurt me, I would fight back for all I was worth.
20
Onyx
Lily stayed on my heels as I hurried up to our dorm, needing to know what the vamps had concocted. When I threw open my door, I found more than just our dresses waiting for us.
“Hello,” a gray-uniformed fae woman said with a nod. Her uniform had a patch on the front that simply read Cleaner. She was a youngish looking fae, though I knew she could in reality be much older. But her eyes still had some life in them. She couldn’t be that old, then.
The other fae, on the other hand, had stony blue eyes that trained on me and Lily. She was all business and stared at us as if we were objects.
“You’re cleaning our dorm?” I asked. That didn’t make sense because we students typically did that ourselves.
“Undress,” the gruff fae woman commanded. “We are here to clean you for the ceremony.”
Lily shrank back into the corridor. “Clean us?”
Like we were rugs or vases. This was yet another reminder that we didn’t have people status in this society. We were merely things. More ice filled my veins and threatened to break loose. My cold merged with darkness. These fae hadn’t fought. They didn’t deserve any status. Yes, the vamps were tyrants, but by not fighting back, those fae had made themselves complicit in their exploitation.
The gruff woman seized my wrist, and I swallowed my ice down before she could feel it. For all I knew she was loyal to her vamp employer, whoever he was.
The next twenty minutes brought the flame of humiliation to my cheeks. The two cleaners made us undress and then assaulted us with brushes, razors, soaps, and damp cloths. Water dripped onto the floor as the gruff fae woman worked on my back, making her way toward my neck. Dangerously close to freezing the puddle surrounding my bare feet, I funneled my anger into words.
“Are you trying to scrub off the top layer of my skin?”
Beside me, Lily cringed and wrapped her arms over her chest as the other fae, who had more mercy than my cleaner, worked on the back of her neck.
“The vamps don’t want to bite flesh that has the remotest odor or dirt during an event like this,” the gruff fae said.
“What?” My ice melted in terror. “They’re going to bite us at the ball?”
“You are being bidded on. It is tradition for each vampire to taste his or her new purchase at the end of the ceremony.”
I hadn’t known that. Lily looked at me in horror, searching for comfort, but I eyed my bunk and the red dress draped over it. A corset was lying open over it. Great, maybe the pain of my organs being crushed would distract me from fangs tearing through my flesh.
“Onyx?” Lily asked in a shaky voice.
I didn’t respond. It was time to push the baby bird out of the nest. After tonight, I wouldn’t see her again. The sooner she learned to fend for herself, the better.
Finally, the cleaners released us and pu
t us into our corsets. I had to hold on to my dresses as the gruff fae tightened the laces on my back until I was certain I’d pass out. The only reason I didn’t protest was because I sensed it would only lead to the gruff fae making my bindings worse. Clearly, it gave her a power trip to torture us younger fae. Anyhow, I couldn’t focus on her or on the fear of Vulthus biting me. I had to follow my plan. Before the night was over, I needed to isolate Kristen, incapacitate her, and turn into her, maintaining the glamour until I was far away from the academy with the Wus.
The cleaners pushed the dresses down over our heads. My red dress looked much like the one I’d worn on my first outing. It was open up the side of my thigh and pushed up my chest. The cleaners pulled Lily’s hair up into an updo, adding fake hair pieces to make it appear fuller while my purple locks were braided into a sideways fishtail.
Lily watched me in silence for a moment before saying, “I won’t get a good bidder.”
I wanted to comfort her and tell her that someone besides that old vamp from our Flamenco dance at the Placement Tests would take her, that her business plan was sound, but I held back. “We’ll see what happens.”
Lily’s palms balled the fabric of her ivory dress that was much more modest than mine and played up the whole innocent virgin thing that apparently disgusting, middle-aged vamps were into. “Why are you acting like this?”
“Like what? A person who’s rational and is trying to survive?”
She opened her mouth, but whatever she had been about to say was drowned out by the gong ringing, indicating we were to head downstairs and probably toward the ballroom.
I walked ahead of Lily, leaving her behind, swallowing down the pain in my chest. Other fae, including Peony in a bright golden, happy dress, descended the steps. She twirled a curl around her finger as she walked ahead of Kristen, who was in a baby-blue gown, and Virgie, who wore a deep-purple dress that like mine left little to the imagination. Now I understood why she'd gone back to Peony and Kristen. She'd done what she had to do to survive and it had worked. Now I would be doing the same.
Kristen stayed close to Peony and Virgie, who ignored me. It would be tough to study Virgie and get her alone. And I needed to get her alone. I could only transform into someone after spending one-one-one time with them, preferably in a charged situation that left me fuming.
Still, I watched every blonde highlight of Kristen’s dark hair and confirmed to memory her blue lace dress. Theoretically, I could get her out of it and swap clothes, but that would require too much time I didn’t have and a fight that might notify others. No, I needed to knock her unconscious.
We made it to the ballroom, which had a lot of tables with fancy white and gold tablecloths off to the side. Fae spread out, huddling in groups, trying to ward off the vamps on the periphery of the room. Even the vamp students had come to the ball, and once again, they were congregating around the best food as well as goblets of blood. The room smelled like a mixture of roast turkey and iron. A bad taste rose in my mouth.
On the far end of the room, older vampires sat. Two dozen in total, all decked out in designer suits and fine dresses. Griffin Steinberg was staring straight ahead, not talking to anyone. The old vamp with the bald spot, who had taken an interest in Lily, talked animatedly to another old vamp I didn’t know. Lady Cardinal made her way to Lord Steinberg while Lord Sullivan greeted Gregory Vulthus, who sat in the center, hands folded, his misshapen nose turned up as he surveyed the room. I stepped back, hating that I felt like prey, and got behind a group of huddled fae girls that I didn’t know.
I searched the room for the Wus, but they were nowhere to be found. Hopefully, they were still planning to buy Kristen or all my efforts of learning glamour would’ve been a waste. Sure, I could corner someone else and exchange heated words, then transform into them, but what if I picked a fae that was supposed to have magic or said something out of character. No, it had to be Kristen. Someone would buy her, and I’d go with them. Trying to calm down, I focused on the remainder of the players in this sick game.
Guards in black uniforms lined the walls. Thorsten stood in the corner. My heart lurched with hope at those blond strands and blue eyes. Then I got a grip on myself and hardened myself.
I would not play his stupid games anymore. I had two missions tonight, and one was to make a clean break that neither of us would cross again. I had to shut down my heart so that I could survive in this world.
“Attention, attendees.” Lady Cardinal clapped her hands together. She turned toward the vampires and smiled. “Dear patrons of Nocturnal Academy, thank you for coming and celebrating the end of the spring term with our annual bidding ball. I hope you enjoy it. Please feel free to dance with any fae before you make your bids.”
Had spring really arrived? I supposed so. At this high altitude it didn’t feel like May at all. Would I ever feel the warmth of the sunlight on my skin again? Or would I remain confined to the unnatural darkness the vampires needed? I gritted my teeth, hating how much they had taken from me.
Because of the vamps, I wasn’t returning to my family. After tonight, I wouldn’t have any friends or even teammates. I’d be on my own. But if I escaped, I’d have my freedom. I’d choose what I ate and when, how to dress, how to earn my money, and most importantly where to go. This was what I was fighting for. After tonight, I’d escape somewhere far away, perhaps to California where it was warm and sunny.
Fae musicians that I had never seen before began playing classical music, and many of the vamp guests rose. The vamp students followed suit, emerging from behind their feast and blood goblets to survey the pickings. Even some of the guards peeled themselves from the walls.
I glanced around, not knowing who I was looking for at first when my heart clenched at not being able to find Lily. She’d be fine. She was probably hiding from the old vamps. She wasn’t my responsibility.
I needed to focus on escaping Nocturnal Academy. I searched for Kristen, but instead found myself gazing into arctic eyes. Thorsten was walking straight toward me, and a traitorous wave of longing shot through my core. Stupid body. It needed to catch up with my head. Thorsten was a psycho like the rest of them.
Thorsen took my hands before I could say anything, guiding me out into the center of the ballroom. What the hell? The only reason I didn’t push him away was because I didn’t want to make a scene and draw unnecessary attention toward myself.
“What are you doing?” I hissed, forcing myself to look up into his darn eyes that had mesmerized me countless times.
The song dropped to a low lament, and Thorsten’s features tightened. Something flashed across his face too quickly for me to name. Was it hurt, regret? No, I was done wishing he’d be different. I was done participating in his sick games.
“Don’t trust anyone, Onyx. And don’t look back.”
How dare he give me advice after everything? How dare he pretend like he cared? I pulled away from him. Thorsten could’ve stopped me, but he didn’t. Instead he let his arms flop to his sides as I hurried away, needing to take a moment to steady myself before everything began to unfold. Because whether or not I liked it, tonight was the night that would change everything.
If I failed, I’d become the worst kind of slave.
If I failed, Vulthus would decimate me day by day until death would seem like mercy.
But if I won…
If I escaped, I could start over.
I could be free.
Freedom. That was all I had left.
21
Onyx
I could still feel Thorsten’s gaze on my back as I made my way across the ballroom and through the dancing fae and vamps. Maybe I could get Kristen to come with me into the restroom if I promised that I knew something about Thorsten. Given the last twenty-four hours, it wouldn’t be hard to convince her that I hated him. Then, when she followed me into the bathroom for the gossip, I could take my chance. But was I really knocking her out? Or simply gagging and binding her? Neither sounded great,
but I had already done much worse. And I needed to do whatever was necessary to escape Vulthus.
A blue dress with lace caught my eye to the left. Kristen was dancing with Kassius, nodding eagerly as he was telling her something. I gritted my teeth.
The last thing I wanted was to get on his radar and have to flirt with him as he pawed me. I really didn’t have the nerves or patience for that right now. I stood off to the side, waiting for the song to end. The seconds seemed to trickle on forever, but, eventually, the piano player hit the final key. Kristen curtsied, and Kassius nodded, clearly too good to bow, then strode away in the opposite direction. I rushed forward, ready to grab Kristen’s hand as Lady Cardinal’s voice boomed through the room from the direction of the buyers’ table. “Attention, everyone. We have our first contract.”
My hand dropped to my side, and my body turned to stone, my feet refusing to move. The contract could’ve been for anyone, but a horrible sense of foreboding slammed into me.
“Onyx Logan, step forward.”
Everyone around me scooted away, making any attempt at hiding impossible. With heavy steps, I made my way toward Lady Cardinal, tears gathering in my eyes. I swallowed them. They wouldn’t help me. I needed to remember that even if Vulthus bought me, I still had a chance. As long as I didn’t leave Nocturnal Academy with him, there was hope.
I joined Headmistress Cardinal at the front of the room, and she gave me a wicked smile. Dropping her voice so that only I could hear, she hissed, “You’ll fall in line. I did my best, but he’ll finish the job.” She faced the crowd. “Onyx Logan, sold to Lord Vulthus for one million dollars.”
My muscles clenched, breathing became impossible, and my heart stopped beating out of fear. I had expected that it would be him, and yet, like a foolish, weak girl, I had hoped for a miracle. I had hoped for a bidding war, that someone would at least stand up and try to rescue me. But there was no one. I had to wake up. There were no miracles, no allies. I was on my own. I had always been on my own.
The Nocturnal and Fae Prison Academy Boxset [A Complete Paranormal and Fantasy Series Boxset] Page 39
