“And we had to make sure it wasn’t a once off,” said Pearl.
“I really don’t get it,” I said.
“You must have known that your path will keep intersecting with the S.L.A., being half Crystal Witch?” said Pearl.
“Did I?”
“And soon enough, Ulric came to Aviar, warning us about what you’d been asked to do to Safi.”
“Kat didn’t know I came here,” said Ulric, clearing his throat.
“But she knew that she had to run away from your academy so that she wouldn’t be forced to cause harm to Saffron.”
“Of course, I wanted to warn her – she’s my best friend,” I said. “And she’s always been a lot more open-minded about everything than the rest of you.”
“We don’t doubt where your allegiance lies either,” said Pearl.
“Funny way of showing it,” I retorted.
“I’m glad it was so convincing then,” smiled Pearl.
“What?”
“That ruse we put on, about forsaking you,” said Pearl, coming to stand in front of me, “it was entirely for the benefit of those two vampires that came with you that day.”
“But,” I stammered, not daring to dream that things could be different for me. That things could be easier. Or better.
“That’s right. Those two, like all your vampire professors, are big members of the Dark Legion. We had to convince them you were all theirs.”
“But the Revelation I was made to do,” I said, as tears of overwhelm stung me.
“Yes, if anything that proved how loyal you are. You felt betrayed by Lorna and yet you saved her. We knew it was only a matter of time before that loyalty was tested again.
“And, when it comes to revenge, vampires are highly predictable. They seek it at all costs. And soon enough, they asked you to prove your worth against your own best friend. They did our work for us. And now that we know beyond doubt that we can trust you, I’ve got a proposition for you,” said Pearl.
Chapter 13
“What?” I asked, bewildered. I still couldn’t believe what she was saying. What did that mean for my future? What did it say about my past?
“It’s been decided that you should be offered a place at Superno Academy,” said Pearl. “You have something even the best of the best in the S.L.A. lack. You have a strong alliance with vampires.”
Pearl knew what she’d said had completely floored me and she unconsciously twirled and untwirled a curl of her brilliantly snow-white hair. It bemused me that playing with her hair, the very habit that had always been a sign of hesitation in Safi, was one of confidence in her mother. Or maybe it wasn’t.
“Are you serious?” was all I could manage.
“Very. You’re one of us, Katrina. And ultimately, we look out for our own.”
I couldn’t think clearly. I wanted to ask her if the offer was immediate. I wanted to ask about the protections that would need to be extended to me and my friends from the staff within Bloodline Academy and beyond who’d no doubt be furious about my departure.
I wanted to jump up and down. I’d be with Safi again and it would be like before but with our dreams coming true, being at Superno together. Only it wouldn’t because Natalie and Valenthia would be left behind. And then there was Ulric. The vampires would kill him when they realized he’d helped me escape to Superno.
“Don’t forget to ask her why they were more than happy to send you into the jaws of death at least twice now,” Ulric urged. He gave me a look to make sure I’d heard him but Pearl was oblivious to what he’d said, mainly because he’d only thought it. So, the telepathic block was only between Safi and I, not for me reading the mind of someone else who’d given me permission to do so. I nodded discretely at him. He was right. Before I got too excited, I needed to confront her that I knew whatever she was offering wasn’t because they cared about me but because they needed my help. I hoped that gave me the advantage this time.
“If I’m one of your own, why are you only seeing that now? Like literally, only once we’re behind the closed doors of your office?” I said, “Even when we were walking through the hallway, you told me not to communicate with Safi – that I was forbidden to.”
“And that’s exactly what we need everyone to believe for now. Including Saffron,” said Pearl.
“Then how are you going to grant me a place here, if no one is allowed to know that I’m here?”
“That’s where we make a deal,” said Pearl, walking over to her desk and pulling out something. It was a thin and long piece of silken paper, curled over at the ends. More like a scroll. “For now, you will be distantly admitted here. You will return to St. Erzsebet’s Academy and send us any intelligence the S.L.A. needs to bulk up against the Dark Legion. What we need most of all, are ears and eyes on the ground.”
“But wait a second,” I said. I’d thought she could only throw me such a huge curve ball once. I was wrong.
“We’ll need to know everything, including detailed plans of the academy. There is reason to believe the that place hides much more than even the students there could ever imagine,” said Pearl, “and of course, you’ll need to really make it convincing that you’ve embraced your vampire side.”
“And what the hell is in it for me, apart from the usually high level of danger?” I said, narrowing my eyes. And I’d judged vampires to be the ones who were full of themselves. Pearl looked at me, disapproval passed across her face. I thought she was going to reprimand me or make some snarky comment about my situation. Instead she said:
“That’s fair enough. What do you want?”
She really must have been desperate to say that. I looked at Ulric and even though he didn’t send me the thought, the first one he’d had had been about his sister. It gave me an idea.
“There are a few things,” I said.
“Sure, name them,” replied Pearl. Wow. I’d never seen her so agreeable.
“Firstly, I want to know if Ulric’s sister, Winnie, has been recruited by the S.L.A.”
“Why would she be?” asked Pearl, looking from me to Ulric.
“Because the werewolf who was part of the vampire gang that attacked Lorna was her. She’s been missing since shortly after that night and we thought the S.L.A. might have found her and taken her. Either to supernatural prison or under its’ wing if she wanted to switch sides.”
“No,” Pearl said slowly, “You know I was in that rescue operation and I would have had to agree if any of my circle decided to take on and reform a rogue werewolf.”
“Then where is she?” asked Ulric. I could feel the panic rising inside him. He’d probably placed all his hopes with this scenario being the one.
“I don’t know,” said Pearl, impervious to his growing distress.
“Do you think she was taken to supernatural prison?” I asked, saying what Ulric couldn’t.
“No. Again, if anyone would’ve been caught that night, I’d know about it. I take it at least some of your pack has been trying to track her?” Pearl said to Ulric.
“Of course. She was to be mated with my alpha,” said Ulric, looking down.
“This is exactly why you have to go back to St. Erzsebet’s Academy.” Pearl looked at me. “The place is a labyrinth. If his sister isn’t on the run and we don’t have her, I can almost bet you my own crystal that she’s being held somewhere within your school. Or someone there knows something.”
“Then I’ll go back!” said Ulric, springing up from his chair.
“You can’t!” I said, “Besides, if Winnie was at the school, wouldn’t you and your pack smell her or something?”
“Not necessarily,” said Pearl, “they know how well werewolves track each other. They’ll have masked any trace of her if she is there.”
“Or dead,” said Ulric, beginning to pace a circle in front of us.
“No, no, she won’t be,” said Pearl dismissively.
“How do you know?” I asked, hoping that Safi and Aviar’s mom was using som
e gift of divination to give us that information.
“Because if they wanted to kill her, they wouldn’t just do it and hide her. They’d use it to make a statement to you and definitely to the werewolves. If a body hasn’t turned up, she’s alive.”
Ulric flinched at the mention of his sister being described that way, as did I. “I will go back and look for her,” I said. And before Ulric could protest or Pearl could conveniently move on, I added, “but Ulric has to be given proper admission here, starting right now.”
“But…” said Ulric and Pearl in unison.
“Nope, no buts. This is my offer, take it or leave it, both of you.”
“Katrina, he’s a Black Bane,” tried Pearl. Ulric just stared at me, mind-blown. Though his expression was shocked, what he felt wasn’t just gratitude but something much bigger.
“Kat,” he began but I silenced him with a glance that meant business.
“And like you haven’t placed former Black Banes into the S.L.A. before,” I said.
“We have, maybe as muscle on the ground but Superno Academy is a different matter altogether.”
“Why?”
“Because as a supernatural school it’s the cream of the cream. This is a place for the future leaders of our world. It’s not a place where werewolves marked out as fighters for the Dark Legion, get to study.”
“Does he look like someone who’s headed for the Dark Legion anytime soon?” I said, “You guys have stiffed me big time. You stood by and watched as one of your own got expelled from her coven and taken into Bloodline Academy.
“You swooped in once all the danger was basically over and collected a High Priestess after failing to save her yourselves. And then the best part is that knowing how me and my friends had risked our lives in a way that no one in the S.L.A. did, you lot made me do a Revelation so our professors knew exactly how we’d acted. You left us all there to be dealt with as they saw fit.”
“The S.L.A. has its flaws,” said Pearl, looking away.
“And that’s an awesome confession but you need to give Ulric admittance here before I leave or I won’t be going back to the academy. I’ll go somewhere else like I’d planned to do.”
“Fine,” Pearl sighed loudly, “it won’t be easy. Consider it your favour called in.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I pushed. “No, that was just one of them. The other is that unless Ulric rescinds my invite to read his mind, there will be no blocks on his communication with me.” I didn’t want Safi to communicate with me as it could lead to her being found by the vamps who’d surely be looking for her even more, now.
“That could compromise the security of the school,” said Pearl.
“But it won’t because only he can send me messages and he hasn’t done a thing to let light magic down so far, which is more than I can say for some witches. I can’t compel him if that’s what you’re worried about. Our communication is a one-way thing. But I’m sure you already knew that.”
“Is there anything else?” asked Pearl with a look of disdain.
“If any of the vampires I care about are ever in trouble, I want the S.L.A., to step in and help them this time. None of that whole we can’t help her she’s a vampire thing,” I pressed.
“Are you finished?”
“For now. But if I need anything down the line that helps either keep me or those I care for, alive I’m going to ask for it,” I said.
Pearl watched me. Although she tried her best to bring across that she was in the superior position, I could tell that she felt hard done, by my negotiating skills. “Anything you learn, you will report back to me through this,” she said handing me a very small white quartz, whilst holding a scroll of paper in her other hand.
“But you know what happened last time I took a crystal into the academy with me,” I said as I examined the crystal.
“This time, it’s only for one purpose. And the magic on it, is bound to what it’s to be used for which is to send me updates. And that too, only by you. Just place the crystal in your left hand and intend the message you want to send. I’ll receive it.”
She went back over to her desk and placed the scroll-like piece of paper down on it. Looking put out, she summoned a swirl of magic. It was silver, just like mine and it slowly curled around the paper, lifting it up and off the desk. Within a few seconds, there were two almost identical scrolls on the desk and Pearl handed one to Ulric and one to me.
“Here, these are both of your admission papers. But just know,” she said turning to Ulric, “Once you are admitted here, there is no more pack. If we find out you’ve been communicating with a Black Bane, we will expel you.”
“What about my sister?” asked Ulric, “What if we find her?”
“You won’t be doing any finding. If Katrina finds her and if she can be sufficiently rehabilitated, then we’ll see.”
“And what if I can’t find her – or if she doesn’t want to be rehabilitated?” I found myself asking, mainly because I didn’t want Ulric to have to ask.
“If she’s not in a fit state to shun darkness, then I very much doubt she’ll want to talk to you or have anything further to do with you,” replied Pearl, curtly.
We signed our papers. Ulric’s was a more straightforward admission, with the extra condition that he didn’t go back to life as a Black Bane or otherwise do anything to endanger the students and professors at Superno. Mine was complicated. After signing the admission form, I was basically a student in both places but only on paper.
I immediately realized that unless something very unlikely happened, like the Dark Legion disintegrating all by itself, my own admission wasn’t about being schooled at Superno at all. Rather, if I survived Bloodline Academy for the next few years, it was about eventually getting a place within the S.L.A as if I had gone through my schooling at Superno. It was potential accolades without the experience. The first thought that came to me was that even if I made it into the S.L.A., I’d be the freak who’d gone to Bloodline Academy. Oh well, it was the best I had, right now.
“We need a minute,” said Ulric.
“Very well,” said Pearl, “but don’t touch anything.”
I gazed around her room properly once she’d left. It was covered in old magical artefacts and it surprised me that she’d even trusted us enough to leave us unattended. Ulric wasn’t so curious about his surroundings.
“How are you going to do this?” he pulled me close and whispered. He frowned and I could feel his unease.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“If I stay here, you’re going to be at the academy, all by yourself.”
“And if you don’t, you’re going to get killed if and when they find out you’ve been helping me,” I said, “and besides, I’m not alone there. I have Natalie and Valenthia.”
“They may not even know we’ve left. I can just go back with you and as far as they all know, this never happened.” Ulric didn’t seem convinced.
“But your sister is missing. And when we find her, if she wants a way out of all this mess, she’s going to need her big brother on the inside,” I insisted. “Kane won’t be able to protect her the way the S.L.A. can.”
“And nor will he want to after what she’s pulled,” agreed Ulric. “I wish there was a way that I could make sure you’re okay. I feel like such a jerk. It just doesn’t feel right.”
“I’ll be fine. Pearl will make sure of that because she needs me,” I said, also wishing there was a way that Ulric and I could have two-way communication after I went back. “You don’t need to feel guilty,” I said, instantly picking up on how he was feeling, “and what Pearl doesn’t know is that I’m apparently also a Bathory,” I sighed with disgust, “Nadasdy won’t try anything.”
“Promise me that if anyone asks where I am, you’ll just say, you don’t know. Even if it’s Kane. After today, in his eyes I’ll be as bad as my sister. A defector from an already flailing pack. I don’t want anyone to link it back to you.”
“Yes,” I said, not giving Ulric the chance to change her mind about his admission.
“Good. And is there anything I need to know before you leave, Katrina?’
I nodded, filling her in on what I’d discovered in Tempus Fugit, including about the charms and the grunches that guarded them. As usual, Pearl was unreadable.
“That’s a very dark and ancient magic,” Pearl said, after becoming silent. “If there are charms involved and those creatures, this is definitely something the S.L.A. needs to be aware of,” she paused, “stay here, I’ll be back.”
“I really don’t want to leave you,” Ulric came over and pulled me close, the moment Pearl had left. “I wish I’d never brought you here. This is the last thing I want and you must know that,” he tried again.
“I do,” I said, enjoying the warmth of him, his arms wrapped tightly around my waist. “But I want you safe and what she’s offered us looks like the best choice right now.”
“They’re using you. They’re no different from the vampires,” Ulric whispered in my ear, “I was so dumb to think otherwise.”
“It’s fine. I’ll be okay,” I said thinking quickly about how I could reassure him. “I can still read your mind, right? How about whenever I feel you worrying about me, I’ll come and visit you?”
“In that case, I’ll worry about you the moment you’re gone,” replied Ulric. I heard the smile in his words. “Don’t do it,” he added sullenly, “it’ll up the chance of getting caught.”
I nodded. For the first time ever, Ulric had the chance to start again. To stay safe. I couldn’t take that away from him because of some half-baked plot to runaway. Even walking our way through the city unseen to get here had been hard enough. I mean, we’d already been found by a vampire posing as my mother. Who might possibly be who she said she was. I needed to forget about all of this for now. The concern and tenderness that radiated from within Ulric’s mind, pulled me from my pity party and back into his arms.
I looked up into Ulric’s warm, amber eyes that glowed as he peered into mine. I felt the tingle of my blooming, all the way up my arm. My cheeks burned with heat and as my magic began to rise to the surface, something else flashed through me. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it apart from that it made me feel like life was too weird and uncertain to play the shy girl. I pulled him down to me and kissed him. The world fell away and even with my eyes closed, I sensed the silver swirls of magic that rose up between us, enveloping us in a bubble that belonged only to the two of us.
Dark Spark: A Young Adult Urban Fantasy Novel (Bloodline Academy Book 2) Page 13
