The President. She was dressed in black, and her steel grey hair was flowing down around her. Now that I saw her, she looked crazy. I wondered if she always had and I had just missed it. I had just thought of her as an authority figure, not as something flesh and blood that could lose her mind. Flanking her were two hellhounds. Drool and spit were coming out of their mouths. Someone, probably a few professors if any were still alive, would probably find it interesting that the President had the loyalty of hellhounds just like demons did.
When my eyes locked with hers, the hellhounds charged. Before I could race forward, my friends came from both sides of me, running up the hill to meet the hellhounds. I heard the clash of battle as hellhound met student. I was getting tired of my friends protecting me from every danger, but they weren’t. They took care of the hellhounds, but they left the President for me.
I looked for Zervos, but he was crumpled on the ground. He would be no help in a fight against such a powerful mage.
Coming down the hill toward me, she looked taller than she was. I tried not to let it scare me. Her grayish-brown power gathered around her hands and arms. There wasn’t a magical type that had grayish brown power; the color meant that her magic was sick. The sight of it was more horrifying than confronting a hellhound. I now knew what the figure of my mother had meant in the pond that morning outside the President’ office. Someone very close to me couldn’t be trusted. The President herself.
Without warning she sent power skidding toward me. I dived out of the way, rolling as I hit the ground.
“Don’t fight this, Charlotte,” she called. Her voice was high pitched and screechy. “All the other elementals fought it. Look what happened to them.”
Anger washed over me like the rain. I pushed myself to my knees. “How dare you talk about them?” I demanded.
She threw her head back and laughed. “I spent years killing them. It was so easy. You elementals never knew how to stand together. Just like the other paranormals don’t now. It makes it so easy. Nineteen years ago we thought we had gotten them all, your dad being the last. We had no idea he had gotten some woman pregnant. If your mother hadn’t been a mage we would have known about you long ago, but your mother was smart. As far as anyone in Airlee can be, that is.”
Anger coursed through me. The rage was hot and comforting. This woman, and the other demons, had murdered my father. All my life I had wondered about him, and about why my mother would never say anything. Now I knew. Now there was someone who could pay.
“And my mother?” I asked. I had a sick feeling that my father wasn’t the only parent they had killed.
The President smiled. It was an adult smiling indulgently to a silly child. “Your mother came out in the open. She shouldn’t have. But, she wouldn’t give you up. We did try. By then we suspected she might have had a child.”
Breathing hard through my nose, I pointed my ring at the President. Instead of aiming my ring right for her, though, which she could have probably avoided, I aimed it at the ground. Power surged through me. It blasted into the earth, ripping a giant hole in front of her. She staggered. I sent another burst of power flying at her. She flipped backwards, covered in debris.
“You failed,” I said through gritted teeth. “You didn’t get all the elementals.”
“An error we will now correct,” she spat out. We were no more than ten feet apart, and even though her voice was just a low growl, I heard her.
She pushed herself to her feet. She looked like a specter from a bad dream. Bursts of magic came flying at me, faster and faster. Some sang past my face, while others melted into the ground and rose up to attack me. I had no more time to think about the elementals she had helped kill, including my family. I had to concentrate on staying alive.
Movement behind the President caught my eyes. Figures, all dressed in black, were lining the top of the hill. The professors had arrived. Finally.
The President caught the direction of my gaze. She looked over her shoulder and swore. Just as she made a move to disappear, the professors of Public sent a combined spell thundering right at her. There was a blinding flash, a rushing filled my ears, then there was nothing at all.
We had won. For now, we had beaten the demons. Public was safe.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
It turned out that Tabby hadn’t come to our aid because she was dead. A hellhound had killed her first, so she wouldn’t be able to help the wounded and they would be forced to die slow deaths. Lambros, who had returned to fight off the demons, was now acting President.
She sent for nurses from other schools, but some students still died. Tale had died defending Lanca, throwing himself in front of an oncoming demon and paying the price for it. Camilla was in a coma, but she would be fine. I found myself relieved. I knew how much Cale cared about her, even if I still didn’t understand why.
Sip was also fine. She was mad that she had missed the Power of Five, but as Cale had told her, that’s what happens when you challenge a couple of fully grown hellhounds. He was fine, but would need time to recover. Sip was one of the ones in the worst condition. If she hadn’t shifted to werewolf form mid-fight she would have been dead. As it was, a nurse couldn’t get to her fast enough, so a couple of professors decided to take her to a paranormal hospital. Lisabelle and I wanted to go with her, but of course they were still wary of Lisabelle. I soon found out that they weren’t going to let me go anywhere. As an elemental I was as good as a personification of gold, but far more valuable.
Professor Lambros had taken me aside that very night to lecture me on how important it was that I stay safe. I didn’t really listen to her. I was too tired and too happy that the demons had been beaten, Lisabelle was back, and there would be no more hellhounds roaming around Public. But I paid attention when the said to me, before heading back to the many duties that awaited her, “You mother would be proud.” That meant more to me than anything else that had happened.
Nancy died a few days after The Battle at Public, as students were starting to call it. Classes, including finals, were canceled. Unsurprisingly, Professor Lambros decreed that fighting demons was a very good measure of skill and that everyone got a pass on final examinations, including Starter tests. Students were allowed to leave any time they wanted, but most chose to stay. Many were still dazed or upset. Everyone knew a student who had died. We all realized, without talking about it, that a lot of changes were coming.
No longer could we just stand off and not help each other. The demons might never have gotten so close, and the President might never have been able to do what she did, if students had been getting along from the beginning. Now, when I walked into the dining hall and a pixie was ahead of me, he or she held the door instead of slamming it in my face.
Lisabelle showed few signs of the trauma she had experienced. Once she had received a full pardon from the school, she was back to her normal sarcastic self. But she did have scars. She wasn’t as quick to argue, and I often saw her lost in thought as she looked at her hand, where a demon had cut her.
I didn’t have plans for the Christmas break. Sip invited me home, and since I knew I wouldn’t be welcome in my stepdad’s house, I accepted her invitation. I had sent Ricky an e-mail full of fatalistic hints and predictions just before Lough and I went into Astra. Ricky had sent me a panicked e-mail back telling me that I was not allowed to do anything stupid without him there to supervise. I was forced to send him an e-mail apologizing and reassuring him. I told him I would visit over Christmas.
The night before break, as Sip and I were packing to go, there was a knock on our door. The new President had told me that by rights I should be living in the elemental dorm, but I hadn’t moved yet. I had told her I would have to think about that. It was a really big place to have to myself.
“Come in,” I called.
The door swung open and a dark head peaked around the frame. “Hey,” said Keller. He stepped into the room. “How are you?” He was wearing jeans and a dark hoodie t
hat made his blue eyes stand out even more. As usual, I wasn’t sure where to look. Nervousness snaked up my spine and through my shoulders.
“Good,” I said, inviting him in with a wave of my hand.
Sip, who was totally unaffected by Keller, was trying to close her suitcase. Keller went and helped her. Grinning, she excused herself despite the glare I gave her.
“So, you don’t need a tutor anymore,” he said. His hands were in his pockets. He looked at ease in my room, like he belonged there. But Keller was always at ease.
“Nope,” I said, folding my arms over my chest. “Thanks to my tutor.”
Keller smiled. He asked me about my Christmas plans and I told him I was visiting Sip’s family.
“I’m surprised they’re letting you leave campus. You’re a valuable asset now.”
I shook my head. “They can’t really make an argument for how safe Public is.”
Keller nodded absently. He was fidgeting with a piece of paper on Sip’s desk.
“Did you want something?” I asked, then winced. Why couldn’t I just be friendly, like a normal eighteen-year-old girl?
Keller’s eyes fixed on me. “I wanted to see how you were doing,” he explained. “And I wanted to tell you that it would be nice if….”
I waited for him to finish.
“We could be friends.”
“Is that the only reason you came?” I asked. I had to admit it. I didn’t want to be friends with Keller. That’s not what I wanted at all. He had believed in me, even when no one else did. I now knew that he had stayed away from me not because he wanted to, but because that’s what was expected of a fallen angel. I gave up any pretense of packing and just stood there and looked at him. Slowly, Keller pushed himself away from the desk and walked towards me. He was two feet away. Now he was one. Now we breathed the exact same air.
“Hi,” he said quietly. I glanced up into his eyes. That was a mistake. They were bright with his smile. I looked down again, but I smiled too.
I cleared my throat. My hands were getting sweaty, and I tried to subtly rub them off on my jeans.
“Charlotte?” his voice was still so soft, “you know how paranormals don’t date outside their houses?”
I didn’t actually dare to say anything, so I just nodded.
“Demons infiltrated us more easily because we were divided. That’s not good. We shouldn’t be divided.”
I looked into his smiling blue eyes again.
“I couldn’t agree more,” I said. He stepped forward, cupping my face in his hands. I could feel muscles even in his fingers as his thumbs skimmed softly along my cheekbones. Slowly, he kissed me. His lips, which I had stared at all semester, were softer than I expected.
I slid my arms around the hard line of his waist. My hands met at his back and I pulled him closer.
After we finished kissing, I couldn’t help but think that the President had helped bring this about. Paranormals had been a community divided, but no more. Without the battle, Keller and I would never have been able to, did he say date? Now we could try it. Now, the world was full of all kinds of new possibilities.
I spent a few days at Sip’s before I went to visit my brother. Her family was happy to have me. Luckily, they spent most of their time in human form. She had eight brothers. “Don’t ask,” was all she said, rolling her eyes. “Pure misery, but I get away with everything.” She gave a mischievous cackle.
The day before I was supposed to return to Public for second semester, I went to see Ricky. I was going to spend the night at a friend’s house, but I had promised him I would come. And I missed him.
He was waiting for me at the train station, virtually hopping up and down.
He dashed towards me and flung his arms around my waist. I smiled. Sometimes I forgot he was only ten. This was a nice reminder.
“How are you?” he demanded. His face looked fuller, and his cheeks were rosy from cold.
“I’m great,” I told him, grinning.
He squinted up at me. “You look different somehow.” He frowned.
“Not worse, I hope,” I said, pretending to play with my hair.
Ricky’s eyebrows shot into the air. “What do you need to look good for?” he demanded. “Boys?”
“Ricky,” I whined. “I’ll tell you a secret. We don’t dress for guys. We dress for each other.”
Ricky snorted. “Girls are complicated.”
“Ricky?” I asked, grinning broadly. “Do you have something to tell me?” I was teasing him, but I couldn’t help it.
“No,” he muttered. “Come on,” he said, grabbing my hand. “I want hot chocolate.”
“Who’s buying you that?” I demanded.
“You are, duh,” he said. “You’re my older sister and you left me alone over Thanksgiving. You’re supposed to give me things.”
“Thanks for explaining to me how that works,” I said. But I let him pull me along.
“How’s college?” he asked, while we walked.
I shook my head. “Unexpected.”
“A lot of work?”
“Yeah, you could say that.”
“I’m sure it will get easier,” he said.
“Maybe.” My mind flashed back to the President. I wasn’t sure if she was dead. I hoped she was.
“So, no boys, right?”
I blushed.
“Oh, no,” said Ricky, throwing his hands in the air. “This is terrible.”
I grinned, putting my arm around his shoulders. “Come on,” I said. “Let’s go get some hot chocolate.”
Ricky grinned. “It’s nice to have you here.”
I smiled back. “It’s nice to be here. At least until tomorrow.”
“Are you looking forward to going back to college?”
Was I? I hadn’t really thought about it like there was a choice.
“Yes,” I said in an undertone. My smiled broadened. “I am.”
*****
My blog: http://maddyedwards.blogspot.com/
My goodreads page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5288585.Maddy_Edwards
Paranormal Public (Paranormal Public Series) Page 26
