by Erin R Flynn
“I don’t pry when I’m around people I trust, unless I’m worried,” I reminded her.
She responded with a glanced that she knew she was in a place anyone would worry about.
Fair enough.
“I’m losing faith too,” I admitted, flopping down in the chair. “We’ve had wins though. We just had one now, and Geiger reminded me that of that. We’ve saved over a hundred thousand hobgoblins, Anya. I didn’t even know there were that many, or Faerie was that big to have that many anyone. We’re getting wins.”
“Quietly,” she whispered. “Exchange students being tossed back to their schools to thwart the councils. Dragons and friends stepping up, but nothing… Public. They are still winning publicly and in control. We can’t beat them—we need a public smack that lands.”
I told her what had just happened and hoped it was enough.
She shook her head. “He won’t admit it was him or someone will weasel their way out of it. Their moves are being dodged and thwarted, but nothing is happening to them in punishment or retribution. Even all that happened to Calloway—or myself—and it was no skin off of them. Some angry phone calls and press. Oh no, I’m sure they are so worried.”
“They got banned from all the hobgoblin businesses.”
“It’s not enough,” she snapped, immediately apologizing.
I accepted it because I knew the anger wasn’t pointed at me. This wasn’t my fault anymore than it was hers. We couldn’t get the upper hand just yet, and it was maddening. Any small victory was met with lies and dismissals of it never happening, but anytime we dodged them, they did the same. So they never lost ground.
But neither did we, which was an actual victory.
“We’re gaining ground,” I argued with her and myself. “That’s a victory, even if not public. We are. You were the one who told me many times that if we keep taking small steps, we’ll look back and see miles of progress behind us. We are doing all we can, and we just keep going. Look how far we’ve come in Faerie since you’ve even helped me. We are miles and miles from the portal now.”
“But no people,” she rasped.
“We’ll find them soon,” I declared, swallowing loudly. Dear gods, please let me find some fairies soon. We need backup, or we might lose, and lose everything.
25
Banging on my door made me about jump out of my skin all the way from the shower. It was weeks after the incident with the supe police and almost time for break. I was looking forward to a chill Saturday watching Izzy compete in the big Physical Training tournament.
“Hold on!” I bellowed when they started again. I rushed to finish and throw on a towel, wrapping my hair as well, before booking it for the door. I couldn’t even hide my shock when Craftsman was standing there… Nor could I get my mouth to work.
His seemed to stall out at seeing me in a towel as well, both of us staring at each other until he shook himself. “The councils made their next move. They’re demanding you compete today, as it’s written as a requirement for all underclassmen to participate to pass the semester.”
“Right, but I placed out of the class,” I sighed.
“Except the wording isn’t currently included for that, as no one has ever placed out before and Edelman can’t fix it today,” he explained, sounding just as annoyed. “I’m sorry, love, but we’re over a barrel. We need you to fight.”
I studied him a moment. “So what? I’ll still kick their asses. I mean, I placed out for a reason. Why are you worried?”
He licked his lips and eyed me over before trying to focus again. “Something is up with the vampire council. They’re all here, and their auras are… Disconcerting. Edelman, White, and I are all in agreement they are up to something.”
But what? I nodded I heard him and adjusted my neck. “Give me a few minutes to throw on clothes and get ready. I’ll be right there.”
“I’ll walk with you. Zack and Ray were called on to handle something.” He nodded that he thought it was funny too.
So they were going to come at me from all sides on this? No, on campus? That would be… Well, they’d been stupid before for sure.
I hurried to dress and grab the bag with all my training gear. Locking up behind me, I was out the door in under five minutes.
The walk across campus was quiet. Most everyone was at the arena already, and I would have been too, but one of our suitemates had taken forever in the bathroom—again—and since she was competing, I had patiently waited.
Maybe I’d get paired up with her and have an excuse to kick her ass? I was seriously tired of her drama and diva act when it came to our shared bathroom.
“Where is your head? Are you worried?” Craftsman asked me quietly.
“No, just hoping I can use this to smack my suitemate around,” I confessed, shrugging when he gave me a surprised look. “This is who I am.” I increased my pace, considering the nerve the conversation struck with me and how he hadn’t wanted me.
“I know, and I love that person,” he breathed. “I will always love who you are.”
I didn’t know what to say that wouldn’t sound like I wasn’t trying to start a fight, but I couldn’t say nothing as if I accepted that. “I don’t believe you.”
“I don’t blame you, but one day you will.”
We ran out of time as we arrived, which worked since I didn’t have a response anyways. Instead of focusing on Craftsman, I wracked my brain on what I knew about the tournament and the changes Mel had made. Random lottery. Everything was random lottery from the matchups, to if and what weapons were used, going down the list until we got all of them.
Right, so all facets of the training she was teaching. Got it.
“Good luck, love,” Craftsman whispered when we reached where I had to enter. “Kick all their asses.”
I flinched, glancing at him over my shoulder. “You’re at least six months too late saying that to me, and it doesn’t matter now coming from you.” I didn’t give him a chance to reply, storming off and ready to do all the battles they could throw at me to get out what I was feeling.
Hell, I was glad to have an excuse to bash some faces in.
“Why are you here? I mean down here?” Izzy asked me as I moved over by her.
“Another trap,” I muttered, glancing all around. I found where the vampire council was in the stands and could see well enough to catch the smug expressions.
But the warlock elders had them too. Ainsworth looked about salivating.
Something was seriously wrong.
“Tams!” Izzy hissed at me, giving me a shake. “Are you okay?”
I sighed, realizing she’d been talking to me. “Yeah, sure. Just worried what they’re up to now.”
“Fuck them. You got this. You’re the best here by far.”
I blinked at her. Yes, yes I was, and they had to know that.
So what were they setting up for when all eyes were on me? Those were confident smiles expecting to watch someone special fall.
I didn’t have much time to consider it given I didn’t arrive with the others. Mel shot me a few worried glances, but I nodded I was fine. The magical boards announced the pairings, and we were starting with staffs. Not my best, but again, I had already placed out of the class, and I ended up being paired with a freshman guy who was fairly clueless.
So I won almost immediately.
After a short break, we were paired up and went hand to hand. I got matched with a Physical Training III female dragon and still won fast. She was agreeable about it.
What was the setup? Where were they going to try and go for me?
Another break, and then we were using swords. I’d long since learned to tone down how good I was in public as it raised all the eyebrows. But I won against a freshman female who dropped her sword, since they’d barely used them yet.
I was getting anxious. I couldn’t find the answer.
Two more rounds and different weapons and it hit me… Well the over-the-top cheering did.
For Blak
e Ward. People had hated her at the end of last year and yet, the vampires had rallied around her. And she’d been dying to fight me after getting back on campus. She’d thrown a fucking fit when she’d learned I’d placed out of all the Physical Trainings.
Plus, Mel had had to place her in Physical Training III, and that had shocked Mel. Blake had been training on her year off from Artemis.
To fight me.
It sounded so fucking pathetic and stupid, I almost dismissed it… But it tracked. She could not let it go that I had beaten her. I could absolutely see that psycho go all-out in getting revenge and focus on kicking my ass. In front of everyone was even better.
I had been surprised she hadn’t tried to start shit with me so far this semester after that impromptu meeting where she got the warning.
We went another round, and when those who advanced moved closer together, I made sure to get a spot near her without acting like that was the goal. I mentally sighed when she had a telepathy blocking charm on. So she was definitely up to something. And I couldn’t start shit about her wearing charms during a tournament as I had my species one on.
Unfortunately for her, those things didn’t work on me anymore.
“Almost time. I can almost lay waste to her. This is going to be the sweetest revenge ever. I will humiliate her pathetic ass in front of everyone and earn grandfather’s respect back. He might hate all of this and what’s being done, but it will bolster our name and standing. I can do this. I will do this. Fucking whore.”
She went on and on for a bit, not giving me anything useful.
Until she did. I did a double take and couldn’t even hide I was focused on her, which she caught.
“Yeah, you can’t hear me with the charm on. You can sense it, huh? Fuck you, unknown freak. You’ll fizzle out and probably die young because you were abused. You might be powerful and have exploded now, but you’ll dry up fast. You’re definitely a witch, and when I prove it today, your elders are going to bleed you dry, and I will go back to being the queen of this campus, not you.”
Her mind was a scary, scary place as she truly believed I’d stolen everything she deserved and earned from her somehow. And the councilmen were majorly cheating. Instead of fighting with each other, they’d decided to work together. They were both pretty sure I was a witch and playing both councils, so they’d given Blake a charm that would push her over the edge to beat me.
One only a powerful witch could sense if near her.
Once I nailed her for cheating, the guards were waiting to swarm in and take me into custody to answer a list of charges as a witch. Wow.
And if I didn’t fall for the trap, Blake was to get my essence charm off me in an “accident” during fighting that would easily be explained. But she was to do it by any means necessary, and she had worked with councilmembers on how to definitively identify a witch.
So to both councils, they would have me no matter what.
The fuck they would.
I glanced around and saw White was front and center with Edelman. I saw vampire council guards watching Darby. Lucca was actually still competing. Izzy was out, but she could get in serious trouble for being involved and her poker face was shit. Mel was running this whole thing with several of the Rothchilds.
I locked eyes with Craftsman, understanding immediately filling his gaze that I’d figured it out.
“Please let me help, love. Tell me what to do. I am on your side. Even if I’ve failed you so many times, you know without a doubt, I’m never on their side.”
That I did. Even if he wasn’t always with me, he was never with them.
“The shit might really hit the fan this time. Can you sneak away and open a portal to my house outside the arena? I need Chief and the pack here as backup.” I gave a slight shake to my head when he looked like he might argue. “They’re ready for just about everything. I think I can get through this, but they’ve got a plan if I don’t make it to the finals or bail out, Julian. They’re going all in.”
I filled him in on the rest, and I thought he might spontaneously combust from where he sat.
He let out a slow breath and gave a bare nod. “Kick her ass all over the fucking place, love. And then bust her ass. You’ve seen that charm at Calloway’s. You don’t need your power to know she’s cheating. You’re smarter than all of them.”
“Thanks. Really.”
I shut down my telepathy and left him to handle it while I did what I needed to.
A few more rounds, and I saw my opportunity to have some fun right before the finals. I used a tiny bit of power and weakened some links in Blake’s telepathy blocking charm so it would break soon.
And then I almost fell over when it was announced we were matched up and what we were using. I turned to face her and burst out laughing.
I mean, I laughed and kept laughing.
Swords. She was squaring off with a fairy in swords. The bitch would need all of the cheating she could do and would still lose.
“You won’t be laughing soon,” Blake hissed at me.
“Oh no, I will be,” I snickered, shaking my head as I headed for my stuff. I pulled out my custom sword and headed back towards the match area. I glanced around and found Colton and Mr. Rothchild standing together, looking amused. I bowed to my teachers before doing a few basic stretches as if I wasn’t already completely loose.
“This will be fun,” Blake taunted.
“You have no idea,” I mocked. “Do you want a few mulligans?”
She frowned. “What’s that?”
I rolled my eyes. “You all live way too much in your supe world like it’s the only world on this planet. Idiot.”
She rolled her eyes right back with a huff. “The human world isn’t worth knowing.”
“And yet you make money off of it, so you’re a hypocrite. You eat the food they provide. You buy the clothes they make, so you just sound like an idiot.” I glanced over what she was wearing, noting it was almost a carbon copy of my outfit and my normal workout gear.
Fine, I didn’t wear anything all that out there, but now I wore everything from the deal with Lady Jean… And Blake was wearing the exact copy a vampire company had made from their new line the dragons had come up with.
Pathetic.
Which was why “The Real Slim Shady” started playing in my head. It seemed pretty fucking fitting.
And gave me a fairly evil idea to screw with her.
We got the notice to get into position and the whistle sounded for us to go. I didn’t hold back, not one ounce, and gave it my all, easily deflecting her lunge and knocking her sword from her hand so it went flying. I clearly could have had her, but I danced away… And started rapping “The Real Slim Shady.”
Everyone went dead quiet for several beats, and then one person burst out laughing.
I didn’t even need to look to know it was Mel.
“You’re gonna want to get that,” I taunted Blake, gesturing to her sword before going back to rapping and dancing.
She snapped out of it and scrambled for it before I changed my mind, not having the honor or pride to accept I’d beaten her and wasn’t going to embarrass her even more. She came right for me, and I had her disarmed in two moves… Dancing away again instead of ending the fight.
And went back to rapping.
“Shut the fuck up!” she screeched when I did it all over again. She went for her sword and stormed over to me. “How are you doing this? There is no way you’re better than me! The instructor I trained with last year is the best!”
“I’m just better than you, and in everything, Blake,” I mocked as I kept dancing. “Your main problem is your ego. You think you know everything, way more than you do. Who was my sword instructor?”
“Melody! We all know that,” she bellowed as she lunged for me.
“Errrrnnnttt, wrong answer,” I sang as I blocked her. “I graduated from Mel. My current sword instructor is none other than Trigger Rothchild, head of the Rothchild clan, and King
Xavier’s dragon knight ninja. Plus, Instructor Larson. So you spent all this time, effort, and money for a fight and didn’t even do the first step of basic research. That’s why you always fail and look the fool.”
She let out some ear piercing noise and tried for me again, losing her sword.
“You think you deserve everything, and all you are is bile, salty bile, who’s so jealous of me and all I work for, that you do everything you can to be like me. It’s pathetic. You’re pathetic, Blake. I pity you. Even if you won today, you needed to have this all set up to get me here, and a special trainer, and on and on, just to get the chance to maybe win. You cheat and would call that winning. It’s sad.”
I shut up when I saw the council members moving out of the corner of my eye. They thought I was about to spring the trap, but I hadn’t even meant that cheating. I shouldn’t have been there in that fight when I had placed out.
I kept tearing her down in front of our vast audience as I knocked her sword away dozens of times, but didn’t finish the fight. People were calling for me to, but I had a new goal.
A better goal than just beating her ass.
I wanted the public win. This was being live broadcast on supe TV, and I wanted that win.
Right when she was about to snap, I pulled out the big guns.
“Lose something, dipshit?” I said in her mind, touching my neck to clue her in she was without the telepathy blocking charm.
That was it. That was the straw that broke the vampire’s back. She came at me with all she had and didn’t stop when I knocked her sword away. She came right back for me with fangs out, trying to use vampire powers on me to subdue me and kill me. She didn’t care about anything other than killing me and getting even for all the times I’d embarrassed her.
Well, I was going to do it some more.
I blocked and dodged, letting everyone see what she was doing to break all the rules and lots for the camera. I waited until I heard Edelman’s booming voice call over to the others that Blake was disqualified and then thumped her on the head with the hilt of my sword, knocking her out instantly.
She went down like a rock, the illegal charm showing right against her upper chest.
