The president looked relaxed and happy, which only made me angry. I wanted him to look tired and drawn, and I wondered how Dacer could continue to support a man who had let so many paranormals die.
“This food is amazing,” said Lough with his mouth full. He had stuffed half a chicken leg into his mouth and was now reaching for cornbread.
Sip had spent the afternoon with her parents before joining us for dinner. Now, despite the excess of food, she didn’t have much on her plate, just some slices of apple and cheese. But she hadn’t even touched those; it was as if she didn’t even realize we were having a meal.
Her eyes were locked on President Caid.
“The sky is gorgeous,” I said, trying to lighten the mood. Someone had performed magic to lock the warmth in, so even though we were outside in the wind, we were still perfectly warm as the ship chugged along. The sea looked calm and dark in the sunset, with just a few whitecaps forming in the wake of the ship.
Sip finally roused herself and looked at Lough and me as if she had just realized we were there. “We’re out here so that the water spirits can greet us,” she said, explanatory as ever. “They should start any minute.”
Lough and I both brightened. I found the Strange paranormals fascinating, and I had been looking forward to seeing more of them ever since I had heard we’d be on the water so that the mermaids and water spirits could join the Conclave.
Suddenly there was a burst of noise and we all jumped. As if a cannon had gone off, the noise ricocheted off the water.
“What was that?” I demanded, wide-eyed.
“The start of the show,” said Lough, pointing away from the ship.
He was right. A little way out over the sea there were bursts of fireworks shooting skyward just as the last of the daylight was disappearing from the sky. The paranormals were celebrating with a show like nothing I had ever seen before.
The fireworks were every color and shape imaginable. The first looked like a living tree, green on top with plentiful leaves and a brown trunk. The next was a silver star, quickly followed by a massive red dragon.
“Wow,” I breathed. “What sort of magic is this?”
“Decorative,” said Sip, sounding unimpressed. “What Vale tried to teach us while she wasted our time.”
I nodded. I thought it was beautiful, and I suddenly had a new appreciation for decorative magic, which had seemed merely trivial before.
Just as I thought the fireworks couldn’t get any more impressive, there was another large burst. At first I couldn’t tell what it was, then I realized with a gasp that it was a mask.
“Dacer,” I cried gleefully. The mask was dripping in gold and diamonds of red and blue, strung on a strand of firework pearls.
“Yay!” Lough cried. I looked around at the faces of the other paranormals and saw that we three weren’t the only ones getting into the amazing display. Most of the other people at the long table were just as spellbound as we were.
Only Sip sat passively, her mind obviously still elsewhere. But after a while, even she started to smile.
This was something worth protecting.
Chapter Nineteen
At the end of dinner, a number of senior paranormals stood up to make speeches, among them a white-haired fallen angel with whom I had first come into contact when we were all at Vampire Locke for Lanca’s coronation. Saferous was dignified and high-ranking and he knew Keller well. I had tried not to think about the noticeable absence of Keller and his parents from this gathering, but I had every intention of asking Dacer about it later.
“They probably offered to guard one of the locations we still control,” said Lough comfortingly.
“Just to avoid coming here?” I asked skeptically.
“Yes,” said Sip. “Charlotte, you still don’t seem to want to realize this, but you’re a formidable presence in the paranormal world. As the only elemental you have a very special standing. The Eriksons probably don’t mind trampling on you in private, but doing it in public would be a different matter entirely.”
I shook my head. I knew my friends meant well, but that just couldn’t be true.
Instead of arguing, though, I turned my attention back to the speeches. But even then I was only half listening, because now Mound had caught my eye. He was talking quietly to Professor Zervos, who sat near the head of the most important table, his back razor straight and his black eyes snapping. I had no idea those two knew each other, but it figured. In fact, now that I thought about it, Zervos was probably the one slipping Mound all sorts of information about Public.
Caid was just about to get up and speak when a few paranormals started to point and cry and we all turned our attention back to the water.
“They’re here,” Sip breathed.
And indeed, the water spirits were now floating alongside the ship. They weren’t very close, and they were small creatures, so all I could make out were hundreds of dots of wispy light as they surrounded the ship. It was a breathtaking display.
“I honestly didn’t think they’d come,” said Lough, with a touch of wonder in his voice. “I guess defeating the demons is important to them, too.”
“It’s like hundreds of stars floating in the water,” I whispered. “How could the demons want to destroy something so beautiful?”
But Sip wasn’t looking at them; her eyes were on Caid. “They don’t appreciate beautiful, just like Caid doesn’t appreciate loyalty,” she said.
Lough and I exchanged glances. As we did, I suddenly realized that we had to talk to Lisabelle. We just had to hear from her. No doubt it was incredibly dangerous for her to contact us, which was why she hadn’t, but it was becoming all too clear that if Sip didn’t deal with her anger soon, it was going to bury her.
“Friends,” said Caid, standing up and gazing around the huge room, “welcome.” He extended his arms wide, and it was only now, with my eyes following his gesture, that I saw who had come to stand on his right. Sip and I saw him at the exact moment, and we both let out surprised gasps. Sip’s face lit up as if she’d just been given a new teakettle.
“Risper,” she breathed. “I knew he’d come back.”
Lisabelle’s Uncle Risper, dressed all in black, stood with his hands clasped in front of him. He was not a large man, but his body spoke of power and agility. He had originally become well-known as a bounty hunter and tracker, but that was before he had disappeared at the end of our first year at Public. Although Lisabelle had seen him since, none of the rest of us had. He’d been busy chasing the objects on the Wheel and hadn’t taken time out for anything else.
None of us could contain our joy at seeing Lisabelle’s uncle. “Maybe Risper’s presence here is a good sign,” I whispered. I knew it must have something to do with Lisabelle, but it also might mean he finally knew where the Globe White was.
It was all I could to do keep my attention on Caid’s speech, but since there was no way to talk with Risper right away, I forced myself to pay attention to the president.
“Now is a dark time,” he began. His voice was crisp and clear; he had a way of setting those around him at ease. I could only imagine that that skill had played a large role in his election to the presidency, but I wondered if it would work tonight. I knew we were not the only worried paranormals; we couldn’t be. Sip might have started the Sign of Six, but with each article in the Tabble her membership grew. She held power of her own now, which was why Golden Falls had given her over to the Nocturns and Lisabelle had been forced to make a deadly choice.
Even as Caid spoke, I kept my eyes mostly on Risper. He had more gray hair than when I had last seen him, but of course that had been several years ago, and who knew what he had been through since then. I wondered if he still had the Map Silver.
“We will need all of you,” Caid continued, “to beat the darkness that is upon us. We tried negotiation, we tried resistance, but the time has come to understand that we are past those forms of problem-solving. We must now go to war.”
How could anyone be joyful at the prospect of war?
Continuing to observe the crowd as Caid stood quietly and people whispered among themselves, I saw several paranormals I didn’t recognize sitting near him, and noticed that Dacer had moved to stand next to Risper. Professor Erikson was seated with Saferous, nodding her head at Caid’s words. Erikson had never liked me, or the fact that I was so tied to the Power of Five; she probably thought that going to war was a good way to end this once and for all. But what about Keller? If he was with Malle, whom we were about to fight, then what would become of her favorite nephew? She must have felt me looking at her, because she tilted her head slightly and her eyes flicked to mine.
She gave me a small smile before looking back toward Caid. In my confusion, I too turned my focus back to the president. Professor Erikson had never liked my relationship with Keller, but maybe now that we’d finally been separated she’d be nice to me. It would certainly mark a change as I started senior year at Paranormal Public.
Finally Caid raised his hands, calling for silence and clearing his throat before continuing. “I’m afraid I must ask each and every one of you to participate in this battle,” he said. “War hits close to home. As many of you know, we now have graduates of the Paranormal Police Academy, who have been trained to take a major role in this battle.”
“They’re barely trained,” someone in the crowd called out. “How can we place our lives in the hands of children who have never been tried in battle?”
Caid held up his hands for calm as other voices clamored, many echoing what the first one had said.
“They have been taught well,” he insisted. “There is only one way to gain experience in battle, and that is through fighting.”
I saw several heads shake, but others, like Mound, were nodding in approval. Risper and Dacer remained impassive.
Suddenly a body dressed in green robes rushed past me, and I saw Oliva hurry up to the head of the long table and take the empty chair next to Professor Erikson. He looked a little flustered, and I wondered where he’d been and why he was so late. It was the first time I noticed that the wind had picked up. I became even more curious when Caid looked at him questioningly. Oliva nodded.
“I must say,” said Caid, “it is wonderful to have all of us here together tonight. I realize that until now we have not fought like we should have, but I am here to prove to you that we can change, that our response to this crisis can change. It must change, and I want to demonstrate how. As many of you have read, the traitor known as Lisabelle Verlans, a member of the last darkness mage family not to go over to the Nocturns, willingly joined the demons last spring.”
I watched Risper intently, but his face remained impassive.
“I want you all to know,” Caid said, “that everything we can possibly do is being done to contain the damage she is capable of creating. I am only sorry that we did not do more sooner.”
Now most of the heads were nodding, including Professor Zervos’s. My blood boiled with anger and I could tell that my friends felt the same way. Lough’s face was becoming redder by the second; I was afraid that if he didn’t take a breath soon he might pop.
“To that end we also plan on bringing her errant friends to justice,” Caid continued, his voice booming across the deck. Now I too stopped breathing. I had noticed that no other paranormals had come to sit near us, and almost everyone had carefully avoided eye contact with us. Those facts hadn’t seemed ominous until just this moment.
My eyes locked with Dacer’s. I tried to take some message out of his expression, but I couldn’t read him. I thought he might have given the slightest shake of his head, but I wasn’t sure.
President Caid pointed to us. “Charlotte Rollins is the last elemental, and with that comes specific obligations. I am here to say that I found her in possession of the Mirror Arcane, taking it out of Astra, of all things.”
Now the murmurs grew in number and many faces turned toward us. I shifted uncomfortably. Next to me, Sip was glaring.
“As a sign of good faith I returned it to her, with the understanding that it would remain in its rightful place, at Astra House on the Paranormal Public grounds.”
My jaw dropped open at the exact same moment Sip’s did. He was announcing to the entire paranormal world where the last object on the Wheel that we had sure knowledge of: with me. It was unbelievable.
Then there is Lisabelle Verlans’s other best friend, Sipythia Quest. SHE is the author of the Sign of Six notes, a subversive activity if ever there was one.”
“They should be thrown out of Public,” yelled the woman who had originally shouted at Sip. She stood up so fast that her chair went flying backward and her husband, who had quieted her earlier, could no longer contain her. Looking resigned, he reached over and started to pick up her seat.
“Now, Gussy,” said Caid, “we cannot be rash. We are dealing with mere children. I want them at Public, because then I know where they are, and I don’t have to worry about them doing any more damage than they have already done.”
“Damage?” Sip whispered, incredulous.
Gussy hadn’t taken her eyes off Sip. Meanwhile, I saw my friend’s parents looking shocked and upset halfway down the table. All of Sip’s brothers were with them, and they too were looking down at their plates. I couldn’t tell if they were angry at Caid or ashamed of us.
“We have one way to get Ms. Verlans to come out of hiding,” said Caid. “And we must ensure that she does come out, because we cannot win this war until she is captured or killed.”
Sip gave an angry sob. Lough looked lost. I was so stunned I wasn’t thinking at all, for the moment.
“So long as we have her friends, she will come eventually. If she thinks they’re in danger, we have a chance to win. If she is allowed to remain loose and her friends are allowed to run free, we are lost.”
“Hear, hear,” Gussy cried, and many voices joined her.
Sip was so agitated that she couldn’t sit still. She kept shifting in her seat, first staring wide-eyed at Lough and me, then glaring at Caid, then looking back at us as if she couldn’t believe what was going on.
“They forgot about me,” said Lough, looking disgruntled. “I wasn’t mentioned when he said the bit about keeping Lisabelle’s best friends under their control. I do wild and crazy things and I need to be controlled too. Humph.”
“I had no idea this Conclave would be about us,” I whispered. “I thought it was to decide what course of action to take, but they’ve clearly already decided. And what they’ve decided is to hang us out to dry.” I couldn’t believe Dacer hadn’t warned me.
“Now,” said Caid, “we have two more orders of business. The first is that the Nocturns are creating hybrids. I discovered this a couple of months ago and have been working on a way to fight it. Obviously the very act itself is highly illegal and unethical, and the consequences can be dire, so we absolutely must address the problem. The second order of business is the dragons. They assisted Ms. Verlans last semester, and I would argue that any dragons we see should be killed on sight from this day forward. They are with the Nocturns.”
“You fool,” Sip whispered, hot tears of rage streaming down her cheeks. “You fool.”
Without another word or so much as a glance at us, she shoved her chair back. Everyone looked, and I had the feeling that they were all nervously aware of our presence even when they weren’t looking directly at us. But now, under the eyes of everyone in that room, Sip stormed out.
Her mother started to rise, but Hyder put his hand on her arm and she sat back in her chair. I glanced at Lough, who shrugged and said, “Is there really any reason for us to be here?”
I glanced at Caid. He was looking at us with a mix of concern and anger. Well, I didn’t feel remotely
bad for interrupting him.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said. I threw my napkin down and stood up.
I glared defiantly at Dacer, who still hadn’t moved. I wanted to yell at him, to tell him to defend us from his old friend, but I didn’t. Instead I silently followed Lough out of the room. I didn’t realize what was happening until we were almost back inside the galley, but now I saw that all the water spirits, who had been surrounding the ship throughout Caid’s speech, were racing to the end of the vessel where I was and forming one solid ball of light. I paused for a split second, admiring the beauty, then I smiled and raised my hand. My ring pulsed and magic swarmed out of me to mix with the still water. The light of the water spirits pulsed brighter and my smile grew.
At least there were some paranormals who still believed in me.
Then, without a backward glance, I disappeared inside.
“That was cool,” said Lough, waving his hand in the general direction of the water spirits.
I nodded. “I had no idea they knew who I was.”
“All paranormals know who you are,” said Lough. “It’s obvious. Your ring can be sensed, and now there are stories about you fighting for paranormals. There are lots of paranormals who still believe in you.”
“Then why didn’t Dacer help us?” I demanded, tears pricking the corners of my eyes. I felt like we’d been hung out to dry, and the mentor I trusted most had sat by and let it happen.
“You can’t blame Dacer for that,” said Lough, surprising me. “If he openly opposes the wishes of the President of the Paranormals, he could be thrown in jail. The same with Risper.”
“I don’t know about that,” I said grimly. “Going to jail would at least have been a clear statement of his position. And for that matter, why would Risper come back just to hear Caid declare his niece a mass murderer?”
“I don’t know,” said Lough. “I just don’t know anymore.”
Sip wasn’t in the corner of the galley we had claimed as our own, but Lough and I both wrapped ourselves in sleeping bags without going off to look for her; she would come when she was ready. I pulled my bag over my head as much as I could, and it was hours before I stuck it back out again. Many of the other Public students had come down to the galley by then, and most of them, including Trafton and Rake, had arranged their sleeping bags in a protective half circle around Lough and me. Seeing that, I finally smiled a little. Caid might have accused us of getting paranormals killed, but not everyone believed him, and not everyone believed that we were a danger.
Elemental Darkness (Paranormal Public Series) Page 12
