I shrugged. “A couple of empty rooms, then the doors to the outside. Oh, wait, there’s also a storage room for broken artifacts.”
It was a room I had passed but never gone into. Dacer had waved his hand toward it with visible disdain when he gave me a tour, basically making it sound like a room for stuff that should have been thrown away instead of kept.
“So, it’s a perfect place to hide,” whispered Lisabelle hoarsely. Sip had disappeared in front of us. I wished we had some signal to let us know she was alright, but instead the two of us just stood and waited, with our ears perked to hear the slightest sound.
Then, the deep howl of a werewolf in agony broke the silence. The noise echoed down the hall, surrounding us and passing us. Instead of stopping it kept going, so loud it could probably be heard at the library. Fear gripped me.
Lisabelle and I dashed forward, not thinking, to help our friend.
“SIP,” I yelled. There was no longer any reason to be quiet. Whoever had attacked Sip knew we were there.
The first two rooms were empty, just as I remembered them. The third room, the one filled with junk, was not.
A furry body was sprawled at the doorway.
“NO,” Lisabelle yelled, throwing herself on the floor next to her friend.
Sip changed back into her human form at Lisabelle’s touch. She was awake, but barely.
“He. . . .” Sip said feebly, trying to point, “I thought it was just a Shadow.”
Lisabelle looked frantically around. I stood motionless for only a second, then the commotion at the main entrance drew my attention.
I plunged into the darkness, intent on catching Sip’s attacker.
“Charlotte NO,” Lisabelle’s voice rang out behind me, but she didn’t try to stop me.
I looked over my shoulder. “Get help for Sip,” I yelled. “Call Keller. He will heal her.” I hoped he would. I knew he would come and be very angry at me for putting myself in danger.
I also knew that Lisabelle wouldn’t leave Sip, and I was on my own. I raced past the main entrance, but I could still hear footsteps running down the hall, so I knew the attacker hadn’t left the building. I put my head down and ran faster. I couldn’t see, so I was going on my memory from when Dacer had shown me around to find my way.
I had only been down to this end of the building once with Dacer. Otherwise I had just walked right to the Museum. Now I wished I knew all the rooms better.
There were too many rooms where someone could hide. I halted, breathing hard, and listened. At first all I could hear was air raggedly going in and out of my lungs, then my heart, beating from running and fury. Then silence. The longer I stood there the quieter it became. Whoever was in the building with me wasn’t moving either, but he was still there. I felt sure of it.
I didn’t stop to consider what I was doing or who it might be. It occurred to me that it might be someone like Dove or Zervos, and if that was the case then I was in big trouble, because I was about to attack. If I ended up attacking a dean or a professor they would kick me out for sure, but I couldn’t worry about that just now. All I could think about was my friend and how I didn’t know if she would be okay.
I stepped into the middle of the hallway, bracing my hands on either side of the wall. Then I lifted my ring, calling a wall of fire.
Forgetting I was exhausted, my anger fueled the fire around me. I watched the blaze grow in front of me.
I had never called to the part of me that was a fire elemental before tonight, not to attack. Now that I did I enjoyed the burning. The fire warmed my skin as it expanded, blasting away the dark. I ordered it to expand into the rooms on each side, swallowing the air as it expanded.
If there was a paranormal in the path of my wall of fire he had nowhere to hide.
I stepped forward, pushing the fire in front of me, hearing the crunch of burned wood that the floor had become. I hoped it incinerated everything.
I heard a scream and the breaking of glass. Instantly I cut off my fire wall and raced into the nearest room. It was filled with junk, a broken chair here, an oversized locket on a massive chain there. I nearly tripped over a yellow tire wheel. As Dacer had put it, this was where style had gone to die a slow death.
Everything looked slightly melted as I picked my way through the debris. My wall of fire had been hotter than I thought.
The middle window was broken, as if someone had just launched himself through it. I darted toward it and peered out into the night. As the cold air hit my face, my feet crunched the broken glass that was now strewn across the floor. Peering outside, I saw nothing but the gentle field and the trees in the distance. This side of the building faced the woods and the force field around Public.
I wanted to scream in frustration.
Whoever had attacked Sip and been following us had gotten away.
I ran back to my friends. Keller was already there, working on Sip. It turned out that she had a pretty nasty gash in her head, and her white-blond hair was stained with blood.
Lisabelle was kneeling next to her, holding one of Sip’s hands in both of her own.
“Is she going to be okay?” I asked, panting a little from my run. I had gone further into the Long Building than I had realized, and it had taken me a while to get back.
Keller glanced up at me, his eyes softening a little. “She’ll be just fine. It’s good Lisabelle called me. Are you okay? They said you went after him?” I couldn’t ignore that Keller’s mouth was set in a thin line, or the worry in his voice.
“I’m fine,” I reassured him. “But I didn’t catch him.”
“I gotta say I’m glad,” said Lisabelle, her brow furrowed.
“I can take care of myself,” I said testily. I was getting tired of everyone treating me like I was some precious object that needed to be protected.
Lisabelle’s eyes hardened. “I wasn’t worried about you. You’re stronger than almost everyone gives you credit for. If the deans knew how hard you worked they’d be horrified, and everyone who wants to defeat the demons would be grateful.”
That might have been the single nicest thing Lisabelle had ever said to me. But before I could thank her she continued, “I didn’t want you to catch him because I want him for myself. I want to make him bleed and cry out in pain.” Lisabelle’s eyes had that disturbing black burning light in them. Sip, who was lying awake but motionless on the floor, said softly, “I don’t want you to get hurt. Not because of me.”
Lisabelle smiled coldly. “Believe me, I wouldn’t.”
“Come on,” said Keller. “We have to get you out of here.”
“Does she need to go to the infirmary?” Lisabelle asked worriedly, looking down at Sip. I had to admit, Sip looked paler and smaller than usual. There was a pool of blood on the floor by the door that I was trying hard not to look at.
“She’s fine now,” said Keller. “No infirmary unless you want, but explaining this is going to be tough.”
“I’m fine,” said Sip, carefully sitting up and touching the back of her head. “Wow, there’s nothing there.”
“Finally, you realize,” Lisabelle said. Sip punched her in the arm.
“Ouch,” said Lisabelle, rubbing the offended area. “I guess you are fine.”
Amazingly enough, we got back to our dorms without anyone seeing us. I brought Sip and Lisabelle to Astra. I had gotten permission from Mrs. Swan last semester to have sleepovers, and I just had to hope that she would cover for them when it was discovered that they hadn’t returned to Airlee. When Lough left for breakfast the next morning and realized they weren’t there, he’d be worried. But that couldn’t be helped. Keller walked back to Astra with us, and then I walked him to the door. This was our first night as boyfriend and girlfriend and it hadn’t gone at all as I had hoped.
At the door Keller turned around. His blue eyes looked black in the dim light, but they brightened when he saw me. He was dressed all in black, looking even more dashing than usual.
"How
did the practice go?" he asked quietly.
My lips trembled. "As well as can be expected," I said. I was now overly tired and worried, not to mention disappointed that I hadn’t caught whoever was following us. It wasn’t good that someone knew I intended to spend my evenings in the Long Building and had come to spy on me. In fact, it called my whole plan into question. But I had to keep trying; I had no other options.
Seeing my distress, Keller was next to me in two quick strides, his arms wrapping around me and pulling me close. With my nose buried in his shoulder I breathed in his scent of clean clothes and medicine. "Meaning you’re going back?" he murmured as he stroked my hair.
"Right," I said, my voice muffled in his chest. "I have to practice. I have to be able to fight the demons. This can’t get in the way of that. Besides, there’s been no sign of any demons. Maybe they aren’t really after me now.”
He sighed and pulled away so that we were eye to eye. "They are demons and you are elemental. They will never stop coming after you." He pulled me close again, and I let myself feel the relief of burrowing deeper into his protective embrace.
"I'm just glad you're alright," he said. "I don't know what I would do if something happened to you. I just don't."
I buried my face in his chest. I didn’t have to say that I felt the same way. He knew.
Chapter Fifteen
The next morning was Friday. I had Museum studies and A History of Death. Risper still hadn’t returned, causing questions among the students. Jenkins was still our professor, which I didn’t mind. He was animated and intelligent, and unlike other professors, he had us perform some spell or other every time the class met.
I went to breakfast bleary-eyed and exhausted. I hadn’t slept well; I was still worried about Sip. My two friends had decided to skip breakfast, instead opting for bagels from the Astra kitchen. On Fridays neither of them had any classes except A History of Death, so they were just going to hang out in my room for the morning. I was supposed to find Lough at breakfast and explain what had happened.
As I descended the stairs into the library basement I nearly ran into Dobrov. His head was down and his eyes were nearly covered by matted black hair. As we tried to avoid running into each other I couldn’t help but notice that one of his hands was covered in a white bandage and there was the stain of red blood on it.
Frowning, I hurried past him. I didn’t want him to see recognition in my eyes, but my mind was racing. Could it have been Dobrov following us the night before? It didn’t make any sense, except that as a member of Cruor he had permission to be out on the grounds at that hour. That still didn’t explain why he might have been spying on us, why he ran, or why he had attacked Sip.
The dining hall was almost empty on a Friday morning. Most students didn’t have classes on Fridays and would have spent the night before partying. There was no alcohol allowed at Public, because it did terrible things to paranormals, but there was some usage of invented drugs that were meant to stimulate the paranormal senses. I didn’t know much about it, having been too busy as a Starter trying not to get kicked out, and then during second semester trying not to get killed. But some of my friends went to such parties now and then, and I was sure to go at some point.
Lough was already sitting at one of the corner tables, our favorite spot. I got some cereal, not having much of an appetite, and joined him.
“Where are Sip and Lisabelle?” he demanded, his eyes filled with worry. “I assume you would have told me if something serious had happened last night, but when they didn’t come home I got worried.”
Apparently Sip and Lisabelle had filled him in on what they were intending to do, but hadn’t let him come along. This made sense; the more paranormals there were trying to sneak around campus, the harder it would be not to get caught. I already felt lucky we had gotten Sip back safely.
I told him everything that had happened, keeping my voice low. I was in the middle of telling him about the strange noise we had heard that led us to think someone had followed us when Camilla stormed up to our table.
She reeled back her arm and threw something at me. I started to duck, but it just fluttered down to cover my cereal bowl. It was a printed piece of paper. Her eyes blazed down at me as I stared up at her.
“Camilla,” said Lough, “what do you want?”
“Oh, without your mouthpiece known as Lisabelle here you suddenly learn how to speak?” she sneered, folding her arms across her chest. “And where is Lisabelle, anyway?”
“I didn’t know you cared,” I said coldly. I wasn’t in the mood for Camilla’s games. “What do you want, anyhow?”
Camilla pointed at the piece of paper she had thrown down. “That is YOUR fault,” she said, and turned on her heel and stormed off. I watched her walk away, her glossy blond hair bouncing as she flounced back to her table of pixies.
When I didn’t move, Lough plucked the piece of paper off the top of my bowl, complete with the wet milk splotch that now spread across the middle of it. Frowning, he read, “Last night at least eight pixies were murdered by demons. The demons were looking for something, which we can only presume was the elemental known as Charlotte Rollins. This despicable tragedy can be laid at her feet: the murder of eight innocent paranormals, none older than eighteen. I urge all pixies to take a stand, here and now. Stop the wretchedness perpetuated by this foolish child, who cares for no life but her own. It is in the most vile veins of disgust and disregard for paranormal life that this child is allowed to continue as a student at Public. She should be reprimanded before the governing paranormals and made to stand for her crimes. There are fathers who have lost their daughters and mothers who have lost their sons, families torn apart by this unspeakable tragedy that could so easily have been avoided by the simplest of acts. I call all paranormals to urge this child to turn herself in and stop this atrocity. We were all fine before she showed up, now there is nothing but death and misery. Luckily, there is a clear way out and the sooner it is taken the better. A petition is circulating that requires the perpetrator known as Charlotte Rollins to turn herself in immediately. I urge everyone who sees this letter to sign it. Sincerely yours, President and Proprietor of Paranormals First, Last, and Only, Michael Mould.”
“Wow,” said Lough. “If he wasn’t a pixie I would say for sure he was related to Zervos.”
He glanced at me, but I couldn’t speak. Too many emotions were colliding inside me, from horror to sadness to rage to fear. Paranormals were being murdered, young paranormals, by demons looking for something—me—and I was being blamed for it. There was now a coalition sending around petitions and demanding that I turn myself in? To the demons?
Feeling blinded and dizzy I looked around. All the other students were still going about the day as if nothing had just happened. It wasn’t their world that had collapsed. Again.
Lough could see I was panicking and said, “Is there anything I can do?” I looked at him blindly. I wanted to cry, but there were no tears. In a matter of seconds Camilla had succeeded in tearing my world apart—again. But it wasn’t even about Camilla. There were paranormals dying and no one had told me!
I stood up, my chair tipping back with the force of my motion. Lough stood with me.
“Dacer?” he asked.
I nodded blindly. He came around the table and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. Ignoring the stares of the other students and Camilla’s frigid gaze, he helped me out of the basement and through the library exit.
We walked slowly to Dacer’s. I didn’t say anything and neither did Lough. He stoutly ignored all the stares and whispers as we passed other students. He had taken the note Camilla had given me, folded it, and put it in his pocket. I had made some incoherent pointing and arguing when he made to throw it away. I wanted Dacer to see it.
The Long Building looked completely different in the light of day. There was still a sinister shadow, but I no longer felt like I was being chased by a mad demon.
“Why’s the door propped op
en like that?” Lough asked, frowning.
“It means Dacer is there and doing something smelly,” I said, a small smile touching my lips. Dacer loved his projects.
“Dacer is intimidating,” Lough muttered. “I mean, the man wears pants covered in daisies.”
I grinned. “I know.”
“Dacer,” I yelled the second we entered the building. I resolutely didn’t look at the room where Sip had been attacked. Lisabelle had scrubbed the blood away, but I felt sure that if I looked I would still see the red stain pooling on the floor.
“This place gives me the creeps,” said Lough, his eyes going wide as he took in the long corridor.
“Dacer isn’t happy the Museum has been stuck here.”
“Dacer would only be happy if his Museum was in the middle of the Tate,” said Lough.
“Mr. Loughphton,” said Dacer’s voice from the Museum. “I heard you had foot-in-mouth syndrome. Glad to know it’s alive and well.” Lough visibly paled and I grinned.
“Dacer,” I called. “Why is your voice muffled?”
The Museum was as cluttered as ever. On the floor was a large tarp, covered in paint spatters and boards.
Dacer appeared from the back room. He was dressed in a massive white smock, which entirely covered his clothing. The only thing you could see were boots that looked better suited for use in an industrial plant. They were covered entirely in metal. As he clomped toward us he pulled a mask off his face and grinned.
“What happened to your face?” Lough asked.
Dacer gave him a penetrating stare. “I’m not entirely sure if you are kidding,” said my mentor. “What happened is that I took a shower this morning.”
Some days Dacer wore a lot of makeup. Today was not one of those days. A little blush and a slanting eyeliner was a tame day for Dacer. Lough was surprised he could actually see Dacer’s real skin.
Once Dacer had removed the mask from his face, he looked at me clearly. What he read from my expression turned his own face to stone.
Elemental Shining (Paranormal Public Series) Page 12
