Hidden Power

by Devyn Jayse

  "Any ideas?" I asked Pol.

  He shook his head. "We can't stay on the doorstep. Maybe we should go back home?" The rule at the Dragon Research Initiate Program was that during the week we had to stay at the Center. We could, however, go back to our homes over the weekend after signing out.

  "It's Thursday," Beatriz said. "Do you think it will be an issue?"

  "Should we go home?" Maribel echoed.

  "Is there a rule about going home during the week?" I asked the others. Pol shrugged.

  "I don't know," said Maribel.

  "We're supposed to stay at the Center during the week," admitted Beatriz.

  "Well, it doesn't make sense to sleep on the doorstep," I said.

  We exchanged glances. "Going home is the only thing that makes sense," Pol said. "We'll go home tonight and show up for class tomorrow. Does that sound okay?"

  The rest of us murmured our agreement.

  "I'll see you tomorrow?" Pol asked.

  "Yeah," I said.

  I turned toward the street to head home and a new voice spoke up behind us. "I wouldn't leave if I were you."

  We all spun around simultaneously, hoping that someone was at the door about to let us in, but the door was still closed. There was no one there. "The dragons won't like it," the voice said again. I looked up. It was a gargoyle. He stretched like a cat and yawned.

  "What do you mean?" I asked him.

  "Guillen will be mad at you," he said casually.

  Pol, Maribel, and Beatriz looked at me. The gargoyle knew Guillen. The gargoyle also knew what happened to people who showed up after eleven. "We should probably listen to him."

  "So we should stay here all night?" Beatriz asked. She wrinkled her brow.

  "Yes, sleep on the doorstep. It would be better than you leaving. Your punishment will be less severe. If you leave, you won't be asked back. They'll take your charmstone or worse..." the gargoyle's voice trailed off. "But what do I know? I'm just a gargoyle." He shook his body and lay still against the stone wall once more.

  We glanced at each other nervously.

  "He's right," Maribel said.

  "This is ridiculous," said Beatriz.

  "It doesn't look like we can do anything else." Pol moved to the door and sat down, leaning against it. He tucked his knees against his chest. "Better make yourselves comfortable. It's going to be a long night, and we're going to be really sore in the morning."

  The rest of us got down to the ground and attempted to make ourselves comfortable. The stone was hard. There was a coldness to the stone that leached the warmth out of my body, chilling me to my bones. This was not going to be fun.

  Barcelona always had people walking around at all hours. It wasn't too late at this time, so we spent some time watching people walk down the street. They gave us strange looks but continued on their way.

  Someone came around the corner: Christopher. He noticed us against the door and changed his path, ambling toward us. He raised an eyebrow. "In trouble with Guillen already?"

  I shrugged.

  "You know this isn't good, right?" He looked at each of us in turn.

  "What's going to happen?" Beatriz asked.

  Christopher ran a hand through his hair, messing it up as he mulled her question over. "It depends on them."

  "Who's them?" she asked. Her voice was beginning to shake.

  "The gatekeepers. They hate it when initiates don't respect them."

  "Who are the gatekeepers?" Pol asked.

  "What are the gatekeepers?" Maribel added.

  "It's not my place to tell you." He removed his hand from his head and shoved both his hands into his pockets.

  I frowned. Christopher rapped on the door with a distinctive knock. I heard a lock turn. A familiar face glared at us. "What is it?"

  Christopher just stared at the boy at the door patiently. With a huff, the boy stepped back and opened the door just wide enough for us to sneak in. Christopher made a gesture with his hand, encouraging Beatriz to enter. She did. Maribel scrambled to her feet and followed her. Pol waited until I got up and followed me inside. Christopher had an approving look on his face.

  "You know the rule," the boy warned Christopher.

  "I do, but it's only a little time after eleven. They're still new," he said, smirking.

  The boy sighed. "One exception leads to another. New or old, the rule remains the same."

  Christopher's smile softened a bit. "Let the gatekeepers deal with them. They don't need to sleep on the doorstep tonight."

  The boy huffed. He marched back to his seat.

  Christopher turned to us. "I'm afraid this is the most I can do. I won't be able to help with the gatekeepers or Guillen finding out." He glanced at the boy. "He'll tell them I let you in. You'll have to deal with the fallout." He turned to walk away but paused and turned around again to tell us one last thing. "Just confess you made a mistake. Good luck." And with that, he left us in the dark and quiet lobby with the still-huffing boy.

  We made our way up the staircase. "Did you see how the boy backed down immediately when Christopher asked him to let us in?" Beatriz buzzed.

  "Yeah," I said, still wondering what Christopher's authority was. Who was he in the dragon shifter hierarchy? Why did so many of them bow down to his authority?

  "He's still going to tell Guillen," Pol added.

  "Yeah, but he made him open the door despite the gatekeepers." I found myself feeling a little defensive of Christopher.

  We reached the landing. Pol spoke up again. "Who do you think they are?"

  "I don't know." Every day I learned something new and added a few more questions to my list.

  "Who do you think he is?" he continued.

  "I heard he's the Enforcer's brother," Maribel spoke up.

  We turned to her. "What? How do you know that?"

  "Leire said so," she shrugged.

  I frowned. "How does she know?"

  "She's trying to find out all she can about the Enforcer."

  Beatriz snorted. "How predictable of Leire, trying to cozy up to power."

  "Yeah, his brother is some sort of advisor," Maribel continued. "She couldn't figure it out, but she found out Christopher's a fierce fighter just like his brother."

  This whole thing just didn't make sense. If Christopher was a fierce fighter, then why had the other four dragon shifters been challenging him? And why did he chose me to be his knight? Leire must be wrong.

  I didn't have any answers, but one thing was for sure: I had to find out more about Christopher.

  Eleven

  The next day in class, Pol, Maribel, Beatriz, and I were beat. It was probably well after midnight when Christopher came and let us into the building. Needless to say, waking up early the next morning to go to class left us all drained.

  I sat in the back of the classroom trying not to doze off again when I saw Leire glance over her shoulder and smirk. I frowned. What was she up to? She raised her hand in the air.

  "Yes?" Guillen asked in a resigned tone.

  "Is one of the thirteen rules staying out late beyond eleven?" she asked in the most sickeningly innocent voice.

  I snuck a sideways glance at Beatriz. Pol and Maribel were sitting in the row ahead of us.

  Guillen didn't miss our interplay. "What are you talking about?"

  Despite the question, Guillen sounded resigned. It seemed that the instructors were as tired of Leire's troublemaking as we were.

  She continued, "You mentioned that there were thirteen rules, but we'd only find them out when they were broken. Is staying out beyond the door closing one of those rules?"

  "Are you obtuse?" The dragon shifter tapped a ruler against his thigh.

  Leire scowled.

  Guillen continued to glare at her. "You were clearly informed that staying out beyond eleven at night was a rule. So how can it be one of the thirteen rules if you were notified of it and it's mentioned in your Code of Conduct?"

  Leire crossed her arms, her face dark
with anger. "Well, I know some people were out late last night and they didn't get punished."

  The rest of the class started glancing around and speculating who she was talking about. Most of them had been in their rooms when we returned to our wing. I wondered if anyone other than Leire had noticed we hadn't been there.

  Guillen's hand froze, the ruler stopping halfway to his thigh. "And you've taken it upon yourself to remedy this oversight? Have you been promoted to instructor without my knowledge?" His voice dripped with sarcasm.

  Leire glowered at the dragon shifter, refusing to back down. I did have to admire her bravery. Or perhaps she was just an idiot. It takes a certain type of brass to not cower when a dragon shifter stared at you the way that Guillen stared at Leire.

  Beatriz curled her hands into fists. "I'm going to kill her," she whispered to me. I didn't blame her. I felt exactly the same way. I had no idea why exactly Leire had it in for me, but now she was trying to get the others in her quest of vengeance against me. The instructor continued the class.

  "What's her problem?" Beatriz hissed at me.

  I shook my head. "I have no idea."

  "Why was she keeping an eye on us?"

  "It's probably me," I said glumly.

  The rest of the class was uneventful. I picked up my books, but before we could leave Guillen called out to us. "Pol, Vanessa, Beatriz, Maribel. Stay. Leire, you too."

  We stood in front of him as he leaned back in his swivel chair with his arms crossed against his chest.

  He took us all in. "I don't know what's going on between all of you, but whatever it is, knock it off. You're all part of the same intake and have to work together." His tone brooked no argument. His eyes bore a hole into Leire especially.

  She fidgeted under his gaze. "But they broke the rules."

  Guillen sighed. "Yes, and we were aware of it. Your desire to land your fellow classmates into trouble demonstrates poor judgement on your behalf. Congratulations, you will be given the same punishment they will."

  "But that's not fair!" she burst out.

  I bit back a grin of satisfaction. Served her right.

  Our instructor smiled grimly at Leire. "Life isn't fair. If you continue to choose to create trouble for others, then you'll quickly find that trouble will land on your doorstep."

  Leire glowered at us as if it was our fault that she was in this mess, but we weren't the ones who caused her to be punished. A part of me was thrilled that she had been identified as a troublemaker and that the dragon shifters weren't going to put up with her attitude, but the other part of me was dismayed that we'd have to spend more time with her.

  "You will be informed what your punishment is in a week's time," Guillen said.

  "A week?" Pol asked.

  Guillen narrowed his eyes. "That's when it will take place. I suggest you behave until then."

  I nodded. Leire turned and stomped her way out the door. The rest of us followed her. "Serves her right," Beatriz said. "She's always trying to cause trouble."

  Leire stopped and twirled around. She glared daggers at Beatriz. "What did you say?"

  Beatriz paused. Pol and Maribel looked at her. She raised her books to her chest. I noticed her hand was shaking. Beatriz didn't like confrontation.

  "I said it serves you right," Beatriz repeated, her voice low.

  Leire took a step forward. Before I knew it, I moved in front of Beatriz.

  Twelve

  "Leave her alone," I warned Leire.

  "Or what?" she taunted me, daring me to support my threat.

  I narrowed my eyes. From behind me, Beatriz said, "Vanessa, don't!"

  I ignored my friend. My gaze was focused on Leire. This confrontation had been building up for some time. She had held a grudge against me since I first joined the Dragon Research Initiate Program. Then I had beaten her up in front of everyone. Ever since then, she wanted payback.

  "Or I'll teach you a lesson," I said through gritted teeth. "You shouldn't pick on people."

  "You? You're going to teach me a lesson?" Leire scoffed. Despite her air of bravado, I could see a crack in her facade where a sliver of fear peaked through. She was scared of me. And she was right to be.

  I took advantage of that fear and rushed toward her. To her credit, she didn't back down. I swung at her and she raised an arm to block my punch. She made a grab for my hair, but I jerked my head away and she couldn't reach it. A commotion broke out behind us as our fellow classmates started yelling. I was so focused on Leire, I couldn't make out what they were saying. I didn't know if they supported or stood against this fight, but I didn't care either way. I needed to teach Leire a lesson once and for all.

  She kicked at me and connected with my thigh. I winced. That was going to leave a bruise. I made another attempt to punch her, aiming at her stomach but she twisted out of the way before my fist could land. I didn't stop there and immediately responded with a corner kick and my leg managed to reach her where my fist had failed. Leire let out a groan of pain and doubled over. When she stood straight again, her eyes were full of fury. She lowered her head and ran toward me. I braced myself as she hurtled into me. She wrapped her arms around my waist, tackling me as hard as she could, and we crashed together to the ground.

  After that, I just saw red. She sat on top of me and started to pummel my upper body, but I grabbed her head and squeezed. She let out a wail and scratched at my hands in an attempt to make me let go. When that didn't work, she went for my eyes. I knew what battles to pick, and I wasn't about to lose my eyesight, so I released her. I quickly punched her in the gut, pushing her off of me and onto her back. I scrambled on top of her and straddled her chest, pinning her arms to the ground. Her eyes were wide with fear. There it was. It had finally made a full appearance.

  From deep inside me a sense of satisfaction rose. I tried to squash it down, not wanting to explore this familiar reaction. This wasn't who I was, and I knew that it wasn't healthy. I knew it as my hands continued to beat her. Unlike our last confrontation, I was fully aware of what I was doing to her. I was also aware that if I allowed myself, I would enjoy my actions. Ever since I had set foot into the Center after joining the Dragon Research Initiate Program, I had experienced emotions such as these -- feelings that were alien to my nature. I didn't know if it was the dragons changing my view of the world or if I was embracing the madness that lay in my genes, the same madness that had landed my mother in a mental institute.

  My body instinctively knew where to land the best hits for maximum impact. I could identify Leire's weak spots and knew that if I twisted her wrist at this moment, I would be able to snap it like a twig. I didn't know where that certainty came from, but I knew that it was true. The scary part was that I felt no guilt about the prospect of doing so, of maiming her for the immediate future and possibly for the rest of her life.

  But Leire had tried to hurt Beatriz and she had to be punished. That was all that mattered. I raised my hand to punch her, somehow knowing that this would be the blow that knocked her out. Her eyes widened in panic as I reeled my arm back to hit her, but I stopped when I felt a vice-like hand on my forearm.

  Thirteen

  I snarled and pulled my arm away from the hand that had just prevented me from finishing my lesson with Leire. I looked up to see a very angry dragon shifter: Guillen.

  "Get. To. Your. Feet." He bit off each word in a low and ominous voice. His expression was thunderous.

  It was as if a bucket of icy water had been thrown over me. I blinked. The red mist that had clouded my vision began to dissipate. A coldness settled over my bones and I began to shake as the battle rage left me. I looked at the girl I was straddling and saw the primal fear on her face. I could feel the shame beginning to take the place of the adrenaline that was quickly leaving my system. The shame grew stronger as I studied the damage that I had done to Leire. She was bleeding from several lacerations and already bruises were beginning to form.

  "Don't make me repeat myself," Guillen wa
rned.

  I pulled a leg over Leire and stood up. I winced as my body straightened. Guillen ignored the fallen girl. His eyes were molten fury and stuck on me. "What were you doing?"

  "Teaching her a lesson." I didn't have to look into a mirror to know that my face was set in a surly expression. I crossed my arms to hide my trembling frame.

  His eyes widened a fraction. I had surprised him. He hadn't expected me to talk back to him. Who would? Ever since I had joined the Dragon Research Initiate Program I had been a quiet student. Yes, I had gotten myself into trouble once already, but nobody realized my hidden depths. And none of the dragon shifters knew the secret I had been harboring. They believed me to be a human, loyal to them for giving me a charmstone and allowing me to discover the hidden magical world in Barcelona. They didn't know that I was a witch. If they knew that they had admitted a fellow supernatural into their midst to learn their secrets, they would kill me.

  From the corner of my eye, I saw my classmates rush forward to help Leire. She whimpered as they pulled her up. Kevin threw an arm under her to keep her upright. I kept myself from rolling my eyes. I knew that she would play the victim despite the fact that she had been the instigator of the entire incident. Leire knew how to milk the victim role well.

  "Is this the type of fighting Shaima has been teaching you?" Guillen demanded.

  "No," I muttered.

  "I would hope not. She would be very disappointed right now." He glared at me.

  "Would she?" I couldn't help the smirk that tugged at my lips. "What's the point of self-defense if you don't use it?"

  Guillen looked incredulous at my audacity. "That wasn't self-defense. You attacked Leire. If you don't know the difference, then Shaima has been remiss in her lessons. I'm sure other dragon shifters would be happy to teach the two of you the difference between attacks and self-defense."

  I repressed a shudder at his not-so-veiled threat, and finally a twinge of guilt began to eat at me as I thought of Shaima getting into trouble because of my actions. Despite the guilt, I said, "I was defending Beatriz."