by Helen Harper
Brock stared down at it. “I wondered whether you were going to come clean about that or not.”
I started guiltily. I’d been hoping that up till now he’d not remembered that I’d been wearing it when I’d come across him staggering his way home.
“Well,” I said, pushing it at him, “now I am coming clean. And the skirt’s clean too. So if you give it to her, then you’ll be able to show her how thoughtful and caring you are.”
He took it from me, blinking rapidly. “I don’t know, Mack. Maybe you should just give it to her.”
I frowned at him. “No. This is your chance, Brock. Show her what a good guy you are. Go and find her now, she’s probably in her dorm, and you can return it to her. Then, I don’t know, you can suggest that she celebrates by putting it on and going out with you for a drink. Not now, of course,” I said hastily, “later when everything else has died down.”
He licked his lips nervously. “I can try, but…”
I gave him a stern look. “There is no try.” Oh my God, did I just say that? Luckily Brock was either too polite, too young or too nervous about what I was suggesting to pull me up on it.
“Okay, Mack.” He stroked the fabric lightly and squared his shoulders. “Yes, I can do this.”
I beamed at him. At least I was managing to get something right today. I reached out and smoothed his hair down, then straightened his robes and pulled him out from the threshold of his room. Then I gave him a gentle push down the corridor. “You’ll be fine. Do it now before you lose your nerve.”
He nodded to himself. “Okay. Yes. I’ll just tell her that I found it now.”
He continued on muttering away to himself as he slowly walked towards where the girls’ dorms were situated. I looked over at Aqmar, who was watching me with a grin on his face and winked at him then held up my hand.
“Fingers crossed.”
He mirrored my gesture, then reached out and high-fived me. “I have every faith in the boy,” he stated solemnly. “He will do us proud.”
I gave him a mock salute, and then left.
Chapter Twenty-three
I was just leaving the dorm room area, when Alex bounded up to me.
“Mack Attack! Dude, I was just looking for you, where have you been?”
I chose not to answer that. I didn’t think that Alex would care all that much about the love lives of my fellow students at this particular point in time.
“Um, just wandering around,” I demurred. “What’s up?”
“The Arch-Mage wants to see you right away. I think he and Lord Shifty have concocted up some kind of plan.” He shrugged. “It might work.”
“And Thomas? The Dean? What’s going to happen to them?”
Alex’s mouth twisted. “Thomas is being taken back to the Ministry headquarters. The Dean is still in charge for now, but I’m not sure how long that’s going to last.”
Heat sparked up inside me. “They can’t blame Thomas for what he did. He was just standing up for me.”
“Yeah, I think they get that. I reckon they’ll go easy on him. But his career as a teacher is probably over.”
Damnit. Something else I had to feel guilty about. “Okay. Where’s the Arch-Mage?”
“In the Dean’s office. You should head there straightaway.”
I peered at him. “And you? What are you doing?”
“I’m leaving right now. I don’t really have time to explain because I need to shoot off. The Arch-Mage will tell you.” He leaned over and gave me a peck on the cheek then turned round and darted off.
I watched him go for a moment, then slowly walked over to the office. The staircase and corridors were conspicuously empty. I wondered if all the other mages were now in hiding, hoping to avoid the fallout from what had transpired outside. My thoughts tripped over one another as I tried to think of something that I could do to help Thomas’ situation. I’d fall on my sword in a heartbeat if it didn’t mean damning Mrs. Alcoon at the same time. Fuckity fuck fuck.
When I reached the door to the Dean’s little room, I paused for a second, then took a deep breath, and knocked on it. Squirming tension was fluttering away inside me. A voice from inside called out for me to enter, so I twisted the doorknob and walked in.
Both Corrigan and the Arch-Mage were seated on a small striped sofa to the side of the Dean’s desk. Fortunately, of the Dean himself, there was no sign. The Arch-Mage gestured to me to sit down on the chair opposite them.
“So,” he said finally, after I’d seated myself and was gazing expectantly over at them, “as much as we want to keep the circle of people who are involved in this as small as possible, it appears that you are inextricably linked to the fate of the Palladium. This would be a lot easier if you and Mage Florides had come to me in the first place.”
Somehow I doubted that, but I kept my thoughts to myself and stayed silent.
“Mage Florides has left already. He is going to continue to track down the whereabouts of the wraith’s original body. Once those have been located then we can easily rid ourselves of it.”
I cleared my throat. Both Corrigan and the Arch-Mage stared at me.
“What?”
“We’ve already established that the Palladium has no powers,” I said carefully. “It’s the Ancile that ‘s the worrying object. So why don’t we just give the Palladium back to Tryyl and be done with it.”
Corrigan smirked. “That’s the plan. You and I are going to travel to the place where your mage friend found the thing in the first place. We’ll leave it there and let the wraith retrieve it.”
Oh joy. More alone time with the Lord Alpha. I ignored the little trip and flutter of bloodfire inside me.
The Arch-Mage leaned forward. “Of course that doesn’t necessarily mean that Tryyl won’t still come after us for having had it in our possession in the first place. That’s why Mage Florides is still going to try to find his bones.”
“I thought he tried that already and couldn’t manage it.”
The Arch-Mage lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug. “There are a few things he can try yet. He’s rather talented at Divination, as you know.”
“And we’d expect that the wraith’s largest bone of contention is with the vampires anyway,” added in Corrigan. “If he’s going to take revenge out on anyone, it stands to reason that he’d go there first.”
I wasn’t convinced that a shadowy creature of death really had that many powers of logic and reasoning, but I wisely kept my mouth shut. I shrugged and looked at them both. “Okay then. Let’s do it.”
Corrigan stood up, and pointed towards the Dean’s desk. I noticed for the first time that the Palladium was standing rather forlornly on it. I gazed at it for a moment. Why such a small thing could cause so many stupid problems I had no idea.
“As you have already handled it, it makes sense for you to do so again. That way we can limit our physical contact with the thing.” The Arch-Mage’s voice was calm, but I felt the stirrings of annoyance with his words.
“Of course. That way it’s only my life that’s in danger, not anyone else’s.”
Corrigan reached over and took my hand, holding it gently but firmly in his. His emerald green eyes fixed upon mine. It was virtually impossible for me to look away. “I won’t let anything happen to you,” he said softly.
Now I just felt even more irritated. “Actually, I won’t let anything happen to me. I don’t need your protection. As I recall, you were pretty useless against Tryyl anyway.”
His eyes flashed in anger and he dropped my hand. Fine.
The Arch-Mage laughed mirthlessly. “At least it’s not just me that has issues with controlling her.”
I stared at him in annoyance, mulling over whether Thomas had been right about him forcing me to come to the academy just so that he could show the Dean who was really boss. “If I do this, then you need to do something for me,” I stated evenly.
“I’m not going to release you from your oath,” he said warningly.
“I think you’ll find that the Lord Alpha here has already considerably highlighted the error of the Dean’s ways in that respect.”
I sneaked a quick peek at Corrigan. His jaw was clenched but otherwise the expression on his face was unfathomable.
“Still,” I continued, “he shouldn’t be punished for it.”
The Arch-Mage gave an imperceptible nod. “He will be given an alternative position as a gatekeeper, working out of London.”
“He’ll be very good at that,” I said softly.
The Arch-Mage agreed. “I know. Now, take the damn Palladium and get out of here.”
I scooped it up. It still felt like nothing more than a chunk of roughly hewn wood. Whatever. It was time to put the thing to rest for once and all.
*
Corrigan and I walked out to the front of the academy building, neither of us saying a word to the other. Part of me wanted to thank him for standing up for me and Thomas, whilst the other part was equally bristling at the idea that he thought I needed him to do so. Regardless of anything, I was gallingly aware of his proximity. He had slowed his steps deliberately so that I could keep pace with him without having to trot beside him, and the tiny gap of air between our bodies was achingly small.
He turned right, heading for the portal, and I was about to do the same when I heard my name being called from behind. I turned round and saw Thomas, supported on either flank by two mages, and jogged back over to the steps and next to him.
“Are you okay?” My eyes scanned his face, checking to see what lingered damage had been done.
He coughed slightly. “I’m fine. You’ll have heard I’m being sent back to the Ministry?”
I nodded. “The Arch-Mage promises that you won’t be punished. He’ll find you a place as a gatekeeper.”
Thomas laughed bitterly. “Fat lot of good that will do. You know what it’ll be like, Mack, more than anyone. I’ll always be labelled as the crazy one who might fly off the handle at any moment. It doesn’t matter whether I’m here or somewhere else.” He sighed. “I thought I’d put all those troubles behind me, but I suppose I was wrong.”
I moved closer and leaned in to hug him tightly. Still clutched in one of my sweaty palms, the Palladium knocked against his back. He clung on to me for a moment, then released his grip. “You’ve been a true friend to me, Jeremy.” I looked him directly in the eyes, meaning every single word. “Stepping up the Dean like that, after what he did…” my voice trailed off. “I hope we can stay in touch?”
He smiled and chucked me under the chin. “Hey, I’m going to need all the friends I can get.”
I hugged him again, then pulled away, trying to convey silently to him how much he meant to me. Then I left him standing there, whilst I jogged back to Corrigan.
“Another conquest, kitten?”
“Stop fucking calling me that,” I hissed at him.
A muscle tightened his jaw and he took my arm, beginning to pull me towards the portal.
“Hey!” I protested. “I’m not a sack that you can just shove around.”
“As if I’d ever think that,” he muttered, his grip tightening.
“Mack! Wait up!”
“Oh for fuck’s sake, what now?” scowled Corrigan petulantly.
It was Brock. He ran over to me, a huge smile on his face. “It worked! Mack, it worked! You’re an absolute genius! We’re going out on Friday night, just me and her. You should have been there. Deborah was so grateful, and she gave me this great huge kiss right here.” He pointed to the side of his cheek, beaming from ear to ear. “Oh,” he sighed melodramatically, “I’ll never wash again.”
I grinned at him. “That might not endear you to Deborah.”
He laughed. “I can’t thank you enough. I…” He stopped in mid-sentence and a strange look came over his face. He coughed and gurgled.
Alarmed, I reached out to touch his arm. “Brock? Are you okay?”
A trickle of blood seeped from his mouth, then there was a loud of wheeze of triumph from behind him. He fell to his knees, eyes wide and staring. Brock hung there as if suspended for one silent moment where the world stopped and nothing moved, and then collapsed to the ground. There was a gaping hole through the back of his robes that were now soaked in blood. Behind him, swinging in the air, was Tryyl, Brock’s bloody heart clasped in his dark hand.
Chapter Twenty-four
The wraith dropped Brock’s heart as if it were nothing more than a piece of rubbish and fixed its terrible gaze on the Palladium in my hand.
“Give meeeeeeee it,” it hissed.
I was still staring at Brock’s fallen body, my brain trying to compute what had just happened. I was dimly aware of Corrigan shifting in an explosion of ripping fabric behind me, and his feline snarl as he launched himself into the air. Up ahead, by the steps where Thomas and the other two mages were, came the sounds of shouting as they all began running towards us.
Tryyl lunged towards me, in a motion that was so swift that I barely registered it. Corrigan’s werepanther form was already barrelling into the wraith, however, knocking him off his course as he sprang through the centre of his body so that he narrowly avoided connecting with me. All coherent thought left my mind. The only thing that was left was the bloodfire. The roar of it as it raged with fury and vengeance tore through my body. The flames seared my insides until there was not a scrap of my flesh that wasn’t burning. Without thinking, I threw the Palladium behind me as far as it possibly could go, then turned to face the wraith.
Green fire exploded from my hands with violence and intent. I launched twin jets out towards the shadowy form, both smacking immediately into his chest. The wraith roared in pain and anger, and sprang forward again. Corrigan hit him again from the side, lethal white teeth snapping as he struggled to find purchase in Tryyl’s insubstantial form. Then, from behind, both Thomas and the other two mages joined in the attack, each sending out their own waves of attacking blue flame.
A vicious spasm contorted the wraith’s body, and he let out an inhuman, bloodcurdling scream. Corrigan lunged out, claws flashing, scraping into his body. Tryyl spun round, slamming out a dark hand into the werepanther’s face. He snarled and slumped to the ground. Bloodfire pounded in my ears and throbbed in my heart. I shot out again with my flames, but this time the wraith leapt lithely to the side, avoiding being hit. Then he lashed out again, cuffing me against the side of my head and sending me flying painfully down to the ground. I lifted my head, tensing my muscles to spring back up and saw the wraith twist in the air to fly forward and meet Thomas and the others head on. They continued to send out streams of blue fire, but they were having little effect, virtually bouncing off Tryyl’s body and vanishing into the atmosphere. I leapt up, just as Tryyl roared again and flew towards them, knocking over all three.
I ran towards the small group, as fast as I humanly could, small stones pelting up into the air from around my feet. I continued to blast the wraith’s dark shape with green fire, Tryyl twisting this way and that each time I landed a shot. Thomas lifted his head and, for one brief moment, his gaze connected with mine and he smiled, then he reached up to grab Tryyl’s leg. The wraith screamed down at him in ire and kicked, his booted foot smashing against Thomas’ skull with a sickening crack. The mage fell back down, his neck skewed at an unnatural angle.
Hot tears filled my eyes as I continued to run. Tryyl turned yet again and faced me, an ugly bitter smile curving his shadow filled features.
“It’ssssssss miiiiiine,” he cried out, in a voice terrible enough to wake the dead.
I ignored his calls and bent my head down and jumped, headfirst, butting him in his stomach. His hand clawed out towards me, ripping the flesh at my neck and pulling away my skin. I fell backwards, heat exploding from every sinew in my body, ignoring the physical pain of
the attack.
For a moment, the wraith looked puzzled, staring down at his hand. I realised through the wall of fire that he was clutching my necklace in his hand, long dirty fingernails curling round it. Then he dropped it uncaringly and spat, a stream of black blood ejecting from his mouth. It landed on Thomas’ body, a thick dark gloop of blood and spittle. My bloodfire screeched, thrumming through my skin. Heat and flames pulsated, opening up my pores and blazing out. The mages on either side of Thomas moaned. Tryyl reached down, grabbing each of them by their hair, one in each terrible hand, and slammed their heads down onto the gravel.
Fire.
Heat.
Blood.
A strange sensation filled me. My limbs cracked and my flesh twisted. I roared. Not in pain, but in vengeance. I could feel myself growing, enlarging and breaking out of the very skin that I was in. My teeth felt strange in my mouth, longer and sharper, as if they didn’t belong. My bones stretched and snapped and what I felt was no longer just fire and flame, but power too. I roared again, and this time the sound was deafening. There was an unfamiliar weight at my back. I twitched, realising that I had control of it, then whipped it round. My tail caught Tryyl’s midsection, tearing through him and leaving a sucking hole in amongst blackness.
I twisted my neck to the side, now towering over the shadow in front of me. I examined the tiny creature of vile death and pain with detachment. Then I opened up my jaws and snapped, ripping Tryyl’s head from his shoulders and tossing it to the side. Opening my mouth one final time, I let my scream of bloody thunder escape in triumph. And then I collapsed.
*
It was the voices around me in hushed argumentative tones that I first registered when I came to. The metallic sterile tang in the atmosphere advertised the fact that I was no longer outside, but instead back inside, within the academy’s infirmary. Probably on the same bed that Thomas had lain in until Tryyl had snapped his neck.
