“Ok, so if you aren’t name calling then what exactly-” he started to say, but Lea stood suddenly and began pacing around the room.
“-don’t you see? Maybe, because Chris is part-wraith and he has embraced his good side, the necromancy in him works differently? Normally wraiths can control the dead, bring people back to life… but what if because vampires are already dead, Chris can control them too? What if the vampires are the shadows that Ari’s mum was talking about?”
“This wasn’t the first time that I heard Ari’s mum warn me about controlling the shadows,” Chris admitted.
Instantly Lea and Ragon stared at him, while Ari looked down. She already knew this, though she had never spoken of it to anyone else.
“But even if you are right and Chris is supposed to help Ari get rid of vampires,” said Ragon, “Chris can’t control his necromancy. He almost killed me and, and he attacked Ari at the same time.”
“Ragon’s right,” said Chris, and Ragon looked at him in surprise. “When it happened, I lost myself to the power. It was as if it consumed me. I had no control over my actions at all; all I felt was hate.”
“The real question,” said Lea, sitting down with her hands in her head, “is how come we’re getting these warnings now? Vampires, waeres and wraiths have been around for centuries, maybe even thousands of years. If these shadows that Ari’s mum is warning us about does mean the vampires, then what evil thing could they be plotting that has made the spirits on the other side so uneasy?”
“And,” Ari added, recalling the warning that Chris’s father had given them when they had been in the forest, “does this have anything to do with what your dad said about the plans the Ancients had been working on for decades?”
Chapter 13- Pink and Blue
It was the end of October and the weather at the Pasteur Institute had dropped to around ten degrees. The days were shorter too, barely five hours of daylight, if you could call a constant cover of cloud, daylight. The normally dark green foliage which highlight the luscious flora of the Isle of Man had begun to yellow, turning the Three Prong Trek forest into an array of orange and gold trees, with much autumn leaf litter highlighting the path.
In the month which had elapsed since Patrick’s departure, the coven had not heard from him at all. Ryder had left periodically for days at a time, searching for him in every corner of the world, but to no avail. Clyde, who had become increasingly overbearing of Riley, if that was possible, had stated boldly that Patrick’s absence at this time was not necessarily a bad thing. This had created tension between him and Ryder; a tension which Ari felt whenever Ryder came back to the campus.
Riley too was more miserable than normal. Ari thought that it might have something to do with the enormous size her belly had grown. Though she was only technically twenty one weeks pregnant, her belly had grown to resemble what you would expect in someone who was close to their due date. This cemented the theory that hers and Clyde’s child was growing at a faster than normal rate, and made them think it wouldn’t be long until she went into labour. However it soon became clear that what Riley missed was shifting and the company of other waeres. Twice Clyde had found her out at the forest near Delta at night, apparently searching for Natalie, just in case the girl had retuned. Each time he had been furious, while Riley had been indifferent. When Clyde huffed and puffed about this, Riley would wave her hands and explain that it was her maternal instinct kicking in.
And then there were the missing students. There had been no word whatsoever from Lisa, and in the month since her disappearance, four more students had gone missing. Lea was convinced that Ari’s mother’s warning had something to do with the missing students, though Ari couldn’t see how. Chris and Lea had spent a lot of time together, going through every book they could get their hands on which detailed wraith necromancy, but hadn’t been able to find a single scrap of information that explained what Chris had done to Ragon. Despite Lea’s encouragement that Chris should practice controlling his powers, Chris had refused point blank. Not that they would have been able to find a vampire willing to act as the test dummy.
Ari thought it odd that despite the continued disappearance of students at the Pasteur Institute, no formal investigation by police or any other authorities had been undertaken. This, more than anything else, made Ari certain that it must be vampires who were behind the students vanishing, though again, she could see no reason why. If the vampires who had taken the students were capable of lulling the police at the Isle of Man, then surely they would be able to lull their victims, rather than making them disappear.
After her conversation with her parents, Ari had taken out the charm bracelet that Ragon had given her for her birthday and started wearing it again. Ever since Lea had placed an anti-vampiric charm on it, she had put it in her desk draw and forgotten about it. It reminded her of the night that she had been taken by the Ancients and had almost lost Ragon, something she wanted never to think about again. But it was the only thing she owned which reminded her of her mum and dad, and she took to opening the little locket with their faces in it and looking at it, whenever she found that the image of her parents was starting to fade. This kept their memory alive.
It was less than two weeks before her end of semester exams, when Ryder came knocking on Ari’s door. She had been reading over her notes on histology of the nervous system, when she heard the frantic banging on her dorm door and rushed to it, desperate for anything that might offer a suitable distraction from her study. The moment that she had pushed the door open, Ari had raced to Ryder’s side and hugged him warmly. Promptly she noticed a change in him. Though his body was cold and hard as it always was, there was an emotionlessness to him that had not been there in life or even after he had become a vampire. As she slowly released him, Ari wondered just how much of Ryder’s humanity was tied to his relationship with Patrick.
“I am so glad you’re back,” she said, “were having a baby shower for Riley this afternoon and-”
But before she could finish her sentence, Ryder interrupted saying, “-I need to find him.”
“I don’t know how to help you; I can’t pull my magic wand out and locate him. I don’t have any control over my visions.”
But Ryder was no longer looking at her; his eyes had grown wide and hungry and after a moment’s hesitation, he raced from her room and out the door, as if struck by a sudden epiphany. Immediately Ari’s mouth fell open and she stared at the closed door in confusion. Her shoulders were shrugged in confusion when Ryder came hurtling back inside, grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her with him.
“Where are we going?” she asked, trying to keep pace with him as he sped along the corridor, down the flight of stairs, then raced along the first level landing.
“How many people do we know with a magic wand?” said Ryder. “Literally!”
Ari had just enough time to think of a witty remark involving Harry Potter, but before she could voice this, Ryder had pulled her to a stop outside of Lea’s room.
“Knock, knock,” he said unnecessarily, after banging on Lea’s door multiple times.
A short silence followed this and before Ari had time to wonder if Lea was even inside, the door swung open.
“I need you to find Patrick,” Ryder said abruptly.
“I’m not the yellow pages,” Lea said, turning to glare at Ari, as if she were somehow responsible for this.
“No, you’re a witch,” Ryder said angrily, drawing Lea’s attention back to him.
“Yea, and you’re a vampire,” Lea pointed out obviously.
“Let’s all just try to play nice,” said Ari, trying to stand in-between the two as they glared at one another.
“You have to do it,” said Ryder, “I know you can.”
“Why would I want to?” asked Lea, “Do you think I want another blood hunter here? Weren’t you there the last time one of them tried to kill us?”
“This is Patrick were talking about!” Ryder exclaimed. “And he
is not a blood hunter, he-”
“-he killed his maker. He killed part of his line. He’s a blood hunter!” Lea said flatly, then seeing the hurt look on Ryder’s face, added, “Look, even if I did want to help, I don’t even know if a tracking spell would work on a vampire. My magic is supposed to help the innocent.”
“Please,” said Ryder, and Ari saw a look in his eyes that she recognised from when he was mortal. Desperation. “Patrick is innocent.”
Ryder’s frantic look had reminded Ari of her childhood. She had been fifteen when she had been taken in by Ryder’s parents. Less than six months later they had sat the pair down and explained that they couldn’t continue to foster Ari. It was the last time she had ever let herself feel unwanted, closing her heart off to them and the rest of the world. When Ryder’s parents had told them that Ari would be leaving the next day, Ryder had begged with them to let her stay but to no avail. Now as Ryder pleaded with Lea, she remembered that same little boy, with his deploring look of hopelessness.
“Couldn’t you just-” Ari began to say.
“-I’m sorry,” said Lea, opening her door and waiting for Ryder and Ari to leave. “I can’t help.”
When Lea had closed the door on them, Ryder had stared at it as if willing it to open. When it remained closed he hung his head.
“I’m going to help you find him,” Ari found herself saying.
“I just... just wish he knew how much I love him,” said Ryder.
“He does know. I think he’s just upset. Patrick has a lot to deal with. He just found out that the person who tricked him into becoming a vampire killed his whole family. That’s a big deal, even if you do take away the blood hunter curse.”
“Yea, I supposed. I just hope he realises soon that he isn’t evil. This stupid curse doesn’t define him,” said Ryder.
“He will. I know he will. Are you hanging around campus for a bit longer? Sandra’s throwing Riley a baby shower this afternoon. I know that they would all love to see you.”
“I have a hockey game tonight,” said Ryder.
“What? Why… since when do you play hockey?”
“Since my boyfriend decided to kill his maker and run off on me,” Ryder snapped back.
“That’s not fair. He did that to protect you. Well, will you at least try to make it?”
“I’ll try,” said Ryder, and then he left, blurring down the hallway and out of Omega Halls.
At 2.30 in the afternoon, Ari vacated her room so that Sandra could put up decorations for Riley’s baby shower. Half an hour later and she and Lea were knocking on the door, hoping to be allowed back inside. The moment that the door swung open, Ari’s mouth fell open; her room was entirely unrecognisable. Pink and blue streamers hung from every inch of the ceiling, while clusters of balloons adorned the furniture. Above the window was an enormous glittery sign that spelled out ‘Congratulations.’
Ari’s desk had been converted into a refreshment stand, where a powder blue table cloth supported many delicious looking savoury treats, while taking centre stage was a sweets display, with blue and pink frosted cupcakes. Ari was pleased to see that the curtains had been pulled closed, so that only people inside the room could see Sandra’s master piece. Still, she couldn’t help but feel nervous about the baby shower and the blanket ban Clyde had put on the event.
“Wow!” said Ari, moving into her room carefully.
“Had a bit of free time on your hands?” Lea asked, tiptoeing into the room and sitting down on Ari’s bed, which had been dotted with pink and blue fluffy throw pillows.
“Oh, I just threw it together last minute,” said Sandra, strolling over to a bar fridge and pouring something red and thick into a tall glass. “Thirsty?”
Both Ari and Lea looked hesitantly at the cup in Sandra’s hands, before quickly shaking their heads.
“Don’t worry, I bought cordial for ye ‘al,” she said, her deep southern accent bringing a smile to Ari’s face.
“So, what time is Riley getting here?” Lea asked, just as there was a knock at the door.
“Happy baby shower,” Sandra said, hugging Riley before holding the door open to allow her entrance.
“Oh my God,” said Riley, mirroring the other’s reactions, as she stared around at the elaborately decorated room. “Where did you get all this stuff from?”
“I made it,” Sandra admitted, moving back to her cup and taking a deep sip. Sandra sighed, moving to sit next to Riley as she added, “This is the first baby shower I have ever been to.”
Ari couldn’t help but notice the sad twang in Sandra’s voice.
“Ok well, just don’t let Clyde see all of this stuff,” Riley said. “He’s angry enough that we are staying here. He would probably go insane if he found out that you were throwing me a baby shower. I’m just glad that there has been no news whatsoever about waeres on the campus.”
“Yea,” said Ari. “Now that Natalie is gone, there is nothing but a cold trail. Hopefully the vamps will think it was all just one big red herring.”
“Ok, who’s ready for the first game?” Sandra asked, excitedly.
Two rounds of ‘pin the tail on the baby’ and a quick game of ‘boy or girl’ later, and the group were finally on the last activity of Sandra’s itinerary.
“Ok, this last game is what will my baby look like?” said Sandra, handing out three baby shaped cut outs, scissors, glue and several photographs of Riley and Clyde. “So, you just have to cut out the features from the photos of Riley and Clyde and then mix them up and stick them on the babies.”
“This should give us a fairly accurate idea of what the baby will look like,” said Riley.
Ari smiled lightly to herself as she cut the lips from the photograph of Riley and then paired them with Clyde’s eyes. When the group was done, each handed their artwork to Riley. Riley took the pictures, rubbing lightly at her large belly, before looking down at the different images. Immediately her face fell.
“What’s wrong?” asked Sandra, sweeping from her seat and moving behind Riley, to look at the pictures.
“It’s just…” said Riley, “what will the baby be… a vampire or a waere? Maybe even mortal, or a mix of all three? I don’t think it will be human, not with the rate at which it’s growing, but, but…”
“Oh sugar,” said Sandra, blurring to Riley and hugging her warmly, which was made difficult by Riley’s enormous stomach. “As long as the baby is healthy, that’s all that matters.”
“But will it be healthy?” Riley asked, her large eyes beginning to pool with tears. “Its fathers a vampire and its mother is a waere-”
“-oh honey, you can’t think like that,” Sandra said quickly. “Your baby is a miracle.”
“I just wish I knew someone who knew about all of this,” said Riley, rubbing her huge stomach. “My parents are both dead and the only person who could tell me anything about being a pregnant waere is Natalie, and God knows where she is. I just wish I could talk to her.”
“But we haven’t see her for ages,” said Ari. “We told her to leave.”
“And we have no idea where she is or where she went,” Sandra added.
At this Lea stood, striding across the room and squatting down so that she was in front of Riley.
“I could find her for you,” Lea said, a small smile spreading across her face.
Riley looked up at Lea, a mixture of doubt and excitement on her face.
“You can do that?” asked Riley, leaning forwards so that her chest rested heavily on her stomach.
Lea nodded, and Ari looked at her in surprise. Hadn’t Lea just told Ryder that she couldn’t use her magic on vampires? Now she was offering to do a spell to find a waere. Ari considered mentioning this, but the shinning hopefulness in Riley’s eyes squashed her question instantly.
“I just need something of Natalie’s to scribe with,” said Lea.
The room fell silent.
“Wait a minute,” said Ari, racing to her wardrobe and rummaging through the
back of it.
“What in God’s name is that?” Lea asked, looking at the scrunched up scrub top that Ari had produced from a tied plastic bag.
“When Natalie was hit by a car and brought to the animal clinic, Chris used his scrubs to cover her,” Ari explained. “She gave them back to me and I was supposed to give them back to Chris, but I only just remembered about them now. There is still a blood stain on the sleeve here.”
“Blood is perfect,” said Lea, gingerly taking the scrub top from Ari.
“How long will it take?” Riley asked eagerly, while Lea folded the scrub top and placed it in her bag.
“I’ll do the scribing spell when I get back to my room. Once I’m done, it should only take a couple of days,” she said. “As soon as I know where she is, I’ll let you know.”
Bound (The Grandor Descendant Series Book 3) Page 26
