“Queen Carissa’s mother was a Chimera too, and her father was a Vampire.” All three of my family pulled a disgusted face. “But King George’s mother was a Seer, and his father a Harpy. So really you have quite a large mix of genes in your blood. It won’t be easy to figure this out.”
She used Dari as an example, pointing out that strength was a sign of being a Vampire, Chimera, and a Harpy. She could be any of them, and until she figured out specifically what charged her, she wouldn’t be able to say for sure.
“I’m pretty sure I’m not a Vampiro; I have no desire to attack people and be rude for no reason.” Dari muttered. “Plus, I’d never be that white.” She pointed to Caleb’s arms, and I flinched – Kaida was pale too, did that mean she could be a Vampire?
As the lesson drew to a close the Heirs were frustrated after all of their ideas had been proved wrong. Even Hoang was a little stressed with the idea how difficult this entire thing was going to be.
“This is stupid; it won’t take me two seconds to figure out what she is.” Mikel moaned, as he shot out a hand and grabbed hold of Kaida’s wrist. The pair of them instantly froze with their stares locked onto each other as the rest of us waited in tense silence.
Before too long they began to ease out of whatever mind trick Mikel had been doing. Kaida started shaking, a mask of fury on her face, and Mikel started gagging and coughing up water.
“Kel?!” Bette shook her boyfriend; he eyes wide with fear. As Kaida snatched her arm back with a growl as Mikel struggled to breathe, the sudden onslaught of water in his lungs choking the life out of him.
Kaida laughed, cursing him to death as she stood there and watched without an ounce of care that a boy was dying right before her eyes. A flicker of terror flew through Mikel’s eyes as he wiggled his fingers, slowly and rather grossly siphoning the water out of his body and dropping it into the ground beside him.
“You should have drowned bastardo, it would have been a more pleasant death than what I’ll give you.” Kaida snarled.
She took a step towards him and for the first time I noticed just how scary she looked. Her eyes were dark, and I couldn’t see any sign of the girl who looked after me my entire life. Kaida looked evil, and I didn’t know what to make of that.
“Come on love, let’s not threaten people again.” Caleb whizzed towards Kaida, picking her up and dropping her back down on the grass a good ten foot from Mikel.
Without hesitating Kaida whipped her hand round and slapped Caleb square across the face hard enough to snap his jaw to the side and leave a bright red handprint.
“I already hate you Vampiro, why do you insist on pushing me still?”
“You hate me?” His brows rose. “That seems a bit extreme.”
“She really does bro; I can feel it. You remind her of something bad and she often dreams about killing you.” Mikel gasped out, as he knelt on the dirt with Bette rubbing his back.
Kaida didn’t reply, the cogs in her brain ticking over as her demons claimed her tongue.
“I think maybe you shouldn’t talk about things you stole from people’s heads Kel. It won’t end well for you.” Ember butted in.
“Oh yeah because Kaida making me relive her memory of being waterboarded wasn’t punishment enough; my lungs are on fire.” He groaned, rubbing his chest.
Kaida is going to kill him. Actually knock him dead.
“Mikel if you say another word I will cut out your tongue.” Kaida snarled with a voice as cold as ice. “And if you think being drowned was the worst thing I could show you then you’re very clearly stupid.” She stalked toward him, a knife appearing in her hand from the depths of her pockets, “But I’m sure I can show you how it feels to have someone inside your head.”
Dari grabbed her first, hoisting Kaida over her shoulder as she yelled and swore and was carried away from the lesson without a chance to retaliate any further.
“Sorry Professor, Kaida doesn’t usually act so violent,” that’s a total lie, “but I swear she will behave next lesson! She’s tired.” I faked a laugh, like being tired was an excuse for threatening murder. To her credit Hoang didn’t say much, she simply said okay and disbanded the lesson for another day.
I tried to walk off before anything happened, but I quickly found myself surrounded by a bunch of scowling faces that pushed me back towards a large tree.
“Come on now Princess, care to share some secrets?” Xavier tilted his head, his navy eyes burning into me.
“I’m not saying a thing, it’s not my place to tell you Kaida’s story.”
Xavier shrugged, accepting my answer easily as he stood back to fix his hair. Caleb wasn’t so kind, and snared his arms around me, placing a palm either side of my face against the trunk of the tree. He was sort of pretty and I could see why Kaida was conflicted over him. He looked innocent, like he could never harm a soul. It didn’t make sense how he behaved, or how he could have been involved in throwing Kaida to the shadow’s mercy.
“Tell me why Kaida hates me so much.” I bit my tongue, desperate to keep my mouth shut.
But I was no match for a Vampires coercion and the words tumbled out of me in a rush as I cursed the God Nakoa for not making me strong.
“Because you don’t seem to have any routines or predictability that she can figure. And Kaida hates when she doesn’t know what someone is going to do. And she really hates it when people touch her; especially men, and you do that too. Plus, she thinks you attacked her and left her for a shadow to kill.”
Caleb shook his head slowly, a blonde curl escaping to cover his eyes.
“And why is that?” I shoved a hand over my lips to force them closed, but Caleb snaked his hand out and gently removed it. “Answer me.”
“Kaida was hurt really bad by a man she trusted, and she’s not been able to get over it. And one of the things that came of that is she has PTSD. Plus, she has OCD, so routines are kind of her whole world. She can’t function without them or deal with people who don’t have any structure.”
I barely managed to answer his question without giving away too much, but I knew I couldn’t do it for long. Caleb could coerce me into saying anything and I had to get away before he could.
“And she said that when she was running from the shadow she someone running really fast, who had blonde curly hair and blue eyes. Next thing she knows she was thrown into a tree and had her rib broken and a bunch of other things.”
Caleb paused at that, mumbling something under his breath that I couldn’t make out. I didn’t know if it had been him that attacked Kaida, but she thought it was, and that was good enough reason for me to not want to say another word to him.
“Please don’t make me tell you anything else; Kaida would never forgive me.” I looked to Xavier, hoping he would be the most reasonable one considering how easily he had let go of me earlier on.
The two boys shared a look, a silent agreement passing between them. Then Caleb stepped back, waving me past and listening to my plea.
“Thanks.” I smiled at Xavier, before bolting away to find my sisters, and hoping that Dari had managed to calm Kaida down before she rampaged against the school. Because God help us all if she did…
Kaida
I didn’t think it were possible to break so many things so fast. I had barely been in my room an hour after that shitshow of a lesson before I had run out of things to ruin. My bed was smashed, curtains shredded, furniture snapped and dented and the door to the balcony had been half ripped from its hinges. Even now, standing on the edge of my balcony and staring down upon my havoc, I knew it was not enough.
A small part of me revelled in my destruction; it had been far too easy to smash things that were supposed to be solid. I didn’t know if I was just over thinking my strength or if it truly was something different. Maybe I was a Chimera too, like my mother, and I could go around tearing the heads off of people who I despised.
The list of names was getting far too big now, and despite never once asking for tr
ouble in my life, I was once again thrust in a situation where people were trying to hurt me. Mikel had invaded my mind for no reason other than he could, and that hurt worse than most things paining me lately.
Caleb had a reason to bite me; he needed blood. Without it he would die. I didn’t excuse his behaviour, but it had a reason at least. But Mikel had nothing. There was no reason for him to be inside my mind or steal my thoughts and memories. They were not his to see and he took them anyway.
I understood why Dari hated him so much now. He was evil. Bad to the core; he had no heart. There was no other explanation for his insistence at hurting my family. There was nothing else I could see to tell me why.
“Are you happy now Mikel? Now that I am a little more dead inside.” I chuckled to the empty air around me.
Whoever gave me a balcony room had been a fool, for I was far too temperamental to ever use it the way it was intended. I wanted to see how it felt to fly and let the gentle caress of the open sky hug me as I fell through its embrace – even though I had no wings.
“If you are real Gods, whatever your names are, then perhaps you can answer my question?”
My feet were on the top of the railing, the flat metal bar only just big enough to squeeze my feet on. The metal was sturdy, and it did not complain at my weight standing on it, nor did it wobble and creak.
“Why me? What did I ever do to deserve this shit?” I whispered to the sky, not wanting to shout and draw a crowd. Xavier and Ember shared this balcony with me, and I had no idea if they were still in lessons or not.
The bottle of vodka in my hand shook and I tipped it up, draining the last drops of bitter poison into my mouth. It burned the whole way down just the way I liked it. The now empty bottle became another irritation, and I threw it to the ground outside my door, watching the shards of glass shatter and collide against the stone floor.
“Xavier will be mad at you; that’s expensive stuff.” I flinched at the interruption.
Spinning around showed me that nobody was here, and for a second I thought another part of me had finally gone insane.
“Up here Kaida.” The voice chuckled again, and I raised my eyes to the air a few feet above my head, where Ember was hovering in the sky. His thick black wings were spread out fully, making him look every inch the angel he was.
We stared at each other for a moment, neither of us daring to speak. But then a brilliant idea came into my head, and I acted without thought. I wanted to see what it felt like to fly, and Ember could do that for me. Drunk Kaida once again had no boundaries.
“Would you show me what its like to fly?” I asked, edging close enough to the end of the rail that my toes hung over the edge. “I would prefer to do it in the sky and not towards the ground.”
One nod was all it took for me to trust Ember with my life. He opened his arms and I jumped; no care for who he was, and what it would mean when he caught me. The only thought in my mind was that I needed this; to feel free. Or else I would have tried to fly regardless.
“I got you,” Ember said, as his steel arms saved me from sudden death, “I won’t let you fall.”
And then I was flying. Soaring through the clouds, dipping up and down, and chasing birds. We went fast; faster than I ever thought possible. And all that was going through my head was that I was free – I was unchained. Nothing in my life was holding me back like it used to, and the things that used to weigh me down were nothing in comparison to this…
Not once did I panic, nor did I think of what it meant to be in the arms of a boy – a boy who wore a crown that was supposed to be mine. Even when the sky dulled and we headed back towards my room, I still did not worry.
“I forgot how good flying felt.” Ember mused, “I’ve done it for so long I forgot how it could make you feel so alive.”
“You don’t feel alive when you fly?” I asked, steadying myself for our landing.
I needn’t have worried. Landing back on our balcony was as soft as if we had only taken a single step.
“I don’t feel alive with anything. I haven’t for a long time.” Ember answered my question as he gently lowered me to my feet.
“Why?” I breathed. Noticing that even though he had put me down, neither of us had made a move to separate entirely – our hands were still interlinked.
Ember sighed and ran a hand through his auburn locks.
“I was made to wield life itself, and when you have tasted the pain of a thousand deaths by your hand, it makes the mundane a whole lot harder than it needs to be.”
“You’ve killed people?” My eyebrows raised at the only part of his statement I could relate to.
“Unfortunately yes. But that is a story for another time perhaps?” He chuckled darkly, his hazel eyes burning into my soul.
I wanted to ask, I needed to ask. But I couldn’t get the words out. It was not my place to delve into his traumatic past experiences when I knew I hated that being done to me.
“You don’t have to tell me anything Ember. It’s your secret to share.” I smiled gently, stepping back from him, and ending the connection between our hands. His fingers hovered in the air for a second before he dropped his hands to his side.
“You should get inside and sober up. Class tomorrow will be unpleasant with a hangover…”
The mention of classes shot a wave of fear over heart. I could not face class yet – I could not face Mikel.
“I’m going to take a day off tomorrow.” I told him, knowing I would need a bit of time to recover.
“Because of what Mikel did?” I nodded, not bothered that Ember had figured out why so easily.
“Yes. Partly.” I bit my lip, “I just need a day to figure out how to breathe again.”
With that I turned around, opening my bedroom door, and meaning to go inside to bed. In my afternoon adventure I had forgotten all about the state of my room.
“I’ll get the staff here to fix and clean your room.” Ember said, his hulking form right up behind me as he took in the state of my room. “We can go for a walk in the meantime, and give them a chance to sort things…”
“Really? Why would you help me?”
Ember pulled a face, closing his eyes for a second as he took in a deep breath.
“I know what its like to not being in control of your own mind Kaida. If I can help you then it would alleviate some of the guilt I feel about not being able to help myself.” That explains why I like him. He’s fucked up too.
“I don’t like other people helping me.” I admitted quietly, not sure whether it was a good idea to say anything. “I don’t like being weak.”
“Only the weak refuse help when they need it. Taking anything I’m willing to give you doesn’t mean a thing about you except that you’re sensible.”
I managed to nod, accepting his offer without a word. Ember shot a couple texts out to whichever unlucky soul had the mammoth task of fixing all my shit. Once done he offered his hand to me again, and his wings began to flutter in the breeze.
“Let’s go, we only need to be out for an hour or so.” He grinned, his pearly white teeth glistening in the low light.
I knew if I accepted his hand now it meant something different than it had before. I was nowhere near as drunk. Nor was I filled with as much blinding anger. A huge part of me was screaming at me that Ember’s touch would hurt me, and that it was a monumentally stupid idea to go anywhere with him. But the part of me that was so desperate for a break won out in the end. My hand grasped Ember’s and he swung me up into his arms, keeping me tight against his chest as he jumped into the air, flying me away from the storm I had created.
***
The woods Ember took me too was only a few miles from the school, but it might as well have been an entire new world. The trees and grass were the same, but the silence and feeling of being alone in the world was nothing like how the academy felt. It was the perfect spot for our heart to heart that I never intended on having.
“Tory said that the human realm dimi
nishes power over time, and that was probably why we don’t remember anything.” Ember shook his head slowly.
“No, that’s a common misconception actually. The human world just hides your powers, it does not take anything. Your memories will still be inside you; they will just need a bit of time to come out.”
Time was not something I really had. There were too many things that could go wrong for me and my sisters, and we needed to learn how to help ourselves faster.
“Is there no way I can force it to happen quicker?” I asked, kicking a pile of leaves in annoyance, “It feels weird having so many people tell us all these stories and tales of things I don’t remember. And every day I worry about people knowing things about me that they could use to their advantage.”
Ember smiled gently, placing his hand right next to mine as close as he could get it without touching me – explaining my fear of touch was one of the first things I said when we landed, and the terror in my chest had come back with a vengeance. I had no choice but to tell him why I could no longer breathe. He hadn’t stopped freaking out thinking he had hurt me.
“Perhaps if I tell you a story of my own, then you will feel better?” Ember checked around the space for witnesses despite us being in the middle of the woods. “I already know some of your secrets and I want to make it fair.”
I wasn’t going to turn down the offer of his secrets, not when he was right in that he knew some of mine. It would make me far less uneasy if I had ammunition against Ember too.
CONVICTION OF THE DAMNED: SUPERNO ACADEMY BOOK ONE Page 21
