by Wendy Knight
Her heart hardened in her chest, and when she leaned close to her father’s ear to be heard over the storm, her voice was icy and flat and terrifying. “I’ll find him, Father. I’ll destroy everything he has. He will pay for this.”
Her father’s grip was surprisingly strong as he grabbed her arm, and his gaze darkened until no sign of hopelessness remained. “Then you’ll need help. We will summon the Edrens.”
Edrens. Red Flame throwers. Sorcerers. Her family.
Before she even realized she was awake, Ari could feel pain — horrible throbbing throughout her head that made her nauseous, and aching, burning pain in her shoulder and ribs. “Ugh,” she groaned. Tentatively, she opened her eyes. The room was dim and blurry. It took her a second to realize that it was her vision that was blurry, but the room was dim because the curtains had been drawn.
The dream again. Of course she had the dream again. Why wouldn’t she? It seemed like she was having that same dream every time she even though about sleeping. Ada Aleshire was her ancestor, and the Edren responsible for starting the war, although the Carules were mostly to blame. At least they were according to any Edren.
A shadow moved at the corner of her vision and Ari pushed herself up, untangling her hands from the blanket. Bad move. The whole room spun and Ari fought to keep from throwing up or losing consciousness. The shadow moved through the room without a sound, closer and closer. Ari winced in pain when she moved her head, and inwardly cursed the fact that she couldn’t see clearly, and then winced again when she raised her arm to draw a protective spell around herself. Nausea washed over her and she fought to keep it down as the room spiraled around her. Blacking out now would mean death.
“What on earth are you doing? Are you insane?” a woman’s deep voice bellowed from the shadows. Startled, Ari froze in confusion. “You’ve had a nasty fall. You need to lie still or I’ll have to take you in.” The woman moved into the dim light. She was tall, although probably not as tall as Ari, with long black hair just streaking with gray at the temples. Large brown eyes glared at Ari through wire-rim glasses.
“In?” Ari asked, totally lost.
“To the hospital,” the woman said matter-of-factly, flipping on a lamp next to the bed and pulling a stethoscope from around her neck. Ari closed her eyes against the light, since she had learned mere moments ago that wincing hurt. A lot.
“I've got some pain killers here that will help your head.” The woman was a tad more sympathetic, prying open one of Ari’s eyelids and shining a light into it. Ari sucked in a breath. “Sorry,” the woman said, although she didn’t sound apologetic at all. “You have a concussion, but it isn’t too severe.”
Finally, understanding dawned and Ari groaned. “You’re the school nurse.” She collapsed back against the pillows.
“Well, yes. Who did you think I was, the boogeyman?”
Ari almost smiled. “Something like that.”
The nurse chuckled. “I’m Ms. Neemer. Shane brought you here a few minutes ago. You were knocked off a ladder, but they’re still discussing whose fault that is. Not yours, if that’s any consolation.”
Ari slowly opened an eye and attempted to peer up at Ms. Neemer. “Shane?”
Ms. Neemer raised an eyebrow in surprise as her hands moved over Ari’s shoulder, looking for injuries. “I thought every girl in this school knew who Shane Delyle is.”
Ari attempted a shrug but only succeeded in squealing a little in pain. “It’s my first day here.” She gasped.
“You landed hard on your shoulder. It’s going to be sore for a few days,” Ms. Neemer said, stating the obvious. “You should try not to move it.” She walked over to the sink and brought back a glass of water. Dropping two pills into Ari’s hand, she said, “Take these and drink all of this. It will help you feel better.” Hesitating at the doorway, she turned back to add, “We attempted to reach your grandfather, but no one could seem to locate him.”
“Oh,” Ari mumbled. She had been hoping they wouldn’t think to call Richard.
“Well, I did reach your mother, so I let her know. She wasn’t even on your list of contacts, so it was by accident that I reached her at all.”
Imagine that, Ari thought grimly.
While the pain meds helped with the pain, the magic flames roaring through her body trying to heal her made her very, very sleepy. Sleeping was a potential life sentence for Ari, because she couldn’t fend off a Carules attack in her sleep. At least, she didn’t think she could — she’d never had to before. Trying to keep herself awake, she ran through a list of spells the Carules had that could kill her. Traditionally, Carules magic had been defensive — they healed and transported and did, well, defensive things. It had evolved to be more like the offensive magic Edrens possessed, but their spells still weren’t as powerful. They made up for that in the fact that there were more Carules than Edrens. So now that she thought about it, she probably could fight off a Carules attack in her sleep. To be safe, though, she should stay awake anyway. She feuded with the magic-induced weariness for as long as she could and she won. For a whole ten minutes. Just when she was drifting off into what was sure to be a blissful, pain-free sleep, Ms. Neemer woke her up. “If you don’t stay awake, we’ll have to take you to the hospital.” She admonished, flashing the bright light into her eyes again. Ari gritted her teeth, vowing not to fall asleep again. Carules attacks she could handle. Bright, painful light in her eyes she could not.
****
“Wow. Brittany outdid herself on the decorating,” Charity said as she and Shane walked into the crepe-papered, balloon-infested gym. Hunter trailed behind them, having made it known that he was none too thrilled about coming to the dance, but he wasn’t letting Shane out of his sight until he knew for sure the new girl wasn’t a threat. Shane humored him, since, as the Carule’s Prodigy’s Guard, it was Hunter’s calling in life to protect him.
The room was packed with students dressed in colorful dresses and handsome suits. Spinning silver balls caught the dim light and threw it haphazardly across the walls, floor, students, and above it all, music throbbed.
“Brittany had nothing to do with it,” Nevaeh responded as she wandered by in a floor-sweeping yellow chiffon. Most girls couldn’t pull it off, but Nev did so fabulously.
“Nev! You look gorgeous! I love your dress!” Charity squealed, grabbing her by the shoulders and spinning her around in a circle. Nevaeh laughed, jutting her hip out and throwing one hand up in the air like a supermodel.
Before she and Charity were lost to the baffling girl world of dance gossip and squealing, Shane jumped in. “Hey Nev, you hung out in the nurse’s office after we left, right?” Shane watched Hunter out of the corner of his eye.
His Guard locked on to the conversation with interest, heaving a frustrated sigh as Nev turned to Shane and gave him a slow once-over, taking in his dark red shirt with his black tie and dress pants. She raised her big brown eyes back to him and nodded. “Nice, Mr. Delyle. The clothes do you justice.”
“Thanks.” Shane laughed easily, used to being complimented by beautiful girls. Charity giggled, bumping Nevaeh with her shoulder.
“Yes, Hunter, you look nice too. Big and dark and sexy.” Nev gave another approving nod. “Care to return the compliment?” she teased, peering around Shane with a wink.
Hunter, all in black, rolled his eyes. “Right, like anyone notices me when ‘Mr. Delyle’ is around,” he said gruffly, but stood up taller and straightened his tie, returning Nevaeh’s wink.
“Yeah, I stayed in the office. I had my arm checked cuz Livi made me, but it was fine. Ms. Neemer cleaned it with antiseptic and sent me on my way. She wouldn’t let us see Ari though. Why?”
“Just wondering how that girl was doing. Ari?” Shane asked, wondering why Charity was herding them away from the entrance and into the dimly-lit party.
“Who is she, by the way?” Hunter asked, glancing guiltily at Shane. Charity shook her head in annoyance, but Nevaeh didn’t notice and Hunter
pretended not to.
“Oh, she’s Brittany’s new roommate, poor thing. Ari, not Brittany,” Nevaeh clarified, wrinkling her nose in distaste.
“Where’d she come from?” Another guilty look at Shane.
“Umm, I don’t know. I don’t think she said.” Noticing Hunter’s face fall, she cast an impish grin and said, “I do know she doesn’t have a boyfriend, if you’re interested.”
Livi appeared at Nevaeh’s side, looking more like a senior than usual. Her black and white dress ended at a poof near her knee, and her light brown hair was pulled up in a chignon with little crystals scattered through it. She jumped right into the conversation. “Are you kidding? How could they not be interested? She is gorgeous!” Shane and Hunter found themselves facing two mischievous pairs of eyes, both girls batting long eyelashes.
Shane held up his hands and laughed. “I’m still on the mend, girls. Kristina broke my heart.”
“Oh she did not. You broke hers. We’re girls, Shane. We know,” Nevaeh responded, rolling her eyes dramatically to Livi, who nodded in solemn agreement.
“The whole school knows, Shane. Get over it,” Charity chimed in at his mock hurt.
Hunter interrupted, “Did she say anything about why she came here?”
“Hunter!” Charity snapped, but it was lost in the music.
Nevaeh gave him an odd glance, and Livi shook her head, “No. She didn’t talk much.”
Shane still had a hundred questions when a flock of girls surrounded him. “Sorry—” Charity shrugged— “I tried to hide you.” Ah, Shane realized. That was why she’d moved them away from the door so quickly. Sometimes her gift came in handy… although hiding him from a group of girls was not something even Hunter and Charity could do. Just this once, he was annoyed. He needed to know more about that girl. Ari.
Nevaeh sighed, fanning her face with a flourish. “All vying to be Shane’s next girl of the week.” From behind him Hunter frowned as he watched his best friend being dragged, laughing, onto the dance floor by a thin blonde girl whose name he couldn’t remember.
“Nev, I gotta keep an eye on my boy. Dance with me?” he asked. Shane wanted to point out that he didn’t need a babysitter, but the blonde he was with was talking and he didn’t want to be rude, even if he wasn’t listening.
From anyone else, that statement might have seemed odd, but Nev was used to it by now. “Boy, you sure know how to make a girl feel special,” she responded dryly.
“Heads up,” Shane called, interrupting the blonde as he motioned with a jerk of his head. Nev and Hunter both looked, catching sight of Nev’s obnoxious shadow all of last year, a tall, skinny boy named Darren. He shoved his way through the crowd toward her.
Nev quickly took Hunter’s arm. “Lead the way.” They followed Shane out onto the dance floor. Livi twirled past them with another kid whose name Shane didn’t know, and he was thinking he needed to work harder on his name recollection as he glanced back at Charity. She wasn’t there. He scanned the room for a minute in vain, but there were too many people, and too many fluffy skirts blocking the view. He saw Hunter was also looking for her and having no luck. Shane frowned and sent his gaze flickering over the room one last time.
“Hellooo? You’re white-boy dancing is embarrassing me, Hunter,” Nev teased as Hunter failed to move to the music.
“Right. Sorry,” he muttered. Shane sent him an impish grin. He was perfectly capable of handling the attack he was under at the moment. Hunter grinned down at Nevaeh. “Okay girl,” he drawled. “Try to keep up.”
****
Ari could hear music wafting through the halls and was almost grateful for the concussion that kept her in the infirmary. It was a better excuse than any she could come up with for not going. She had given up opening her eyes quite some time ago and now lay still trying not to think, forcing herself to listen for any threats. Her grandfather would be disappointed in her for letting her guard down like this. He’d zap her with that spell that looked kind of like a curlicue hanging in the air and stung like crazy. She had several tiny scars from that one. She had looked through all the books a long time ago and it hadn’t been in any of them, leading her to believe he had made it up. That was something only powerful sorcerers could do.
She knew he made up lots of spells, spells that she had tried so hard to copy and perfect when she was tiny, trying to make him proud. Before she had turned twelve she had mastered his pretty curlicue spell, except hers left large scars and caused lots of screaming. This led her to the realization that she could make up her own spells, and hers were much more powerful.
Powerful meant more painful, and much deadlier.
No! No more thinking! She jerked her mind shut… and heard an annoyed sigh.
Her eyes flew open, shooting sparks of pain through her head, to focus on some sort of impatient angel sitting on the bed next to hers. Since school hadn’t even started yet, Ari had the infirmary to herself. Apparently most kids waited until they had been in the place at least twenty-four hours before getting injured.
“I figured you were awake. I was getting tired of sitting here,” the angel said, large luminous silver eyes studying Ari. Ari raised her good arm and rubbed at the pain in her forehead. “How are you feeling?” the angel asked, a frown crossing her pale, beautiful face.
Ari found her voice. “Do I know you?”
“No,” the angel said. Ari pursed her lips in annoyance, waiting. “I helped rescue you,” the angel finally continued.
“Huh?” Ari asked.
“From the ladder? When you fell?” For some inexplicable reason, the angel was talking carefully, as if she was having a conversation with someone of less than average intelligence.
“Oh. Uh… thanks.”
Her comment brought a sudden grin from the angel, whose hair was so blonde it was white. “I’m Charity Delyle.”
“Delyle…” Ari tried to figure out why that name sounded familiar. Distracted, she noticed that the way Charity’s hair was pulled up and fell around her face did sort of look like a halo but wasn’t, leading her to suspect that Charity wasn’t an angel at all. Probably just a girl going to the dance.
“My cousin brought you in,” Charity supplied when Ari took too long to respond.
Ari massaged the bridge of her nose.
“We were worried about you. So I came down here to see how you’re doing,” she continued, but something in her voice was just a little too sweet.
Ari’s dark brown eyes narrowed with suspicion. “You snuck out of the dance and past the school nurse to sit on an empty cot and stare at me for ten minutes just to see if I was okay?” She didn’t know what kind of threat she was expecting — Blue flames shooting from the girl’s hands or venom spouting from her lips.
“No, of course not.” Charity sighed, smoothing silky blonde waves away from her face.
Given the fact that she was pretty and the fact that there were no blue Carules magic traces around her at all, Ari was inclined to believe she was just a teenage girl here who wanted to ruin her life, and not some ambitious Carules ready to take on the Prodigy. Just once, Ari wished that a threatened queen bee could be her biggest worry. But it wasn’t, and never would be, so with a sigh of her own she said, “Let me guess. Somehow, someone mentioned to you that the ‘new girl’ was hotter than you and now you are here to either a) pretend to be my friend so you can stab me in the back and ruin me socially or b) warn me away from whatever jock boyfriend you are currently planning your life with.”
Charity opened her mouth to respond but Ari held up a hand — her injured shoulder shrieked in protest but she ignored it, and continued, “I don’t want friends and I don’t date. So save your breath and leave me alone. I’ve seen it all before.” She met Charity’s bright silver eyes defiantly.
A mischievous smile danced across Charity’s lips. “Wow. Serious? Are you done?” Charity snickered.
“What? No. Yes. I don’t… Why else would you sneak in here?”
; With a frown that told Ari she was worried about her coherency, Charity stood up. “I told you, I didn’t sneak out of the dance. We’re free to come and go. And I didn’t sneak in here. I would have just asked Ms. Neemer how you were doing, but she isn’t here. So I came to see for myself. No sneaking involved. Good grief, are you always so ornery?”
Ari just blinked stupidly at her.
“You look horrible, by the way. You haven’t seen a mirror, obviously, or you wouldn’t think you were hotter than me.” Charity glided across the room in her elegant black dress and pulled a mirror out of the drawer under the sink.
“Spend a lot of… Oh… ugh. That is bad.” Ari groaned, losing her train of thought mid-sentence as Charity handed her the mirror. The whole right side of her face was swollen, black and blue.
“Yep,” Charity agreed almost cheerfully.
Ari looked up at her with furrowed brows, lowering the mirror. “So you didn’t sneak in here or out of there. Fine. What do you want?”
Rolling her eyes and dropping her hands to her hips, Charity said, “To see how you’re doing! Good grief! Haven’t you ever had someone check up on you before?”
“Not without ulterior motives,” Ari responded.
Charity stopped mid-dramatic flourish and turned the full force of her silver gaze on Ari as she sank slowly onto the cot next to her. “That is sad.” It was without judgment or sarcasm.
Ari gave a confused half-shake of her head and was trying to articulate a response when Charity sprang to her feet. “Well, I can see you’re going to be just fine. I’ve enjoyed our little chat. Oh,” — she paused in her half-run out the door, — “and I’ll check on you later. No ulterior motives required.” And then she was gone with a light clicking of her heels on the green and beige tiled floor.
Ari was still dumbfounded, staring at the door when Ms. Neemer strode in a minute later. “Arianna? Are you all right?” she asked when she saw Ari sitting up in bed.
“Yeah. Yeah, I think so.”
