“What’s Lanca doing now?” Lough asked. He had let us have our girl time, as he liked to call it, after we had captured Faci and killed or driven out the other darkness mages who had been at Vampire Locke.
“She’s trying to figure out which Rapiers she can trust and which were on the side of Castov and Faci,” said Lisabelle. “It’s good she has Vital there. He’s a big help when it comes to intimidation and threats.”
“He’s also smart and good-hearted,” I felt the need to add.
“She also has Saferous of the fallen angel house Safe,” Lisabelle continued.
“And Keller,” I murmured. Lisabelle started to say something, then stopped. Even saying his name caused my chest to ache, but I refused to give in to the pain of my loss. I simply had to hold out hope that he would come back to me, or let me go back to him. I wasn’t sure which, and I wasn’t sure that I cared. I just wanted him to wrap his arms around me and tell me it would be alright. My heartache was made even sharper by the fact that we were now sitting locked outside the gates of Public. When we had left Locke I had expected to be in Astra by now, enjoying a warm bowl of something Mrs. Swan had cooked up. Instead we sat outside in the middle of winter with nowhere to go.
I had also expected Keller to follow me.
“Lanca has a lot on her plate,” said Lough. He had started a fire and now held his hands toward the flame, taking in the warmth.
“What of the demons? Or is it Nocturns now?” I asked.
Lisabelle nodded. “All the darkness on the side of Malle is now calling itself Nocturn. So, the darkness mages who don’t have the name Verlans or Risper, the demons, the hellhounds, and the random Rapier vampire . . . all of which reminds me, have you had any more dreams?” She eyed me carefully, as if she thought I might lie. It was true, I might. I did not want to worry my friends.
“I haven’t had any dreams,” I murmured, taking a sip of the hot tea Lisabelle had been preparing. Lisabelle, who was obviously worried about the plan Sip was hatching, accepted my response, but I could tell Lough did not. He continued to eye me, even if he stayed silent. But I didn’t want to talk about it. Bad dreams were the least of my problems.
After a silence during which we all chewed on our own thoughts, Lisabelle brought up another question. “Did all the pixies make it back here?” Lisabelle asked. I was glad she did, because I had been wondering about Cale. Long ago I’d had a crush on him, and in quieter moments, when Keller was not around, those feelings still bubbled up. But Cale was with Camilla, and that was just all kinds of awful. Camilla Van Rothson hated the Airlees, and since I hung out with Airlees, and was the last elemental, she hated me too.
“They should have,” said Lough. “But I don’t know. I don’t keep tabs on pixies,” he sniffed.
“That’s interesting,” said Lisabelle. “Of all the paranormals we should keep tabs on, pixies are probably at the top of the list.”
“What about Trafton and the others who weren’t at Locke?” I said. Lough, it turned out, loved gossip. Even if he hated someone as much as he hated Trafton, he knew where that someone was.
“I’m sorry, who?” Lough pretended not to know the only other dream giver who attended Paranormal Public, because Trafton was always hitting on Lisabelle.
“It’s entirely possible there are still others, like Keller and Dobrov, who haven’t gotten back yet,” I said. “Maybe they can help us or get us in. Maybe we don’t have to sneak in.”
“You think Dobrov is going to help us get in?” Lisabelle asked, incredulous. “They hate Dobrov. He’s a hybrid.”
“Lough, what about Kair? Would she know anything?” Kair was Lough’s sister, whom I had met at Locke. She had graduated several years ago and now worked for the paranormal government.
“She’s busy, I guess,” said Lough, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’ve called her a couple of times and gotten no answer. Maybe she’s making out.” He gave a goofy grin. We had only just discovered that Kair’s secret new boyfriend was one of Sip’s five brothers. Besides being delighted with the news that his sister was happy, Lough was equally delighted by the fact that he now had something new to tease his sister about.
“Anyway,” said Lisabelle impatiently, “we should get some rest. I have a feeling that whatever Sip is planning, sleep will not be involved.”
I wanted to argue. It was midday and I just wasn’t tired. My body hummed with nerves at being so close to Public and yet so far away. I had tried to contact Mrs. Swan twice: once when we left Locke and again after Dove slammed the doors in our faces. But there was a shroud around her Contact Stone, as if it had been switched off, except that as far as I knew it wasn’t possible to turn Contact Stones off.
“She’s probably busy boarding up the place for the semester,” Lisabelle had said. “It’s not like she can answer all your calls.”
“I’m her ONLY charge,” I returned hotly. “It’s not like she’s taking care of a bunch of difficult paranormals like the ones who live in Airlee.”
With that my energy for arguing was gone, and I tried to take Lisabelle’s advice and get some rest. Once I lay down, I found that sleep came easily enough. Part of me wished that it hadn’t.
My arms tangle around Keller’s torso and I can’t help but smile. The heat of his gaze, the smell of clean clothes and man is intoxicating to my senses. I run my fingers lightly up his back and he gives a pleased sigh. We’re in Astra, in the attic, one of the first places we had a moment alone together - cleaning. Okay, so not the most romantic thing, but let’s face it, romance is in the details of daily life, not the grand gestures. Romance is in trust and the joy and wonder of getting to touch this amazing fallen angel.
I feel a tug on my shoulder and I hold tighter to Keller. His eyes deepen a shade, the blue becoming more intense and focused, hotter as I’m pulled away. He wraps his arms around my waist, lacing his fingers hard together while still holding me lightly, warmly. I find myself breaking into an involuntary smile when I look at him.
I bury my face in his shoulder as he murmurs in my hear. I think he calls me heart sweet and I feel my face heat with pleasure.
I hate the hand that pulls us apart. I curse it with every fiber of my being and wish the greatest ills on its skin and soul.
“Charlotte, wake up!!” That was definitely Sip’s voice yelling in my ear. “Since when did this girl become such a heavy sleeper?”
“It’s the only time she gets to see her ex-boyfriend,” said Lisabelle, not unkindly. “See that silly smile on her face? That’s a Keller silly smile.”
“Why am I always the last to wake up?” I demanded, sitting up in my sleeping bag. Sip, Lough, and Lisabelle sat around me. Sip was dressed all in loosely fitting black clothes. I wanted to ask where they had come from, because she usually liked to dress in colors, but I didn’t bother. Her ring was dull on her hand, but I could feel power surging through her. With the slightest command she could transform to werewolf. “Why can’t you two just leave me in peace?”
“Wouldn’t want you to miss all the fun,” said Sip.
I looked around at my friends. Lough’s expression was pinched, his face whiter than usual under his blush. Sip’s eyes held worry while Lisabelle’s lips were pressed into a thin line.
“What’s wrong?” I said, a fist squeezing around my heart. “What’s happened?”
“We aren’t sure,” said Sip quietly, looking at Lough.
“While you were sleeping I talked to Dobrov,” he explained. “Then I dreamed.”
“Dreamed? What did Dobrov say?” I asked. Dobrov Validification was a friend of sorts. I wanted to trust him, an at the coronation, when he had helped us get to Lanca, I really thought I did. Then he had gone off with his crazy twin sister, who was most definitely part of the Nocturns, and my trust had crumbled a bit. Dobrov and Daisy were hybrids, which meant that they had a vampire father and a darkness mage mother. Some combinations of paranormals work out just fine, with one side dominating while the other lie
s dormant, but there are just some combinations, like the Validifications, that for whatever reason go horribly wrong. Theirs really shouldn’t have, because darkness calls to darkness, but it had. Now Dobrov tried to help our side, even if he was about as socially capable as a rock, while Daisy helped the Nocturns. But somehow they were still on speaking terms with each other. For now.
“So,” said Lough. “The reports aren’t confirmed. Everything is such a mess at the moment I’m not sure if they’re going to be, but, basically, Dobrov says that all the paranormal students are at Public.”
I stared at him for a heartbeat, not sure if he was tired from sleep or just pulling my leg.
“Obviously they’re not,” I said. “Dove wouldn’t let us in because Public is closed for the semester. That’s what he said.”
“That isn’t the story the senior paranormals are hearing,” said Lisabelle, her eyes steely. “I guess Saferous talked to the Committee and was told that everything is fine.”
“So, Dove lied to us?” I said quietly, feeling cold.
“Dove lied to someone,” said Sip. All the while we spoke Sip was packing up a black case, her hands never stopping in their movement. “We aren’t sure who.”
“Wait, what? Isn’t it pretty obvious that Dove lied to get us out here in the open and that he’s a Nocturn?” I asked. “We’ve been sitting here all day. There are probably demons everywhere. My protections are low. . . .”
“Dacer took care of your protections with the help of my parents and Saferous, so you should be pretty well guarded. As well as any of us, at least,” said Sip.
“Why would Dove lie to keep us out if the demons weren’t coming?” I said, my eyes intent on my friends. Nothing was making sense. My head felt like it was in a complicated fog. All I wanted to do was go to sleep in my own bed in Astra, but it looked like that was not to be.
“We don’t know anything yet,” said Lisabelle. “We’re on a fact-finding mission into Public. Once we see what’s going on with our own eyes we’ll know more. Then we can tell Dacer.”
“Fact-finding missions are my favorite kind,” said Sip, her purple eyes bright with amusement. “Maybe they don’t want to let us in because they’re stringing Camilla up by those perfect strands of blond hair that she glories in, and they don’t want to get caught.”
“Yeah,” Lisabelle drawled. “That’s one possibility.”
Sip gave her a rueful smile. “Not very likely, huh?”
“Nope,” said Lisabelle. “And besides, when Camilla gets strung up, don’t you want to be there to witness it?”
“Naw,” said Sip, moving on to another black bag and more stuff. “I’d really just be happy if it happened.”
“The simple pleasures in life,” Lough confirmed. “Really, it’s all we can hope for at this point. Right, Lisabelle?”
“Whatever,” said Lisabelle reproachfully. “Pleasure is a waste of time. Once we accept that life is nasty and hard and get on with it we’ll all be a lot better off.”
“Life is nasty and hard, which is why we still have to have fun,” said Lough determinedly.
“Sip, what’s your plan?” I asked. “Can we still pull it off if all the students are there?” I now desperately wanted to get into Public. I needed to know what was happening to my school.
I didn’t want to say that I couldn’t believe all the students were really there. That made no sense. Then again, we knew that they had headed for Public after the events at Vampire Locke, and I had seen no evidence that they had left the campus. Could it be possible? Were Dove and the other committee members holding my fellow students captive? If they were, why hadn’t they let Sip, Lisabelle, Lough, and me walk right in and join them? It all was too much to think about. Sip was right, we had to see it with our own eyes.
“My plan is this,” said Sip. “The woods are the weakest point of entry. I don’t think we could accomplish this at all without Charlotte, but since she’s the paranormal who strengthened the elemental strand on the protective barrier, she should be able to weaken it enough for us to sneak through.”
“How sure are you about that?” Lough said, sounding skeptical.
“Not sure at all,” said Sip, ruefully.
“It’s what I like to call wishful thinking,” said Lisabelle. “But Sip is rarely wrong about these things, so I’m telling myself to be optimistic.”
“Do you listen when you tell yourself things?” Lough asked curiously.
“No better person to trust,” said Lisabelle, grinning.
“Thank you Lisabelle, your dank and nasty nature is so kind,” said Sip.
“Any time,” said Lisabelle.
“Now,” said Sip. “Once we’re through the barrier it should be easy. We just have to make sure we’re not seen. We’re headed for the Long Building. If we use that to travel out of sight, we should be able to get much closer to the heart of campus without risking running into any other paranormals. We’re going to take the catacombs.”
Fear shot down my spine and I stared at Sip. I hadn’t had any idea that that’s what it would take to get into Public. “We can’t go in there. When I was in there last semester I nearly died.”
“I know something attacked you,” said Sip kindly. “We never figured out what it was, but there’s no other way. Dove will probably be watching the grounds with who knows what kinds of protections. The best way to travel is underground, and the Long Building has been ignored for so many years they’d never expect us to travel that way.”
“A Slime Dweller attacked me!” I said. “Crazy thing with red eyes. If the Shadow hadn’t come along. . . .” My friends were staring at me like I was crazy. I decided to calm down.
“How can we even do it?” I demanded. “I don’t know my way around the catacombs. I just know where the Museum is.”
“That’s another thing,” said Lisabelle, tapping her index finger against her chin thoughtfully. “We should get a couple of masks from the Museum. Who knows how they might come in handy.”
“Yes, why not, let’s just add stealing to the list of rules we’re going to break,” said Sip, throwing up her hands.
“Exactly what I’m proposing,” said Lisabelle. “I’m glad we agree.”
“Oh, we agree alright,” Sip muttered. She tossed one of the black bags at Lisabelle, who caught it easily. I had just enough warning to catch the bag Sip tossed my way.
“Ready?” Sip asked.
“No,” I said quietly. Another adventure, and so soon. I sighed, but I didn’t have a choice. I had decided I wanted to be brave, and here was my chance.
“Yes, I’m ready,” I said grimly. “Let’s go home.”
“So, the bottom line is that we know something is wrong,” said Sip quietly. “When we go into Public we need to be careful.”
“It’s pretty safe to blame it on Dove,” I said icily. “Or maybe Professor Erikson.”
“Is there any other paranormal we can contact before we go in?” Sip asked. “I just don’t like going in blind.”
“We could try Dacer, or even Oliva, you know the usual, but I’d hate to tip them off to what we’re doing,” I said, glancing at the dark and silent walls of Public. It was now almost fully dark and I felt the weight of our decision heavy on my shoulders. I told myself that this was just a fact-finding mission. Besides, I was supposed to keep the Mirror Arcane safe, and that would be hard to do if I wasn’t there. Not to mention that I was starting to worry about Mrs. Swan and my other friends. Maybe I didn’t get along with the pixies, but I liked the paranormals in the other dorms and I didn’t want to see them come to harm.
“Charlotte is right,” said Lisabelle, rising to her feet and swinging the black bag over her thin shoulders. “We go in quietly and we go in now. Standing around out here waiting for a Demon of Knight to come along isn’t going to do us any good.”
“Lough, what are you going to do?” Sip said.
Lough shrugged and sat on the log that Sip had been sitting on earlier, when she
was organizing the bags.
My heart pounded as I listened to my friends talk so casually about splitting up, and I wished more than ever that Keller were with us. I knew we were doing the right thing, but a powerful fallen angel is always good to have around in a fight, especially one who loves you.
“I’m going to do what we should all be doing at this time of night: sleep.” With that he stood up and added, “But first, I’ll walk you to your doom. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Hey,” said Lisabelle, grinning wickedly. “We might need rescuing, and who better to rescue us than a dream giver?”
“Pretty much everyone,” Lough muttered. “Trafton probably wouldn’t say so, though. He probably thinks he’s a hero.”
“Trafton decided to go surfing instead of attending Lanca’s coronation,” said Sip, frowning with disapproval. “He has some catching up to do on recent events.”
“That beach bum is so far behind he couldn’t catch up if he ran at stop speed and the rest of us came to a total standstill,” said Lough bitterly.
“Tell us how you really feel,” I said, grinning at Lough’s venom. Lough was nice to everyone and nice about almost everything, except Trafton.
We had reached the edge of the woods as we talked. Along this section of the boundary of Public there was no wall except that magical barrier that I had strengthened. There was just the woods, which no student dared to walk through alone or at night, making it a better barrier than stone. Now the trees were dark and close. I had vivid memories of almost dying at the hands of the demons in this forest during the previous semester, but I had lived through that, and I was not so afraid of the woods now. Funny how that worked; facing your fear gives an image to it and makes it less frightening. My newfound lack of fear might also have related to facing down Malle.
Elemental Fire (Paranormal Public Series) Page 2
