“Good point,” said Lisabelle, shrugging. “On the other hand, maybe she’ll take advantage of it as something to get us out of our dorms, so she can search for the Map Silver and the Mirror Arcane.”
“Please don’t say that,” I begged. I didn’t like to think about Vale getting her hands on any of the artifacts from the Wheel, let alone the elementals’ Mirror Arcane.
“I’m just saying,” said Lisabelle. “Things here will get a lot more brutal if she finds them.”
Lough pulled his head out of a book, his expression stony. By chance he’d decided to visit on the very night of the party, and he was upset that we were going someplace without him where it was very likely we’d get into massive amounts of trouble.
“Caid arrives Sunday,” he said, munching on some of the food he had smuggled in to us. Lough was a lifesaver. I would have gone crazy by then if not for the nuts, dried fruit, and cheese he brought through the secret passage under the water into Astra.
“That’s good,” said Sip. “Maybe he can talk some sense into Vale.”
“He’s very angry, according to Dacer,” said Lough, scratching his ear. “I would hate to see the president of the paranormals angry.”
“How are we even getting to this party without the lizards and the Baxter twins catching us? For that matter, how is anyone?” Sip demanded. She’d dressed in black, thinking that was proper since she’d be sneaking across campus and then hanging out in Cruor.
“Remind me again why you’re going?” Lough asked grumpily, his cheeks a deeper shade of red than usual.
“Solidarity,” said Lisabelle without hesitation. She wore black jeans and a tight black long-sleeved t-shirt. She had started to wear jeans instead of her long dress, complaining that the dress restricted her movement. Sip had pointed out that we were at an academic institution and that we should not need to fight there, in response to which we had all erupted in a fit of laughter.
Lough narrowed his eyes at the darkness mage.
“We can’t be the only ones not to show up at a school-wide party,” said Lisabelle, as Lough’s scowl deepened. “They’ll think we’re in on it.”
“And what about Camilla and Daisy? Did he invite the pixies?”
“Nope,” said Lisabelle, grinning wickedly. “Daisy spends a lot of time either with Faci out back or with Camilla at Volans. I’m sure there’s some sort of plan in place to distract them. They’ll probably announce the marriage soon.”
“They’d better,” Lough muttered. “If Vale gets wind of this you’re all dead.”
“Faci and Daisy married? Gross,” said Sip, scrunching her nose.
When it came time to go, we walked Lough back down to the basement so that he could sneak out.
“How’s your shoulder?” he asked, his eyes filled with sweet concern. We had told him of my dream and of Trafton’s suggestion that I had some remnants of my mother’s dream giver abilities. Lough had loved the idea. “So, she wasn’t a mage,” he had said excitedly. “That’s awesome.”
“It’s healing,” I said as we headed for the basement. I had a feeling that my right shoulder would be a little stiff for years to come, but at least I wasn’t dead, and Trafton was helping me block the dreams. Unfortunately, I couldn’t pick and choose which dreams to block.
Lough saw a shadow of sadness cross my face. “Keller says hi,” he murmured. “He wishes he could come, but his family doesn’t want him to risk it.”
Keller’s family was doing a very good job of keeping us apart. At one point over Christmas I’d been supposed to meet his sister, and he had been really excited about it, but then everything with Lanca had happened and I never had the chance. Now I wondered if I ever would.
“And your family?” Sip asked pointedly as Lough blushed. “I thought you had permission to be here.”
Lough smiled crookedly. “I didn’t ask my family. Only a couple of paranormals at camp know I sneak in here. It’s a pretty skeletal crew right now. A lot of them aren’t worried as long as Malle doesn’t show up.”
“I have a feeling she’s closer by than we think,” I murmured. I was tempted to return to my dreams, mostly to see Keller, but also because I felt that they gave me an insight into what Malle wanted. The conversations with her were painful, as the scars on my shoulder made clear, but they were also necessary.
“You could leave with me,” Lough said suddenly. “Just sneak out like you snuck in. They wouldn’t realize until it was too late.”
I shook my head. “We can’t leave. Who knows what Vale would do if some of us went missing. Besides, there are things here I have to protect.” I said the last bit pointedly, thinking of the Mirror Arcane. My dream giver friend nodded his understanding.
“Alright,” he said. “But I’m coming back before this Ultimate Tactical tomorrow and you better all still be alive.”
I sighed and took a deep breath. A lot was happening this weekend. A lot might be decided. We couldn’t let Vale get the Mirror Arcane.
Lough sighed and pulled his black cap over his forehead.
“Ladies,” he said, grinning widely, “adieu.”
Chapter Sixteen
Since my two friends had dressed themselves in black, I did as well. Lough had said Keller said hi, but I was chafing to actually talk to him. We hadn’t had a real conversation since we had broken up at Locke, just in our dreams, and now I had blocked those off. I told myself it was necessary, but it still hurt my heart.
“You were less of a crab when you dreamed of Keller,” Sip commented as we let ourselves out of Astra. The only lights were burning torches of fire lit along the path. We avoided the path, but the fires still cast an eerie glow. The lizards liked the light, which meant we stayed away from it now.
“Thanks,” I muttered. “I know.”
“You’re welcome,” said Sip. “I mean, I miss Keller too. This semester. . . .” She shook her head. “I’m in a decorating class. It’s terrible.”
“You think it’s terrible that you’re in a decorating class?” Lisabelle demanded. “What about me? My mother’s having a field day.”
Lisabelle was nothing like her mother. I hadn’t really had a chance to meet Mrs. Verlans, but I imagined her to be something like Dacer, who loved color and everything beautiful. Lisabelle was as likely to smash something beautiful as to admire it.
“Maybe it will come in handy someday,” Sip offered. When we both looked at her skeptically she shrugged. “I’m trying to be positive.”
“For something new and different,” said Lisabelle. And then she added, “Yes, it will come in handy the day we need to kill a demon by overwhelming it with our flower power.”
“I mean, that sounds silly,” said Sip, frowning. “But if you’d think it would work. . . .”
“Never mind,” said Lisabelle. “Just read the letter from Lanca.”
Lough had also brought a letter for us from Queen Lanca. We hadn’t been allowed to communicate with her, something about needing to cease the promotion of cross-paranormal relations whenever possible, so we were all relieved to hear from her. I read the letter as we walked.
Dear ladies,
I wish you had stayed at Locke! I know that what you must be going through now is terrible, and I’m sorry for it. I so wish I could help! Do tell Lough to let me know if there is anything I can do. When he sent along a Contact Stone message asking me to write you something - somehow he’s under the impression that you need cheering up - I was happy to oblige. I would have done it sooner, except that it’s been made quite clear that the Queen of the Rapiers is not allowed to reach her subjects.
I wanted you to know that the object we’ve discussed is safely in my possession still. I’ve got no useful news about anything else, but thought that I could at least ease your mind about that much.
I am kept busy here. We’re in meetings constantly. I’m not sure how my father handled it all, and at times I feel the need to retreat away to his study. In my mind he’s still here giving me advice
and support as he always did.
The only other important topic is the demons, and I’m sad to say I have nothing new to report there either. They patrol at night, but not in large numbers. We sense them in the vicinity of Locke, but I need all the Rapiers here and do not send any out to challenge them. I’ve seen no mages since you left, and there’s been no news of Malle. It’s like she disappeared off the face of the earth. Lisabelle might also take particular interest in the fact that I hear the world-renowned thief Elam has been stealing paintings out of small galleries in Romania.
Vital sends his regards. I hope this is all over soon, until then, all yours, Lanca.
“I like that she didn’t sign her name with all her titles,” Sip commented as I moved away from the flickering firelight I’d used to read the letter. The air smelled slightly of smoke and cold and reminded me of home. I sighed, taking another deep breath. “Does she know who Elam is?” I whispered to Lisabelle, afraid that if I spoke too loudly, prying ears would overhear.
“She might,” said Lisabelle, shrugging. “Lanca knows a lot.”
“She’s queen now,” said Sip, combing her fingers through her short hair. “Of course she does.”
“By the way, did she call us - Lisabelle - ladies?” I needled. Lisabelle punched me in the shoulder - my uninjured one - as Sip giggled.
“Hi,” said a cheerful voice behind us. We turned and saw the fallen angel Vanni, who was wearing all white, a fact I could tell shocked and disgusted Lisabelle. Vanni was with Betsy Butter, a senior fallen angel who had been on Lisabelle’s Tactical team the previous year. I liked Betsy well enough; she laughed easily and worked hard. But Vanni was another matter. She was afraid of everything and had a massive crush on Keller. Every time she saw him she would run after him and try to make friends. Even though it drove me nuts, I tried to be nice. Vanni was a relation of the Marks family of fallen angels, the most powerful family of all, right up there with the Eriksons.
“Hi,” I said as the two fallen angels joined us. “You’re going to the party too?”
“Of course,” said Betsy, her eyes bright. “No way we get caught. Evan’s too smart and it will be my first school-wide party.”
“It really isn’t fair that this is your last semester,” said Vanni. “This is no way to graduate from Public.”
Betsy nodded. She was tall for a girl, with broad shoulders and a wide mouth. She had curly blond hair that was cut to her ears and at the moment was pulled back into a short ponytail.
“I talked to my mom about it,” said she. “They allowed me to communicate with her as long as I didn’t divulge anything about the semester.” She turned to me. “My mom’s dying. She doesn’t have long, so I think they did it out of pity. I don’t know.”
“I’ve been allowed to communicate with my brother a bit,” I said. “But he doesn’t know I’m a paranormal, so it’s a little different.”
I had expected Cruor to look dark and for the party to be in one of the levels below ground, but I had been very wrong. I was stunned to see the party through the windows as we walked up to the castle. The view rippled with glitter and color, and as we crossed into the courtyard I could hear music playing.
“What are the odds we don’t get caught now?” Sip asked Lisabelle.
“Slim to none,” said the darkness mage grimly. “There are too many variables and too many students who know about it. The party is within view of Faci’s place, for paranormal’s sake.”
Sip’s face turned stony. Vanni and Betsy fell into an uncomfortable silence, and Vanni’s face looked pinched and drawn.
I thought of Sigil all alone in the Astra library, and wished I was with him. I had been avoiding him recently, because I wasn’t sure how to broach the subject of having him look after the Mirror Arcane while I performed in Tactical. We had all expected Faci, Daisy, and Camilla to complain that I was a member of the Tactical team, but they hadn’t said a word. In fact, I had the uncomfortable feeling that Camilla was excited about it.
The front gates of Cruor burst open and Evan came staggering out. At first I thought he had been stabbed, which served me right for spending too much time in battles, but I quickly realized that he was just drunk, or maybe drugged.
“Double uh oh,” said Sip, her eyes growing wide. “I seriously hope that’s drugs and not alcohol.”
Alcohol was famously bad for paranormals. No one was really sure why, but it affected the delicate composition of magic that went on inside most of us. The only paranormal I’d seen drink was Risper, but we had been at dinner at Public or in his private rooms, and there didn’t seem to be much risk to him before it wore off.
This was different.
“Evening, lovely ladies,” said Evan, throwing his arms wide. His words were a little slurred as he gave each of us a massive hug and a probing look. His blond hair was tied back in a ponytail and his eyes were glassy. He wore the all-black of the Cruors, and his red ring shone. He was using magic. Yeah, this party definitely would not last long.
We all murmured greetings in return, and now that the door to Cruor was open I could see that the place was packed with students.
“Where’d you get alcohol?” Sip asked him.
“And where’s Zervos?” I asked. No way was I setting foot in Cruor if Zervos was about to storm in and yell - or worse - at all of us.
Evan snickered. “You are all so boring. Girls. I need a girl with adventure, but that’s okay, you five can come in anyway. To answer your nosy questions,” he continued, “Zervos is at a meeting on the other side of campus. At least that’s where he claimed he was going, and I got alcohol from a secret stash. Don’t worry, I haven’t had much. Just a glass or eleven.”
Lisabelle choked.
We followed Evan inside, where the music was so loud I had to yell directly in Sip’s ear to make myself heard. “We should stay by a door. This is going to get ugly.”
Sip shrugged and yelled back. “Now that we’re here we might as well enjoy it. Maybe Zervos is at an all-faculty meeting and they won’t get caught.”
“What about the magic? Aren’t they going to detect it?”
“I don’t think they care,” said Lisabelle. “You used magic against the lizard and nothing happened.”
She had a point. I had been worrying about using my magic, but Vale didn’t seem to care, and the Baxters only cared about what she told them to care about.
I drank in our surroundings. Cruor’s permanent fixtures followed an entirely red and black theme, so nothing in the massive entrance hall was any other color: the furniture, the plush rugs, the walls, and the wall hangings with scenes of ancient vampires. Set up under the window bank were black folding tables covered with food.
There was a table devoted to every kind of pizza. Most of the toppings I recognized, but some I didn’t. There was one variety that was covered with snaky-looking black things; no way was I trying that. Other tables had more normal food - mostly. There was a table devoted to fruit, covered with blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and every other kind of fruit imaginable. There were also Feyberries and gellyjellies, both paranormal delicacies.
“We can’t eat,” said Evan, “but we thought the rest of you should!”
My nerves fizzed. Where had Evan gotten all the food? We had been on scant rations for the entire semester.
“This is what I imagine the end of prohibition to have looked like,” Sip yelled to us.
“What was prohibition?” Vanni asked. Somehow she had inched closer to me, her eyes wide and fearful. Evan disappeared for a minute, then reappeared with a charming smile. He had a plate stacked high with all sorts of food, from chocolate and cheese to strawberries and grapes. He shoved the plate into Sip’s hands and disappeared again, saying that he had more guests to greet and we should make ourselves at home.
“All I ever wanted was to make myself at home in Cruor,” said Lisabelle dreamily. “Now my wish can come true.”
“Shut up,” said Sip, who was not amused.
She shoved the heaping plate into Lisabelle’s stomach and made a beeline for the other end of the room. The darkness mage laughed, then we both tried to follow Sip.
At first I couldn’t figure out why she had taken off, and it was slow going because the place was so packed it was hard to move. There were paranormals everywhere, and many of them were not wearing black, they were wearing party clothes - colored dresses that sparkled and t-shirts or button downs with ties. The decorations, as I had seen through the window, were not just black and red as I had expected them to be, but every color of the rainbow.
“Evan really went all out on this,” I said to Lisabelle. “If he’s caught with that food he’ll probably be expelled, or worse.”
“He must be taking the decorating class,” Lisabelle drawled. Sip had plunged into the crowd ahead of us, but she was so small she had a hard time moving quickly through the sea of paranormals. Lisabelle didn’t have any such issues. All she had to do was stand there and raise her eyebrows and our classmates moved out of her path. It was clear they’d rather spill drinks on each other than stand in her way when she wanted them gone.
Standing at the far end of the room, with another vampire named Tat, was Rake, massive as ever. His shoulders were above the heads of many of the other students there, but he was a gentle giant, and there was something about Sip that terrified him. Sip, for her part, thought that was ridiculous, but it didn’t stop her from marching right up to him and demanding an explanation.
He looked at her, his eyes filled with worry.
“You look pretty,” he said, taking in Sip’s black clothing. Sip waved him off. She had no use for compliments.
“How could you let this happen?” she yelled. “Evan’s going to get himself killed. Not only is he having a party, but he’s totally drunk.”
Rake raised his eyebrows. “I know. What was I supposed to do?”
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed this,” said Sip, “But you’re a rather large vampire. STOP HIM.”
Elemental Fire (Paranormal Public Series) Page 13
