Called by Darkness

by Sean Fletcher

  However, Lucien just continued watching me, a kindly expression on his face, as though waiting for me to say something. And I found I did have something to say.

  “To be honest,” I said quietly. “I’m glad you’re proud of us, but I don’t really think I earned it.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because…” My voice was lower now, as though confessing a deep, dark secret. “Because…I mean, we did help the Masters, but what if I hadn’t? I was close to giving up. I was scared, Lucien. Terrified, actually. Pretty much the whole time.”

  “Excellent!”

  I looked up at him, cocking one eyebrow. “That’s…excellent?”

  “Skylar, if you’re scared, that means there’s a reason. It means you care deeply enough about something or someone to be scared for them, or scared you won’t be able to protect them.”

  “But…no, that’s not good! What if I’d been so scared I didn’t fight? What if I’d let my fear stop me from doing anything?”

  “But that’s the entire point. You didn’t! Skylar,”—he turned so that he was fully facing me— “Bravery isn’t an absence of fear, it’s a product of being afraid and choosing to act anyway.” He leaned a little closer. “If I might ask, what were you scared of?”

  I looked down at the bed. Despite all the times I’d thought about how afraid I’d been during the battle, I hadn’t actually, you know, thought about what I’d been afraid of. Dying? Yeah, that was kind of a given. But that hadn’t really occurred to me too much, even during the fight. I’d been afraid because…because…

  “People I cared about were in danger. I was scared for them.”

  Lucien broke out in his biggest smile yet. “And that says more about you than I think you realize. And…perhaps because of your selfless bravery you came out of the fight a little bit cooler.” He winked. “At least the Masters who were there would agree. I believe Master Lipstuck said you were finally showing your true potential. Perhaps this is the start of something great.”

  I couldn’t help matching his smile. But even as happy as I felt about hearing that, I couldn’t shake the lingering worry in the back of my mind, the words that’d plagued me ever since Kasia had uttered them: When you’re ready you’ll come to me, you’ll need me.

  Lucien must have misinterpreted my silence because he said, softer, “Skylar, I’ll tell you something not many people know about your mother.”

  I looked over at him. My mother?

  “She wasn’t always able to use magic. Can you believe that? It’s a bit too complicated to get into right now, but when we first met she couldn’t cast a single spell. Not a single one! And despite her outward bravado, I know personally that she was often scared. But—” He held up a finger and gently tapped my nose. “Overcoming her inability and accepting her fear made her the great woman she is today. I would say she succeeded because of those challenges, not in spite of. But that’s another story.”

  A million more questions rushed through my head, but none of which, I knew, I was going to get an easy answer to. And there were some like the Prince that I’d have to figure out myself.

  “Now then…” Lucien stood. “Cheer up! One more dose of Mrs. Rochester’s sewage medicine and I’m sure you’ll be sprung!”

  “So I’m not…you know, in trouble or anything?” I said, then instantly regretted it. Why had I asked that? As if he needed to get any ideas.

  There was a roguish glint in Lucien’s eye as he looked back at me. “Keep your rash decisions limited to as few as humanly possible, get Master Hipsput’s essay in on time, and I think you’ll be fine. Besides, I wouldn’t expel you for doing something heroic. Your mother would kill me. Ta-ta!”

  And he was gone.

  I’d be a liar if I didn’t say that, for the first time in my life, I enjoyed going back to class.

  Masochistic? Maybe. Except I got to see all my friends again, and nobody I cared about (moi included) was actively getting kidnapped, attacked, cursed, bitten, or kissed by objectively evil dark princes lodged in their chest cavities.

  Hey, everybody has their own definition of normal.

  The Masters didn’t treat me any different after the battle, for which I was actually kind of grateful. Lipstuck graced me with what was probably his first ever words of praise (“Well, you got half of the spell right, Miss Rivest!”), and Coach Newman gave me a vigorous thumbs up of approval after I’d managed to disarm Asher during sparring.

  “Just like I would have done to that Society if I hadn’t been so beat from staying up late the night before,” he said. “Yes sir, would have given them a double dosage of pain!”

  Asher and I just smirked at each other.

  Mia was a little nervous about what people would think about her, but since nobody knew the whole story about her possession, we just let the rumors circulate that the manticore had been spotted off campus and she was hurt fighting it.

  Sometimes it was better just to leave things alone.

  “More?”

  Mia held up the bottomless jug of coffee that’d been placed at the center of the table. I pushed my cup toward it. “You know it.”

  The Smoking Lamp was packed more than usual for a Friday night. Cid scowled extra hard at a few rowdy patrons, but the guy was making bank so he didn’t have too much to gripe about. Jen and Demarcus were arguing about one of the charms we had for homework, while Sylvia sat beside Penny, flipping through a magazine full of the latest fall fashions.

  “But the color black…is it not good?” Penny said.

  “Black’s fine, Penny,” Sylvia said. “And it’s great you have the whole Tim Burton vibe going on, but you have to switch it up every once in a while.”

  “Switch it up…Like pink hair?”

  “No. Pink hair’s my thing. Like, maybe start wearing jeans?”

  Mia hummed happily as she watched everyone, taking a contented sip of coffee every now and again. I felt our bench shift and looked over to find Logan perched behind me.

  “Morning, all,” he said morosely.

  “Morning,” we all answered, even though it was past eight in the evening.

  Logan craned his neck down at me. He pulled out a bag of gummy bears from his pocket and began plopping some in his mouth. “You haven’t been to our other meetings. Claramane is asking about you.”

  “Is she doing okay?” I asked.

  “She’s as lively as a necromancer can be, yes.”

  “What meetings?” Mia said.

  “I’ve been busy,” I said quickly to Logan, feeling slightly bad for trying to brush him off. “And I’ve got everything figured out so no need to bring it up.”

  Mia was giving me a strange look. Logan put another few gummy bears in his mouth before leaning a little closer.

  “I still sense darkness,” he whispered. “Do you really have it under control?”

  I instinctively touched my hand to my chest before dropping it. The Dark Prince had been quiet since the battle. No need to stir things up now. “It’s fine. Really.”

  “As you say.”

  “Exactly. As I say.”

  Logan gave a lethargic nod, said goodbye to everyone and slunk back to whatever dark corner he was going to hang out in.

  “Skylar…is everything all right?” Mia said.

  I gave her my biggest smile. “Everything’s golden.”

  “Are you sure—”

  She looked over my shoulder, her expression changing from worry to delight.

  “Got room for a couple more?” a familiar voice said.

  Asher grinned at me when I turned. Colson gave the table a nod, the two cups of coffee he carried looking tiny clenched in his massive hands.

  “Room—oh, yeah, we have room.” I hurriedly scooted over and Asher slipped beside me while Colson took the other end next to Mia. Jen was beaming at all of us. Demarcus seemed confused.

  “But, wait, I thought you” —he pointed at me— “and you…” Then to Asher. “Didn’t you, both, like, hate�
��”

  He yelped as someone kicked him beneath the table, and this time I couldn’t tell if Sylvia or I hit him first.

  “Good to see you guys,” Sylvia said, beaming.

  Asher fixed them all with a big smile. “Likewise. Who wants more coffee?”

  I felt like I’d been tossed in a dryer set on “bruise evenly” when I stepped out of my final combat class for the week. I limped beside Mia, feeling as though every nerve was getting poked with a needle. “Ow. Ow. Ow.”

  Mia gave me a sympathetic look. “Asher didn’t hold back today, did he?”

  “That boy’s been going easy on me this entire time,” I muttered.

  “Or you were distracted by him.”

  I shot her a look, but Mia merely hummed to herself, innocent as ever. Asher definitely wasn’t distracting me. Even though we’d come to an understanding, he was still the same annoying, arrogant, frustrating, compassionate, powerful, handsome…

  Hex it all.

  There was a small traffic jam of students in the hallways ahead, jostling and whispering to one another. I tried to get a good look at what they were all staring at.

  “Do you think it’s Asher?” Mia said innocently.

  “Don’t you start on me,” I said. “And if it is, I’ll smack him. Watch out! Coming through! Make—”

  I stopped when I broke through the crowd.

  My mom gave me a small wave from where she stood talking to Lucien. “Hello, Skylar.”

  “Mom!”

  Ignoring everyone else, I rushed forward and hugged her, nearly throwing her off balance. It was amazing to see her, to know she was back here and safe once again.

  “You can fill me in on the details later,” Lucien said. “Looks as though you have more pressing appointments to attend to.”

  “Thanks, Lucien. Good to see you too, Skylar.”

  “I didn’t know you’d come back,” I said, pulling away.

  “I just did. Lucien’s message didn’t reach me until we were done with our work in Australia. Your father will be back in time for dinner. He can’t wait to see you.” Her happy expression dropped just a little. “Lucien filled me in with some of what’s been going on. How’re you feeling, Mia?”

  “Not possessed,” Mia said brightly.

  My mom grimaced. “That’s…good to hear. I’ll be staying for a bit longer this time so you and I can chat later. I want to talk to Skylar for a bit.”

  My stomach clenched. Just how much had Lucien told her about me?

  My mom laughed as we parted the crowd and started walking. “You look like I busted you on something.”

  “No! Of course not.”

  I tried to appear as unconcerned as possible as we wound our way to Remembrance Hall. The way my mom looked up at the immense oak tree, quiet, contemplative, it seemed like she was doing some remembering of her own.

  “You defeated this thing, didn’t you?” I said. “Not the tree, I mean, but the evil creature the tree grew around?”

  My mom nodded. “With some help. I guess I never told you that story.”

  “You…kind of didn’t tell me any of your stories.”

  I hadn’t meant to make her feel bad, but she looked sad all the same. She hadn’t told me much about the struggles of her past, but I kind of understood why now. Even after my own little escapade, there were already things that wouldn’t ever be easy for me to talk about.

  “I guess…” My mom glanced at the tree again. “I guess I wanted to forget. No, that’s not right. I can’t forget, but I felt that if I told you what I’d done, I’d be pushing some kind of wild expectations onto you.” She gave me a humorless grin. “Turns out I sort of did anyway. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t, I suppose.”

  “That wasn’t your fault,” I said quickly. “And you don’t have to tell me those stories now, you know, if you don’t want to.”

  My mom wrapped her arm around my shoulder, pulling me close. “But I do want to. Your father and I both. We want to share them with you to help you learn from our mistakes. Because, believe me, you’ll make plenty more with the rate you’re going.”

  I shifted uncomfortably. Yeah, Lucien had definitely told her about the little “adventures” I’d had while she was away.

  “But I get why you felt the way you did,” my mom said. “At some point I must have lost sight of the amazing woman you’ve become, the one who’s writing her own story. I think what you’ve done, and what you’re going to do will be incredible, and I’ll do everything I can to be there to help however I can.”

  I felt tears prickling at the corners of my eyes. “Thanks, Mom. That’s…thanks.”

  My mom gave me a hug, then returned to gazing up at the tree. “The Society’s first attack might have failed, but it won’t be their last. I talked with Lucien about potentially halting the practical hours until they’re caugh—”

  “No!”

  My mom jumped. “What?”

  “We’ll have to learn to protect ourselves anyway, one way or another,” I said quickly. “We can’t let some stupid Society stop that.”

  “Hm…” The corner of her mouth quirked up. “I suppose you’re right. We wouldn’t be much of an Academy if we taught our students to hide the moment danger rears its ugly head.”

  At the mention of the danger outside the Academy walls, a thought that’d been hanging in the back of my mind suddenly surfaced. “Mom, do you know somebody named Kasia Armani?”

  My mom stiffened just slightly, the movement so minute I almost missed it. “The name sounds familiar. Lucien told me you ran into her.”

  “How does she know you?”

  My mom sighed. “When you become an even greater spellslinger than me, when you craft your own legacy that others will try to emulate, you’ll see that not every story, every image, no matter how perfect it appears, has the happiest ending.”

  I wanted to press her for more, but my mom’s dark expression told me she wasn’t in the mood to talk anymore about it. She gave me an exhausted smile, then looked over my shoulder. “Asher, nice to see you.”

  I whirled around. Asher leaned against the wall, arms crossed. How long had he been standing there?

  “Glad you’re back, Ms. Rivest. I didn’t want to interrupt, but I have something to tell Skylar.”

  “And here she is,” my mom said, gently pushing me toward him, like I was a child reluctant to play with a new friend. Was she trying to embarrass me?

  As if in answer, she gave me a light kiss on the forehead before I could stop her. “We’ll do something fun this weekend. Also, bring up that grade in Paranormal Literature.”

  I groaned. “Seriously? I don’t see how reading Dances with Werewolves is supposed to help me defeat evil.”

  “You’ll defeat the evil of ignorance, so do it. And Asher, I forgot to say congrats on you two becoming partners. Why don’t you come over for dinner this weekend? Isak should be there.”

  “I’d love to, Ms. Rivest. My mom will be back in town, too.”

  “Wonderful. I can’t wait for all of us to get together.” My mom gave me a super subtle wink. “Study hard, you two.”

  I grumbled as she walked away. She had parental embarrassment down to an art form.

  Asher was grinning at me.

  “What?” I snapped.

  “Nothing. Just…your mom’s awesome.”

  “She’s naggy.”

  “Someone has to keep you straight.”

  I crossed my arms. “Because you can’t?”

  He took a step closer and I involuntarily caught my breath. “I don’t know about that. Seems I’m the perfect one to keep your brand of crazy in line.”

  My stupid heart needed to stop doing a gymnastics routine in my chest. I licked my dry lips. “You’re…still smirking.”

  “I do that a lot. Get used to it. And…” Asher held up a slip of paper. “We got our first assignment for practical hours.”

  “What?”

  I snatched the paper out of his ha
nds and ravenously scanned it. The assignment was close, it was small, but it was something. And it’d come way earlier than advanced students usually got.

  “Seems our little foray into enemy territory impressed someone,” Asher said, reading over my shoulder.

  I squeezed his arm gleefully. “We are going to own this!”

  He grinned. But after a moment it dropped just a little.

  “I’ve been meaning to ask…in the cavern, when you were fighting Kasia, did something happen before I got there?”

  My stomach dropped, my earlier euphoria dwindling away. I’d promised myself I would try to never use that dark magic again unless it was certain life or death. Maybe not even then.

  But I knew it wouldn’t be that simple.

  And Asher…I was beginning to trust him again, more than I had anyone. What would he think if I told him? What would any of my friends think? Telling them wouldn’t accomplish anything. They wouldn’t be able to help. And if they knew, it might only put them in danger.

  “No. Nothing happened,” I managed to say.

  His eyes searched mine. “You sure?”

  “Positive. I was just…glad you were there.”

  For a moment I thought he’d keep pressing me. But then he broke out into a brilliant smile. “Anywhere and always.”

  “Skylar!”

  Mia was waving at me from down the hall, Colson beside her. Asher and I immediately stepped away from each other. Not that we were doing anything. Not that I wanted to do anything.

  Asher glanced at me, and I at him, a happiness I hadn’t felt in a while rising in my chest as together we joined our friends, ready to tackle whatever came our way.

  Epilogue

  The woman stepped into the dimly lit club. The neon sign outside cast a flickering glow on the floor, right before the door slammed shut behind her. The Bone Yard. What a stupid name for a stupid place. But there was a certain someone she wanted to meet. Someone who had information she needed.