by Lan Chan
I pretended nonchalance. Basil had shown me a bunch of old games on the MirrorNet. Sufficed to say, I was suitably terrified. Students actually died in these things. They were literally thrown to the wolves to see if they were worthy of joining the elite guards.
“Yeah, I have a fair enough idea.”
Sophie sat down hard on her bed. “This is just wrong,” she said.
“And yet it’s happening.”
“But why?” Diana groaned. She needn’t have looked me up and down so disparagingly.
I explained it to them.
“That’s ridiculous!” Sophie said. “What does winning these games have to do with anything? How does that prove you’re better than Chanelle?”
I winced at the sound of her name. Sophie was too incensed to care. Diana paced in a circle, muttering to herself. Finally, she came to a halt. “I suppose in terms of suitability, if you can prove you’re not just a puny human maybe some of the Nephilim will change their mind about you being a terrible bondmate. Michael’s line is impressed by strength, after all. Raphael’s line was destroyed because they couldn’t fight.”
Diana blew out a breath from where she was leaning on Sophie’s wooden chest at the base of her bed. “You can’t catch a break, can you?”
“Thanks for pointing out the obvious.”
She scratched at the skin just below her left eye. After a moment, she coughed. “Speaking of the obvious, have you thought about how you’re going to handle seeing Chanelle every day?”
I stared at her. All of my brain cells seized. “Beg your pardon?”
Diana looked at Sophie for a second before she turned her attention back to me. “Way to hold out, Soph.” Sophie tucked her legs underneath her and hunkered down.
I tried to keep my voice low. “Why would I see Chanelle every day?”
Diana was never one to run away from a scary situation. She proved that by joining me on the bed. When she placed her arm around me, I began to suspect this was more about restraint than comfort.
“You know she’s the same age as Kai, don’t you?” Diana said. “She goes to Pantheon Academy.”
I just sat there for a while, letting the information stew.
“Lex?” Diana said.
I shot up out of my bed. “I’m going to see Jacqueline. Alone.”
Yanking the door open, I stomped towards Jacqueline’s office. Out past the front of the dorms, it was absolute chaos. Thanks to all the Unity Games excitement, the entire Academy had come back from vacation early to witness the grounds being transformed. I thought I knew the layout of this place like the back of my hand. But where there should have been a path that veered left past the newly planted Japanese maple, there was now a massive crater.
“What the hell,” I said.
When I finally found Jacqueline’s office, I was greeted by one frantic assistant. “She’s hectic today!” Alex warned. “We’re running behind on construction on account of resources being diverted elsewhere.”
“Where?” I asked without thinking.
Alex wore round spectacles for the fashion statement. And so that when he looked you up and down, it made you feel like you were two feet tall. “Where do you think, Miss Hedge Witch? They had half the First Order out looking for you. We’ve lost weeks of time.”
I couldn’t really believe it. “Why?”
Alex sniffed. He resumed his manic paper stamping. “I believe Malachi’s orders were ‘If you don’t find her, your lives won’t be worth living.’ So now here we are. One day away from the start of semester and there’s a gigantic hole in the ground!”
“Alex,” Jacqueline called from behind her office door. “I can hear you shouting from in here. Send her in.”
Alex made a sweeping gesture at me without looking up from his papers. “Take a seat, Lex,” Jacqueline said, after I closed the door behind me. “How can I help you?” I almost had to cover my eyes at the brightness of her fire-engine-red suit jacket.
“I just found out Chanelle goes to Pantheon.”
The statement hung in the air between us. “I see.” She clasped her hands in front of her. The gold bangles clinked together. “I know it’s difficult, but she’s only a few months younger than Kai. It’s a Unity semester. There’s not much I can do to keep her out this time.”
“This time?” The implication of those words rolled over me.
“Of course. Did you think she chose to attend Pantheon rather than Bloodline Academy? It took a lot of manoeuvring on my part to exclude her. Kai needed to be somewhere away from her. So did Cassie. I still owe a great many favours to some powerful people. Including Orin Harcourt. In fact, you can thank Brigid for the final vote that kept Chanelle out. But there’s no arguing with her being here now.”
I really wanted to punch something at the moment. Exhaling loudly, I deflated all over the armchair.
After she allowed me a few seconds of self-pity, Jacqueline pushed a sheet of paper in front of me. “I’m sorry that you didn’t get more time to think about the subjects you’d like to take this semester. This list was sent out to all students last week but...well, you know. I’m afraid I’ll have to get you to pick now so we can arrange it for tomorrow.”
I glanced down the list of choices. My core classes were already in my timetable. The rest of the empty spots were for electives. Because it was a Unity semester, the four Academies were opening up their curriculum to students from the other Academies. Call me distrustful but I surveyed my core classes just to be sure there wasn’t anything surprising in there. Potions: tick. Weaponry and combat: tick. Dead Languages: groan but tick. Herbology: tick.
It was all pretty stock standard until I got to the end of the week. My voice died in my throat. I looked up from the timetable to find Jacqueline watching me. Her hands were locked together in front of her. “Magic Resistance,” I read out. “Fourth year: Dominion Academy.”
“Professor Mortimer and I thought, given the circumstances, it might be best if you learned how to protect yourself,” she explained. “The Dominion mages have the most experience in resisting demonic energy.”
“Right.” That made sense. But sometimes sense wasn’t all that comforting. Despite their assurances, they were clearly taking precautions.
“Okay.” I rubbed my sweaty palms against my thighs. My eyes scrolled down the very long list of electives. Some of them went right over my head. There was a subject on chariot racing offered by Pantheon Academy. And another on conversing with water sprites.
“I hope Kai’s taking this magical contracts subject,” I said.
Jacqueline let out a strangled laugh. I thought of Trey and Roland. For a second, I almost wanted to choose something easy so I could cruise. But then my attention fell on the subjects offered by Nightblood Academy. They were infamous for churning out your run-of-the-mill terrifying vampires. And they were the only Academy to embrace necromancy. It was heavily regulated, but it was the one place that cultivated summoning magic. After my recent run-in with a necromancer, I was severely deficient in that department.
I circled Undead Magic. I thought I heard Jacqueline sigh but kept going until I hit Demon Exorcism. It was a subject taught by Bloodline Academy for third- and fourth-year students. “May I?”
Jacqueline’s lips puckered. I waited for her to come up with an excuse for why I could take some advanced classes and not others. To my surprise, she relented. I circled that too. And then I saw who was teaching the class: Professor Mortimer with assistance from Professor Suleiman, my Dead Languages professor.
“Exorcism requires words of light,” Jacqueline said. Oh brother. Last time I’d tried to use a word of light to float an object, I’d shattered it instead. Still, it was worth the risk. I kept thinking about Nanna and the demon who had tried to possess me way back when all of this started. If I could have prevented it, I would do anything to learn.
There was only one choice left.
“How about something less maudlin,” Jacqueline suggested. I rais
ed a brow at her.
“Less maudlin or less like I’m actually leaning into my reputation?”
She unlaced her fingers and let them sit palms down on her desk. Rather than speak, she tried to employ that staring at you until you answered your own question trick. I kept scanning. There were plenty of subjects but none I was all that interested in. My cheek twitched when I hit Prophetic Vision Interpretation.
“Are they kidding?” I asked.
“I only wish. I would suggest you stay clear away from that class.”
Stupid as I was, even I knew that. “What’s Magical Artefacts?”
“You’ll learn about the creation of magical devices.”
“Like weaponry and combat?”
“Not just weapons but things like talismans and amulets. Shields of armour and –” She raised both wrists to indicate her cuffs.
“Oh, okay. I guess that would be pretty interesting.” And if I could make a device that would blow up a certain Nephilim, why the heck not?
When I was done, she took back the timetable and passed her hand over it. As far as I was aware, she didn’t have any magic in her blood. But being Headmistress gave her a link to the Academy that had little to do with magical skill. The little squares on my timetable flickered in and out of visibility, rearranging themselves. As I watched, each subject became solid again until I had a timetable that worked. When it was done, Jacqueline made a copy for the Academy’s official record and handed me back my copy.
I thought she would dismiss me, but she sat there staring past me. I frowned when she started playing with the gold bangles around her left wrist. Finally, she blinked hard and gave me a searching look. She took my hand in hers and inspected it like it was the first time she’d seen me. Against her long fingers, mine looked like flesh-coloured sausages.
“Sometimes I forget just how human you are,” she said. “This is going to be a difficult semester.”
“As opposed to the breezy semesters I’ve had since I arrived?”
She smiled but her focus remained on our intertwined fingers. Sufficed to say I was starting to freak out a little. “Chanelle has a certain way of bending others to her will,” she said. I’d been hit a bunch of times in my short life, but somehow, they hurt less than that single statement. Jacqueline continued on without giving me time to regroup. “At her core she’s not a bad person.”
Did I have a sign that read “punching bag” on my head? My fingers tried to curl but Jacqueline held them steady. “She’s been revered her entire life. Even before the invasion of Seraphina. But since Raphael’s line was almost wiped out, the Nephilim Council have bowed to her every whim. Kai was the only person in her life who didn’t pay her any attention. She didn’t know what to do with that. So, she both hates and loves him.”
I just sat there listening, feeling like my throat was contracting. With a heavy sigh, she let go of me and ran her fingers through her platinum waves. “Left to his own devices, Kai would bond with her just to stop the Council from bothering him. After the invasion, my grandson was like the living dead. I remember trying to talk him out of signing the contract was like speaking to a cave troll. He grunted at me periodically, but nothing permeated his thick skull. I failed to protect him when he needed me the most.”
She rifled through her drawers and pulled out a pocketbook. I glanced at the title when she handed it to me: The Divisive Nature of the Unity Games. “I’ve tried to build Bloodline Academy into an institution that embraces all species. But not all of the Academy heads feel the same. Not all supernaturals feel the same. As you well know. I’m afraid the Games themselves might be the easiest part of the semester for you. I just want you to know that no matter what, you’re not alone. If you need any additional training, the professors have been told to give you priority.”
All I could do was nod dumbly. I had made the mistake of flipping through the book and landed on a page with a picture of a historical contestant holding the severed head of one of their counterparts. Lovely. Through no fault of my own, I’d signed up to being prey for a supernatural hunt.
9
Now that I had sealed my fate, I couldn’t decide what to do with my last day. I heard barking as I neared the billabong. Phoenix came charging out of the underbrush to nip at my ankles. I felt like I’d played with him three days ago, but with the three weeks that I had been told had passed, in dingo years that must have felt like forever.
I let him chase me around the billabong. We were just coming around the edge of one of the mangrove forests. Phoenix had his tongue hanging out of his mouth to catch the salt in the damp air around the trees. I picked up a stick to play tug with him when the sound of snickering filtered through the dense bush.
We stopped at the same time.
The hairs on his back stood on end. I strained, trying to catch even a smidgen of what his ears had probably picked up. With Phoenix bristling beside me, we stepped lightly around to the open clearing. There were unfamiliar students huddled around the edge of the water.
The air here was pretty thick with the scent of sulphur.
The water in the pool resembled mud. There were a bunch of young boys about Charles’s age huddled around. They were dunking a poor goblin’s head in the water.
Most of the boys had delicate Fae features. Their wings were a dead giveaway. Some of the others looked like they ate push-ups for breakfast.
One big brute with green wings held the goblin kid down. Phoenix growled. The brute turned to face me.
“You might want to stop doing that,” I said.
The green-winged brute pushed his captive deeper into the water. The goblin’s feet kicked out frantically. One of the other Fae reached out and ripped the loose board shorts he wore from him. Goblins weren’t huge fans of clothing. Most of the para-humans were the same. Their skin was tougher and was made to protect them against harsher elements. So they didn’t feel the need to cover up. In their city, most para-humans walked around naked.
As a way of integrating into Bloodline Academy, the para-humans often wore ill-fitting clothing. Doctor Thorne always wore a lab coat even though it hindered his movement.
“Okay,” I said. “Play time’s over. Let the poor kid up.”
“Get lost, human,” Green Brute said. “When we need a low-witch to be demon bait, we’ll let you know.”
There was no way for him to know how close that insult hit home. It riled me up nonetheless. Phoenix snapped his jaws.
There was one vampire in the group. His eye-teeth elongated. Red bled into his hazel eyes. I read the intent the second he twisted around.
A shadow darkened the ground beside my right shoulder. All of the boys halted.
“Now that’s not very nice, is it?” a honeyed voice said in my ear. Phoenix growled.
An older boy stepped forward. “It isn’t even the first day of school and you’re already playing bullies,” he said.
“Get bent, Andrei,” Green Brute said. But it was the hollow bravado of a bunny rabbit.
Andrei smiled. His teeth were mortal blunt but his skin tone and the light amulet he wore around his neck screamed vampire.
“Interesting proposition,” Andrei said. “Get bent...” He ambled forward. Most of the vamps I knew walked like predators. They were almost as silent as the shifters when they wanted to be. Andrei didn’t bother using stealth. “I wonder how long it would take for me to bend that neck of yours before it comes clean off your shoulders.”
“About as long as it would take for Pendragon to run you through with his angel blade,” Green Brute snapped back. “Like he did with your family.” His friends laughed nervously. It was the last thing they did because Andrei lunged forward. The bravado disappeared behind childish shrieks. They dispersed.
There was only the eerie feeling of magic in their wake. And the soft sobbing of the goblin boy. My unease at the conversation I’d just heard was overshadowed by irritation. It was harder to tell how old a para-human was. Past a certain point they real
ly didn’t age. This boy wasn’t even close to when he’d stop physically aging. Bloodline Junior Academy accepted children as young as six. If I came across that Big Brute again, I was going to do something worse than scare him.
Ignoring the vampire, I crouched down in front of the goblin. He had a graze on his forehead and a cut lip.
“Hey,” I said. “Are you okay?”
Now that he wasn’t being tormented, the boy wiped at his leathery nose. The back of his hand came away streaked in blood. He nodded but still flinched when Andrei came close. I put my back to the vampire. The last thing I needed was for him to smell blood and go all fangy on me.
“Thanks,” I said. “I’ve got it from here.”
Andrei grinned this time. I found myself curling my arm around the little boy. It was a struggle to keep the magic inside me from bursting out of my skin. I’d seen my fair share of drug addicts. It was the eyes that always gave them away. They were usually hollow but wild at the same time. Like they were seeing right past you at some horrible nightmare they couldn’t pull themselves from.
Andrei’s eyes showed me exactly that. They were also winged in broken capillaries. Crazy-eyes. It was a shame because they were the most startling amber colour. It was no wonder the boys had run.
Andrei noticed my reaction. “What’s the matter, squirt? Do I scare you?”
There was no point lying. I was sure he could sense my rapid heartbeat. “Yes,” I said, looking at him square in the face. “Which is why I won’t hesitate to cut your head off if you don’t beat it.”
I had no weapon on me. If he made a move, I’d rip the amulet from around his neck and let the sun do the job. Fingers crossed.
He smiled. Still no fangs. His jawline was strong. So were the fists he used to brace himself in his crouching position. His shoulders were wide even if they looked like they were mostly bones. The structure was there. Only it seemed to have been divested of a soul. I shuddered involuntarily.
A huge body broke through the surface of the water. The bunyip lifted his head onto the walkway. A couple of yowies rolled across the mud. I let out an inward sigh of relief. Phoenix went to play with his new friends.
