Darkbeam Part II

by Adrienne Woods

  I snarled at her and looked away.

  Bentley asked her a question about Paul and Dents. Stupid asshole.

  “I won’t discuss Wyverns in my class.”

  “But he said he’s Elena’s Dent,” Bentley protested.

  “It’s a lie. Elena is not his rider, but it doesn’t matter what I think. She has a strong mind and when she puts it on one thing, it doesn’t get changed that easily. Paul is not her dragon. He’s not compatible with her.”

  “But he claims—”

  “Wyverns are nothing like dragons, Bentley, they are not that magical, they can’t coexist with humans. Paul isn’t here out of his own free will, and I will stick with that until proven otherwise.”

  “He killed his own kind,” Tabitha said.

  Professor Pheizer nodded her head. “And what would you do if you want to gain someone’s trust, say the Prince of Tith’s trust?”

  “Lucian isn’t his rider,” I said.

  “No, he’s not, but he wants to get close to Elena. And maybe we should focus on why, Blake.”

  She gave me that intense look again, waiting a bit too long before she looked away.

  She knew the truth.

  “Elena’s mark is very dark, but it’s not because her dragon is a Wyvern. She is going to show us powerful things, Elena and her dragon. It’s a pity her true dragon doesn’t see it.”

  The bell rang and Professor Pheizer busied herself at her table.

  Kill, kill, kill, the beast chanted in my head.

  I slung my bag over my shoulder and barreled down the steps to the door.

  “A word, Mr. Leaf,” Professor Pheizer said.

  She had some nerve.

  I paused at the door and turned around.

  “About what?”

  She smiled. “I’m in awe of you, but I don’t fear you. You know what I say is the truth. The reason why you’re not saying anything… that is a bit disturbing.”

  I chuckled. “What am I not saying?”

  “A dragon always knows, Blake.” She sighed when I didn’t say anything. “You are free to go.”

  I shook my head and left.

  My arrogant grin disappeared. I was starting to agree with the beast.

  Pheizer must go down.

  “Well, if Paul isn’t her dragon, then who is?” Tabitha asked Susan in the cafeteria.

  “How should I know? For all we know, Pheizer is just spouting a bunch of bullshit.”

  “I don’t know,” Jeff said thoughtfully. “It seemed like she knew who Elena’s dragon is. I felt it.”

  “I did, too, but why hasn’t she said anything then?”

  They all turned to look at me.

  “What?”

  “Well, you are the Alpha, I’m sure you must know something.”

  “Susan’s right, Tabitha. Half the things Pheizer says in that class is pulled out of her ass.”

  “Well, why did she ask you to stay behind, Blake?” Tabitha asked haughtily.

  I chuckled and ruffled my hair. “Because my book is not making any sense to her, Tabitha. Which only proves to me that she’s not the real deal.”

  “Still, you must have felt it, too, Blake.”

  I huffed out a breath. “Pheizer is a fraud. She only riles me up. One day it’ll come out that she doesn’t know anything. I’m done talking about her stupid class. I don’t even think I’m going to attend anymore.”

  “She helps with your darkness. You have to go,” Tabitha urged.

  I slammed my palms on the table. “Are you even listening to a fucking word I’m saying? Pheizer knows nothing and she doesn’t help me with shit.”

  I got up and left.

  “I felt it. She knows who Elena’s true dragon is. And if that is true, Paul is not here of his own free will.”

  Pheizer was riling everyone up, and I needed to put a stop to her before it got any worse.

  I tried to come up with a solution, but every scenario led to me facing Elena in the ring.

  I couldn’t ignore the issue, even though I felt like I should. When I pushed, everyone noticed, and when I didn’t, everyone calmed down.

  But this was different. I couldn’t ignore it, and I couldn’t compel Pheizer like Irene. Rumor had it that she had been part of a Dent a long time ago, and although her dragon’s death was tragic, she carried on and now taught everyone about Dents.

  I had no idea how old she was. There had to be some way to make her go crazy, or to kill her.

  Killing was the last option.

  I paced up and down in my room, contemplating another murder.

  I sank to my haunches and buried my hands in my hair, tightening my grip until it was painful.

  The door opened and Tabitha walked in. I jumped up and ran a hand through my hair.

  “What is up with you? You’ve been acting strange lately. Is it what Pheizer said about Paul?”

  “Tabitha, please. You’re driving me crazy.”

  “Blake, you need to snap out of this. What’s going on? Why did Pheizer ask you to stay behind?”

  My gaze snapped to her. She didn’t believe the lie. “I told you before.”

  “Don’t give me that bullshit, Blake. You haven’t written in that journal for a long fucking time. Tell me the truth!”

  I grabbed Tabitha by her arms and slammed her into the wall.

  Her eyes widened and I heard the pounding of her heart quicken.

  “Stay the fuck out of my business.”

  “You are my business,” she whimpered.

  “No, I’m not.” I pressed her harder into the wall, my fingers digging into the skin on her arms. “Stop asking so many fucking questions.”

  “Blake, you’re hurting me. Stop it. This isn’t you.”

  I chuckled. “This is exactly who I am, Tabitha. You love me now?”

  “Blake, just stop.”

  “Get the fuck out of my room!”

  I let go of her and she fell to the floor, then scrambled to get up and away from me.

  I needed to calm down.

  I rummaged through my things for the Fire Cain, heaped it onto my finger, and snorted.

  It took a few seconds for it to kick it, but my mind became quiet.

  The room spun around me and I fell face-down on my bed as everything disappeared.

  When my eyes flashed open, I grabbed my Cammy to look at the time. Six a.m.

  At least it was the weekend.

  I got up and stretched as my stomach grumbled. My body was stiff and my mind foggy, but they both eased in the steam of my shower.

  After the shower, I searched for a clean outfit in the heap of clothes strewn on the floor.

  I didn’t used to be like this. I used to be super organized.

  I ignored my laundry. I needed to get some food in my stomach before my hangover killed me.

  The bright light hurt my eyes, but I couldn’t find my shades anywhere.

  Fuck it. I needed food.

  I walked straight to the buffet line, ignoring Chef’s greeting as I piled food on my plate. I sat down at the nearest table and practically shoveled the food into my mouth.

  When I was almost finished, Tabitha sat down across from me, staring at me. Her nostrils flared.

  I ignored her.

  “You bruised my arm yesterday, Blake.”

  “Maybe that’ll help you learn your place,” I murmured.

  “My place?” Her voice rose an octave. “You are a fucking dick!” Her voice hit the walls in my mind hard. It felt as if my head was going to explode.

  I dropped my fork and stood up. I didn’t have time to deal with her right now.

  “Don’t you dare walk away from me, Blake Leaf!” she yelled after me.

  I quickened my pace, knowing she would follow me.

  I slammed the door behind me once I was in my room. I pulled my jeans off and grabbed the bag of Fire Cain. I was readying a second line when the door burst opened.

  “Fire Cain again?” Tabitha hissed.

 
I ignored her as I snorted the powder, waiting for it to dampen my headache. I needed it to drown out her voice.

  “Dammit, Blake. I’m right here! Don’t you have any moral sense?” She shook her head. “No, you don’t, because the darkness has it’s claws in you. I’m going to Master Longwei.” She turned to leave but I grabbed her hair and threw her on the floor.

  “You’re going to what?”

  She looked at me, eyes filled with fear, as I grabbed her and pulled her up.

  “You going to tell him?” I hit her. She screamed, sobbing as I shoved her to the ground. I bent over her and was just about to grab her hair again when my stomach turned.

  The knock came a few seconds later.

  I growled as I strode to the door, aware that I was only wearing my boxers.

  Tabitha pushed herself up and jumped out my window.

  Good riddance. I almost growled again when I saw Elena at my door.

  “What?”

  “I’m taking a horse ride with Paul,” she said, avoiding my eyes.

  “Why are you telling me this? I’m not your babysitter, Elena.”

  “Lucian—” she huffed and took a deep breath. A sarcastic smile played on her lips. “Forget it.” She turned around as I closed my door.

  I stumbled to my bed, falling onto it as the Fire Cain finally kicked in.

  Sunday morning, rumors were spreading like wildfire.

  From what I could make out, Elena had gotten hurt yesterday. A horse got spooked and dragged her along behind it for a few miles.

  The corners of my lips pulled up. She was still unconscious.

  Paul was finally doing the one thing I couldn’t. Having my eggs in his basket might not have been such a bad thing after all.

  My smile vanished when Jeff put his tray filled with eggs and bacon and fish guts in front of me and sat down.

  “Did you hear about Elena? They’re all blaming Paul.”

  I grunted.

  “Dude, what is up with you?” Jeff asked in exasperation

  I shot him a glare.

  He backed away, picking up his tray and moving to another table without saying another word.

  I wished everyone would be that understanding when I wanted to be left alone.

  I wanted to know how extensive Elena’s injuries were, but if I couldn’t show my face in the infirmary without a valid explanation without tipping off the hawks that kept a close eye on me.

  But someone, most likely my sister, would probably mention it soon enough.

  Once my food was finished, I went up to my room again, and relief coursed through me when I made it back without seeing Tabitha.

  I lay on my bed and tuned my hearing in on Sammy.

  She was clearly worried that the dragon spawn hadn’t woken up yet.

  I chuckled to myself.

  Paul had come through after all. I’d had some doubts.

  But Pheizer had been right about him. Goran had sent him here to kill Elena, and I was too out of my fucking mind to save her.

  Let’s see how you deal with that one, I sneered at the greater power.

  My sister’s worry and Becky’s constant nagging at George to use his ability to find out if Paul was here with ill intent was music to my ears.

  I had no idea how George could stand all that nagging. Comforting Becky was his life now. The Dent was a hellish spell.

  I closed my eyes and gave in to the fatigue of my hangover.

  I hadn’t dreamed about the redhead in such a long time. I could barely remember the feeling she incited in my dreams.

  She was a distant memory.

  Thinking about the redhead made me yearn for Irene. Perhaps once Elena was dead, I could seduce her again.

  She still had feelings for me, buried deep inside her. It would be easy to bring those feelings out again.

  When I woke up, I grabbed my journal, intent on writing, but as I paged through it, I found an entry I never wrote.

  It was impossible. The entry was in my handwriting, and I was the only person who could open the journal, as the pink kiss was its key.

  It was a warning about Paul, claiming he was dangerous.

  I flipped forward a few pages and found another entry that wasn’t familiar. It was dated yesterday.

  According to the entry, Paul had told me everything that happened with Elena. But I hadn’t spoken to Paul yesterday. I’d been too out of my mind after the Tabitha incident—drugged and passed out. But I’d written down what Paul told me. The accident hadn’t been his fault; the horse had dragged her and kicked her in the head.

  I’d threatened him.

  A shiver ran up my spine. This had to be the work of the higher power. It didn’t even need me to be conscious to control me.

  I paged back and found other entries I couldn’t remember writing.

  I found an entry I’d written about how upset I was that Elena slept with Lucian. I hadn’t thought I was that upset, but there it was, in my handwriting. How it drove me insane thinking about it, imagining them together.

  Panic surged within me.

  I flipped through the pages again, skimming over my writing.

  One entry from before Lucian left the infirmary asserted that Paul was dangerous.

  A few detailed how many times I’d pushed Tabitha around—which was much more than I remembered.

  What the fuck?

  I closed the journal and threw it on my bedside table.

  I looked over at Lucian’s empty bed. I needed to keep a closer eye on Paul, and perhaps having him here with me was the best way to do it.

  Could Paul be connected to the Hippogriff?

  I lay back against my pillows and tried to remember what had happened without my knowledge, but I came up blank. It triggered nothing in my mind.

  Was it part of his ability? Could he do more than he admitted to, like erase thoughts, just like my Green Vapor part?

  I glanced at the clock and realized it was already dinner time. I hadn’t noticed that so much time had passed since I’d woken up.

  Sighing, I got up and went to the cafeteria.

  The minute I stepped inside, I heard that Elena was conscious.

  For fuck’s sake, could no one do the job properly? How many lives did that irritating spawn have?

  I wanted to scream in frustration, but I turned my attention to the task at hand.

  I needed to find Paul fast.

  He had a lot of explaining to do.

  “Dude, I don’t know what the fuck you are talking about,” Paul panted as I flung him into the wall. He skidded down the steps of the girls’ dormitory, and I grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him around the corner.

  “Don’t fucking lie to me.”

  “I swear.” He sounded so sincere, so afraid.

  I let him go. “Lucian’s bed is available. You’re moving into my room. Today.”

  “He’s going to come back.”

  “No, he’s not,” I said, and a small smile played on Paul’s lips.

  My nose wrinkled in distaste. “Wipe that smirk off your face. I don’t trust you.”

  “I didn’t do anything wrong. Fuck, Blake, I’m serious.”

  I sneered. “Just call it a Rubicon instinct. Something tells me we are going to be great roomies.”

  I turned around and walked away, not waiting to see Paul’s reaction.

  I needed to give him rope so he could hang himself, and if he was mixed up with the Hippogriff, I would kill them both.

  I went back to my room and stashed away the Fire Cain. I didn’t need it now that I had a purpose again.

  I didn’t mind him tricking Elena or trying to kill her—we were on the same page with that—but the Hippogriff being here and my memories just disappearing like that… Obviously, someone was trying to make a fool out of me.

  I was brought here to keep Dragonia Academy safe, and that was exactly what I was going to do.

  When it came to Elena, Paul was free to do whatever he wanted. The rest was my
territory.

  Paul arrived later that night and dumped his bag on the floor next to Lucian’s bed.

  I looked up from the magazine I was reading and narrowed my eyes at him.

  He raised his hands in defense. “Dude, seriously, I’m not hiding anything.”

  “Go to bed. I’ll decide if you are innocent or not.”

  He shook his head before he pulled off his shirt and got into bed.

  He switched off his lamp, plunging half of the room into shadow.

  I continued reading, though my mind was not on the article. It kept circling around everything I’d read in my journal.

  According to my journal, I was more on the Hippogriff’s tale than I realized, I had been more upset about Elena and Lucian than I thought, and I’d abused Tabitha more times than I could count.

  What was going on with me?

  This didn’t seem like the work of the higher power or my beast.

  Everything in my journal pointed to one suspect, and he was currently asleep in Lucian’s bed.

  I switched off my light, punched my pillow to get comfortable, and tried to calm my mind and get some rest.

  When I woke up the next morning, my eyes fell on a silver invitation that had been slid underneath my door.

  Irene.

  I hadn’t seen her since the night I compelled her.

  I picked up the piece of paper, skimming the writing. She wanted to see me before classes started.

  I didn’t want to go, but when the Viden summoned you, you went, no questions asked.

  I’d just have to do my best to pretend there had never been anything between us.

  It was dangerous. If she got her memories back, the beast wouldn’t spare her.

  I couldn’t hear the racing of my heart, but I felt it through my entire body. My palms were clammy with sweat, worsening with every step I took to her door.

  I lifted my hand to knock, but she pulled open the door before I could.

  “The prodigal son returns,” she said with a warm smile.

  She moved aside, and I stepped into her tower.

  “Sit, Blake. We have a lot to discuss today.”

  I took a seat and looked down at my hands.

  “It’s been so long since you’ve come to see me. Has something happened?”

  I shook my head. “I just don’t see why I need these sessions if you can’t see anything anymore.”