Darkbeam Part II

by Adrienne Woods

  Its spell had to be strong, because it had knocked George out cold for a day. When he woke up, the old George was gone. The new George made me sick. Just seeing how he was around her—always wanting to be close to her—nauseated me. He’d despised Becky before he’d Dented on her, and now she was his everything.

  The Dent was sick and twisted, not the beautiful thing that loon Pheizer made it out to be.

  I roared again before I settled on the mountain, burying myself in my thoughts.

  The sky was dark by the time I snapped out of it and reluctantly headed back to Dragonia for dinner.

  I needed to calm my thoughts, especially if Elena was hearing them. I couldn’t let her figure out it was me and not Paul.

  I needed some Fire Cain, but I couldn’t use. I needed a clear head for Warbel practice.

  The practice was a nightmare because I took every frustration swirling around inside me out on them.

  One of the girls passed out, and I took it as an opportunity to go to the infirmary and see Elena.

  “We are not machines, Blake” Becky yelled.

  “If you don’t like it, then you can quit my fucking team,” I snapped as I picked up the girl and headed to the infirmary.

  Julia’s eyes widened when she saw the girl in my arms. “You know, Warbel is supposed to be fun,” she said.

  “You know me, everything has to be perfect.”

  She sighed. “Put her on the bed.”

  I lay her down on the bed and glanced around for Elena, who was asleep on the bed in the corner

  “She’s back?” I asked.

  “Yeah, we don’t know what it is. Constance thinks she’s Ascending. First time a human Ascends with Wyvern abilities.”

  “Yeah.” I frowned. “Do you think Paul is telling the truth?”

  Julia didn’t reply, and I continued to look at Elena.

  I looked back at Julia when she’d finished working on the girl, whose name I didn’t remember. That probably made me a horrible coach, but I didn’t give a fuck. I had bigger things on my mind.

  Julia’s eyes widened. “You don’t trust him?”

  “I didn’t say that. Some things are just hard to believe.”

  She looked over at Elena. “She believes he’s her dragon. We have to give him a chance. It’s what King Albert would’ve wanted.”

  “Julia, King Albert is dead. He got killed by Wyverns. Do you think he would have wanted that?”

  She pursed her lips and I sighed.

  “Just make sure she’s okay.”

  She nodded and I left.

  I shouldn’t have opened my fucking mouth.

  But there was something off about Paul. He was hiding something. Everything I didn’t remember probably had to do with me getting closer to discovering what he was up to.

  I found George near the girl’s dormitories talking to Becky. She shot me a look.

  “How’s Ashley?” George asked.

  I frowned until I realized that must be the player’s name.

  “She’ll live.”

  Becky pushed past me. “I’m going to go check on Elena.”

  “You were hard on Ash tonight.”

  “If she doesn’t like it, she can…” I broke off as the Hippogriff’s scent slammed into me.

  My body went rigid.

  “What is it?” George asked.

  “The Hippogriff. It’s here.”

  I looked around, down the long hallway toward the golden dragon statue.

  “What do you meant it’s here? Like a student?”

  I nodded.

  I opened the door that led to the school grounds and almost gagged on the scent.

  “You smell that?”

  “It’s sweet.”

  “It’s making me crazy. If I come to you and it seems like I’m out of it, you need to tell me the next time I seem like myself,” I said urgently.

  “Blake, you’re fucking scaring me, what is going on?”

  “I’m losing time. Whenever I smell the scent, I lose it. Go to Becky, make sure she’s safe. I’ll speak to you later.”

  He nodded grimly.

  I had to find the Hippogriff. It was here. It was close.

  I followed the scent to the new professor’s class.

  The bitchy one.

  I knocked on her door.

  “What is it, Blake?”

  I looked around. The Hippogriff had been here.

  “Was there a student in here with you just now?”

  She shook her head.

  “Are you sure?”

  She put her hands on her hips. “What’s going on?”

  “I smell the Hippogriff.”

  Her eyes widened. “What do you mean?” she asked, a hint of panic in her voice.

  “It’s here. Now who was in here with you? Don’t lie to me.”

  “I struggle with names. It was a fifth year. He’s big, always in trouble.”

  “Fuck,” I swore under my breath. “Do you think you can point him out tomorrow?”

  She nodded.

  I ran a hand through my hair. “Keep this quiet for now. I’ll find whoever it is.”

  She gulped. “Don’t you think we should alert Master Longwei?”

  I walked to the door. “Not yet. I need to know who it is first.”

  “Am I in danger?” she squeaked.

  “It would’ve killed you already if it wanted to. But it would probably be best if you go to your room,” I said with authority. I was the Rubicon. She had to listen to me.

  She scurried around and gathered her things while I waited for her at the door.

  She locked her classroom and walked to the main building.

  She smiled at me. “Thank you, Blake.”

  I continued searching for the Hippogriff, but the scent was already fading.

  I knew I’d be missing more days once I woke up.

  I woke up on my bed, but I could hardly remember falling asleep.

  I immediately grabbed my journal to see if there were new entries. There were..

  One of the entries was about Elena, and I was relieved to see that she hadn’t Ascended. Paul had to be behind that.

  I’d written about the team—complained about them, more like. They clearly didn’t live up to my standards.

  My eyes caught on the word “cave.” Someone was hiding something in that cave. And then my heart stopped and my mind reeled.

  Elementals.

  Wyverns located them, but dragons hatched them.

  What the fuck did Paul want with them?

  To my surprise that was another entry.

  I discovered all of this then promptly forgotten it.

  I turned the page and read on. I’d spoken to Paul about all of this, but he didn’t remember.

  Either he was hiding something, or I was losing my mind.

  But all of this just confirmed that Paul couldn’t be trusted.

  He was stronger than I thought.

  I wrote a new entry about waking up and warned myself again that Paul was behind whatever was happening to me.

  The fucker was dangerous.

  I added in that I couldn’t remember half the entries in my journal, then I closed my journal and put it away.

  I felt so useless.

  I wasn’t going to find out who the Hippogriff was.

  The beast wanted me to stay back. To back off.

  The plan was that Elena needed to die.

  If the Hippogriff wanted to kill, it would’ve killed a long time ago.

  There had been no deaths.

  It was keeping a low profile. I should be doing the same. If I wanted Elena to die, I had to back off.

  I balled up my fists, then I grabbed my stash of Fire Cain and let myself get lost in a haze.

  I groaned awake. My arm was numb because something heavy lay on it. I rubbed my free hand over my eyes and massaged my temple to ease the pounding. I slowly opened my eyes and focused on the form on my arm.

  Tabitha.

  I c
ouldn’t remember much apart from the amount of times I dove into the Fire Cain. My stash was almost entirely gone.

  I rolled onto my side to free my arm from underneath her, but then my eyes fell on the bruises covering her body.

  I’d beaten her again.

  Broken flashes of us fighting flashed through my mind, but I didn’t know when it fight happened.

  I’d been too out of it, more than ever before.

  I’m so sorry, I said in my mind, because I couldn’t even force the words out.

  Who was I turning into?

  I pulled on some clothes and headed down to the cafeteria. I wasn’t sure what day it was, but from the amount of students milling around inside the cafeteria this late in the day, it had to be the weekend.

  I needed to find George but first I needed food.

  Chef greeted me with a smile, which meant I hadn’t skipped meals during the time I lost.

  My stomach churned and I turned to see Elena standing next to me.

  I frowned at her.

  “Look, I know you’re not my babysitter, but Lucian asked me to tell you where I’m going if I leave with Paul.”

  She had the audacity to talk about Lucian to me after I read in my journal that she had kissed Paul? Clearly Lucian was the last thing on her mind. She was just like Arianna.

  “We’re going to that cave past the lake,” she said and left.

  Whatever. I didn’t care about her whereabouts.

  I took my tray and walked away, taking a seat at the table farthest away from her.

  My eyes caught on Paul standing in the doorway as ate. I tracked his gaze to Elena, who picked up her bag and walked toward him.

  I could imagine what they were going to do in that cave—they wouldn’t be feeding the Elementals, that was for sure.

  But it didn’t bother me.

  Truth was, Elena was just another cheap whore in a school full of them.

  With any luck, soon she wouldn’t be my problem anymore.

  Tabitha was still asleep in my bed when I got back to my room.

  I was never going to get rid of her. She was like a lost puppy. No matter how badly I treated her, she always came back.

  Sighing, I undressed and got into bed, wrapping my arm around her and pulling her close. Utter loneliness always overwhelmed me after I came down from my high.

  It was hard to admit, but I was glad Tabitha was here.

  She stirred in my arms, then turned around and looked at me.

  Her lip was busted and swollen.

  “I’m so sorry,” I whispered.

  “Already forgiven.”

  “No, Tabitha. I’m not good for you.”

  She looked at my chest and her fingers twirled around my necklace. “I knew when I first laid eyes on you that you were destined for darkness Blake. I know what I signed up for.”

  “Tabitha—”

  “Stop.” She put her finger against my lips. “I love you and nothing is going to keep me away.”

  She brushed her lips against mine, and I deepened the kiss. I rolled on top of her, my hands skimming over her skin.

  Tabitha wrenched her lips from mine as the door opened, her eyes wide. She pulled the covers over herself and nodded her head toward the door.

  “Lucian,” she said.

  I looked over my shoulder and saw Lucian standing in the doorway, his face furious.

  Fuck. He knows.

  “Where’s Elena, Blake?” Lucian hissed.

  I rolled my eyes. “I’m not her babysitter.”

  “You promised you would watch out for her.” Every word was like a punch to my gut. I had promised him.

  I feigned indifference. “I’m the Rubicon. I can break my promises.”

  “Paul is dangerous, Blake! He isn’t here to change. He’s here to kill her. Now where the fuck is she?”

  “She’s probably busy screwing him in that cave past the lake.”

  His face fell.

  “Was that not what you hoped to hear? Well, I’m sorry, dude, but you were barely gone when she started spending all her time with him.”

  Lucian shook his head. “I don’t care about that. I need to find her. Look, will you please come with me?”

  “No. Dammit, Lucian. Elena is not worth your time.”

  “Blake, I need to find her! You have no idea what danger Dragonia Academy is in.”

  “You mean the danger Elena is in. Just leave her, Lucian. She isn’t worthy of you.”

  “Worthy of me?” he scoffed. “You know nothing, and you’ll die that way. You got your wish. I promise not to claim you anymore.”

  He stormed away.

  I sighed in relief. Lucian didn’t know the truth about her.

  He’d only discovered that Paul was here to kill her.

  At least he’d finally broken his promise.

  I looked back at Tabitha, who lay petrified next to me.

  She was still staring at the door.

  “What?”

  “You need to go, Blake.”

  “I’ve got enough shit to deal with. I’m not going anywhere.”

  I got up and crossed to the bathroom, slamming the door behind me. I locked the door and leaned my head against it.

  This was it. If I wasn’t there to save her, she would finally die.

  Lucian would get over her eventually.

  The only part of my plan that was ruined was hunting Paul down with Lucian beside me. Lucian knew I didn’t want to help.

  Fuck.

  What had he meant when he’d said I knew nothing? That I would die that way?

  He didn’t know the truth, did he?

  “Blake!” Tabitha pounded on the door. “I have a bad feeling about this. Lucian is the only who has ever tried to claim you. You need him to fight the darkness! You have to fight!”

  The urge to beat the shit out of her took hold of me. She was like a little fucking dog, constantly yapping in my ear.

  “Please. Go help him,” she begged again and again.

  I wrenched open the door. “Fine. Just stop nagging.”

  I dressed quickly and hauled my ass to the cave.

  The Hippogriff’s scent was almost suffocating.

  It was in the cave. With Elena Probably with Lucian.

  Regret hit me hard. I’d forgotten about the Hippogriff.

  “Oh fuck! She’s Ascending,” a woman cried. I knew that voice. It was the new professor. Professor Georgiou.

  How the fuck do I know her name?

  I sprinted deeper into the cave. I heard a muffled scream that sounded like Elena.

  Fuck, she wasn’t dead.

  Deep growls echoed off the walls and I stopped in my tracks. What the fuck was that?

  “Lucian,” a deep voice screamed.

  Cold rushed over my body and I spurred myself on.

  The sounds of bones breaking followed a scream

  I should’ve left when Lucian asked me to.

  He needed to be okay. As long as he wasn’t dead, things would be fine. I could get him back to Dragonia fast. Or I could heal him.

  I followed the noises further down into the cave. The darkness finally dissipated and a glorious blue illuminated the cave.

  A dragon lay on the far side of the cave, a breed I had never seen before. The Hippogriff stood in front of it, it’s tail thrashing and threatening to kill the dragon.

  That fucking bitch. I should have known that night in her classroom that it was her, but she was a good actress.

  There was no sign of Paul, but my eyes caught an iron sword laying on the ground.

  Maybe Lucian killed him.

  The Hippogriff hit her tail against the wall, and the cave shuddered around us. The roof was caving in on us, and the Hippogriff found her escape.

  “Go, she’s getting away!” the dragon roared at me. It was speaking English. “Go, Blake!” How did it know my name? I shook it off and jumped through hole after the Hippogriff.

  She wasn’t going to get away this time.
<
br />   She was weak and slow, which didn’t make any sense. Unless… The Calupso? But only we knew about that potion. I doubted the Wyverns even used potions.

  I concentrated on the task before me and flew harder.

  She had a bag around, and from the clucking noises coming from it, the Elemental dragons were inside it.

  She couldn’t escape with them.

  As I gained on her, she struck her tail out and missed me by an inch.

  She continued striking at me until there was a considerable distance between us again.

  I ducked, intent on coming up from beneath her.

  My gaze left her for a split second as I readied myself to collide with her, but she vanished. Just like that first night.

  I roared in frustration.

  I scoured the area, but she was nowhere to be found. Even her stinking, sweet scent had vanished.

  Defeated, I returned to the cave.

  I reached the hole, shifted into my human form as I leaped into the cave, and ran to the dragon.

  It was weeping in the corner, and as I approached, it turned to look at me.

  “Where are they?”

  “She...disappeared.”

  “Again?” it growled.

  I cleared my throat. “Who are you?”

  “It’s me, you idiot. Elena. I’m—” More weeping sobs came from the dragon.

  It couldn’t be.

  All the air in my lungs seemed to leave me, the darkness pressing heavily on my chest. There was no light anymore. There had never been any light. All this time I had wanted to eliminate Elena for nothing.

  “No, it can’t be.”

  “Blake, there is no time. I don’t care what you believe or not. Lucian… that bitch stabbed him with her tail. You need to help him. Now!”

  Fear surged through me at the thought of what Hippogriff poison could do to a human. I sprang into action.

  I climbed over the dragon’s—Elena’s, fuck I still couldn’t believe it—limbs, grabbed Lucian, and threw him over my shoulder.

  For the first time in a long time, my mind was completely clear. My entire focus was to getting Lucian to Constance.

  “Hold on, Lucian,” I murmured as I morphed. I clutched him in my paw and flew as fast as I could. My scales burned from the exertion, but this time it wasn’t some entity driving me to push myself.

  It was all me.

  I landed with a crash, the earth vibrating beneath my feet.