Dark Abandon

by Nicole R. Taylor

  “Will I have to give evidence again?” I made a face, remembering the grilling Wainthrope had given me.

  “I don’t foresee it, considering you’re on assignment.”

  I was learning more about the Natural way of life every day, but when it came down to punishing criminals, I wasn’t sure what they did about that. In wartime, humans tried people differently. I wondered if it was the same for us.

  “What will happen to Wainthrope?” I asked.

  “He’ll likely be executed.”

  It was my turn to narrow my eyes. “The Naturals believe in the death penalty?”

  “Of course we do,” Greer stated. “We’re at war, Scarlett. You don’t think twice about killing demons, do you? They certainly don’t think twice about killing us. We mustn’t show mercy to those willing to betray the Light.”

  Hearing her talk so abruptly about life and death made my impression of her shift. Greer was sweet and intelligent, but she also had a dark side—the side that led her to work with Human Convergence all those years ago. Still, she was pure enough to touch the Codex, so what did I know?

  “What does the Codex say about it?” I challenged.

  “Julius sided with a greater demon for his own gain, conspired to murder Jackson, and to take you prisoner.” She turned to the window and gazed down at the courtyard below. “You would request mercy for him?”

  She had a point, but I wasn’t sure death was the correct punishment for any Natural.

  Closing the lid on that can of worms, I stood next to her. Below, a few students were crossing the yard, making their way to their next class or training session.

  We spotted Wilder at the same time. Greer seemed to inhale a little too sharply, and I glanced at her out the corner of my eye. Was she swooning?

  “What?” I had to go give her a poke, didn’t I?

  “He’s changed,” she replied.

  “Who? Wilder?”

  Greer nodded, her gaze followed him across the courtyard. “Wilder has begun to care again, and that’s because of you.”

  Goody. I bristled, wondering if she was excited because it meant she had another shot with him. I wondered if that’s why they broke up to begin with—Wilder’s ‘closed heart’. It wouldn’t look good for the protector of the Codex to shack up with the insubordinate outsider, would it? Apparently, his stock had gone up in the last six months.

  “I can sense your hostility, Scarlett.”

  I gritted my teeth and turned away from the window. When it came to confrontation, I was all over chopping down demons with swords, but not this. I didn’t fight for the affections of a man. Either he loved me or he didn’t, and Wilder couldn’t be any less interested in a basket case like me.

  “If you have an issue with me, the Sanctum, or your assignment, you’re encouraged to speak up,” she went on when I didn’t make a move to reply, “professional or otherwise.”

  I looked at her, but she was cool as a cucumber. She was perfect, angelic, and a reminder of everything that made me uncomfortable with myself. Was she giving me an invitation to slap her down over Wilder? Or was it just her way of working out what my feelings were? These people had serious trust issues.

  That was another problem. I still didn’t see myself as a Natural. At least, not at my core. What made me different, a target, even amongst my own kind. It was hard to forget when my life was constantly at stake.

  “I want to like you,” I said, choosing my words carefully, “and sometimes, I do.”

  “I see,” she stated. “I can hardly blame you. Leadership comes with certain responsibilities that make me… unlikeable.”

  It wasn’t so much the leadership bit, but I didn’t want to discuss that with her. I turned back to the window, but Wilder had already disappeared inside.

  “Something else happened at the Necropolis, didn’t it?”

  I tensed at Geer’s question. Report writing was something I didn’t excel at, now or back in school. Then, I’d been half-arseing essays about the latest novel we had to read in English class, and now I was giving blow-by-blow accounts of how many demons I was slicing and dicing.

  But it wasn’t just my dislike of paper pushing that made me evasive. I’d left a lot out, but so had Wilder.

  “I put everything in my report,” I replied. “Not that it was my favourite thing to do. English was never my best subject. Is that the real reason you sent me back to school?”

  “My reasons for sending you here are not nefarious.” That was a big word. “If you have any issues, I hope you’ll come to me with them. I’m not just a council member. Someday, I hope you’ll see me as a friend.”

  A pang of guilt twisted my heart. “I will.”

  “I hope so.” It wasn’t a warning, not exactly, but I suspected there was more to her line of questioning than met the eye.

  “I have to go to class,” I said, eager to get away. “I’ll see you later.”

  Turning, I began to walk away, my nerves totally shot. How was I going to tell Wilder about the things I’d been hiding from him now? The longer I left it, the harder it became, and now Greer was here. She was yet another wedge between us and she’d just told me that she wanted to be my friend. The leader of the London Sanctum, the protector of the Codex, the puppet master, the perfect woman wanted to be my friend? Was it really that simple?

  Probably, but my feelings for Wilder had messed everything up.

  “Scarlett?”

  I stopped by the door and looked over my shoulder.

  “I wouldn’t trust anyone else with this task,” Greer said. “These students are our future and must be protected at all costs. Remember who you are.”

  That last sentence was loaded with double and triple meanings. I wasn’t just a student with a hidden agenda. To the Naturals, I was touched by Arondight. Little did they know, I carried a piece of it inside me.

  “Way to stack the pressure on, Greer,” I drawled.

  She smiled, her stature reminded me of one of the portraits that hung on the library walls. “Good luck, Scarlett.”

  Obviously, I was going to need it.

  I chewed on the end of my pen and stared out the window. Study period in super demon hunting school was just as boring as it was in human school. I’d been lumped into the senior class for the hour, which made it even more exciting. We were supposed to work on our assignments, but I was daydreaming instead.

  I had a lot on my mind, but what else was new?

  After running into Greer that morning, I’d been thinking about what she’d said to me. She suspected something was up with me and Wilder, and she was trying to get an admission out of me. She had him wrapped around her little finger, and I wondered what he’d said to her.

  Then there was Aiden and the coin. I hadn’t heard from him, either.

  Aiden and Wilder—they couldn’t be more different if they tried.

  “She’s giving a lecture on the Codex,” Kayla was saying.

  “Why do we never get to see it?” a boy, whose name was either Brett or Brad, asked.

  “The Codex doesn’t leave the London Sanctum,” Trisha stated.

  “Ever?”

  “Only Greer is allowed to touch it,” Maisy declared matter-of-factly.

  “Have you seen it, Scarlett?” Trent asked. When I didn’t answer, he waved his hand in front of my face. “Earth to Scarlett.”

  I blinked and straightened up, my pen forgotten. “Huh?”

  “Look at her… She’s daydreaming about a boy,” Maisy teased.

  “I don’t think about boys,” I drawled. “I think about men. There’s a difference.”

  Kayla’s expression twisted and she threw a snide glare at Madeleine, who was bent over her Light Studies book on the other side of the classroom. It didn’t take a genius to know a smart-arse comment designed to humiliate was incoming.

  “Like Madeleine,” she declared, “she’s got a crush on Wilder. Poor thing. There’s no hope for her.”

  I glanced at Madeleine
, who’d shrunk behind her hair in an attempt to make herself smaller. I sneered at Kayla, my hackles rising. What a bitch.

  “So it’s okay for you to fawn all over him, but when someone else does, it’s pathetic?” I demanded. “Double standards don’t work in the real world, Kayla.”

  “Luckily, this isn’t the real world,” she fired back. “This is about having the goods, Scarlett.”

  “Goods?” I lowered my gaze. “Are we talking about boobs?”

  The other students began to snigger, which only served to enrage the beast before me.

  “Just because you’re older doesn’t automatically make you wiser,” she stated, her lip curling into an ugly sneer. “You grew up thinking you were a mental case.”

  I tensed. How did Kayla know that? She probably didn’t, which meant she was fishing for a reaction and some ammunition. It was all about making up for her own shortcomings, after all.

  I set down my pen and turned in my chair so I was looking at her right in the eyes. “I’d love to see you face off with a demon, Kayla… Because when you’re staring down the throat of a twisted and rotting corpse, none of this petty shite matters.”

  She blinked at me, lost for words.

  “And yes, I’ve seen the Codex.” I didn’t think I should tell them that I’d touched it, twice, so I flipped my hair over my shoulder and looked at Madeleine, who seemed awed I was talking back to the biggest bitch at the Academy. We were so alike, it hurt my heart—though when I was seventeen, I would’ve launched myself on Kayla and punched her in the face.

  I guess I’d mellowed a lot since then.

  Remembering my mission to infiltrate the Academy, I sighed. “What do you want to know about it?”

  “Does it really shimmer?” Maisy asked.

  “Yeah.”

  Kayla shot her friend a dirty look and she clamped her mouth shut, turning her head away. Guessed that meant I was still on the outer, then.

  Greer wanted to know what my report was? These kids had a lot to learn about common decency and they were all set to graduate this year. It wouldn’t be long before they were out on the streets, hunting demons and protecting the balance. If this was the best the Academy could produce, then they had a lot more to worry about than an alleged mutation. The balance was going to be toppled by a bunch of power-hungry mean girls.

  Still, I had to find a way to be friends with them, otherwise I might miss the clues that could lead me to another suspected victim of Human Convergence. Greer was right, but these kids needed a huge reality check.

  Glancing at Madeleine, I offered her a smile… but all she did was turn away.

  7

  Stratford-upon-Avon sat north of the Academy, nestled at the tip of the Cotswolds.

  More famously known as being the birthplace of William Shakespeare, the little Medieval market village was now full of all modern conveniences—like ‘big box’ stores Tesco and Asda. A mall stuffed full of fudge shops, Shakespeare-themed souvenirs, cafés, and tourist photo opportunities sat in the centre of town.

  I leaned against the outside of the Shakespeare Centre and watched the senior Light class wander the mall, looking for targets. Masters was eyeing off everyone like a hawk, making sure no one went off script. We were firmly in Natural territory, but that didn’t mean demons weren’t lurking amongst the unsuspecting public.

  I couldn’t believe the Academy sanctioned this. Practicing alteration—otherwise known as mind control—on unwilling humans was a little much for my tastes. Back when we first met, Wilder had been so nonchalant about it when he’d used it for his own gain, so I wasn’t surprised the Academy took this stance. Anything flew in wartime, I guess.

  After getting the lady in the café to give me a discount on my ham and cheese toasted sandwich, I was done. At least it wasn’t a trick we could use on one another because that was another can of worms I didn’t want to open.

  “Hey.”

  I looked up at Madeleine, who’d appeared next to me. She’d been into the Shakespeare Centre gift shop by the looks of it. A crisp copy of Twelfth Night was tucked under her arm.

  “Nice choice,” I said. “Was that your assignment?”

  “No. I made a lady to think she had toilet paper stuck to her shoe.”

  I raised an eyebrow and smirked.

  She looked me over. “What did you do?”

  “Got a discounted sandwich.”

  “Is that all?”

  “Why is everyone always on my case about the mind control thing?” I huffed.

  “Well you are…” She shrugged.

  “I’m not a superhero because I’m purple.”

  “Would it really be so bad if you were?”

  I snorted and turned my gaze back onto the mall. The usual cobblestones I was so used to in London were replaced with 1980s-inspired brickwork, but it didn’t take away from the Medieval charm of the village centre. Thatched roofs were a thing here, along with matching black and white architecture, and old English signage. If I wasn’t so concerned about possible demon possession—and mutation—I would’ve stopped off someplace for scones with jam and clotted cream.

  I supposed Madeleine wasn’t far off the mark. It wasn’t so bad being different when you were one step away from being ‘the chosen one’, but the pressure to be the person who swooped in and saved everyone wasn’t something I was used to.

  I could also see where she was coming from, considering the way the other students treated her. The one thing that was worse than being different was wishing you were special, only to find out you were the same as everyone else. That’s where Madeleine had it wrong—she was special just by being a Natural.

  “Hey, Scarlett…” she scraped her hair away from her face, “I—”

  A shout cut off whatever she was about to say, and I turned to find two grown men on the verge of brawling in the centre of the mall.

  They weren’t small guys—both were heavy and tall—and they had their hands fisted into each other’s shirts. A woman was pleading with them to stop and I assumed she was the wife of one of them.

  I saw Trent, Kayla, Maisy, and Trisha smirking behind the commotion. I pushed off the wall with a scowl, sensing Light all over the two humans. Intending to break it up before things got worse and we had a mall-wide brawl on our hands, I took a step forwards, but I didn’t have to bother because Masters was already on the case.

  “Hey!” He rushed up and shoved between the two men. It only took him a second to defuse the situation—I sensed his Light flare, and that was that. I could see why he was the teacher of the senior class, and a complete hard-arse.

  “Walk it off,” Masters ‘suggested’ to the larger man. The guy blinked and rejoined his distraught wife, who slapped his arm.

  I glanced at Trent, who’d turned white as a sheet. This was his handiwork, and he’d just realised he’d gone too far.

  Masters said something to the second man before sending him on his way. When he turned to the gaggle of students, his expression was pure anger. I’d never seen anything like it and underneath, I could feel his Light zapping and crackling like an overcharged Tesla coil.

  “What’s the meaning of this?” he demanded, throwing his hand into the air. A cone of silence fell over us, literally and metaphorically.

  No one said anything.

  “Anyone?” Masters demanded. “Trent?” He zeroed in on him, sensing his guilt.

  The poor kid looked like he was going to keel over. “I-I—”

  “Well?”

  “I ah, I didn’t… I…” He looked like he was going to puke all over the mall any second now.

  I glanced between them and sighed. I couldn’t believe I was going to do this… “Mr. Masters,” I said, holding up my hand, “it was me.”

  He turned and his glare came with him. “Miss Ravenwood?”

  “It wasn’t Trent,” I went on. “He’s just trying to be sweet, but I don’t want him to get into trouble on my account. I think I’m old enough to take the rap
for my actions.”

  He looked me over with an air of skepticism. “You did this?”

  “I got bored,” I replied with a shrug. “I wanted to try some real world applications.”

  “Real world applications?” he scoffed, his face turning red. “Using your Light to incite a brawl is not the way we conduct ourselves in public. We do not risk exposure because we are bored.” His voice rose with every syllable, and thankfully, we were under the umbrella of an illusion or we would be a spectacle. “You’re being written up, Ravenwood!” He gestured at the other students, who were staring at us with wide eyes. “On the bus in ten minutes! Got it?” Masters stormed down the mall and climbed inside the Academy minibus that was double-parked in the loading zone at the end. The windows promptly began to fog up from the steam hissing out of his ears.

  Trent turned to me, his gaze scraping the ground. “Scarlett… I—”

  “Don’t grovel,” I snapped. “It’s not becoming.”

  “That was pretty cool,” Kayla said, dropping her usual hoity-toity tone.

  “You’re going to get into so much trouble with the headmaster,” Maisy added.

  “What kind of trouble?” I asked.

  “She might get away with it,” Trisha stated. “She is Miss Arondight.”

  I glanced at Madeleine and she scowled at me before storming off. I knew she thought I’d just sold out, but I had a mission. Like that was an excuse.

  “There’s a party happening down by the stream for the Spring Equinox,” Kayla said. No one had even noticed Madeleine was even there, let alone extended an invite. “You should come.”

  “Yeah, Scarlett, come,” Trent said, wiggling his eyebrows.

  “By the stream?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” Kayla replied. “It’s behind the Academy, to the north.”

  “We’re having a bonfire, booze, and music,” Trent added. “Good times.”

  I’d just been handed the teenager version of a golden ticket. It was my way into the inner circle of cool kids, which meant my gamble had paid off.