Violet Blood

by Sophia Stafford

  “So, are you going to tell me what happened back there?”

  She lifted her shoulders in a lazy shrug. “It’s got to be Stephen; he hates Gemma. He’s violet, or whatever you call it. He was there last night.”

  “Doesn’t mean it was him. He’s not powerful enough to do that spell, not by a long shot.” Well, damn, she had made a very big mistake. Before she could tell him that, Thornton leant forward, and just like he did that morning, tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “You shouldn’t have gone after him, and you definitely shouldn’t have used magic on him.” His hand moved from her hair to cup her face, his thumb stroking the corner of her mouth. “I can’t lie; what you did back there was amazing. But how did you do it?”

  Jaycen had to fight to keep her eyes open. “I had no idea what was happening; I just did it.”

  If she could have taken a picture of his face right then and there she would have, and she would have kept it forever. He looked proud; his eyes were shining as a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “All I want to do is protect you, keep you safe. I have to keep reminding myself that you don’t need protecting.”

  They both stared at each other, the gravity of what he was saying settling over them both. She had expected him to pull back, realising what he had just said, and try to take it back. But he didn’t. Instead, he held her eyes, strong and steady.

  Oh my god. She wasn’t tired anymore.

  “But you think I’m a child. I didn’t think you liked me.”

  Now Thornton looked taken aback. “No, I’ve never not liked you.”

  Before she could even try and understand what he was saying, the office door flew open.

  “What the hell happened back there? How did you do that?” Benedict stormed into the room, his eyes fixed on Jaycen. Thornton stood and backed away, shoving his hands in his pockets.

  “I don’t know; it just happened.” Benedict shot her an odd look, a look that said he didn’t believe her. “I mean the magic just happened,” she clarified quickly. “I know I attacked him, but it was supposed to be a fistfight.” She didn’t know why but she really expected him to be happy with that. Unsurprisingly, he wasn’t.

  “That was powerful stuff, Jaycen. Do you even realise that? Do you understand the kind of questions it’s going to raise? Especially when Stephen’s family complains to the Cure because they will.” He ran his hand through his hair.

  “No, and you can tell Stephen and his family to get lost; he used magic on me first. I just, I don’t know, caught it.” What she said was one hundred percent true, but it just didn’t sound right.

  “The fact that he cast the first spell is your only saving grace here.”

  Now was the perfect time to tell him why she had chased Stephen down in the first place. “I think it was Stephen who attacked Gemma; he was at—” She tried to justify her action’s but Benedict cut her off with a simple upraised hand.

  “Yes, we gathered that you thought it was him.”

  Oh, well, turned out she didn’t have much explaining to do after all.

  “What I’m angry about is that you attacked a member of this school on a hunch.” His face was hard, his eyes angry. “Even if you had solid evidence, you bring it to me. You never take something like this into your own hands.”

  “Why? So you could question him, then let him go so he could run off and possibly kill someone else?” she shot back, refusing to take this lying down. Big mistake, because Benedict’s eyes caught fire as he responded.

  “It’s my job to protect every student here! Not just the ones you deem worthy of protecting. If you would have come to me, told me what you thought, I could have told you it was impossible for Stephen to be the attacker. But you didn’t. You made your choices and now I have to make mine.”

  She stared up at him, her mouth agape. “We had a fight; it’s hardly the end of the world.”

  “You used magic on him, Jaycen. A lot of magic. I understand that he used it on you first, but the fact still stands. He will be receiving the same punishment. We must take this seriously; this is not only against the school rules but also against the Cure’s laws, and there were plenty of witnesses. Stephen and his family will take this as far as they can. I will counter that you both used magic, but I can’t protect you from this, and I’m honestly not sure if I want to.” He walked around his desk, taking a seat behind it.

  It was a real blow, like he had hit her in the stomach. She tried to conceal how hurt she was. So, this was it? After one fight she was done? All she had been trying to do was protect her friend, why didn’t he see that? Why wasn’t he thinking about Gemma who was still unconscious in the hospital?

  “Benedict, she made a mistake. Just give her detention or something. Tell the Cure that it has been dealt with internally,” Thornton suggested, standing tall and putting his hands behind his back.

  Benedict looked at him hard for a long minute. “I understand, probably unlike most, what kind of pressure you are under from your family. I get it, which is why I agreed with your father to let you shadow me for the year. I also believe in you, I really do. But right now, you’re letting your feelings cloud your judgment, and you know it.”

  Thornton clamped his mouth shut.

  “Are we sure it couldn’t be Stephen?” Jaycen asked quickly, her eyes still on Thornton, and her mind still on the feelings comment. Feelings? Feelings for who? Her? God, she hoped so.

  “I know Stephen’s magical capability. Trust me, it’s not him.” Benedict’s words were final, his jaw still tense. “Look at me and tell me honestly, have you ever done anything like that before? Have you ever used that kind of magic, that kind of power before?”

  She frowned, he knew what kind of magic she was capable of. He’s put her in the lower class because of it! “No, I mean, I used magic on you once,” she reminded him, that being her personal magical highlight. Well, that and moving the book.

  “This is powerful magic, Jaycen,” he informed her.

  “Yeah, I’m getting that.”

  “It’s magic that you shouldn’t be able to do.”

  Her eyes widened at the new information.

  “I don’t want to do this, but I know they’ll ask for it. If we don’t do it willingly they will force you.”

  Jaycen’s back straightened at the word force. No one was going to force her to do anything. Well, unless they were huge, like muscle huge, because then let’s face it, what could she really do to stop them?

  “Force me to do what?”

  Now it was Thornton who spoke, pushing himself off the wall and falling into the chair next to her. “The Cure. They’ll want to know your magical lineage. They’ll want you to do a blood drop, so they can assess how powerful you are.”

  That didn’t sound too bad.

  “I’m down for that,” she shared, maybe a little too happily for the situation.

  “I’ll call a few people. There isn’t a blood drop on the campus, so we’ll get one brought over, immediately. Hopefully before Stephen’s family get wind of the situation.”

  “Great.” She clapped her hands, really wanting to leave the room before Benedict could say anything more. Because she knew what was coming, she’d been in this situation plenty of times before. “I’ll stay away from Stephen. He can stay away from me. I think we’re done, right?”

  “No, no, we’re not. This isn’t a joke, Jaycen. What’s done is done. I don’t want to do this, Jaycen, I really don’t, but I have no choice. You’re suspended from the Cure Academy until future notice. Both you and Stephen. I’m sorry.”

  Chapter 22

  The school had been on lockdown for three days now. No one in, and no one out. Which meant that because Jaycen wasn’t allowed to attend any classes, she was confined to her dorm. Which also meant she had a lot of time to study, and a lot of time to think. What she was thinking about was how much of a mistake she had made.

  Her phone buzzed on the bed with a text from her mother.

  Hey
baby, hope everything is okay? Have a small surprise, I’ve moved again! This time to Colorado. This place is so beautiful, can’t wait for you to see it.

  Her mother had no idea how soon that might be. She shot her a quick text back, not thrilled about telling her mother about the suspension, so she decided not to. What she didn’t know couldn’t hurt her was Jaycen’s theory right now.

  Can’t wait to see you. So much to talk about. Love you. Sweet and to the point. Two weeks, was that all it had been since she had last seen her mother? It felt longer. A lot longer. But damn, it had only been two weeks and she’d gotten herself kicked out of school. Surely, that was a new record?

  A knock sounded at her door. She didn’t have to guess who it was, she knew: Thornton. He’d been visiting her every day, walking her to see Gemma—who still hadn’t woken up—taking her to get some lunch, and then bringing her back to her dorm. It was nice. But at the same time, it also reminded her of prison.

  “Come in.”

  Thornton opened the door, taking off his baseball cap, and running a hand through his dark hair that was still wet a little at the sides. “You ready to go?”

  She nodded, already reaching for her jacket. The temperature had really dropped in New York State over the past few days. But after spending a year in England, Jaycen was ready for it.

  “The blood drop got delivered yesterday, are you ready for it?” he asked, twisting the gold ring on his pinky finger and watching her. He sure wasn’t wasting time today.

  “Yeah, I guess so.” She hadn’t seen Benedict since he suspended her, and Thornton only knew so much about the blood drop. What he did know was that there were only a few left in existence, the whole concept having become outdated. But luckily, the Cure still had one, and now it was there, just for her. Great. They walked out of her dorm, Thornton pulling his hat back on as they headed to the gym.

  “They won’t need much blood. Just a drop.”

  She nodded slowly, the gym now in sight. She wasn’t sure if he had wanted to, or if Thornton was just throwing her a bone, but he had agreed to train with her that afternoon. But only if it had been okay with Benedict, who at first had said no. So, she had asked him the second time, which he also said no to. This time she told Thornton he’d said yes. She figured why not just stretch the truth? She was already in trouble, what was another disciplinary action?

  Luckily for her, Thornton and Benedict hadn’t spoken about it, because if they had her jig would be up.

  “Can I meet you in the gym? I’m just going to nip in and see Gemma for a minute.”

  Thornton lifted his head. “Alright, but don’t be too long.”

  Jaycen turned towards the nurse’s office, her step quickening. Since the attack, she’d seen Gemma every day. Whether it was for a few hours or for ten minutes, she just liked going to see her. However, she wasn’t the only person who wanted to see Gemma, and the school rules were that a patient was only allowed one visitor at a time. So, she and Luke took turns. Today was his day.

  She ran into the building, taking the steps two at a time until she was at Gemma’s room.

  As she imagined, Luke was by her bed, a book in one hand and Gemma’s hand in the other. It was cute.

  “So, what you are reading her today?” Jaycen asked, closing the door behind her but not bothering to take a seat.

  “Oh, hey, just a lexicon of stuff. Nothing interesting really.”

  She had no idea what that meant, but no way was she going to say that. “That’s cool.” She reached over, pulling Gemma’s quilt higher. Doctors had been coming and going, none of them able to tell us what had happened. All they knew was that it was magically induced—how they knew that she had no idea. One doctor had described it as a magical shield around her brain, keeping her locked in. Maybe, it would drop eventually, but again they didn’t know. It sounded like a prison to Jaycen, Gemma was locked in a prison. Benedict had said he’d called an old friend, someone able to do a spell that could possibly break into Gemma’s mind. But again, no one had any idea if it would work or not.

  The school had called her parents, who according to Thornton worked in the non-magical world and couldn’t get any time off work. They’d be arriving at the weekend.

  “I think she can hear me,” Luke said, closing his book and putting it in his bag. “I went to her room the other day and picked up a few of the books she wanted to read. I’m going to start on them tomorrow. She’d like that.”

  She’d love that. Jaycen smiled. “That’s cute.”

  “Yeah, I guess so. We’d only been dating for a week, so I don’t know her favourite book yet. She might hate all the books that I picked.”

  “She was reading The Great Gatsby the last time I saw, you should read her that,” Jaycen offered, realising that she had no idea what Gemma’s favourite book was either. She made a mental note to ask her when she woke up. She got that they’d only known each other a couple of weeks, but they were friends. Gemma was Jaycen’s best friend, and she was going to make sure she knew that.

  “I should probably get going, Thorn’s waiting for me in the gym. I just wanted to come and check on her.” She was just at the door when Luke asked.

  “Are you and Thornton close? How did you meet?” His question threw her for a second. He’d seen them hanging out over the past few days, but now she thought about it, he never spoke to Thornton, not directly anyway, only to her.

  “I’m not sure I’d say we’re close.” Not as close as she wanted them to be anyway. “But we’re friends. I met him here, just like I met Gemma.”

  He just looked at her, his face completely blank. “People are talking about the two of you all over campus. Sorry, but they are not saying very nice things.”

  Gossip, it wasn’t anything new to her. In fact, her entire school life had been marred with nasty gossip made up by people that she didn’t know and didn’t really care about.

  “Thanks for letting me know.”

  “They say you’re using him. People like him normally use girls like you all the time, for, well, you can imagine what for. A lot of guys use lower born girls as their play things. But last year he dated this one girl in the year above us. She was nobody, then one look from Thornton … and everyone wanted to be her friend.”

  “I’m not sure I want to hear this,” she shot back, really not wanting to hear it. Of course, Thornton had had girlfriends before, wasn’t that natural? Did she want to hear about the details of those relationships? Not really, no.

  “Sorry, I don’t want to make you upset. I just thought you should know, that’s all.”

  “No, no, it’s cool. We’re not dating, so I’ve got nothing to worry about.” She pointed back at the now open door. “I should really get going though, don’t want to keep him waiting.”

  “Yeah, okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Luke was already pulling his book from his bag. Just then a figure appeared in the doorway.

  “Thought I heard your voice. They haven’t kicked you off the campus yet? Shame. They will when my father comes.”

  Jaycen smirked, turning to look at Stephen in the eye. Trying to hide her smile as she did. This was the first time she had seen him since the fight and he was still very badly bruised, plus his nose was still busted. He looked a hell of a lot worse than she had when Drake had kicked her ass.

  “Oh, you’ve called your daddy? That’s sweet.” She should have stayed quiet, she should have just left the room. But of course, she didn’t. Instead, she crossed her arms, her feet planted steadily on the floor. She wasn’t going anywhere.

  “Yeah, actually, I did call him. I called my father, and he called the Cure. Give him a day or so and you won’t be allowed anywhere near magic again. Trust me on this.” He seemed to be convincing himself of this more than her.

  Luke laughed from behind her. “Not from what I hear, there’s a rumour going around that a blood drop was delivered today from the Cure, apparently they want to check Jaycen. I don’t think your dad is sending her an
ywhere.”

  Jaycen looked at Luke over her shoulder. Seemed the boy liked to gossip, and it turned out gossip was right for once.

  “Bullshit,” Stephen spat, glaring daggers at him.

  “Well, my friend Tory saw two guys deliver it today, she said they put it in the weapons vault to keep it safe. Why would she lie?”

  Stephen just stood there, his mouth set in a thin angry line before he turned and stormed off.

  “Check you out, gossiping like an old woman,” Jaycen teased.

  Luke shrugged. “Nah, I just listen. Sometimes what people say is interesting. But you have to promise me one thing.” Jaycen waited for him to continue. “There’s kind of a pool going on, you know, people taking bets on how violet you’re going to be. There’s a colour chart involved and everything. I picked a mid to dark colour, a shade darker than Stephen’s. Even if it’s not, can you tell everyone it is, and I’ll split the money?”

  “Who said the whole blood drop thing was real?” she shot back, her smile giving her away.

  Luke held up his hands playfully. “Just saying, the pot’s at something like $250.”

  “I’ll think about it,” she called, walking out of the room and heading for the gym. She had taken a lot longer than she had anticipated. After stopping to pick up a bottle of water Jaycen turned into the training room of the gym. Thornton sat in the middle of the room, his back to her, and a phone to his ear.

  “Yeah, I get it, Dad, just don’t worry about it. You’re going to be put forward next week, by then this whole mess will have all blown over. Nothing will come back on you or the family, I’ll make sure of it.”

  God, she wanted to know what he was talking about, but instead of focusing on his conversation she took off her jacket and shoes. Thornton must have heard her because he turned to look at her, dipping his head, and tried finishing his conversation quickly.

  “Yeah, I’ve got to go Dad, I’m sorry. Yeah, I swear it’s not that serious. There’s honestly nothing to end. Okay? Okay bye.” He clicked his phone off and threw it to the side, where luckily it landed on his discarded clothing.