by Lily Luchesi
“He bound Yorick and Angelica Cross heard the commotion and came in. She arrested Yorick and sent him to London to be executed,” Caelum said, eyes bright. “I can’t believe old Yorick killed people. He seemed too dull to even bother lifting a finger, let alone casting a fatal curse.”
Michael scoffed. “Maybe he didn’t. Maybe Sinclair planted the list.”
Daphne shook her head. “He is not a killer,” she insisted.
Draven nodded. “I agree. Sinclair is someone we’d expect to be a murderer. It is much more likely to be people who fly under the radar. At least, that’s what my dad taught me. And he works closely with Director Quinn and Miss Cross.”
Caelum shrugged. “Maybe. Hey, why didn’t your dad come and help out?”
“Miss Cross wanted to bring only magicians with her,” Draven said. Immediately, he wanted to kick himself. No one knew he was a vampire, and he had nearly outed himself.
“I didn’t know you were half human,” Michael said. “You know I was born to two humans. Was it weird for your dad, or no ’cos he’s part of the PID?”
Draven sighed, glad for an easy out that didn’t really require lying. “He knew Mum was a witch right away. Because yeah, he works for the PID.”
Caelum nodded. “Cool. I hear some people don’t take having magical children all that well.”
It was then Mrs. Fraser butt in. “That is true. When their children begin exhibiting magical abilities, many humans try to ‘cure’ them with exorcisms, religious therapy, and other horrible things. Or, if they allow them to come to the Coven, they excommunicate them from the family. The children become, essentially, orphans.”
Daphne gasped. “That is horrible!”
“And then the Coven doesn’t necessarily always treat people right, either,” Caelum commented. “Some people avoid me because I’m a Lynx.” He turned and smiled at Draven. “Except for you. You never did.”
Draven reached over and put his hand on Caelum’s. What if I told you that you were dating someone who was bred to hate shifters? What if you knew that my family would treat you just as horribly as Clan Fraser treats the Munros?
Vampires and shifters had a long standing rivalry. Something in their blood called out to them to hate each other. But Draven had never felt that toward Caelum. In fact, from the moment they had met, he’d liked him and wanted to get to know him. It was unheard of, and he knew if his father found out, he would be in trouble. Not for being gay, but for wanting to be with a Lynx of all people.
“So, the killings are over, yeah?” Daphne said. “No more looking over our shoulders, no more Darkness in the Coven?”
Mrs. Fraser sighed. “One can only hope, my dear.”
They left for school then, Draven and Caelum still holding hands as they walked. Draven was amazed that no one questioned their relationship. It had been Caelum who had outed them, of course, by kissing Draven right at the dinner table a week after they had gotten back from the Winter Solstice holiday.
And no one had even been surprised. It seemed that neither boy had been discreet when it came to how they felt about each other, though both of them had been oblivious to how the other felt until the night of the Winter Solstice ball.
Now it was so natural, like it had always been meant to be. But Draven knew better. He was part vampire, Caelum was part shifter. Draven could never bite and Claim Caelum because shifter blood was poisonous to vampires. And while shifters could drink vampire blood, Caelum could never mate Draven, because vampires couldn’t turn into shifters. Making the attempt would kill Draven instantly.
He wasn’t sure what was going to happen after school ended completely that summer. Eventually, if he and Caelum continued to date, they would need to talk. He would need to come clean. And in doing so, there was a chance that he might lose Caelum due to his species.
It was a possibility Draven was ill equipped to handle.
In the school, everyone was surprised that there was going to be a Creatures class again that day. They had figured that it would take at least a week to get a replacement who could give them a proper lesson.
They all filed in the classroom and took their seats. And none of them were more surprised than Draven when he saw the vamplet enter the class.
She slammed the door callously behind her, pale skin nearly glowing in the candlelight that illuminated every room in the castle. He glanced around him and saw that everyone there was watching her with a mixture of confusion and wariness. Except for Salem, who actually looked sort of … pleased.
“Hello, everyone,” she said, her American accent heavy. “I am sure that you heard about the unfortunate removal of your former Elder yesterday afternoon. Until King Edelstone can find a suitable replacement of whom I approve to teach you, I volunteered to remain here and … teach.” To Draven, she sounded a little in disbelief herself to be teaching teenagers. “Creatures and Monsters 101 is a PID approved class. One of our agents looks over and approves every piece of information and every test you are given, which makes me the most qualified person for the job at the moment.”
Her dark eyes flashed red as she looked at the teenagers, as if challenging them to say a word about the fact that she wasn’t a magician. Everyone was silent, scared into submission from one look.
She went behind the teacher’s desk and glanced down at the papers. “It says here your class recently completed your lessons on werewolves and why they are classified differently than other shifter breeds. Was there anyone here who did not understand the lesson and is not ready to move on with your next lesson on Nocturnal Creatures?”
No one said a word.
“All right then, it appears we are going to be studying vampires.” She smirked. “Edelstone thinks he’s funny. All right, anyone want to offer up a vampiric fact?” She crossed her arms and waited.
Immediately, Caelum’s hand shot up. “They can’t go out in daylight.”
“Mostly true, but you did not wait for me to call on you, Lynx,” Cross scolded. “Most vampires will die if they are exposed to sunlight. Many fall into a deep slumber inside their coffins, naturally awakening once the sun has set, in order to allow their Undead cells to recharge and regenerate. Rest during the sunlight is almost as crucial to a vampire’s immortality as human blood is.
“Anyone else?”
Salem’s hand shot up, which surprised Draven. He rarely asked questions or offered opinions in class, unless it was Brewing.
“Sinclair.”
“What about vamplets, half vampires?” he asked. “Like you. Can they not be disguised as normal people, masquerading amongst us?”
Draven’s stomach dropped at Salem’s words. So far, he had not revealed his secret, but if he succeeded in getting Angelica to talk about vamplets, he could be exposed. And Salem knew that, the bastard that he was. It took all of Draven’s strength and restraint to not hex him across the classroom.
Angelica nodded. “You will be learning about vamplets this lesson, yes. While there are thousands of full blooded vampires in the world, it is believed that there are less than a hundred vamplets. And that is a generous estimate. However, I do not approve of your phrasing, ‘masquerading’. As you can see, I am as normal as you or anyone else. Only I require human blood to survive.”
“But you’re part human,” Caelum said, aghast. “That’s vile.”
Draven’s stomach was getting no relief as this conversation went on. I’m not vile, he thought, certain that his heart was going to be broken before Angelica Cross left the Coven. I’m just trying to survive.
Cross glared at Caelum, eyes flashing red again. “Once again, do not speak unless called upon, Lynx. As a part of the paranormal community, you should know that we have a zero tolerance policy for xenophobia amongst each other.
“Vamplets are curious creatures, and I say that from first-hand knowledge,” she continued. “We live in two worlds, human and Undead. Walking a fine line we never asked to have to navigate. Some call it a boon. I, myself, am not
so sure.
“Imagine waking up with a hunger deep inside your soul as much as your body, and imagine hating that hunger. Imagine feeling like that hunger was an evil part of you, wishing it was a tumour you could simply remove and be normal. That is what it is like, living as a vamplet. None of us want to drink human blood. In fact, I have been known to collapse from hunger from denying myself blood for too long, in an effort to forget that I need it.”
Draven looked at her with surprise. That was exactly how he felt and what he did quite often.
Daphne gasped. “But why would they deliberately harm themselves by not drinking blood if they need it?”
“Raise your hand next time, Fraser. And we do so because we dislike having to drink human blood when we are part human. Our self-disgust runs deeper than our sense of self preservation,” Cross explained.
“So you don’t like drinking blood?” Caelum asked.
“Speak out of turn once more, Lynx, and I will kick you out of class. But no, vamplets despise drinking blood. We are not immoral creatures as human fiction suggests. We have consciences, vamplets more so than full vamps, but still…” She shrugged. “Calling a vamplet evil or vile or any other derogatory word will do nothing but emotionally harm the person you speak of in such a manner.” She glanced around the room. “I hope you’re all preparing to take notes?”
There was a frantic scramble for paper and pencils, and Draven inwardly sighed. A moment of distraction was all it took for the whole class to go back to why vampires couldn’t go out in the sunlight.
Everyone left the class buzzing about Angelica Cross. She had been a good teacher, and had mostly intimidated everyone, even Caelum.
“Can you imagine, though? With what Cross said, anyone could be a vamplet,” Caelum said as he, Draven, Michael, and Daphne walked down the hall. “It’s kinda creepy if you ask me.”
Draven wanted to suddenly gain the ability to turn invisible.
“Next week Cross is going to tell us the tell-tale signs of a vamplet,” Daphne spoke up. “So we could recognise one if we tried.”
If the blood in his veins wasn’t already cold, Draven was sure it would have frozen at her words. Once they figured out he had been lying to them the whole time, they would ostracise him, cast him out. Possibly curse him.
“What would you do if you found out your friend was a vampire?” Salem Sinclair drawled, coming up behind them. He had a nasty little gleam in his black eyes that Draven didn’t like.
Instead of being annoyed, Caelum turned to Michael and said, “If it’s you, mate, don’t bite me. I’m a taken man.”
Michael burst into laughter, and Daphne joined in.
“Laugh now. Anything is possible,” he said ominously as he turned and walked away.
I ought to bite him, Draven thought. How dare he! Clan Munro psycho.
“Mr. Silver.” Draven stopped walking as he heard his name being called. Caelum stopped with him, since they were holding hands. Angelica Cross was standing in the hallway. “May I speak with you? Privately? Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble.”
Caelum let his hand go reluctantly and whispered, “If she kills you, I promise to don mourning robes the rest of my life.”
Draven chuckled nervously. He wasn’t worried about her killing or hurting him, despite the whispers going around that she had killed more men than Vlad The Impaler and Attila The Hun combined. He was mostly curious.
He followed her into the empty classroom and closed the door behind him. “Miss Cross? Did I do something wrong?”
“Yes,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. Draven watched her and imagined that, were he straight, he’d have a crush on her. “You’re lying to your friends, to the boy you love.”
“So you know, then? What I am?” Draven said, eyes downcast.
She nodded. “It’s obvious to me, who was trained to look for signs of the paranormal everywhere. And come next week, it will be obvious to them, too. I cannot stop the lesson, and I don’t believe you want to be exposed like that, so publicly.”
Draven shook his head, still unable to meet her eyes.
“Why haven’t you told them?” she wondered.
“Didn’t you hear them? Especially Caelum? What would they think of me, knowing I could hurt them if I wanted to?” Draven asked, his eyes welling up with blood tinged tears.
“I think they would love you regardless,” she said. “But you will have to explain why it is you have lied for seven years. Which I doubt will be difficult for them to understand.”
“But Caelum … he’s a shifter. We’re not meant to be together,” he said. “Even if he accepts me … we have no future together, do we?”
She looked away from him for a moment, and he thought he saw regret flash across her eyes. “Maybe. Maybe not. Things are different now. You might be able to find a way, if you love each other enough.”
“Our species won’t make it impossible?” Draven asked.
Cross gave him a small, sad smile. “No, Mr. Silver. He is half shifter. You are half vampire. But you are both half human. And it is our humanity that makes us who we are.”
Chapter 18
Salem was in the Common Room with Robert, working on their homework. However, only half his mind was on the top three uses of crushed snail shells in potions. The other half was on Angelica Cross, and the fact that she had nearly revealed that Draven was a vamplet to the whole class.
Not that he had helped. His cryptic comments had been heard, and he had seen the sheer panic in Draven’s eyes. Salem knew that panic. He knew how it felt right before your world came crashing down around you. Caelum and Michael had often been the ones to reveal that feeling to him. It gave him a perverse sort of pleasure to do it to their acolyte.
Revenge had been on his mind ever since their first meeting, when Caelum and Michael had belittled him. He had only been ten, and had never once done anything to either of them. Yet they had been determined to hate him, and it had only gotten worse over the years.
His magic approved, bubbling under the surface of his skin, ready to lash out at the slightest provocation. Once he had tried to tame that side of him, the Munro side. The side that terrified him. But now he wanted to embrace it, embrace his Darkness. The Light had forsaken him, so what was the difference? There was no Daphne to try to be good for. Not even his mother was around anymore. So what was the difference?
As he was musing, he heard his name being called. He looked up to see Angelica Cross standing in the threshold. Her arms were crossed, and her eyes flashed red just once before going back to their near black depths.
“Come with me. Now,” she said, her tone brooking no argument.
After seeing what she was capable of, even just a little, when she arrested their former Elder, Salem wasn’t about to deny her or make her wait.
“See you tomorrow,” he told Robert hastily as he got up to follow the vamplet. She walked ahead of him down the hall to where some Elders had their offices. Where he had visited her once before.
This time, she did not invite him to sit, nor did she. Instead she leant against the desk’s edge and began twirling a fountain pen between nimble fingers. Salem imagined she would twirl a blade the exact same way before slicing someone’s throat.
“Can I help you, Miss Cross?” he asked, trying to sound bored and indignant. Which he usually didn’t have to try hard to do. Around her, however, he found that he sounded more nervous than he did bored.
“The person you can help, Sinclair, is yourself,” she replied. “What was that stunt you pulled in the hallway after class?”
For a second, Salem wondered if he should play dumb, pretend he had no idea what she was talking about.
How did she overhear us? She was still in her classroom when we walked out, he thought. Is her hearing that strong? Better err on the side of caution from now on.
“Well?” she asked. “Black cat got your tongue?”
Salem bristled at her tone. “You know, I did hel
p you catch a serial killer. You might want to be nicer to me.”
For a split second, rage crossed her face and Salem wanted to vanish. But it was replaced, buried deep inside of her. Amusement took its place as she stepped toward him. If his knees shook, no one but he would ever know.
“The only reason I haven’t stabbed you is because I understand you, Salem Sinclair. I understand that you have a lot of anger and hostility and pain inside of you, with nowhere to let it out. But rest assured, my understanding and compassion only stretches so far,” she said. “Now, about your nearly outing Draven Silver as a vamplet. What have you to say for yourself?”
Salem crossed his arms, mimicking her earlier stance. “I say that I have spent seven years being bullied by Silver and his friends. If I want a little payback, I believe that it is my right.”
Angelica scoffed. “Your right? Really? It is your right to treat others how they have treated you? To make Silver feel even worse than he ever made you feel?”
Salem was silent.
Angelica continued, “Smith and Lynx did horrible things to you, and to others. I have little sympathy for Lynx, and absolutely none for Smith. However, Draven Silver fell in with them for one reason in the beginning: to be protected. He could not, and still cannot, stand up for himself or others while his secret is in danger. Vying to harm Silver is as bad as vying to harm yourself in this instance.”
Salem dropped his affronted stance at her words. It had never occurred to him that Draven was trapped in his friendship. That he was just as at risk for ostracization as Salem was.
“That got through to you, didn’t it?” she asked, smirking. “Salem, may I speak plainly to you?”
He nodded, too ashamed to speak.
“What has happened to you is wrong, inexcusable, and vile. The torment of you that I found when reading Smith’s and Lynx’s disciplinary files made my head spin. It wasn’t warranted whatsoever, and the fact that no one stopped it boils my blood.
“You didn’t deserve it, Salem. Not because you’re Clan Munro, not because your mother is an apprentice. Do you hear me? You didn’t deserve any of it.”
