Im sure thats what theyre hoping for, said Sip softly.
Yeah, well, I continued, Ill introduce them to my talent with lightning.
Sip looked concerned, but she didnt argue. Instead she asked again, Will you sign it?
I sighed and took the pen she was holding out. Who else are you going to have sign it?
Rake, Lanca, Vital, she said, ticking names off on her fingers. Lisabelle and Lough. I need a pixie, and its probably going to be Cale. I hear hes doing really well in his role as an officer.
What are you going to tell those who ask about the objects on the Wheel? I asked. I had a very bad feeing that we were soon going to have to tell the paranormals, or rather Caid was, that the Nocturns had them all.
Sip shrugged. Im hoping it will just be motivation to get them back.
Do you really think thats likely? I asked.
Sip shook her head. No, I think Caid is making a ma.s.sive mistake and I cant believe hes still in office. Im sorry, I know Dacer and he are friends, but Caid can be a good friend without being a good president, and I do believe thats the true situation were stuck with at the moment.
Do you think Dacer would ever be president? Lough asked, just joining us. Dacer made Lough very uncomfortable. It wasnt his flamboyant clothes or his makeup, it had more to do with the direct way he had of looking at you. Why that made Lough so nervous I had never been sure.
I doubt it, I said chuckling. Dacer wouldnt like the idea that he had to conform to any other paranormals idea of behavior. Or appearance.
Lough looked relieved. What about Zervos? he asked.
He still wants to run Public, said Sip, but I doubt that will ever happen either. I dont think they want vampires running anything other than the vampire courts.
Too much darkness, I agreed, twisting my ring around and around on my finger.
Lough ran his fingers through his hair. Hurry up and sign that thing, Charlotte, so I can as well.
I wasnt sure if what Sip was doing was a good idea, but I knew I trusted my friend and I agreed with Lisabelle about loyalty. I pulled the cap off the pen and scribbled my name at the bottom of the const.i.tution of the Sign of Six.
Chapter Thirty-Five.
We were again at breakfast. Outside it was bitingly cold. The dreary weather and the avalanche of coursework had everyone in a bad mood, and the students were subdued. At the high table, filled with Public professors, Oliva, and Caid, there was a hard new face.
General Goffer didnt look anything like President Caid. He had the same black hair and eyes, but his head was shaved and he was tall and broad shouldered. He was dressed much like Cale had been when Id seen him that summer, mostly in black, but the colorful red, silver, blue, white, and green stripes down the sides of his sleeves were much wider than Cales had been. Sip said the width denoted his very high rank in the Academy.
Hes big enough for two men, said Lough in awe.
Hes famed for his strategy, Sip whispered. And his cruelty to his enemies.
Comforting, I muttered. So comforting.
He doesnt have the same easy presence as Caid, I said.
Well, no, he got to where he is by stomping on people, not chatting them up, said Lough grimly.
Goffer strode into the dining hall, never looking left or right. There was a trail of Paranormal Police Academy guards behind him, and I was stunned to see that Cale was one of them; I thought Cale was with Ricky, and I would have expected him to tell me if he had been taken off my brothers detail. Apparently my a.s.sumptions had been mistaken.
Goffer had come for the next Tactical. None of us were sure why, but I didnt care. I just wanted to get through it and finish, so I could get my homework done and go to sleep. I wanted to dream again.
We were nearing the end of the semester, and there was less homework and more studying for finals. There was also one more weekend visit that Dacer had wanted me to make, but that seemed to be on hold for now. When we had told him about Winewin, he had paled and disappeared. Much later he had come to Astra and told me not to leave campus under any circ.u.mstances. He was so upset that I had promised, but now I was regretting it.
Also, what if Lisabelle was spotted? Sip and I had made a secret pact to go and find her if anyone left word.
In the meantime, we had a Tactical to live through.
I walked outside with the rest of the students. The air was crisp and cool. Leaves swirled around my legs as I stuck my face upward. The clouds were dense and gray, threatening rain. It had yet to snow, but winter was fast approaching.
Now, remember the plan, said Sip to Lough and me. Here"s what we do, we double-switch back and come at them from the flank and rear, we full guard on the right to protect Charlotte and our weaker right side, we use effervescent spells and incandescent charms to slow them down, hopefully trip them up. Sip was pounding her fist into her hand for emphasis. Everyone in the circle around her was staring. She raised her eyebrows and nodded enthusiastically.
What she"s trying to say in the most convoluted way possible is that we have to charge, and we have to help each other out, said Lough dryly.
Thats what I said, said Sip.
This isnt what I thought war would be like, said Lough, looking around at all the other grim-faced paranormals.
What do you mean? Sip asked.
Its taking forever, said Lough grumpily. I thought wed have some battles, kill some demons, and thatd be that. But we came back from Golden Falls, did nothing, spent the summer doing more nothing, and now this semester were doing what? He raised his eyebrows at us, but when neither of us spoke he said, Doing nothing.
We havent been doing nothing all semester, Sip pointed out, a little insulted.
Yeah, I guess, admitted Lough. You and Charlotte have been enacting the Power of Five, helping paranormals. Sip, you run the Sign of Six. I want to help paranormals too.
You help, said Sip. You tutor and you act as lookout.
Cowards work, said Lough darkly. I want to dream something grand and magnificent, something that makes a difference.
We all want to make a difference, I said. Maybe the best thing to do is stop trying and itll happen when we least expect it.
If we stop trying theyre going to put you in a gla.s.s case in Astra and leave you there, said Lough. The war will be over and we will have lost by the time they let you out.
To my surprise, Zervos interrupted at this point and pulled me aside. Sip and Lough gave me questioning looks, but I shook my head. I dont want to talk to you, I told him warningly, feeling bold.
Ah, yes, he sneered. The little elemental thinks she should get what she wants all the time.
I glared at him, but he kept going. His nostrils flared as he spoke. That box you carried everywhere with you last semester? His voice was low and intense, his black eyes never leaving my face.
I felt cold. Id tried to avoid letting Zervos see me with my moms wooden box, the one shed used for all those years and that my stepdad had kept for me, the one that when I dreamed had a thistle design that I couldnt see in real life.
That box of your mothers, Zervos repeated when I didnt say anything.
What about it? I could barely speak.
The Key of Light will open it, said Zervos, a smile starting to break out on his face. He knew he was creating a dilemma for me, but before I could say anything he faded back into the crowd, leaving me with a lot to consider.
Dacer had already told me he wanted me to find the Key, but Zervos had just told me why. What I couldnt figure out was why Zervos would do that.
But I didnt have time right now to contemplate what Zervos was playing at, so I hurried over to my team. They stood in a huddle, giving no acknowledgement that I was there.
Now, said Daisy, her ugly red skin looking dry and cracked. We all know what we need to do. Camilla and I are going to search for the Key. We have a pretty good idea where it is. When we find it we present it to Oliva and Caid.
Jackle, Hutch, try not to get caught. Charlotte, feel free to let Faci catch you. She smiled. Hes going to anyway.
I thought back to the night I stayed out too late and he cornered me. I thought back to Lancas story about Facis sister. The vampire terrified me, more than Malle and maybe even more than Daisy and Camilla. I had nothing to say to Daisy.
Meanwhile, over the heads of the crowd I saw Dobrov, but he never looked my way. Taking a slower look at the gathering, I saw that many of the students were wearing battle gear, which wasnt something I had seen before. We werent supposed to hurt each other, we were just supposed to fight. But now I saw swords and knives, and a couple of the bigger paranormals even held clubs. What was happening to us? There was no will toward unity left.
Ever since wed come back from Golden Falls it had been like this. If Sip could be taken and Lisabelle could disappear, many of the paranormals wondered what was the point of sticking together. It was better to just be out for yourself.
I pointed to a werewolf who was holding a club. If that comes anywhere near my head, I said, Ill knock you all the way to Vampire Locke. Got it?
The werewolf was so surprised he just stared at me.
Nice one, said Trafton, and his eyes glinted. I like it.
I grinned at him. He and Lough were standing together. As the biggest targets in Tactical after the only elemental, they had hatched a plan to keep themselves from being taken. I hoped it would work.
I wont waste time, Oliva called out. He was flanked by President Caid, General Goffer, and Professor Erikson, but I didnt see Dacer as I frantically searched the crowd for my mentor.
Hes over there, said Sip, reading my mind and earning a ferocious glare from Camilla.
Dont look at me in that tone of voice, Camilla, Sip ordered.
Camilla frowned, and Trafton laughed.
I glanced at Sip. Out of the corner of my mouth I whispered, Theres something I have to do. Dont worry about me. I saw the worry spark instantly in her eyes, but she knew she couldnt argue. There was no time.
Meanwhile, I followed my friends pointing finger to where Dacer was standing with his mother, d.u.c.h.ess Leonie. They were speaking quietly, but I thought I saw Dacer raise an eyebrow in my direction.
Begin, Olivas voice boomed over the gray field. I felt my stomach clench and I glanced at the sky. The clouds were so thick and close now, they looked almost black. Taking a deep breath, I glanced at Sip and Lough, gave them one final nod, and ran. I didnt even have the chance to tell them what Zervos had said. It was something I had to do on my own, but at least because of what Dacer had told me, I had a good idea of where to begin.
In the confusion of starting the game I ducked down behind a couple of shrubs and waited. When no one attacked me, I slowly made my way from shrubs to trees to buildings, always keeping an eye on my back. I lost track of my friends in an instant, but it didnt matter. I knew Sip was going to help keep Lough safe. I had told them not to bother with me, it would only earn them our fellow students disdain if they concentrated on me instead of on their own task. My heart was thudding so loudly in my chest that I felt sure it would give away my position. In this Tactical the teams were out for blood.
I hurried to the lake where Id seen my mother during my first semester at Public, and where Id gone from time to time in hopes of seeing her again. The brown house that Malle had used as her headquarters when she was President of Paranormal Public stood empty. Oliva could have used it has his office, but hed decided against it. No other professor wanted to go near it, so it had started to fall into disrepair.
I could hear the yells of Tactical behind me and knew I didnt have much time. There was a target on my back, after all.
This time I didnt even look at the lake, because whenever I did I saw my mom, and right now I couldnt afford to be distracted. The first drop of rain fell as my foot hit the bottom porch step. The wood creaked under my weight, but I kept going. The next step creaked louder and I moved to the side of the stairs, knowing thered be more support at the edges. I didnt like how the porch was sagging in the middle, and I worried that the whole thing could collapse around my ears, maybe with a little encouragement from Faci.
I pushed the door open. The magical protection on it still glowed, but dimly. It hadnt been renewed in a long time. Besides, students believed the place was cursed. No one was going to loot it.
There was the secretarys desk, sitting where it had always been. There were still papers strewn over the desktop and the chair, waiting in vain to be used again. But I walked right past all that and into President Malles office, which was mostly empty now.
Many of her books and papers had been confiscated, along with her artifacts. I now understood that she had probably known shed have to leave quickly, so she would have had plenty of time to make a plan for taking her important possessions with her.
I sighed as I looked around. This was going to be harder than I had imagined. I glanced at the desk, but nothing looked out of the ordinary. While I examined what was left of the office I kept one eye on the window, in case any other Tactical teams had the idea of checking here. I wondered where Daisy and Camilla had gone, since I hadnt seen them since Oliva had announced the start of the session.. Daisy had been sure shed known where the Key was, but it looked like she had a different idea from the one Dacer had suggested to me.
Lough and Trafton had decided to trade off shadowing Daily, and if she found the Key they intended to attack her and try to take it. Originally I had planned to go with them, but now I needed to find it on my own, because I needed to take it with me back to Astra.
I ran my hand over the desk while my eyes roved over the fireplace. President Malle had hidden a h.e.l.lhound on campus during her, and my, first semester here, and in the end the h.e.l.lhound had ended up in Astra, where Lisabelle was being held prisoner. But where had President Malle kept the thing before that?
I touched the fireplace. At some point since Malle left it had been bricked up, and it was dull from disuse.
I pushed against several of the bricks, but nothing happened. I pushed harder, putting a bit of magic into it.
The fall into the inky black depths of the bas.e.m.e.nt surprised me, but what worried me more was that right before I fell I saw some sort of movement outside Malles window. Unfortunately there was no way to stop my fall long enough to see who it was.
I tumbled through the air for longer than I should have, falling at least two stories and landing with a hard thud despite my efforts to cushion myself with magic.
I let out an Oof and lay there for a minute, feeling the cold dirt under my fingertips. My body protested when I pushed myself onto my knees, but I knew I couldnt waste time. I glanced up, but there was nothing to see except darkness. The black bas.e.m.e.nt enveloped me, and I quickly asked for a little fire. It was harder to do when there wasnt already a flame, but Id been practicing. In short order I had a little light illuminating my surroundings, and I finally got to my feet.
The bas.e.m.e.nt had boxes stacked on one side, and there was also a pile of black rags that reeked, which I a.s.sumed must be where the h.e.l.lhound had slept. I could just picture it lying down there to close its red eyes, lying in wait. I shivered.
I couldnt go through every box, I didnt have time. So instead I imagined my moms box, with the thistle blazing on its front. I took a deep breath, then another and another. I just kept breathing. When my eyes were closed the thistle blazed in my mind, the symbol on the locked box I had to open. I let my magic stream through me, hot and pure. There were no spells for this. Finding objects with magic was very difficult. You had to know what to look for and you had to know what to ask.
Where was the Key of Light?
After what seemed like an eternity, I could feel something start to shake. Relief made the skin on the back of my neck p.r.i.c.kle. When I opened my eyes I saw that there was a chest under one stack of boxes, from beneath the lid of which light was now pouring. I hurried over and started to pull away everything that was covering the lid. Once it was free of enc.u.mbrances, the lid sprang open of its own accord.
The box was filled with strange treasures, mostly gold.
But only one of them was blazing.
The Key of Light sat on top, unmistakable even though it looked nothing like what I had imagined it would be. I had expected it to be a key for a ma.s.sive door, but it wasnt. Instead, the small gold key and its chain were very small, almost doll size, and a White Ring blazed around it.
I glared at the magical protection. Of course Oliva would have to do this.
Carefully, I took off my elemental ring. Paranormals were never supposed to remove their rings, and mine felt hot on the skin of my palm as I held it.
I really hope this works, I muttered to myself.
I thrust my ring into the White Ring that surrounded the Key of Light. The moment my elemental powers touched the protective circle there was a ma.s.sive crack and I was thrown backward.
I managed to hold on tightly to my ring, but that meant I didnt have any way to keep myself from slamming into the opposite wall. I hit a pile of boxes and slid down to the ground with a thud.
I lay there for several minutes, my body pounding in pain, my only movement being to slip my elemental ring back onto my finger. Once it was firmly in place it felt like I could breathe again.
Well, that wasnt my best idea, I thought grimly, slowly pushing myself to my feet and stumbling back toward the chest and the Key. My legs felt like straws and my feet, back, and neck all hurt.