Waysider (The Voyants Book 1)

Chapter 14

Cass’s lungs burned as she arrived at the dining hall.

She paused in the doorway to catch her breath, hoping no one would notice her there. She’d run all the way from the chapel, and Cass wasn’t exactly an active person. She tried to absorb the sight before her, but her mind was still clouded by terror, and god, her body hurt. People who ran for fun were crazy.

The Else Bellows dining hall was a long, beautiful room with high ceiling beams and tall windows. Between each pane of glass, enormous banners hung down to the floor, bearing one of the five symbols that were also on the golden pins everyone wore. Round tables were scattered throughout, a rug tucked beneath each one, lending an unexpectedly cozy feel to such a vast space. Multiple chandeliers hung above, and they looked like black iron. On the far side of the hall, opposite where all the food was, a fire crackled in a stone hearth. It was framed by two winged armchairs. Heat floated through the air, pushed even farther by drafts and the ever-moving crowd of students.

Despite the fire’s impressive reach, though, Cass couldn’t seem to get warm.

With her house key tucked firmly in her pocket, she moved to wait in one of the lines for food. It took all her willpower not to shiver. Cass put plates on her tray, barely aware of what she was taking. All she could see was the girl from the chapel. She’d run away faster than she ever had before, and Cass hadn’t seen the girl since, but she knew it wasn’t fast enough.

There would always be another revenant.

Either Headmistress Crane had exaggerated how ghost-free Else Bellows was, or Cass drew them like magnets. She was screwed no matter what, unless she learned to fight back.

Once her tray was full, Cass showed a woman at the register a temporary student I.D. from the welcome packet—she’d been given a monthly allowance for meals. The woman nodded and waved her on, making a note on a pad of paper on the counter. Cass turned away and scanned the tables, looking for an empty one.

She didn’t give a shit about sitting alone, or looking like a friendless loser—Cass had stopped caring about those things a long time ago. She just wanted to get warm and slow her heartbeat a little. To be around people.

She went to one of the open tables near the fireplace. And there, once Cass sank into a chair and felt the gentle warmth on her back, she finally started to feel the terror ebb away. Tension leaked from her shoulders, and she let out a breath. Cass was surrounded by skilled voyants now. She was safe.

She definitely wouldn’t be going back to that chapel.

At the same moment Cass picked up her spoon, a tray dropped across from hers. A moment after that, a flyer landed on the table between them. SCAVENGER HUNT, the headline declared in bold letters. Beneath this, it instructed freshman students to meet at Old Main later that night.

“What’s the prize?” Cass asked, taking a bite of sliced peach. As Finch sat down, Cass wondered if she should mention the two revenants she’d seen. Something stopped her, though.

Behind her glasses, Finch’s eyes gleamed with excitement. “The winner gets to tag along on a haunting. A Level Three Haunting, which means there will definitely be a revenant present. The winner isn’t one of the official team members, of course, and you’re only there to observe, but it’s still so exciting! Usually only juniors and seniors can go. For this one time only, Headmistress Crane makes an exception. Whoever can answer the most riddles by the time the hour is up wins.”

“Riddles?” Cass repeated. Before Finch could explain further, Cass’s confusion cleared, and she felt her expression settle into a calm mask. “Do you mean… riddles about revenants?”

Finch nodded, frowning distractedly at her milk carton. The lip wasn’t opening correctly. “Some of them,” she said.

Well, Cass definitely had no interest in that. She’d make sure she was in her room, door locked, when the scavenger hunt began.

She had just returned her focus to the food in front of her when Finch added, “Oh, and then there’s the cash prize, too.”

Cass stilled. Those words echoed through her—cash prize. She raised her gaze slowly. “How much is it?”

Finch shrugged, holding up her mangled milk carton. “A hundred dollars, I think.”

“A hundred dollars?” Cass blurted. She thought of the debt she’d put her parents in. She’d been planning to help them, and send money whenever she could. A hundred bucks was a solid start. But the thought of potentially interacting with a revenant… Cass bit her lip. “Are you going?”

Finch had just taken a drink of milk. She shook her head, swallowed, and said, “I’m a second year. The scavenger hunt is just for first years.”

So Cass would be going on her own, then. She didn’t exactly know anyone else, besides her roommates, and they seemed as excited as she was about making new friends. Cass absorbed this silently. Worried Finch would see something in her expression, she turned her face away and scanned the room again. She recognized someone nearby.

“He lives with us, right?” Cass nodded toward the table beside them, where the tall guy sat. He laughed at something and flashed his perfect teeth.

Finch’s eyes flicked over. “Yes, that’s Justin. He started last semester, but he’s technically still a freshman, so he might be at the scavenger hunt.”

“Who is he sitting with?”

This time, Finch turned to see who Cass meant. As she waited, Cass forced herself to take a bite from one of the plates. The roast beef was tasteless in her mouth, and she knew it was because of the fading adrenaline. Finch talked as Cass reluctantly chewed.

“Those are the Airweavers. Justin will probably end up with them eventually. He matches the profile—they tend to fit in everywhere. Outgoing. Go with the flow. Usually athletes.” Twisting in her seat, Finch pointed at a table in the center of the room. “Candice is with the Dreamwalkers. That house is full of the sensitive people. They’re empathetic. Space cadets. Artistically inclined, more often than not.”

“And the people that younger kid is talking to?” Cass asked.

Finch followed her gaze again. “Oh, you mean Bradley? His group is all from House Pennyseeker. They tend to be honest folk. Eager to help. People pleasers. They plan the school events, run the voting days, that sort of thing.”

Cass frowned. She mulled over what Finch had said, her gaze roaming past each of their roommates again. “If it’s so obvious what house they belong to, why are they still in Wayside? Why separate us?” she asked.

Finch opened her mouth to reply just as a new voice said, “Hi, little bird.”

Even before she turned her head, Finch was blushing. “Hi, Teddy.”

Someone pulled one of the empty chairs out. A moment later, a boy settled into Cass’s line of view. He didn’t seem to take much notice of her—his attention was fixed on Finch. His hair was Achilles-gold and he had the defined cheekbones of a sculpture. He wore a cotton T-shirt that clung to his muscles. Those muscles flexed as he leaned forward and asked Finch, “Did you get it?”

In response, Finch leaned over and took something out of her bag. She handed it to Teddy with a bashful, pleased smile. “First edition. I waited in line for six hours to get it.”

“You’re not a bird, you’re a goddess,” he informed her, and Finch blushed again. Cass caught a glimpse of the cover before Teddy tucked it beneath his arm. It was an X-Men comic book.

“Oh, how rude of me, I’m sorry!” Finch exclaimed. She gestured between them with her red-tipped nails. “Teddy, this is Cass Ryan. Cass, meet Teddy Crane.”

Teddy finally turned to her. As their gazes met, Cass noticed how his blue eyes were broken apart by flecks of amber. He gave Cass an elegant, two-fingered salute. “Theodore Crane, House Airweaver. But my friends call me Teddy,” he said.

“Crane?” Cass repeated, darting a glance at Finch. But it was Teddy who answered.

“Yeah. Sally is my mom.” He seemed like he was about to say more, but someone shouted for Teddy from a table across the room. He jerked his chin in a gesture of acknowledgement, then refocused on them. “It was nice to meet you, Cass. Good luck at the scavenger hunt tonight. Finch, as always, I adore you.”

Finch made a sound that Cass thought was supposed to be “see you around.” Luckily, Teddy was already gone. He walked toward his friends with purpose and authority. Cass didn’t usually notice shit like that, but there was something about Theodore Crane that drew the eye. Not just because he was tall, or pretty, or the fact everyone else seemed to be watching him, too—she couldn’t put her finger on it.

“Teddy is EB’s golden boy,” Finch said, drawing Cass’s attention back to her. She began ticking off her fingers. “The best grades, captain of the lacrosse team, and his name has been at the top of the board since he was a freshman.”

You’re also completely in love with him, Cass thought, seeing how Finch’s entire face lit up when she talked about the “golden boy.”

“What’s the board?” Cass asked, deciding to change the subject.

“It’s right up there.” Finch nodded at something over her shoulder, and Cass twisted in her chair, peering up at the scoreboard she’d completely missed. There were four columns, and five rows in each. The first two columns were the houses with a point value across from it. The other two were students, and these, too, had points written beside them. Cass spotted Teddy’s name right away, and a start went through her at the sight of Sinister Gray’s right beneath it. Wasn’t that the guy they’d talked about in class?

“It gets updated every week,” Finch said. “The students with the highest scores always get the highest-paying clients when they graduate, and there are a few other perks, too. Like how they always get—”

“Over here, Tori!” someone called.

Everyone within earshot watched a girl weave through the tables. She was pretty. Her long, dark hair fell over petite shoulders, and her brown eyes were framed by long lashes. As she passed Teddy, Tori paused to say something in his ear, pressing her palm briefly against his shoulder.

Cass felt another prick of curiosity. “And who’s that?” she asked.

Finch had just taken a mouthful of pudding. She swallowed and answered, “That would be Victoria Chen. She lives with the Timekeepers. They’re logical. Driven. Ambitious. Good students. But that’s not why people are staring at her. Most voyants are made, but there are some people, like Victoria, who are just born one. She comes from a long line of them, and she’s incredibly powerful. She’s like EB royalty.”

Cass heard furious whispers behind her. She glanced over her shoulder and noticed how a nearby table—filled entirely with girls—all seemed to be staring in the same direction. She followed their gazes, and in an instant, she figured out what had caught the girls’ attention.

It was the guy from the chapel.

He walked by slowly, completely unaware of the effect he had on the female populace. His hands moved in graceful shapes and gestures as he signed to a girl beside him. As if he felt Cass’s gaze, his focus shifted toward her. Their eyes caught and held.

After a moment, he nodded at Cass, and she gave him a brief nod back.

When she turned back to Finch, the other girl was gaping at her. Cass felt a faint, unexpected surge of amusement. Strange she could find anything funny, after what had just happened in the chapel. To hide the way her lips were tilted upward, Cass took a drink from her water glass. “What?” she said finally.

Finch made a sputtering sound. “What? What, she says. Cass Ryan, how do you know Sinister Gray?”

A jolt went through Cass’s frame. The guy she’d sat with in the chapel was the same one she’d just heard about in class? The guy who had some kind of psychic power? “I don’t,” Cass said shortly. “Who names their kid Sinister, anyway?”

“No idea. His mama is a famous actress, so maybe that explains it. Everyone is so curious about her, but his parents never come to visit. His friends call him Sin, anyway.” Finch gave Cass a knowing look. “He doesn’t date. Ever. Girls approach him constantly, and he turns them down every time.”

Cass didn’t bother correcting her roommate, but she had decided before even stepping foot on campus that she wouldn’t be dating anyone at this school. She was here to learn how to control her abilities, and to lessen the burden on her family with her absence. Cass wasn’t in this for a career in ghost hunting, and she definitely wasn’t falling for anyone who did want that life.

Despite herself, none of these thoughts deterred her interest in the boy from the chapel. Or Sinister Gray, as he turned out to be. What a stupid name. Cass watched him unabashedly as he sat at one of the other tables. She noticed that she wasn’t the only one—like Teddy, Sinister seemed to draw eyes everywhere he went.

“Why is everyone staring at him?” Cass asked Finch, keeping her voice low as if he might hear them.

“Sinister lives in House Shadowripper.” Finch’s tone was heavy with meaning. At Cass’s blank expression, she raised her brows. “Didn’t you read your welcome packet at all?”

“No. What’s so special about living in House Shadowripper? What kind of… voyant is he?”

Finch hesitated. She darted a glance toward the table where Sinister and his friends sat, as if she were worried they’d overhear. She leaned closer to Cass and lowered her voice. “In layman’s terms? They’re demon hunters. They’re the only ones who can handle a Level Five Haunting. They’re typically loners. Introverts. Very sarcastic, like Webster, the girl sitting next to Sinister.”

Cass felt her eyebrows go up. “Demons are real?”

“Lucifer, a pit of flames, all of that is nonsense. Not demons, though. Those are as real as it gets.”

“Great,” Cass chirped, reaching for her milk carton. She took a drink to hide how shaken she was. First ghosts, and now demons. Well, at least Cass knew which specialty she’d avoid at all costs, if it came to that.

Finch’s expression darkened as she lost herself to a thought or a memory. Her gaze went back to Sinister, and her voice was quiet as she said, “Shadowrippers also tend to have pretty short lives.”

Before Cass could respond, students began standing up throughout the room. Others were dumping their trays, or leaving the room. Now that Cass’s shock had faded and she wasn’t buzzing with adrenaline, she took stock of more details around her. “Where are people getting the coffee?” she asked Finch.

“There’s a cart in one of the gardens. It’s on the way to your next class, actually. Just follow the signs.”

“Rad. Thanks.” Cass rose from her chair, and Finch followed suit.

They dumped the food on their trays, scraped the plates clean, and put them on a shelf. Cass and Finch parted ways in the courtyard. Finch waved and beamed so hard that Cass wondered for the tenth time if the other girl was on drugs. But she waved back and managed to muster a tiny smile.

On her way to the coffee cart, Cass checked her watch—it was actually Cal’s, which she’d taken from his room before she left New York—to make sure she wouldn’t be late for her next class. She was cutting it close, but after her late night, caffeine seemed worth the risk. Cass got in line and rocked on her heels, enjoying the feel of sunlight on her skin. God, she’d missed this. Just being outside. Breathing fresh air. Cass tipped her chin, her eyes sliding shut.

“How’s your first day going?”

Cass turned her head, then tilted it back to look up. It was Teddy Crane. Cass wasn’t usually good with names, but his came to mind effortlessly. Something about him stood out to her, other than the obvious. EB’s golden boy, Finch had called him.

“It hasn’t been boring, I can tell you that,” Cass said, shouldering her backpack.

Teddy grinned, and Cass’s eyes darted down, noting the subtle dimple in his chin. “It never is around here. But which part has you spooked? Was it Professor Horn’s B.O.? I promise he doesn’t always smell like that. No, wait, I bet it was the lasagna.”

Before Cass could respond, a gust of wind stirred up, so strong that it tangled her hair. Cass noticed other students making remarks on it as she reached up to fix her bangs. Her eyes roamed the area around them, watching the wild gale claim homework and hats, forcing people to chase after them.

A moment later, it felt like Cass’s stomach dropped out of her. Cal was charging up the path, his expression panicked.

What is he doing? she thought furiously. This place was crawling with people who could potentially see him! They’d been lucky so far, but Cass didn’t want any trouble and she didn’t want to deal with questions.

So why was her idiot brother drawing attention to himself?

“What happened?” Cal demanded the second he was within earshot.

Cass didn’t answer him—she couldn’t. Teddy was still standing beside her, waiting for a response. Unlike Cal, she wasn’t about to announce his presence to the entire school. Cass refocused on the golden boy, half-expecting him to be staring at her like she was insane. It was how most people looked at her eventually. But Teddy just waited, his hands shoved in his pockets, the sunlight catching strands of his hair and making them glitter.

“Sorry,” Cass said finally. “I get distracted easily.”

He grinned at her again, more fully this time. “I’m feeling a little distracted, too.”

Awareness shot through Cass’s body as she realized that Teddy Crane was flirting with her. For a moment, she was tempted to flirt back, but she stopped herself. Cute or no, Cass wasn’t about to break her rule about dating EB boys, and the fact that her brother was watching didn’t exactly set the mood. Then there was the matter of Finch’s crush. Cass looked at her watch again, and some of her panic wasn’t feigned as she said, “Shit, I better get to class. I swore things would be different here.”

This last part she hadn’t meant to say, and Cass caught a glimpse of amusement—and maybe a little intrigue—in Teddy’s eyes before she turned, rushing down the path. Cal was right beside her every step of the way. Thankfully, he waited until the coffee cart was out of sight before he tried to speak again.

“What happened earlier?” Cal pressed. “You were terrified. I felt it.”

“Well, that’s creepy. And nothing happened, I just had a scare in the chapel,” Cass muttered. She glanced down at the small piece of paper resting on top of her books. Her eyes flicked around. “The schedule just says ‘Fastly Hall’. Do you see any buildings with that name on it?”

The problem was, none of the buildings were marked. Frowning, Cass consulted the map she’d found in the welcome packet. She knew Cal was talking, but there were still other people around. She also really wanted to get to this class on time.

One of the lecture halls seemed promising—it was the same shape as the one on the map. Cass hurried toward the entrance and went inside. Everyone’s next class must’ve started, because the hallways were practically empty. There was a marble staircase in front of them, and Cass hurried toward it, desperate to find someone. At the second landing, a boy rushed past, a backpack thumping against his spine.

“Hey, is this Fastly Hall?” Cass called to his retreating form.

“Nope!” he called back, and then he was gone.

Cass stopped, swearing. She was officially lost. The thought made her launch into movement again, and she whirled to go back down the stairs.

“…what’s going on?” Cal demanded. “Cass. Cass. Answer me, goddamn it.”

At the next landing, Cass swung to face him. Fuck it, she was already late anyway. “Hey, how about this. You tell me where you went today, and I’ll tell you why I almost shit my pants. Deal?”

“I’m sorry, when did you become my keeper?” Cal snapped, raking his hair back. The flaps of his jacket brushed against his hips. “I don’t owe you any explanations, Cass. I’m still a fucking adult.”

But Cass didn’t hear him—she was too busy staring over Cal’s shoulder.

There were frames on the walls along these stairs. They contained portraits and class photos, snapshots and old newspaper clippings. One hung just behind Cal. It was a black and white shot of six boys, all of them standing in a row, arms slung over each other’s shoulders. They looked her age, give or take, and each of them bore a pin on their old timey clothing. All of them were smiling, except for a single boy.

He stood on the very end, his dark, solemn eyes terrifyingly familiar. Cass felt like the breath had been knocked out of her.

It was Michael.