Chapter 19
Periwinkle
As I walk up to the school in the stark desert sunlight, I can’t help thinking that the smooth tan structure looks smaller than I remember. Maybe because I’ve been surrounded by city high rises for the past few days.
But though both the reform building and the neighboring one for voluntary students are teeny in comparison, a quiver of apprehension runs through my nerves.
Even if Gloss is banished, her friends are still attending classes in there. Who knows how much they’d like to chop me into kibble or punt me through the nearest rift now that I’m responsible for her expulsion? If you look at the situation in the least generous way, which I suspect they will.
And then there are all the other students I’ve managed to rub the wrong way somehow or other.
I’ve never tried to make enemies, only friends. Why do I keep stumbling into opposite world?
Raze strides along beside me, his mouth set in a scowl. “No one’s even getting close to you. I’m not leaving your side for one second.”
He cuts his gaze toward Hail, who’s sauntering across the dry packed earth just behind us. “Maybe you should find somewhere else to be. We don’t want any more of your fan girls to get ideas about ‘protecting’ you.”
Hail raises his hands in a casually defensive gesture. “I didn’t incite anyone to begin with, and I can continue keeping any provocative thoughts to myself. Aren’t we supposed to be a team?”
He sounds as if he tried to turn that last word into a sneer, but his voice falters instead. In the aftermath of yesterday’s searing anger, the current of emotion passing from him into me is tinged with sour, smoky gloom like barbequed ribs left on the grill too long.
I think he meant all those things he said, though. He really believes that Viscera might be right, that the humans in the city deserve her demolition spree.
I don’t see how that’s possible… but I haven’t seen that much of life in the mortal realm. I did spend most of my time on this side of the divide in a sorcerer’s cage, after all. My captivity didn’t exactly provide a buffet of experiences.
My former captor deserved the destruction that came down on him. What has Hail experienced that made him feel so many other humans do too?
There’s a tang of pain deep down inside him that he normally manages to hold back. I tasted it through his anger, and it laces his melancholy now.
Maybe that’s why he puts on such a cool, uncaring front—like a wall to stop anyone from picking up on the tender spot he’s protecting underneath.
If Mirage has surrounded himself with a barricade of jokes, why couldn’t the winter fae be shielding himself with snark?
For now, I have to let it go. I can’t do anything about his pain if he thinks I’m too much of a pipsqueak to bother talking to me about it.
Mirage bounds across the terrain beside us, staying in human form but still managing to pull off a couple of forward flips and a twist in midair.
He lands gracefully on his feet and spins around.
Then he shoots a cautious glance toward Jonah.
“There’s no one around to complain. The monsters can run a little wild. ”
Jonah lets out a stiff laugh. “Yes, you don’t have to be as careful here as we were in the city. It’s probably good to burn off some of that restless energy. But don’t worry about me. I don’t have the authority to place sanctions on your behavior anyway.”
A smack of bitterness flows from him with those words. He’s ashamed and frustrated that Rollick took away his title as teacher.
I don’t understand the demon’s reasoning. While he was away from the academy, Jonah was only teaching the four of us. It isn’t as if he was handling full classes to distract him.
But Rollick must have had his reasons, and Jonah hasn’t been willing to talk to me about his troubles either. No one wants to take the ear I’d love to lend.
As we reach the door, our sorcerer catches my gaze.
“You shouldn’t have to worry about your safety, Peri.
You won’t be attending classes, and Rollick arranged for you to stay in one of the outbuildings rather than the dorms for the one night we’re here, if you want to rest. You need a break after everything you’ve been through.
Try to enjoy that and the promotion—that’s why he arranged for us to come. ”
Another decision that confused me, not that I’d tell the demon that to his face. Once Rollick heard all our reports, he shipped us back to the academy for the day even though Viscera is still on the loose.
Then again, I’ve already shown I couldn’t rein her in when it mattered. How much good was I doing in the city? Rollick has the shadowbloods to pitch in, and Sorsha and her crew are on their way.
The demon seems to appreciate the little bits I have contributed, though. He’s sent word ahead, even faster than his jet.
When we step into the air-conditioned chill of the school hallway, Shanty is waiting for us. Well, mostly for me. She offers a warmer smile than I’m used to and motions for me to follow her.
The men trail behind me into the administration meeting room. The other shadowkind who run the school—other than Rollick—stand behind the curved table.
Jonah starts to step toward the curving desk and catches himself with a hitch of his stride. A sharper jab of bitterness careens from him into me.
He doesn’t belong beside the others now. Will Rollick take him back as part of the administrative staff when this mess is over?
I guess that’s hard to say when we don’t even know if the mess will be over… ever.
The unnerving thought knots my stomach, but the figures behind the table all look pleased—or at least only mildly disinterested.
They stand up to greet us with nods of their heads, Pearl bobbing eagerly on her feet.
Albumin’s expression is bored, but Gnash’s typically fierce expression has softened. Toni is smiling.
Shanty pulls a container the size and shape of a ring box from her pocket.
This had better not be a surprise marriage proposal. I’m already bonded enough for four lifetimes.
“We’re not going to get into a lot of fanfare about this, but we hope you’ll still consider it an honor,” she says.
“Periwinkle, you’re the first student to receive a promotion to the next level of the academy while not attending classes.
We judge that your control of your powers and determination to help in the field make you worthy of graduating to level 2.
Keep it up, and you’ll ascend to the upper levels in no time. ”
She opens the box to reveal a new badge, marked with a two.
I expected that. I wasn’t prepared to see that the circle indicating I’m a danger to my fellow students is gone.
My heart skips a beat. All at once, I feel like crying and also laughing, which would probably result in a lot of sprayed snot, so I contain both impulses.
“Thank you.” My voice comes out too quiet. I look around at the other administrators and pitch it louder in the most grateful tone I can summon. “Thank you! I’ll keep trying my best.”
They offer a round of applause—polite from some, wildly enthusiastic with a couple of whoops thrown in from Pearl—while Shanty pins the badge just below the neckline of my dress. I look down at it, still caught in the same contradictory whirl of emotions.
“What about the rest of the team?” I have to ask. “They’ve all been working hard too.”
Shanty sets her hand on my shoulder. “They have, but Rollick feels you’ve gone above and beyond what anyone would have expected. I’m sure the others will be receiving new badges before much longer. For now, celebrate the progress you’ve made!”
It is hard to believe that just a couple of months ago, I was on the verge of being banished. A smile touches my lips as the full realization hits me.
I’m moving up in the school. I’m proving that I can fit in with regular society, that I won’t hurt people anymore.
I’m even helping stop the beings that are still hurting people, however little I’m accomplishing there. Every tiny sprinkle makes a cake more delicious.
Raze grabs me in an emphatic embrace, but to my surprise, it’s Hail who speaks up first. “Don’t let anyone tell you that you don’t deserve it, Cream Puff. I know I don’t.”
Mirage jumps in as if to join the hug but instead only coils a strand of my hair around his finger with a teasing tug. “Our Rainbow lights up every place she goes.”
“All right,” Al says in a bland tone, sinking back in his chair. “We have other work to take care of. You can go off to enjoy… whatever pastimes you’re inclined to indulge in.”
Jonah tilts his head toward the door. “Come on, team.”
For just that moment, his voice sounds more spirited. But when we’re in the hall, his expression has darkened again.
“You have the rest of the day and night as free time. We’ll head back to the city in the morning. You’re welcome to grab some food in the cafeteria—although Peri, I think you should let someone else bring you a meal, just to be safe.”
Raze draws himself up to an even more imposing height. “I can do that. I’ll get you everything that looks good and come right back to wherever you are.”
Jonah watches the basilisk shifter leap into the shadows with an odd slant to his mouth before he goes on. “You can also make use of the gym if there’s no class going on, watch a movie in the media room, just take a walk—it’s all—”
“Peri!”
A slim, wide-eyed figure sprints down the hallway to meet me. Fen pushes past the guys and grasps my hands, her gaze darting to my new badge and back to my face.
She beams at me, not an anxious droplet in sight. “They told me I could come hang out with you as long as I didn’t spread the word that you’re stopping by. It’s been such a long time. Is everything okay out there? What do you want to do while you’re here?”
I have to laugh at her breathless torrent of words. “I’ll tell you what I can. Things are… confusing. For now, I think I’d like to get off my feet.” Little twinges are starting to radiate up through my ankles. “Wasn’t there a movie you said you wanted to show me the last time I was here?”
“Right, right!”
She tugs me toward the rest of the school, but Jonah steps in front of us.
“Actually—we’d better make sure the way is clear.
I’ll see that you get exclusive access to the media room for the next couple of hours.
Why don’t you travel there through the shadows so you’re less noticeable—it’ll be easier on your feet too. ”
He puts that considerate spin on the request, but my momentary exhilaration fades.
I slink through the shadows after him. Fen darts along beside me, chattering about the latest school gossip.
The media room is totally vacant by the time we arrive, which gives the space with its cozy sofa and armchairs an oddly lonely vibe. I guess Raze will come join us soon.
But as I tuck my legs up on my chair while Fen searches for the movie, the sense that I don’t really know this place creeps over me.
I just gained a new level in my schooling, but I can barely participate at the school. Will I ever belong even here?
Viscera’s crackling voice rises up from my memory. All these mortal beings stacking up their bricks and bolts, trying to shut us out.
It twines with Hail’s harsh words just a few hours later. Almost every human would stamp us out if they knew how.
Even Rollick seemed to think we don’t really belong anywhere in the mortal world—not out in the open, at least. When humans and shadowkind collide, it almost always ends in disaster.
Is that really true? Is everything this school is working toward pointless in the end, because we’ll always be hiding, risking lighting the fuse of a full-out war?
That can’t be right, can it? Jonah’s human, and he doesn’t hate us. Toni works with shadowkind all day.
Gracie, my former captor’s daughter, freed us all from our cages even though she knew her father would turn his rage on her.
But the question swells at the base of my throat until I can hardly breathe. I need to know just how big a blunder we could be risking.
My gaze slides toward the door. “Actually, Fen… Would you mind if we watched the movie another time? There’s something I’d like to look up while I’m here.”
Fen tips her head, brightening with curiosity. “More mate bonds stuff?”
I have to laugh. “No, I think that was a dead end. But this is a shadowkind academy… There have to be records about things shadowkind have done here somewhere, right?”
“Oh, yes, there’s a whole section in the library. But what are you looking for?”
I swallow hard. “I want to find out everything I can about the battles between humans and shadowkind.”