Chapter Sixteen
Farren
“Well, since that conversation is clearly going nowhere, let's order,” Loki says, evidently hungry himself.
It doesn’t take long until all of us have ordered, and I have to admit that I may have gone slightly over the top with my order. It all looked so good, and I couldn’t choose. It’s okay though, because I know that whatever I don’t eat, the guys will finish off with ease.
As we sit on the sofas waiting for the food to come, Reaper says to Zev, “We’re going to have to get your stuff from your room at some point.”
Zev nods, “Yeah, I was thinking about that. If we want to avoid people, then it would probably be best that we go at night when the majority of students and teachers are asleep or confined to the nocturnal dorms. I don’t have a roommate.”
“Awesome,” Loki smiles. “I think we would all prefer to do that.”
With that agreed, our conversation turns to our timetables, and if they’re even the same as they were.
“I’m sure we’ll get called into the Headmaster’s office at some point and he will explain everything that we’ve missed,” Storm says with a frown.
“Well, that’s going to be a fun conversation,” Kill mutters. “I wonder who the new Headmaster is?”
There's a knock at the door before anyone else can reply and say that they agree with him or speculate on the new Headmaster.
Reaper gets up to get the door.
“Holy shit, I thought someone was pulling a prank when the kitchen said that the order was to go here,” the guy directing the cart says as he stares up at Reaper.
“Hey, mate,” Loki greets the guy waving from the couch.
“You know you guys have been gone the longest out of all the teams that have been called? You’re nearly close to the longest ever trial time, and that was two weeks!”
I share a look with the guys. We’ve been gone for a hell of a lot longer than two weeks.
“How long have we been gone for?” Storm asks, keeping his tone light.
“Thirteen days,” the guy exclaims. “Anyway, I’ll leave you guys to it. Everyone is going to be excited to see you back.”
The door slams behind him.
“Well, he’s the biggest gossip that I know, so everyone is going to know that we’re back in approximately three seconds,” Zev says with a smirk.
“Do you think that they knew that you were with us, or do you think that they just thought you left?” Mayhem asks him.
Zev shrugs, “Honestly, I have no idea. You’re not supposed to be able to just leave this place, but who knows? No one was really happy that I qualified to get in here anyway.”
“Is your dad still alive?” Rival asks bluntly.
Mayhem rolls his eyes and smacks him on the chest, “Mate, you can’t just ask someone something like that.”
Rival frowns slightly, but looks at Zev, “Sorry.”
Zev chuckles, “Don’t worry about it. It doesn’t bother me. Yes, he is still alive. Although we don’t really get on. Not that we had a big falling out or anything, but more that I didn’t stay and help him and my brothers on the farm, and came to Black Onyx instead, and we just stopped talking. Why?”
Rival’s expression becomes relieved the moment that Zev says that the question didn’t bother him.
“I was thinking that if you’re able to get in contact with him while we’re back here, then we may be able to convince him to tell us more about your mum, and then we can figure out what magic you have?” Rival explains.
Zev nods, “I can write to him, but like I said before, he has never told me, and I asked a lot. It’s worth a shot though.”
“If not, we can figure it out some other way,” Storm reassures him.
“It’s weird that they think we’ve only been gone for thirteen days. I know for a fact that we’ve been gone for longer,” Kill says.
“I think that just like with everything else, there’s something else at play here. There has to be a reason why we were brought back here now. We’ve just got to figure out what that reason is,” Zev replies thoughtfully.
“You’re not getting any inklings or visions about it?” I ask.
Zev shakes his head, “Nope, nothing. It’s incredibly frustrating.”
I look at Kill, “What about you? Have you had anything?”
Kill shakes his head, “My visions have stopped completely. It’s never been my strongest gift anyway, but ever since I rejoined you guys, they’ve slowly tapered off. I get feelings every now and then, but no actual visions.”
“Huh? That’s curious, I’ve never heard of a gift disappearing before. It’s fairly usual for one to fade into the background as another one gets stronger, but that usually happens in the teen years, you’re nearly thirty,” Rival says, his eyes full of knowledge as he tries to work it out.
Kill shrugs, “I sort of just figured that it was because Zev is in our team, and he does all things visions.”
Rival tilts his head slightly, his eyebrows rising, “That’s definitely an interesting theory.” He pauses, “When can I go to the library?”
I smile.
“I would probably wait until we’ve done a couple of classes, and everyone has gotten used to the fact that we’re back,” Storm says. When Rival frowns, he adds, “You won’t be able to get any research done if everyone is coming up to talk to you.”
Rival’s expression clears, “Good point. I also don’t want anyone knowing the things that I’m looking up.”
“Can I still come with you and help?” I ask Rival.
He nods, “If you still want to, absolutely. We’ve got a lot to look into, and I want to make as much use of the library here as possible while we’re here. It’s one of the best stocked ones in the realm. That we know of anyway.”
I nod, “Yeah, I’m up for that.”
A sudden ringing sound pierces the room, and everyone momentarily freezes.
Storm rolls his eyes and gets up, “Someone’s calling.”
“I forgot about that,” Loki grimaces.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard it,” I admit.
Mayhem nods, “To be fair, I think I’ve only heard it ring once.”
Storm answers the phone, and the voice is loud enough that we can all hear what’s being said.
“Stablemaster?” Storm asks, sounding surprised.
“Thank fuck. For once, I’m grateful for rumours. I’m assuming that if you are back, Farren is back too?”
“Yes, why?” Storm asks.
“Because we need help with that damn horse of hers,” the stablemaster immediately replies.
I grin. Revel has never been well-behaved for anyone else but me, and when we’ve been separated for an extended period of time, his behaviour gets even worse.
“I’ll be right down,” I call out.
“Hurry, he’s broken out and none of us can catch him. I’ve sent five people to the healers this week,” the stablemaster replies before hanging up.
“How did he make his way back here?” Reaper asks curiously.
“Farren’s horse always manages to make it back to wherever she’s going to turn up next, it’s uncanny,” Kill replies, shaking his head and smiling. It’s something that has always fascinated him.
“It sounds like you’re going to need some help if he’s that pissed,” Loki says, looking more excited than worried.
I grin, “You guys can come too. To be honest, I don’t think we should be separated anyway. Is there a way to get there without getting stopped every five seconds?”
“Yeah, I know a way,” Zev replies, as he stands.
We all get up and start to follow him out the door.
Before we leave, I turn to look at Poca, Meri and Oryn, “Guard the room just in case. Meri, don’t let anyone see you.”
Poca barks once in acknowledgement, and the other two nod.
“I hadn’t thought about that,” Mayhem says as we head out the door and into the thankfully empty hallway. “Meri is going to have to stay in the room, or we’re going to have to find a way to cloak him.”
I nod, “Yeah. I don’t think he’s going to appreciate being left in the room.”
“Poca might be able to cloak him as well?” Rival suggests.
I shrug, “Maybe. I’ll ask him when we go back.”
As we walk, I realise that the hallways are a lot quieter than I thought they would be.
“Where is everyone?” I ask.
“I’m not sure, it’s the weekend so there should be some people milling around. Certainly, more than there are,” Reaper replies.
“Maybe they’re all still freaked out about the games being started again?” Loki suggests.
“Maybe. It hasn’t been as long for them as it has for us,” Kill replies.
“I’m sure we’ll figure it out on Monday,” Zev says as he opens a door, and we all find ourselves outside the academy.
“How come I never knew about that?” Loki asks.
“Not many people do. I had a lot of time to explore. Remember, not very many, okay, no one trusted me because of what I could see, so they all avoided me. It meant I had a lot of time to entertain myself. I probably know this place better than anyone else,” Zev explains.
He doesn’t seem to be bothered by it and states it like a fact, but I know he’s been dealing with that sort of thing for the majority of his life. The sad fact is, he’s used to being treated that way, and I hate it.
I pick up my pace so that I can thread my fingers through his, and he squeezes them tightly as he drops a kiss on my forehead.
“That’s both awesome and sad,” Loki points out. He grins, “Don’t worry, mate, you’ve got us now, you’re locked in for life, no getting rid of us now.”
“Awesome,” Zev says sarcastically but with a huge and very pleased grin stretching across his features.
As we near the stables, we hear a loud scream and an angry neigh that can’t be mistaken for anything other than Revel. I roll my eyes as the guys eyes widen in shock, and I start jogging.
Admittedly, I haven’t heard him this pissed for a while.
This is going to be fun.
For me, not necessarily for everyone else.
We run into the stables.
“Took you bloody long enough,” the man who I’m assuming is the stablemaster says, and immediately turns on his heel and rushes out the door at the other end.
“He’s even worse than he was when you two first arrived.
Even those of us who had built some sort of bond and trust with him haven’t had any luck in calming him down.
No one can get near him, and he’s back to biting and kicking anyone who gets close to him. ”
I wince, “I’m sorry.”
The stablemaster doesn’t reply and instead just grunts.
When we follow him through the door at the opposite end of the stables, my mouth drops open at the sheer chaos in front of me.
Of course, Revel isn’t misbehaving by himself, nope, he’s somehow managed to convince several other Fae Horses to get involved as well, and they’re all galloping around the huge pasture, avoiding the people that are trying to catch them, and jumping over the fires.
Why am I not surprised that fire is involved?
“Why are parts of the pasture on fire?” Loki asks curiously.
“We don’t know,” the stablemaster replies exasperatedly. “Every time that we put one of them out, another one starts, and I have no idea why.”
I know why, it’s Revel, but it’s not like I can say that to the stablemaster because he shouldn’t be able to do that.
I do decide to tell the guys, though.
Opening the bondlines to all of them, including Khaos and Hades, I say, “Revel is the one who lit the fires. He does that when he’s pissed.”
“Who is Revel?” Khaos’s gravelly voice fills my head, and I smile. It’s crazy that I miss him already, I know that. He only left a short while ago, but it doesn’t change the fact that I do miss him and Hades.
Concentrating, I send an image of what I’m looking at through to Khaos and Hades.
“How long has he been able to do that?” Hades asks me, “I don’t remember him being able to do that before.”
“It’s a recent thing,” I reply.
“It’s not normal,” Khaos adds.
“Is anything normal when it comes to anything to do with Farren?” Loki asks, with fondness.
“Good point,” Hades and Khaos say together.
“I’m closing the bondlines now. We need to deal with this. I just wanted everyone to know about Revel’s trick before I forget to say, because life spirals. Stay safe,” I say to them both, and the guys all echo the sentiment.
“We will. I want to meet your horse,” Khaos replies.
I manage to close down the bondlines and refocus just in time because it's at that moment that the horse in question spots me.
He rears up, his neigh fierce as he comes charging toward us.
“I’d move away from me if I were you,” I say to the guys.
“Farren?” Reaper says, sounding unsure. “I know he was behaving pretty feral last time and you managed to calm him down, but this is a whole new level of chaos.”
I turn to look at them with a huge smile on my face, “Yeah. I’ve got this.”