Chapter 23 June
JUNE
June Adane was being watched.
Warde walked beside her without speaking, his Mot Zebeya chain clinking, but he didn’t seem to sense a threat. Yet June was sure they were being watched. Every time she turned, there was a flash of golden ribbon slipping into the shadows of buildings or trees.
She knew a lot about ribbons. How stubborn and tricky they were, often getting stuck in things. Her own was always getting tangled in her curling braids but she liked what it reminded her of. June’s follower should have chosen less troublesome clothing if they didn’t want to be spotted.
Once, June could barely sleep or walk the streets alone, terrified of vampires, the shadows that appeared in the hallways of her school. But ever since she’d met the Nefrasi and Warde, there was no need for fear.
She exhaled and looked at her semester schedule again. She wouldn’t let anyone ruin her classes. This was her last chance to experience everything she possibly could. She’d be a stellar student. Make human friends. Have her first kiss. Fall in love.
Uxlay University
Semester 1
Student: June Adane
House: House Adane, Department of Archaeology and History
Course List
Food Chemistry and Microbiology, School of Food Science
Traditional African Medical Practices, School of Medicine
Introduction to Dranacti, School of Philosophy
Texts Required
Foodborne Parasites by Anton Goro
From Roots to Leaves by Wadu Rojit
Introduction to Dranacti by Demasus and the Last Sage
June started her afternoon with her lab first, eager to try the new herbs she’d mixed for healing a scar.
She also needed to get sauag leaves for Samson’s injured hand.
The black rot would cause him pain, the most at night.
He only listened to her while she was treating him.
She had to keep Samson calm, remind him what was really important.
Secure the mask artifact.
You can never hold an artifact bound to a law.
It was June’s first lesson, drilled into her almost daily afterward.
Like her, Kidan couldn’t touch any of the artifacts.
June winced, trying not to think of her sister.
She’d excelled at it the past year. Sometimes, she let herself forget, wish for useless things.
But her nightmares always reminded her there was no going back.
The golden ribbon returned. It reflected on the sun-speckled floor of her lab. Someone across the building was sitting on the roof… watching her.
Warde had shut his eyes in the seat opposite her. There was still no real threat. If there was, Warde would have been alert.
June frowned and continued working on her concoction.
She never kept time and absolutely hated clocks. So it wasn’t surprising that only the golden glow of the setting sun told her how late she was for Introduction to Dranacti.
“Warde!” she exclaimed, setting down her mixing bowl. “I need to go.”
He opened his eyes and stood without complaint.
You should wear a watch, Warde said.
I’ll get one when you try my doughnuts, June responded in her mind.
Mot Zebeyas don’t indulge in sweet treats.
June bottled her concoctions, hurried to take off her lab coat, grabbed her bag, and closed the door behind them.
Halfway down the hall, June turned her head toward the large window, catching a glimpse of the figure in movement.
They were lightning fast. Definitely a vampire.
Her heart thrummed. Samson wouldn’t like how careless she was being.
This wasn’t their old home, and they had many enemies here.
But she’d deal with it later.
June rushed across the courtyard and slipped into the ominous Philosophy Tower. She was the last to arrive. She navigated through nervous students who all appeared on the verge of vomiting or tears and sat in the last row, tucking her curling braids behind her ear repeatedly.
“Scales of Sovane.” The professor’s ancient voice drifted. “What have you discovered about Prince Ezariah?”
June crossed her arms on the desk, nestled her head on them. Her eyes were beginning to… shut.
No, no.
The classroom was fading around her, turning green, a wide rolling field with a stone pillar—she was leaving this world, entering another one—
“June Adane,” the professor barked.
June shot upright as if electrocuted. Her large eyes took in the room of gawking students, and her shoulders shifted inward, chin tucked close to her chest, eyes falling to the desk.
Had she fallen asleep?
God, no.
“Am I boring you?” Professor Andreyas’s voice sliced like shards of ice.
She shook her head so violently her curling braids wrapped around her panicked face like a scarf.
“Explain yourself before I dismiss you,” he ordered.
All eyes latched on to her. She was thrust back to high school, the cruel jokes about how she was a zombie or a drug addict, seeking attention. Her mouth clamped up.
Professor Andreyas gave a curt nod. “Very well, you’re dismissed. Gather your things and—”
“Excuse me, Professor,” a nervous voice interrupted. The professor snapped his head to Qara Umil, June’s partner.
Qara was a pretty girl with brown skin and golden glasses. She withered under the full force of that stare and June didn’t blame her.
“June and I were… studying late into the night. We’re both very tired.”
June lifted her head in surprise, and her eyes creased in gratitude.
“Studying,” the professor intoned. “Very well. Then you should prove if you’ve been successful in your endeavor or wasted everyone’s time.”
June’s voice was uncertain. “I—I don’t understand.”
“I will ask you a question. If you fail to answer, you and your friend will be dismissed. Perhaps an extra semester will help you study further.”
Qara’s eyes widened and she opened her mouth to protest but, at the challenge in the professor’s eyes, shut it quickly.
The professor faced June, and she could have sworn the room darkened around them, a light shining on each of them, even as they remained on opposite ends of the room. She could not afford to fail.
She had to inherit the house.
Get the mask before time ran out and decide what to do with it.
“Are you ready?”
June snuck a glance at Qara chewing her lip and nodded. “Y-yes.”
“Who were the Six Manes of Blood?”
The students near her looked at one another in panic, afraid this question would be turned on them too.
But June kept her eyes trained on the wooden desk.
The silence stretched into a full minute.
Qara started to gather her things, misery etched on her face.
June knew why the professor looked smug.
Knowledge about the Six Manes was found only in Ye Abyssi Tarik, a book made of hundreds of languages.
It was impossible for a first-year Dranacti student to know.
Careful, Warde spoke down their bond.
Qara stood up to leave.
“Demasus the Fanged Lion.” June’s voice hovered close to the ground. “Varos the Night Lion, Ralonar the Venomous Lion, Lidia the Split-Tongued Lioness, Helenik the Horned Lioness, and Nira the Silent Lioness. The Six Manes of Blood.”
She could scarcely breathe. Or focus on the students gawking at her.
Professor Andreyas straightened. Surprise and intrigue gleamed in his eyes and June had the sensation he could stare right into her very soul.
“Sit down, Qara,” Professor Andreyas finally said. “You’re stalling our lesson.”
Qara sank into the chair so fast it creaked. She mouthed thank you to June, who offered her a small smile in return.
It hurt June’s heart to know, soon, she’d stand before the professor and betray her new friend.
Qara Umil would have to fail. The Scales of Sovane demanded it.
June was only making things harder by befriending her, but she couldn’t help it.
Because June was out of time. Her heart would stop beating on her twenty-first birthday.
Most people didn’t know the day of their death so clearly, but June did.
She had made a strange sort of peace with it.
Nothing to be done about it. Her face tilted to the tinted window, the sun trying its best to reach her even in this dark room.
She smiled. Even as a powerful voice inside her roared and thundered: You will not die.
She would.
June had known it ever since she was five. There was ticking bomb in her heart, and it would go off soon.
But before it did, there were several things on her list she wanted to achieve. Fall in love. Have her first kiss. Make friends. Not a lot, just a few. Help Kidan understand all this.
Another golden flash reflected in the windows. June turned quickly to the hallway and saw a figure slip away.
Who are you? she wondered. What do you want from me?