Chapter 4 Black as Night #2
“Why?” came the reply followed by a sliding sound as the dagger was picked back up again. “You clearly used a lot of magic already. What are you up to?”
Dante growled. “I came to you because you don’t ask questions.”
“Well that was before. Now you’re coming back for seconds and I’m going to need a little bit more information.”
“How about I cut you a deal,” Dante said, lowering his voice enough that I almost couldn’t hear him.
I pressed harder against the door, wincing when the wood creaked.
A moment of silence made me hold my breath while my heart thundered in my ears.
I wasn’t sure what I’d do if they found out I was eavesdropping on them.
My mission right now was to get answers, not get myself into trouble, but sometimes those two things went hand in hand.
“I’m listening,” the mage replied, making me relax with relief.
“I’ll give you enough sacrifice to cover blood duty for a week.
You’ll be stocked up for a while, right?
You won’t have to go to your regular sources.
The Dean is already giving the mages plenty of volunteers through the discipline program, but she’s started to notice more people with injuries than are on the punishment docket. This’ll help you lay low for a while.”
A low hum of approval. “All right, hunter, you’ve got yourself a deal. I’ll need some time to gather enough artifacts and then we can really test out your healing abilities. For now, show me your hand. That’ll be enough to charge the dagger for you.”
My blood went cold as I realized that Dante was going to lose his hand.
.. again. And for what, for me? The second I heard his muffled cry my hand shot to the door handle, but I made myself freeze.
I couldn’t just bust in and yell at the Dark Mage.
Dante had asked him to cut off his hand, even if that was dumb, a little piece of my frozen heart warmed.
He’d given a blood sacrifice... for me.
Tingling swept through my body and a magical hum sounded from the other side of the door. Dante’s sacrifice had been made and now he was recharging the dagger.
I’d find a way to make this all up to him.
.. somehow. Not sure what was worth two lost hands, but I’d figure it out.
I didn’t like to owe a debt to anyone. No matter his reasons, even if he was doing this for a selfish reason or for a longterm plan that I couldn’t understand right now, he still was helping me when he didn’t have to. In spite of myself, I was grateful.
“It’s done,” said the mage, making me scurry down the steps as fast as I could without being too loud.
I paused at the front door and frantically waved my bloodied shirt over the pad, but I must have smudged the blood on the floor when I’d fallen because it wouldn’t pick up a signature.
“What do you think you’re doing? I thought I told you to wait outside,” Dante growled, although he sounded less menacing and more exhausted than anything else.
I peered at him over my shoulder and gave him and sidelong smile.
“What can I say. It was creepy outside.” I gave the ominous interior a once-over.
While it was missing gargoyles like the exterior, faint runes fluttered over the walls as if spells were alive in the surface.
If I focused, a faint whisper nagged at the back of my mind in a language I didn’t understand.
“It’s not much better in here, to be honest.”
He chuckled, then coughed and adjusted his arm deeper into the folds of his cloak.
I narrowed my eyes on the evidence of what he’d just done.
“How’d you even get in here?” he asked, then shook his head.
“Never mind. I don’t want to know. Let’s get you to your dorms before anyone finds out we’re here. ”
I wanted to prod him with questions about why he’d be willing to let a Dark Mage cut off his hand for me, and what other blood sacrifices he’d agreed to.
Instead I followed silently as he activated the pad, this time by leaning down and looking into the screen.
A small laser swept over his iris before the doors opened.
So, it was more difficult to get out of the Dark Mage’s dorms than in. .. that was interesting.
Once outside we passed by a few more buildings. One caught my interest, looking more like a stacked series of huts than the mix of modern and gothic architecture on the rest of the campus. “What’s that?” I asked, pointing to the tall pillars with buildings perched atop them.
“Panther shifters,” Dante said absently, grunting and failing to hide how much pain he was in as he stumbled. “They like heights... and walls they can chew on.”
I rested a hand on his bicep and refused to pull away when he froze. “Dante, why did you need to recharge that dagger? And why aren’t you healing?” I let my gaze fall meaningfully to the shadows in his cloak.
He rolled his shoulders back and straightened. “You weren’t supposed to know about that. Don’t ask too many questions, okay? That’s how you’re going to stay safe.”
I frowned, but I wasn’t going to push him.
I didn’t know enough about him yet to be sure if he was really trying to keep me safe, or if he just didn’t want me to learn his secrets.
He wasn’t healing as fast as he had the first time, which either meant that his powers had limits, or whatever the Dark Mage had done to him had taken more than just his hand.
“Here we are,” he said, indicating one of the larger buildings we’d come across. “This is the Freshman Ward. There’s a room for you here until you figure out where you belong.”
I looked longingly back at the other buildings, particularly the cool looking tree fort huts. “How do I know where I’m supposed to stay?” I didn’t know if supernatural strength was a shifter trait, but being a panther sounded pretty cool, minus the chewing on the wood part, anyway.
He gave me a weak smile, his dimples reappearing for a delightful moment.
“You’d be surprised how many freshmen don’t know what they are or haven’t shown signs of supernatural abilities yet.
You’ll fit right in once we get you on the roster.
First step is attuning your blood to your room and the system will automatically log you, but it requires a spell, which is why I had to charge the dagger.
” He gestured at the large basin off to the side of the building that I’d mistaken for a broken water fountain. “You ready?”
Faint, pink and blue lights made the place look cute and inviting, but I couldn’t shake the tingling sensation of warning that traveled up the back of my neck.
If I registered my blood here, then there was really no going back.
I’d be in the system illegally and if I was discovered as a fraud, I’d be expelled and never let back in.
“Couldn’t I just apply like everyone else?” I asked and wrapped my arms around my chest. “What if this isn’t a good idea?”
Dante held out his palm and waited for me to take his good hand.
When I relented and slipped my fingers into his, he gave me a gentle squeeze.
“This is the safest way for you to learn about your powers and master them. If you went through the normal registry then your blood would be tested and flagged. I need to override the system when we register you.”
“Why would I be flagged?” I squeaked, starting to feel self-conscious.
Jess’s words came back to me again.
You’re a monster.
You’re supposed to work for us.
What the hell kind of creature was I that my blood would trip a security alarm at a place like Fortune Academy? Why did Kaito have to bind my powers? What powers was he keeping in check that were so dangerous that he wouldn’t even tell me what the hell I was?
“Hey, Lily. Stop freaking out on me.”
I blinked a few times only to realize that Dante was leaning heavily against the fountain and looked like he was seriously ready to pass out.
“Are you sure you’re up for this?” I asked.
He was right, I was freaking out, but if he passed out on me I’d freak out even more, and plus I felt kind of bad for him.
Dark circles had formed under his eyes and he scrunched over as he tried to steady himself against the fountain, looking like he was on the losing end of an internal battle.
“Damn Dark Mage did something to me,” he grumbled, then produced the stub of his hand. “Damn it, usually it’s healed by now.”
I tried not to pass out at the sight of blood and bone.
The wound wasn’t bleeding freely, but it looked more like a cauterized end where a hand should have been.
“Do we need to get Kaito?” I offered, my voice wavering as queasiness settled over me.
If the sight of gore made me uneasy, I hoped that meant at least I wasn’t a vampire.
Dante chuckled. “Already looking up to him, are you? That’s good. If you’re ever in trouble then Kaito is the right guy to go to.”
“I’m not looking up to anyone,” I shot back. I didn’t mean to sound defensive, but I was just trying to help. Kaito obviously had a good relationship with Dante. If anyone would know how to handle regeneration powers gone wrong it would be him—certainly not me.
“Yeah, okay,” he said, chuckling as if he didn’t believe me. “It’s better for you if you learn to trust Kaito, but I get it. That’ll come in time. I didn’t trust anyone right away either and it saved my hide a few times.”
Curiosity made me want to ask him questions, but Dante decided that pow-wow time was over.
He positioned my wrist over the clear fountain and pulled out his blade.
He whispered something I didn’t understand and it glowed to life.
An army could have descended on us and I wouldn’t have noticed.
The blade was gorgeous and its power called to me with warmth and enticement.
“Focus,” Dante said, his words kind but stern. He awkwardly pushed my wrist to rest on the basin’s edge with his elbow. It was hard to boss me around with one hand. “I’m going to cut you, okay? I need you to drop the blood into the basin and then stay very still.”
Something in me panicked at the idea. Most people were used to cuts, but I’d been extremely careful in the bar with any potentially sharp object.
For some reason the idea of cutting myself was terrifying.
It was as if I had a limited supply of my blood and to lose any of it would be devastating, but I knew it was an illogical reaction.
It had kept me from applying to Fortune Academy on my own, which apparently was a good thing.
I would have triggered some bad mojo with them and never gotten the help I needed.
I never would have met Kaito or Dante, and something told me that they had answers I needed, and perhaps I was more interested in them than I should be.
Dante rested the blade at the crook of my wrist and waited for my approval. I knew I had to say something to give him permission to cut me, which gave me a strange sense of power and relief. He wouldn’t hurt me or do anything without my permission, at least for now.
“Do it.”
Dante didn’t hesitate and sliced across my skin. I expected it to hurt, but it was more like a cool breeze that swept across my wrist. I couldn’t look down right away. Just the idea of seeing my own blood made me dizzy, or maybe that was already from the blood loss. Fuck, I was such a baby.
Dante flinched, then dunked his blade into the water and washed it with his cloak.
“What is it?” I asked. He seemed disturbed, but I was the one with a blood aversion issue. He was a badass hunter who chopped off his hands to pay debts to Dark Mages.
“I need to concentrate,” he snapped, then closed his eyes and circled the blade in the water.
I knew I shouldn’t have looked down, but curiosity won over.
What I saw confirmed any doubts I had that I was a monster.
My blood wasn’t red... it was black.