20. Stella
20
Stella
Yuri
Did you miss me, Stella?
I stare at the text message, my hands shaking.
Did you miss me, Stella?
The “did” implies that I will no longer be missing him.
But he doesn’t know where I am, does he?
He couldn’t.
Maybe he knows I’m a supernatural. Maybe. I’m not sure how it would have figured it out, but that’s not out of the realm of possibility.
But he couldn’t possibly know I’m here. I’m freaking myself out for nothing.
I shove my phone into the bottom of my bag before storing it in my dresser. I don’t want to be tempted to check the messages. I don’t want to stew on this, but I can’t be in my room anymore.
Down the stairs and out the door, I breathe in the late afternoon air. It’s that liminal space between classes being over and dinner time, and normally I’d be studying or researching, or even hanging out with my friends, but today I am on my own.
In two days, I kissed my two closest friends. And of course, neither know about the other.
What am I supposed to do about this? I cannot deny the draw I feel to both of them, but this isn’t right. It isn’t fair.
If I choose one, there is a chance I’ll lose both of them. I won’t let that happen. I don’t know what will happen to our friendships once I get the information I need and get out of here, but I’m starting to think I’m going to need to bring them with me.
I don’t want either of them to change.
“On the ground!”
Loud voices stop me in my tracks.
“I said on the ground!”
Ahead of me, two male demons have guns pulled and pointed at a shuddering female. She slowly lowers to her knees with her hands raised in the air.
I recognize her. She’s in my meditation class. A Gorgon.
Her snakes are pulled back at the base of her neck and wrapped in a headscarf to obscure them from view, but I can see them thrashing beneath it.
“Lucille Dresden, you’re under arrest for breaking the spirit rules of Robert Sinclair’s Reformation Academy. You have been witnessed exposing your snakes and putting faculty, staff, and students at risk. As you have failed to reform, you will be remanded to Rigent prison for ten years. There will be no trial.”
“It fell out during yoga! Please believe me, it wasn’t intentional!” Lucille cries, tears running down her face. “It wasn’t intentional, I’m sorry! It won’t happen again.”
The demon officers ignore her protests and approach her from behind. The one with leathery wings that are a sickly shade of gray moves behind her and wrenches her hands to her back. He slides on a pair of cuffs that glow ice blue.
I’m not sure what kind of magic is imbued in them. All species have a form of inherent magic, and some are more potent than others. Whatever that is, I’m at a loss.
What doesn’t escape my notice is that she is being arrested for her spirit, and someone else’s was used to contain her.
It feels hypocritical.
A crowd has gathered, but no one is saying anything or stepping in to help Lucille.
I’m not surprised. Chances are, if we tried to help, we’d get slapped with cuffs, too.
One of the demons yanks her off the ground, and she stumbles, tears streaming down her face as she’s led away.
Her cries and pleas ring in my ears long after she’s gone.
The tinkling of water from the fountain may as well be the roar of a waterfall with how it fills my ears.
I’m perched on the edge of the unity fountain, my mind still on the arrest I saw last night. While it’s clear she was arrested for breaking her spirit’s rules, it sounds like an accident.
Why did they not give her another chance? This is a reform school, shouldn’t there be a little grace?
It has me thinking about what I’m doing here. I am playing fast and loose with the rules. If I’m caught with my phone or laptop, will I be arrested, too?
And what happens in prison?
I’d love to interview someone who served their sentence, but I don’t know anyone who’s been a part of the system, and it’s not like anyone can point me to someone they know.
And what kind of reformation does a demon go through to be willing to enforce such stringent laws on their own kind? They’re supposed to be agents of chaos and bad luck, yet they’re now the face of law and order?
It doesn’t make sense.
None of this fucking makes sense.
The classes are just classes! How can classes be responsible for such dramatic changes in spirits?
Despite his name being all over this place, I still haven’t seen Robert Sinclair. I assumed he had a heavy hand in how the Academy operated, and yet where is he?
“You don’t look happy to see me.”
My spine stiffens, and my hand freezes from swirling the water in the fountain’s basin.
“It’s been so long. I was sure you’d miss me.”
I look up into Yuri’s dark, narrow eyes and fight back a gulp.
He looks terrible.
His beige skin has taken on a chalky hue, and his eyes are bloodshot. His hair is overgrown, and his clothing is disheveled.
But none of that disguises the look of utter disdain on his face.
On instinct, my wings wrap around my body in a protective huddle. He tracks the movement and sneers.
“You lied to me, Stella.”
“You never asked if I was Authentic,” I reply shortly.
“A lie by omission is still a lie.”
I stand up and cross my arms, broadening my stance. “Why do you care? You got your dick wet. That’s all you wanted from me.”
“Do you not realize how this is going to make me look? When it comes out at work that I missed the fact that I was fucking a supernatural? How can I be taken seriously as an investigative journalist if people discover that you hid this from me?” He takes a step towards me, snagging my upper arm and squeezing. “Not to mention that not disclosing your spirit status to partners is illegal.”
My skin pales
How could I forget that?
It’s a serious offense and given no option of reformation. It’s straight to prison for you.
If an Authentic accidentally gets a supernatural pregnant and the child emerges with a spirit, the Authentic is relegated to the supernatural districts and held to their rules as they raise the child.
It’s charged as rape since it is assumed that an Authentic would not have consented if they knew the truth.
Yuri must be able to read the fear on my face. “I’m glad you understand the severity of your crimes.” He releases my arm and shoves me backward. It catches me so off guard that I stumble, my ass crashing to the fountain’s ledge.
“So you’re going to report me?”
Of course Yuri would ruin this for me. I would already be in cuffs beside Lucille if he knew exactly why I was here. There’s no way he’d let me get the leg up on him with a story like this. Regardless of my spirit status, the story would explode.
“You made me look like a fool.” Disdain is painted on every letter that flies out of his mouth. “You threaten my reputation by being here. By making it known that you’re an abomination.”
“I’m not an abomination,” I spit back at him. “And my spirit won’t ruin your reputation. I’m sure you can manage that all on your own.”
My cheek explodes with pain. When I whip my head back, I see his hand is still extended. My fist tightens, my thumb wrapping around the outside as I pull my arm back to give this dick a taste of his own medicine.
“Are you sure you want to do that?” he taunts. “I’m not sure if you’re aware, but my sister is Deputy Headmaster. I’m sure attacking a reporter who simply wanted to ask you some questions about your experience here is against the rules.”
My arm falls loosely to my side, and my wings droop.
I can’t retaliate.
One word from him and I’d end up in prison.
Forget my story. This is about my life.
I’ve never felt as hopeless as I do right now.
“What do you want from me, Yuri?”
“I want your discretion. I want you to leave Rigent when you graduate so your status doesn’t get out to my colleagues.” He reaches a finger out and drags it down my cheekbone. “But despite your lies, Stella, I miss you and what we had. There is no reason why we can’t continue it while you’re here. My sister can get me on campus whenever I want.”
Bile rises in my throat. The first two points are easy to concede.
But that last one.
“I’m not going to sleep with you again, Yuri.”
His shoulders stiffen underneath his denim jacket. The early evening light casts shadows over his face, highlighting his gorgeous, chiseled cheekbones.
“I’ll give you some time to decide. Accept my terms, or I’ll go to my sister. I’m sure she’ll be very interested to hear about how her little brother was manipulated into lying with a supernatural.”
With a small salute, he turns his back and walks away, leaving me reeling.