Chapter 17 #2
“All right,” Selethis said. “Good.” Her gaze landed on me.
“We’ve covered a lot in the past few weeks, but you should have been provided all the textbooks you need to catch up.
The history of each bloodline and coven is detailed, and you will learn it.
Understanding each other is key to a unified front against a common threat.
All animosity and conflict must be left outside of Nightsbridge.
If we cannot work together, the Horrors will prevail.
” She paused and ran her gaze up and down the rows of students.
Silence stretched for several seconds as students exchanged glances and hesitant smiles.
“There will be a test at the end of the month. Going forward, we will be learning about the pact between land and sea.”
She pressed the clicker in her hand, and an image of a ship appeared on the wall. “Before the pact, we were forced to hunt the undersea Horrors from above the waves. No easy feat, as you can imagine.”
“What kind of undersea Horrors?” someone asked.
“That is a question for Horror 101,” Selethis said.
She clicked again and showcased an illustration of a man leaning over the side of a small boat, talking to another man, who was partially submerged in the water.
“Alfred Regent was the human emissary who first made contact with the seafolk and brokered the deal that led to them working with us to keep the sea around Nightsbridge free of threat.”
“What kind of deal?” Pouvoir asked.
Selethis’s lips curved into a bitter smile. “Read pages 221 to 300 in Above and Beyond the Waves before your next lesson. There will be a quiz.” She clapped her hands sharply. “You’re dismissed.”
The students were quick to fly off their seats and out the door.
I lingered as the last students cleared out.
It was almost lunchtime, and my stomach was growly.
Dori and the others would be in the dining hall, and if I followed the crowd, then I’d find it easy enough, but by the time I got out of the room, the corridor was empty.
“Damn, things move fast here.” My stomach grumbled. “Don’t worry. We’ll get some food.”
“Hey.” I turned to find the wild-haired girl from earlier standing in the doorway behind me. “I’m Cami. Jay’s cousin. He mentioned you.” She smiled shyly and nudged her glasses up her nose. “You want me to walk you to the dining hall? I’m headed there anyway.”
Now that we were out of the gloomy lecture hall, the similarities in their features were obvious. “Meeting friends?”
She ducked her head. “Not really.” We set off down the hall. “I haven’t made any friends yet. I’m sure I will, though. Soon. I mean, I have Jay and the pack so…” She shrugged. “But they’re older so…” Her throat bobbed, her gaze darting away, clearly embarrassed.
I knew what it was like to be lonely, better than most, but telling her to learn to love her own company probably wasn’t what she needed to hear right now. “Friends come in all ages.”
Her smile returned. “That’s what Jay says.”
We took a left into a wide hall that I recognized because of all the vaulted windows looking out toward Coral Isle.
“This way.” Cami led me through an arch and into a huge common room area.
It was the most modern room I’d come across since getting to Nightsbridge.
The standard redwood of this place was offset with lighter, brighter colors in an attempt to create a welcoming atmosphere.
There was a variety of seating options, ranging from chairs to armchairs to squishy sofas decorated with throws and patterned cushions.
Books sat higgledy-piggledy on a bookcase built into the far wall, next to a large ornate mirror—the only old-fashioned item in this room.
There was a coffee station with a huge silver machine, the kind found at the bistros back in the nicer parts of Carlston, and several students stood around it, nursing cups of coffee and chatting.
The machine stood out like a beacon. “You must have some powerful magi-generators here.”
“We’d be lost without them. The ports rely on them.
There’s a master generator and several smaller ones, all connected by a network of underground cables.
They all link to the lightning rod, so we get extra energy from the storms. We get plenty of those here.
” We passed students playing billiards. “Through here.”
She led me beneath another arch and into a familiar passage. If I wasn’t mistaken, the dining hall came off here. “I know where we are now.”
“Good. The common room is kinda central to this floor. I call it the anchor room.”
“Good to know. But what would be better is if I had a map of this place. Do you know where I can get one?”
“Oh, there are no maps,” she said. “We just have to…figure it out.”
I lengthened my stride to catch up to her. She walked fast for someone so small. “Wait, are you saying that no one has a map of the Main Building?”
She shook her head. “Not as far as I’m aware.”
“Don’t you think that’s strange?”
“I mean…I did…at first, but it’s such an old building, and there are off-limit zones, so…” She shrugged. “Administration probably thought it best to leave us to map out the routes we needed, and there’s always someone to show you around if you get stuck. And here we are.”
The dining room doors were open, welcoming us into a room buzzing with activity and filled with delicious aromas. The midday sun streamed in through the wall of windows across from us, bathing the room in honey tones.
My altercation with Tamina meant we hadn’t eaten our meal here last night.
Pip had been kind enough to provide a light supper at Bramble, but I was determined to taste my mother’s hot pot today.
There were a lot of younger students about, but no sign of any older ones.
No Arcanus or hulking Therianthropes. The Hunters were probably training or on duty.
I spotted a couple of boys who had the pallor associated with sith or dhampir, but it was impossible to be certain without asking.
But Dori was here, as promised, along with Benedict, at the same table we’d shared yesterday. They waved me over.
“Okay, well…I’ll see you.” Cami backed away, her smile still in place, but her eyes dull.
I knew that look. And the feeling associated with it. “Do you want to join us?”
She blinked. “Really?”
“Of course.” I offered her a smile of encouragement.
I’d say it wasn’t a big deal, but I knew how much of a big deal it could be.
I’d been her all my life—lonely, friendless, eating my packed lunch in the washroom to avoid Veronica Blastenbury, the Arcanus bitch and self-proclaimed queen bee of the school.
I’d have happily drowned her in honey if I could.
Uncertainty flitted across Cami’s face. “Are you okay?”
Dammit, I had my murder smile on again. “I’m fine. Come on.”
She hesitated, shuffling from foot to foot. “They might mind.”
“If they do, then they’re dicks. But I don’t think they are.”
Cami trailed behind me.
Dori beamed up at me as we approached. “How was class?”
“Good.” I slipped into the seat opposite her, my back to the exit so that I was facing the epic windows. Cami dithered and I scooted over, indicating for her to join us. “This is Cami. She adopted me in class today.”
“Hi,” Benedict said. “I’m Benedict, and this is Dori.”
Dori lifted her chin in greeting, her gaze assessing. “You’re Jay’s cousin, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” Cami said. “I’ve seen you at the barracks. Before you got in trouble.”
Dori snorted. “Shit happens. But I’ll be back. Trust me.”
“How did things go with the Weave Watchers?” Benedict asked.
Dori elbowed him, her gaze darting to Cami.
Cami ducked her head. “Maybe I should go…”
“It’s fine.” I sat back in my seat. “It was weird…” I filled them in on my visit to the catacombs, leaving out the strange riddle. I wanted to think on that myself for a bit. “And then I got shoved through a portal and ended up outside the wards in the north border.”
“What!” they said in unison.
I filled them in on the ratakan and the chase, how the wards repelled me, and how I’d repelled the ratakan in turn. “But then they sprayed me, and if Drayven hadn’t shown up, I’d be ratakan food.”
Benedict and Dori sat back in stunned silence.
“That’s why you were late for class,” Cami said.
“Yeah, but don’t tell anyone, okay?”
She made a mouth zipping motion.
“Food will be here soon,” Clary said, joining us. “Onyx hot pot, since we didn’t get to eat it last night.”
“Who pushed you?” Benedict’s eyes narrowed to slits.
“Pushed who?” Clary asked.
Dori replied, “Someone pushed Ana through a port and into the north borderland.”
“What?” Clary’s eyes went round. “What happened?”
“Ugh, bitch patrol is here,” Dori groaned.
I twisted in my seat to see who she was referring to, a wicked smile curling my lips at the sight of the prima incantors.
Viola caught sight of me first, her mouth falling open in shock, arm whipping out to halt her companions.
The trio stared at me, clearly stunned at seeing me alive and unscathed.
I wiggled my fingers in a mock wave, then blew them a kiss.
Viola snapped her mouth closed and leaned over to whisper something to Tristen, then the three of them turned on their heels and left.
They were probably worried I’d tattled on them, worried they were going to get some kind of reprimand, and when none came, then they’d wonder why. Oh, how I loved mind games.
“Viola did it, didn’t she?” Dori asked, eyes flicking between me and the retreating trio.
“Bitch!” Benedict said.
“Wait till my aunt finds out,” Dori added.
I shook my head. “I’m not reporting it.” The room dimmed as the sun hid behind a cloud.
“Looks like a storm’s brewing,” Cami said. “Strange. The weather reports that came in said it would be clear today.”
“Forget the weather,” Benedict said. “I want to know why Ana won’t report Viola. That bitch needs to be put in her place.”
I snorted. “Then what? She comes at me again, thinking that I can’t fight my own battles? No. I’ll deal with her myself in my own time, and—”
The shrill sound of a siren split the air, battering my eardrums and drowning out my voice.
“Emergency drill!” someone yelled over the wailing alarm.
Dori rolled her eyes and grabbed her bag, ushering for me to follow suit.
Looked like I was going to miss out on that hot pot once again.
I grabbed my notebook and slid out of my seat, the siren still blaring and covering the sound of the many boots shuffling toward the exit. There was no urgency in anyone’s stride. Looked like drills happened often here for there to be—
All thoughts stopped as an icy, phantom hand gripped the back of my neck, and my knees buckled. I grabbed hold of Benedict, who was closest to me in that moment.
“Ana, what is it?” he asked.
A prickling sensation crawled across my scalp. “Something’s wrong…”
Whump, whump, whump.
“What is that?” Clary turned to the window.
Whump, whump, whump…
“Trinity save us.” Someone cried.
Shadows swallowed the room, as something huge, scaly, and blue filled the windows. My warning cry locked in my throat as it crashed through the floor-to-ceiling glass, bringing the salty spray of the sea with it—icy and sharp as it pricked my skin.
I hit the ground, shielding my head with my arms to protect my face from flying glass. Ears ringing and heart thudding in my throat, I slowly raised my head to the sight of wings, talons, and a serpentine body eating up the space.
My astounded brain finally registered what I was seeing.
A dragon…
I was looking at a fucking dragon.