Chapter 11
Stay cool, Anna, I tell myself as I walk out of B13 and onto the silent hallway. But I don’t get very far. I stop by the first bench I see and take a seat, fixing my unseeing eyes ahead. I’m struggling with controlling my anger and wondering where it’s coming from all at once.
How did he manage to get to me this much, again?
Sure, he was an asshole. He literally told me I was wasting his precious time.
It didn’t exactly come as a surprise though. There was the night of the Opening Ceremony, when he showed he was arrogant and self-centered. Then there was what I saw of his Shapeshifting Studies class yesterday, when he showed he was downright selfish and cruel as well. It was stupid of me — to dismiss the way he behaved and try to make myself approach him with an open mind. Still, it was a conscious decision based on an existing impression.
So no, his being an asshole is not all that’s bothering me.
Lying my ass off…
Sure, at certain moments, I was lying. I don’t exactly enjoy it, but I’ve been lying my ass off ever since I was sixteen, when I ran off and started trying to build an actual future for myself.
But this particular situation is no different than all the rest, I think as I remember how naked I felt with him interrogating me like that. I mean, I need to protect myself, don’t I? And if there’s one thing that life has taught me…
I can’t exactly be myself around others without getting into serious trouble.
It makes me let out a laugh, when I realize I’m getting myself worked up over nothing.
Why should I let these special classes make me start doubting myself all over again? From all I know, it could be later this afternoon that they figure out I’m not a shifter and stop requiring me to come to classes in general.
A smile tugging at my lips, I get up, check my schedule and leave to grab a bite before I have another class.
Just as I pass the entrance into the Junkyard, I hear people chanting something I can’t quite make out.
Curios, I back up and take a peek.
What I see makes a frown scrunch up my forehead. There’s a crowd forming a circle, and in the middle of that circle, I see this pompous-looking fae guy getting into Raven’s face.
***
“Nym, Nym, Nym,” the students keep chanting as I keep trying to elbow my way through them.
“You want me to leave her alone?” the pompous Nym drawls mockingly as he turns to some tall, disheveled vampire in the first line. “I’m not sure you understand who you’re talking to.”
“Yeah,” some guy who’s obviously his bruiser chimes in from the sidelines, this smugness in his voice, “this is Nym of the House of Zylphyra, stupid.”
I keep going, this bad feeling in my gut making me start ordering people to move the hell out of my way.
“Don’t you fucking touch her,” I hear the vampire yell. “You were after me, remember?”
But it’s the very next second that I look ahead and see Raven shift. Nym lets out a laugh as the bird flies higher into the sky.
His two bruisers tear themselves from the crowd, moving as if they’re about to use magic to stop the bird from escaping.
“No need, you two,” Nym shouts in an amused voice. “I’ll take care of this myself.” And — his eyes fixing on the raven again and the Runes around his neck starting to glow — he slams the palms of his hands together and I see the raven stop, writhing in pain as it starts to get even higher up in the air, obviously not of its own volition.
I shove the last two people blocking my way and just as I step onto the empty circle where the action is, I let my voice boom, “That”s enough.”
The chatter dies down. With the corner of my eye, I see the raven drop to the floor. I breathe a sigh of relief. Nym turns to look at me, frowning.
His eyes narrow. Then a smirk tugs at his lips and he saunters up to me. “Aren’t you that Scion they’re claiming is a shifter now?”
“Yes,” I say with determination, “as a matter of fact, I am.”
“Well, why don’t you go back to the dirty hole you crawled out of?”
Everyone around us snickers.
I just look at the fae for a second.
A smile tugs at my lips. “Wow, so tough,” I purr as I take a step closer to him, obviously taking him by surprise. I don’t let him look away. “You’re such a tough guy, aren’t you? Why don’t you show me what you got and when we’re done, I’ll go dig out the House of Zylphyra contact sheet and call your mother for a little afternoon catch-up?”
This earns a moment of silence with a couple of muffled snickers thrown in. But what really gives me pleasure is seeing I’m getting to the guy, I can see it in his eyes that there’s something in mine that’s scaring him.
“What?” I demand with feigned surprise, taking yet another step closer to him, so close, he needs to back off to stop our bodies from touching. “Come on, I’m waiting, tough guy.”
For a second, he just looks at me, his face twisting in anger he’s not letting himself show. Then he lets out a scoff, taking control over his features again.
“Holy fucking Word,” he finally says, as if he wasn’t scared a second ago. He glances around, already looking for approval. “I mean, I knew Scions were a bit loose in the head, but this…”
Laughter booms through the courtyard.
“Yeah, sheesh,” one of the two bruisers chimes in. “Defending a cuckoo girl and a guy who should have his fangs ripped out.”
They all throw me weird looks, but then they start leaving and the crowd starts dispersing with them.
Fangs ripped out? It’s an extremely rude thing to say to a vampire, generally only reserved for powerless ones, I think as my eyes get drawn to the disheveled vampire. He’s crouching next to Raven, who’s sitting on the grass, now back in her human form. Gently, she’s trying to push his hand away as he insists on checking her for injuries.
Frowning, I walk up to them and get into a crouch myself. “Are you alright?” I ask Raven.
She doesn’t reply, she just looks up at me and then shyly looks away.
Finally, the vampire finishes the little check-up, breathes a sigh of relief and slumps to the ground, throwing her a look so filled with adoration, it makes me smile.
“She’s fine,” he says. He turns to me, his eyebrows pulling down. “But you…” He squints at me. “Bloody hell, are you naive or what? As far as I’ve gathered, you don’t have any powers. Nym is an asshole, sure, but he’s a powerful bloody asshole.”
My eyebrows shoot up. For a moment, I just look at him — the pale face with a strong nose, the skinny body all in black, the headphones around his neck. But it’s the fact that he seems refreshingly lacking in inhibitions that makes me let out a laugh and sit down.
I feel Raven’s eyes fix on me, but I get this feeling I should let her observe before putting her in the spotlight with any of my attention.
“There are far worse things in life than getting your butt kicked,” I tell her friend. “It’s just something I happen to know and he doesn’t. You can see it in his eyes.”
“Hm,” the vampire hums, his eyes narrowing at me. “Either way, I’m in your debt.” He glances at Raven, who’s still staring at me. “We both are. This is Raven and I’m Alaric.”
“Anna, nice to meet you.”
He nods and moves to get up, but I stop him. “Why were they picking on you?” I ask with hesitation in my voice.
To my surprise, he lets out a laugh. “I guess it’s mostly because we’re special class students.”
“Really?” I ask, my eyebrows shooting up. “So am I.”
I watch the two of them exchange a look. “You’re in luck,” Alaric says with a mischievous smile. “Special classes are the best. You show up for a single class every two weeks and the other professors leave you alone, so it’s the perfect way to slack off.”
I laugh. “Probably depends on the professor, how lucky you can consider yourself. What are yours like?” I ask, daring to glance at Raven as well.
She just looks away, while Alaric scratches his head, letting out an awkward laugh. “I don’t mind answering any of your questions, Anna. Just a fair warning. You don’t want to hang out with us,” he says. “It may be construed as mixing with the wrong crowd.”
“Well,” I mutter, “I have a feeling I already am the wrong crowd, so…”
While Raven only gives me a blink with those big, black eyes, Alaric bursts out laughing. He pats me on the back, saying, “Then why don’t you join us?”
We get up and the two of them take me to their usual spot, the alcove I saw Raven perched above. I settle in and keep chatting with Alaric, when my phone pings.
It’s Professor Naehorn telling me that in two weeks, as soon as I settle into my new life, I’ll be able to go back to working at the Library, part time.
I glance around the Junkyard, my smile growing wider.
I’ll have to look into that symbol, keep an eye on Lorcan and try not to get murdered by the other students. It might take me a minute to figure out how to manage my expectations when it comes to special classes and my sunny so-called professor.
But hey, nothing’s perfect, right? And I guess this is my life for now.
If I really am a shifter… It sends shivers down my spine, just thinking of the power, the freedom, and the independence I could achieve.
In three years, once I’ve graduated… No one will be able to take the Archivist job from me.