Chapter 26
It’s morning outside and still I can’t fall asleep, going in circles wondering if he got caught, who it was that placed extra security on the Lexarcanum and whether there will be any consequences for any of us. It startles me, when my phone starts ringing. It’s on the nightstand, vibrating as the sound keeps piercing my ears. I grab it, but I hesitate, the fact that it’s an unknown number adding to my dread. He did get caught, didn’t he? And now they’re calling to tell me they know I was involved as well.
Damn it, Anna, get it together and just answer the phone. “Hello?” I say with hesitation in my voice.
“Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty,” comes the mocking reply.
Bane? It’s his voice for sure. “Yes? Is everything okay?” I ask, even though he sounds downright chirpy.
“Didn’t I tell you you’ll be doing things my way from now on? That includes getting up when I tell you to.”
I roll my eyes even though he can’t see me. “Fine, I’m up.” I open my mouth to ask if the Academy Guard came to see him as well.
But he beats me to it. “Perfect,” he says, and hangs up.
For a second, I just frown at my phone. Then I breathe an audible sigh of relief and decide I’ll be going straight down for breakfast.
Before I can even put my clothes on, my phone pings. Thinking it’s Bane again, I come to check it, only to see we’re being summoned for another meeting with the Order.
Whatever that means, it can’t be good. I rush to get dressed and storm out of my room.
It’s in record time that I’m entering the hallway with the secret order room, my eyes immediately landing on him. Bane, his back turned to me, strolling down the hallway as if nothing ever happened.
It makes me breathe a sigh of relief, because it must mean that nothing did.
I rush to catch up until I’m falling into step with him. He gives me an unsurprised side-long glance, then quirks an eyebrow when he sees me inspecting his forehead.
No visible damage. Phew.
“Morning to you too, Novak,” he drawls as he comes to a stop, putting a cup of coffee on the commode to his left. “Now hold out your hand.”
The request makes me frown, but I listen, if nothing, out of curiosity.
He turns to face me, reaching into his pocket to take something out as he explains, “This is your new alarm clock.”
He snaps a sleek black bracelet with his company’s logo around my wrist, looks at it for a second and then locks eyes with me with the slightest smile tugging at his lips. “From now on, you go to bed at midnight and wake up every morning at eight sharp.”
“You can’t be serious,” I protest with a frown.
“Dead serious.” He takes his phone out, pulls up an app and says, “And I’ve gotten a strong impression that waking the Chosen One is equal to waking the dead, so let’s just make sure this thing works.”
He presses a button, the bracelet almost instantly starting to buzz so obnoxiously, I start looking for the off button.
When I don’t find one, I look up to find him staring at me with a smirk on his face. “How do I shut it off?” I demand.
“You don’t,” comes the explanation for the smirk, “only I can.”
My eyes narrow at him as the goddamn thing keeps buzzing like a demon from hell. “Yeah that’s not happening.” And I try to unclasp it.
When I fail, I close my eyes for a second, take a deep breath and then look up. “Let me guess, I can’t take it off either.”
Shaking his head, he clicks his tongue, the smirk only growing wider.
“Who makes bracelets you can’t take off?” I complain. “Don’t tell me you got this specially done just to be an asshole?”
“Why of course,” he says with feigned earnestness. “I wouldn’t want to disappoint, now would I?”
I throw daggers at him and hold my hand out again. “Take it off.”
He shakes his head. “I thought you wanted to train for real,” he says, getting in my face to throw me a little squint. “And there’s no real training without overall discipline.”
I lower my hand, but I do make a point of rolling my eyes with an exaggerated sigh.
He laughs. Then he gets the coffee off the commode and hands it to me, making my eyebrows shoot up.
“Now, so as not to be a complete asshole,” he starts as I take a whiff, “I’ll be allowing you one a day, except on the days we have training sessions or Order meetings. On those days, it’ll be me bringing you the coffee.”
It smells amazing. I take a sip. It is amazing, but it’s also not just coffee. When I look up at him, he says, “It’s just some special shift-inducing spices.”
He starts back down the hallway, making me rush to catch up with him, my mind going straight back to last night.
I throw him a sneaky glance, failing to stop myself from poking. “So, after I left? You and Derek had a good time?”
“Why, you jealous?”
“You wish,” I say with a scoff. “I actually think you’d make a cute couple.”
“You spent a lot of time thinking about that?” He pauses to throw me a knowing smirk. “Or just the possibility your competition’s gotten significantly larger?”
I roll my eyes. “You’re insufferable. Now I hope you actually do fall for a guy and find yourself having to endure all the stigma.”
He shrugs. “Even if I were into men, you think I’d care about what others thought of me?”
I just look at him for a second. “How mature you are,” I say sweetly just as I walk up to the secret order room. I stop to grab the doorknob, adding, “But of course, only when it’s in your best interest, so...”
I move to push the doorknob, but the door doesn’t move. He’s wrapped his fingers around my hand and he’s pulling it in the opposite direction. “Are you really that desperate to find faults with me?” he asks with another smirk. “Maybe you should think long and hard about what that means.”
He gives me a mocking wink, opens the door and motions for me to get inside.
I throw him a flat glare. “I don’t really need to try to find faults with you, Bane. So why don’t you fuck off?”
He does a mocking little bow. “It will be my honor, oh Chosen One.”
It makes me let out a laugh. Still smiling, I make my way to the still empty table. As soon as I get settled in my seat, he walks over, grabs the chair next to mine, lowers himself into it and pushes it as close to me as possible. “Is this far enough?” he asks, his knee pressing into mine.
There they are, the unfailing butterflies in my stomach. I roll my eyes and drag my chair away from his.
It doesn”t make him wipe the smug smile off his face, but it’s at the very next moment that the others start entering the room.
I throw warm smiles to Raven and Alaric, and curt nods to Serra and Lorcan.
“It’ll be a short meeting, don’t worry,” Lorcan starts grimly as the rest of them take their seats. He remains standing in front of his, fixing his eyes on me. “Of course, only if everyone here chooses to tell the truth.”
What the…
He glances around the table. “Where were you all last night around midnight?”
“I was in my office,” Serra says, looking as if she knows exactly what’s going on. “I still had some papers to grade.”
Lorcan nods and turns his attention onto Alaric, who seems utterly confused. “Raven and I were in my room, playing cards.” Raven nods.
Lorcan’s eyes dart to Bane, narrowing in irritation. “We know where you were, Bane.”
But it’s rubbing me the wrong way, the way he’s trying to lord over everyone with the needless suspense, so I cut him off to explain to Raven and Alaric, “Someone broke into the Restricted Section last night, Bane tried to help and was attacked along with one of the guards.”
“How good of you to remind us of yourself, Miss Novak,” Lorcan says with poison in his voice. “Why don’t you tell us where you were.”
“You know exactly where I was and what I know, you did send one of the Academy Guard to my room to interrogate me last night.” I throw him a fake smile. “But sure, I’ll humor you. I was in the Library, and I know I heard something up there, but I thought nothing of it, and I just returned to my room.”
“So this has got nothing to do with you having asked for access to the Restricted Section, again?”
“I’m still hoping to get it, so no,” I reply snarkily, “I haven’t started thinking about break-ins, yet.”
I see him grit his teeth. “Well, you’re not getting the access, especially now.”
Goddamn it. “But Professor, did they even take anything?” I ask, trying to salvage the situation.
“No, they haven’t, but that doesn’t mean we’re in the clear.”
“You’re really not giving me access?” I demand.
“No. You’re all dismissed,” he says as he moves to walk away, motioning at Serra to follow him. “This was it for today.”
“Wait a second,” I urge, sitting straighter and making Serra stop getting up. “Alaric, could you show them the book?”
He takes it out of his bag and hands it to Lorcan. Lorcan takes it, frowning.
“If you’re so bent on refusing to give me any more information,” I start, “could you at least tell me how this book could be related to the one that chose me. It’s got the same symbol showing in a drawing inside.”
Lorcan thinks for a second. Then a smile tugs at his lips. “Thank you for bringing this.” He puts it in his robe pocket.
Gritting my teeth, I watch him and Serra leave the room.
***
It’s late and I’m in the cafeteria with Alaric and Raven, pretending to be on my phone while fuming inside. That goddamn Lorcan, blocking my progress every step of the way. I’d hoped I’d somehow be able to avoid doing what Bane wants me to do. It doesn’t feel particularly tempting to me — researching weird deaths and potentially finding out I’m being lied to.
What am I supposed to do? Nothing? Just wait for Baldur to show up?
It snaps me out of it, when I hear the sound of a cane hitting the polished stone floor of the cafeteria.
I look up only to find Serra walking up to our table, leaning on her cane even more than usual. “Could I talk to Anna alone?” she asks my friends.
“Sure, Professor Naehorn,” Alaric says, and the two of them get up and leave in search of another spot.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t come sooner,” Serra says.
“Are you okay?” I ask as I watch her lower herself into the chair. I’m still sore about her declining my request for access to the Restricted Section, but the state of her is making me forget all about that. It’s not just the rapidly graying strand of hair on her head, it’s the paleness of her skin as well.
She gives me a tense smile. “Well, to tell the truth, I am a little worried about last night’s break-in.”
“You know,” I say with a shrug, “the whole Aurora thing might be the center of our universe right now, but as far as I know, we’re the only people at the Academy who even know about it.”
She smiles again, looking at me like I’m some innocent puppy. “Oh Miss Novak…”
It does make me realize what I’ve just said. “Yeah, I understand,” I admit through gritted teeth. “But there’s nothing I can do to help, so…”
I look away, wanting her to leave.
There’s a moment of silence before she says, “You know, it wasn’t me who declined your request for access to the Restricted Section.”
I turn to look at her, my eyebrows pulling down.
Pressing her lips tight as if she’s uncomfortable about it, she says, “He just wanted me to make it seem like it wasn’t him turning you down.”
Lorcan.
I take a deep breath, my jaw clenching. “I see.”
She leans a little forward, throwing me a slight, knowing smile. “I just want you to tell me I have nothing to fear.”
Fuck, she knows it was me. Of course she does. She went to the scene of the crime, where I did end up making Bane use magic after all. She seems to be covering up for us. It’s in a softer voice that I say, “It’s all good, trust me.”
She breathes a sigh of relief.
“Although,” I add, recognizing an opportunity, “I have a feeling I won’t be getting to see that book, ever again. I’m not even talking about the Lexarcanum book. That’s how desperate I am.”
To my surprise, Serra throws me a mysterious smile, says, “Well…” She reaches into her robe pocket, taking Alaric’s book out and handing it back to me, just like that. “Let’s just keep this our little secret.”
My eyebrows shoot up. I smile. “Damn, Serra. You’ve just made my day.”
She opens the book for me on the bookmarked page. “And I saw that you tried deciphering this bit right here. Only, you don’t seem to be able to figure out this particular mysterious symbol.”
It makes me frown.
“When you first mentioned it, right here in the cafeteria…” She clears her throat in discomfort. “We still weren’t sure about you and I didn’t want to burden you.”
I hold my breath as she glances around the room, leaning a little closer and dropping her voice. “It’s the symbol for Baldur, Miss Novak. The Bringer of Suffering.”
My mind exploding, I just watch her get up. “Hope this helps, and have a pleasant afternoon,” she says and walks away.
As soon as she’s out of sight, I get out of my chair and rush over to Alaric. Confused, I glance around for a second, but it seems Raven has flown away somewhere. “Come on,” I tell my friend, “let’s go somewhere more private.”
***
“This changes everything, Alaric,” I tell him as soon as we throw ourselves on my bed. It’s almost midnight and this is the place I feel most comfortable talking about this right now.
“What the hell’re you talking about?” my friend asks with a frown.
I crack the book open, pointing at the scribbles. “I’ve tried deciphering this, right? And sure, I’m fairly certain these three are symbols for the three Original bloodlines — fang for vampires, eye for faes, moon for shifters. These two are water or something like that. I know the top part of the central symbol is suffering, which sounds like it should help, but it doesn’t. The meaning of a composite symbol is rarely a simple combination of its parts and there’s no record of this particular symbol anywhere. Which basically means I’m stuck, right?”
I lock eyes with him, excitement flooding my entire body.
“Um, yeah,” he says, sarcasm in his voice, “I believe that’s exactly what’s happening here.”
“Well, you can shove the sarcasm up your scrawny butt, Alaric,” I tell him with a smug smile, “because Serra just told me what the symbol means.” I watch his eyebrows shoot up. I drop my voice to say, “It’s the symbol for Baldur.”
“What the…”
“Yeah,” I say with a couple of vigorous nods. “And that’s what I meant when I said this changes everything.”
“So you know how to interpret it now?” he asks with a spark in his eyes.
It throws me off. “Um, I mean, no—”
He laughs. “But I can shove my sarcasm up my butt, is that what you said?”
“For crying out loud,” I say with a frustrated sigh, “I may not be able to tell you exactly what it means, but…” I throw him a grin, jabbing my finger at the central symbol. “It’s got Baldur himself at the center. Whatever it is, it’s a ritual that will allow us to do something to him.”
Alaric shakes his head, pressing his lips tight. “Or allow him to do something to us.”
I frown. “It’s an Old Norse ritual, Alaric,” I reply matter-of-factly. “They never have the caster represented in the schematic.”
“Of course,” he groans, slapping his forehead, “how could I have forgotten that?”
I roll my eyes at him. But then excitement floods me again. “It’s a victory, Alaric. With some luck, I’ll be able to stop the evil ancient vampire before he ever sets foot on this earth again.”
Seeming impressed, Alaric nods. “I propose a celebration with a party pack of nachos.”
I smile from ear to ear. “Motion seconded.”
It’s at that moment that I get a text. It’s Bane saying, “Lights out, Cinderella.”
I check my watch, my eyebrows pulling down. Is he seriously expecting me to go to bed at midnight? “Sure, right away. Night,” I reply, but instead of actually doing it, I just go to get the nachos out of my desk drawer.
What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him, right?
I’m back on the bed, chatting with Alaric with the open bag of nachos between us when my phone pings again. “If you’re in bed getting ready to sleep, why are your lights still on?”
For crying out loud. What kind of fascism is this? For a second, I consider replying, “I don’t know, maybe you’re stalking the wrong person?”
“What’s going on?” Alaric asks with a frown.
I roll my eyes, but I did agree to this, so I put on my big-girl pants and say, “It’s party over, that’s what’s going on. You can ask Bane all about it.”
I see my confused friend out and I turn the lights off before I start getting undressed.
“Perfect,” comes another text.
I don’t reply. I just get in bed, my mind rushing straight back to what I’d just been telling Alaric.
I’ll still have to go investigate the deaths, I think to myself. I promised Bane I would. But at least I’ve got something else going on.