Chapter 22 #2
She brings me to a bathroom with walls made of beautiful slate-blue tile and golden fixtures for the plumbing.
There’s a different rune on each handle of the shower as I undress myself while Orion waits outside the stall.
They’re similar to the ones in my first shower here a few mornings ago.
One handle has the rune for hot, and the other the rune for cold.
On the ceiling, there is a circular piece of metal with holes in it.
So much more convenient than a bath heated by fire magic like in Estrella.
I turn the knob for hot, and steaming water cascades down from the metal disk above, soothing my aching joints. I scrub the dried blood and dirt from under my nails. I’m elated to remove the crunchy blood from my scalp and see it hasn’t stained my translucent hair crimson.
I turn off the water and dry my hair with my fire magic. Orion throws some new fabric over the crystal stall door to bind my breasts and a clean pair of underwear that are surprisingly my own.
How did she get my underwear from my room when I have a runic lock on the door? Orion senses my confusion, no doubt noticing the shift in my Aura.
“I had Gearin hack the lock for me. Your runic magic is decent, but he said it definitely needs work.”
“Well, right now, I’m thankful for my lackluster job allowing him to hack his way in,” I say with a dry laugh.
Then I quickly use magic to clean my basilisk armor and boots.
I emerge from the shower stall in my white and gold leathers, my secret armor underneath and Pip hidden on my arm.
My body is steadier; I’m less lightheaded after scrubbing the memory of that night from my skin.
“Spick and span. Next, we meet the others in the Grand Conservatory before morning lectures. If you need to run to the bathroom, Kissa will go with you, since she’s with you for all your classes.
S?las is your escort for meals because his shadow powers are a force no one dares to mess with.
Do be a dear, and try not to provoke him…
He’s been in a particularly foul mood lately. ”
I roll my eyes at Orion regarding that last comment. He is the one who’s always provoking me, but I don’t need to bring that to anyone’s attention.
Orion continues, “Fenwick and Juniper will escort you to and from your room at night and morning. We talked to Winx, and she convinced her dad to let them be roomed on either side of your apartment. So, make sure to thank her for her kindness. After classes today, Cinder will escort you to your meeting with Chancellor Ashfel. He insisted the Chancellor wouldn’t fight him on joining you for the meeting.
Don’t ask me why; he’s always so cryptic.
He likes taking his whole dark and mysterious bad-male vibe to a whole other level. ”
“Any idea on when I’ll no longer have to be shepherded around like a sheep?” I regret the comment as soon as it slips from my lips. They’ve clearly put a great deal of thought and effort into keeping me safe. I’m sure they have better things to do with their time.
“Just because you fought off some wild monsters during your trials doesn’t make you the strongest one here.
You may have trained with Sully, but you were isolated in your backwoods village.
There are games afoot in these halls, secret agendas.
You’re out of your element when it comes to the scheming of high society.
Yes, this is a war university, but it’s also a place where bloodlines are vying for control and the queen’s favor to grant them power beyond magic.
You have managed to make yourself the target of some very powerful players. ”
I open my mouth to apologize for my indignant comment, but Orion’s not finished.
“We’re all working to survive this battle, just like we’ll have to work together to survive the battles out there against the Wuvon.
It's time you start learning how to play nice with others. Trust our knowledge of the skirmishes between the walls here, and we will be able to lean on your battle prowess for the war out there. We are one or none at all,” she says fiercely as she grabs my arm, her patience lost.
There are those words again. I guess they’ve become the Zenith motto while I was unconscious. She’s right; it’s a recurring theme of the day. I need to stop thinking like a feral, lone dog and reframe my point of view to that of a member of a well-honed wolfpack.
Orion’s tone softens.
“I can tell by your Aura that this is new for you. I promise, you’ll never be alone again.
You really need to start thinking of us as one.
The rest of our lives, we are bound together by invisible threads.
To sever one is to weaken us all.” There’s almost a plea to Orion’s words as she opens the ornate golden arched doors to the rotunda of the Grand Conservatory.
She leans her head to my ear. “I know it’s not easy adjusting to being part of a team.
The other Faelings never wanted to play with me because of my powers.
Then one day, I accidentally compelled someone, unaware the power manifested.
After that, I was put in separate classes.
That ability is kept secret. It’s hard being around Fae for me, in a different way.
Seeing all their emotions and not saying a thing.
I make other Fae uncomfortable, but not in our Wing.
We’re stuck with each other; we will eventually know one another better than anyone in this world.
We’re stronger together because we are a part of something bigger now.
I’m here for you, when you’re ready, to help you sort out that messy Aura full of emotions you think you’ve cleverly stuffed away. ”
I’m surprised she can handle looking at that shitshow.
I squeeze her arm, thanking her for sharing her own vulnerable bits, tucking them somewhere safe so they can never harm her in my hands.
It seems like our team is full of broken pieces, fitting together in a powerful mosaic.
Ready to channel our darkness into something good, for once.
Our entire Zenith is standing close by, waiting for us.
The skin on the back of my neck prickles as I see the broad-shouldered male leaning against the wall with his arms crossed against his black aerial leathers, which barely keep his muscles contained.
My pulse dares to quicken, remembering his grip sliding up my thigh, a smoky whisper on the cusp of my ear.
I roll my shoulder, brushing off the thought; after all, he was just using my forsaken hormones to pry information out of me.
The way he looks at me is different this time.
He appears lost as I search his ice-blue irises, the flecks of crimson hidden behind swirling smoke.
His jaw clenches, the bands of muscles popping in his neck.
I think I catch a glimpse of a new tattoo there that I don’t remember from when his shirt was off in the Combat Arena.
His focus darts to a door opening across the rotunda.
His gaze sharpens, irises pure white as his raven hair billows into smoky shadows coiling above him.
In a blink of an eye, he disappears. I find myself jealous of his ability to melt into the shadows and port anywhere at will.
I follow where his previous fixation led as I walk forward to my team.
To my dismay, it leads to Chet and his cronies.
Power crackles and sizzles beneath my skin as his beady green eyes lash to mine.
Chet grits his teeth.
My face: a mask, pure boredom and indifference. I won’t let him know he nearly killed me.
An unsettling grin takes over his face as he runs his fingers through his slicked-back blond hair.
I want to mince him apart, cut off his precious bits, and watch him choke on them for what he did to me. But a petite hand grasps my arm.
Fenwick’s smile beams beneath her black-and-white cookie bobbed hair. Her sunburst yellow eyes twinkle in the golden light spilling from windows of the Grand Conservatory.
“He isn’t worth it, Savaé,” Fenwick warbles.
She has a way about her. So much gleaming light, so full of hope and happiness.
It would utterly gut me to see her frown.
She is everything bright and good in this world.
Every wholesome thing I’ve never had. I want to keep her this way forever.
A shining beacon in this wretched world.
I smile back at her. “You’re right. He isn’t.”
She jumps up and down in excitement. The large single broadsword on her back sways with her movement. She’s short, fiery, and full of light, just like her magic. I wonder how she’s stayed so chipper despite being trained as a weapon for war by the Maidens.
“Good to see ya alive and kickin’. Ya know, that slithering coward doesn’t even deserve the fate of Emberhell,” Seraph jests, blue war braids swaying with her typical greeting—a slap on the back—before her eyes widen in apology, remembering I just nearly died.
Vex flips the black curls around her curved horns with a sigh.
“You do realize my family is from Emberhell, right?” Vex asks with a furrowed brow across her freckled red face.
“Yeah, and there’s a reason they left that burning shithole full of demons, ain’t there?” Seraph chuckles.
Vex huffs. “You’re right. It is a scourging pit of death and destruction, infested with all manner of horrifying demons.
Unlike the beautiful demon you have at your leisure now.
” She feigns a curtsy to the group. Her black horns shimmer with the movement, contrasting against her leathery scarlet skin.
Emberhell is thought to be an extension into our world of the Underrealm itself, where souls too corrupt to find redemption transform into all manner of demons made of pure pitch.
The continent itself is believed to be a barren wasteland of burning flames, filled with tarry pits that allow the dark demons from below access to our world.