Chapter Twelve #2
My expression must betray my thoughts because Xavier takes one look at me and winces. ‘I don’t mean to sound heartless. Don’t get me wrong, a life is a life. People died and I understand that. But if anyone was to leave this plane, I’m relieved it was him.’
‘You didn’t get along with him either?’ I take a guess.
He stares at me for a long moment, like he’s contemplating something, then places his pencil down on top of his notebook.
He begins to scan the room. Kroff is currently facing the blackboard, sketching the lunar moon cycle.
Students are copying the definitions of each phase down into their black notebooks; even Tilly has her head down, utterly focused.
Her pencil scratches along her page in quick strikes.
I watch, a little confused at first, as Xavier starts to roll up the cuff of his jumper. He pulls it back a few inches to reveal skin that is littered with scars. No, wait – burns.
My jaw drops as I take in the raised flesh. Some areas are darker than others where the skin has mended itself.
‘Xavier,’ I breathe his name. ‘Did he do that to you?’
What kind of monsters run in that family?
He quickly pulls his sleeve back down. ‘Let’s just say you don’t have to worry about me trying to sabotage your time here. In a way, I almost envy your brother. I’m jealous I couldn’t do it myself.’
I take a moment to internalise his words.
Part of me wants to defend Lukas, tell Xavier that he wasn’t the one to do it, that he’s innocent.
An apology is also waiting at the tip of my tongue.
Because what else do you say to someone who has been through what looks to be unimaginable pain?
The way those scars overlapped tell me that whatever happened to him wasn’t a one -time occurrence.
It’s no wonder he looked relieved when he was rejected from Malachite.
Kroff starts to walk around the room quizzing students at random. I haven’t paid attention to the last ten minutes of what he was saying, so when he skips my seat and points at none other than Xavier, my heart just about falls out of my ass in relief.
‘Mr. Davis,’ Professor Kroff calls out. ‘If I were to cast magic on a waning gibbous moon, what kind of magic would be most prosperous?’
‘Banishing and protection magic, sir,’ Xavier answers confidently, taking me by surprise.
‘Why those?’ Kroff leans against his desk, crossing his feet at his ankles and pushing his glasses up his nose.
‘Sir, the waning gibbous moon symbolises the process of slowing down, taking a look around you and letting go of the unwanted.’
‘The unwanted?’ Moira’s voice prickles the back of my neck. ‘Sounds familiar.’ A cruel laugh spills from her mouth.
Bitch.
‘Ah! Miss Davis,’ Professor Kroff pushes off his desk. ‘Since you seem so inclined to talk through my lesson, why don’t you tell me which stones are best to use beneath a waning gibbous?’
Everyone’s heads turn in her direction, except for Xavier. I glance over my shoulder just in time to witness her cheeks ripen.
‘Nothing?’ Kroff presses but she stays silent. Unable to give an answer. ‘Hmm, how about you?’ He raises a brow at Xavier.
‘Amethyst and clear quartz, sir.’ Xavier answers.
‘Very good.’ Kroff nods at him before his eyes jump to the scarlet-faced Moira behind us, who is glaring daggers at her cousin’s head. ‘Keep your schoolyard antics out of my classroom, Miss Davis, or you’ll find you no longer have a seat waiting for you when you step in here next.’
He moves on quickly, walking behind his desk to bend down and pick a box up from the floor. I don’t look back this time, but I can’t help sitting a little straighter now that I know not everyone tolerates Moira’s behaviour.
‘During a waning gibbous there are a few stones that will help aid intentional magic such as protection or banishing spells.’ Kroff reaches into the box and pulls out a small white stone with rough edges. He walks over and places it on the desk in front of a student.
‘Clear quartz!’ he announces. ‘I want each of you to take one and, before the waning gibbous has phased into the last quarter moon phase, your task is to find a way to charge it.’ He starts walking around the class, tilting the box so each student can pull one out.
‘Then I want you to write an essay on how this moon phase could benefit your unit.’
There are around twenty students in this class, so it takes him a while to get to where we are sat. He stops in front of Xavier first, who pulls a crystal out and holds it up to the light spilling in through the window.
‘Miss Nocthare,’ Kroff calls my name, tilting the box my way.
‘S-sorry,’ I murmur before reaching in and plucking one of the final stones left. It fits snugly in the groove of my palm. The stone looks rough, but as my thumb grazes over it I find smooth, glasslike indentations.
It’s … beautiful.
Kroff walks around the class until everyone has a crystal of their own, then heads back to his desk to gather his things, effectively dismissing us all with a wave of his hand.
Tilly and I start planning to figure out how to charge our crystals together as we pack up. We’re just through the threshold of the door and heading down the hallway when I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn around to find Xavier standing there.
‘Sorry to interrupt.’ He pops his pencil behind his ear. ‘But if you were planning to charge your crystals, tonight is your best shot.’
My brows furrow.
‘I thought Kroff said we had until the next phase of the moon to do this?’ Tilly pipes up beside me, voicing exactly what I was thinking.
‘That’s the timeframe he’s given us to complete both tasks, but if we’re to charge these correctly, two days from the last full moon is when you want to do it.’
‘Which is today,’ I say slowly. Was Kroff trying to test us? Probably; he seems like the type.
‘Seriously?’ Tilly groans. ‘How are we supposed to figure this out before tonight?’
‘I mean – I could help you if you want?’ Xavier offers. ‘I’ll be charging mine tonight after dinner, if you two want to join me?’
‘Oh look, the rejects are making friends,’ Moira sneers as she walks past, flicking her red ponytail over her shoulder.
My eyes roll so far back, I’m surprised they don’t get stuck.
‘Do you have something to say, Nocthare?’ Moira steps forward, coming toe to toe with me.
She’s taller than me by at least four inches so, much to my dismay, I have to look up at her.
She has the same blue eyes as Xavier, but while his have a warm softness right in the centre of them, hers are icy as she scrutinises me.
I don’t get the chance to respond, though, because a small curly head fills my vision as Tilly pushes herself in between Moira and me.
‘I find it rather ironic that you’re calling my friends rejects.
Wasn’t it your father who was recently stood down from his post in the guard?
’ Moira’s eyes widen at Tilly’s words. ‘You walk around here with a chip on your shoulder but what would everyone think if they knew all the terribly bad things dear old Daddy Davis has been up to, huh?’
‘Y-you have no idea what you’re talking about,’ Moira stutters, taking a step back, and I relish the way her face pales. Beside me, Xavier is stifling a grin.
‘I could relay them for you if you forgot,’ Tilly holds up a finger. ‘First there was the issue with the brothel, and then the—’
‘Keep your mouth shut about my family!’ Moira seethes at Tilly, shoving a finger in her face.
From the corner of my eye, I see a flicker of orange.
I look down and spot Moira’s other hand glowing with wisps of flame.
They dance around her fingertips, flickering in and out as if she can’t control them.
I instinctively step closer, as does Xavier.
Together we form a wall behind Tilly, who, much to my surprise, holds her ground, even though she’s significantly smaller than the redhead.
I tell myself there’s no way Moira would use her element on Tilly in a hallway right outside a classroom.
It would be stupidly reckless but also forbidden.
But then again, I don’t know Moira well at all, so I fix my eyes on that hand of hers.
‘No, Davis. You keep yours shut around my friends. Or I’ll fill every corner of this academy with every scrap of information I have on your father, and if you even think of retaliating, just remember who my aunt is.’
Well, shit. My friend is a little spitfire beneath her freckles and curls.
Moira’s eyes dart between the three of us. I can practically see the cogs turning in her head as she sizes up her competition, but it’s three against one now. She seems to realise that, because the flames die in her hand.
‘Watch your back, Revlock,’ she snarls at Tilly then turns her glacial eyes on me. ‘I’ll see how tough you are in Combat class without your friends, Nocthare.’
We watch her strut away in silence, but the moment she’s out of eyesight, Xavier and I whirl on Tilly.
‘You’re Jenna Revlock’s niece?!’ Xavier asks.
‘You little badass.’ I laugh, pride swelling inside me.
‘That was the best thing I’ve ever seen,’ Xavier adds, grinning from ear to ear.
Tilly’s head tips back in a groan. ‘I’m going to be in so much trouble if my aunt finds out I said that about Harmon Davis! Holy shit, I don’t know what came over me.’ Her hands shoot to cover her mouth, but her eyes are dancing with delight.
‘And here I was thinking you were all sunshine and flowers. You’ve got a nasty streak, and I like it.’ I poke her arm.
She snorts, batting my hand away playfully and Stars, it feels good to do this. Laugh.
‘Moira won’t say a thing,’ Xavier reassures Tilly. ‘It would mean bringing up my uncle’s secrets, and there’s no way she’d bring any more light to that than necessary.’
‘What’d he do, anyway?’ I ask, curious as hell to know what the big deal is.
Tilly scopes the almost empty hallway before answering in a whisper.
‘I don’t know the full extent, but I heard some horrible things happened at a handful of pleasure houses near the war camps.
He was assaulting the workers and using his element on them, the fucking sadist. The madame of one of the pleasure houses apparently has a lot of sway with the general, and when she put in a complaint, Harmon Davis was called in.
Word spread and a handful of lower-class warriors piped up and shared that Davis has been pushing his weight around in the camps too, burning younger warriors to “toughen them up” even though it’s against the law to use an element on another soldier unless in training and on even ground. ’
From the corner of my eye, I spot Xavier touching his forearm through his shirt.
‘That’s disgusting,’ I say, appalled. ‘So, what’s happening now?
He must be getting punished, right?’ I’m starting to get a better understanding of why Moira is the way she is – she’s rooted from bad people.
I wonder how close his son fell from the rotten tree, and if that’s why he did what he did to Xavier.
Did Lukas know about this? The vile things his fellow student did?
Was he friends with the older Davis student?
Tilly nods. ‘From what my aunt said, he’s facing a trial and has been relieved of any duties until further notice.’
I look up at Xavier, who hasn’t said a word for a moment, and I wince when I see his face has gone ashen and his light blue eyes have a faraway look in them.
‘Xavier? Are you all right?’
His chin dips. ‘Yeah. Just thinking we should probably get going if we don’t want to be late for our next classes.’
I’m certain that is not what is on his mind, but I don’t push the matter. He’s clearly battling his own demons, and I have a damn CNM class to get to.