Chapter 10
CHAPTER
TEN
An hour later, Celia and her hunting partner, Professor Silex, drove me to the portal site.
There were many in Veil Haven, I was told, but we’d be taking one of the ones on campus.
Professor Silex was a part-time professor of vampire combat, and he was also in Celia’s fighting unit.
I was learning more by the minute, and Celia didn’t seem to be bothered by my questions, answering them as we walked.
“What’s your role in the fighting unit?” I asked Celia as she walked across campus with Professor Silex, my pace quick to keep up.
“I’m the slayer. The primary executioner of vampires.”
“She’s arguably the most important member. Slayers have the highest kill count and are field commander by default. She’s the boss.” Professor Silex whispered the last part, leaning closer.
Whoa. That sounded so cool.
Celia smiled at him. “I couldn’t do my job efficiently without Silex. He’s the striker. He protects me at all costs and weakens the vamps for me or funnels them to me so I can end them.”
Jeez, they were killing machines.
“What are the other roles. The arcanist?” I asked, hungry for knowledge.
“If you can get one. They’re rare, but yes, striker, slayer, arcanist if you have one, and then the tracker and the sentinel.
The tracker finds the vamps for you. The sentinel does damage control, makes sure humans are out of harm’s way during raids, and ensures you get home alive with at least three exit points at all times.
” She said this casually like it wasn’t the craziest thing I’d ever heard.
“This is kind of awesome and crazy,” I laughed.
They both grinned. “You don’t know this yet, but your place on your future unit will be the most talked-about thing all year. Everyone wants to be an arcanist or a slayer,” Celia told me.
I’ll bet.
“How are the spots chosen?”
We stepped up to a redbrick building with a neat metal sign that read East Wing Portal .
“When you get your hunter runes, they will show certain abilities you have, which will make it obvious what role you’ll have in your unit, and then after months of practice, you will go before the Veil Stone Conclave, and that decides who will be in your unit group.”
Veil Stone Conclave?
“Then right after that, there is a trial field test where you test out that unit to make sure it’s a good fit before you take your oath.”
Oath. Whoa, sounded serious. I noticed she said when I get my hunter runes, not if.
I had no idea how to even process that because they opened the door to the portal room, and then I was standing face-to-face with Asher. The tall blond stood in the doorway wearing a tight polo and slacks, and I wasn’t prepared for it.
My stomach dropped at the sight of him. The surprise was evident on his face as well.
“She’s going?” he asked, and my heart sliced in half at the disapproval in his tone.
Celia raised her eyebrows at his tone. “She is the reason you’re allowed to go,” she told him. He swallowed hard, and Celia peered at me. “Asher will be coming with us to New York City, where he has some personal business.”
I glanced at Asher to find that he was all but glaring at me.
“Do you mind if I speak to Asher alone for a second?” I asked Celia and Professor Silex.
Celia shared a look with Silex and nodded as they dipped inside, the door shutting behind them with a soft click.
Asher stepped out to speak to me and crossed his arms, making his biceps pop. His face was devoid of any emotion.
What is this dude thinking?
I just nodded, trying to still my heart rate. Why did he hate me? It was starting to piss me off. I didn’t do anything wrong.
“Listen, I’m sorry you didn’t get your hunter marks, but I was attacked by vampires on my birthday and ran off like any reasonable person would. You followed me, which I’m grateful for, because I probably wouldn’t be alive otherwise, but I didn’t force you to.”
He said nothing, just watched me with a cool expression.
“Hello?” I waved my hand in front of his face.
“I was waiting for you to ask me a question or something,” he said, shrugging.
Okay, he wanted a question. Smug bastard.
“Why are you acting mad at me? I didn’t do anything to you,” I growled.
He sighed, relaxing his arms. “I’m not mad. I’m focused . Focused on getting my hunter runes, getting a good position in a hunter unit, and graduating so I can become licensed. You are a giant distraction, and I don’t have mommy’s money waiting for me in some bank account if I fail.”
I gasped, mouth opening at the way his last line cut right into me.
Regret washed over his features, eyes going dark green, and he frowned. “I shouldn’t have said it like that. Stella, I meant?—”
He took a step closer to me, and I rushed forward too, getting right up into his face. I could see the fear wash over his features.
Good.
I was pissed.
How dare he talk to me like that?
“I don’t have a mommy ,” I growled. “I grew up a ward of the State of Washington. I have a dead lady I’ve never met who left me a ton of money that I don’t want. You know what? Be mad at me. You don’t deserve my friendship anyway.”
I slammed into his shoulder, knocking him back a few steps, and reached for the door handle, tearing it back and stepping inside.
Asher Voss was a complete and total jerk.
I would never speak, think, or talk about him again.
He was dead to me.
When I got inside the portal building, Celia and Silex were talking in hushed voices, their heads bent together, and I caught the tail end of if there is another attack ? —
But they quieted when we neared, the words cutting off cleanly.
My blood was rushing into my ears I was so angry at the way Asher had just spoken to me, the heat of it buzzing through my chest. I tried to take three deep breaths in and act calm, but I could tell by the way Celia looked from me to Asher, who just followed in behind me, that she knew something was up.
“Okay, ready to go to our first stop, New York City?” she asked.
I just nodded curtly.
She and Silex stepped to the side, and my jaw unhinged when I saw a giant train station behind them with a string of train cars stretching into the distance, metal gleaming under bright overhead lights like something pulled from another world entirely.
Celia seemed to read my confusion. “We portal from here when we need to take large groups of hunters or students to the mortal realm.”
The train car flashed a bright blue light, and then the doors opened with a soft hiss.
There was a woman standing there in the open doorway.
It was the master arcanist from last night when the school was attacked, the one who drew on the ceiling. She stepped forward, her presence calm and grounded.
“Sorry I’m late,” she told Celia, bowing her head deeply in respect.
“No worries,” Celia said and gestured to me. “Stella, this is our unit arcanist, Akari.”
“Hi.” I waved stupidly, unsure how to greet an arcanist.
She bowed lightly to me, hands at her sides. “Hello, Stella. I’m pleased to meet you. Hey, Asher.” She then pivoted and bowed to him.
“Akari.” He bowed back.
Crap. Was I supposed to bow?
I wasn’t sure if it was an arcanist thing or a cultural thing, but I didn’t want to disrespect her. My hands hovered uselessly at my sides.
She pulled out a silver wafer box and began to fiddle through it, her fingers precise and practiced. Finally, she pulled out a thin vellum parchment rectangle the size of my thumbnail.
“Stella, I spent all morning customizing this for you. I heard you got sick and blacked out your last portal?”
I felt my cheeks go hot. “Yeah, it was my first time,”
She smiled sweetly. “That’s totally normal, but this should help your body acclimatize. There are also runes to hide your scent for a few hours, but it’s hard to get the timing right, so just be as brief as possible in the mortal realm.”
I nodded, and she handed me the wafer, its surface cool against my skin.
“Anything for strength and speed?” I asked, hopeful.
She looked at Celia with a half-cocked grin. “Baby hunter is ready for the big stuff?”
‘Baby hunter.’
I knew she wasn’t being mean. She was smiling.
“Baby hunter took a Celestis Astra wafer and breathed fire two nights ago,” Celia told her.
Her eyes widened. “Holy sh—” She cleared her throat and turned back to me. “Maybe next time. For now, you will have to rely on Celia and Silex to protect you. You’re in good hands.” She winked.
I nodded and then opened my mouth, looking at Celia. She waved her hand as if encouraging me to put the parchment on my tongue, and I did.
“Asher, this will hide your scent as well.” Akari handed him a wafer, and I found myself staring at her neck tattoos.
They weren’t runes. They were like normal tattoos you would get from the mortal world.
One was a bright orange koi fish wrapped around blue water.
Akari leaned into Asher and put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing.
“I left some flowers on the seat for you in the train…” She cleared her throat.
Asher nodded. “Thank you.”
Flowers on the seat?
What?
We boarded the train, and the doors shut behind us with a solid thud.
The train car was empty, and my gaze instantly went to the wrapped bouquet of flowers as Asher bent to scoop it up and then sat with them on his lap, his jaw tight.
Who were the flowers for? A date?
I took a seat next to Celia, and she tapped something on her watch. “Take in a deep breath, Stella,” she told me.
I did, my heart hammering in my ears as everything went blue, the world tilting like I’d stepped onto a moving platform. I pinched my eyes shut, my stomach yanking slightly, but when I opened my eyes, we were still in the train car, yet it was moving on the tracks, smooth and steady.
“Grand Central Station,” a pleasing female voice said over the loudspeaker.
I looked at the passing station as we slowed, amazed that there were hundreds of people on the platform.
“We’re here?” I asked Celia.
I’d never been to New York. And the train ride portal had felt pretty seamless this time.