Chapter 16 #3
Eight. Eight hunter runes. I peered at the one she was staring at.
It was at the very top, the last rune she’d tattooed, and it wasn’t like the others.
I couldn’t yet read runes, so it was hard to say what was different about it.
The lines were sharper, more sinister. It looked like a star had exploded or a phoenix was rising from the ashes.
She pulled the cap of my sleeve down to cover it as she stepped away from me. “I…think we should hide that for now.”
“Why? What does it mean?”
She looked around the room as if expecting more shadows.
“Are you okay, Stella? I thought I was going to lose you. You turned blue and…”
I reached up to rub my throat, taking in a deep breath. “I’m okay.” I wasn’t sure what to say. Yeah, maybe we should have stopped at six. I wanted to be the best of the best. I was an A student and an overachiever. And I’d almost gotten killed by a vision.
“I need to lie down. I don’t feel well, to be honest. That took a lot out of me. Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked me.
Now that I looked at her, I noticed the sweat on her upper lip, and her hair was damp as if she’d just run a marathon. I hadn’t thought of what this cost her until now.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Go lie down,” I told her.
She stood, and I got up as well, swaying on my feet a little.
My mind was spinning with everything that I’d just experienced. The dark thoughts, the vision of my mother helping the vampires. It wasn’t real, right?
“What the Veil Stone shows us…isn’t real, right?” I asked her as we made it to the door.
She seemed to consider my words. “The Veil Stone doesn’t make anything up. It shows you what’s already there. It’s real to us.”
It was very real to me. But that wasn’t what I meant. Still, I didn’t have the energy to clarify, and she didn’t look like she did either.
No one will love you. Your mother is helping the vampires. Asher is just using you. The thoughts I’d had while in that chair lingered, and I suddenly felt so alone.
We reached the door that led back to the waiting room, and Akari stopped me. “Don’t show people that top rune unless you trust them, okay?”
I frowned. “What do you mean? Like hide it? Why? What does it mean?”
She chewed her lip. “Just cover it for now. Okay?”
She looked…afraid.
Why wasn’t she answering me?
She reached out and opened the door before I could press her again to answer me.
Everyone was waiting for me. Asher, Celia, the rest of the students getting runes today.
“You took a while. You okay?” Celia looked anxiously at my arm, and I tugged the sleeve down to make sure my marks were covered.
“Holy crap! How many did you get?” Asher asked, stepping closer.
I peered at Akari, who was sharing a look with Celia.
“A lot,” I said nervously as everyone began to count them.
Celia stepped forward, eyes going up my arm.
“Night vision, regeneration, endurance, speed burst, adrenaline surge, high-force strike, extreme strength. Stella, these are all Ascendant runes.” She sounded stunned.
“Is that good?” She was making it sound good.
“It’s unheard of,” Asher said, and I glanced at him to see that he was peering at me with shock.
“I have one Ascendant rune.” Celia pointed to the one on her arm. “Endurance. I can chase a vampire at full speed for ten miles before I even feel it.”
That was cool. I wasn’t sure what to say.
“She’s a slayer,” Manda said.
My stomach dropped out. “I am?”
Celia grinned ear to ear. “You are.”
“I probably won’t even graduate,” a student named Chase said. He pointed to the one rune on his arm. “I couldn’t handle it.”
Celia moved to his side. “You did great. There’s a place for all of you in Veil Haven. Come on. Let’s head out.”
Slayer. I couldn’t even process that right now.
I spun to see that Akari was gone, and I walked wordlessly down the hallway, feeling slightly numb.
You’ll never be loved.
Your mother is working for the vampires.
Asher is just using you.
The voices lingered as I tried to push them away.
Asher was being quiet too, but everyone else was chatting pretty normally.
When we stepped outside and back into the courtyard, Celia turned to us.
“You know the more runes you got, the more Veil Stone you took on, and it will take some time for those effects to wear off. I didn’t feel normal until the next day. ”
Great. A whole night of this.
I swallowed hard.
“I’m really proud of you, Stella,” Celia said.
“Thanks,” I muttered and then gave her a soft smile before heading back in the direction of my dorm.
I felt like I’d been hollowed out, like a piece of myself was missing. Whatever the Veil Stone did, it had brought all my unresolved fears to the surface, and I wasn’t sure how to deal with it.
As I neared the Evernight Library, I felt someone to my left, and turning, I saw Asher. His expression surprised me.
He looked…devastated.
I stopped walking and faced him.
Something unspoken passed between us.
We’d both been through a lot. I grew up a discarded orphan; he had loving parents ripped away from him at a young age.
Everyone else who’d gotten runes today seemed fine, but we were struggling.
Reaching out, he hooked his pinkie into mine and turned to walk into the library, dragging me behind him.
I followed him without question. I had no idea where we were going, but I trusted him completely.
He led me inside and immediately turned right, pushing open the door to a coatroom where students hung coats and boots during winter months.
It wasn’t winter yet, which meant the room was empty, silent, smelling faintly of dust and cold air.
The moment the door shut behind us, he spun and pulled me into his arms. I crashed against his chest, fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt as if he were the only solid thing left in the world.
A sob threatened to tear free, and I gripped him like a life raft.
His embrace, his scent, the way he held me tight and unyielding, it anchored me back into my body.
“It was a lie,” he whispered into my ear. “Whatever it showed you was a lie.”
“Akari said it’s real to us,” I whimpered, my voice muffled against him.
“Yeah, and we lie to ourselves,” he said gently. “Everything it told you was a lie. We are our own worst enemies. You’re loved. You’re wanted. You’re amazing.”
The words shattered something in me, and I couldn’t hold back the sob that escaped. How did he know exactly what I needed to hear? Did he carry the same fears inside him?
“So are you,” I whispered, and he nodded against my neck, as if he needed to hear it just as badly.
We stayed like that for a long time. There was nothing sexual about it. It went beyond that, beyond desire. It was the most intimate hug I’d ever shared with anyone. When we finally pulled apart, I took a slow, cleansing breath and felt steadier.
“That was hell. No one warns you,” Asher said, and I knew he was talking about the runes.
I nodded. “You might not do it if they did.”
He let out a dry chuckle and reached out, trailing a finger lightly from my wrist toward the edge of my sleeve. I shrank back instinctively, and he froze.
“Oh, sorry,” he muttered. “I was just admiring.”
I rubbed my hands together, grounding myself. “No, it’s okay. It’s just that Akari told me to keep one rune hidden.”
His brow furrowed. “Hidden?”
I chewed my bottom lip, nerves flaring. Did I trust Asher? Akari said I could share it with someone only if I trusted them.
I turned my shoulder toward him and peeled my sleeve up just enough. His gaze dropped, and then his eyes widened. He reached out quickly and tugged my sleeve back down.
“You should hide that,” he said firmly.
Fear crawled up my spine. “Why? What does it mean?”
“It’s a forbidden ascension rune. Something Noctis. I forget the exact name.” He exhaled. “I don’t know as much as Harper and Luna about runes, but I know it’s not desired.”
Forbidden. “Why? What does it do?”
He hesitated, and I reached out and shook him a little.
“Asher, I’m scared. What does it do?”
He swallowed. “They call it the shadow mark. I don’t really know what it does. Just that the last hunter who carried it, Serafina Vale, killed over a hundred hunters.”
Killed hunters? “Why would she do that? I would never do that.” I shook my head, panic rising, wishing I could go back into that room and scrape the mark off my skin.
Asher stepped forward and gripped my shoulders. “You’re not Serafina Vale. But people will think that if they see it. That’s why you need to keep it covered, and I’ll try to find out what I can, okay?”
The shadow mark. The name alone made my stomach twist. I thought of the shadows that had danced above me on the ceiling as Akari tried to pull me from my vision.
“Okay,” I said, exhausted and overwhelmed. All I wanted was my bed.
I turned to leave, and his hand reached out, lightly catching my upper arm. When I met his eyes, there was nothing but compassion there. “Don’t worry about the mark. It’s just unexpected.”
I nodded and he let go.
As I walked back toward the dorms, I wanted to hold on to the hug, the words he’d said.
You’re loved. You’re wanted. You’re amazing.
But the look on his face when he’d seen the mark wouldn’t leave my mind. The shadow mark. Akari’s inability to meet my eyes. And those shadows. I’d thought they were part of the vision, but she’d seen them too.
“She’s back!” Harper screamed, and I snapped my head up to see her and Luna waiting for me in the doorway of the dorm.
I sighed. They were going to be amazing and supportive, and I felt like garbage.
“Hey.” I faked a smile and lifted my arm, making sure the sleeve covered the shadow mark.
“Holy rune sleeve!” Luna gasped, rushing over to inspect my arm.
Harper started counting. “I think that’s the most anyone has ever gotten.”
“Eight? It’s a record,” Luna agreed. “Second to Kitty who has seven.”
I actually had nine, but I wasn’t saying that.
I gently pulled my arm back. “It was intense. Did you guys…hear bad stuff about yourselves in your heads?” I asked, hoping they’d relate.