Trayton nodded. “Oh yeah. The fruity smell? A dead giveaway.”
My jaw nearly hit the table as it dropped. “You both know this? And Trayton, you couldn’t tell me it was Mistroot when you were lying out there dying of a Graplar bite?”
He shrugged and plucked another cookie from the tray on the table in front of us. “Life or death aside, that would have been cheating.”
Maddox and I locked eyes then and burst out laughing. Trayton stared oblivious, having no clue why his staunch adherence to the rules would seem so absurd. Once I recovered, I picked up the tray and carried it toward the trash bin. I must have misgauged a step, because my tray hit someone and clattered to the floor, sending small plates, cookie crumbs, and glasses half full of milk to the floor and all over the front of the person I’d run into. I stared dumbfounded at the crumbs and milk as they clung to the front of his shirt and dribbled down. When I raised my chin, daring to look Darius in the eyes, I wasn’t at all surprised to see that his face was turning red with fury. But even then, when he screamed at me, I jolted. “Extra duties!”
He turned to stomp off in a huff and I stepped in front of him, blocking his path. The crowd around me fell into a hush. But I was tired of Darius punishing me without reason. “Why? It was an accident, Darius!”
He was gritting his teeth, and when he spoke again, it was in a low growl. “There are no accidents.”
I glared, but it had no effect on him whatsoever. He turned and walked around me, exiting the dining hall. From behind me, Maddox placed a concerned hand on my shoulder, but I shook her off. Whatever this animosity was, wherever it had come from, it was between Darius and me, and only he and I could settle it.
C H A P T E R
Thirteen
The heels of my palms stung from the tiny bits of thorns that were wedged under the skin, and all I really wanted to do was find Darius and punch him in his stupid face. But Maddox had other plans. “Let’s go get some powdered sugar rings to munch on.”
“Maddox,” I sighed, not wanting doughnuts at all, but too exhausted to resist her whims. “Okay, but let’s not take long. Extra duties really took it out of me.”
“Don’t worry, Princess. We’ll be in and out. I swear.” She nodded and smiled, and for one, brief, idiotic moment, I believed her sincerity.
Three hours later, after Maddox had gorged herself on dining hall pastries and I’d insisted on getting to bed early, I lay there under my covers, eyes wide open, every inch of my nerves on edge. I just couldn’t shake every mean thing that Darius had ever said to me, every dirty look, every unkind prickle that emanated from him to me. Finally, I whipped the covers from me and headed into the parlor, hoping that Maddox hadn’t dozed off in a post-doughnut coma. Luckily, she was sitting on the chaise, a book in her hand. She looked up at me, only mildly surprised by my mid-night presence. “Hey. Sugar ring?”
My left eyebrow twitched, but only slightly. “No thanks.”
She shrugged and popped the last powdered sugar ring into her mouth. As she was chewing, she said, “Couldn’t sleep?”
Shaking my head, I plopped down next to her. “I’m just so irritated.”
She flashed me a knowing look. “Darius, right?”
When I groaned, she said, “Why don’t you just go over to his cabin, pound on the door, and demand to know what the hell his problem is, once and for all?”
“I can’t. He’s a teacher, remember?” Biting my bottom lip, I refused to give voice to the real reason that I was hesitant to confront Darius. The truth was, I was a little afraid of him.
Maddox shook her head. “Get over there and stand up for yourself already. After all, if you don’t, who will?”
Her words, her meaning, her undeniable rightness sank into my pores then. There was no one else. Not Maddox, not Trayton, not my parents. There was only me. I had to stand up to Darius, or he’d never stop treating me this way.
At first, I didn’t say anything in response to Maddox. But then I looked down at my hands—hands that were shaking with such anger and frustration, and I knew that she was absolutely right. I had to confront Darius, and now, not later, or he would go on picking on me for the rest of my time at Shadow Academy. “Okay, let’s go.”
Maddox raised an eyebrow and held up her book. “You’re on your own. I just hit a good part.”
My jaw hit the floor. “Maddox, I can’t go out there alone! What about the Graplars?”
“I don’t know if you noticed when you got here,” she said with a smirk, “but the whole school is surrounded by a big fakkin’ wall.”
I considered this for a moment, and debated whether or not Maddox had completely lost her mind, but the odds seemed in her favor. I really didn’t think that she’d let me get eaten by one of those horrible beasts, no matter how terrible a guard she was. Maddox liked me. And I liked her, trusted her. So with a deep breath, I stood up again and cast her a wary glance. “And if the headmaster catches me out past curfew and without my guard?”
Maddox shook her head slowly, sucking powdered sugar from her fingers, her eyes locked on her book the entire time. “Not a chance. He and a bunch of the Elder Barrons are at some big dinner celebration at Trayton’s parents’ place twenty miles from here. Pretty much if you want to sneak around campus and get away with it, tonight’s the perfect night for it.”
Insult filled me and I spit out, “I don’t want to sneak around with Darius.”
Maddox raised a sharp eyebrow at me. “I never said with Darius. Wow, guilty conscience much? Are you going to confront him or not?”
“Yes.” My heart rattled nervously in my chest. “Yes, I am.”
As I opened the door to the hall, my heart thundered inside my chest. I never fancied myself as much of a rule breaker. That had always been Avery’s style, not mine. I was always the one coaxing her away from sneaking around with the Bowery boys or staying out past curfew. She was the one who’d talked me into “borrowing” her father’s cart one evening, and if it weren’t for her disrespect of authority, I’d never know what really went on in the guard shack at the edge of town after hours. Avery was the rule breaker, not me.
But Avery wasn’t around anymore. So maybe now it was my job to break a few rules. Especially if I had good reason to.
A small part of me—okay, a large part, admittedly—was afraid what would happen if I got caught sneaking out alone after hours. What would happen to my parents? What would happen to Maddox? Would Trayton get in trouble? My mind filled with worried thoughts.
By the time I’d gotten down the hall, down the stairs, and out the door, I’d half convinced myself that the headmaster would be waiting for me with an army of guards, ready to whisk me away to parts unknown. To my agonized relief, he wasn’t. The courtyard was completely empty, the grounds utterly silent. Above, a thousand stars twinkled their encouragement. So I moved forward, swearing that it would be the first and last time that I broke the rules, and that after tonight, I’d do everything I could to fit in here at Shadow Academy.
It’s funny the things you tell yourself when you’re scared you’ll get caught doing something you’re not supposed to.
Halfway across the cobblestone courtyard, I looked up at the cottage and my stomach shriveled into a deflated balloon. Darius’s window was dark.
My steps slowed to a stop and I bit my bottom lip, staring at the window, debating my options. I could go back to my room and sort this out later—or even just forget it. Wasn’t it a pretty stupid idea to confront a maniac like Darius anyway? And for what? A few snide remarks and dirty looks? So the guy didn’t like me—so what? Why did it even seem to matter?
“It’s after curfew.”
I turned my head toward his voice, but Darius was already stepping out of the shadows and onto the cobblestone. How long had he been standing there? Snorting my irritation with him, I said, “Planning on giving me more extra duties?”
Without even flinching—maybe he was made of stone, incapable of feeling a dig—
he said, “What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to ask you a question.” I waited for his response, but he said nothing. His eyes carried a strange sort of expectation in them, as if he’d been waiting for this conversation since the day we met. I took a deep, slow breath before speaking. “What’s your problem, Darius? Why do you hate me so much?”
Disappointment crossed his features, followed immediately by annoyance. “My problem is no business of yours.”
Cursing under my breath, I mentally kicked myself. Why was I surprised? Did I think we’d shake hands and end up fast friends because I snuck out to confront him? What did I really expect from a dek like Darius?
He turned toward his cottage then, his footfalls soundless on the cobblestone. Then, unexpectedly, his steps slowed. Without turning back to me, almost as an afterthought, he said into the night, “And I never claimed to hate you.”
Shock filled me and I was responding before I could even think of the words to say. “So why do you act the way you do?”
“I also never claimed to like you. You should go back to your…” The venom was back in his voice as he threw a glance at me over his left shoulder, but it didn’t last. “Wait. Do you hear that?”
Darius turned around in a slow circle then, surveying the darkness, scrutinizing every inch of shadow around us. I looked as well, but saw nothing, heard nothing. Maybe Darius was still on paranoid pins and needles from his recent hunting party. “I don’t hear anything.”
He frowned, his eyes still scanning. “Maybe it’s nothing. Still…you should get back to the dorms. It’s not safe for a Healer to be out alone. Especially at night. Even inside this wall.”
Cocking my head to the side, I wondered how Darius could speak with such sincerity about something Maddox had said the complete opposite of just minutes before. Then I pivoted on my heel, turning back to my dorm building, and froze.
The shape of the enormous, hulking beast was apparent even in the darkness. Its broad head lowered and moved in close, the stench of its breath closing in around me. Its black, beady eyes seemed lifeless—an empty void of hunt, kill, devour—but I knew too well the life contained within. Graplars were fast, limber, instinctive, and powerful. I didn’t make any quick movements, recalling what Darius had said to me the first time we’d met—what my father had said just moments before a Graplar had taken Avery’s life—but turned my head slightly, inciting a low growl from the beast. But when my eyes fell on Darius, all hope of a repeat escape vanished.
Darius was also holding very still. Because a second Graplar was standing directly in front of him.
My heart shot into my throat, choking back my words for a moment. Then, with a slow, deep breath, I dared a whisper. “What do we do?”
Darius was eyeing the beast, that light once more in his eyes—visible even in the darkness—filling his entire presence with excitement. I didn’t share his enthusiasm. He parted his lips to speak and the Graplar blew out a snort, as if warning him that speaking wouldn’t be wise and loud speaking wouldn’t be tolerated. After a moment more of silence, he said, “I hope you can handle a sword. Otherwise this might be the last charming conversation we ever have.”
It took all my willpower not to laugh, and most of that was probably nervous laughter. I knew he was being sarcastic, but part of me couldn’t help but wonder if Darius were hoping that we might actually have future conversations, despite the fact that he seemed to utterly despise me. I was admittedly curious as to what those conversations might be. If we survived, that is.
Slowly, so slowly that I could barely tell that he was moving at all, Darius reached over his right shoulder and slipped the katana from its sheath. The metal sang quietly, as if the sword knew that any loud sounds would attract the attention of the Graplar, as if it were telling Darius that it was ready for action. “Now,” Darius whispered—his words no more than a breath on the wind—“I’m going to toss this blade to you. If you like breathing and wish to continue doing so, you’re going to cut that thing’s head off as quickly as you can, or at least keep it at bay until I can finish this big boy off.”
My heart was racing so loudly that I almost couldn’t hear what he was saying. Did he want me to fight off a Graplar? Seriously? I must have been hearing things. “You want me to what? And…how are you going to kill it without a sword?”
My voice squeaked and the Graplar in front of me moved closer, baring its slimy teeth and emitting a low, guttural growl. It was a warning. I was sure of it.
A small line creased Darius’s forehead. “Let me worry about that. You just try not to die until I can come help you. Now catch this thing on three. Ready? One. Two. Three!”
He whipped the blade overhand through the air, and I dove after it as it tumbled. The metal gleamed as it turned over and over again, high above my head. It was aimed perfectly for me to catch it as it fell. All I had to do was to stretch out my hand and grasp it. But then a thought entered my mind, worming its way deep within the part of my brain that makes me do really stupid things. What if I reached out and caught the wrong end of the sword? The sharp metal of the blade could slice straight through me. I’d lose a finger. Maybe many fingers. I pulled back at the last second, just as the katana was in reach, in a momentary panic. The blade clattered onto the cobblestone below, voicing its complaints loudly. I was hoping the Graplars wouldn’t notice. But they did.
The Graplar in front of Darius lowered its head and lurched toward me, but Darius jumped up at the last moment and stomped down hard on its head. It whined and shook its enormous skull, slightly dazed. As the Graplar in front of me was moving forward, I shot a glance at the blade, but it was too far out of reach for me to grab. Taking a cue from Darius, I raised my foot up too. How hard could it be? Darius had just stomped on it and it was momentarily incapacitated. I could manage that much. Just as I was bringing my foot down, the Graplar lifted its head, pulling my leg upward in a quick jerk. I lost my balance, falling backward, and before I could recover, the beast shot its head forward, opening its massive jaws, and sank its teeth into my thigh. Screams tore out of my throat and into the night. I twisted my head around, but from where I was lying, I couldn’t see Darius. For all I knew, he might be dead, and I might be this monster’s dinner. I pounded on its skull with my fists, but it refused to let go, its sharp teeth sinking deeper and deeper into my flesh, pain lighting up my entire leg. Drawing back my fist, I aimed for its eye, and when I connected, it snorted and squealed and backed off.
Blood gushed down my leg, and I had to force my thoughts away from the damage the monster had caused. I stretched out my hand and grabbed the katana, gripping the handle so tightly that my knuckles turned white. Before I could even scramble into a squatting position, the Graplar lunged for me and I brought the sword up hard. The blade stuck into its throat, but just barely. With a horrific gurgling sound, the beast backed off, pawing at the blade, trying desperately to knock it free.
Scrambling to stand, my leg screamed with pain that sent my head into a whirlwind. I struggled to keep my wits about me, and focused through the pain, raising my good leg up. I brought my foot down hard on its skull, kicking it into the cobblestone with a crack. Then, my heart racing with terror, I grabbed the handle of the katana and jerked it upward, hoping like hell the thin blade would be powerful enough to slice through its neck. I didn’t have to cut the head completely off, just damage the beast enough that it wouldn’t be able to come after me again. But to my utter shock, the metal slipped easily through muscle, bones, tissue. The Graplar’s head rolled wetly away from its body, which landed in a dead heap. I staggered backward, my hands trembling.
Darius took the katana from my hand and flicked the weapon forward, flinging blood from it before returning it to the sheath on his back. He looked over my handiwork and smiled. “Not bad. For a Healer.”
His words didn’t sting. Mostly because I could hear the tone of respect within them. Imagine that—Darius. Respecting me. If I didn’t know any better,
I’d have thought it was all a dream. But the pain in my leg was enough to remind me that I was absolutely wide awake.
Behind him, the water in the fountain trickled down from one level to the next. As I watched, dazed, the water turned from clear to dark red. Floating grotesquely in the bottom of the fountain was the other Graplar’s head. Its corpse was lying beside the fountain. A gasp escaped me. “How did you manage to cut its head off without a katana?”
Impossibly, Darius’s smile broadened. But it soon wilted as he cast his eyes down at my leg. “You’ve been bitten.”
He met my eyes and I saw what I’d thought to be impossible in his gaze—concern. It was intermingled with something else, but I couldn’t quite identify it. “We’d better get you to the hospital wing. A Graplar bite can prove fatal if not properly treated.”
“No, wait.” I shook my head and the world around me shifted. Suddenly I was feeling very warm. Unusually warm. And dizzy. “If the headmaster finds out I was out after curfew, alone, and during a Graplar attack, he’ll have my head on a platter, not to mention Maddox’s.”
I was certain that he’d insist we head straight to the hospital—after all, that was Protocol, now wasn’t it?—but he surprised me by nodding, his eyes on my wound the entire time. “My cottage, then. Quickly. Wait quietly until I have a chance to debrief this to Raden, who will arrange cleanup and a report to Quill. If anyone finds out you’re there…”
He didn’t have to finish his sentence. I knew what he meant. If anyone found out I was in Darius’s quarters—a teacher, an Unskilled, and after hours, unescorted—we were both dead. He turned and started a quick pace toward the south gate, and I called after him, because it couldn’t wait. Because I owed him at least this. “Thank you.”
He paused in his steps just long enough to offer me a nod before hurrying to find Raden.
My vision wavered a bit as I lifted my injured leg, but I forced myself to keep going, keep moving. I had to get out of sight quickly, before anyone saw me. It was a miracle that no one had. But I could only move so fast. I limped along the cobblestone to the narrow stairs that led up to Darius’s quarters. Placing my good foot on the first step, I pulled my wounded limb along, fighting back tears. It was strange, but I couldn’t shake the sensation that the injury was becoming more painful as time moved on. An eternity later, I pushed open Darius’s door and practically fell inside.