Chapter 16
The rest of the night Cally was riding high on the adrenaline buzz that came from breaking the rules and getting away with it. As she sat through her remaining classes, she decided that being sent to Bathory Academy wasn't so bad after all.
Granted, the majority of the school's faculty and student body couldn't be counted on to spit on her if she was on fi re, but now she could see that not all of them were stuck-up snobs like Carmen and Lilith. Tonight she had made friends with Bette and Exo, and she knew Jules was ready for more. She had to admit that the instructors at Bathory were far better than their counterparts at Varney Hall. Her scrivening instructor, Madame Geraint, was genuinely encouraging and, despite her gruff exterior, Coach Knorrig seemed to be truly interested in helping her realize her potential. Although she knew she was attending the school under false pretenses, if she was going to survive in the vampires' world, she would need to learn everything she possibly could about Old Blood society, powers, and abilities, just as she'd learned about humanity from her grandmother and about New Bloods at Varney Hall.
She was still feeling optimistic as she left Madame Boucher's history class. School was over for the night, and as she walked to her locker, Cally wondered if she would run into Peter again on her way home. She hoped so, because she really wanted to tell him about everything that had happened at school today. With Peter she had found someone who understood where she was coming from and didn't judge her for it. Not wanting to leave seeing him to chance, she used the number he'd given her and called him. They quickly arranged to meet in the cemetery after school. Cally's good mood changed, however, as she reached her locker and saw a folded piece of parchment wedged into one of the ventilation slits.
The note, written in the formal chthonic script of the Old Bloods, read: Someone saw us. She's going to tell the headmistress if we don't give her money. Meet me in the grotto after school, Bette.
* * *
As Cally stepped out of the elevator into the corridor that led to the grotto, she realized that the gaslights had been extinguished. The darkness was deeper than any she had ever experienced before. It was like she had stepped out of the elevator car and into the deepest ocean trench.
She stood there for a few moments, allowing her eyes to adjust to the complete absence of light. The darkness began to resolve itself into various shades of gray, and she resumed walking down the hall toward the grotto. At the entrance, she heard a fl uttering sound from the eastern end of the cave.
"Hello?" she whispered into the pitch blackness. "I got the note."
In answer, she heard a fl apping sound. Cally looked up, trying to locate the source of the noise, but all she saw were the hand-carved stalactites that hung from the roof like an inverted forest.
"Where are you?"
"Over here," a voice whispered from the darkness. As she moved in the direction of the voice, she felt something crunch under her shoes. She looked down and saw that she had stepped on fragments of silvered glass.
Crouching down to pick up a piece of the shattered mirror, she felt a swoosh of wings so close behind her head it raised the hairs on her neck. Cally jumped up and spun around on her heels, her heart racing in her chest, but there was no sign of whatever had just fl own past.
"Who's there?" she shouted into the blackness.
"Answer me!"
Cruel laughter seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at once. Cally cursed herself for being fool enough to lower her guard. Even though the school was supposed to be a vendetta-free zone, she still should have known better than to walk right into an ambush. There was a sudden loud explosion of fl apping wings and a furry body with the face of a demon hurtled down from its hiding place, slamming into Cally with the force of a car and knocking her onto her back. As Cally rolled onto her side, the air shimmered about the batlike creature, and suddenly Lilith was standing over her.
"He's mine! All mine and no one else's, you stupid bitch!
Now and forever!" Lilith shrieked, grabbing Cally by the top of her head.
Using a fi stful of Cally's hair as a handle, Lilith roughly yanked her to her feet. Cally screamed in pain as she felt her scalp start to tear.
"No one takes what belongs to me and lives to enjoy it!"
"Let go of me, you crazy bitch!" Cally snarled, driving her fi st into Lilith's stomach hard enough to make her loosen her grip.
Lilith staggered backward; she stood bowed over, her arms wrapped protectively around her stomach.
Her eyes shone in the darkness as she bit at the air like a rabid animal. "I'm going to kill you, New Blood! I'm going to scatter your guts from here to Broadway!"
"Have you lost your mind?" Cally shouted.
As if in answer, the other girl shrieked and charged headlong at Cally, her fangs bared. Cally nimbly sidestepped her, slamming her elbow into Lilith's back as hard as she could as she zoomed past. Lilith dropped to her knees, staggered by the force of the blow. Cally moved in swiftly, delivering a fi erce kick to the ribs.
"I didn't start this, bitch," Cally snarled. "But I'm sure as hell going to fi nish it!"
Before Cally could deliver another kick, Lilith's body rippled and contorted, to be replaced by that of a snarling wolf. The transformed Lilith whirled about, snapping at Cally with razor-sharp teeth. Cally quickly jumped back, narrowly avoiding the creature's powerful jaws. The darkness of the grotto was split by a burst of purple-white light. Lilith yelped in alarm as she cringed at the sight of the strange violet glow shrouding Cally's right hand.
"Get back!" Cally shouted as she held her hand aloft like a torch. Tongues of energy danced on the ends of her fi ngers like fl ames on a candelabrum. "I'll fry you if I have to!"
Lilith snarled in defi ance and ran on all fours toward the nearest wall. As she reached the rock face, she changed back into human form, scurrying up its craggy surface as quickly as a lizard. Halfway up the wall, she turned her head around on her shoulders degrees to spit at her adversary below.
"Do you realize what Madame Nerezza will do to you when she fi nds out about this?" Cally shouted up at her.
"Like I'm worried about what that dried-up cow will do!" Lilith retorted. "I'm a blood relative of the founder of this school and my family is its biggest sponsor! I can do whatever I want at Bathory! And I want you dead, New Blood!"
Lilith's features melted and shifted yet again, becoming those of a monster bat. She pushed herself off the wall, spreading her wings to their full span. Cally ducked as Lilith rushed toward her, but not before her attacker raked her back with a razor-sharp talon. Cally put a hand to her shoulder and it came back wet and red.
"First blood is mine yet again!" Lilith crowed in a high-pitched voice. "Face it, newbie: you're no match against me!"
Cally ducked behind one of the stalagmites as Lilith swooped down low again, her grasping talons extended like landing gear. Cally raised her hand and an arc of lightning shot from her palm. With an angry ultrasonic shriek, Lilith fl ew back up into the air, disappearing to the upper reaches of the grotto. Cally scanned the cathedral-like ceiling, trying desperately to fi gure out where her attacker had gone, but Lilith was too well hidden among the shadows.
Cally was in real trouble, and both of them knew it. Although she and Lilith were equally matched when it came to hand-to-hand combat, she couldn't compete against Lilith's ability to shapeshift or fl y. In fact, the only real weapon she had in her arsenal was her stormgathering, and since she'd missed her fi rst shot, it was going to take time and concentration to gather another charge. Cally prayed that Lilith didn't know that and would continue to keep her distance. Her only hope of surviving was getting out of the grotto and over to the elevator. She probably wouldn't make it to the door without Lilith's claws buried in her spine, but she had to take the chance.
Calling up all her courage, Cally dashed as fast as she could through the labyrinth of stalagmites and columns. All of a sudden, from the depths of the cave came an awful shriek, like that of a damned soul put to the fl ame. Cally looked over her shoulder and saw Lilith plummeting toward her with talons extended, eyes burning with baleful glee, like an ancient harpy snatching up a hapless victim.
Realizing she was as good as dead if Lilith pinned her to the fl oor from behind, Cally turned and jumped as high as she could, meeting her adversary in midair. Throwing out her arms in a grotesque parody of an embrace, she pinned Lilith's wings and together they plummeted to the ground.
Unable to gather the lightning needed to defend herself, Cally desperately tried to force Lilith's head back as they rolled around on the hard rock fl oor of the grotto. Sensing her adversary's weakness, Lilith lunged forward and sank her teeth deep into Cally's right shoulder. Cally screamed in agony as Lilith shook her like a terrier would a rat.
Without warning, Lilith abruptly surrendered her death grip on her enemy. Even through a pain-fi lled fog, Cally could clearly see shock and surprise in Lilith's beady little bat eyes.
Cally didn't know why Lilith had faltered in her attack, but she wasn't going to question her good luck. Summoning her remaining energy, she used the slight opening to hurl a bolt of electricity from her hand, sending Lilith fl ying backward. Cally got to her feet and went to where her opponent lay on the fl oor, whimpering in pain as tendrils of smoke rose from her scorched pelt.
As she stood over her, Lilith raised her head and glared defi antly up at Cally. "Go ahead! What are you waiting for - ?" she spat as fur melted away to be replaced by blond hair and perfect tanned skin. "Kill me and get it over with!"
Cally looked down at her clenched right hand, which still glowed with electric fi re, then back at Lilith. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. The crackling nimbus fl ickered and faded away to nothing.
"No, Lilith," Cally said. "Believe it or not, I don't want to kill you."
"That's bullshit!" Lilith growled. "Stop toying with me and just do it!"
"Will you knock it off with the 'please kill me'routine? I'm trying to be nice here, although I really don't know why I should bother."
"Don't pretend you don't know why I did this, you slut!" Lilith snarled. "I warned you what would happen if you didn't stay away from what is mine! I saw you with Jules earlier! You're trying to steal him from me, aren't you? Just like you're stealing my friends!
That's why you've followed me to the school, isn't it?
To rob me of what's mine!"
"Whoa! Will you just calm down for a minute?"
Cally said, holding up her hands for silence. "Look, Lilith - I realize what you saw must have looked bad, but there's an innocent explanation behind it. I'm not interested in your boyfriend, and he's not interested in me - "
"I never said he was!" Lilith snapped.
"Whatever the case, you have absolutely nothing to worry about in that department. If you don't believe me, you can ask Jules himself. He'll tell you the truth. You do trust him to do that, don't you?"
"Of course! Jules is my promised. He would never lie to me."
"I'm glad to hear it. As for the reason I'm here at Bathory - you've got it all wrong. Despite what you might think, I haven't been stalking you. I'm not looking to usurp your life. I'm only going to school here because my father threatened to stop sending money to my family if I didn't."
"Your father?" Lilith's eyes narrowed to slits.
"Don't ask me why it's so important to him." Cally sighed. "I've never met the guy. I don't even know his name. Look, I realize we're probably never going to be friends, but there's no need to kill each other over a stupid misunderstanding."
Lilith stared silently at the ground for a moment and then looked back up at Cally. "Are you going to tell the headmistress about what happened here?"
"I won't mention it if you don't bring up seeing me sneak out of the boys' school."
"Agreed, then." Lilith nodded.
"Here, let me help you."
"Don't touch me!" Lilith snarled, slapping aside Cally's hand as she got to her feet. "I still don't like you, New Blood, and I certainly don't trust you! And what I said before still goes: stay away from me and keep away from my friends! And if I ever see you talking to Jules again, I'll fi nish tearing you to pieces!"
With that, Lilith's arms unfurled into wings and she shot into the darkness. Cally stood and watched to make sure she was really gone, just to be on the safe side, before heading back to the elevator.
She hoped her mother would be asleep by the time she got home. Even though her wounds had already healed, she knew Sheila would defi nitely freak out if she saw the blood on her blazer and blouse. The last thing she needed was her father learning she'd gotten into a fi ght at school. And with the daughter of Victor Todd, no less.