Professor Cross bound himself to me; we went on a field trip; we were attacked by razor wolves.
And then … Talon was eaten, the queen showed up out of nowhere, and I was put into a magical sleep coma. How the hell was I supposed to figure out any of this? My life wasn’t this interesting. I exorcised rogue spirits and lusted after my childhood friend/the crown prince. That’s what I knew; that’s what I was used to. But all of this? It felt like something larger was at play here, and I didn’t like it. I mean, the shadows that attacked on All Haunts’ Eve, the dreams of that woman in the melted mask, the country of Vaenn going dark … it was all related.
I sunk the rest of the way under the water before popping back up.
“Why aren’t we going to school today?” I asked as I brushed the water from my eyes and looked at my handler’s surprised face. “The Royal College doesn’t cancel classes unless the country is at war and under siege. That’s what the official rules say anyway. My mother told me they didn’t even take a break during the invasion of Scythia. So why would they call off classes now?”
“They didn’t,” Jas said softly, blinking big blue eyes at me. “I just assumed you wouldn’t want to go?”
“If the guards’ll let us out of the house, I want to go,” I said, my mind straying back to Talon again. But I couldn’t go after him with the campus on lockdown. Anyway, the forest behind the school where we were attacked was probably still crawling with guards. As far as I knew, the razor wolf pack had already been annihilated or driven out of Amerin altogether.
But I wouldn’t forget about the red-haired thief. No flubbing way.
“Alright then,” Jas said, but like she wasn’t entirely sold on the idea. “If that’s what you want …”
“It’s what I want,” I said, ducking back under the water again. Although I was pretty sure it was not what most of the guys wanted. Still, if I was going to save face here, if I was going to fit in and have a normal career at the college, I needed to show up to class. Doing well at the academy and learning everything they had to teach me … that was essential to my success in everything, really.
Resurrecting the guys, marrying Airmienan (hah), and even rescuing Talon.
If I gave the queen reason to watch me, then I’d never get off campus to find him.
And I wouldn’t be able to rest unless I did.
Swiping my hands down the front of my white Royal College uniform, I took a seat in the back row of Professor Cross’ classroom and waited while he had a long, in-depth discussion with the flubbing dean of faculty (there were four associate deans at the university besides the dean) as well as several other professors from the history department.
During our two day absence, my hour one class, Historical Studies in Relations to Politics, had been reassigned to a substitute. At least I got to sit there with the rest of the students, fidgeting and sighing and gossiping. There was an air of excitement about the place—how could there not be with all the extra guards on campus—but nobody seemed to know what, exactly, it was all about. And certainly no one was looking at me, which was nice.
As I dutifully ignored Professor Cross’ discussion in the back of the room, I noticed a gold-blonde head in the front row and felt my eyebrows go up. It was Felixa of Haversey, the only other person in this room (well, her and her handler) who had any idea about what’d happened up on that mountain. As if she could sense me watching her, she whirled around, her blue eyes widening in surprise before she—
“Yep, she’s coming over here,” I groaned to Jas, putting my face in my hands and wishing with all my heart that Vexer was here by my side. He’d tell Felixa off with a little growl, shift those big, beautiful wings of his, and then take my hand in his while I tried my best to catch up with the lecture. The Royal College moved fast. Missing two full days was a pretty big deal.
But, of course, Vexer and Trubble were back the house. There was always the risk that a shadow whisperer could show up, but I felt that leaving made it less likely. I wasn’t trying to protect or hide anything, right?
I’d just have to trust Dyre’s brother. I mean, he had a vested interest in keeping me out of trouble and on the case. I already knew he was betting on me resurrecting his brother for him.
“What in Hellim’s Hell are you doing here?” Felixa asked, sitting in the seat beside me and locking gazes like she was a basilisk, intent on turning me to stone with her stare.
“Attending class?” I asked, like it was a question. Her brunette handler was now sporting a headful of raven-dark hair, taking the seat beside her and holding both their heavy book bags on his shoulders.
“Don’t play dumb with me. I was there, remember? I saw everything.”
“You were knocked out by a wolf,” Jasinda said, and although I couldn’t place Felixa’s location or actions during the fight, I knew Jas had taken note for a reason. “And he,” she continued, referencing the handler whose name I couldn’t remember for the life of me, “was too busy defending your comatose body to notice shit.”
I cringed at Jasinda’s cursing, but at least I didn’t lose any feathers.
“Where the … fudge have you been the last few days?” Felixa growled at me, and I knew then that she really was fishing for information. She’d seen the start of the fight, but she hadn’t witnessed the sleep whisperers putting me and Jas under, hadn’t known the queen was there or seen Dyre die. She really was in the dark about all of this.
“We had injuries that needed to heal,” I said, waving my hand dismissively. “Obviously the Royal Flesh Whisperer fixed us up, but it was that bad that we needed days of rest.” I lifted my chin in a way that would make Airmienan proud and sniffed derisively. Felixa didn’t even remotely look like she believed me nor did she make any move to get up and return to her seat.
No, she sat there until Professor Cross moved to the front of the room and sprinkled silver spook dust over his own head.
Huh.
Glancing over my shoulder, I saw the dean of faculty watching him with narrowed eyes. Even though he was bound to me, he was still teaching the class? I turned back to the front and listened as he made up some ridiculous excuse for his absence and then smoothly transitioned into an introductory lecture about the class.
“The substitute wasn’t particularly well-prepared, so for the last two days, all they’ve talked about are the ingredients the students found during the orientation assignment. Useful information, but not part of the curriculum,” Matz said, turning around in the seat in front of us to relay the news. Jasinda could barely look at him, reminding me of my own fateful kiss, of Vex’s mouth dragging me out of that strange nightmare and back to the world of the living.
Without thinking, I touched my fingers to my lips and both Matz and Jas turned neon red and looked sharply away in opposite directions. It was an effort not to roll my eyes.
Instead, I focused hard on Professor Cross and took notes in the leather-bound journal Jasinda had purchased for our classes. It was spelled to open only when I touched it. I should be excited to open the damn thing up, to finally get started on my Royal College experience and yet, it was tainted from whatever’d happened up on the moment.
“Don’t be discouraged. Everyone hates this class,” Elijah whispered in my ear. Felixa bristled at the sight of him, but she kept her eyes focused on the front of the room, scribbling so many notes I figured she must be making them up. Professor Cross wasn’t even talking that fast. “Just remember, it only gets better from here.”
He flicked his tongue against my ear, making me both shiver and blush before he disappeared again. I took a quick glance around to see if any other spirit whisperers had noticed me getting my ear licked by a ghost … and found the dean of faculty staring right at me.
Great.
My second day of school and one of the associate deans just caught me kissing a ghost.
Talk about a crappy start.