Fear's Touch: A Darkworld Novella (The Darkworld Series) (9 page)

didn’t know what to say. Well, how do you respond to something like that? I’d been dropped in the deep end, all right. Barely two days into my new course and the crazy had not only found me, it had wormed its way deep into my life. I
could
walk away from it now, but that would leave my flatmate at the mercy of the Darkworld—and, possibly, Jude.

Maybe I
should
have walked away. I never stood up for the bullied kids at school. But looking at Berenice standing there helplessly, I was filled with a burning
rage.
Before I quite knew what I was doing, I’d turned on my heel and left, shouting over my shoulder. I can’t remember what, something about sorting this out.

I didn’t go back to Cyrus and Howard. I should have, but the rage had taken hold. I’d never been this angry, even after everything that had happened the past few months. Hell, I wasn’t acting like me at all.

That should have been a sign something was up.

But, stupidly, I didn’t question it. I just let my anger control me, lead me out of the common room and into the student village. I didn’t expect to see Jude there. I didn’t
plan
for it. Yet, I couldn’t help feeling, later, that some part of me had known I’d find him there, in the student village, when I came outside. He stood by the door to the porter’s lodge where all the announcements were pinned up as though he waited for someone.

I stormed over to him, and he looked coldly back at me.

“You.”

“What the fuck did you do to my friend last night?” I demanded. The anger felt raw, almost pleasurable, though another, smaller part of my mind screamed at me to stop, to just walk away.

I ignored it.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Like hell. You spiked her drink, made her hallucinate, and then ditched her in the middle of a shadow-beast attack. Are you really so desperate for a promotion that you’d hurt an innocent girl?”

“Innocent?” Those eyebrows came down. “None are innocent who contact the Darkworld.”

“Can I say, hypocrite? You didn’t answer my question.” I walked right up close to him and jabbed my finger into his chest. “Did you lead her into a trap?”

“I fail to see what business it is of yours.”

“Um, she’s my friend, and you’re not even bothering to deny it. You know I could get you arrested?”

Jude’s hand came up and clenched around my wrist. I gasped as my circulation was cut off.

“Who’s wearing the uniform here?” he said, his lips barely moving, a gleam in his eye. “The police know nothing about the Darkworld, and you and I both know who the Venantium would believe. An unregistered’s word against mine? You’re a fool to even consider challenging me.”

I wrenched my arm free. “You make me sick.”

Fury penetrated every inch of me, and through it, I felt my connection to the Darkworld, cold and sharp as a knife. I’d never felt it this strongly before. In fact, I’d almost swear the anger came from
there
, not just from me.

A flame jumped to my hand, though I hadn’t consciously summoned it. Heat swept through me, but I still felt the presence of that cold, savage place at the edge of my consciousness.

Jude didn’t even flinch back from the flames, but his eyes hardened. “You are breaking the law, Miss Delaney.”

A laugh escaped before I could stop it. “You can talk.” I didn’t let the flame drop but lifted my hand slowly, watching as his eyes followed its movement. “Sure you don’t want to tell me what your game is?”

“You dare to threaten me?”

My Darkworld connection burned. The flame leaped higher as anger sizzled under my skin. The voice in the back of my head protested, louder—
That’s not you! It’s not your anger! Stop!

But I could no more stop than control my own shadow.

The flames jumped at Jude’s face.

Jude moved so fast he blurred before my eyes. Ice shot through me, colder than cold, and the flame died out. I choked and gasped, unable to move, my entire body locked in place. He pushed me and I fell, my back hitting the floor and sending pain radiating through me.

I looked up at him, still unable to move. My elbows throbbed where I’d skinned them; my back felt bruised—and yet, I couldn’t do anything other than look up at his cold, unforgiving face.

“I can do things you could never imagine, Miss Delaney,” he said, quietly. “Yes, I know your name. I know who your parents are. They’re traitors. Don’t try to move. You can’t. I’ll return with my supervisor in due course, and you can try explaining yourself to the Venantium’s Inner Circle.”

He walked around me and began to head off through the student village. I twisted and struggled, trying to turn my head, shift my legs,
anything.
But nothing worked. The anger had disappeared entirely, and horror coursed through me. What had I done?

“Wait,” I said, wincing at how pathetic I sounded.

Jude didn’t even turn around.

I lay there, helpless, locked in my own body. I couldn’t even turn my head, and the voice in my head screamed ever-louder. What would happen if other people found me here? How could I ever explain that I couldn’t move? Maybe if I got someone to move me—maybe Cyrus, Berenice,
someone
could help—but how?

What the hell had possessed me?

The word
possessed
set my heart racing. Those emotions weren’t even mine, I was almost sure of it. Whatever had happened recently, I wasn’t usually an angry person at all. I forgave easily, didn’t have time for grudges. Bethany and I had stayed friends for so long because I’d always been the one to give in when we argued. I don’t think I’d ever got into a fight at school, unless you count that time I kicked a guy in the nuts for groping me. Until the past year, I’d never longed for a fight.

Could you channel someone else’s anger through the Darkworld?

Did it matter? I’d take the blame anyway, because no one else could. I’d be locked up underground, never get to complete my undergraduate course, never get to live my life. And Jude would get away with it all.

Bastard.

After an agonizing five minutes, I heard someone walk past. Two of the people who’d been watching TV. Neither looked in my direction, and new panic blossomed inside me. I hadn’t noticed the slight shimmer in the air. He’d used Influence.

No one would be able to see me now.

Raw panic washed over me.

Five more minutes ticked by. I counted the seconds, anything to take my mind off what was coming. Sixty seconds and then another sixty.

One. Two. Three…

“Claudia!”

Cyrus crouched down beside me. Glorious relief broke through, and I gasped.

“Jude,” I said.

“I knew it!” said Berenice—I could only see her heeled shoes. “What–what did he do?”

“I can’t move.” I struggled, again, pointlessly. It was like running headlong into a glass wall. “He’s gone to get his bosses. I’m going to be arrested.”

“No, you’re not,” said Cyrus. “I can fix this.”

Sweet, blessed relief. I almost cried.

“I need all of you to focus,” he said, and a heavy footstep by my leg told me Howard was here, too. “Use your connection. You can see Jude’s spell, the damned thing’s
everywhere.
”

“Yeah, and do what?” said Howard.

“Attack it,” said Cyrus. “Wait, we should move her. In case those other guys come out.”

I couldn’t exactly protest, so I let him carry me into the little alley between the common room and the lodge. He put me down gently, but my back still hurt like a mother.

“Right now.”

He continued giving the others instructions. I tuned out; not being able to feel somehow made my own thoughts seem so much louder than usual. But after several minutes, I felt the paralyzing feeling start to recede. My hands tingled. I wriggled my fingers, my toes, lifted a hand, and then the other. Bit by bit, movement came back to me.

“You okay?” said Cyrus.

I nodded, and this time, nothing stopped me. “Yeah. I think.” I got jerkily to my feet, sighing in relief that everything seemed to be in working order. “Thank you. All of you.”

“I take it back,” said Howard, who was looking at me in awe. “You’re not a shit teacher. You’re mediocre.”

Cyrus laughed.

“Um, priorities?” said Berenice. Her face was still pale and her eyes red and puffy. “Jude. He’s gone back to his bosses?”

“Yeah.” I stretched, wincing as my spine protested. At least I hadn’t done any lasting damage. “We’ll never catch up to him if he got the bus. Any ideas?”

“One,” said Cyrus. “Come on. We’re going into town. I’ll tell you on the way. We have to hurry.”

n the bus to town, we found seats right at the back. Cyrus explained in a low voice that his guardian had given him the contact details of a person who could help out if there was any kind of emergency.

“Obviously, I can’t really bring him into it. The other
venators…
well, a lot of them don’t like him. Plus, we’re unregistered, and that always causes problems. But this person deals with these situations a lot.”

“Who
is
this person?” said Berenice, who didn’t look convinced.

“She calls herself Madame Persephone,” said Cyrus. “She’s a fortune-teller, and she’ll meet us in Blackstone square.”

“Fortune-teller?” Howard snorted. “Like that crap’s gonna help us.”

“I wouldn’t judge her just yet. My guardian really respects her, and he’s not the trusting sort at all. He—well, we’ll see when we meet her.”

“How do you know she’ll meet us there?” I hadn’t seen him text anyone or anything.

“I don’t know. My guardian said…he said she’s always there. I have no idea.”

Howard shook his head. “I don’t trust it.”

“Well, it’s all we’ve got,” said Cyrus.

I filled him and Howard in on the details about last night, since I hadn’t had a chance to earlier. By the time we reached town, Howard was saying he knew Jude was up to no good all along. Given that he’d never met the guy as far as I knew, I wasn’t so sure. But it made me feel better to have people on my side.

I just hoped this fortune-teller would be able to help us because I was deep in shit this time.

Today wasn’t market day, so the square was fairly quiet. Just a few shoppers sitting on the stone benches or on the edge of the fountain in the center, where a statue of an angel sat under the shadow of Blackstone Cathedral.
What an ugly-looking place.