House of Ravens (The Nightfall Chronicles Book 2) (17 page)

I sit next to him. "And what is that?"

"Before I tell you, you must tell me something first. How did you make Ragathon stop his forces during the Shadow of Rome's escape?"

"I… I distracted him."

"Really? Did you not order him to stop with your ability?"

I flinch. My ability is my greatest weapon in this war. It is my greatest secret. How could he know? I grab his arm, willing him to forget.

I feel nothing.

"You attempted to order me now, didn't you?"

I jump back, drawing my sword.

"You have nothing to fear," he says. "I heard of this gift during the War. It will not work through such thick armor. But it is required for my plan."

I lower my sword, but only slightly. "What plan?"

He picks up a pebble. "The people have a father right now, but he is not like you and I. He is not a good influence."

"The Pope?"

Crixus nods. "We must guide him." He crushes the pebble in his fist. "We must control him."

Crixus refuses to divulge more of his plan until later, but promises to keep in touch. I arrive back at school late Sunday night, crawling into bed quietly so I don't disturb Corinne.

In my dreams I'm kissing Jax and he turns into Kai, and my heart is so very confused. And I can't afford confused right now. Not with everything else going on. But at least those are better than the dreams of all my friends being crushed into dust by a giant fist. 

I know they'll want to know what happened to me this weekend. And Kai undoubtedly wants to talk, but I oversleep the next morning and am late to PT. I don't know what I feel for Kai, so I'm not ready to talk to him.

What I need is some good old-fashioned vengeance, which is what I'm going to get today in Combat class.

But when Varian shows up with his new assistant by his side, my heart sinks. I hiss in Corinne's ear, "Isn't that Thane? The jerk you grew up with who harassed us at the theatre?"

She nods, looking equally unhappy. In fact, none of my royal friends look thrilled that Thane will be a new regular in our lives.

"I trust you'll give Thane the respect he deserves while he's working with us," Varian says.

I snicker under my breath. I can give him what he deserves. No problem. We might just have different definitions of what that is.

When Varian announces he has a meeting and is leaving Thane in charge, I want to ditch class. But I can't, because once free sparring time comes, I pounce. "I'd like to do the first duel," I say.

Thane sneers at me. "Fine. Who do you challenge?"

I look around the class and spot my three assailants. "Garin, Bart and Rex."

Garin and his buddies turn to look at me, Garin with a gloating smile. "Come get it, honey. I'll take you on any day and leave you wishing you'd never come here."

Kai frowns and looks like he's about to stop me, but I shake my head slightly. I need to do this. I'm ready.

Thane allows the fight, probably because he wants to see me lose.

The three goons come to the middle with me and we begin. They try to surround me, but I use what Zorin taught me to keep them in a line. I feel my power pouring through my veins, but I don't let it out in a great show like before, I let it trickle into me, giving me an edge of speed, of strength, of faster reflexes.

When Bart and Rex run into each other, I kick them in the knees, knocking them both down. While they limp off to the side of the sparring circle, I focus my energy on Garin, who no longer wears his cocky grin.

When I finally knock him to the ground, I lean down with my hand on his throat. I lower my voice so only he can hear me. "If you ever touch me or my friends again, I will end you. Got it?"

He doesn't respond, and I press my thumb into his trachea, cutting off airflow. "Got it?"

He nods, his face a vision of hate and loathing as he struggles for breath.

I pull away and he sucks in air.

And then something hits me in the back and I fall into the dirt.

I look up to see Thane smiling at me. "And now you're dead, Night."

"Do you always have to rely on sucker punches to win? I'm not even armed." I glare at him.

He tosses me a sword from the rack, and I catch it by the hilt. "Fight me, then."

"Gladly," I say, getting into position.

It takes him under two seconds to disarm me. It's so fast I'm not even sure how it happened.

"Pick it up and try again," he says.

I let the anger fuel my strength and try again.

He disarms me even faster.

He does it again. And again. I'm nearly in tears from frustration and no small amount of humiliation. I have to beat him, but I can't. I'm not good enough, and everyone here knows it.

"Enough!" Kai steps into the sparring circle, his own sword drawn.

Thane looks over at Kai, the same disdainful expression on his face. "Well, if it isn't the Prince of Ravens coming to rescue the damsel in distress."

He looks back at me, leaning in close. As he speaks, spittle from his lips sprays over my face. "I don't need a sucker punch to win, but I will win. Make no mistake. I will always win, and I will use any means necessary to do so."

***

I fidget with a pen, tapping it against the desk as I think about my next step. Corinne sits beside me, dropping her books on the desk, and Wytt flanks me on the other side.

"He's a jerk," Wytt says.

Corinne scowls at him over me. "Be nice. He's just… "

Wytt raises an eyebrow and she sighs. "Okay, he's a jerk. I know it was rough for him growing up with royalty and having the stigma of his family's betrayal. He was such a sweet kid. It's sad. But he shouldn't have treated you like that."

"He was right though," I say. "I let my guard down. I can't do that again. I need more training."

Ragathon walks in, Kai following behind him.

As Kai slips into the seat behind me, he tugs at my ponytail like a kindergartener. I turn to him and he grins. "Let me cheer you up by taking you to lunch," he whispers.

"We all have to eat at the dining hall," I remind him.

He frowns. "I see you'll need more creative persuasion. I must think on this."

He leans back as Ragathon starts the class, and I can't help but smile a little, even as an idea comes to me. Kai's at the top of the class in combat. Even Thane seemed reluctant to fight him. And he
is
Varian's son. I could learn a lot from him.

As we head to lunch after class, I tug at Kai's arm. "Can we talk alone for a second?"

Wytt and Corinne smile and nudge each other. I roll my eyes at them.

Kai nods, and we walk toward the courtyard. "You were studiously avoiding me during PT and classes this morning. Has my natural charm and good looks finally persuaded you to see the light?"

I laugh. "Not exactly, but I need your help."

"So, we're not going to talk about the kiss, and about what's happening between us?"

I can't tell if he's teasing or serious, but I'm not ready to talk about it yet. "Not now. But… we will. Eventually. I just need time."

"Okay, fair enough. What can I help you with?"

"I need to learn to fight better. I don't like losing."

"That fight with Thane wasn't a fair match, and he knew it. He's been training as a Knight since birth. He was showing off and bullying you."

I stop walking and turn to face him. "But he wasn't wrong. I couldn't defeat him, even when he made it fair. Despite my extra strength and reflexes, I'm not good enough, and I need to be. And I need you to teach me. You're brilliant with a sword. Please. Train me."

"Can't I just beat Thane up for you?"

I shake my head and cross my arms over my chest. "I need to learn to fight my own fights." Another thought occurs to me. "Why aren't you in any of the tournaments? You're obviously good enough."

He shrugs. "It's not my thing. I'm a lover not a fighter." He winks, and I laugh.

"You sound like Wytt," I say, then I frown again and tug on his robe. "Seriously, though, I need your help."

He sighs. "Fine, I'll train you. But under one condition."

I narrow my eyes. "What's that?"

"You have to go to the Halloween Ball with me next month. In full costume."

I laugh. "Do you always resort to extortion to get dates?"

He leans in and places a hand over my cheek, brushing a finger against my jaw. "Only with the girls I really like."

My stomach flutters a little at his touch. "Okay, I'll go with you. But we start training right away."

He smiles even bigger. "Deal. Meet me after classes today at the Arena."

I shake my head. "No, I mean right now. We have a two-hour lunch. Teach me how to defeat someone like Thane."
Teach me how to defeat someone like your father.

"You know, some of us to have to subsist on more than just air, Life Force and marshmallows," Kai says, complaining once again about missing lunch.

"Grab a sandwich on your way to our next class," I say.

He rolls his eyes. "As you wish, master."

Our swords smack together as he corrects my posture, shows me new moves and tells me to keep practicing. At the end of the two hours my arm is burning, but I feel stronger and more confident. I'm not there yet, but it's a step. As I put my sword back on the rack, I ask to see his.

He hands it to me, and I admire the masterful design work on the hilt and blade.

Evie speaks in my ear. "Scarlett, I detect an AI within this blade. It's not just steel. It carries a wealth of information on combat. With more time, I may be able to link with it."

I twirl the blade in my hand. "This is no normal sword."

Kai takes it back and slashes the air. "An Angel Sword, passed down through our family."

I gasp. "It can't be…"

"It is. This was one of the pieces that inspired our current Angel Technology."

My fingers itch to hold the weapon again, but I resist.

"I need to get my own sword," I say. Even if I have one as Nightfall already.

Kai sheathes his blade, and we walk toward our next class together. "The right sword will pick you, when the time's right."

"That sounds profound," I tease.

"I'm serious. You can't just go out and buy a sword on a whim. Well, you can," he grins, "but you shouldn't. You have to bond to your sword. It's an intimate relationship and the choice must be made with care."

Once again I wish I could use my mother's sword as Scarlett.

Kai's stomach rumbles, and I reach into my bag and offer him a chocolate bar.

"Thanks," he says, stuffing half into his mouth. "So, what's up with you and Jax?" he asks once he's done chewing. "Because, I know you want to wait to talk about the kiss, so I'm not going to talk about the kiss, but I will say that this thing," he gestures between us, "it's something. It's not nothing. So I need to know, am I poaching on someone else's girl?"

"First of all, ew. Did you seriously just compare me to a piece of property?"

He shakes his head. "No, you know what I mean. Jax is clearly in love with you. Were you dating? Are you dating?"

"What does it matter?" I ask.

"I've known Jax a long time, and I respect him."

"If you're worried about his feelings, why don't you ask him yourself?"

"He's disappeared," he says. "No one knows where he is."

"Exactly."

"I see. So, then, you're a free agent?"

"Not if you keep using these lame metaphors, I'm not."

He laughs. "Scarlett, are you currently involved with anyone?"

"No," I say honestly. "Not anymore."

"Okay then."

"But I should warn you," I tell him. We stop in front of our class, my hand on the door. "I'm not really dating material right now."

He puts a hand over mine and gently squeezes. "I'm a patient guy. And you seem like the kind of girl who's worth the wait."

"What if you're wrong?" I ask, looking into his purple eyes. "What if I end up hurting you?"

He cocks his head. "Those are two different questions. I can handle pain, Scarlett. As for being worth the wait, I already know you are. I'm not wrong about that."

***

The last month of training and classes seems to have flown by. The deeper I get into life at the Castle, the harder it is to get out to the Cathedral as Nightfall, but I've been doing my best. There's something all those comic books and movies don't tell you about living a double life: you don't actually get double time.

I've had to feed from blood packs a few times just to keep up my strength. Between training in class, training with Kai, training with Zorin and studying, not to mention trying to coordinate with all of the rebel groups, I'm chronically exhausted.

Evie keeps me on track with a highly encrypted memory file of both my lives. I'd be lost without her.

But right now, I'm not studying or training or plotting, I'm just hanging with my friends watching the Tournament in the Initiate Hall and talking about the Halloween Ball that's a few weeks away.

I almost feel normal.

But whenever I look down at my hand and see the missing freckle, I remember I'm anything but normal. Still, I grab the happy where I can find it, and today I'm finding it in a room decked out in the best Halloween decorations I've ever seen, courtesy of Corinne, with Wytt and Kai as her 'helpers.'

I'm leaning against Kai's arm, which is wrapped around my shoulder as we lounge on the couch. We're still stuck in this in-between thing. Not quite officially dating, but not
not
dating. I don't know what it is. All I know is he makes me laugh, and I need more laughter in my life.

And I haven't heard from Jax since he left.

"You three really outdid yourselves in here," I say. Corinne used her own artwork, combined with pieces formed from Eden Fashionables, to turn our Hall into a Goth haunted manor. There are skeletons that turn their heads to follow you around the room and bats perched from the ceiling that fly at you when you least suspect it.

Nothing like waking up to screams in the middle of the night when a student ventures into the hall and is attacked by a not-quite-alive-but-far-too-real bat.

Right now Corinne is hand-painting parts of her Halloween costume while Wytt's eyes are glued to the Tournament. Two Knights are fighting each other on a life size eScreen, the sounds of their battle echoing throughout the hall. One is wearing black armor, the other blue.

"I still don't get why we can't know who's in the costumes," Lana says, leaning against Wytt's arm. They've been together non-stop since the night at Fairy Realm.

"It keeps it competitive," Wytt says. "You can't research your opponent beforehand, so you have to rely on what happens in the arena."

"I wonder who the Black Knight is. He's good," Kai says.

Corinne holds up a silk shirt she's been painting on. "What do you think? Won't Jaden look handsome in this?" She points to the blue patterns. "This is a perfect match for his eyes."

"Are you two hanging out a lot?" Kai asks, and I can hear the protective edge in his voice.

"A bit. But it's not serious," she says with a smirk. "No need to go big brother on him just yet. He's a nice guy."

When Ragathon comes into the hall, I tense. I've never seen him here, and it feels invasive. Kai squeezes my shoulder in silent support.

Corinne smiles at him though, without reservation. "Hi, Uncle."

He sits next to her at the table and hands her a small bag. "I picked these up for you while I was in the city. You mentioned you didn't have the right beads for your costume."

She opens the bags and examines the different colored beads with a large smile. "Thank you. These are perfect." She leans over to hug him, and I'm pretty sure my jaw drops to the floor. I've never seen Ragathon be nice before. Except in that one vision.

"You're doing a great job on this," he says, gently touching the hem. "It's lovely."

She smiles and returns to her work as Ragathon looks up at the Knights fighting. "Who's your money on?" he asks Wytt.

"The Black Knight," Wytt says. "Though I think the White Knight is going to be a close contender."

"I agree," the Grandmaster says.

Kai chuckles. "Are you two actually betting?"

Wytt looks down and grins, and Ragathon raises an eyebrow. "Of course not," says Ragathon. "It's just a turn of phrase. How's your training coming Kai?"

Kai shrugs. "As good as can be expected, given Father's growing influence."

Ragathon scowls. "My brother does have a way of ticking people off."

Sure,
Varian
is the one who irritates people.

Ragathon looks at me with another scowl, as if I'm right up there with Varian on the ticking people off scale. Maybe I am. "You two have been spending a lot of time together lately," he says to me. "It seems everywhere I turn, there you are."

I'm about to tell him that Kai is training me, but Kai responds first. "We're dating," he says, pulling me closer. He says it in a tone that allows for no argument, and Ragathon sighs and stands.

"I'll leave you kids to it then. Have fun."

After he leaves, my body relaxes. "Your uncle doesn't like me."

"He doesn't like many people," Kai says.

"He seems to like you three," I say.

"Everyone has a soft spot," Corinne says. "He's not all bad."

There's something I've been curious about though. "He looks older than Varian, why isn't he king?"

Kai looks at his brother and sister and then at me. "He and our father both fell in love with the same woman. Our mother. She loved them both in their own way, I think, but in the end she chose our father. Ragathon banished himself to North America to teach here, and did everything he could to dissociate with our family."

"He's married now, right? With a child of his own?" The librarian, the memory. Little pieces of Ragathon that don't fit the man I see every day.

Corinne nods, looking up from her painting. "I think he loves us because of our mother. He never really got over her. He sees her in us."

"Especially Corinne," Kai says. "She looks just like our mother."

I turn to Kai. "Why did you tell him we're dating?"

"I love my uncle," he says, "But I see how he treats you, and it's not okay. This was my way of telling him to back off. You're family."

Corinne grins. "I, for one, love seeing you two together. When are you going to start dating officially?"

Wytt joins in the teasing. "Then I can write epic poems about my big brother and his great love."

Kai lightly punches Wytt's shoulder. "We'll go public with our relationship as soon as Scarlett here admits she can't stand the thought of living without me."

I roll my eyes at him. "You don't have high demands of a new relationship, do you?"

"Ah, so you admit this is a relationship, then. We've made progress."

I turn to Wytt, ready to change the subject. "What are you and Lana going as? Something dripping in romantic tragedy, I'm guessing."

"How right you are," he says with a wink.

Lana smiles too, her dark eyes happy. "We're going as Lancelot and Guinevere. What about you and Kai? What are you going as?"

"We don't know yet," I admit.

Kai nudges me. "I wanted to go as Romeo and Juliet—"

"But their love story is stupid and they both die like idiots, so… no."

Wytt jumps up and shouts, and I look up to see the Black Knight winning another round. "I cannot wait for December. This is going to be the most epic Tournament Festival ever."

***

My mouth is full of chocolate when my day of lounging with friends is interrupted by a message from Zorin.

Need to meet in Times Square. Important.

I swallow too much at once and nearly gag.

I text Zorin from my wrist keyboard telling him I'm on my way.

Now for the hard part. I stand and stretch and check the time. "Hey, guys, I'm going to get going. I want to spend some time at my apartment this weekend, and it's already getting kind of late."

Corinne frowns. "You're always taking off alone. What do you do by yourself all the time?"

This is so hard. I hate lying, even though what I'm about to say isn't actually a lie. "I'm sorry. It's just… I'm still dealing with a lot from my parents' death, and sometimes it gets to be too much. I'm not used to living around so many people. Keep in mind, I grew up an only child, homeschooled in isolated Montana."

Wytt shrugs. "Fare thee well, lovely maiden. Forget not about thy loyal friends."

I smile at him. "Never. And I won't be gone all weekend. I just need a little R&R. I'm dead on my feet from all the training, and it's impossible to sleep here."

Corinne nods, her face finally relaxing. "That's true. And you do need sleep. I can hear you tossing and turning most nights, even for the few hours you're in bed."

"I've never shared a room before," I tell her, truthfully.

"Have a nice weekend," she says. "We'll miss you." She looks pointedly at Kai.

I walk out, but Kai follows me and places a hand on my arm. I think he's going to give me a hard time, but instead he smiles kindly. "I know it's easy for everyone to forget what you've gone through. You handle it so well, and life at Castle V makes the world out there seem less real at times." He holds my hands between his, warming them. "But I get it. Just know I'm here for you if you need me."