Paranormal Public (Paranormal Public Series) (30 page)

“Good afternoon,” announced Professor Anania as we joined the assembled Starters. “Today marks the end of midterms. Most of you have already passed the Starter test, and for you this should be pretty simple. For the rest of you….” she merely shrugged, as if she couldn’t care less what happened to us. “Today is an important exam, perhaps the only other chance you will have to exhibit your skills before your final chance to pass the Starter test.”

I remembered the President telling me that I had until the end of the first semester to get a handle on my magic, because that was the deadline for taking the Starter test. At the time, in all my ignorance, I had been sure I would get a handle on my magic. Well, that hadn’t happened. I was still failing, in spectacular fashion. I sighed. Today was going to be yet another hopeless humiliation, just with more witnesses than usual.

“Line up,” Professor Anania yelled. In the rush of students to get in line, I found myself pushed to the back. The more time I could put between myself and an exam I was sure to fail, the better. It was an odd feeling for me. In my old life I had been confident, but at Public, this uncertainty had shaken my confidence to the core.

I took comfort in knowing that I had passed every other exam. I wasn’t perfect, that was up to Sip, but I wasn’t a failure either. My professors knew that I was trying, even though what I was trying most at, what should have been easiest for me, the magic, wouldn’t come.

I watched my fellow Starters perform as one by one they went through the steps of their powers. Lough was first, and though I didn’t understand what he was doing, Professor Anania looked impressed.

Next, Evan, the blond vampire, stepped forward. He raised his arm as his fangs came out. He must have been wearing the special concoction that allowed him to be out for a short period in daylight, because he looked extra pale.

Suddenly a strix came flying through the air. I had no idea how Evan had done that, since strixes were normally only out at night. But the flying creature came and landed comfortably on Evan’s arm, and all the vampires in the audience clapped.

Lisabelle performed flawlessly, as usual. Also as usual, she scared everyone present. She puffed a massive cloud of darkness, allowing it to get bigger and bigger until Professor Anania was forced to tell her to stop. There was only a smattering of claps.

Finally it was my turn. By that time I had forgotten that I was supposed to participate in the performance, instead of just sitting back and watching, and I wished I could tell Professor Anania that I preferred watching. But instead, summoning what courage I had left, I stepped forward.

Everything I had been working for the past two months had come down to this moment. All that time with Keller, all the taunts I’d endured from the pixies, it all came down to now. If I couldn’t perform now, then I would go home. There was no other option, because I didn’t think I could live with the shame any more. I would just have to tell the President that she was wrong about me. I would be sad to leave my friends, and I was worried about Lisabelle and what the paranormals would do to her if they kept thinking that she was a traitor. But Sip would keep me up to date, I was sure. Or at least, I hoped she would.

I took a deep breath and walked into the middle of the field. The silence was broken only once, when someone – probably a pixie – called out, “It’s a waste of time, send the Probationer home now.” I don’t know what happened, but the person shut up after that.

I concentrated, just like I’d been taught, focusing on finding my magic inside. I could feel it there, cool, strong, ready. I called to it, and with amazement I felt it start to rise. I refused to get excited; I refused to stop concentrating on the power surging upward. I knew what I wanted to do with it. As a mage I could create illusions, conjure what wasn’t there, defend against attack. I would have been happy with the simplest illusion, but the magic raced through me until it started to pour out and I felt my control slip.

Pain split my head as my magic exploded upwards. I had no control over it; the power controlled itself. I tried to direct it, I tried at least to keep it away from the stands filled with people, but it had a mind of its own.

Fortunately, the magic shot straight downward, into the ground. Just like the night before, I managed to force it downward, even though I couldn’t seem to make it do anything else. I felt the ground shift in front of me, groaning from the strain of power flooding into it.

My body went limp. Why, I wondered, was it so hard to perform spells? Then I remembered that I wasn’t even managing to perform a spell, but I was still bone tired. Opening my eyes was a struggle; all I could see when I tried was a blinding light. My eyes started to close again, drooping with tiredness. The power was slowing down. It had stopped racing out of me and instead was retreating. I felt my knees buckle and tried to catch myself, but it was too late. My legs had turned to mush, and I fell to the ground. I didn’t even have the energy to listen to the crowd, cheering wildly.

Slowly I came awake. The familiar eyes of Tabby, the nurse, looked down on me with silent disdain.

“I thought I told you not to come back here,” she said. Her lips puckered as if I’d somehow personally offended her. I tried to sit up, but she pushed me back down. “I don’t think so. You’ve had a large shock, and used a terrible lot of your magic. Now you require rest.” I tried to nod, but I barely even had the energy for that.

“What happened?” I croaked. I wasn’t in pain. My limbs felt like they had been pummeled, but I didn’t remember being in a fight. I could feel the familiar white Infirmary blankets coming up to my chin, but I didn’t even have the strength to lift my arm and push them back down.

“You fainted, that’s what. Used almost all of your magic,” Tabby scoffed. “I haven’t figured out why, though. There’s something off about your magic. You weren’t even doing anything hard.”

“Maybe I’m just not very good.”

Tabby said, “It’s a distinct possibility.”

I tried to nod, but found myself having to fight off sleep instead.

“Did I pass?” I asked. My head felt fuzzy, like it was wrapped in a warm blanket.

“Oh, you passed,” said Tabby. I think I heard a bit of pride in her voice. “No one has ever passed with such drama before. I could hear the cheering from here.”

I smiled at that. I hadn’t realized anyone would cheer for me, let alone bleachers full of students. I’m sure the pixies didn’t, but maybe the rest of them did. If Camilla wasn’t there, Cale might even have cheered for me. I couldn’t wait to see my friends and hear what they had to say about it.

“I’m just relieved the exams are over,” I told her.

Tabby pointed out that every Starter felt that way.

“If only it counted for my Starter test,” I said sadly.

“When the time comes you’ll pass it,” said Tabby.

“How do you know?”

“Because you do what you have to,” was all she said. I started to ask another question, but she shushed me. “You may not pass in the way you think, but you’ll pass.”

I didn’t need to be told twice to go to sleep. My body was already insisting on it. With my last thought I wondered if Keller had really been there after all, and if he was one of the ones cheering.

Note to self, walking home alone at night is not a good idea. I knew this before I did it, but I really knew it by the end of that night. The problem was that I had no choice. I knew my friends would have come to get me from the Infirmary, but we were still on lockdown from the hellhound sighting.

As I stepped outside I released my hair from its ponytail and let it fall around my shoulders. It was the best chance I had of keeping my ears warm. I remembered when Keller had walked me back to my dorm a few weeks before and we’d run into a demon. I hadn’t been able to fight it on my own.

I walked faster. Airlee wasn’t far away.

I was a little tired, but whatever nurse Tabby had done to me, my limbs were feeling better. My legs felt stronger and less like Jell-O.

Soon I was almost running. Unfortunately, it wasn’t fast enough. Instead of demons or pixies materializing out of the darkness to attack me, it was a more menacing sight: vampires.

And I was alone, too far away from Airlee or any other help. I thought about turning and running back to the Infirmary, but I would never make it. Instead, I planted my feet and waited.

Strictly speaking, they were the only ones who were supposed to be walking the paths this late at night; this was their time. None of the other students dared to wonder what the vampires did when they had the campus to themselves. At one point I had wanted to ask Professor Lambros, but Sip had turned pale and insisted I promise not to. I had, because Sip had looked so scared.

Floating toward me was Lanca, the senior vampire princess. Her hair was so dark it blended with the night around her, in stark contrast to her pale arms. She wasn’t wearing a coat. She wasn’t shivering. I had thought she looked menacing at the best of times, but now she looked downright dangerous. I tried to take a breath, but the cold hurt my throat. Her glittering black eyes caught mine and held. I stopped trying to breathe. A smile spread slowly across her thin lips.

“Good evening, Charlotte,” she said, stepping toward me. “I was wondering when we would catch you alone.”

We?

Out of the shadows stepped Tale, Lanca’s constant larger shadow, and several other vampires I recognized for the simple fact that none of them were Starters – meaning they were all already trained in magic and brutality, just in case they had come to Public without those charming qualities.

I tried to take a step back, but I should have known better. Of course the vampires were behind me as well. They swirled around me, their black clothing contrasting with their pale features. I wasn’t sure where the vampires landed on hating other paranormals. They were unfriendly at the best of times.

“Evening Lanca,” I said. “Nice night for a stroll.”

She threw her head back and laughed. “You are too forward, Charlotte. Until now it may have served you well, but until now it wasn’t so critical that you be careful,” she informed me. I had no idea what she was talking about.

I felt like I was getting a lecture from a professor, not talking to a fellow student.

“How did you know I would be out here alone?” I asked. “Why are you all out here?” Whenever I am scared out of my wits – like right then – I tend to do the worst thing possible: I go on the offensive. This was one of those times.

“We’re here to look after you,” she said. I couldn’t look away from those glittering eyes. “Don’t you know?” she asked softly. “Don’t you even suspect?”

“Lanca,” I started, but changed my tone when one of the male vampires surrounding me growled. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“We realize that,” she said. “Look, Charlotte, you are new to the paranormal social scene, but it’s clear you aren’t stupid. So, let me be clear. You’ve seen that the paranormals don’t get along,” she said, and smiled. It only made her look more threatening, and more beautiful. “We,” she inclined her head to include the other vampires, “understand this. The demons destroyed any trust we could have in each other.” She paused. With every sentence she seemed to be considering each word more carefully.

“But the vampires aren’t as hostile to the other paranormals as you might think.” She was looking at me like she wanted me to understand, but I still didn’t.

She sighed. “We are better with subtlety. We are out here to protect you. When the time comes we will stand with you. All the vampires will. You should know.”

At first I wanted to laugh. I didn’t realize that vampires had a sense of humor, but judging from Lanca’s face, she wasn’t kidding. “What do I need protection from, and why are you the one doing it? And, stand to do what?” The only thing I could think of was protecting Lisabelle, but I couldn’t believe that the vampires would care about a wronged darkness mage.

Lanca nodded, as if I was finally getting it. “It is not a what it’s a who, and we are doing it because the vampires care about the Power of Five.”