Paranormal Public (Paranormal Public Series) (33 page)

“Come on,” he said in a low voice, “or do you want everyone in the school thinking you are a threat too?”

That shut me up. What did Keller mean? Did he believe me that it wasn’t Lisabelle? I allowed him to take me out of the hall. I didn’t look back. He led me towards the door.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed? For once in your life act cowed,” he whispered furiously. “At the moment it is more important for your enemies to think you are scared than for you to defend your friend.”

At the door we passed Professor Zervos, who went frantically by us without seeming to see us at all. Keller and I both stopped to stare at him. Once inside the hall he skidded to a stop. His robes were flapping and untied and his hair was sticking out at odd angles.

“President,” he cried, “she’s gone. Lisabelle Verlans has escaped.”

Cries erupted around the room. The President, looking stricken, waved her hands for order. “Allow me to confer for a moment with my colleagues,” she ordered. Professor Zervos darted to her.

I yanked out of Keller’s grasp.

Turning back towards the room the President said, “Classes are canceled, and the school is on lockdown until this mad woman is caught. I realize that you are all young adults, but we still must consider your safety, and with Lisabelle Verlans on the loose no one is safe.”

At that Lough got up and stormed out. Keller grabbed my arm again and hauled me out the door. His fingers felt like steel rods biting into my skin.

The fact that everything had been going well for the past month made it even harder than it might have been otherwise to accept what was happening. I’d been looking forward to the end of the semester. The change in weather, as it started to get colder, didn’t bother me. I had been working hard with Keller, and even though I hadn’t produced the kind of magic had I managed at midterms, I had been improving. Keller had started to seem slightly withdrawn, and that had been worrying me, but I had told myself that it was just stress from finals and from Dash.

The finals at Dash were for individuals, and Keller was one of them. He would be competing against Tale and Cale for the trophy. Lisabelle was supposed to be the fourth finalist, but given that she had been arrested, a senior mage named Nancy, who had been fifth in the individual standings, would compete in her place. Everyone would be there to watch.

Keller deposited me at Airlee and ordered me to stay there. I informed him that he had no right to tell me what to do, but he ignored me. After he left I examined my arm; bruises were already starting to form where his fingers had dug into my flesh.

A knock on the door startled me out of my anger. I yanked it open to find Cale standing there, hands shoved into his pockets, red hair flopping over his forehead.

“Hey Charlotte,” he said. “Can I have a word?”

My heart thumped in my chest. “Okay.” In an instant I made a mental checklist of anything visible in my room that might be embarrassing. Sip liked everything clean, so there wasn’t much. Relieved, I invited him to sit.

“How’s it going?” he asked.

“Fine.” It wasn’t, of course, but what was I supposed to say?

He cleared his throat. “Sorry about Lisabelle.”

“Me too.”

He fiddled with papers on the desk, neatening a pile that was already neat.

“Charlotte,” he said. “I like you. A lot. Always have.”

Why, given that Camilla hardly let us spend time together.

“And, well, I was hoping we could be...something...at the dance, but....”

If I breathed he might go poof. What was he talking about?

“But you’re a mage,” he said. He wasn’t looking at me. “I just thought I should explain why....”

I was sick of this. Maybe a little part of me had liked Cale and I hadn’t admitted it to myself, but Camilla had always been there. And after what had happened to Lisabelle the night before, I had a hard time caring in the slightest about what he was saying. And besides worrying about Lisabelle, I was having a hard time keeping my mind from drifting to Keller.

“Why what?”

“You’re in Airlee,” he said.

“That’s your problem?” I demanded.

“Charlotte, you can’t date someone in another dorm,” Cale said. “People would be so mad.”

“Cale, that’s just a stupid idea people have. The demons tried to drive a wedge between paranormals during the wars and we let them.”

Cale sighed. “I just wanted to come here and I explain why I treated you the way I did and why...I’m back with Camilla.”

Ah, there it was.
I expected myself to feel some sadness, but I didn’t. I just felt a little sorry for him. He had just assumed I was interested in him, too, which I never really had been. Not seriously, anyhow. It would have been nice to have a friend from home, but at this point it was long beyond mattering.

“Thanks for that, Cale,” I said. “Really appreciate it.” I got up and opened the door for him. He looked at me incredulously.

“Are you mad?”

“No,” I said. “I just have bigger things to worry about.”

For the rest of that week Sip, Lough, and I spent every free moment trying to figure out what could have happened to Lisabelle, where she might be, and if she would come back. I didn’t even bother telling them about Cale. He had loomed large for me at the beginning of the semester, but I had found my own group of friends. After what had happened at the dance, I couldn’t really look at him the same way again. I hadn’t seen Keller since that day at breakfast.

“If Lisabelle ran away, where would she go?” Sip demanded late Thursday night.

“I don’t know,” said Lough for the millionth time. “But why would she run away?” The three of us were sitting in our common room.

After Lisabelle had escaped, the library had been closed during the evening. The only other place we saw Lough besides class was at meals, but we were afraid to talk there. Professors now walked us back and forth from class, in case the dangerous fugitive Lisabelle jumped out of the bushes and attacked us. Even the students who believed she was guilty thought it was silly.

Around us we heard whispers of what Lisabelle must have done. Professors condemned her. Part of me understood it, the President had decided she was guilty after all, but another part of me, the larger part that had spent all semester with Lisabelle, never would. If she had wanted to be on the side of the demons she would never have bothered coming to Public. A nasty part of me pointed out that her goal all along might have been to infiltrate Public and do what no demon could, but I pushed that thought away.

As the three of us sat in Airlee, Mike, Sip’s date to the homecoming dance, came in.

“Did you hear?” he asked us.

“Hear what?” asked Sip, blushing slightly. She had developed a huge crush on Mike. He was oblivious to it.

“The President called an Assembly for first thing tomorrow morning.”

“What’s an Assembly?” I asked.

Mike shrugged. “It’s just that she’s going to talk to us at breakfast again, only she’s letting us know ahead of time.”

Wonderful, I thought. What other bile could she spew about Lisabelle?

It turned out that the Assembly wasn’t about Lisabelle. All week the professors had seemed distracted. Lesson plans had been confused; sometimes whole lessons had been forgotten. We’d all just chalked it up to end of the semester stress, coupled with the catastrophic event of having a student die on campus.

Of course, Bailey’s funeral wasn’t held on campus, but concerned parents had been calling in all week, and professors had had to deal with that and with the at least some students’ grief at losing one of their own. Once Lisabelle had disappeared, the pressure on the school had increased, because many parents believed that their children were still in danger.

All through breakfast I had a feeling of anticipation. Students wanted to know what the President was going to say. There had even been whispers that the school would be closed once the semester was over, at least until Lisabelle was caught.

“Good morning, students,” said the President from the top of the podium. “I’m sure you are all wondering why I wanted to address you again this morning.” She cleared her throat. I thought it was just for dramatic affect. I disliked her even more.

“I first want to commend all of you for your excellent handling of the events of the past week. I am in awe of your strength and fortitude.”

“What crap,” Sip muttered to me, glaring.

I tried not to smirk.

“I have some news that may surprise some of you, but I must say, it’s the best news we’ve had in a long time,” she continued.

“You speared the darkness mage and she’s dead?” someone called from the crowd. I was sure it came from a pixie table.

The President ignored the speaker. “There is believed to be an elemental in hiding from the demons,” she announced.

The change in the room was instant. It was like an electric current shooting through the hall.

Camilla, sitting next to Cale, stood up and said, “Really?” I was shocked by the raw hope in her eyes. “Really?” She repeated, then sat down heavily, as if her legs couldn’t support her anymore. The air in the room tightened as everyone waited for the President to answer Camilla’s question. I looked around at different faces. My stomach twisted. I saw hope. I had heard the stories of a last elemental and shrugged them off. I hadn’t known how important it was to other paranormals.

The President beamed. “Yes, it’s true. The Power of Five might once again be reunited and thrive,” she said, her voice rising in triumph. “We will push the demons back yet.” Slowly, and then with growing speed, students around the room started to cheer. Some jumped to their feet and suddenly everyone was standing and clapping. Several professors even had tears in their eyes. I stood up with the rest and clapped, while the President continued to stand at the podium.

When everyone had quieted down The President continued. “It is the most wonderful news. I know many of you have heard whispers about it these last few weeks, but we couldn’t make a formal announcement until it was confirmed. In the past month our sensors have been sensing elemental magic. We have some idea where it’s coming from, but not a clear one yet. We must find this elemental before the demons do. We have it on very good authority that the elemental is young. The logical thing to do is to go and retrieve him or her.”

Several students called out questions. The President raised her hands. “I cannot tell you everything you want to know. We are not sure why the elemental has remained hidden all this time. Possibly it is for safety, but we will find out if we get there before the demons. Public remains the safest place for paranormals. Therefore....” She was forced to pause, then to raise her voice as students began to talk again. Many were proposing going with her and helping in the search.

“The Professors are the trained fighters here. Yes, this semester, more than in previous years, you students have been working on improving your fighting skills, but you are still no match against demons. I, along with the professors, are planning on leading an expedition to find the elemental.”

Cries rang out and Evan Drapper, the Starter vampire said, “But it’s the Dash championships this weekend.”

“Oh, who cares,” said Camilla. “Dash doesn’t matter if we can get the Power of Five back and not live in fear anymore.” It made me hate her a tiny bit less.

“Shut up,” demanded the vampire. Students started to rise again, ready to fight, but the President ordered calm.

“We leave this afternoon,” she continued. “We have canceled classes for today, as there will not be any professors here to teach them. The only professors on campus will be Professor Zervos and Professor Korba,” she said. “They will do their best with Dash tomorrow, and depending on how long we are gone, they will administer final exams, including to all you students on probation. We wish this weren’t necessary, but every moment lost is a moment that allows the demons to get closer to our elemental.”