Djinn (32 page)

"Thanks. I better go get ready for tutoring," I said.

Pyke only smiled at how awkward he was making me feel. Why was he doing this to me? Why did he make me feel so nervous?

"Alright," he said. "Have fun."

Chapter Thirty-One

Keisuke was more than happy to stay with Pyke while I headed over to the palace for training with Mia. As much as I wanted to dawdle so I could spend less time with her, I didn't want to give Mia any excuse to start an argument.

I walked to the palace and was stopped at the gates by the Guardjinn who were passing through large trucks. They stopped the trucks and waved me in.

When I reached the palace steps I watched tables, chairs and other pieces of furniture being unloaded from the vehicles. Obviously it had something to do with the ball, or perhaps Celeste was redecorating the entire palace, because there really were a lot of trucks coming and going. How big was this ball going to be?

I weaved my way through the furniture and entered the palace. I remembered the library was on the second floor, east wing, from my tour with Nate.

I wondered where he was. It had been days since I'd seen him. He'd been so busy with preparations for the ball with Millie. I missed seeing them.

I made my way up the grand staircase to the second floor and took a left down the east wing passage. The library was at the end of the hallway, concealed behind two floor-length wooden doors. Pictures were carved into the wood like it was telling some sort of story, but the plot eluded me, so I pushed them open without a second thought.

The library was bigger than my whole house, two levels high, walls lined with bookcases. I thought I might die of love right then and there. It was beautiful, and I wondered how many of these books had never been seen by human eyes. What did Djinn write about? What stories did they have to tell? I could have spent the rest of my life reading that wealth of knowledge and died happy.

The library was mostly empty, except for a few older men and women wandering around. They paid me little notice, nothing more than a glance before moving on. With their heads in books I wasn't sure how they even managed to navigate the room without walking in to anything.

I made my way to the centre of the room where a cluster of tables and chairs filled the space. I couldn't see Mia anywhere, but there were so many bookshelves it was impossible to tell where she might be. I took a seat and leaned my head on the desk watching a woman with long grey hair put books back in their rightful places. I realised she was the woman from the council I'd seen on my first day in the palace.

She gave me a small nod after noticing my staring eyes. I smiled back, but she continued her task without further attention.

A stack of books slammed on the table, inches from my head, and I jumped back, nearly falling out of my seat. Mia stood next to me her lips curled back in a snarl.

"About time," she said.

I knew I wasn't late; in fact, I was early, but Mia wanted to get a rise out of me.

Not this time. I wasn't going to let her get to me. I was going to get through the tutoring session and go home. I wouldn't give her an excuse.

"Got here as soon as I could," I replied with a smile.

"I spoke to Will and worked out where you were at with your tutoring," she said, leaning against the table, but not sitting. "He seems to think you know a lot. I think he was just trying to be nice."

"Will is a good tutor. I learned a lot."

"I'm sure you did," Mia said through gritted teeth.

I hadn't meant anything by it, but it didn't seem to matter what I said to her. Mia was going to take it the wrong way.

"Read these," she said, nodding at the stack of books. They were all old leather-bound volumes with gold lettering.

"What are they about?" I asked, picking one up and flicking through the pages.

"You'll find out when you read them," Mia replied and pushed off the table. "I'll come back and check on you later."

She started walking away like that was it, but there was just one problem.

"I can't read this," I called, and she stopped mid-step.

Mia spun on her heel and stalked back. "What?"

I held up the book and showed her the pages. "It's written in Sanskrit. I can't read it. That's why Will was tutoring me, or else I would have just read all about it."

Mia pinched her brow and cursed under her breath. She must have figured it would be easy money: just leave me alone to read for hours on end. I wished it were that simple. Then I wouldn't need her at all.

"You have to be kidding," she said. "Everyone can read."

"I can read!" I said a little too loud, making the councilwoman glance my way. I didn't like Mia accusing me of not being able to do something I loved. I hushed my voice and leaned closer to her. "I can read, Mia. Most people don't read Sanskrit."

"Yes, they do," she hissed back. "Sanskrit is basic for Djinn. It's humans who read English."

"We speak English," I pointed out.

"Good for you. My point still remains. You can't do something that other Djinn find simple." She chuckled. "You really don't belong here."

I clenched my fists under the table and gritted my teeth.

"This is hard for me," I said. "You could at least do your job, and maybe teach me how to read it."

My face was inches from hers, our eyes locked, and then she jerked back.

"Whoa," she said. "Don't go kissing me. Your flirting won't get you out of tutoring like it did with Will."

"You really can't help yourself, can you?" I snapped, temper flaring.

"It's true though," she replied, pleased by the rise she'd caused.

"Do you really have a problem with Djinn and Guardjinn being together? Seriously?"

"Yes," she hissed.

"I don't believe it," I replied. "Pyke doesn't care."

"Pyke's being a lovesick puppy. In love with the daughter of his father's murderer."

"He's not my father!" I pushed back my chair and gripped the table hard, knuckles turning white.

"He killed my uncle!" Mia shouted and the councilwoman shot us a disapproving look, but Mia didn't seem to notice or care. "Pyke acts like none of it happened. You've got him all mesmerised, just like Will."

I was shocked Mia thought that about me. Will wasn't the one who'd been mesmerised; it was me.

"I didn't do anything. Pyke and I are just friends."

"You shouldn't be anything!" she shrieked.

"What do you care, anyway? He's your cousin."

"He is, and I care about him. I want to stop him from making a stupid decision."

"You're just jealous that all the men in your life are giving me attention and not you!"

A sharp pain tingled my cheek, and it took a few moments for me to realise Mia had slapped me.

Heat flooded my face and clouded my mind. Before I could stop myself, I swung a fist at Mia's face. I caught her chin, knocking her head back. There was no going back from that.

Mia recovered with a back kick that I blocked with my arm, but the buckles on her boot cut like little knives.

I leaned in for another punch, but she grabbed my wrist. I quickly pivoted around her, twisting out of her grip and throwing her to the floor. I knelt on top of her as she clawed my face, raking fingernails down my cheek. I screamed, much girlier than intended, and wondered if this was what people called a catfight.

I pushed Mia, and she stumbled backwards. I charged at her and twisted her arm behind her back and she screamed in pain, but soon the scream turned high-pitched and I had to let go in order to cover my ears.

"Enough!"

Mia and I lay side by side on our backs, panting, like we'd run a marathon. The councilwoman stood above us, her hands on her hips.

"I said enough," she repeated, eyes flicking between us.

A feeling of calm washed over me, and I suddenly didn't feel like attacking Mia anymore. I was still mad as hell at her, but the urge to fight had faded like a fleeting dream.

"Stand up," the councilwoman said and we got to our feet.

"What's going on?" Mia asked. Her eyes were wide and her body twitched in jittery panic

I felt the same way. I was quite happy on the floor, but the moment the woman said stand it was all I wanted to do.

"You two want to fight each other over boys, fine, but do it somewhere else," the woman said.

I wanted to go somewhere, anywhere but the library in that moment.

"What did you do to us?" I asked, but the woman didn't seem interested in answering questions.

"I understand boys seem like the most important thing to fight about, but one day you'll find out they're not. I'll forget about this little fight if you two leave right now."

Mia and I turned on our heels and headed toward the library doors. I didn't even remember making the conscious decision to move, but I needed to get out of there.

Mia and I didn't stop walking until we were outside of the palace doors. Only then did I have control of my mind and body again.

Mia didn't say anything to me, only glared and stormed off. I touched my cheek where blood was still drying. It stung and I pulled my hand away.

There was no way I could go home looking like this. Ivan would kill me for getting in a fight, and he'd probably have Mia killed, too. Part of me would like to see her get in trouble, but the other part didn't want to hear Ivan yell again. So I turned right instead of left at the palace entrance, and headed to the only person I could turn to for help.

* * *

As I approached Millie's house, with its identical looking structure to my own, I felt a twinge of worry. I knew I was nowhere near my home but its same-ness threw me. Only when Millie's face appeared from behind the front door did I finally relax.

"Oh my god!" Millie said, hand over her mouth. "What happened to you?"

She grabbed my arm and yanked me through the door. The familiar family portraits and decorations were welcoming. Millie looked me over like a nurse.

"Who did this to you?" Millie asked touching my clawed cheek. I flinched as she prodded me, and swatted her hand away.

"I'm fine, really," I said.

"You call that fine? The ball is only three days away, and you look like you've gone ten rounds with a cat."

"Close enough," I said, almost laughing.

"Are you in shock or something?" Millie looked me over, studying, as if she could see my mental health with her naked eye. "I'm getting my mum."

She ran off into another room only to return moments later with her mother in tow.

"Oh my!" Mrs. Baxter said when she saw my face. "What happened?"

"Just got in a bit of a fight," I confessed, feeling a little nervous in front of an adult.

Millie and her mother led me into the sitting room and had me lie on the couch while they fussed over what parts of me were injured. I was fine, really—apart from the scratch on my face it was maybe a few bruises and scrapes. But there was no telling the Baxter women that. They acted like I was a war patient with limbs blown off.

"Will she be okay?" Millie asked.

"I should be able to heal her up," Mrs Baxter replied, brushing my hair back for a better look at my face.

"Focus on the face," Millie continued. "The ball is soon. She needs to be perfect."

Mrs Baxter glanced at her daughter and gave me a small grin. "I'll do my best honey. Now go get Kyra some food and drink."

Millie ran to the kitchen like it was life or death, but I think Mrs Baxter just wanted her to leave the room for a moment.

"I'll have you healed in no time," she said to me.

"I'm fine, really," I assured her.

"I know your wounds aren't fatal, but I don't think you want your parents to know about this."

She'd read my mind exactly. I didn't think Isabelle would mind so much, but Ivan was a different story.

Mrs Baxter placed her hands on my face and stomach and closed her eyes. I felt warmth flowing from her, radiating into me like a transfer of energy. It strengthened me, filled me up with power.

"There." Millie's mum opened her eyes and the power stopped. Mrs Baxter looked pale now; wrinkles had appeared where none were before, like she'd grown years in minutes.

"Are you okay?" I asked, reaching out.

"I'll be fine. I just need to rest," she assured me.

"Oh thank god!" Millie said as she ran into the room. "You fixed her face."

"And the rest of her," Mrs. Baxter said.

"Thank you, Mum," Millie said, hugging her.

"Any time. I'm going to have a lie down now. You should rest too Kyra." Mrs Baxter disappeared leaving Millie studying my face.