Feudlings (7 page)

"To class?" she asked sarcastically without stopping.

"Your class is way back there… umm… where we stopped," He laughed as he pointed over his shoulder.

She froze and slowly turned, her boot squeaking on the laminate floor. She locked gazes with him and with as much dignity as she could muster, raised her chin, and stormed toward the library. "Funny," she said through clenched teeth as she passed him. The sound of his laughter followed her.

She spotted Livi at an empty table near the front as she walked through the library doors. Livi's face lit up and she started bouncing in her seat, waving as soon as Ari came in.

"Hey there! How's it going so far?" Livi asked, her eyes sparkling. Ari wondered if this was normal for the pint-sized brunette or if she was just having a good day. She spent the next hour trying not to be entertained by her tiny classmate's animated chatter.

She failed.

To be fair, Livi was hilarious. It didn't matter what she talked about; it was the
way
she talked that made it the most fascinating subject ever. She was so
animated
about everything. The hour flew by, and Ari was amazed to find that she was disappointed when class was over.

****

Three minutes before the bell rang for the last class of the day, Shane leaned back on his chair, watching his AP Biology teacher gather up his papers. He was leaving early to go talk to the principal about some scheduling conflict. The second he walked out, Shane dropped the front legs of his chair to the floor with a thunk and threw his books into his bag.

"This is getting ridiculous, Shane," Hunter muttered next to him.

Shane just grinned at him recklessly. “It’s fun though, huh?” he said as he started for the door.

"Where's he going?" Brittany asked from where she sat in front of them.

Hunter just glared at the doorway and said nothing.

Shane winked at her as he walked past. “To find a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”

As he slipped out the door, he heard her yell, “What does that mean?”

Chapter Five

"You know, my last roommate was never here. She gave me all the space I wanted," Brittany announced, sitting at her desk while she brushed her hair. She had changed out of her school uniform as soon as they walked in and was now wearing tight jeans and a dark purple tank top. If Ari had to guess, she would bet Brittany was going to find Shane. Brittany had been whining about him for over an hour, first to Ari, until she realized that Ari didn’t care. Then she had called someone on her sparkly little phone and whined some more.

Ari was trying to smother herself with her pillow, but she pulled it away from her face to answer Brittany. "She's gone. And just so you know, I plan to be in here most of the year." She pulled the pillow against her head again and sighed with relief when she heard Brittany storm out. Finally, some peace. And with the room quiet, she fell asleep.

It was dark when she woke up, her phone buzzing next to her. Brittany still wasn't back, which was convenient. She rolled over and tried to ignore the pounding in her head as she reached for the tiny dark red annoyance. The caller ID made her cringe, but she sucked in a breath and answered anyway. "Hello Richard," she said to her grandfather.

"Arianna. I've heard there has been an accident. Why didn't you inform us sooner?" Richard’s deep baritone rumbled through the connection.

Ari tried hard to sound nonchalant when she answered. "The nurse informed me that she couldn’t reach you. Anyway, I got knocked off a ladder. There was nothing to tell."

His temper flared, like always. "How do you know there was no Carules magic involved?"

"Because there wasn't any. I can see it, remember?" she snapped back. Bad idea, but she was four hundred miles away from him.
Let's see you hit me with that little zinger now, Grandpa
, she thought.

"They can use shrouds to hide it. Just like you do. The gods sent us a Prodigy with no common sense in her useless brain!" he yelled into the phone.

Ari was silent. She was pretty sure she would rather be hit physically with one of those weird little spells he made up than have him say that, but she shoved the pain his words brought way down deep with all the other emotions she wanted nothing to do with. "Shrouds don’t hide magic traces," she said with a calmness she didn't feel, “they only hide the wearer.”

He started to bellow, but she interrupted him. "Did you have a reason for calling? Because I've got work to do here." She could picture him in her head, his face going a dark burgundy and his eyes so wide they threatened to bug out of his head. Maybe she would make him so mad this time that his hands would shake with the effort not to strangle her. She massaged her throbbing temples.

"If you were my daughter—" he exploded.

Ari cut him off. "But I'm not. If I were, I'd end up timid and terrified like my mother." The words were out before she could stop herself.

"You little…" Ari pulled the phone away from her ear before she could hear the rest of his sentence. No need. He'd called her that before. Several times. She didn't need to hear it again to know it would still hurt. As she hung up, she prayed that he wouldn't take his anger toward her out on her mother.

After that, sleep was pointless. Despite her still-pounding head, she got up and unpacked her homework, spreading it all over her desk, ready to throw herself into history papers that didn’t give her time to think.

The door flew open, banging on the inside wall as Brittany breezed in. "They're serving dinner. We wear normal clothes to dinner." She raised a thinly-plucked eyebrow at Ari, still in her uniform.

"I'm not hungry," Ari responded without looking up. Brittany dragged out half her closet and tried most of it on, throwing the rest into a heap. Ari turned with a frown, sitting backward on her chair. "That better stay on your side." She watched with horrified interest as the pile grew bigger and bigger.

Brittany just glared at her. "I have to wear just the right thing. I'm sitting with Shane and his friends tonight."

"Good for you. That’s so exciting." Ari rolled her eyes.

"You know, you should care that he takes the time to walk you to your classes. It's not like he likes you or anything, that's just how he is. He takes care of all new students," Brittany said as she pulled on a bright pink fuzzy sweater that fell low on her shoulders and a denim mini-skirt over bright leggings.

"You look like a unicorn threw up on you." Ari crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against her desk in amusement.

Brittany's green eyes widened in outrage. "I didn't ask for your opinion!" she cried.

"Well, that's a lot of pink." Ari shrugged and turned back to her homework. She could feel Brittany's glare boring a hole in the back of her head, and then she heard her moving around and the soft ruffling of clothes. When she glanced back at her roommate again, it was just in time to see her flounce out the door. At least she had traded the bright pink leggings for black ones. Grateful that her banshee-roommate had finally left, she turned back to history.

****

As Ari and Livi walked out of Calculus several days later, Ari had to force herself to not scan the halls. But she felt those dark blue eyes on her before she looked up and saw him. Shane was leaning against the wall, surrounded by girls, but he was watching
her
. Her heart took off at a run, leaving her struggling for breath. He met her eyes, a mischievous smile playing around the corners of his mouth, and then he was telling his admirers he'd talk to them later and falling into step beside her.

"Hey, Liv," he said. Ari watched the group of girls, most of whom were glaring at her.

"I think you just made me a bunch of enemies." She sighed.

"What?" He glanced behind him, baffled.

Livi took pity on him and changed the subject. "We're heading to lunch. Wanna join us?"

"Of course," Shane responded with a wink, turning his attention back to them.

"Have you cleared this with the boss yet?" Ari was sarcastic. Just a bit.

"The boss?" Livi asked, her small face wrinkled in confusion as she darted through the crowds of students.

Shane cast Ari an exasperated look.

"Hunter," Ari told Liv.

“Ah,” Livi said with an understanding smile.

"He's not—" Shane started, but Ari interrupted.

"And I'm wondering. Why is it okay for you to be surrounded by those girls?” Ari’s eyes flew back toward the group of girls still watching Shane leave. “Or Livi or Nev? What's he got against me? I'm new. He doesn't even know me."

"They aren't a threat." Shane’s eyes danced.

A threat. Well, this is new. I’m a threat and it has absolutely nothing to do with being a
monster.
Ari thought, somewhat delighted at the concept.

****

Ari ate her dinner in her dorm room while she attempted to do her calculus homework. Brittany sat next to her, pretending to work but mostly just pointedly ignoring her. So when the shiny red phone started to vibrate it startled both of them.

"Good grief! Do you mind? I'm trying to study here!" Brittany yelped as she nearly fell backward off her chair. Ari choked on a laugh as she snatched up the phone.

Will. Her face split into a grin and she punched the answer button. "Will! Hey!" she said. Aware of Brittany's curious stare and disliking it, she headed outside.

"Hey baby sister. How's the new school?" Will asked, and she could picture him with that easy grin, his black and red hair messy, his big brown eyes sparkling.

"It's… okay, actually. I even made some kind-of friends. At least, I have people to sit with at lunch."

"Through no fault of yours, I'm guessing. You're probably doing everything you can to keep them away from you."

She didn't respond.

Will sighed. "I knew it. Ari, we've talked about this. You need friends."

"I can't have friends, Will. You know that. Not with… this life."

"I think this life you lead should come second. But hey, that way of thinking is what got me in here in the first place," Will said, and Ari could picture him grinning. She missed him so much it hurt. Will was always grinning.

"How are things in rebel country?" she asked, a teasing lilt to her voice as the corners of her mouth turned up in a rare smile.

"Oh, just peachy. Are you coming by any time soon? I am having a serious craving for junk food. Anything not home grown," he said with a groan.

Ari laughed. "I'll bring pizza, but I don't know when it will be. Things have been pretty tame on the war front." She glanced up to make sure no one was around to hear her. The night was quiet, and the only people in sight were several yards away. She leaned against the wall, adjusting her phone on her shoulder and digging her bare toes into the cool grass.

"You know Richard won't let that last. I bet he’s out inciting the masses as we speak. A tame war is not a profitable war." There was a whole lot of bitterness in his voice.

Will was her big brother. Before she was born, everyone had thought he was the Prodigy — he was so powerful. She came along when he was ten, and that was the end of that thinking. After she was born, it was obvious to everyone what he was supposed to be — the Prodigy's Guard. Ari had never understood why, if the Prodigy was so powerful, did she need a Guard?

Whatever the reason, Will began training immediately, but before his seventeenth birthday, when Ari was six and starting to come into her powers, he had walked away. He said he’d had enough of the war and he didn't believe in it anymore. Of course, there were rumors that he was angry and jealous of his little sister. But Ari knew it wasn’t true. There were whole colonies of Carules and Edrens who had walked away from the war, living together. He left to join them. But because he was so powerful, the ruling class of Edren society known as the Family and headed by her grandfather feared him and what he could do. They had waited a couple of years, drawing
forget
spells on Ari's forehead daily, until she couldn't even remember she had a brother.

And then they had sent her to kill him.

"Hello? Ari!" Will called into the phone.

"Oh! Sorry. I'm here. Just daydreaming." Ari snapped back to the present. Cricket noises assaulted her. Crickets had always creeped her out. Strange little bugs that made a lot of noise but would never show themselves.

"So tell me all about school. And these friends of yours. I need to know the details. Oh, and Ward’s wife Ember had her baby. Did I tell you that? She was not happy that she had to do it here without any western medicine to help her through it. But she did it. And the baby is so cute. Not that I would say that, because I'm a big tough manly guy. But I've heard."

Ari chuckled. Will was the only person in the world who knew the real her. He was the only one who could make her laugh, and the only one who would never hurt her. “And how is Dani?” Ari asked, mischief in her voice.

“Same as always. She wants us to take some steps forward and I don’t have time.” Will sighed. Dani was Will’s sometimes-girlfriend. Or at least, they would both like her to be, but with the war, Will had to focus on Ari. So he put Dani on the back burner.

"Will, it's late," Ari said several minutes of easy banter later. "I have to finish my homework and head to bed."

"It's Friday night, Ari," he pointed out.

"Yeah, I know. But I've got a headache." Ari clapped a hand over her mouth.

"What? Why didn't you tell me? How bad is this one?" She could hear alarm running through his voice.

"It's not my normal headache. I… um… fell off a ladder. Or rather, I fell off and then it landed on me."

"When did this happen?" Will demanded.

Ari winced. Obviously her attempt to soothe his fears hadn’t helped. "The day I got here. So, um, a week ago, I guess."

"Did they take you to the hospital?"

"No." She bit her lip.

"What!?"

"I'm fine, Will. I'm just tired. I'll try to get some pizza to you somehow or another, okay?"