Initiation (14 page)

I put the feather back in the envelope and dropped it in my tennis bag to show to Jagger. Then, I checked myself. Not that I needed a refresher, but having just come out of the Initiation meeting, and having had the
Trust No One
rule rammed into me again, made me take a breather. The rule included Jagger. What did I really know about him? Nothing. In fact, I had just found out that he had a brother who would be attending the school. Aside from that, I didn’t know anything at all. And faeries were notorious liars. He probably wasn’t even a full faery; there was something about him…. Just because we’d synched didn’t mean that he had my back. Or did it?

Did I have his? Could I betray him? I searched myself for an answer, but found none. I guessed I wouldn’t know for sure until I was tested. I needed to know for sure. Perhaps Frau Schmelder could set up a test. I decided to ask her.

In the meantime, I thought I should play it safe. I wouldn’t mention the feather to Jagger. Should I mention it to anyone, or just try to deal with it myself? Ugh. I decided to take a break from thinking and play tennis.

I was a bit late, and Jagger was already waiting for me at the courts, seeming mildly bored. He perked up when he spotted me and threw me a wide grin.

“Hey, Jagger. How’s it going with your brother? Ryker, isn’t it?”

“Yes. He didn’t show, not yet, anyway.”

“Oh. When was he supposed to arrive?”

“Yesterday, with all the other Initiates. I have no idea what’s up. I guess The Smelt has contacted his mother.”

“Do you know what his mom is? Is she a faery as well?”

“No idea. I guess so, but who knows?” He bent and brushed his lips against mine.

I pushed him away. “Not here! What if someone saw us and told Quinn? He’d kill you.”

Jagger shrugged, looking bored again. “He could try.”

“Look, I don’t need any drama, not right now. I’ve got my hands full with the trial and Faustine. So gimme a break.”

“Whatever. Let’s play.” He dropped a ball on his racket and bounced it up and down. The ball bounced off the strings gently at first, but got progressively faster until a normal human wouldn’t have been able to see the ball at all, like the fast-spinning blades of a fan. But I could see every bounce, as if in slow motion. I gripped the butt of my racket and gently brought the head towards Jagger’s racket. While his ball was up in the air, I quickly slid the head of my racket under it and claimed the ball as it landed, bouncing off my racket. I scrunched my nose at Jagger.

“Smarty pants!” He laughed and, quick as lightning, reclaimed the ball. He moved his arm up, so the racket was too high for me to reach.

“Unfair!” I kicked his shin.

The ball fell to the floor as Jagger flinched. “Ouch! You bad little demon!”

I took off with the ball, barely able to run because I was laughing so hard. Still, I made it around the net before he body-slammed me to the ground from the opposite direction. Once again, he was on top of me. Once again, all I wanted to do was rip off his clothes.

“Hey, what’s this? Playtime at the zoo?” Quinn’s sharp voice cut the air.

I instinctively pushed Jagger off me, using my demon power, and he landed with a mighty thud on the other side of the court. I watched bemusedly as he got up, brushed himself off, and threw an annoyed glance my way before marching toward the main building.

“Oops, he doesn’t look too happy,” Quinn chortled. “Why did you do that?”

I shrugged. “Had to teach him not to mess with demons.”

“What do you mean? Messing with you? How? I’ll teach him a lesson if he’s ann–”

“No, no,” I interjected, before his pants caught flame. “Messing, as in trying to take my tennis ball. That’s all. Anyhow, never mind that. What’s up? Did you come looking for me?”

“Yep. Well, The Smelt sent me. She wants to see you.”

I checked my watch. I had to pick up Faustine soon. “Quinn, could you get Faustine from Dax’s room? I’m supposed to do that in a little while.” I gave him the directions, then made my way to the headmistress’s office.

“Come in, Cordelia,” Frau Schmelder said when I knocked on her door. Then, she waved me to a chair. “So?”

I raised my eyebrows in confusion, not having a clue what she wanted.

She waved an envelope in the air. “What’s this all about?”

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be rude, but I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

She pursed her lips, looking annoyed. “I’m talking about the letter you stuck to my door. At the very least, you should have come and discussed it with me first. In any case, it’s completely out of the question. All will proceed as planned. Dismissed.” She lowered her face to peer at her screen.

Gathering every inch of courage I possessed, I practically whimpered, “What letter?”

“This, you silly girl,” she hissed, and threw an envelope at me. “Now out! I’ve had enough of this nonsense.”

I caught the envelope and ran out of her office, not stopping until I was safely in my room. I locked the door and looked at the letter.

Dear Frau Schmelder,

I wish to withdraw my complaint against the shifters who allegedly attacked me. I made it all up. It was just a back-to-school prank that got a little out of hand. No harm done.

Sincerely,

Cordelia Hammer

WTF? I didn’t even have to sniff the envelope to know who had written the letter. The stink came through loud and clear. That damned eagle. I was going to have to de-feather her!

A knock on the door interrupted my satisfying image of pulling the feathers off that bird, one by one, while it shrieked, and then roasting it. And feeding it to the werewolves. Ha! “Who is it?”

“Quinn.”

I went over and unlocked the door. Quinn walked in with Faustine.

“Thanks for bringing Faustine back for me.” I stood on my tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss.

Quinn slumped down on my bed. “Why was your door locked?”

I turned to Faustine, who looked ready to head back to her own room and bed. “Faustine, I know you’re probably tired, but can you sit for a minute? We need to talk.”

“That sounds serious,” Quinn remarked, sitting up straighter and scrutinizing me. “What’s up? What did The Smelt want?”

I handed him the letter, feeling I had to share it with someone. In the two years I’d known him, Quinn had never once done anything to betray my trust. I watched him read, his expression not changing.

When he was done, he put it aside and studied my face. “Any idea who wrote it? Is this what Frau Schmelder wanted to see you about? Here, Faustine, read it so you know what we’re talking about.”

Unlike Quinn’s, Faustine’s emotions read like a book, and when she finished reading the letter, her face reflected total confusion.

“I didn’t write that letter,” I assured her. “Though The Smelt thinks I did, unfortunately.”

“Why didn’t you just tell her you didn’t?” Quinn asked, sounding perplexed.

“Well, I didn’t have any idea what she was talking about when she confronted me about it in her office. She clearly thought I’d written it, and then stuck it on her door. She only showed, or rather
threw
it at me, as I was leaving. I didn’t actually read it until I got back here.”

“Well, you obviously have to go back and tell her that,” he said adamantly.

“I know. I will.”

Faustine sniffed the letter. “You know, the smell reminds me of something. Can’t put my finger on it, though.”

“Here, sniff this.” I handed her the feather.

“Where did you get this from?” she asked.

“It was in an envelope left outside my door earlier today.”

“Was there a note in it?” Quinn asked.

“Nope, just the feather.”

Faustine brought it close to her nose and smelled it, closing her eyes. Her eyes popped open. “I think I know what it is! It’s that eagle. You know, the one who knocked us down.”

I nodded. “Thanks, Faustine. I needed you to confirm that. That’s exactly what I thought.”

“Clearly a warning,” Quinn mused. “So, now what?”

“Well, even if I wanted to withdraw my complaint against the other four shifters, I can’t. Frau Schmelder was crystal clear about that. So I guess I just have to be on guard and take out that feathery monster if I ever see her again. I can’t remember what she looked like in her human form, but now I’ll be able to track her using her own scent.”

Faustine gasped. “You’re going to kill her?”

“If she comes after me, I’ll fight her, and I’ll win.” I wondered if it was all too much for a twelve-year-old noob. I had needed some kind of confirmation from her that the letter was from the eagle, but since I had that, it was probably best to keep her out of the rest. It just wasn’t fair to the poor girl. She was going to have enough issues to deal with, and she’d already seen way more than she should have just two days into the school year.

“Faustine, don’t worry about all this. I’ll take care of it. So, tell me about your afternoon with Dax and the others. What did you end up watching?”

She laughed. “Well, we couldn’t agree, so we took a vote, and the girls won, obviously. We watched
Legally Blonde
. I love that movie. Then we just sat around and talked. Well, Martha did pretty much all the talking. She can have a whole conversation by herself. I didn’t really mind, though; she’s a hoot, really fun to listen to. I love her southern accent. Anyhow, I don’t think there’s anything she didn’t share about herself. I even know her bra size. Dax nearly died when she started talking about her boob job.”

“Did you find out anything more about Chun?” I asked. All we knew so far was that she hated her mom.

“No. But seriously, Martha really did do most of the talking. No one else shared anything, only asking her a quick question when she stopped to take a breath, which wasn’t often. Dax fell asleep.”

“What’s on the agenda for tomorrow?” I asked.

Faustine handed me the printout of her schedule. I was a bit surprised to see that she was to go and meet with Professor Bern, the director of the Paranormal Powers and Practices Department, first thing the next morning. Her department dealt with the practical aspects of our training, while the other two were purely academic. Under Professor Bern’s guidance, the students explored and developed the full potential of their paranormality. Therefore, she was considered the most powerful member of the Academy staff.

It was rare to get to meet her. In my two years at the Academy, I had only ever seen her at the introductory Initiation and Integration meetings and at the annual barbeque. I had never spoken to her. So Faustine getting to meet her was unusual, but perhaps not completely out of the blue. Faustine was, after all, the first human hybrid ever on campus. Professor Bern might even be able to publish her results in one of those para-scientific magazines.