Initiation (22 page)

“Cordelia and Quinn plan to break into The Smelt’s office and steal the surveillance videos from the fight at the cafeteria. I was telling them that it was ridicu–”

“What a hoot! You totally should. I’m totally annoyed at missing the fight, sounded like fun. I’d love to see a video of it. I’ll come with you, give you a hand. Can Sienna come, too? She wouldn’t want to miss this for the world!”

I couldn’t help but throw Jagger a smug grin. “Awesome! Quinn and I could do with the help.”

“Brilliant, I’ll call sis, and then you can tell us what to do.” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed Jagger. “Aren’t you excited?”

“Aren’t you?” Quinn chuckled once Jewel was busy on the phone.

“I guess I have to be now.” Jagger sighed. “Let’s not do anything stupid, though. I don’t want anyone getting hurt. Or caught. Did you say you had a plan, Quinn?”

Jewel turned off the phone and faced us, her eyes shining. “Sienna’s busy right now, but she’s in, totally excited. I’ll tell her the plan later. So, what are we doing?”

I arranged for Faustine to sleep over with Martha, so Quinn, Jagger, Sienna, Jewel, and I could do our A-team routine. We’d met up in Jagger’s study, dressed in black from head to toe, including ski masks, which were folded up on our heads for now. I was feeling excited, but anxious.

“Ready?” Quinn asked, looking around at everyone. “Any questions before we go?”

Since all the corridors, including the one leading to The Smelt’s office, had been installed with cameras, we couldn’t just meander down the hall to her office, as we’d be filmed coming out of Jagger’s office. So Quinn had thought of an alternative route, and that part of the plan required the faeries. They could fly. The outside of the building was free from cameras. Although the new building plans probably included them, they hadn’t been mounted yet.

Jagger opened his office window, letting in the cold mountain air. The faeries pulled down their ski masks, ready to fly. Quinn and I made ourselves comfortable on the couch to wait for Jagger to check out the route. He flew off, or so I assumed. He was gone so fast that I couldn’t follow his movement out the window.

“Okay. We’re going,” Sienna said, and disappeared with Jewel in a flash.

“Jeez! Hope they slow down when they’re transporting us!” Quinn snorted. “Wonder how long they’ll be?”

Not long. Jagger returned minutes later wearing a smug smile. He held up his Victorinox Swiss Army knife. “Best tool ever! You guys ready? I’ll take you first, Cordelia.”

I hopped onto his back, and he stepped over to the window. I peered over his shoulder and felt woozy. “Wow, we’re high up! Are you sure you can carry me and fly at the same time?”

“Yeah, no worries. I don’t think the girls can manage it, though, so I’m going to do two flights.”

“How do you fly anyway? I don’t see any…”

“Wings. Try using your demon vision, and you might be able to see them. Can you tap into that in your human form?”

“Actually, yes, I can.”

“Well, keep your eyes glued to my arm, and you’ll see.”

He extended his arms, and I concentrated on the left one. His arm started vibrating really, really fast, so fast it wouldn’t have been visible to a human, like the blades of helicopter, but moving up and down at hummingbird speed. Then, his arm transformed into a translucent, paper-thin, three-foot wing.

“Wow, those are amazing!” Quinn remarked from behind us.

“Yep! See you in a sec, Quinn,” Jagger said, and jumped off the ledge into the cool air.

I felt a bit anxious as he went into a free fall, heading straight toward the ground. We dove with no sign of Jagger doing anything to lift us. Were we going to crash? Was I too heavy for him? Should I let go, so the two of us didn’t crash, just me? No point in us both dying. We should have tested out the flying thing before jumping out of the window. The contents of my stomach came into my throat as we nearly hit the ground. Then, Jagger flapped his arms, and we shot back up into the air.

“O-M-G! Jagger! I thought we were going to crash.”

He chuckled. “Sorry! I love doing that, such a rush.”

“No kidding! Just warn me the next time.”

We flew straight to Frau Schmelder’s window, where Jagger dropped me off, and Sienna pulled me into the room. Jagger left to get Quinn.

We’d decided not to talk while we were in The Smelt’s office, just in case it was being monitored. I walked over to her desk and switched on the computer, hoping that she had the files from the dining hall fight saved on it.

Password? Ugh. Of course, it would be password protected. What on Earth could her password be? I didn’t know enough about The Smelt to even guess. I looked over at Sienna and Jewel, who both shrugged.

When Jagger returned with Quinn, I beckoned him over and pointed to the screen. He shook his head, but his fingers hovered over the keyboard. He sighed, tapped something, and hit the return key.
Incorrect password. Two tries left
.

Two? We were screwed. I started pulling out desk drawers, hunting for anything with numbers or something that might be a password scribbled on it. No dice. I sat back in The Smelt’s chair, feeling totally defeated. Sheesh, we might as well head back.

Jagger tapped me on the shoulder and passed me a note.
We need to get the code from The Smelt, herself
.

Sure. We’d just mosey on down to her bedroom–wherever that was–wake her up, and ask her. Yep. Easy peasy. I mouthed
How?
to Jagger.

He scribbled something else and held the paper out to me.
You can possess her, right? Then get the code
?

Quinn looked over my shoulder, reading the note and shaking his head. He took a piece of paper and scribbled
too dangerous
on it.

I disagreed. Sure, it would be dangerous. We didn’t even know what kind of a paranormal she was. My guess was that she was a hybrid of some kind, and hybrids could be tough to possess. It would be especially tricky, if not impossible, if she was part demon. Possessing another demon would be too dangerous. I grabbed a pencil and wrote a little note of my own.
Maybe, but I think it’s worth the risk
.

Quinn clenched his jaw, and grabbed my pencil.
I’ll do it. If Jagger knows where she is
.

I shook my head and pointed at myself. If anyone was going to do it, I was. I was the one who wanted to watch the video so badly, and I was slightly better than Quinn at the demonizing thing. Quinn shook his head, but I blinked my eyes adamantly at him.

In a flash, Jagger grabbed me, and we flew out the window again. Quick thinking on Jagger’s part. If he’d hesitated, Quinn would never have let me go.

I felt slightly overwhelmed–not about taking flight with Jagger again, but about getting the code from The Smelt. I’d have to become her, and I hated that part of possession. And who knew? She might have her shield up, even while asleep. Then what? It would all be for nothing. Some creatures–sheesh, I sounded like Faustine now–were impossible to possess.

I held tightly to Jagger as we whirred through the air. I closed my eyes because I needed to stay focused. The flight didn’t last long, just a few minutes. I hopped off of Jagger and opened my eyes to complete darkness. I quickly harnessed my demon abilities so I could see. We stood near a Tudor-inspired thatched house surrounded by tall, thick trees.

“This is it,” Jagger whispered. “Ready? Let’s go peek in her bedroom.”

“How do you know she lives here? Does she live alone? What exactly is she?” I had a zillion more questions, but we had to hurry.

“I trailed her one time. She lives alone, and I have no idea what she is.” He tugged on my arm. “We need to hurry.”

I followed him to a window, and he pointed to another one right above it. I got on his back again so he could give me a ride. He flew up and hovered like a hummingbird outside the floor-to-ceiling windows that lined the entire second floor of the house. The glare made it difficult to see details, but I could make out a bed with someone lying on it. It was impossible to tell if it was The Smelt, though, or if she was asleep.

“Let’s go inside. I’ll sneak up to her bedside first and put her into a deep sleep, then you can do the rest,” Jagger whispered.

“Put her into a deep sleep? How? Are you going to drug her?” That would certainly make my life easier.

“Something like that. Faery dust.”

“Very funny.”

We floated back down and flew around to the back door. Jagger pulled out his Victorinox knife.

I snickered. “Can’t you get us in using faery dust?”

Ignoring me, he tinkered with the door, then slid it open with a smug look on his face. He hovered inside, with me still attached to his back, and floated up the wide wooden staircase. When we reached the top, he put me down.

My stomach did somersaults when he glided into the bedroom. Not because I was worried about him. Faeries can take care of themselves, but I was starting to get the heebie jeebies about demonizing The Smelt. Ugh.

Jagger came out and spoke at a normal tone, making me jump. “She’s out. Do your thing. Do you want me to come with, or wait here?”

“Wait.” I tiptoed into the room, went straight to the bed, and peered down at Frau Schmelder. She was in a deep sleep, her slow breathing rhythmically reverberating against the pillow. She was the most powerful being at the Academy, and I was about to possess her. Why just get the code? I could be her for a while… it might be fun. Running the Academy and bossing everyone around would be awesome, for a while, anyway. Why not?

I looked at her body. Gross. It was really old and wrinkly. The thought of living in that wasn’t appealing at all. Plus, who knew what she was? She could be a hybrid shifter for all I knew, and that would be total yuck city. I’d just do what we’d decided. Get the code. I closed my eyes and prepared myself.

And I was in. Jeez, it was noisy in there! She had some kind of enhanced hearing. It sounded like a busy cafeteria at the Academy, with hundreds of chattering voices. I was tempted to listen in, but instead tried to assimilate her thoughts, her memories, while tuning out the noise. I searched through her recent images and stopped at one depicting her typing in her passcode earlier that morning.
Beowulf435
. I had it! I hightailed it out of her body.

I ran back to Jagger and jumped on his back. “Got it. Let’s go.”

“What was it like? Did you find out what she is?” Jagger asked.

“Creepy. And no. Just got what I needed. Let’s go.”

When we got back to The Smelt’s office, I ran straight to the computer. I could feel Quinn’s frustration and anger, but that would have to wait. I keyed in the code. Jagger, Quinn, Sienna, and Jewel huddled close, and we watched in wide-eyed anticipation as the screen clicked into action. Next, I had to find the right file.

Sienna pointed to the
History
file, so I clicked on that and went down the list. Easy peasy, and I was in. I hit
Play
.

I suddenly felt uncomfortable with everyone watching with me. I would have been happier to see it on my own first. I hated being on camera at the best of times. And that hadn’t been the best of times.

Frau Schmelder or one of her techies had edited various clips together from the many cameras in the cafeteria. The video started on a two-camera split-screen. One showed a wide-angle view from the entrance of the cafeteria, looking out into the main dining hall. The other pointed at the entrance itself as I came in with Faustine. The cafeteria scene changed. Groups of students shifted uncomfortably in their chairs, some of them transforming, some leaving via the back entrance. A few totally ignored us. I kept my eyes peeled for signs of anyone transforming into an eagle.