Initiation (43 page)

“Yeah, I remember reading about that in class. Have you ever met one of them in real life?”

Jagger shook his head. “Well, we already suspect that Ryker’s a Wanderer. So how does this work?”

“It’s got to be the time-traveling aspect that allows him to breach the spell. He must go in and out of the chamber at a time before the spell has been cast.”

“So, you think he grabs Faustine, then travels her back in time before the spell was cast and out of the chamber? Clever! But why?”

“That’s what I don’t get. And he’s been doing it since before they both came to the Academy. He must stalk her twenty-four-seven. He has to in order to always be there when she needs him. Or when he
thinks
she needs him. That explains why he’s hardly ever in class. We’ve got to ask him why.” I paused. “And we need him to stop. I’m sure she’s totally capable of looking after herself. He’s just standing in her way. She’s never going to learn anything if he doesn’t back off. We need to make him.”

C
onvincing Ryker to butt out of Faustine’s business hadn’t been easy. In fact, it had been nearly impossible, but we did finally reach a compromise of sorts.

Since Jagger and I had figured out what kind of paranormal Ryker was all on our own, the information was ours to share. We’d agreed to keep it to ourselves if Ryker would back off during Faustine’s tests.

He’d been pissed off, but apparently, his need for secrecy was so important that he caved. Of course, he wasn’t about to share his reasons for the secrecy with his blackmailers.

He compromised by saying he’d watch the test like he normally did, hidden from view, but would interfere only if he thought Faustine was in real physical danger. And that was fine with me.

I was dying to know Ryker’s secrets. How did he evade detection while making Faustine disappear at will, despite sealed chambers? Did he hide between dimensions, or was it something as simple as making himself invisible?

Of course, Professor Bern was oblivious as she sat in front of her monitor, waiting for Henri to get Faustine ready. I hadn’t shared anything with her after having discussed it with both Jagger and Ryker. The bottom line was that there was no need–not if Ryker didn’t interfere with Faustine’s Initiation. She had to be able to go through this herself. So, hopefully, he’d keep his promise.

Professor Bern looked deflated as she sat down next to me. “I couldn’t come up with any satisfactory modifications that would ensure that she doesn’t vanish again. However, the chamber is protected with the confinement spell and a sigil that will repel angels, at least temporarily. So, we can test for that.”

I looked over at the chamber, but couldn’t see any sigils. “Where is it?”

“The sigil? Wait. You’ll see it in a moment.”

And I did. Creepy. Henri had Faustine throw on a T-shirt with the sigil on it. That sucked somewhat because Professor Bern was bound to be convinced that Faustine was protected by a guardian angel when Faustine didn’t disappear. For a nanosecond, I considered telling her the truth, but decided not to. What difference did it make how she was protected, as long as it didn’t hinder her progression?

I put on my goggles once Henri came out and sat down. The screen flickered, and the video started. It opened with an image of a bag of potatoes on a kitchen counter. The black spider soon appeared, scurrying along the counter. Predictably, her fingers fused and her body tensed as soon as the spider came into view.

That was usually the time when Ryker would swoop in and carry her to my bed. And tuck her in–very sweet and motherly of him. Knowing he was around, I could almost feel his tension. I hoped he could hold back.

Faustine transformed, not in stages, but instantly. Professor Bern gasped and pushed her chair out slightly as Faustine stood, revealing the full size of her demon form.

Faustine brought up her right arm and banged it down on the floor. She kept banging and banging, making the entire chamber shake.

After a while, she stopped and smiled. Then she went back to the armchair, slumped down, and closed her eyes. In her sleep, she transformed back into her human shape.

I stood and rushed to the chamber. I scrambled to unlock it, and once inside, I threw my lab coat over Faustine to cover her up. Her clothes were all ripped, under the big t-shirt with the sigil, which had survived the transformation. The clothes shredding was something else we’d have to deal with.

I came back out of the chamber so Henri could start the waking up process, but he just gawked at me. As did Professor Bern.

“Get her up!” I hissed at Henri, throwing him a venomous look. Unprofessional much?

He shook himself into action and had Faustine up and walking shortly thereafter. Professor Bern didn’t say a thing, looking lost in thought, as I led Faustine out of the lab. I took her to the mentors’ lounge for a huge meal.

“Wow,” she whispered once she finished eating. “I can remember everything. That was awesome! Did you see that?”

“Yes, you sure were awesome! Never seen anything like it. Do you want to go back and watch the recording?”

“Yes. Can we go now?”

“Sure.”

Faustine displayed a new confident swagger, and she couldn’t stop blabbing, which was very unlike her.

“O-M-G! Did you see the size of those spiders? Giants! Blech! Hundreds of them, all crawling over each other to get me. Nasty things! But I got them!”

I stopped listening when I picked up a scent that caused me to tense and get ready to transform. I picked up the pace, pulling Faustine by her elbow. I was sure I could smell Mason. But how? Wasn’t he supposed to be away at Boone Academy? I heaved a sigh of relief when we got back to the lab.

Professor Bern and Henri were in the chamber.

“Hey, I wondered if Faustine could watch the recording.”

Henri looked up from where he kneeled on the floor. “Sure. Give me a moment; I just have a few more pictures to take.”

His camera flashed, and I focused in on the dented floor.

“Wow! Did I crack the floor? With my fists?” Faustine examined her hands.

There wasn’t a scratch on them.

“Yes, you’re a really strong demon.” Henri looked at her with a newfound respect. “Shall I roll the video?”

I watched Faustine’s expressions as she viewed the recording. They went from enthusiasm, to boredom, to disappointment. “Where are the spiders? Why was I hitting the floor like a lunatic if there were no spiders? No, wait. There were spiders, giant, two-foot ones, all hairy with sharp teeth and beady eyes.” At the end of the video, she turned to me. “Thanks for covering me up,” she said, her face red with embarrassment.

“No worries. That can be fixed so I won’t have to do that again.”

“What about the spiders? Why couldn’t we see them on the video?”

Professor Bern coughed. “That’s because you imagined them. They weren’t really there in the chamber with you. You were alone.”

“How come I didn’t black out this time?” Faustine scrunched up her nose.

“Ah! That T-shirt you’re wearing helped with that. It’s one of my magic shirts.” Professor Bern smiled, a little smugly, probably proud that she’d kept Faustine’s interfering angel at bay so successfully. “You can keep the shirt on for now, until you get changed, then maybe Cordelia could bring it back to me. I understand your worry about the clothes dilemma. I don’t blame you, but I can take care of that for you right now. Relax and close your eyes.” Professor Bern muttered an incantation under her breath. “That’s it. You can open your eyes now.”

“What’ll happen to my clothes now?” Faustine looked perplexed.

“Now any clothes you put on, whether your Academy uniform or your outfits back home, will adhere to your body shape and stretch if needed. Think of it as a bit of magical Lycra having been added to all your outfits.”

“Cool! And thanks.”

“My pleasure. This is what we are here for, to try and figure out how to make your life easier. Now, tell me how you feel about your experience.”

“I feel a bit lightheaded, like I just got off a really great ride. When I was transformed… I’m not really sure how I felt… but not scared. I wasn’t the least bit scared of the spiders anymore. I was just mad at them, and when I squished them, I felt… I don’t know. Maybe a little bit happy.” She grimaced. “That’s wrong, isn’t it? To feel happy killing animals?”

“You felt what was natural to you in that state. Nothing wrong with that,” Professor Bern assured her. “But if you feel it was wrong, and you want to be able to stop yourself from doing that again, that’s something we can work on.”

“Yes. It’s wrong, no matter what,” Faustine decided. “When can we work on that?”

“It’ll be a while before we can get started with that phase of your training, but we’ll get there. In the meantime, you don’t have to worry about accidentally killing any spiders. We don’t have them at the Academy. A spell took care of all those bugs.” She beamed proudly.

“Great! So what’s next?”

“We have a lot of work to do to try and figure out what your powers are and how and when they work. So that’s what we’ll concentrate on, and that’ll probably take until the end of Initiation. We’ll carry on as we have, with one test a week. Does that sound good?”

“Yeah. I guess.”

“Right, girls. You may go, then, and I’ll see you next week.”

“Still feeling like you’re floating?” I laughed, as I noticed Faustine’s far away goofy expression as we walked to her room.

She giggled.

Once she’d changed clothes, we went over to Dax’s room so she could go to her afternoon classes with her group.

Jagger and Ryker were waiting for me in Jagger’s study.

“She okay?” Ryker inquired as soon as I entered.

“Yes. More than just okay–exhilarated. Thanks for staying out. You did good.” I assumed he’d told Jagger all about it.

Although I spoke to Ryker, all my senses were completely occupied by Jagger. We’d spent a lot of time with each other in the past few weeks. More so than Quinn and I had. Quinn had been busy with his twin wards; they were proving to be a handful.

I planted both my feet firmly on the ground to keep from throwing myself at Jagger. I felt him invading my heartbeat with his, but I had learned to enjoy it and let him slowly control mine.

“What’s with you two?” Ryker suddenly asked.