Fractured Light (39 page)

“I know what you mean.” The sadness in his eyes reflected my own.

“I wish you could come with me,” I complained again.

“Against the rules.”

“Pesky rules.”

“Yeah.”

Silence again.

“You can at least call me right?” I asked.

“It’s frowned upon.”

I let out an exaggerated sigh.

Christian took my hand. “Don’t worry. I’ll call and you can call me. We just can’t be too open about it.” He pulled me into a hug.

I inhaled deeply, wanting to always remember his smell.

“You have no idea how much I’m going to miss you,” he whispered.

“Not as much as I’m going to miss you,” I whispered back. I closed my eyes and tried not to think of the pain I felt growing in my gut. A hook ripping open my insides would’ve felt better than having to say good-bye.

After a moment, he let go and stared at me intensely. “Take care of yourself. And trust your instincts. If something doesn’t feel right, it isn’t.” He let go of my arms. “Call me when you get there, if you can.”

“I will.”

He turned back toward the house. Was he really just going to leave? As he moved further from me, air caught in my chest, and I didn’t think I’d be able to breathe. I wanted to cry out to him, beg him to stay. My eyes filled with tears.

Christian made it to the screen door before he stopped.

My heart skipped a beat.

His white knuckles gripped the handle and his muscles tightened. “Screw the rules,” he said. He turned around and in about three steps was across the lawn and taking me into his arms. He lips pressed upon mine passionately.

Finally, the first kiss I had dreamed of. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him even closer. The kiss lasted less than a minute but in those seconds I knew exactly how Christian felt about me.

When he released me, he breathed, “I don’t know how I’m ever going to let you go.”

“It’s just temporary,” I said, more to convince myself. “We’ll see each other again. We have to.”

“We will. I’ll make sure it happens.” He smiled down at me.

“Promise?”

“Promise.” He kissed me again, lightly.

This time when Christian left, my heart didn’t feel as heavy. He had made me a promise, and he wasn’t the type to break it. I would see him again.

I walked back into my room and moved to grab the suitcases off my bed, but stopped in front of the mirror. After glancing around to make sure I was alone, I moved the side braid away from my neck. Very faintly, beneath heavy foundation, two red marks stared back at me accusingly. The bite marks hadn’t healed. They remained a permanent fixture on my body, reminding me daily of what’d happened.

I wish it was just the bite marks that remained. The darkness the Vyken’s poison had left inside me couldn’t be concealed by foundation. I’d tried to ignore its presence, pretend it didn’t exist, but very subtly I felt it changing me despite my best efforts.

At the sound of a knock on my door, I quickly moved my braid back in place.

“Are you ready?” the Mr. Bean look-alike asked at the door. His nose was bright red.

I looked at myself one more time in the mirror. Ready? How could I be ready for a future I didn’t know? One thing was certain, however. I had survived.

P
EOPLE TOLD ME LIFE WOULD RETURN TO NORMAL, BUT HOW
could it after you’ve killed someone? Or something. Life would never be the same again, apparently starting with my new dorm room.

“Why does it smell like blood in here?” I dropped my duffle bag on the perfectly made bed. The pink flowered bedspread wrinkled its way out of perfection.

“This room is practically brand new,” Sophie said.

I looked under the bed. “I don’t think so.” Where was the smell coming from? “Did a butcher live in it before?”

“What about a butcher?” May asked, when she walked through the door.

“The butcher who killed a cow in my room.” I unzipped my bag.

“Huh?”

Sophie frowned. “Really, Llona. You have such an imagination.” She turned to May, her long ruffled skirt followed. “Did you find your room satisfactory?”

“I did. And thanks again for inviting me here.”

Sophie placed a hand on her shoulder. “Lucent’s glad to have you.”

“When’s dinner?” I asked. I thought they’d feed us on the plane, but all I got was peanuts.

“In about ten minutes,” Sophie said. “Why don’t you get settled and then come on down when you hear the chimes? Do you remember where the dining room is at?”

“Um, first floor, all the way at the end,” I said. Sophie had given us a quick tour on the way up. There were so many rooms, I was surprised I’d remembered.

Sophie smiled. “Good. I’ll see you girls down there. Oh, and by the way, Llona, even though Auras aren’t normally unkind, just remember that they are still teenagers trying to discover who they are.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’ve been on the outside your whole life,” she said. “They might view you as different.”

I threw up my arms. “Fantastic. So I was a freak before and now you’re saying I’m a freak here too?”

“No, it will just take a while for the girls to get to know you. And I’m sure once they do, they will love you just like I do.”

Uh-huh, sure, I thought. Cause that’s how teenagers are. I turned my attention to my bag so she wouldn’t see me scowling. It was amazing how easily adults forget what it’s like to be a teenager.

“Try not to be late, girls,” Sophie said before she closed the door.

May jumped onto my bed. “Can you believe this place? It’s like right out of a fairytale. I feel like a princess!”

I forced a smile and shoved clothes into the nearest dresser. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

I stopped moving. “Nothing, really, yet everything. I’ll get over it.” I crinkled my nose. “Except for this awful smell.”

“What smell?”

“You really don’t smell it?” I opened the closet doors. The walk-in closet was bare except for a thin layer of dust covering the wood floor.

“It might smell a little musty,” May offered. “Do you really think the girls will be mean to us?”

I shrugged. “Probably not to you. From what I hear, Furies are a rare find. I’m sure they’ll treat you like the diamond you are!” I dropped onto the bed next to her.

May laughed. “You sound just like your aunt.”

“This place is going to take some getting used to.”

May nodded.

“How are you doing?” I asked her suddenly. She had been very quiet on the flight over, but I didn’t dare ask her what was wrong in front of our Mr. Bean-like bodyguard.

May looked down. I followed her gaze. Her fingers traced the floral pattern on the quilt. “For some reason I thought I’d feel better putting all this space between us and Highland, but I almost feel worse. It’s like I’ve run away or something.” May looked at me, searching for understanding. “Does that make sense?”

“It does. It feels like we’re betraying Tracey by being here. We get to live our lives while she’s stuck six feet under. She shouldn’t have died.” Beneath the pillow on my lap, I dug my nails into my palm. It was my fault she’d died. My selfishness had left her dead, May injured, and many others depressed. The image of Matt’s face when I’d said good-bye came to mind.

“Are you going to call Christian tonight?” May asked.

I think she thought by bringing up his name, I’d forget about what happened, but I would never forget, or forgive. But I could pretend for everyone else’s sake. I forced another smile. “I’ll try. I have to call Jake to let him know I made it okay, and if I don’t have someone standing over me, then I’ll try to call Christian.”

“I can’t believe they won’t let you talk to him,” May said.

“Oh, I can talk to him, but it’s,” I quoted with my fingers, “frowned upon.”

May chuckled and stood up. “I better finish unpacking before we have to go downstairs. Come grab me when you’re ready.”

After May shut the door, I opened the window to let the fresh air in. I was looking forward to the cooler New York weather. I don’t think I could have handled sunny and warm at this point in my life. There was nothing sunny about it.

A screen prevented me from seeing the full scope of Lucent. I traced its edges until I found the latch to remove it. I popped the screen out, slid it under my bed, then returned to the window. Leaning out as far as I could, I scanned the area.

My room was located in the right wing of the great restored mansion. There was one more floor above me and three below. When we had first arrived, I was in awe at the size of the school, but now looking at everything from this high in the air, Lucent seemed even bigger.

The sun had almost set, taking the shadows of trees and buildings with it. They stretched long and thin, crossing into each other until they blurred into the forest just beyond a tall, rock wall surrounding the school.

Behind the main building there were three more almost as big. From one of them, a steady line of people, most of them looked like students, headed toward the building I was in. That’s a lot of teenagers, I thought and took a deep breath. Just then one of the girls’ heads turned up in my direction. I quickly ducked back in my room and away from the window.

Already the fresh air was making a difference on the smell. Either that or I was getting used to it. I sat down at the vanity and ran a brush through my long hair. Maybe someone at Lucent could show me how to change it, I hoped. I was tired of its blonde, almost white, color. I always thought I’d look better with brown hair, like May’s.

A tinkling sound, as if someone had waved a magical wand, chimed. That must be the bell Sophie had talked about.

I swept my hair to the side of my neck and examined the two small holes where Mr. Steele had bit me. They were still there, no better than before. The red, swollen edges around the wounds made them look like eyes. I quickly applied concealer. I hated the way the stared at me, accusingly.

After I pulled a pink beanie over my head, I headed across the hall to May’s room. She opened the door before I got there.

“What’s with the weird chimes?” she asked. “I don’t know, but if I have to hear that every day, I think I’ll go crazy.”

“I know, right?” May turned to her mirror and readjusted her hair. She was wearing a different outfit, it looked brand new, and she had reapplied her makeup. She must be nervous, I thought. I never considered how hard this must be for her. May was a newly discovered Fury, which meant she had the ability to manipulate fire. She had guarded her secret for so long that to all of a sudden be surrounded by people who know your secret might be overwhelming.

“You’re going to fit right in, don’t worry.” I wrapped my arm around her shoulder. “Come on. Let’s go be the new kids.”

We were almost to the end of the hall when a door opened and four laughing girls appeared, but when they saw us they stopped. As we passed, May said, “Hi, guys.” They said nothing. Just stared like we were a new zoo exhibit.

Just before we turned the corner, my exceptional hearing heard one of them whisper, “I can’t believe they put her in that room. I bet she’s dead by the end of the month.”