House of Ravens (The Nightfall Chronicles Book 2) (9 page)

Kai sneers at me as we begin to spar again. "Looks like being the granddaughter of the great Chancellor Forrester doesn't really translate into actual skills," he mocks, "just tricks learned from videos."

"It worked on you," I remind him. But he's right. I'm a one trick wonder, and I don't have any more up my sleeve.

He lands a hit on my sword so hard that it chips and makes my whole arm feel as if it's been ripped off. His attack is more aggressive as everyone watches to see what will happen next. I try another move from the Way of Nyx, but it's less effective and I'm back to being on the defensive, trying to keep my skin intact.

When he pushes forward again, our bodies close now, our two swords locked together between us, he clenches his teeth. "This school doesn't need any rich spoiled brats who got here on Mommy and Daddy's death card."

And all at once, it's game over. My rage, my pain, the pit of despair I keep buried deep, it all surfaces. I can't control it, not anymore, and with all of my strength, Nephilim and human, I push him forward, slashing so hard my own sword breaks on his and he flies back into the students standing many feet behind him. He knocks two of them down and they cushion his fall.

All eyes are on me now.

Because no human could have done what I just did.

Master Varian grabs the broken sword from my hand and gestures for Jax to come over. "Take her to the Council immediately, and keep her in custody until she's called in."

Jax nods and takes my arm, and I follow him without protest. I'm shaking in terror.

Once we're away from everyone, he stops and faces me. "What was that, Star? What happened?"

My eyes fill with tears. "I don't know. I just… I got so angry. He said something about my parents and something in me broke and… I don't know."

A tear falls down my cheek and he wipes it away with a finger. His face is a mix of emotion. Anger, fear, confusion.

I wish I could tell him the truth, but I can't. And it kills me.

He nods and takes me to what I can only describe as a holding cell. It's basically a tiny room with a door and two Guards placed outside of it. He squeezes my hand before leaving. "I'll do what I can to protect you."

And then he's gone, and I'm alone in the room, without Evie even, since we aren't allowed to wear eGlasses in class. I sit on the small cot, which is the only furniture aside from a sad-looking toilet and sink.

As I wait, every fear imaginable plagues me. I consider calling for Zorin using the Nephilim sign made with my blood, but what could one Nephilim do against the entire Four Orders? He'd just be caught, or worse, and I'd still be here.

So I wait, and hope I can find words to talk myself out of a death sentence.

Maybe I can control someone, if I can get close enough. Maybe Varian? He has a lot of power and influence.

It feels like hours when finally the door opens and Jax is there, a grim expression on his face. I follow him out. "What's going on? What's going to happen to me?"

He shakes his head. "I can't say anything. Just come with me. And… choose your words carefully."

He brings me back to the Council Chambers. I've been here before, but I was covered in my parents' blood and knew nothing of this world, this life. It was only a few weeks ago, but it feels much longer.

All of the Grandmasters are sitting in their marble seats above the semi-circle I stand in. This time, Master Varian is in the seat of the Templar Order. And my grandfather is conspicuously missing.

This scares me more than anything else. I thought for sure I'd have at least one ally.

I stand before the Council and try to act braver than I feel. For all my training with my parents, I never prepared for this.

"Let's get this started," Ragathon grumbles from his seat.

"Where is my grandfather?" I ask.

Ragathon narrows his eyes at me. "We'll be doing the asking around here, Miss Night."

Varian looks sternly at his brother. "No need for hostility, brother. We'll find the truth of what happened in due time." He looks around the Council and then back at me. "Chancellor Forrester seems to be unavoidably detained, so we shall have to begin without him. As highest ranking Knight, I will direct these proceedings."

Master Varian recounts what happened in Combat Training today and I hold my head high as they all stare at me. When he's done, Ragathon leans in. "How did you keep this a secret for so long?"

Varian holds up a hand. "Let's start from the beginning. You've never been listed as a Zenith in your testing. Can you explain how you demonstrated para-powers in the Arena today? "

"I don't know. I've never had any para-powers."

Ragathon sneers. "How did you cheat the tests?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I say. "This is as much a shock to me as to everyone here." At least that part is true.

When the door behind me opens and everyone looks past me, I turn and sigh in relief. My grandfather has arrived.

"Excuse me for my tardiness, but I thought we might want some actual evidence before we convict my granddaughter for something she didn't do." He climbs the stairs to his seat slowly, then sits and clicks on his eGlass. "I'm synching files to each of you. These are the test results of the blood work we did when she arrived, as well as all of her tests since she was a child."

Each of the Council members click on their eGlass and look through the files.

My heart is pounding. I've been trying to find the results of my blood work for weeks, but they weren't in any of the systems. Those tests will prove I'm a Nephilim. So why does my grandfather look happy?

"As you can see," he says, "she's tested negative since she was a child. Until a few weeks ago. We just got those results back, and they show she is a latent Zenith. Rare, but not unheard of. Likely the stress and injury sustained during the attack on her family activated this latent gene."

Latent Zenith? How did the test show something like this?

My grandfather looks at me. "Scarlett, have you noticed any subtle changes in your body recently?"

I tilt my head as I consider how to answer, and I see this could be a way out of a few problems if I choose my words carefully, as Jax suggested. "As a matter of fact, I have noticed a few things," I say.

He nods. "Such as?"

"Well, I've been a bit stronger lately, though nothing like what happened in the Arena. I've been healing faster, though again, I've always been a fast healer. And… well, one other thing."

"Yes?"

"I think I'm starting to see color."

I sneak a peek at Jax, whose face can't hide his astonishment, though he recovers quickly.

"It's as I thought," Chancellor Forrester says. "She's developing her latent para-powers. The outburst in the Arena wasn't in her control. I vote we dismiss the charges against her and change her registration status to Zenith, without punishment. All in favor?"

Three voices say "Aye." Ragathon says "Nay."

"The Ayes have it," my grandfather says. "I also vote for no public identification, since she's an Initiate at our school. All in favor?"

Three Ayes. One Nay. Naturally.

My grandfather bangs his walking stick on the marble floor. "Council dismissed. Let's allow Scarlett to get back to her classes, and we can all get back to our work."

The Council room clears out quickly. I'd hoped to talk to Jax, but Varian pulls him out first thing, and I'm left alone with the Chancellor. "Walk an old man out?"

I nod and take his arm as we walk slowly through the Castle. "My test really showed I'm Zenith?"

He pauses and looks down at me, his eyes bright blue and sharp as ever. "Is that a problem?"

"No," I say as we start to walk again. "Not a problem. I'm just… surprised."

We stop again, this time in front of my room. "Good. Now, I believe you're late for class. Best get changed and hurry along. Ragathon doesn't like stragglers."

I chuckle. "Ragathon doesn't like much, it seems."

"Too true," my grandfather says. "Too true."

I place my hand against the door handle, then turn to the Chancellor. "You saved my life in there."

He reaches for my free hand and holds it. "You're my granddaughter. My kin. Yours is a life very much worth saving."

"Thank you," I say. And then I look at him and realize, I feel the same. He's kin. My kin. My last remaining family. "Thank you, Grandfather."

I shower and change in record time, but I'm still painfully late to Law, and Ragathon isn't in the mood to offer any leeway given my morning.

As soon as I walk in, his eyebrow shoots up, and the corners of his lips turn down. "Thank you for joining us, Miss Night. I hope we haven't inconvenienced you in any way. Spoiled your morning?" Half the class chuckles at his sarcastic dig on me, and of course everyone knows why I'm late.

Corinne and Wytt are staring at me like I grew horns while I was gone. As I sit between them, Wytt whispers, "Are you okay?"

I nod.

"Then I'll need all the details after class."

I grin as I pull out my books. Of course he would. Wytt, our little gossip.

I sneak a glance at Kai, who's sitting across the class. He's staring at me, and doesn't break eye contact when he sees me looking, so I don't either.

I try to read his eyes, to figure out what he's thinking, but Ragathon interrupts my thoughts by standing between us. "Miss Night, are we interrupting your daydreaming, or would you care to venture an answer to the question?"

I look up. "Could you repeat it, please?"

"Repeat it? Were you not sitting right here in the class?"

Snickers drift around the room, and Corinne points down at her notebook. She wrote,
Give an example of a new law that was created after the discovery of para-powers
.

"The Standardized Registration Act was passed," I say, "requiring Zeniths to register their para-power with the appropriate agency or face fines or imprisonment."

Ragathon smirks. "I should have known you would go for the most obvious. That law is known by children learning to talk. This is not grade school, Miss Night. If you cannot manage to bring something more, I'm afraid you'll not fare well at Castle Vianney."

A voice from behind Ragathon interrupts him. "Isn't that why we're here? To learn this stuff?"

Ragathon turns in surprise to face Kai. His face softens when he looks at his nephew. "Of course, Kai. You are. But there is an expectation that you come with some semblance of knowledge before starting the classes."

"I'm sure she does," Kai says in my defense. "But everyone has their own unique skills, right? So Scarlett may not know a lot about law, but she undoubtedly knows a lot about other subjects, given her family."

Ragathon turns to face me with a look of subdued rage. "I'm sure she does… given her family." He walks to the front of the class and uses his eGlass to project a list of assignments on the board. "Write this down and complete the work before our next session. Class dismissed."

He leaves the classroom while we're all still taking notes. I wonder if this was his original homework plan, or if it was tripled on my account.

I want to thank Kai for sticking up for me, but when he passes us he doesn't look happy. "I'm surprised they let you come back," he says.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Granddaughter of the Chancellor gets special privileges it seems. Anyone else pulled that they'd be flagged for using para-powers without authorization during a training."

"Cut it out, Kai," Wytt says. "Like the son of a King doesn't get special privilege?"

He throws his backpack over a shoulder. "Being Varian's son hasn't exactly been a privilege for me."

I'm over this. I stand, books in hand and lean toward him. "At least you still have a father. Don't ever use my parents against me again, or I won't hold back next time."

I leave as Corinne and Wytt scramble to catch up. They flank me on each side. "What happened?" Wytt asks.

I explain the test results and the Council's ruling. And I tell them what Kai said to trigger me.

Corinne shakes her head, a sad look on her face. "Try not to take it personally, though I'll definitely smack him for that. Our father is a fair man, but he's also a hard man, and he's always been especially hard on Kai. It's hurt him. When we came to Castle Vianney, Kai only agreed to come for two reasons. To watch out for us, and to get away from our father."

"Looks like he failed on that count," I say, feeling a small tinge of pity for him as we head to lunch. "But he needs to grow up and stop acting like he's the only one who's been hurt by life."

***

I'm completely in my element for our Espionage class. Finally, I don't feel like the black sheep in the group. My grandfather is teaching the class, and he asks us all to pull out our laptops.

Mine looks beat up and old, but it has the processing speed of a ninja. And it's totally custom. I built it myself, so I would know.

I smile up at him as I wait for our instructions. I'm beginning to see the pattern of our first day of school. Introduce us to our subject by giving us an impossible task and seeing how we do. So far, I haven't done well. That's about to change.

My grandfather leans on his staff as he speaks to the class. "In espionage, you have to know how to access the enemy's information to use to your advantage. In today's world, that often means hacking into top secret files. This afternoon, we're going to pretend Castle Vianney is the enemy."

This gets a few chuckles, but my stomach flips a little as I remember that Castle V
is
Nightfall's enemy.

"I want you to hack into the mainframe of our library. It's got firewalls you won't even know are there, and I don't expect any of you to succeed. In fact, if you do, we may have to fire someone today."

More chuckles.

"But I want to see how creative you can be in problem solving," he continues. "So I know what we need to work on."

He uses his eGlass to set a timer. "You have until the end of class. Go!"

I boot up my computer and my fingers fly over the keyboard. I've already hacked into the Infirmary database when I was looking for my test results, so I know what kind of firewalls Castle V uses. They're good. Maybe great. But they aren't a challenge for me.

I hear Wytt curse under his breath, and I know he's not alone in his struggles. I wish I could help, but I'm hyper-focused on my task.

It doesn't take me long to locate what I need in the mainframe. I use a special program I designed last year to unravel the passcodes and sneak past the secondary firewalls that are supposed to be hidden. There's a third layer I was also expecting, and it proves more difficult, but not insurmountable.

I focus for another few minutes, brain and fingers working in sync like a machine. Nothing else exists but me and the 0s and 1s of this familiar language.

Another ten minutes, and I smile and turn my computer toward my grandfather.

He raises an eyebrow and limps over to me, his walking stick clanking against the stone floors. "Are you having some trouble, Scarlett?"

Others around me look up as he approaches. I shake my head. "No, I'm done," I say.

There's some shocked mumbling behind me that I ignore.

"That's impossible," he says. "Let me see."

He takes my laptop and looks at my work.

"It wouldn't have taken so long, but I wanted to see if I could crack the restricted file section while I was in."

He chuckles. "Don't worry, no one can get into there."

"Oh, I got in," I tell him. "And I fixed your firewalls so no one else can get in again." I also created a back door for later access. My research on Angels hasn't gone well, but maybe this section of the library will have answers.

It takes him a moment to check my work, and when he sets my laptop back down on my desk, he looks decidedly impressed. "Your mother really did teach you everything she knew."

I nod, tears stinging my eyes. "Not everything," I say, thinking of all the secrets I didn't know. "But she did teach me my way around a mainframe."

"Clearly," he says. "Well done, granddaughter. I think you just got our IT person fired."

***

"How did you do that?" Corinne asks as we leave Espionage and head to APD, a class I'm definitely not looking forward to.

"I've been hacking since I was four years old," I tell her. "It was part of my unusual homeschooling." I still remember my first hack. My parents set up an account that had the location of a bag of my favorite cookies. If I could hack it, I would get the cookies. It took me days. I made so many mistakes. It was embarrassing. But I was four, so there's that. I figured it out after asking a lot of questions, and I got my bag of cookies. Best hack ever, even to this day. Chocolate mint chip with frosting. Yum.

My stomach grumbles, and I feel the heat of thirst clenching my throat. I pull out a Life Force and suck it down as we walk through the stone halls. Corinne wrinkles her nose. "You drink a lot of those things. It's not good for you. The chemical makeup alters your blood stream and can cause long term problems with your central nervous system."

I'm assuming this doesn't apply to Nephilim, so I just smile. "I'll take my chances. This keeps my brain awake."

Wytt pulls out a scrap of paper and a pen and scribbles something. "Alas, but what will keep your heart awake, fair maiden?"

I glance at his paper and grin. "Writing poetry on the go, huh?"

"He's always thinking in verse," Corinne says. "He's even been known to write on his body if no paper presents itself. One time I caught him scribbling a sonnet on his thigh in marker."

Wytt's still looking down at his paper, pen in mouth. "It was the only thing around. A poet's got to do what a poet's got to do."

"Can't you just use your eGlass?" I ask.

Wytt rolls his eyes and makes a face like I just suggested he wear tin foil as clothing. "Did the great poets create their masterpieces with an eGlass? I think not."

Corinne chuckles. "Wytt is a traditionalist with his writing. If he could find one of those ancient typewriter things that still worked, he'd use one."

When we arrive at class, Grandmaster Marian is standing with a satchel thrown over her shoulder. "Don't get comfortable. Today's lesson is going to be a field trip. We're heading to the city to introduce you to Curatio Domus, the best Hospitaller hospital and research facility in the world."

My heart is happy for just a moment. No tests!

Until…

"It's there that we will have our first test."

Great.

Corinne, however, looks like a kid at Christmas. She grabs my hand and squeezes. "This is fantastic. I can't wait for you both to meet some people there."

Wytt sticks the paper he was scribbling on back in his pocket. "She's been volunteering at the hospital since she was old enough to go into the city by herself."

"I thought you were raised in Sapientia?" I ask.

"We were," Wytt says. "But we spent our summers at Castle V for extra training."

Our entire Initiate class walks through the Castle gate and into Vianney, toward the subway.

Once in the city, Grandmaster Marian leads us at a brisk pace through the busy streets and sidewalks until we reach Curatio Domus. "Students, stay together and be respectful."

Garin and his friends are joking around, punching each other and laughing, and the Grandmaster scowls at them. "That includes you three. Unless you want to flunk this class your first day?"

They settle down enough that we are able to enter the hospital.

A beautiful young woman with chestnut brown hair and blue eyes smiles at Corinne when we walk in. "Princess, it's so nice to see you again."

"Hi, Sarah. How's our patient?"

Sarah picks up a patient chart from the front desk. "Why don't you come say hi and see for yourself?"

Corinne looks over at Grandmaster Marian, who nods. "You and your friends can say hi briefly. I'm going over hospital protocol. Make sure to explain the rules to Wytt and Scarlett."

"I will," Corinne says as we follow Sarah down a long corridor and into a private room. A young girl, no older than twelve, is lying in bed and using her eGlass to project a video onto the eScreen in front of her. She's watching a surgery of some kind, which she clicks off when she sees us.

Sarah smiles at the girl. "Hi there, Charlie. I have some friends here who wanted to come say hi, is that okay?"

Charlie grins, her dark brown eyes striking in her too-pale face. "Sure! I love having visitors."

Corinne steps forward. "Hi there. You're looking good. What were you watching?"

"Princess! I'm so glad you came by. I was just checking out videos on the surgery I'm about to have. They think they can replace my kidney with a genetically modified one from an ape that won't break down under attack from my body. I might get to finally go home soon."

Sarah looks at us. "Charlene, or Charlie, has stage 4 M. Chronic Kidney Failure, a new mutation of kidney disease where her body attacks her kidneys and destroys them. A regular transplant won't work, but through the research of the Hospitallers and genetic modifications, we might have found a cure!"