Shadow Walker (Neteru Academy Books) (17 page)

Then her father’s gregarious smile eased into a gentler expression, one so tender that it made Sarah glance away. He put his finger under her chin to make her look up at him.

“Doesn’t matter. I can get to be a hundred and fifty years old and you can get to be a hundred and ten, you’re always gonna be my baby girl. Always gonna be my pride and joy—so you do good in school, and don’t you worry about nothing else, all right? I’m very proud of you, Sarah. Been waiting for this day all your life, and then it was your old man who wasn’t ready. I love you.”

He gave her one last hug and then walked away. Her mother’s calm smile confirmed it—her dad was two seconds away from public tears, something he’d never allow. Her father was upset in a way that she’d never seen him before. Sarah glanced at Alejandro, and he gave her a nod, a rare brother-to-sister “yeah, I know” kind of look.

Her mom and dad had gone to her brother first, after they’d made the rounds of all the new kids. But it was the moment between her and her dad that made him leave the hall with his head up, shoulders back, posture straight—and a deep well of emotions he hid from the world.

As the wall torches dimmed, her mother whispered softly in her ear, “He fights with you the most because you touch him more deeply than anyone else on this planet.”

Sarah’s gaze softened as she took in her mother’s words. It was true. Her dad always had something to say about whatever she was doing, but when it came to Al, he only challenged her brother when he was doing something particularly dangerous or stupid. But when she and her dad fought, it was almost always over some principle of fairness, equity in the compound or justice. Heck, they argued about practically everything to the point where sometimes it made her crazy…and yet, her dad always seemed to trust her more than he did her brother. Until her mother said what she did, she could never fully understand why.

“You’re his little girl,” her mother pressed on softly, touching Sarah’s cheek. “Be advised. He’s not as tough on the inside as he seems on the outside. It took me a few years to learn that, and it’s now
our
secret.”

Sarah stared up at the ceiling, unblinking. What was she supposed to do with information like that? What did it mean? Why had her mother told her this?

Suddenly his double standard, his chauvinism, the unfairness of his treatment of her and Al, and who got to do what, had just gone right out the skylight with the dragons.

H
er parents were gone. She heard students chattering away—the new students waiting to be shown to their dorms and the others just socializing. Sarah caught snatches of gossip and gathered that the Neteru kids were going to be the topic of conversation for a while. She let out a sigh.

Right then and there she made up her mind that she wasn’t going to listen to any of it. She refused to allow any reference to her deficiency to kill what was left of her already fragile self-esteem. She would ignore the juicy tidbits of scandal that she overheard. Instead, she would focus on what her mother had told her.

When she felt a hard bump to her back, she turned around, ready to apologize for being in the way. The apology died on her lips when she saw who it was.

“Sorry, but you need to watch it, B-D,” Melissa said with a sneer, her cohorts standing behind her and sneering. “Maybe you would have seen that coming if you had some real Clav skills.”

B-D! Did that witch just say B-D, as in beadie? Sarah’s gaze narrowed. Her cousin Ayana had told her about all the school slang for losers. Now some girl that she didn’t even know had not only nearly knocked her down but had also called her by the dreaded term that made anyone in the Blends division cringe. Those were fighting words.

Anger rose fast in Sarah, and she could feel her fangs beginning to come down. “What’s your problem?”

“Oh, look, she has fangs,” Amy said, with a giggle, pointing at Sarah.

“How cute, in an ugly sort of way,” Angelica cooed, and then laughed along with Amy and Melissa.

“And they work,” Sarah said. She stepped forward and felt a small stab of satisfaction when Amy took a step back.

Melissa glared at Amy in annoyance, then turned back to Sarah. “Well, it’s obvious that the fruit fell very far from the tree that bore it. Listen, Neteru brat, don’t think you’re anything here just because of who your parents are.” Her gaze narrowed. “I run this school, and should you forget that, just know that a lot of things can happen when nobody’s looking. And you’d better tell your flunky to watch
her
back, too.”

“No, skank,” Tami said, materializing from the crowd. “
You’d
better watch
yours
.” Tami eyed the other girl’s long hair. “Think twice before you threaten Sarah again. I would hate to see you hanging by your wig from a back stairwell one dark and lonely night.”

“Hey, what’s the problem?” Al said, catching up to the group.

Melissa smirked. “Your sister and her pit bull just violated rule number one here at the Academy —threatening another student,” she told him.

“You did what?” Al asked.

“Mind your own business, Al,” Tami said. “You tag it, we’ll bag it—you know the compound motto.”

“What?” Melissa asked frowning.

“I think she told you to watch out,” Sarah said with raised eyebrows, then inhaled sharply when Melissa’s eyes darkened dangerously.

Alejandro rubbed his palms down his face, obviously fighting a combination of embarrassment and rage.

“Why’d you threaten her, Sarah?” Al finally said as he threw his shoulders back, clearly posturing for the new girl.

Sarah saw a small smile of amusement on Melissa’s lips. “I didn’t,” Sarah said through her teeth.

“I bumped into her by accident and she got all huffy,” Melissa said, tossing her glossy hair over her shoulder.

“Is that all?” Al said, stepping in front of Melissa as if to shield her from Sarah. “Are you nuts?”

Sarah stared at him as if he had lost his mind.

“C’mon, guys, ease up,” Wil said, making his way over to the scene. His gaze shot past Melissa and landed on Sarah. “If you don’t stop, you’ll get kicked out on your first day.”

Sarah almost choked on her disappointment and outrage. Wil thought she had started this stupid scene, too?

Melissa smiled at him. “Well, if it isn’t our new warrior. Congratulations on placing in the Shadows, Wil.”

Al scowled, clearly feeling upstaged just by Wil’s presence.

Wil shrugged humbly, but Sarah could see that he was proud. “Thanks.”

“Yes, congratulations, Wil,” a quiet, feminine voice said.

Sarah immediately turned to see who’d spoken. At some point during the argument, Patty Gray had joined the group. Now she walked up to Wil and gently kissed him on the cheek.

Wil cleared his throat awkwardly and said, “Thanks, Patty.”

Melissa gave Sarah an evil smile, then turned to Patty and said, “Hi, sis.”

Sarah looked at the stunning Upper Sphere girl and suddenly felt like she had dirt under her fingernails and spinach between her teeth.

Don’t start to dream too big, loser.

Sarah jumped at the sound of Melissa’s voice in her head. Then her eyes narrowed in fury. Melissa had riffled through her private thoughts! But she’d also left her more information than she’d planned. Obviously Melissa had miscalculated and underestimated her opponent, her anger making her sloppy. The one thing that Nana Marlene had always taught them was that when you went into someone else’s thoughts, they could pull out information, too. The most pressing question that had been on Sarah’s mind when Melissa went into it was, why was the girl messing with her? The answer came back now like a slow slingshot of information: Stefan. Town. Him getting close to Tami and spoiling a secret. Okay, who the hell was Stefan? Not that it mattered at the moment. What infuriated Sarah was Melissa getting up in her face and, worse yet, inside her head without permission.

Sarah stepped toward Melissa. “You had no right—”

Suddenly a strong hand landed on Sarah’s shoulder.

“Is there a problem, ladies and gentlemen?”

It was her grandmother.

“No, ma’am.” The words came out of everyone’s mouth in a disgruntled mutter at the same time.

“Good. Don’t let there be,” Headmistress Stone said, eyeing the group. “Melissa, the new Clairvoyants are ready for their tour. Please don’t keep them waiting.”

“Yes, Headmistress Stone.”

Sarah stared at Melissa with a frown. The girl didn’t strike her as the type who would volunteer to show new students around.

The headmistress didn’t wait to hear any more, she simply reinserted herself into the throng, saying good-byes and speaking to parents like the elder stateswoman she was.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but why don’t you go cool off?” Al said to Sarah, then headed off to catch up to Melissa.

“You cool off,” Sarah muttered to his retreating back, folding her arms over her chest. She was just glad the rest of the compound brothers hadn’t come over with Al to gang up on her, too.

“Sit with us at lunch, Al?” Melissa said, loudly enough to be overheard, leaning into him flirtatiously as they walked toward the waiting Clairvoyants. “That way we can really show you and your friends around later on.”

Furious, Sarah watched her brother walk away with Melissa and her two lackeys. Patty had disappeared as silently as she had appeared. Unbelievable—how could Al be that stupid? She was about to make a snide comment when she glimpsed Wil out of the corner of her eye. He was standing off to her side, looking very awkward. If anything diffused her rage a little, it was seeing Wil still standing there. She took quiet pleasure in the fact that he hadn’t followed Al and Melissa and her too-rude crew. He also hadn’t followed Patty, the real stunner.

It was a small victory, but she couldn’t deny that it still felt good, though she wasn’t altogether ready to forgive him for semi-siding with Melissa just yet.

Tami gave Wil the evil eye. “Friend or foe, dude? Decide now, because as you can see, war just got declared.”

Sarah elbowed Tami.

“What?” Tami protested, frowning. “It’s true. You saw how she treated us.”

“They really aren’t that bad once you get to know them,” Wil said.

He burst out laughing at their highly skeptical expressions. Sarah and Tami glanced at each other, then had to laugh themselves when they realized how they must have looked.

Sarah liked the sound of Wil’s laugh. It was rich and deep and genuine, and it made her feel warm and tingly all over. And his smile was positively gorgeous. She loved how he got little crinkles in the corners of his sea-green eyes.

Would it be so wrong to forgive the poor guy for one teeny little mistake?

“Okay, okay, so maybe they
can
be like the Macbeth’s witches,” Wil said, still laughing.

“You pulled that out of my head, didn’t you?” Sarah said, laughing harder.

“Guilty,” Wil said sheepishly, and raked his hair with his fingers. Then his smile faded, and he shoved his hands into his pockets. “We grew up together. So even though they’re not always the nicest people, it’s…force of habit, I guess.”

“Well, that’s cozy,” Tami snapped.

“No, it’s not like that. It just is what it is…history, family, what can I say?”

Both Sarah and Tami stared at him.

“Long story,” he said, smiling at Sarah.

“We’ve got time,” Tami said, wiggling her eyebrows.

“Look, I’ve gotta go catch up with my division and get my stuff into my room.” He turned to go.

“Hey,” Sarah said, and he turned back around. “Congratulations.”

Wil gave her one of his full-blown gorgeous smiles. “Thanks. See you later. He gave them a wave and jogged off in the direction of the black-and-gold flag bearer.

Sarah spun on Tami the moment Wil merged into the crowd and shot her a hard look.

“What?” Tami put up her hands, laughing. “If you had let me dig harder, I would have gotten the vital intel you need to know before you plunge headlong—”

Sarah clamped her hand over her friend’s mouth. “Would you please be quiet?”

“You’re smothering me,” Tami mumbled through her laughter. Once Sarah removed her hand, Tami took a huge, theatrical breath. “I’m just looking out for you.”

“I sure wish you’d look out for me,” a deep male voice said, giving both girls a start.

The red-and-white flag bearer was no longer holding his division colors. He was leaning against a pillar with his long legs crossed at the ankles, arms folded over his broad chest, and his electrifying gray eyes were eating Tami alive.

Sarah opened and closed her mouth in disbelief when her girlfriend giggled and then blushed.

“I see you don’t mind mixing it up,” he said, looking Tami up and down. “I like that…a chick who won’t get all girlie and scream and fall when the monster comes.”

“I do all right,” Tami said, smiling wider, but speaking in the most bashful voice that Sarah had ever heard from her.

Could this really be Tami?

“That’s good to know. Can’t have a woman who can’t hold her own, you know what I mean? Anybody with sense would want a girl who looks good enough to eat but won’t wind up demon bait.” He licked his lips sensually and then pushed away from the pillar. “See you around, Tamara.” He winked, and in the next instance had rounded the pillar and was gone.

“Did you see that?” Tami whispered, squeezing Sarah’s arm.

“Yeah, I saw it,” Sarah said, worried.

“Ohmigod, he’s got vamp stealth!”

“Yeah, but—”

“I have to find out his name,” Tami gushed. “Ohmigod,
he
knows my name!”

“Listen, Tami, that guy—”

Just then a voice interrupted.

“Hi, I’m Jessica Porter,” a thick-bodied girl wearing Upper Sphere colors said. She had an honest smile that seemed to light up her warm, cocoa-brown face. Her dreadlocks were thick, dark and caterpillar fuzzy, and they hung down to her shoulders, bouncing as she spoke. Jessica’s voice embodied that same lyrical quality that Sarah’s Uncle Monte, who was from the Caribbean, had. The new girl’s friendly, inviting eyes accentuated the warmth of her voice. Sarah recognized her as an older Blend from after the ceremony when all the students grouped around their division’s flag. “I see you’ve met our self-proclaimed queen.”