Shadow Walker (Neteru Academy Books) (51 page)

She was almost too spent emotionally to answer; for a moment she could only nod and allow her heart rate to slow. Val’s voice had petted her hair and scalp with comforting warmth, and his solid frame felt like safety, a haven, as his arms enfolded her. His heart beat a steady, calming rhythm against her cheek as she kept her eyes closed tightly against the world. Soon she became aware of his scent. It was nice, earthy, masculine, oddly comforting and unsettling at the same time. She relaxed, and she wiped her tears on her sleeve then finally looked up.

A pair of deep brown understanding eyes filled with patience—and something else she couldn’t define—stared back at her.

“Thank you,” she said with a sniff.

He didn’t answer, just closed his own eyes, his long dark lashes dusting his cheeks, and lowered his mouth to hers.

It was the softest of sensations, the most tender of touches, and it sent a jag of heart-stopping electricity through her. She had to remember to breathe as she looked up at him when he pulled back a bit. He had only touched her lips. A hint of more to come that hadn’t. He hadn’t assumed, hadn’t force his tongue into her mouth or pushed her against the wall. Now he just stood there, holding her in a friendship hug that held the promise of so much more. She could see the question in his eyes. He was waiting for her answer, waiting to see if it had been all right to coax her heart out to fly.

In that moment she felt so crazy, so skittery, yet so free, as her mind grappled with what had just happened. She felt strangely like Peggi must have—anxious and unsure, scared but curious, but not wanting to be rushed or made to do what she wasn’t sure she wanted to. Someone caring had asked. Someone respectful hadn’t assumed. Someone patient and with a different perspective had seen her beauty. Someone had cared. Every living being wanted to be cherished. In that moment, she knew that she was.

She lifted her chin to try the sensation again as he lowered his head. But then a booming voice made her freeze, and made Val jump away from her as though he’d been electrocuted.

“All students are to be in designated areas during this emergency lockdown!” Titan Troy thundered.

“I…we…I was just going to show him Peggi… since I was supposed to go back and shovel for Mr. Milton.” Heart pounding fast, Sarah thrust out her backpack and unzipped it quickly, so she could show the appley contents to Titan Troy.

“You are supposed to request an escort so that we know where each student is at all times.” He walked over to Val and leaned down to study him, his shadow falling intimidatingly over her friend as he lowered his blade. “Also, you do not have the door code.”

“It’s cool,” Val said, holding his hands in front of his chest. “I was just walking her here so she could wait for you, and then I was—”

“Silence!” Titan Troy bellowed, and then punched in the code. He put his shoulder to the task of opening the door, then looked at Sarah. “For you, young queen… I will take you both to the Pegasus stables. But do not ever let me find you lingering here in the hallways alone—your father, my brother in arms, is not so understanding…. And I don’t care that this young suitor is the son of his best friend, Guardian Yolando. Friendship between those old vampires will perish if more than what I witnessed ever transpires before it is time, are we clear?”

She and Val just glanced at each other and nodded.

“A
ye, I see you’ve come back with a friend,” Mr. Milton said in a cheerful tone.

Titan Troy glowered down on them as he shoved Val forward with the face of his shield. “Emotions are running high. Please give these two something constructive to do. They need to expend energy under a watchful eye.”

“Aye, yes, and it’s not even spring,” Mr. Milton chuckled, rubbing his beard as he bit on his pipe.

“I will be back to collect them in a few hours, after rounds. Call me if they make trouble, and I shall come take them off your hands by lunch.”

Mr. Milton gave the huge Titan a jaunty salute and began walking to the barn. Sarah’s face burned and she kept her eyes on Mr. Milton’s back, unable to even glance at Val.

“I thought you all had English, then math, followed by biology, if me memory serves,” the little man called back at them. “Skipping three classes will levy a heck of a toll on your studies, don’tcha think? Little early in the semester to be playing hooky. Then again, nothing is going according to Hoyle now. I don’t suspect teachers with a heart will be handing out assignments until all this tragedy has been resolved.”

Mr. Milton didn’t even turn around as he opened the barn doors.

“Miss Tittle was really upset,” Val said, trying to offer an explanation for why they’d been in the hall. “Pretty nasty to see her explode like that, and Sarah—”

Mr. Milton nodded. “I know just what ye mean, laddie—witnessed me first phoenix rising during the Fae Spring Equinox Ball when I was a just a boy. I had no idea it was so gruesome,” he said, making a face. “So I guess a little fresh air after that is in order.” He laughed and stepped through the open barn door. “Aye, at your age, when tensions run high and wild, fresh air is definitely a must.”

Sarah glimpsed Val from the corner of her eye and swallowed a smile. The old man was talking in riddles, as old folks tended to do—seemingly talking about one thing while hinting at some other thing he secretly knew.

Friendly whinnies greeted Mr. Milton, but most of the stalls were empty. “My Pegasus fliers are already out to pasture. Only my unicorns who like to go about at night are being recalcitrant, so I gave them the option to stay in… and of course there’s our Peggi.”

Sarah took off running. “Val, I wanna introduce you to her. Come look!” She heard him running after her, then coming to a stop when she did. “Peggi, look what I brought you,” Sarah said, extracting a juicy apple and holding out her hand.

Mr. Milton leaned against the wall nearby and smiled. “Careful. You’ve brought someone with a little demon in his blood. She might take exception.”

“But she let me near her,” Sarah said, turning to look at Mr. Milton.

“Aye, but Neteru blood overrides a bit of the vamp in your veins. Always does.”

Peggi swiped the apple, then backed up with a loud snort and stomped the hay covered floor.

“Val is all right,” Sarah said, laughing. “He’s like me and you—a mutt.”

“Hey,” Val said, laughing. “Watch it. Do I call you names?”

“Well, we
are
,” Sarah said, tossing him an apple. “Your Mom is a Valkyrie… and for a long time your dad was a vampire, until he became a daywalker and the Light granted him amnesty.” She shot Mr. Milton a meaningful look.

He nodded, catching on. “It’s as the lass states,” he said to Val in a loud voice. “Peggi wouldn’t be prejudiced against someone’s pedigree, not after all the ridicule she’s encountered.”

“Of course not,” Sarah said with a smile, slinging another apple toward the mare. “She let me ride her, and my dad was once a vamp, too. Peggi is no snob.”

After devouring the apple, Peggi slowly walked forward, snorting. She peered over the low half-door of her stall and considered Val with a tilt of her head.

Sarah went to him and held his forearm, showing him how to lay his palm completely flat using touch, not words.

“Hey,” he said softly, looking at the mare.

“He has gorgeous amber wings like yours… wanna see?” Sarah said, then smiled as Peggi took the apple from Val and came closer to allow him to rub her nose. After a moment she nuzzled him and then bumped the door, asking to be let out.

“She’s curious,” Mr. Milton said with a droll little chuckle. “So, laddie, show her what you’ve got.”

“Right here? In the barn?” Val said, and then started laughing. “Show a horse?”

“She’s a Peguni, or maybe a Unipeg,” Mr. Milton corrected, drawing on his unlit pipe as he let Peggi out into the aisle.

The moment she was out, she began prancing and strutting as though in a parade. Sarah laughed and clapped as Peggi showed off for Val, spreading her magnificent wings and beating the air.

Val laughed, yanked his school sweater over his head and took off his button-down white shirt.

Sarah stood mesmerized for a moment just staring at Val’s beautiful dark skin and the way the muscles in his chest, abdomen and back moved with fluid grace as he ran alongside Peggi. Wild and free and natural, his hair was a thick mane of unruly Afro, his arms were open wide, biceps flexing as his long strides kept up with Peggi’s, pure joy on his face as the mare played with him. Then it happened, the moment when he could generate enough energy to let his gorgeous amber wings unfurl from his shoulder blades to spread and beat the air.

Peggi went up on her hind legs, rearing with an excited whinny. It seemed as though she knew something, sensed something, and she danced for Val before dropping down to all fours, snorting wildly.

“It’s in ‘er blood—to fly alongside the Valkyries in battle,” Mr. Milton said, running to the front of the barn, as Peggi took off at a gallop. “Go to her, boy! She wants to show you to the other horses.”

Sarah dropped her backpack and followed as Val ran full speed, his wings out, then was suddenly airborne. Peggi lifted off with him, staying at his side and leading him to the pasture. Initially Sophocles charged, but as soon as he saw Peggi by Val’s side, he fell into formation, leading Peggi and Val, and the rest of the herd lining up behind them, in an impressive aerial display.

“They’re magnificent,” Sarah said quietly, standing beside Mr. Milton.

“To fly with the Valkyries is a magnificent thing indeed, child. You picked a good friend… dogs and horses know.”

She stood quietly on the ground, gazing up, a smile on her face, her heart full enough to burst. One day they’d all come out there. She hoped it wouldn’t have to be for battle but could be like this…flying for the sheer beauty of it, flying to rescue people, flying for peace. No matter what they said her destiny was, she didn’t have the heart of a warrior, didn’t have the blood lust for shadow battle… she had the heart of a loving soul. The battles she wanted to fight were different from the ones her parents had fought…were still fighting. Maybe one day someone else, like Val, would understand that.

“Whooo hoo!” Val shouted, coming to land in the barnyard with Peggi at his side.

“Did you see the big red one?” he asked, breathing hard.

“That’d be Sophocles, Peggi’s Da,” Mr. Milton said with a wink. “Breathes fire. All warhorse, he is…a formidable creature and not to be tested in the air or on the ground, laddie. We clear?”

Val nodded and wiped his brow with his forearm, wings still outstretched. “I hear you, sir.”

“Good. It’s an honor for them to fly with a Valkyrie—even a half-Valkyrie. They really like you… and I hope you know it was an honor for you to fly with them.”

“Most definitely,” Val said, petting Peggi’s shoulder.

The mare went down on one knee and stared at Sarah, and then whinnied. Sarah ran to her, and Val laughed.

“She’s gonna let Sarah ride?”

“That she is,” Mr. Milton said with a smile. “The lassie earned her respect, didn’t rush her, had patience… so when the time was right in Peggi’s mind, she said okay. That is the way of the world. Respect, friendship, patience, trust.”

“I hear you,” Val said, his expression serious, as he watched Sarah climb up on Peggi’s back.

“Aye,” Mr. Milton said, as Val took off next to Sarah and Peggi. “That’s what they all say.”

Sarah pressed her face to Peggi’s neck and looked at Val. He smiled at her and then did a fancy spiraling nosedive that sent Peggi after him, making Sarah scream as her mount followed his twirling path.

Laughter rang out as wind buffeted their faces. Life was so worth living in this moment, she thought. After a while, just watching Val, looking at him, hurt. It was the kind of glorious pain that too much joy causes, that split-second in time when a person feels like every cell membrane inside them will burst and melt together.

Val reached out but didn’t get too close for fear of a collision, the tips of his fingers straining toward her like he wanted to touch her cheek and causing Peggi to whinny. His expression slowly changed from smiling to somber, his dark, intense eyes seeming haunted, and then he spun away as though unable to stand being in the air beside her any longer, to head back to the barnyard, where he landed hard before Peggi did.

“Quite a run there,” Mr. Milton said, tossing Val his shirt as he folded his wings. “Go take a shower. Mrs. Hogan isn’t home, and all the field hands are out. Go on now.” He smiled. “House is empty, towels are in the linen closet. You’re all sweaty. Can’t put your uniform back on and walk the halls of the Academy escortin’ a lady all dirty like that.”

“Thanks,” Val said without turning around, and took off running as Peggi landed behind him.

“Hey, where’re you going?” Sarah called out, laughing as Val took the house steps two at a time.

“Oh, he’s just a proud lad who’s embarrassed because he’s all sweaty—which he was,” Mr. Milton said, holding his nose and grinning playfully. “So I sent him to the showers…. How about me and you put away Miss Peggi here, and feed her some more of these apples you’ve got?”

Feeling much better after the break, Sarah didn’t even mind Titan Troy scowling at them the whole way back. In fact, she was so bubbly, felt so alive, that she chattered poor Val’s ear off the whole walk back to the cafeteria for lunch.

“Hey, you’re awfully quiet,” she said after a moment, stopping so he’d slow down.

When he kept going, she jogged and caught his arm, and finally got him to stop walking.

“You okay?” she asked, suddenly nervous. “You’re not gonna get all weird on me, are you?”

Val shrugged and shook his head. “No. Like…why would I get weird?”

“Because you and I have always been tight, friends… then, in the hall, it was more than friends…. And when we went riding it was really cool… but now, you haven’t said two words since.”

She stared at him, and he looked off down the hall. “Just got a lot on my mind.”

“I understand,” she said quietly, remembering that their problems hadn’t gone away, even though they’d enjoyed life at its most free for those few brief hours.