Resummon: (Lycan Academy of Shapeshifting: Operation Shift, Book 6) Page 9

  My senses heard something outside the room. Footsteps coming up the stone staircase to the large chamber suite. A knock came at the door a few seconds later.

  I got myself together and ran my fingers through my hair, half expecting it to be standing straight out with the amount of electricity that was passing through my body. To my great relief that wasn’t the case at all. I was still relatively in order. The only way to tell what I had just been through was the tear on the fabric of my trousers over my right knee from when I crashed into the floor.

  That was when I knew Margaux was going easy on me the entire time. Otherwise, her magic would have done more damage.

  ‘What is this woman really capable of?’

  Adeline removed her magic and answered the door as I straightened out my trench coat.

  “I trust your accommodation was suitable, Miss Prescott,” Rodrick asked politely.

  “Yes,” she said. “Very suitable.”

  “Two rooms would have been more suitable,” Margaux said as she corked the champagne bottle and put it aside.

  “Soon enough,” Adeline said. “You’re under my supervision until my grandmother says otherwise.”

  Margaux let out a harsh breath then went right back to pretending as though the lack of privacy meant nothing to her.

  “Perhaps you would permit Margaux privacy for a short time,” Rodrick said.

  “Why?” Adeline asked.

  “I’m a man of my word,” he said. I turned around to see him standing at the door. “I sent for Alexei.”

  His eyes never met mine. They were fixed on Margaux.

  The blood drained from her face and her heartbeat rapidly with excitement. I could hear it from where I was still steadily trying to recover my dignity.

  “Alexei is here?” she asked.

  “Yes. I’ve given him quarters outside the fortress and near the Alluring Forest so he can hunt in peace and away from the students. It’s an old shelter used for those who wish to live in the lycan realm but also desire more privacy than the academy allows.”

  My mind instantly remembered the entry in the journal belonging to Edward. He spoke of quarters they had outside the academy. Was this the same lodging? Was Rodrick lending them Edward’s old home?

  “May I?” Margaux asked Adeline with a hint of humility. Only this time, I knew she genuinely meant it. She was asking Adeline as a friend and not just her jailer.

  “You may,” Adeline agreed. “But first, come here.”

  Margaux stepped closer as Adeline took the wine opener from the table and lightly poked through the skin on her forearm. Then she took a dab of her blood and placed it on Margaux’s wrist.

  “Is this your way of tracking me?” Margaux asked. “Blood magic is a bit extreme. All I want is a chance to see him alone.”

  “And you will be, in a sense.” The wound on Adeline’s forearm closed up without spilling a single drop.

  Margaux sighed and left the room in silence. She knew her life still wasn’t entirely hers but she was willing to forego regaining a sense of independence for the time being. Or maybe she wanted to see Alexei so bad that she didn’t care.

  Rodrick didn’t make eye contact with me. He didn’t even acknowledge me. He shut the door once Margaux was gone and led her away.

  “Well, it’s a start,” Adeline said after locking the door and allowing her magic to seal the door shut once more.

  “To what?”

  “Hatching some sort of plan to get Dirk back. We have a location. Prague. We have a method of deceiving him. By way of making him believe you’re Margaux’s prisoner and she’s still possessed. We can figure out the details before midnight tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow?” I asked.

  “My grandmother said she would give us two weeks but we might not have that kind of time. While I have you here I need to ask you about your encounter with Alina. Rodrick gave me some of the particulars but I’m not sure I can trust his perspective.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Because he angled his side of events without being there to witness what occurred.”

  “You mean he blamed Lothar for the entire thing.”

  She didn’t bother correcting my accusation. She simply sat down and folded her hands delicately on the table. Then she silently requested that I sit with her. I did so and began retelling how things happened in Rome, why they happened, and the fight that broke out between Lothar and Rodrick in the hospital. Followed by Domenico’s visit.”

  “Riley,” she said my name sternly once I was finished. “I need you to promise me that you won’t go looking for Alina again. We don’t know how much power she’s managed to acquire. If she’s able to easily overpower a Blackatter there’s no telling what else she might be capable of doing. You were lucky once. Actually, you’ve been lucky quite a few times. I know you’re skilled and you will only learn more as time goes on but I need you to promise me you won’t look for her.”

  I gave her a solemn nod. “It was Jake’s idea. I wasn’t exactly thrilled about the prospect of helping the woman who…might have …”

  “We don’t know that for certain. Besides, it will be better if the vixra guard capture her anyway. Clara and Victor might have enough experience between then to bring her into vixra custody.”

  My intention for asking must have been a bit too obvious because Adeline tilted her head in curiosity after I didn’t say anything else.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “Who is Clara?”

  Adeline shrugged her shoulders, a bit dumbfounded as to why I was asking. “She’s basically gran’s right hand. She’s a Blackatter and an elite of the vixra guard.”

  I didn’t say anything else. Mostly because I didn’t want to spark her suspicion.

  Too late. She wanted to know why I was asking.

  ‘Mistake. I should have kept my mouth shut.’

  “Riley, why do you ask?”

  I was trapped. There was no way to get out of explaining myself. Only I knew exactly what would happen. I would get another lecture about Rodrick.

  I turned my head away in shame. “It’s just that… I know.”

  “Know what?”

  “That Rodrick and her were involved.”

  Now it was Adeline’s turn to look trapped. “Really? This again? Riley, you’re aiming too high. He’s not a suitable match for you and you shouldn’t even be looking at him in such a way. He’s the dean of the academy.”

  “Then why did Devon disguise himself as him? How did he know exactly who to master shift into so I would do what he wanted?”

  “We might never know other than the fact that you’re both Blackatters and therefore drawn to one another. But don’t worry about Clara. She’s not a pleasant person and I never once saw her and Rodrick together. If something did happen between them it likely ended because of her.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Because she’s unbearable. She does what gran asks without question and serves her honorably but beyond that, she’s a…”

  Adeline nearly called Clara a name. I wasn’t sure which less than flattering label she was about to use but I was certain it wasn’t kind. Adeline was rarely quick to trash anyone.

  She composed herself and searched for better words to get out what she wanted to say. “Clara is ruthless. Which makes her a good vixra guard but also an insufferable person. She’s arrogant, selfish, and entitled. I don’t see how a man could tolerate her for any length of time. If such an affair did occur Rodrick probably took the job at the academy just to get away from her.”

  “So you think Rodrick might be lying about their involvement?”

  Adeline sat back in the chair and gave me a disapproving grimace. “I think if things did happen between them that he probably fled as fast as he could once he saw her for who she truly is.”

  “It’s not just Rodrick, Adeline,” I said, trying to soothe her a bit now that I had done damage yet again. “If I do want to join the Eastern Vonte
x or even the vixra guard one day I need to know who I will be working with. I don’t want to work under someone who is, as you say, insufferable and arrogant.”

  “Yes, let’s pretend that’s what motivated you to bring it up.”

  My forehead scrunched up at her sarcasm. “And what about Lothar?” I asked her. “Do you think he’s more suitable.”

  “I think you should be focusing on your studies and getting your brother back. Not the men in the academy.”

  I always thought of Adeline as a loving aunt. But when she talked to me in such a way I couldn’t help but feel like she was trying to replace my mum on some level. I wanted to resent her for it. And yet, I knew she was sincere. It was carnal desires that made me into a werewolf in the first place. Even if I was targeted intentionally for the grandmaster’s purposes, I came along willingly. It wasn’t Devon projecting Rodrick’s scent or me letting my hormones get out of control. It was me. I let myself down.

  An intense sense of shame engulfed me. Here I was, discussing a prior flame that Rodrick might have had. That he told me he had. And only a matter of hours ago I was locked in Lothar’s arms, exploring him in a way I had been curious about for months. I let myself fall away to lust once more. Just like I did with Devon and just like I did with Rodrick.

  “You don’t think it’s real, do you?” I asked her. “You think me always coming back to thinking of Rodrick has something to do with the curse.”

  “It’s possible. But there’s only one way to find out. We have to break it.” She dug into the pocket of her black trousers. “Until that time, take this.” She unfolded her hand to reveal a small bottle of a mixture of what smelled like herbs. “Put it in your bath. It will help your body to finish healing. You may be a lycan and a Blackatter but part of you is still human. You traumatized your body over the last forty-eight hours. Give it a chance to recover and perhaps take a nap this afternoon. We don’t know what tomorrow holds for us but we need to be ready for anything.”

  I took the small glass bottle from her hand. “Thank you,” I said softly, not wanting to appear ungrateful only because she didn’t give me the answer that I wanted.

  “No more thoughts of Rodrick or Lothar for now. Just think of Dirk. Keep your eye on the true prize. Reuniting your family.”

  I grimaced. “Don’t include my father in this.”

  “You weren’t the only one who lost someone, Riley. Your father feels the loss of his son very deeply.”

  With that, she sent me on my way and I headed back to my room. I wasn’t sure if I felt excited anymore. If anything, I felt bruised. And not just from Margaux’s magic or Adeline’s gentle judgment.

  If I could embrace Lothar in such a way and still be concerned with Clara, that had to mean something. Only now I thoroughly angered Rodrick by forcing his hand into helping us with Margaux and embarrassing him in front of the whole student body when the vixra guard caught us.

  There was no winning scenario. Adeline was right. I had to think of Dirk. In the end, he was more important to me than anyone.

  9

  I didn’t know how much I desperately needed a relaxing bath until I was sinking deep into the tub. I eased into it, relishing the warmth of the water caressing my skin and trying my best not to remember the raging heat from Margaux’s magic running over my body. I had a sneaky feeling she was giving me an idea of what burning her alive with magic felt like.

  ‘Funny how she didn’t give Adeline or Rodrick an equal punishment. What makes me so special?’

  The daggers I took from the Vontex’s weapons room glistened on my bed in the other room, reflecting the moon’s light through the curtain and shining blue flickers across the floor from the decorative handles. In all the chaos of the previous nights, I had forgotten to return them. And for the time being, I didn’t care.

  I took the small bottle of herbs that Adeline gave me and sprinkled them over the water. They quickly dissolved into nothing and gradually turned the water a soft shade of pink. The bath began to feel more like soaking in a milky cream that was nourishing my skin rather than regular water. And it smelled like a bed of roses freshly cut from the most coveted garden in all of England.

  For the first time in ages, I was in heaven. I didn’t want to think about Rodrick or Lothar or anyone else. I could just be.

  Or so I thought.

  A trickle of liquid dripped down my cupid’s bow just above my lips. I drew my lip in, thinking it was probably just sweat from soaking in the warm water. An awful metallic taste greeted my tongue.

  Blood.

  The trickling got worse. It ran down my lips and trailed over my neck until it was staining the perfectly pink hue of the bathwater.

  ‘Oh no! Not again! Not right now!’

  I had been through this before. Only the last time I didn’t know exactly what was going on. This time, I knew what it was.

  My eyesight went black as something else took hold of my senses.

  It was Dirk. He was triggering our connection. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, he had me right where he wanted me.

  Or did he? Was it random? Was he in trouble?

  I couldn’t make sense of it. Especially not when I heard Dirk scream. The sound of his voice crying out in pain made my heart sink. Only for me to realize seconds later that it was the grandmaster. He was suffering. And he was enraged.

  Dirk was being tortured by blue light crackling all around him in electrical sparks. Like someone had harnessed lightning and shot him down. Only it wasn’t the box I had shifted in my skin doing it. Or the svethulka. It was Daniella. She stood over him in a room I didn’t recognize. How could I? It was damp, dark, and made of nothing but stones lining the thick walls.

  Daniella stood over him, taking a little too much joy in the act of defeating him.

  “You shouldn’t have come here,” she said to him. “I’m not like Margaux. I don’t fight back with poise.” She lifted her wand to strike her magic down at him again. Whether she was too slow or Dirk just recovered too fast I couldn’t tell. But the next thing I saw was Daniella being thrown back several yards and crashing into the stone floor. Her cloak wrapped around her body like a sheet as she rolled before coming to a stop. When she did, her face was scratched up.

  I could see her fuming. She gathered herself up and tried gaining the upper hand once more only for Dirk’s scarlet red magic to beat her yet again.

  He cut her down with his magic like a lasso snatching up an animal. Her body whipped about as he dragged her toward him and then released a tornado of scarlet red light from both his hands down at her body without a single shred of mercy.

  She screamed at the top of her lungs. I could see his magic burning away the clothes over her gut and searing right through her cloak. Her eyes turned blood red. One was bleeding. She convulsed for what felt like thirty seconds before finally stopping.

  Was she dead?

  Did her heart stop beating?

  No. She was moving. But only slightly. It was just enough for me to see she was alive. But barely. Dirk let the magic in his hands swirl about his palms for her to see. A warning that if she tried attacking him again she would only get it worse.

  “What do you want?” she stammered. For the first time since I met Daniella, I saw her ego completely slip away. Nothing but pure fear crossed her face. “Why have you come here?”

  Dirk said nothing. He did nothing. He simply stood there over her and let Daniella contemplate the idea that she might not live very long.

  Her bottom lip trembled. Her fingernails dug into the stone floor, looking for something to grab. She found her wand a short distance away from her. She eyed it, wondering if she could get away with crawling over to it.

  Dirk instantly saw where her eyes went and moved toward her wand. He crunched it with the heel of his boot. It snapped in two as if it was nothing under his weight. Shock overtook her face at the sight of her wand, her most previous magical tool, being destroyed right in front of her eyes.

>   Dirk knelt with his hands folded over his knee.

  “Have you no mercy inside you?” Daniella whimpered, knowing there was nothing she could do to fight him off. He was far too powerful.

  Only there was something else there. He was weak. She managed to hurt him. He was healing but not as fast as he once did. They must have fought one another for several minutes before our connection took hold and showed me what he was doing. And once more, he knew I was listening.

  “For witchlings that work alongside the lycan?” he said to her. “I never have and I never will. Surrender your luxra coven to me or I will kill each and every one of them.”

  “They won’t help you,” she said, finding what little strength she had left inside her to resist him. “Too many have lost loved ones to the Dolch Erbe.”

  “You will all lose far more if you don’t do my will. I will make sure Paris is drenched with the blood of the lycan and the Sorlin-Vontaine if you refuse me again.”

  She shook her head defiantly, bracing herself for what was to come.

  Dirk stood over her and let his magic pour from his hands.

  Daniella watched it grow stronger as the seconds went by, giving her one last chance to change her mind. She rested her head against the stone ground, knowing death was near and refusing to cave to his will in a way I almost admired. She was willing to die for her coven.

  The vision ended the moment Dirk’s death spiral of magic cascaded down to Daniella’s body. I saw enough to see her mouth wrench open as she screamed. My vision came back with a deafening crack that made my ears ring. Which was a feat considering my whole body sank under the water.

  My eyes shot open only for the herbs to sting me. My eyes scorched in pain as my hands reached for the sides of the tub. I yanked myself up and out with my eyes squeezed shut. I couldn’t see. I could barely even think. All I could do was stumble and try not to crash land as I wrestled my way out of the bathtub. Once I did, my feet slipped right out from under me. I was on the ground, searching in vain for a towel. When I finally found one I pushed it into my eyes, trying to get rid of the sting from the herbs burning them. It took what felt like forever but the burning finally stopped.