Belligerent (Vicara) (6 page)

“Dupin,” he called out a little too cheerfully.

The door swung open revealing a frowning man. “Shifter,” he remarked, not bothering to hide the frustration in his tone. He glanced at Ryan and a frown appeared on his face. “It seems that the rumors were correct. This is your new ward?”

“This is Ryan. Ryan, this is Dr. Dupin. He is the current headmaster of Proserpine Academy.”

Dr. Dupin was probably about Shifter's age, but he didn’t have the same relaxed manner or mischievous look in his eyes. Instead, he was tense and chaotic. His hair was messy, sticking up in several directions as if he had been tugging at the strands. Stubble crawled across his face and his suit was disheveled to the point that he might as well have worn a t-shirt and jeans for the professionalism it exuded.

“Hey,” Ryan greeted in a nearly polite tone, but all he received for his efforts was an absent nod.

“Are you sure you know what you're doing, Shifter? I thought after what happened to-” Dupin trailed off and glanced over at Ryan. “I thought you would take the last threat seriously. You plan to bring more people into this danger?” In a lower tone, Dupin continued, “Are you going to endanger
him
?”

Shifter's grin never faltered. “Don't worry about me, Dupin. I've got everything handled. I'm just here to drop off Ryan and check in on the others.”

“I don't worry about you. I'm concerned about all the drama I'll be asked to handle when things go sideways.”

Shifter waved his hand as if shooing away the concern. “I'd like to get Ryan settled, if you please. I do have other business today.”

Dupin grunted and turned to address Ryan. “First off, there are some rules,” he began. “Students are not permitted to kill each other. Injuring each other in ways that will leave a permanent disability is also not allowed, however, we understand that accidents occur and each situation will be looked into to adjudicate the intent and circumstances.”

Ryan shook his head in disbelief. What kind of academy needed a rule about killing? “That’s it for rules?” he asked.

The doctor shook his head. “Students also must wear their uniforms when attending lessons. Now for what you will need. Come.”

Dupin beckoned as he disappeared into his office. Following behind, Ryan noticed the room was as unorganized as Dr. Dupin, but it seemed the headmaster knew exactly where everything was like a blind person in their own apartment.

“Here,” the man said handing Ryan a tablet. It was thinner, more advanced and newer than Alex’s tablet. “Do not lose this. You will need it for your classes. It contains the handbook, the academic and athletic calendar, a map of the campus and your class schedule. One of your teammates will probably help you download your textbooks onto it as well as show you how to access any online assignments. I'm certain Clarisse will help you get hold of anything else you might need.”

“Who's Clarisse?”

“You're about to meet her,” Shifter assured him from the doorway. “Speaking of which, any idea where my team might be?” he asked Dr. Dupin.

“Forgotten your tracker?” Dr. Dupin asked as he pulled a slim device from among pile of objects covering his desk.

Shifter grinned. “You know me,” he said.

“What is that?” Ryan asked, not wanting to appear curious but desperate to know the capabilities of the tracker.

“All Owners, instructors, and disciplinary squad members have a tracker in order to be able to locate the student Belligerents. It tracks your band. Could I borrow that for a moment?” Shifter said as he held out his hand expectantly towards the doctor.

Dr. Dupin sighed but handed it over, and Shifter motioned for Ryan to extend his arm.

“It can also do this,” Shifter explained as he held the device over Ryan's band. There was a short beep and then a hologram appeared with an image of Ryan as well as a listing of his name, weight, height, hair color, eye color, blood type, current heart rate, blood-oxygen level and identification number. Listed under “Owner” was Shifter's name - just “Shifter,” no last name or anything else to identify the mysterious man. The last spot labeled “specialty” was populated with the word “transportation.”

Shifter handed the device back to Dr. Dupin. “The location of my team if you would be so kind.”

“You really should keep yours handy.” Dr. Dupin didn’t look amused. He took the tracker back and tapped the screen a few times. “It appears that they are all out on the sands.” In response to Ryan’s inquisitive look, the doctor explained, “The grounds by the lake.”

“Well,” Shifter said as he stood and clapped his hands together, “if that is all?”

“It is,” Dr. Dupin assured a little too quickly.

“Then, we'll be on our way. Ryan?” Shifter gestured towards the door.

Ryan placed the tablet in the messenger bag that Shifter had insisted he carry with him then made his way out of the office.

“Ryan,” Dr. Dupin called after him, “try not to die.”

“Um… Thanks?”

When they were outside the office and nearly out of the building, Shifter turned to face Ryan. “I don't care how you feel about me. You may think whatever you want about me because I am nothing more than your Owner. When it comes to your teammates though, I suggest that you tread carefully. They are now the only people that I would recommend you trust.”

Chapter 5

The large paintings chosen by Clarisse and Aria to decorate the villa made excellent hiding places for machetes. A new batch of weapons crafted specifically for them was just one of the rewards Shifter had granted Eva and Logan for their victories in the pit games despite the fact that they had to pull out from the last bouts.

“Last one,” Eva said as she hung up the machete then straightened the picture to cover it. She sensed Mackenzie coming up behind her and turned to greet the strategist. “Working, Mac?”

Mackenzie gave a short nod then pulled her attention from her tablet to look at Eva. “It seems like I'm always working lately.” Her lips curled up into a tired smile. “How did Logan do in the pit this time?”

Eva had wondered when Mackenzie would finally get around to asking. The strategist had been unusually distracted lately.

“He did fine. He needs to improve his aim if he's going to insist on throwing the harpoon. And I would prefer if he moved a little quicker on his feet. However, those are issues that can be easily dealt with.” Well, they were issues that could be easily dealt with once Logan got tired of complaining about the change in his exercise regimen.

Mackenzie stood silent for a moment. “I want you to lead a training session this afternoon on the sands.”

Eva bit back her protest. She was fine, thanks to being granted a trip to the healing pods, but Logan still nursed bruised ribs. Everyone continued to wax melancholic whenever they stepped onto the training grounds, despite the fact that it had been nearly three months since the incident.

“Why don't we run drills in the gym instead?” Eva suggested, wanting to keep the others as relaxed as she could until classes resumed and made it impossible for her to guarantee their safety.

Mackenzie shook her head. “It's time we pulled ourselves together. Classes start in a week and we can't afford to be caught off guard. Besides, Shifter summoned you and Logan already. That means he'll be calling on the rest of us soon enough.”

“Will you be joining us?” Eva asked hesitantly. Out of all of them, Mackenzie was grieving the most. Normally, she and Clarisse made a point of attending every one of the pit games, even if they were not fighting that day. But lately Mackenzie had taken to locking herself in her room to study. They had all been throwing themselves into their specialties lately, but Mackenzie's obsession was driving her to a new level of isolation.

“I'm not the type of leader to ask something of my team that I wouldn't do myself,” Mackenzie replied with no heat to her words, but Eva knew she spoke from her heart. “I'll be on the sands as well. We'll have a quick tea today, rest for a half hour, then head out. None of the other teams should be out there.”

Mackenzie left the room, supposedly to go inform the others of her decision and Eva stood there for a few moments not wanting to hear the reactions.

“You think she realizes that it's raining?” Clarisse asked, leaning into the room from the doorway.

“I don't think she cares.”

“True,” Clarisse murmured. She lightly tapped the toe of one rocking horse shoe against the floor and looked expectantly at Eva.

“Did you and Aria hear all the plans?”

“I heard. Aria doesn't make it a habit to eavesdrop,” Clarisse replied.

Eva smiled and reached over to affectionately stroke the girl’s hair. “Go finish setting up tea and be sure to change into your armor right after. If you're late again, she'll tell me to order you to run laps.”

Clarisse turned to head towards the kitchen, her tutu bouncing with every step with the grumblings about laps growing more explicit as she disappeared into the hallway.

Slightly more than ninety minutes later, after an extremely rushed tea, the rain had stopped and the seven of them were gathered out on the training grounds. After leading everyone through the warm up drills, Eva began to call out their assignments for that day.

“Aria and Clarisse spar first. The rest of you work solo for now. I'll call the switch.”

She stood to the side and watched as Clarisse and Aria circled each other. As usual the two girls couldn’t resist bantering. Witty remarks flew back and forth from the two as swiftly as Clarisse's two tessen fans flicked out in an attempt to block Aria's whip. They were too good at predicting each other's moves and could dodge most attacks the other threw. There was rarely a serious injury when the two went against each other. The lack of wounds didn't mean it was any less fascinating to watch how they moved against each other. When they sparred, it was like observing a dance where the two worked as partners rather than opponents.

Clarisse moved to the offense and rushed toward Aria. Her fans were closed to inflict injury by blunt force rather than opened to cause a distraction. In a new move that Eva had never before seen, she cracked the whip past Clarisse's body and caused it to wrap back around, encircling one of Clarisse's delicate wrists.

Aria grinned widely. “Looks like you're all tied up.”

Eva watched while holding her breath, wondering if for once there would be an actual victor between the two. Instead of giving in, Clarisse used her ensnared hand to grab hold of the whip.

“Luckily, I have some experience with that,” Clarisse said as she pressed the tessen on the line and then twirled, using her entire body to jerk on the whip. Frowning, Eva had doubts about the move. Clarisse was petite and lithe, and while many tiny fighters could be powerful, she was the type to use speed and distraction to her advantage.

The force wasn't enough to pull Aria off balance, but it was sufficient to effectively stop the whip's attack. As a result, Clarisse was able to easily free her wrist. The two stood apart and the whip’s line pulled taut. Each held an end of the whip with their eyes locked on each other as if daring the other one to move. Clarisse gave in first, no surprise to anybody watching. She dropped the whip and somersaulted over to Aria landing behind the girl. She swiftly brought one tessen up to attack. Aria blocked the fan with blurring speed of her own, and the two were once more locked in another stalemate.

Clarisse had one arm wrapped around Aria's shoulder with the tessen pressed firmly against the front of her opponent’s throat. Clarisse's other arm was locked behind her back kept there by the tight pull of Aria's whip which the girl had managed to wrap around her waist again. Neither could move without giving away their edge and being unable to block the other's attack. So, instead, they stood panting and giggling. Clarisse was even balanced on her tiptoes in order to be able to reach over Aria's shoulders while Aria couldn’t move either arm since one was occupied with keeping the tessen from pushing any harder against her throat while the other maintained her whip's hold on Clarisse.

“Good match,” Eva called out to the two of them before approaching. “Those were some interesting new moves. They'll need polishing though.” She waited for a few moments. “You guys can release each other now.”

The two girls slowly disengaged and untangled.

“You okay?” Aria asked giving a nod toward Clarisse's wrist. The whip left a nasty burn a few inches above her Belligerent band. Clarisse twirled her wrist around for a few moments.

“I've had worse,” she said with a wince. “I'm beginning to think you have a thing for tying people up, though.” She smirked at her sparring partner. “What about you? Are you okay?” Her eyes were locked on the bruises darkening on Aria's neck and shoulder.

“I've had hickeys that did more damage.”

Eva rolled her eyes. “Okay, you two go practice over there. Kenichi, Daylan, you guys are up.”

Similar to Clarisse and Aria, Daylan and Kenichi could provide an entertaining show. Kenichi fought with throwing knives. Actually he tended to fight with any small, sharp objects that he could hurl at his opponent. He depended on his swiftness and aim to emerge victorious. Daylan's weapon of choice was a scythe. While Aria and Clarisse could easily pull their attacks and leave only harmless bruises and abrasions, the boys had to be careful to not slice each other open. After years of training, they could avoid the worst of the injuries, but back when they had been ten years old and new at the academy, they had all received several injuries and clocked numerous hours inside the healing pods. A few of the injuries had been severe enough that even after the healing pods, they had silvery-pink scars marking their bodies.