Feudlings (23 page)

She folded her arms and glared at him; he jerked around and stumbled away. Even if the Normals didn’t know she was a monster, they seemed to be able to sense it.

She sent Livi a satisfied smile as Livi giggled in relief. “I can’t wait to tell Nev. She’s going to love you forever.”

Shane was waiting for them in the hall. Ari smiled as she took in the sight of him leaning against the beige walls, his arms crossed and one knee bent, kicking the concrete behind him. He looked like he was trying to ignore the ever-present group of girls surrounding him. Ari met his eyes and he grinned, and she forgot to be furious at herself for being happy to see him.

Her phone sat in her bag, silent and forgotten.

Chapter Seventeen

Ari didn’t remember her phone until late that night, after she got half beat to death in their football game. And then she had to spend over a half hour in the shower trying to wash off what felt like most of the field. It had been a mud pit and she spent her fair share on her face in it. The rest of the evening, she, Hunter, Shane and Charity, pretended to do homework. Nev and Livi were both on a double date. Ari was starting to wonder if they ever did anything apart.

****

She shoved her books into her backpack, getting ready for the next day while simultaneously trying to brush her teeth when her hand found her phone in the bottom outside pocket of her bag. “Oh!” she exclaimed around a mouthful of toothpaste.

Brittany glared at her in distaste from where she lay on her pink bedspread, her fingers flying over the keys on her phone, but said nothing. Ari pulled out her own phone, holding it in front of her face while she shuffled in blue slippers down the hall to the bathroom.

Thirty-two missed calls. Fourteen text messages.

What in the world? She spit her toothpaste out and rinsed her brush, holding it awkwardly between her pinky and her phone, started flipping through her messages.

It was Will. Every single one.
Ari, call me ASAP. Ari, it’s an emergency. Ari are you okay? Ari I can’t leave the colony, they’re watching me.
They were all like that. Her heart pounding, she dialed Will’s number as she stood rooted to the tile floor in the middle of the bathroom. Girls were coming in and out, getting ready for bed, but she didn’t notice any of them.

“Will? What’s wrong?” she asked as soon as he picked up, before he even had a chance to say hello.

Charity came in just then, her bathroom stuff in a neat little case tucked under one arm, her white-blonde hair pulled into a messy ponytail and held back by a bright green headband. “Ari? Are you okay?” She stopped and laid a hand on Ari’s arm.

Ari bit the inside of her cheek and shrugged, her brows furrowed in concern.

“Ari, where are you? I’ve been trying to call you all day. I even tried to call your school but they said you weren’t in your room.”

“I
am
at school Will. I was in the library doing homework. Or playing football. I don’t know. Why? What’s wrong?”

“Are you alone?” His voice was strained through the line.

Ari raised her eyes from the blue tiled floor, taking in the room full of girls, most of who were staring at her with blatant curiosity. “No, I’m in the bathroom with fifteen other girls. Hang on, I’ll go where I can hear better.”

She squeezed Charity’s shoulder as she hurried out and down the hall, breaking into a run and sprinting down the stairs into the cool night. “Okay Will, why can’t you leave?
What
is going on? Kinda terrified here!” she cried into the phone.

“Ari, you need to get out of there. Tonight. Like right now. Come to my colony.”

From a distance, Ari could see blue shimmers bouncing off the mountain road leading to the school.
Weird.
She half-thought.
They almost look
like Carules magic
. “Why, Will? What’s going on?”

“I know who Shane and Hunter are! Shane Delyle, your little friend? He’s not just a Carules Ari!” Will exclaimed. That caught Ari’s attention and she gripped the phone tighter, her knuckles turning white.

“What? What do you mean? Of course he is…” She raised her head, her gaze leaving the bright green of the grass in front of her, and caught sight of more deep blue light, and smoke. Her thoughts were being pulled in too many directions at once and it took her a second to understand what she was seeing. Her eyes widened as she realized the blue light wafting toward her
was
Carules magic. Lots of it.

“Will, I’ve got bigger problems than Shane right now! There are Carules coming!”

“Ari! Listen to me! Shane
is your biggest problem
! He’s the Prodigy, Ari! And Hunter is his Guard!”

“What?” Her fingers froze in shock, and she watched helplessly as the phone dropped to the ground, the battery flying off, the screen cracking. The doors behind her swung shut and she jumped, startled. Tearing her eyes from her broken phone, she spun to find Charity standing uncertainly, one hand hesitating on the handle.

“Ari? What’s wrong?” Charity’s gray eyes were wide. She squeaked in alarm as Ari stumbled toward her, pulling her onto the lawns.

“Charity, what do you see? Right now? Close your eyes and
tell me what you see!”
Ari grabbed her by the shoulders and peered into her face, as if by doing that she could see what Charity saw.

Charity looked up at her, shocked at Ari’s forcefulness, but then she must have caught sight of the blue magic over Ari’s shoulder. She began to shake as she closed her eyes, and Ari could just see the glow behind her eyelids. “Oh no. Oh no. Ari, there’s going to be a battle. Here! We’ve got to… I don’t know what we’ve got to do! We’ve got to tell Hunter!” Her eyes flew open and she raced for the boys’ dorm, not even hesitating as she flew in the front door.

Ari stood frozen. She couldn’t call Will to get her out of there. Her phone was broken on the ground in front of her. She couldn’t even call for a shroud, but as soon as she did one spell to defend herself they would know who she was. They would all know. Then she would have to face Shane. And he would want to kill her, like she
should
want to kill him.

But she didn’t.

If she couldn’t kill him her people would lose the war. Will would be trapped forever. Her hands shook as she pushed her black and red hair away from her face, clammy with indecision. What was she going to do?

****

“I don’t want to talk about Ari anymore Shane.” Hunter sighed, knowing Shane was going to ignore him.

He did. “We both know I’m in love with her, well… let’s be honest, the whole school knows I’m in love with her, and we both know you probably are too. So telling either one of us to stay away from her is pointless. We’ve just got to—” Shane’s voice was agitated as he paced their small room, trying to get ready for bed while holding a mostly-one-sided argument with Hunter. He held a toothbrush in one hand, flinging it around while he spoke, occasionally spraying Hunter with toothpaste.

Hunter stood with his back to the window, leaning against the desk with his arms folded across his chest, glaring at him. “I’m not in love with Ari, Shane. I
respect
her.” His voice was firm.

Shane ignored the finality in Hunter’s voice, because he had no interest in ending the conversation. “So that’s the story you’re going with, huh?” Shane rolled his eyes and shook his head in disbelief, his black hair falling recklessly across his forehead.

Hunter clenched his fists. “If you would just listen to me for a second. I never liked Ari, it’s always been—” he began, but the frantic bang of a small, pounding fist startled them both. He whirled toward the door just as Charity’s voice came through, sounding more than a little frightened.

“Shane! Hunter!
Open the door
!” She tumbled through as Shane jerked the door open. “Carules are coming! Lots of them. And… and there’s going to be a battle. Here!” Jumping to her feet she shoved silky white strands of hair away from her face with shaking hands, her eyes sweeping the room, barely noticing either boy standing half-naked. She spun around, looking toward the hallway. “Ari?” she called, darting to the doorway and peering out. Panicked, she turned again toward the boys, who both stood, baffled, staring at her. “She was right behind me. She saw… she saw them coming and told me to look and—”

“Charity!” The girl was making no sense, and no matter how much he loved her, his patience was running thin. Frustrated, Hunter stomped over and grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her back and forth like a rag doll.

Her eyes snapped to his face, focusing. “Look!” She pointed toward the window. Hunter released her as he and Shane both raced over to peer outside. It wasn’t just Carules magic that greeted them. Pouring out of several dark SUVs onto the lawns below, Edren warriors were racing to meet their Carules enemies.

“They’re here. The Edrens know who you are.” Hunter jerked Shane away from the window. Shane stumbled backward, his eyes still on the scene below them. “That means there’s an Edren at the school. I told you it was dangerous to tell Ari anything!” Hunter yelled as he jerked a shirt over his head.

“Ari wouldn’t say anything to anyone, Hunter! You know that as well as I do!” Shane snapped. The mention of Ari’s name shook him from his stupor and he leaped for his phone, dialing her number. If anything happened to her because of him… the thought made him sick. He just couldn’t let it. He had to find her first. “Then someone must have overheard you talking. And they’ll think Ari knows more than she does. Because of your stupidity she’s in as much danger as you are. We’ve got to get her out of here. Charity! Find Ari!”

Without a word Charity whirled and raced from the room. They could hear her feet pounding down the hall, echoing off the walls. Several doors opened as boys peered out. Shane started after her but Hunter grabbed him by the arm. “I’ll find Ari and protect Charity. You’ve got to go. Now.”

Shane just stared at him. “You can’t honestly think I’m going to go without her?” he exclaimed. Hunter didn’t ask which “her” Shane meant.

“You have to trust me to do my job, Shane. I’ll take care of Charity and Ari. You know I will.” He pushed a button on Shane’s phone, and shoved it into Shane’s chest before he raced out the hall after Charity.

“Shane? Do you need a
saldepement
?” A cool female voice purred.

****

Ari stood frozen in indecision, staring at the clash of blue and red flames on the road below her. Indecision in a war was deadly, and not something she was used to. This battle, though, was bringing both of her lives together. The life she tried so hard to pretend was real and the life that held her destiny. And she didn’t know what to do.

The fight was coming closer to the school. Closer to the dorms. She could smell the smoke now, the acrid stench metallic on her tongue. Her face paled as she was jerked out of her panicked indecision.

Nev. Livi.
Her dark eyes jumped from the conflict to the buildings behind her. Her chin came up and her face hardened with determination. Indecision banished, she whirled, racing for the door. She might not have a shroud, but she wasn’t unprepared. Ada Aleshire’s robe was in her room; Ari ran as fast as her long legs would carry her, as fast as her magic could push her. She moved down the halls so fast she was a blur; so grateful that the halls were empty now.

She burst through the door to her room, diving for the bag under her bed before Brittany, just dosing off, realized what all the banging and crashing was. Before her roommate could even sit up, Ari was gone again, sprinting down the hall as she threw her robe around her. Her hands were steady as she fastened the clasp at her throat without pausing. She hit the double glass doors, knocking them open so hard she cracked them.

She jerked to a stop, standing in the middle of the manicured lawns. Her eyes, clear and calm, swept the fighting, assessing. She spun, facing the buildings, and her hands flew through the air, creating all four powerful warding spells that she knew. The air in front of her burned and sizzled when she let her hands drop, satisfied. The buildings were safe. The hostility couldn’t get through. And as her eyes, hidden beneath her hood, snapped toward the boys’ dorm where Hunter and Charity came racing out, she sighed with relief.

Hunter barreled straight into the ward and flew backward, landing on his back. Charity slid to a stop, staring down at him in bewilderment. But where was Shane?

She hadn’t thought of locking them
in
when she had created the wards; she had just been trying to keep the war
out.
Now that she thought about it, it was important that Shane be inside those wards and not out in the fight.

Then she saw him, bashing through the doors behind Charity, diving over Hunter, who was still on the ground, and slamming into the wards. Hunter was yelling at him, but Ari couldn’t hear through the wards.

Weight like a rock lifted off her shoulders. They were safe. Her friends were safe. Bringing her chin up and narrowing her eyes, she turned toward the fight. This battle did not belong here. And she was going to get rid of it.

*****

“Shane?! What are you doing? You’re supposed to be gone!” Hunter bellowed, hauling himself off the ground.

Shane didn’t hesitate as he turned and sprinted toward the girls’ dorms. “Sorry Hunter! I can’t leave her! She doesn’t deserve any of this!”

Charity cast a quick look at Hunter and took off after Shane.

“Charity! Get back here where you’re safe!” Hunter yelled. “Isn’t anyone wondering why I was just knocked on my butt by thin air?”

Neither of them paused, too focused on finding Ari. But it took them only minutes to discover that Ari wasn’t in the dorms. As Shane ran back through the frozen air, he could see Hunter, turning toward the clash on the field below. “No, Hunter! Not without me!”

Hunter put his hands in front of him and walked forward like a blind man. Five steps and his hands hit a wall. Shane couldn’t see it, but it was there. He and Charity both skidded to a halt next to Hunter, breathless.