Initiation (20 page)

T
he stupid bird tried to do even more damage to my nose by pecking at it. Even though it was against the rules, I grabbed her wing and tore it off of her. I had no desire to snack on it, though, so I threw it against the wall. The eagle screeched, bit my nose, then took off after her severed wing.

The entire cafeteria was a blur of mayhem and fighting. I hunted around for Dax, and when I found him, I picked up his body and hightailed it out of there. I didn’t stop running until I got to the infirmary, where I dropped Dax onto a bed.

“What happened?” the healer asked.

He obviously didn’t recognize me, so I changed back to my human form.

“Ah, Cordelia. You are hurt again,” he said, peering at my nose. “And who is this?” He pointed at Dax.

Before I could answer, his phone rang. He held up his finger, motioning for me to wait. “Dr. Marks, how can I help you?”

The rest of the conversation was a bunch of
ums
and
ahas
, with the person on the other end of the phone doing all the talking. I could have listened in, but I was too busy trying to breathe in through my nose. It was well and truly broken. Rotten bird.

The healer turned off his phone. “Cordelia, is that boy dead?” He glanced at Dax.

“Nope, I don’t think so.”

He walked over to Dax and checked his vitals. “A troll?”

I nodded.

“He’ll be fine. Stay with him. You’re actually in worse shape than he is. I’ll be back shortly. There’s apparently been a situation in the cafeteria that I must attend to. Is that where you came from?”

“Yes, and it’s pretty bad. You’re going to need a lot of help.”

“Thanks, Cordelia. Frau Schmelder is seeing to that. I’m going to have to transport the injured here. Will you two be safe among them?”

“Probably not.”

“Do you think you could carry Dax to your room? Transform if you have to, then stay transformed; you’ll heal faster. I’ll come to your room to check you both over as soon as possible.”

“What about Dax? Don’t you need to do healing stuff to him now? He doesn’t look good.”

“No. Trolls are resilient; he’ll be fine in a few hours. Both of your human forms may need some setting, but we can take care of that later.”

Before I could say another word, he was gone. I felt for my cell phone, but it was missing. I had probably dropped it in the fight. I needed to contact Faustine. I decided I had better get Dax to safety first, before Dr. Marks returned with a truckload of shifters. I transformed and carried Dax to my room.

Quinn was sitting waiting outside my door. He stood up and took Dax from me. “What happened? Were you involved in the cafeteria madness? It’s nuts down there. Where’s Faustine?”

I gave him a short rundown of what had happened, while I transformed back into my human form to scramble around in my pockets for my keys–really hard with demon hands. Giving up, I shrugged at him helplessly. “Do you have my spare set with you? I can’t find mine. I must have lost them downstairs.”

“Yeah, left pocket. So she just
poof
, disappeared? That’s really odd.”

“I know, right? That’s twice now.” I dug around for the keys in Quinn’s pocket and unlocked the door, holding it open for Quinn, so he could get in with Dax. I followed Quinn into the room, then stopped and stared down at my bed.

Quinn glanced over at me. “How did she get in? Did you give her a key?”

I had meant to give Faustine a key, but I hadn’t got around to it yet. My keys were missing, though. Maybe she’d found them and let herself in. She lay on my bed, back in her human form and fast asleep. She appeared so petite and innocent, but having seen what she’d turned into made me question her real personality. Was she the sweet innocent girl I’d been introduced to, a hybrid whom I had thought less capable than a full demon? A hybrid who needed my protection. Or was that just a guise to hide who she really was–a strong, dangerous demon?

Or was she just as she appeared? A confused hybrid, unaware of what was happening to her. I decided to give her the benefit of doubt, for now, but with the Academy’s second Golden Rule in mind.

“Cordelia?” Quinn looked at me quizzically, Dax still in his arms.

“Sorry. I’m just a bit shocked to see Faustine here. Why don’t you put Dax down on the sofa bed?”

“Okay, but then I want to check your nose out properly.” He put down Dax, who was starting to stir, and then came over to me. He gently felt my nose, but I flinched in pain. It hurt like hell. “Babe, transform back. You’ll heal faster.”

“Yeah, let me just check on Faustine first. I thought I saw her twitch.” I stepped over to my bed and sat down on the very edge. Although she was still in her uniform, it was in shreds. She’d made herself comfortable under my sheepskin comforter, which I kept in the closet. She was cozied up in it, lying on her side, her face snuggling into the pillow. I lifted her hair off her face and tucked the strands behind her ear. She stirred.

“Faustine? Are you okay?” All I could see was her face, as flawless and perfect as usual. I needed to know if the rest of her was as injury free.

“Hm, mm,” she mumbled.

“Are you okay, Faustine?”

She opened her eyes and gazed at me sleepily.

“Faustine?”

“Hmm? What happened?” She yawned. “Hey, Quinn.” She let out another big yawn, then coughed. “I’m so hungry! Let’s go get some breakfast. I’ve got to eat before the test.”

“You already took your test. Don’t you remember?”

“Um? I’m too hungry to think.” Faustine closed her eyes again.

Quinn put his hand on my shoulder. “I’ll go get some food. I’m sure you need to eat as well, and so will Dax when he wakes up. Will you be okay on your own? I’ll run down to the mentors’ lounge for something. Give me your pass.”

“Thanks, Quinn. You’re the best. I’ll let Faustine sleep until you get back.” I handed him my mentors’ lounge card.

“Be back in no time. Stay safe. Call me if you need anything.”

I moved over to my window and stared out at the mountain peaks, wondering what was going on in the dining hall. Had the fight been broken up? Had Dr. Marks moved all the injured students to the infirmary? Was one of them a bird or girl with a missing limb? I wanted to go and check for myself, but I couldn’t leave Faustine and Dax alone. Besides, I needed Faustine to tell me how she had gotten in my room. Was she able to make herself invisible? Or had she demonized someone? Had she escaped from the cafeteria using someone else’s body? A shifter’s? Gross.

A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. “Who is it?”

“Let me in!”

My face was pulled into Jagger’s chest as soon as I opened the door. I didn’t even get a word out before he had me in an iron grip, holding me so tight I could barely breathe.

“I just heard. Dr. Marks told me,” he said, his voice raspy, his deep breaths cooling the top of my head. “Cordelia, why didn’t I feel that you needed me? I would have come like I did the last time. Are you okay?”

I moved my face slightly to the right so I could talk. “I’m okay. My nose will probably need a bit of work, but other than that, I’m fine.”

“I can’t understand why I didn’t feel you. It doesn’t make any sense. I should have been there for you.”

“Don’t beat yourself up about that. It’s probably because I didn’t need you. I wasn’t scared; my body was calm, reacting normally. I dealt with it.”

“But your nose…” he protested.

“Oh, that’s nothing. Normal demon playtime injury. It’ll heal in no time. I just need to make sure to get Dr. Marks to set it before it totally heals. I wouldn’t want it to stay in this position.” I laughed.

He tilted my head to check out my nose. “It’s not too bad. I’ll have Dr. Marks come up to your room. The infirmary is full at the moment.”

“Yes, I thought it might be. Dr. Marks was going to stop by and check Dax and me out anyway.”

“No need,” Dax butted in from behind me. “Glad to see Faustine is safe. I need to go and check on the others. Any idea what happened to them?”

I shook my head. “Do you have a designated safe place?”

He rolled his eyes. “Not really, though I told them to regroup in my room, if there was a need. I gave them all keys, so that’s something. I’ll call you once I get to my room.”

“Take this with you,” Quinn said, coming back into my room. He handed Dax a food container, then passed me the other.

“Thanks, Quinn. Later, guys.” And he was gone.

I took the steak out of its tinfoil wrapping, downed a piece, and then walked over to Faustine. I wafted a bite of steak under her nose. Her nose twitched, and her tongue darted in and out like a lizard’s.

I snickered. “Faustine! That’s not how Upper East Side princesses eat. Get up. Your fork and knife are waiting.”

She opened her eyes and glared at me. Then, without a word–not even a hello to Jagger–she got up, plodded over to the table, sat down, picked up her utensils, and dug in. Her clothes were all torn up, but she didn’t seem to notice. I wrapped my bathrobe around her while she ate. She didn’t stop until three steaks later. The girl had a real appetite; even I was full after just the one slice.

After eating, she climbed back in my bed, covering herself with the comforter again. “Boy, that was good! What happened to my clothes?”

I smiled at her from the couch, where I was sandwiched between Jagger and Quinn. “I’m not sure… Faustine, are you okay? Do you need to see the healer?”

“Heeler?” She looked down at her Chanel flats. “They seem to be fine. But I need some new clothes.”

I cracked up laughing. “No, not heeler with two Es. I mean the doctor.”

“Why didn’t you just say so?”

I shrugged. That was just what we called Dr. Marks, probably because he used spells and magic, in addition to medicine, to do his healing.

“Anyhow, why would I need a doctor?” Then, she turned somber, her chin quivering slightly. “Did I black out? I feel like I did.”

“I really don’t know. What do you remember?”

“I remember the test. That was a breeze; I totally stressed over nothing for that. Then, I was hungry, and we went to the dining hall. I waved at Dax, Chun, and Martha, but I was too hungry to go over to them, so I scooted toward the food station. The smell from the food had me drooling; it was all I could think about.” She paused.

“Faustine?” I prompted.

“Um. That’s it really. I woke up here, with you going on about my manners.”

“How did you get here?” Quinn asked.

Faustine’s eyes turned dewy, and she shook her head.

“No idea at all?” he pressed.

“Quinn, leave her alone. She’s getting all upset. Maybe she’ll remember later.” Or not. She must have had one of those blackouts she’d told Professor Bern about. I tried to remember what she’d said, something about her always waking up in her own bed at home after them. I wondered how she got back home when the blackouts occurred in other places. Did she just walk home without remembering? That would be the most likely explanation.

But she’d totally disappeared right in front of my eyes. She hadn’t walked off; she’d
vanished
. She was obviously using some kind of supernatural power. But what? It had happened twice in front of me so far. And the vanishings weren’t limited to her transformation episodes. The first time she’d disappeared, she hadn’t even begun to change. So, whatever power she was using to make herself disappear was unrelated to converting into her demon form.