Initiation (34 page)

“Mason. I am pretty sure the last name is Darley.”

“An eagle?” Dad asked quietly. “Darley?”

Frau Schmelder nodded.

“I see.” Dad exchanged a glance with Mom.

“Dad, do you know Mason? Who is he?”

“Mason Darley is the most powerful pack leader in Paris. His father sits on the council. Mason has issues, which is why he was sent here. I’m not sure why he would attack you. That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Shifter attacks very rarely do,” The Smelt added.

“Well, I assume you have him in custody. Let’s bring him in here and ask him,” Dad demanded. “I know his father well; he won’t mind.”

“Actually, his father had him transferred this morning.” Frau Schmelder sighed. “I tried to delay it until you got here, but his father was adamant. He’s gone to the Whistler school.”

“What about Tad?” I asked.

“We have him and the others in confinement.”

My dad got to his feet. “Well, let’s talk to them for now. I’ll head to Whistler later if I need to.” My dad got to his feet and walked over to get food for himself and Mom.

Frau Schmelder twisted her hands together. “I can’t let you talk to the boys. It’s against our policy. Rest assured, I will deal with this.”

“Like you dealt with it the last time?” Mom’s eyes raged.

“Your Highness, that won’t happen again. I’ll talk to Tad and the other boys personally, but in front of the student council, as mandated. Cordelia and her counselor will be present. And you may sit in the audience.”

“When will this happen?”

“I’ve already asked Mrs. Stone to have Jagger get the council together. She had some difficulty locating him.” She scowled. “But it’s underway now, and they’re ready to hear the case. Shall we go?”

Octavia met us outside the Justice Auditorium. I threw her a venomous glare. I considered asking for someone else to take over the case, but that would delay things, and I just wanted it over and done with. We walked into the room silently. Mom and Dad took their seats in the empty audience section.

The entire student council sat in the front, including Jagger, whose expression remained stoically neutral. Seated at the table next to mine were the shifters and Sally.

Frau Schmelder picked up Jagger’s gavel and walked over to the podium. She banged the gavel hard onto the wood. “I am going to dispense with all the formalities and get straight to business. Sally, Octavia, stay seated. I don’t want to hear a peep from either of you, or anyone else, unless I ask you a specific question. Understand?” She looked around the room, her face set in a hard, unyielding mask. Everyone nodded.

“Tad, stand up.”

Tad got to his feet, his eyes defiant, but his stance clearly exposing his anxiety.

“Don’t bother to lie. I know what happened, so just answer the questions.” The Smelt waited for him to nod. “Why did you attack Cordelia in the hallway and then again in the dining hall?”

“’Cause she’s a stupid demon. She smells bad.”

“Is that it? No other reason?”

Tad shook his head.

“Whose idea was it?”

“Mason’s.”

“Who is the pack leader? You or Mason?”

“I am. Mason’s still an Initiate.”

“Why were you in the corridor?”

“Mason was hungry, so we were walking to the dining hall.”

“How did you escape confinement?”

“Mason sprung us.”

“Let me guess. Disrupting the Initiates’ dance was also his idea?”

“I guess, but it was fun.”

“Mason’s father has transferred him to another school,” The Smelt informed Tad.

Tad shrugged, not seeming the least bit bothered.

“I obviously cannot have the four of you bothering Cordelia again. It’s my recommendation to the student council that they transfer you to one of the other schools as well. Do you have a problem with that?”

“No, this school sucks. Can I choose?”

“I don’t see a problem with that, but I’ll get your parents to come in and discuss it. The same goes for the rest of you. I assume you are as guilty as Tad.” She pointed at Hank, Jeremy, and Andrew. “Any problem with that?”

The three of them cowered, shaking their heads.

“Good. Your parents have been called. Jagger, it’s in your hands now.” She got up and beckoned Mom and Dad to follow her.

Jagger stood. “Octavia, you may leave with your client. Our ruling will be private.”

I walked out with Octavia, doing my best to stay civil. I felt uneasy. The whole thing felt contrived in some way. “So, that’s it? Half a trial, and now testimony only from Tad. What gives? Shouldn’t they at least be punished or something?” I blurted.

“Who says they won’t be?” Octavia countered.

“Well, it seems like all that’s going to happen is that they get transferred to another school. That hardly seems fair after the crap they put me through.”

“How would you like it handled? A hundred lashes?”

“I don’t know. Community service?”

Octavia guffawed. “Which community do you suggest we send a pack of shifters to? Perhaps the senior citizens center in town?”

“Don’t be an idiot. I meant more like cleaning up around school or something.”

“Well, we can’t have them roaming the school grounds, where they might bump into you again, can we? No, I think the student council will figure something out. But don’t worry. They’ll be punished in some way. Jagger told me earlier that they’d asked Professor Bern to join them on the stage.”

“Oh? Well, she didn’t come, but why would she?”

“She was there, invisible, as usual. She seems to prefer that state. She’s sometimes asked to help with the retribution aspect of the sentences meted out by the council. Her powers are astonishing, and she has very imaginative ways of using them.”

I stopped and gaped at Octavia. “You mean she’s gonna cast a spell on them? Cool!”

“That’s my guess.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t have any idea. I’ve only been present at two sentence hearings where she was involved, and neither of them involved shifters. The first one was a demon, and she was sentenced to a year of passive possession of a Buddhist monk.”

I giggled. That would be awful. Passive possession meant that she would basically be trapped inside the monk, without any use of her own powers, will, or ability to influence the monk.

“Yes. It was life changing for her, as you can imagine.”

“What about the other one?”

“Oh, that was a vampire, a newborn. She changed him into a vegetarian. That almost killed him. Again. He could only be fed while he was unconscious. Professor Bern can be a bit vindictive with her spells.”

“No kidding. So, how do we find out what happens to the shifters? I guess Jagger will tell us.”

Octavia shook her head. “Nope. We won’t find out. The sentence is issued under seal.”

“But you just told me about your clients.”

“Not really. I didn’t give you any names. I trust you won’t share that,” she warned.

“I’ve got to take off. I want to say goodbye to Mom and Dad before they leave.”

“Sure. I’m glad we’re talking again.”

“Oh, make no mistake,” I hissed. “We’re not
talking
.”

She shrugged. “Whatever.”

After I bid Mom and Dad a quick farewell in The Smelt’s office, I decided to pop into the infirmary before going back to my room. I saw Dr. Marks as soon as I popped my head in the door.

“Cordelia! Come on in. Did you get injured yesterday?”

“No. I’m fine. Is Quinn here?”

“He was. He just left, not ten minutes ago. I asked him to make sure to get back into his own bed and rest up some more.”

“What about Sienna, Jewel, and McKenzie?”

“McKenzie went home yesterday. She had a little scratch; that’s all. Sienna and Jewel are in bad shape. They’re through there.” He pointed to the far private suite.

“Thanks. I’ll check in with them, if that’s okay.”

“Please do, but be prepared for weeping and crying. Faeries don’t respond to pain very well at all.”

He hadn’t exaggerated. I heard the bawling even before I opened the door. Ugh. I wasn’t good at dealing with crying; I never knew what to say. From the volume, I could tell they weren’t at death’s door, so I chickened out and left. I convinced myself that they wouldn’t want me to see them like that, anyway.

I was glad I had given them the slip because Quinn was waiting for me back in my room. I climbed into his lap and gave him a tight hug. Then, I pulled back to have a good look at him. His face was messed up, with huge bandages covering whatever mess the shifters had made of it. The rest of his body was the same, as if he’d been attacked by a bunch of hyenas.

“Jeez, did those two shifters do this to you?” I asked, surprised by the extent of the damage.

“No.” He laughed. “The real fight started after you left. Everyone went a little nuts. It was kind of fun and freeing to give in to our instincts, I guess. This is nothing. I’ll be as good as new by tomorrow.”

I looked around my room. “Where are Faustine and Martha?”

“They went back to their rooms once the announcement came through that lockdown had been lifted. They wanted to check in with Chun. She apparently hooked up with someone early on last night, before the fight started, so she had no clue what happened. Anyhow, Martha was all over the fact that she hooked up and practically rushed out the door with Faustine to get the gossip. I said I’d fetch Faustine for breakfast soon, though. You coming?”

“Yes. I can’t think of anything I want to do more than chill out with you for a while.”

F
austine’s fifth Initiation test had been moved to a new location.