Initiation (45 page)

“Sheesh, that’s not a punishment. It’s awesome there.”

“Yeah, no kidding. But I guess it was to make sure he was far away from me, so he couldn’t do it again.”

“Isn’t it a bit silly to go see him, then?”

“Maybe. Probably. But I need some answers.” I groaned. “And that bit is private.”

“It’s not going to be private if I come.” She smirked.

She had me there. “You’re right, and there’s nothing I can do about that.”

“Why do you even want me to come?”

“Because you’re the most awesome demon I have ever met in my life. I need someone I can trust beside me.”

“Aw. Like a wing man… woman? You trust me? That’s awesome. I trust you, too.”

“That’s good, but don’t forget the Golden Rule. It’s there for a reason. So trust me, but remember that I may not always be who I seem to be. Okay?”

“That sucks, but okay. Anyhow, how are we getting there? Please say private jet; I hate flying in regular planes.”

“Kinda, it’s very private. It’s sort of a beam-me-up-Scotty deal. I can’t say more than that, but be ready tomorrow after class.”

We met up in my bedroom. We were dressed kind of strangely for a trip to Canada, but we had nothing else. It was the uniforms or pajamas. So, we stood face-to-face in our uniforms and waited.

Ryker had been briefed beforehand and would whisk us away any minute. I held Faustine’s hands firmly, and felt her nervousness. I didn’t blame her for being a bit uptight; she had no idea what was about to happen.

I suddenly felt a warm, invisible blanket envelop me, and a hand gently gripped my shoulder. Then, I was weightless, my eyes forced shut. My stomach heaved as weird pressure changes hit me by surprise. The transport lasted much longer than I’d expected. I tried to open my eyes a couple of times, but they were glued shut.

When I finally felt a solid surface under my feet, I was able to open my eyes and found myself staring into Faustine’s. We still faced each other, holding hands. We had “landed” in some kind of storage facility. I was confused. I thought Ryker would have transported us to Mason’s room. I wanted to ask him what the deal was, what had gone wrong? But that would mean compromising him, and I had promised not to do that.

I looked around. Shelves filled with sealed boxes lined the storage room. Though I was tempted to start opening them, I resisted, keeping my focus on the task at hand. Due to the epic fail of the Wanderer transport, we’d have to find Mason on our own. I had no idea where to start, but getting out of the dark, slightly damp room was a priority. In there, I didn’t get even a hint of Mason.

That changed as soon as I opened the door. Thankfully, it opened into a deserted, dimly lit corridor.

“Where to?” Faustine whispered, sounding on edge.

I noticed that her fingers had fused. That was bad. The last thing we needed was for her to do her monster routine before we even got to Mason.

I put my finger to my lips to shush her and looked both ways. Sheesh. I had no idea, and in our Bonfire Academy uniforms, we would stand out like sore thumbs. I wondered if any of the boxes in the storage room would have extra Boone Academy uniforms.

Pulling Faustine back into the room, I started tearing open boxes. They contained all kinds of junk, stuff that past students had left behind, no doubt.

“What are you looking for?” Faustine asked in a low voice.

“Uniforms. We can’t be seen around this school wearing ours.”

“Could there be some in there?” She pointed to a shelf stacked with boxes marked
Uniforms
. The boxes even had the sizes written on them.

I fist bumped her. “Awesome! Let’s get changed.” She hesitated when I handed her a set. “What’s the matter? Not the right size?”

“No, it’s not that. I’m worried these will shred if I transform.”

“They won’t. Remember, Professor Bern cast her spell to include any clothing you wear.”

She didn’t look convinced. “That sounded too good to be true when she said it. I’m not sure, Cordelia.”

“Well, in that case, just wear these on top of your Academy clothes. It’ll look a bit strange, but if it makes you feel better, do that.”

“Can I have a size bigger, then?”

Dressed in the Boone’s Academy uniform–green tartan skirt, white shirt, green/gold striped tie and blue blazer with gold buttons–we went back out into the hallway.

I stood still and tried to pick up Mason’s scent.

“You’re like a sniffer dog.” Faustine giggled.

“Yep, and you will be, too, once you get your powers under control. I’ll get you a leash when you master it.”

“Ha, ha.”

“The scent is stronger this way.” I pointed to the left. “Follow me.”

I followed the smell to a door, and after putting my ear to it, I opened it. We made our way up the narrow metal spiral staircase on the other side. After a two-story climb, we stopped at another door. I didn’t even have to put my ear to the door. I could clearly hear a lot of chatter and shouting on the other side.

“Are you ready, Faustine? Just try to blend in. I’m going to try to keep following the scent. It should lead us to Mason’s dorm room, or wherever he is at the moment.”

I took a deep breath and opened the door. The scene was much the same as any at Bonfire Academy–groups of students milling around, chatting and laughing. They didn’t give us a second look as we passed. Following the scent became more and more difficult to do as a strong aroma of grilled meat overpowered my senses. The cafeteria.

I turned to check on Faustine. She was staring at the cafeteria doorway longingly. Surely, a quick detour wouldn’t matter. It might even be good. It was best to keep Faustine fed, for sure.

“Come on. Let’s get a bite to eat.” I slid my arm through hers, and we walked in together.

I froze, but I kept my expression blank.

The place was swarming with vamps. Ugh. Although I hoped they were Integrates, I had no idea what curriculum or training this school used. But I knew they would catch Faustine’s scent at any moment, and then we would be toast.

I spun her around and dove out of the cafeteria with her protesting profusely. “Keep walking,” I hissed, not listening to her whining.

Mason’s scent was strong and clear. Following it again, I led Faustine up and down stairs and through corridors until we came to a sign that said
The Mozart Wing
. I assumed we were in the dorms by the layout.

“Looking for someone specific?” a friendly voice sang from behind us.

I stiffened. The voice was female, but I recognized it. I turned to face Mason. Seeing her all cleaned up, I noticed how breathtaking she was. Her clear blue eyes gleamed as she tossed her long brunette strands back from her face.

“Hello!” she said, turning to Faustine with a wide grin pasted across her face.

Faustine returned the smile. She had no idea that the girl was Mason, of course, since I hadn’t told her about the whole gynandromorph thing.

I had no idea what to do. The hallway teemed with other students. We couldn’t just stand there. “We’re looking for Mason Darley.” Sigh. Lame, but I waited to see how she’d respond, totally expecting her to transform and take a peck at my eyeballs.

“I can take you to his room, if you want,” she offered, practically meowing at me.

“Thanks. That’s really nice of you,” Faustine said appreciatively.

“Um, yeah. Thanks,” I added.

“Well, come with me.” She ushered us up a set of stairs. “I haven’t seen you around here before. Are you new?” I caught the trickle of amusement in her tone.

“No,” I replied curtly.

Faustine glanced over at me in surprise.

Thankfully, Mason didn’t say anything else on the way up to her… his room. I hesitated slightly as I followed her… him in, wondering if it was a trap of some kind. Was Ryker in cahoots with her? I dismissed that thought. He’d never put Faustine in danger.

Unless Ryker had made up all that stuff about protecting her. My stomach roiled at the thought, but I got a grip of myself. What on Earth could a tiny girl do to two demons anyway? Nothing.

So I strode inside confidently, Faustine by my side. She was totally relaxed, her fingers unfused.

Mason threw himself… herself–geez, I decided to just use
her
while he was in his female form–down on the bed and first glared at me, but her expression quickly changed to one of boredom. “So?”

“We’re just here to talk to you,” I said firmly.

“Huh?” Faustine muttered.

“She doesn’t know?” Mason asked. “Awkward.”

“Yep, I guess. Do you want to explain it to her?”

“No. Not really. It’s kinda none of her business. And you’re not allowed to spill… according to the rules, that is. Anyhow, how did you guys get here?”

“Now
that’s
none of
your
beeswax.”

“Wait. I’m confused. Do the two of you know each other?” Faustine asked.

“Sorta,” Mason replied. “Faustine, why don’t you go down to the lounge and watch the TV for a while or something?”

“She can’t. She has to stay with me.”

“Scared the vamps will get her? This place is swarming with them. Nice lot, though. So, what are we gonna do, then? I take it you didn’t come all this way to make small talk.”

“What do you want with me?” I asked, choosing my words carefully because of Faustine.

“Nothing much. I just want you out of the picture, that’s all.”

“Out of what picture, exactly?” I had no idea how I figured in her life. I was pretty sure I had never come across her before, in any of her forms. Pretty sure, but not a hundred percent.

“Out of the whole mentoring gig.”

“Why?”

“Can’t say.”

“What if I don’t?”

“Hmm. I think you know.”

She’d make sure to take me out. But why? Why did she want me to stop mentoring? It didn’t make any sense. “Well, screw you. I’m not afraid of you.”

Mason’s eyes blazed. I got ready to transform; my instincts knew she was about to launch herself at me. I took a step forward. In a flash, she turned to her eagle form, picked up Faustine, and swooped through the open window into the cold Canadian night.

Fuck!

“Ryker! Pick me up, and let’s go after them!”

No reply.

I looked out the window, peering through the darkness, and was suddenly thrown back onto the floor as Mason jumped back through it, slamming into me. Then, he transformed again… but this time into his male form.

I jumped on him, still fully transformed myself, and had him pinned in no time. “What did you do with her?”

“Nothing!”

“Where is she then?”

“Haven’t got a clue, bitch. Get off me.”