Initiation (5 page)

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t think so, but I guess there must be some reason for my parents to have sent me here. It’s not like I wanted to come.” Her voice broke slightly.

“It’s going to be okay. It really is. I’ll make sure you have some fun. I’m not going to lie; Initiation is difficult, but I made it through, and so will you. I didn’t even have anyone mentoring me. I’m going to be there for you every step of the way.”

“Not all the time, though, right? I mean, you’re not going to be in all my classes with me. I’ll be all alone with a bunch of… creatures.”

I chuckled. “Creatures? I guess you could call us that. Anyhow, not to worry. My time is my own this year. I was hoping to spend a lot of it playing tennis, but I can’t do that all day anyway, so I can come to your classes with you, if that makes you feel happier.”

Her eyes clouded over, and a tear popped out and slid down her cheek. She was obviously terrified, too terrified to even share her worries. Clearly, I was going to have to do more than just mentor her. I had inadvertently been signed up to be a full-time babysitter. That was going to seriously mess with my planned schedule, and I had good cause to have Jagger find a replacement.

But looking at Faustine’s face, I knew that I had no option. She needed me. For the first time in my life, someone needed me. The thought gave me a buzz. A feeling of excitement, responsibility, and power shot through me. Along with a spark of annoyance. Why was I letting a half-demon mess with my feelings? Feelings I didn’t even know I had, protective ones.

Then, I felt it. My heart wasn’t beating entirely on its own. It beat in time with Jagger’s. I could feel him. Was he messing with my head as well? Making a mother out of me? The streak of annoyance was replaced by a jolt of fury.

“Cordelia, are you pissed at me?” Faustine wore an inscrutable stony expression, but I could still read the agony behind it.

“No! Of course not! I love spending time with you, and I’m really pleased to have been chosen to mentor you. We are going to have heaps of fun. You’ll see.”

She responded with a small upturn of her lips. “Cordelia, do you ski?”

“I do. I can hold my own on the slopes, but I’m not on the ski team or anything. I hear you’re an awesome skier.”

She snickered. “According to my dad! I love to ski. My nanny takes me up to the Poconos, which are mountains in Pennsylvania, to ski most weekends during the season. Mom’s always too busy. She is a doctor. Anyhow, my nanny loves to ski, so I’m pretty good. I can do the black runs and everything. I’m hoping to try out for the ski team here. Are they good? Do you think I’ll get in?”

“Have you ever skied with paranormals before?”

“Not apart from my nanny.”

“And what is she?”

“A witch.”

“Oh. Interesting. Well, witches aren’t particularly known for their skiing ability. Did she use any of her powers when you were out on the slopes?”

“No. And she does fall a lot.” She giggled. “I’m way better than her.”

“Did you use any of your powers?”

“No, I don’t know how to use them, even if I have any.”

“So, you’ve never skied using your demon powers?”

“No.”

I beamed. “Well, you’re in for a real treat. I’ll take you to watch the team practice tomorrow. It’s going to blow your mind! It blows mine every time I watch them. Quinn’s on the team; he’s awesome.”

“What kind of creature–”

“Faustine, it’s probably best not to use that word here.”

“Okay, sorry. What should I call everyone, then?”

“
Paranormals
is fine.”

“What kind of paranormal skis the best?”

“We have a whole bunch of different ones on the team, but mainly demons and faeries–”

“There are faeries here? Cool! I wasn’t even sure that they really existed. Like, is the tooth fairy for real?”

“I don’t think so,” I murmured.

“Do they have wings? Are they pretty?”

I had stopped listening. My heart was doing crazy things, sending surges of electricity down my spine. Was I having a stroke or something?

“Cordelia, are you all right? Your fingers went all weird.”

I checked. Yep, my fingers had fused. I closed my eyes, concentrating on stopping any further transformation. I didn’t want to freak Faustine out. I slowed my heart, disengaging it from all outside influences and walling it off. I would have to work on keeping that wall up to stop Jagger from messing with me. Then, I opened my eyes again and gazed into Faustine’s worried face.

“Cordelia?”

“I’m fine. Just a minor issue I had to deal with.”

“Issue? Like, what exactly happened?”

That
happened. I threw a glance at the group that had just arrived at the entrance of the dining hall.

S
tanding in the doorway, Jagger found my eyes.

“Wow, they’re really pretty! Look at the amazing green color of their eyes,” Faustine said, drawing my attention to his companions.

Yep, no kidding. He was flanked by the bombshell blond Holt twins, the Academy’s answer to Mean Girls. Not just any mean girls, though.
Faery
mean girls. They always got what they wanted, and rumor had it that one of them, Sienna, dated Jagger. I couldn’t for the life of me tell the difference between her and her sister, Jewel, and wondered if Jagger could. Or did he do them both?

Jagger smirked at me as if he were listening to my every thought. He wasn’t. My wall was up, firm and impenetrable. He whispered something to the twin on his left, and pointed at me. The twin’s face lit up when she spotted Faustine, and she strode over to us, a bright smile illuminating her breathlessly beautiful face. Her twin and Jagger followed close behind.

“O-M-G! You’re Lady Annabel’s daughter. I am a huge fan of your mother’s. So incredibly pleased to meet you.” She extended her hand to Faustine. “I’m Sienna Holt.”

Faustine seemed pleased at being recognized, but not the least bit surprised. I guessed she was used to it. In addition to being a busy doctor, Lady Annabel was also a darling of the fashion world. There wasn’t a magazine in existence that hadn’t featured her on the cover, and Faustine was often photographed with her. We had quite a celebrity in our midst.

“Pleased to meet you, too,” Faustine said with surprising confidence.

I suddenly had newfound respect for her. She might have only been twelve–nearly thirteen–and terrified by her new surroundings, but she handled her celebrity like a pro.

“Do you know my mother?” Faustine continued.

“I wish! No, just from magazines. I’d love to meet her. Did she drop you off? Is she still here?” Then, Sienna suddenly stopped talking and glanced over at Jagger, who maintained a stoic expression. Her lips pinched as she obviously struggled to keep her mouth shut. Sienna finally lost the battle. “This is very forward of me, I know, but I have to ask. Is Lady Annabel a paranormal?”

Faustine giggled. “No. But my dad is.”

Sienna’s eyes opened wide. “Who’s your dad? I don’t think I’ve seen him mentioned in the magazines.”

I was about to butt in. She really was out of order throwing all these questions at Faustine, but Faustine held up her hand.

“I’m King Sebastian’s daughter.”

Sienna’s and Jewel’s mouths nearly hit the floor. “O-M-G!” they squawked in unison.

Jewel gently pushed her sister out of the way, and moved to stand close to Faustine, breathing her in.

“It’s Chanel Number–” Faustine started.

Jagger finally spoke, trying to hold in his chuckles. “Really, Jewel! Do you have to do that? Leave the kid alone.”

“Zip it, Jagger. It’s not every day we hear such explosive gossip. Imagine what the
National Enquirer
would do with this piece of information. Lady Annabel and King Sebastian!” Sienna chortled.

Jagger coughed. “Remember the school rules… the confidentiality clause.”

“Yeah, yeah. Spoil sport,” Sienna chided. “Still, this is quite something. So you’re a hybrid? A human-demon hybrid? I can smell your human blood. Better keep you away from the vamps.”

“I guess.” Faustine’s confident posture diminished slightly.

“Do you mind if we sit for a moment?” Sienna asked. “I want to hear all about Lady Annabel.”

“No, sit by all means, but Faustine and I have to go. You can grill her about her mom some other time.” I stood, pulling Faustine up with me and leading her out of the dining hall.

“They seemed nice. Why do we have to leave?” Faustine asked as we wandered back toward my dorm room.

Good question. Why had I been in such a rush to get out of there? Annoying as they were, I kind of liked the Holt twins. Yet, I had found the whole atmosphere stressful. The weight of keeping up my wall in front of Jagger exhausted me. Normally, that wasn’t a problem, but Jagger seemed to have made it his mission to get through my barriers, and he was very powerful, so it took all I had to fight him. Just those five minutes in his presence had tired me out to the point of needing another feed. Perhaps a detour to the mentors’ lounge would solve the problem. I wanted to check it out anyway.

I would use that as my excuse anyway. “We really ought to try to figure out a way for you to use the mentors’ lounge. I thought we’d go find it first; I’ve never been inside. And then, if it’s nice and somewhere you’d like to hang out, we’ll pay Frau Schmelder a visit to see if you can use it.”

“Perfect! Are Sienna and Jewel mentors, too?”

“I don’t know. They went through their Integration last year, so they might have signed up, but they both tend to be busy, so who knows? We can find out in the mentors’ lounge. They’ll have a list.”

“What are they so busy with?”

“They’re both on the ski team, our female champions. They seem to train all the time.”

“Awesome! So I’ll see them later, then.” She put her hand on my elbow, pulling me back.

I stopped. “What’s up?”

“What if I’m not good enough?” I could see the concern in her eyes.

“Good enough to get on the team?”