Whirl (Ondine Quartet Book 1) (16 page)

I refused to make it easy for them. As soon
as they placed their money on the table, I made a show of counting
through the bills, wanting to drag their humiliation out as long as
possible.

My winnings amounted to a little over six
thousand dollars. Not bad for an hour's work.

"Nice playing with you."

I turned to leave and felt fingers painfully
digging into my arm.

"You hustled us," Dylan said through gritted
teeth.

I looked him straight in the eye. "Not so
nice when you're the one fucked over, is it?"

Using my other hand, I gripped his wrist. He
may be a demillir, but he was Redavi and had no training in
utilizing his natural strength.

With a quick tug, I yanked his hand off my
arm and pulled it back until he winced in pain. Just one twist and
I could snap his wrist in half.

"Listen up,
baby
." My voice was low
and dangerous. "The next time you think about screwing over an
ondine, I want you to remember me. Remember that I'm the ondine who
wiped the floor with your ass tonight. And that I'll be
watching."

I shot a quick look at Bernie and Andrew.
They were frozen in their seats, an expression of stupefied fear on
their faces. The psychopathic look was working for me today.

I let go of Dylan and stalked out. Stupid
idiots. I wanted to do a lot more than lift money off them for what
they'd done to Chloe and God knew how many other girls.

But as far as payback goes, this one wasn't
so bad. I managed to shoot down their overinflated pride and maybe
freaked them out enough that they'd think twice before hurting any
more ondines.

Plus, I'd temporarily fixed my cash flow
problems.

The lounge was packed with students enjoying
their Saturday evening. As soon as I stepped in, the stares and
whispers began.

After my earlier confrontation with Amber,
I'd been prepared for it. Much as Pelletier, Rhian, and the
gardinels had tried to suppress the information, news of last
night's events had gotten out.

Half the looks were admiring, but the other
half were laughing and scornful. Guess Amber's version held some
sway.

I sauntered over to the back corner.

"And what kind of trouble have you been up
to?" Ryder's face was alight with mischief. "More importantly, why
wasn't I in on it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," I
said loftily as I sat next to him.

Ryder snorted. "C'mon Kendra. You look like
the cat that swallowed the canary." He gave me a knowing look.
"Spill."

This was one of the reasons why Ryder and I
got along so well. We both thought the same way.

"Lust and greed are nasty things," I smirked.
"And I just stripped Dylan of both."

I filled them in on what had transpired in
the store room.

Chloe sighed. "Much as a part of me is happy
about what you did, you know he and his buddies are going to come
after you hard, Kendra."

I laughed. "I don't give a shit."

"Not bad, Irisavie," Cam muttered, an ugly
look in his eyes. "Though I still think we should permanently mess
up that douchebag's face one of these days." He shot Chloe a
furtive glance.

"Speaking of not letting us in on your
plans," Ryder said pointedly. "I
still
can't believe you
went out last night and didn't tell us about it."

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "It was a girls'
night out."

"Yeah, but you got to see some major action,"
Ryder grumbled. "God, I can't wait till I get my hands on an
Aquidae."

His eyes darkened. "I mean we're stuck here
for another year, and the chevaliers and gardinels could use all
the help they can get. It's so stupid that we can't go out on
patrols until we're eighteen. If you have the skills, you should be
allowed to serve."

"Heard Prince Belicoux took out two of them,"
Cam's usual sardonic tone was tinged with awe. "That guy is
seriously unreal."

"You should've seen him," Chloe nodded. "He's
scary
when he's fighting."

"Belicoux's a legend. That's why they call
him the Warrior Prince," Ryder mused. "He's like this quiet Royal,
all formal and polite. But no one knows the real number of Aquidae
he's taken out. It's supposed to be more than anyone. Ever."

I thought back to the first time I'd met
Tristan and how astounded I'd been. The stories of him as a legend
didn't surprise me.

"It makes sense you have the best gardinel
protecting you." Aubrey gave me a thoughtful look. "Being the
sondaleur
and all. And Prince Belicoux is the best."

The reminder that Tristan was only around to
do his assigned job irritated me.

My laugh was humorless. "Come on, Aubrey. I'm
not the
sondaleur
. I don't know how many times I've said
it."

"No, Kendra." She stared at me with such
seriousness that I stopped laughing. "I saw you last night. There's
no question you're the
sondaleur
."

"Don't be ridiculous," I scoffed. "I couldn't
even do anything."

Ryder shook his head. "I don't know why you
still don't —"

"I need to see the prophecy for myself."

It wasn't until the words were out of my
mouth that I realized I'd been thinking about this for awhile.

"Do any of you know how they're stored?"

"I once heard my parents talking about
checking a prophecy inside a book," Chloe said.

"Where would they be kept?"

Cam frowned slightly. "It'd have to be some
place real secure."

A highly protected place for books. I
remembered a tall room filled with hundreds of thousands of volumes
and the smell of magic in the air.

"What about the Governing House library? The
other night at dinner, I saw two royal gardinels protecting the
entrance."

Aubrey pondered this for a few moments before
nodding slowly. "Guarded. Lots of ondine magic running through it.
Can only be accessed by people in power."

Chloe's eyes were solemn. "Will reading the
prophecy help?"

I didn't know. Would reading it convince me?
Or only bring up more unanswerable questions?

No. Reading the prophecy with my own eyes
could only help. At the very least, I'd be able to verify what it
said.

"Maybe," I muttered absent-mindedly as I
slouched back in my chair. "But right now the chevalier problem is
more important."

Dead silence.

Oh, shit. Tell me I didn't say that out
loud.

Ryder stared at me. "What chevalier
problem?"

"It's just a plan I've been working on —" I
began.

Aubrey let out a faint groan and Chloe rubbed
the upper bridge of her nose as if she had a headache.

Ignoring them, I gave a brief run-down on
what I'd been trying to do.

"So, I've pestered Gabriel and Tristan about
this, and they both refuse to help," I finished.

Cam stared at me with his mouth slightly
open. I was beginning to get the feeling he seriously thought I was
a little crazy.

"You really want to be a chevalier?" Ryder
looked dazed, as though someone had just punched him.

I scowled. "Yes, Ry. I want to be a
chevalier. Don't tell me you have a problem with it, too?"

He immediately rearranged his features and
adopted a suitably solemn expression. "Hell, no. I think you would
be an incredible recruit."

I nodded primly, feeling pleased. A wide grin
spread on Ryder's face and he began to laugh. "I can just imagine
Gabe's face when you told him," he choked out. "That vein of his
must have throbbed like crazy."

"Yeah. It did."

"Of course," Cam interrupted our laughter,
"there's just the tiny problem of an ancient law that makes it
illegal for you to become a recruit in the first place."

"Shut up, Cam. I never said it was going to
be easy."

He shrugged. "Just pointing out the
facts."

Frustrated, I tapped my fingers on my leg.
"The problem is that I've already gone to the only two people who
matter. The Head Chevalier and Chief Gardinel. If they don't
support it, I have no chance of getting the law changed."

"Maybe there's a round-about way of dealing
with the problem." Aubrey's voice was distant.

All eyes went to her.

"If you can't go directly to the source, you
can approach it from another direction," she went on. "You could
apply memetics theory."

"Er, Aubrey," Ryder said dryly. "Our brains
don't work in the same way as yours. You're going to have to
explain better."

"You can influence an outcome indirectly,"
Aubrey pronounced crisply as if she were speaking of something
obvious.

Everybody stared at her with blank
expressions.

But as I processed her words, it was like the
last piece of a puzzle clicking into place.

Aubrey's clever emerald eyes met mine, and I
smiled.

"She means it's time I have a friendly chat
with my aunt."

TWELVE

Early Monday morning, I snuck out of the
dormitory and hurried to the school parking lot. The sun was
beginning to rise and the waning darkness left enough shadows for
me to make my way to Aubrey's car without being detected. I had two
hours to get to Marcella's house, convince her to help me, and race
back in time for my first class.

Ryder informed me that Gabriel had daily
early morning patrol in Lyondale before returning to Haverleau to
teach afternoon classes. He left before sunrise every morning, and
I was taking a chance that Marcella was up as well.

Gabe often had recruits over to his house for
dinners and barbeques so Ryder gave me clear directions on how to
get there. Located on the southwest side of Haverleau, I found it
in about fifteen minutes.

The residential area was still and quiet this
early in the morning. Most people hadn't awoken yet.

I parked the car on the corner and approached
the house on foot. It was surprisingly modest. After all, Marcella
was Redavi and the daughter of the Governor. Gabriel was Head
Chevalier. I'd assumed their home would reflect their prominent
statuses in ondine society.

Instead, I found a one-story white bungalow
with large, multi-paned windows and a tall stone chimney on the
sloped roof. A curved, brick-lined path made its way from the
sidewalk to the front steps. The front yard was well-manicured and
an abundance of green hedges and beautiful, blooming wildflowers
lined the entire boundary of the house. It reminded me of the
English cottages I used to read about in childhood fairy tales.

After double-checking to make sure Gabe's
silver Harley was nowhere in the vicinity, I approached the front
doors, brightly painted a fire-engine red. I knocked and waited,
but no one answered.

A soft sound coming from the back. As I
walked around the side of the house, the smell of roses, coffee,
and bacon grew stronger.

Marcella was in the backyard, humming softly
under her breath. Her hair was in a loose bun at the nape of her
neck, and she was dressed in dark jeans and a t-shirt. Her hand
glowed briefly with a flash of white light. Sprinkles of water
dropped from her palm and she evenly distributed it over the
rosebushes.

"Marcella?"

"Oh, Kendra!" She jumped, her eyes wide. "You
startled me!"

At least I can take some people by
surprise
. The gardinels had gotten the drop on me so many times
with their freaky silent moves, I'd begun to think I must be as
obvious as an elephant.

She quickly got over it. "Don't take this the
wrong way, but what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to speak to you alone."

She sighed. "I have a feeling I know what
this is about. Come on. Let's go inside."

The interior of their home had the same
charming feel as the exterior. Walls were painted a cheery yellow
and vases full of fresh flowers adorned the hallway. Silver frames
with photos of Marcella and Gabe in different places throughout the
world hung on the walls, and the white rustic furniture added to
the coziness.

She led me past the living area to a
breakfast nook tucked in the corner by one of the tall windows. I
sat and she plunked a steaming cup of coffee in front of me.

I took a sip, savoring its bitterness.

"Let's hear it."

The more I spoke with her, the more she
reminded me of my mother.

"I need you to convince Gabriel that ondines
should be allowed to enter the chevalier program. He has a lot of
influence. If he supports the idea, he can convince others to
change the law."

She remained silent, her eyes thoughtful.

"Why do you think the law should be changed?"
Her voice was curious.

"Because it's unfair and ridiculous," I
replied. "We're at war. The only way to get rid of Aquidae is
through that nasty hole in their neck, which means getting up close
and personal. And the only way to do that is to be physically
trained enough to do so."

"Yes, which is why we have the selkies and
demillirs," she countered.

I'd had just about enough of that argument.
"So I'm just supposed to rely on other people to protect me?" I
snorted. "Ooh. Let all the men fight and die to protect the frail
little girls. God, what century are we living in again?"

Marcella refused to be provoked. "Kendra,
it's simply not in your blood. An ondine's realm is that of magic,
not battle. It's not natural for you —"

"It is natural," I interrupted, my voice
loud. "It is in my blood."

I tried to control the burst of annoyance
that flooded through me. But diplomacy had never been my strong
suit, and my patience was wearing very thin.

"My father was Head Chevalier." I gripped the
handle of my mug tighter. It made me feel steady. "After he died,
how do you think my mother kept us alive?"