Whirl (Ondine Quartet Book 1) (19 page)

I stopped in front of him.

"You're quite the reader."

"A lot of things about me would surprise you,
sweet iris."

I crossed my arms in front of me, annoyed.
"Why are you calling me that?"

He raised his eyebrow. "You don't know? Your
last name. Irisavie. It comes from
iris de la vie
. Iris of
Life."

His French suddenly reminded me of Tristan's
explanation of Haverleau when I first arrived. How sexy I thought
his pronunciation was. I hastily pushed the memory out of my
mind.

He gave a pointed look at the branches I held
in my arms. "Are you planning on burning down the school?"

"What would give you that idea?" I asked
dryly.

He laughed and I was reminded of how nice the
sound was. Rich and full, like honey slowly dripping off the back
of a spoon.

"You underestimate your reputation. I heard
you even managed to get into the Training Center today. Very
ingenious. You're not someone who likes to play by the rules."

He stood and I took a few steps back, wanting
to keep some distance between us. His head tilted. "Kind of like
me."

Julian's pose was casual, as though he didn't
want to push me away. But his eyes searched mine with a curious
intensity, almost like he wanted to ask me something, but was
holding back. There was something compelling about him, but I
couldn't put my finger on it.

"How'd you find out about the Training
Center? You're not a student."

"No. I graduated three years ago." He
languidly stretched his arms above his head, and the sleeves of his
shirt lowered. I saw the tip of a shadow just below his right
wrist.

What the —

"You're a chevalier."

This arrogant Redavi joined the
chevaliers?

He smiled in a cocky way as if he knew
exactly what I was thinking. "That's right."

Suspicion took hold. "Are you following
me?"

He walked a few steps closer and I stiffened.
Keeping his hands in his pockets, he leaned down to look straight
in my eyes. His deep blue irises twinkled. "No. I believe the
gardinels are the ones keeping an eye on you."

Lovely. Did everyone know about my
babysitters?

"I'm on perimeter duty tonight," he
continued. "This is a chevalier rest post. Your little beach party
didn't look interesting enough for me." I wondered if he was going
to report us. Somehow, I doubted his ethics extended that far.
"Judging by the way you were crashing through the woods, I don't
think you were having a very good time, either." He smirked.
"Boyfriend trouble?"

"He's not my boyfriend." My reply was
automatic.

"Really." His expression turned speculative.
"If he's not your boyfriend, is there someone else who is?"

I gave him a wary look. "What's it to
you?"

He took a step closer. "Can I apply for the
position?"

Oh, please.

"No."

"I'm sure you have the guys lined up." He
gave me a dazzling look. "Do they all tell you how enchanting you
are?"

I gave him a dangerous smile. "No, they're
usually too busy telling me how hard I hit."
Take the
hint
.

His eyes widened in unabashed delight and he
gave a low chuckle. "Kendra Irisavie, I believe you are the best
thing to come to Haverleau in a very long time."

He was too full of himself. Although there
was something intriguing about Julian, I wasn't going to waste my
time when I had so many other problematic feelings to deal
with.

"I have to go. The fire is dying out." It
wasn't exactly the coolest parting line I could come up with, but
I'd just about had it with Mr. Sexy Eyes. I turned to head back.
"Good night, Julian."

"I'll be seeing more of you, sweet iris."

"Don't count on it."

His laughter followed me as I walked back
into the woods.

FOURTEEN

Over the next two weeks, my life settled
into a routine. Every afternoon, I attended recruit classes with
Ryder, Cam, and Alex, absorbing as much information as
possible.

Ryder and I met in the small basement of the
demillir dorm after curfew every night. Slipping out of the ondine
dorm was easy, but sneaking into the demillir dorm was always a bit
trickier. The lobby guards there were more watchful, probably used
to and even expecting trouble in a residence full of teenage
boys.

The dorm basement had a makeshift workout
room, filled with mats and a few punching bags for impromptu
sparring and training.

In the beginning, Ryder handed my ass back to
me at the end of each session. Mornings were spent in a haze of
pain as my muscles struggled to recover from the previous night's
practice.

Speed was the essential problem. No matter
how hard I struck back, Ryder's trained demillir quickness was
difficult for me to match.

But I was learning how to push my body to its
limits, and in a recent session, I'd even managed to get in a low,
roundhouse kick that was hard and fast enough to bring him down.
Not much reassurance as far as fighting Aquidae went, but I felt a
small victory.

Chloe and Aubrey insisted on helping me get
through my schoolwork, and so we usually gathered in my room after
dinner.

But after a few nights, I think they were
beginning to realize it was a lost cause. I didn't care enough
about my studies to put much effort into it. The school year was
going to be over in a few weeks, anyway, and my only concerns were
training and magic.

Nexa's first lesson bothered me, and I often
spent time in bed thinking it over. But no matter how many times I
went over it, I couldn't understand what she wanted me to do.

"I can't figure it out," I groaned. "That
crazy woman is messing around with my head."

Chloe, Aubrey, and I were supposed to be
working on a report for Broussard's class, but my thoughts kept
returning to magic.

Aubrey studied me. "Maybe the phrase has
something to do with the source of your Virtue."

"It can't be." I shook my head. "I stood like
an idiot in the ocean and it didn't have any effect."

"I didn't mean literally," Aubrey answered
dryly. "I meant the phrase might be a metaphor for how to access
your source."

I bolted up, latching on to her suggestion
like a drowning person. "You think?"

Chloe played with a ball of water she had
summoned between her hands. "Maybe. But the source of an ondine's
energy is different for everyone. Learning how to tap into your
magic's deepest core…" she shrugged lightly, "that's probably
something you need to figure out on your own."

"So not helping, Chloe," I snapped.

Chloe looked slightly surprised and hurt by
my outburst, but didn't say anything.

"We don't have Virtues, Kendra." Aubrey's
tone was soft, which somehow made it worse. "We'd help you if we
could."

Of course, they would. They'd proven it
several times. God, I was bad at this.

"Everything with the magic and training…it's
just kind of getting to me," I muttered.

Aubrey nodded and Chloe's smile was kind.

I took a deep breath. A part of me wished I
could remove this weight that settled on my shoulders. The weight
that came from being around people I was starting to care
about.

"Speaking of training…" Chloe deftly changed
the subject. "How are things going with Ryder? You guys look like
you're getting close."

Because of our late night practice sessions
and my recruit training observations, Ryder and I spent quite a
chunk of time together every day. I didn't consider him my
boyfriend, but I did enjoy being around him. He made me laugh and
his unfailing admiration made me feel good. Selfish as that feeling
may be, I needed it a lot right now.

We'd kissed a few times, but I didn't feel
any need to progress more than that. It was strange. I usually had
no problem releasing stress by getting physical with a guy. But
with Ryder, there were no flying sparks, no mind-blowing
electricity; just a solid comfort.

I suspected the real problem was that when I
pictured getting hot and heavy with someone, it wasn't Ryder that I
saw.

"He's a really nice guy," Aubrey said,
examining her nails. "And he's crazy about you."

The conversation made me uncomfortable. I
didn't want to discuss my screwed up love life at the moment.

I hesitated slightly. "Yeah, I know."

There was a knock on the door. To my
surprise, it was the delivery of a dress. No, not a dress — a gown.
The most exquisite formal gown I'd ever seen. With thin spaghetti
straps that tied into a delicate bow around the neck, it had a
fitted waist and a voluminous, elegant skirt that fell to the
floor.

The material was the color of midnight blue,
like the deepest bottom of the ocean. Silver strands wove through
it, sparkling and catching the light.

"Oh, it's beautiful!" Chloe exclaimed.

Confused, I read the attached note,
emblazoned with the royal seal.

The Annual Haverleau Governors Ball will be
taking place this Saturday. Marcella has picked out appropriate
attire for you. As a member of the governing family, you are
expected to attend. You are to represent the Irisavie family in a
manner suited to its stature.

- Governor Rhian

Chloe's face lit up in excitement. "You're so
lucky you get to go!"

"What is it?"

"An annual event hosted by the governor,"
Aubrey explained. "Haverleau's Redavi families, chevaliers, and
gardinels get together for a night of dinner and dancing at the
Governing House."

"It's a formal event, one of the biggest of
the year," Chloe continued. "They don't let students go, but I
guess you get to attend since you're a member of the Governor's
family."

I actually would have given anything to get
out of it, but it looked like I had no choice. A night spent with
stuck-up Redavi and my cold grandmother at the Governing House.

Wait.

An idea took shape in my mind. Maybe this
wasn't so bad, after all. I let my brain spin, running through the
different possibilities…

Aubrey groaned and turned to Chloe. "She has
that look."

I resisted the urge to look at my face in the
mirror. "What look?"

"The look that says that you're about to do
something that'll probably get you into shitloads of trouble."

"She's right," Chloe said, raising her
brow.

"I do
not
have a look." Was I that
transparent? "Besides, it's not really something that's going to
get me into trouble. I'm making the best of an opportunity that's
conveniently presented itself."

Both of them stared at me.

I sighed. "The prophecy. Remember? The ball's
the perfect time for me to get into the library and
investigate."

"Uh-huh." Chloe blinked. "Let's put aside the
fact that reading prophecies is strictly forbidden by anyone except
Council members. Besides the Royal Gardinels protecting the library
entrance, there's also the very small problem of hundreds of
people, including gardinels and chevaliers, crawling all over the
House at the same time."

Skepticism glinted in Aubrey's eyes. "There's
also the tiny fact that you don't know for sure whether or not the
prophecies are even stored there." She paused. "But I'm guessing
you have a brilliant, ass-kicking plan that somehow takes care of
all of that."

"Of course I do," I said with a smug
smile.

***

Golden swirls clouded the vision. I
stepped forward and they gently parted. A small living area,
sparsely furnished with a cot and a lamp with a broken shade.
Dirty, yellow light weakly illuminated the room.

A demillir and ondine sat on steel chairs,
their legs and wrists bound with thick rope. The demillir's face
was swollen and covered with purple and blue bruises, his nose
brutally smashed. Specks of blood had dried into his short, blonde
hair. He was unconscious. His strong, muscular build and the blood
on the ropes around his wrists showed that he'd put up a
struggle.

The ondine sobbed with a piercing pain that
made my heart clench. Long, black hair hung around her face. She
suddenly looked up, light, powder blue eyes latching onto me. I
reeled at her expression of sheer horror.

"No, please don't. Please. I'll do anything
you want."

I tried to tell her I didn't want anything.
That I would never hurt them. I wanted to help.

But I could produce no sound, and she stared
at me with eyes that reflected a mind on the border of
collapse.

"I'll do anything. Just don't hurt him
anymore."

A horrible laughter rang through the room.
It tore into me like sharp razors, ripping through my body.

The ondine's mouth opened in a long,
never-ending scream and I screamed with her. Unendurable pain
slashed through me as that inhuman laughter reverberated around
us.

I fell, the golden coils returning in a
rush. They morphed into black and red spirals, thickening into a
liquid that crawled like something alive.

The black and red blood intertwined, snaking
around me in a grotesque pattern…

I fell off my bed onto the floor, gagging as
nausea rolled through me in slow, gut-wrenching waves. My hands
were clammy and shaking as I pushed my hair off my face. Gasping, I
sucked down as much air as I could, trying to slow my racing
pulse.

After a few long minutes, I crawled back into
bed. My body shivered and I curled up under the sheets and
blankets. The dream was similar to the one I had about Axis. It was
so vivid, as if I'd really been in that room.

Only the colors were different. The Axis
dream had been shrouded in white fog, while this one…that golden
color, the swirls that changed into that horrible liquid.