There was only one choice left.
“How about something less maudlin,” Jacqueline suggested. I raised a brow at her.
“Less maudlin or less like I’m actually leaning into my reputation?”
She unlaced her fingers and let them sit palms down on her desk. Rather than speak, she tried to employ that staring at you until you answered your own question trick. I kept scanning. There were plenty of subjects but none I was all that interested in. My cheek twitched when I hit Prophetic Vision Interpretation.
“Are they kidding?” I asked.
“I only wish. I would suggest you stay clear away from that class.”
Stupid as I was, even I knew that. “What’s Magical Artefacts?”
“You’ll learn about the creation of magical devices.”
“Like weaponry and combat?”
“Not just weapons but things like talismans and amulets. Shields of armour and –” She raised both wrists to indicate her cuffs.
“Oh, okay. I guess that would be pretty interesting.” And if I could make a device that would blow up a certain Nephilim, why the heck not?
When I was done, she took back the timetable and passed her hand over it. As far as I was aware, she didn’t have any magic in her blood. But being Headmistress gave her a link to the Academy that had little to do with magical skill. The little squares on my timetable flickered in and out of visibility, rearranging themselves. As I watched, each subject became solid again until I had a timetable that worked. When it was done, Jacqueline made a copy for the Academy’s official record and handed me back my copy.
I thought she would dismiss me, but she sat there staring past me. I frowned when she started playing with the gold bangles around her left wrist. Finally, she blinked hard and gave me a searching look. She took my hand in hers and inspected it like it was the first time she’d seen me. Against her long fingers, mine looked like flesh-coloured sausages.
“Sometimes I forget just how human you are,” she said. “This is going to be a difficult semester.”
“As opposed to the breezy semesters I’ve had since I arrived?”
She smiled but her focus remained on our intertwined fingers. Sufficed to say I was starting to freak out a little. “Chanelle has a certain way of bending others to her will,” she said. I’d been hit a bunch of times in my short life, but somehow, they hurt less than that single statement. Jacqueline continued on without giving me time to regroup. “At her core she’s not a bad person.”
Did I have a sign that read “punching bag” on my head? My fingers tried to curl but Jacqueline held them steady. “She’s been revered her entire life. Even before the invasion of Seraphina. But since Raphael’s line was almost wiped out, the Nephilim Council have bowed to her every whim. Kai was the only person in her life who didn’t pay her any attention. She didn’t know what to do with that. So, she both hates and loves him.”
I just sat there listening, feeling like my throat was contracting. With a heavy sigh, she let go of me and ran her fingers through her platinum waves. “Left to his own devices, Kai would bond with her just to stop the Council from bothering him. After the invasion, my grandson was like the living dead. I remember trying to talk him out of signing the contract was like speaking to a cave troll. He grunted at me periodically, but nothing permeated his thick skull. I failed to protect him when he needed me the most.”
She rifled through her drawers and pulled out a pocketbook. I glanced at the title when she handed it to me: The Divisive Nature of the Unity Games. “I’ve tried to build Bloodline Academy into an institution that embraces all species. But not all of the Academy heads feel the same. Not all supernaturals feel the same. As you well know. I’m afraid the Games themselves might be the easiest part of the semester for you. I just want you to know that no matter what, you’re not alone. If you need any additional training, the professors have been told to give you priority.”
All I could do was nod dumbly. I had made the mistake of flipping through the book and landed on a page with a picture of a historical contestant holding the severed head of one of their counterparts. Lovely. Through no fault of my own, I’d signed up to being prey for a supernatural hunt.
9
Now that I had sealed my fate, I couldn’t decide what to do with my last day. I heard barking as I neared the billabong. Phoenix came charging out of the underbrush to nip at my ankles. I felt like I’d played with him three days ago, but with the three weeks that I had been told had passed, in dingo years that must have felt like forever.
I let him chase me around the billabong. We were just coming around the edge of one of the mangrove forests. Phoenix had his tongue hanging out of his mouth to catch the salt in the damp air around the trees. I picked up a stick to play tug with him when the sound of snickering filtered through the dense bush.
We stopped at the same time.
The hairs on his back stood on end. I strained, trying to catch even a smidgen of what his ears had probably picked up. With Phoenix bristling beside me, we stepped lightly around to the open clearing. There were unfamiliar students huddled around the edge of the water.
The air here was pretty thick with the scent of sulphur.
The water in the pool resembled mud. There were a bunch of young boys
