Most of the boys had delicate Fae features. Their wings were a dead giveaway. Some of the others looked like they ate push-ups for breakfast.
One big brute with green wings held the goblin kid down. Phoenix growled. The brute turned to face me.
“You might want to stop doing that,” I said.
The green-winged brute pushed his captive deeper into the water. The goblin’s feet kicked out frantically. One of the other Fae reached out and ripped the loose board shorts he wore from him. Goblins weren’t huge fans of clothing. Most of the para-humans were the same. Their skin was tougher and was made to protect them against harsher elements. So they didn’t feel the need to cover up. In their city, most para-humans walked around naked.
As a way of integrating into Bloodline Academy, the para-humans often wore ill-fitting clothing. Doctor Thorne always wore a lab coat even though it hindered his movement.
“Okay,” I said. “Play time’s over. Let the poor kid up.”
“Get lost, human,” Green Brute said. “When we need a low-witch to be demon bait, we’ll let you know.”
There was no way for him to know how close that insult hit home. It riled me up nonetheless. Phoenix snapped his jaws.
There was one vampire in the group. His eye-teeth elongated. Red bled into his hazel eyes. I read the intent the second he twisted around.
A shadow darkened the ground beside my right shoulder. All of the boys halted.
“Now that’s not very nice, is it?” a honeyed voice said in my ear. Phoenix growled.
An older boy stepped forward. “It isn’t even the first day of school and you’re already playing bullies,” he said.
“Get bent, Andrei,” Green Brute said. But it was the hollow bravado of a bunny rabbit.
Andrei smiled. His teeth were mortal blunt but his skin tone and the light amulet he wore around his neck screamed vampire.
“Interesting proposition,” Andrei said. “Get bent...” He ambled forward. Most of the vamps I knew walked like predators. They were almost as silent as the shifters when they wanted to be. Andrei didn’t bother using stealth. “I wonder how long it would take for me to bend that neck of yours before it comes clean off your shoulders.”
“About as long as it would take for Pendragon to run you through with his angel blade,” Green Brute snapped back. “Like he did with your family.” His friends laughed nervously. It was the last thing they did because Andrei lunged forward. The bravado disappeared behind childish shrieks. They dispersed.
There was only the eerie feeling of magic in their wake. And the soft sobbing of the goblin boy. My unease at the conversation I’d just heard was overshadowed by irritation. It was harder to tell how old a para-human was. Past a certain point they really didn’t age. This boy wasn’t even close to when he’d stop physically aging. Bloodline Junior Academy accepted children as young as six. If I came across that Big Brute again, I was going to do something worse than scare him.
Ignoring the vampire, I crouched down in front of the goblin. He had a graze on his forehead and a cut lip.
“Hey,” I said. “Are you okay?”
Now that he wasn’t being tormented, the boy wiped at his leathery nose. The back of his hand came away streaked in blood. He nodded but still flinched when Andrei came close. I put my back to the vampire. The last thing I needed was for him to smell blood and go all fangy on me.
“Thanks,” I said. “I’ve got it from here.”
Andrei grinned this time. I found myself curling my arm around the little boy. It was a struggle to keep the magic inside me from bursting out of my skin. I’d seen my fair share of drug addicts. It was the eyes that always gave them away. They were usually hollow but wild at the same time. Like they were seeing right past you at some horrible nightmare they couldn’t pull themselves from.
Andrei’s eyes showed me exactly that. They were also winged in broken capillaries. Crazy-eyes. It was a shame because they were the most startling amber colour. It was no wonder the boys had run.
Andrei noticed my reaction. “What’s the matter, squirt? Do I scare you?”
There was no point lying. I was sure he could sense my rapid heartbeat. “Yes,” I said, looking at him square in the face. “Which is why I won’t hesitate to cut your head off if you don’t beat it.”
I had no weapon on me. If he made a move, I’d rip the amulet from around his neck and let the sun do the job. Fingers crossed.
He smiled. Still no fangs. His jawline was strong. So were the fists he used to brace himself in his crouching position. His shoulders were wide even if they looked like they were mostly bones. The structure was there. Only it seemed to have been divested of a soul. I shuddered involuntarily.
A huge body broke through the surface of the water. The bunyip lifted his head onto the walkway. A couple of yowies rolled across the mud. I let out an inward sigh of relief. Phoenix went to play with his new friends.
“Pendragon really dug himself in this time,” Andrei said with a smirk. “I’ll be seeing you around, squirt.” He was gone in a blink.
The boy in my arms sniffed. “Come on,” I said, “Let’s get you to the infirmary. What’s your name?”
“Billy.” I held out my hand. He put his clawed one in it.
“That’s an unusual name for a goblin.”
He swiped at his nose again. “It’s not my real name. My dame told me to call myself Billy so the others could understand.”
“I see. What’s your real name?”
He said something in the goblin tongue that went in one ear and out the other. “Umm...I’m not that great at Dead Languages...”
He pouted. “It’s not a Dead Language. It’s Alacanthean.”
Alacantha was the destroyed para-human dimension. “Sorry,
