I took my time slipping my textbook back into my backpack. It allowed most of the rest of the class to leave. Brigid did so with one last withering glare in my direction. When the professor, Andrei, and I were the only ones left in the room, I picked up the package he’d given me with my bare hands. The heart was cold to the touch. I almost screamed and tossed it aside when it pulsed in my hands.
With shaking fingers, I placed it carefully inside my backpack knowing Andrei was watching me. Ignoring him, I scrubbed my hand on my jeans and approached the professor. “Professor,” I called out. “There’s something I need to speak to you about.”
Andrei got up off his chair and stomped over. I’d bet nobody in their right mind would have thought to snitch on him in all the years he’d gone about terrorizing them. I was surprised it even mattered to him.
“What’s the matter?” the professor asked. We eyed Andrei as he slowly walked out of the room. He turned back once to give me such a dark look I wanted to cackle and wet myself at the same time. I was going to be late to Weaponry and Combat, but it was worth it.
“Is that hexed cat’s heart frightening you? I didn’t want to say anything in class but if you wish to make a complaint, I’ll support you.”
I could feel the rage bubbling up again. As someone who despised rodents, any creature that was their natural enemy was automatically sacred to me. I’d had a cat for a short time on the streets. She was grouchy and scrappy just like me. My nose clogged up. I coughed to try and dislodge the tears.
The professor placed his hand on my shoulder. “It’s decayed,” he said. I didn’t have the faintest idea how he could tell with the thing wrapped up and in my backpack. “If he did kill it, he didn’t do it recently. It’s just been spelled to continue beating. Alessia?” he shook me a little.
“What would be the punishment if I staked a vampire?” I said.
“Without cause? You’d be sent to the prison.”
“Oh, I have cause.”
He seemed sad. “Over the killing of a cat? It wouldn’t be enough.”
I bared my teeth at him. “I can always say he attacked me first.”
His face went blank as though he truly believed I would do it. After a moment he shook his head. “Was that what you wanted to talk to me about?”
I blew out a breath. “No, it’s not.” I wasn’t the type to snitch. If Andrei wanted to play bully, I would give him a run for his money. Then I thought of the Nephilim Council. By all accounts they were prejudiced against the other races. Surely they wouldn’t have an issue with me taking out one vampire? Putting it out of my mind for now, I pressed on to the important topic.
“Have you felt anything weird about the Ley dimension ever since the other Academies arrived?” I asked.
“Weird in what way?”
I contemplated the question. “I’m not sure. I feel like I’m reacting badly to all this new energy. My Ley sight isn’t right.”
He smiled softly at me. “You’re going to have to show me,” he said. Then he paused. “You do realise that the way you view the Ley dimension is quite different to how others see it?”
That was news to me. “What do you mean?”
“Your perception of it is vastly more intricate than even the mages,” he said. “I suspect it has something to do with your connection to Azrael. Life and death intersecting. For example, when I see the lines, they are blueprints of white light against a canvas of midnight blue. They appear to me like the stars in the night sky. But you seem to see things in shades of colour. And the detail in which you see them is beyond most of what has been recorded.”
I couldn’t get my head around what he was saying. He patted my arm. “Come on then,” he said. “Show me.”
I glanced outside. “I’ll write you a note. Professor Eldridge will understand.” It would have been comforting if he didn’t also glance surreptitiously at the Weaponry and Combat building. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was as terrified of Professor Eldridge as I was. But I couldn’t let this go.
I held on to his wrist and dropped into the Ley dimension. He let out a soft gasp.
“This is incredible,” he said.
I turned my head to the side. It really was. Every time I saw the landscape of lights, it took my breath away. I would never get used to it. Still holding on to him so he could see through my eyes, I turned it inward where my aura was a cosmic giant compared to the other light. “See what I mean?” I asked. “It’s not right here.”
The look he gave me was blank. “I’m not sure I quite understand. It looks perfect. Your light isn’t any different than it’s always been.”
I bit my lip. Maybe I was making too much of this. I wouldn’t be surprised if the ordeal with the ghouls and the necromancer had made me paranoid.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t know what it was, and I thought it might be dangerous.”
“Don’t ever be sorry for trying to learn. It is nothing at the moment but there is something to be said for the instincts of humans. If anything changes, let me know.”
He wrote me a note and I ran to Weaponry and Combat. Though he had assured me things were fine, he continued to stand there looking at the empty air. Call me paranoid, but that didn’t seem fine to me. Neither did the heavy feeling in my gut. There was
