15. Adelaide

15

ADELAIDE

"What is with the guys in this place?" I mutter as I use Orby to open my tower bedroom door. "Scratch that, what is with everyone in this place?" Lyra wasn't exactly trustworthy either, not that I'm the most trusting person on earth. Quite the opposite, but around here, the only person… creature… I feel I can sort of, maybe trust is Professor Blackthorn. He knows my dad, and he has been kind and helpful. He has not tried to trick me, be envious of me, or try to get in my pants.

Sighing as I close the door and lean against it, I stare out into the night. I feel my energy increase, and everything about my being comes alive. This is my time, and I finally understand why.

Taking off my coat, I place it on a chair near the wardrobe and then pull the vial out to stare at it again. It feels warm to the touch, which I find a bit odd, seeing as it is just a swirling mist inside. Slipping it under my pillow, I strip off my shirt and then wonder how to do my laundry. There must be a place, and the map will show me. I pull it out of my backpack and stare at it. "Laundrette," I murmur.

Smiling when a glowing red dot appears, I nod. Not far from here, fortunately. I didn't relish the fact of parading my dirty clothes halfway across campus. Placing the map back down, I straighten up in just my bra and then my breath hitches. The urge from deep inside rises, the urge that I try to keep at bay so as not to scare my mother or the people around me. But my mother isn't here, and neither is anyone else. Without even thinking about it, I reach for my holdall, which is still half packed, and stick my hand to the very bottom, under the plastic covered insert that keeps the bottom sturdy and pull out the knife that I have hidden there. Glaring at it, I hesitate.

"Wait," I murmur and fling it on the bed, crossing over to the open book on vampires. "Speed healing…"

I've never had that before, just regular old scabs and scars. I've drunk a cup of blood today and eaten that rare steak… could this be something that will kick in now that I'm here and doing things vampires do?

"Only one way to find out, and kill two birds with one stone," I mutter as I go back to the knife and pick it up. A small hunting knife, which is all I could afford, it's nothing special, but it does the job. The blade glints in the moonlight as I hold it up. My heart races with anticipation and a hint of fear. I've done this before, but never with the possibility of rapid healing.

Taking a deep breath, I press the tip of the knife to my forearm. The familiar sting as it breaks the skin sends a rush through me. I drag the blade slowly, watching the blood well up in its wake.

The pain is exquisite, appeasing my ragged edges in a way nothing else can. For a moment, all my worries about this strange new world fade away. There's only this - the sharp bite of the blade, the warmth of my blood.

I wait, watching intently. At first, nothing seems different. The cut bleeds steadily, droplets rolling down my arm. I swallow and then jump a fucking mile when something hits my bedroom with a loud thump, scaring me half to death.

"What the fuck?" I snap, glaring at Orby as if he is meant to know what is going on, as I march over to the door and peer through the peephole. I can't see anything, so I open the door a crack and stare at the giant bat on the floor, which before my very eyes shifts into a well-dressed man with a face that could launch a thousand ships and a wicked smile that gleams when he looks down at me.

"Adelaide," Corvus says. "I smelt blood. Everything okay in there?"

I gulp and make sure the door is covering my arm as much as possible, forgetting for one second that I'm standing in my bra. When that realisation hits me, I freeze like a deer in headlights.

"Adelaide?" Corvus presses, his face falling into a frown.

To his credit, he doesn't stare at my breasts, just my eyes with a laser-like focus that is unnerving, and I get the feeling he is trying to compel me into saying something. Dragging my gaze from his is like trying to push a mountain up a bigger mountain. It makes me pant with the effort, and I feel my knees buckle.

Corvus reaches out and grabs me to steady me before his face goes stony. He lets go of me, hands up, and steps back. But how did he enter my room in the first place? Aren't vampires supposed to get an invite? Now that I think about it, I haven't seen anything that has mentioned this yet and I, clearly, can go wherever I like.

Hmm .

"Thank you," I croak, as he did stop me from hitting the deck, despite laying his hands on me. I stumble back and drop my arm, which is aching now from being sliced into and held at an unnatural angle as I tried to hide it.

Corvus's gaze lands on the gaping wound in my arm, and he freezes like a stunned rabbit.

We are quite the pair tonight.

"I see," he says. "May I?"

He reaches out, holding his hand up slowly so as not to startle me.

"Why?" I whisper. Does he want to drink from me?

"I can help heal it," he murmurs, his eyes narrowed in curiosity.

Well, I guess I've blown my cover. No regular vampire girl here. "How?" I murmur.

He raises his hand higher, and I nod once, giving him permission to touch me. It's like my will is stripped away, but I don't think he is compelling me this time. His chilly hand grasps my arm behind my elbow, and he raises it to his lips. He lets out a whimper that I can see by the mortified expression on his face, he didn't mean to let escape.

Lowering his mouth to the cut, I gasp when his tongue flicks out, and he tastes my blood. But then he stops and lifts his head with a slow smile. "Doesn't look like you need me after all," he murmurs.

I glance down and see the cut is healing. Slowly knitting itself back together until my skin is whole with no scar in sight.

"Fuck," I mutter.

"So definitely half vampire," Corvus murmurs. "And your other half is… human, yes? You are a Vesperidae."

It's not a question, but a blunt statement. I don't answer him. I was told that this should be a secret. I don't know Corvus; I sure as shit don't trust him. The big but is though, he is being gentle with me now, like a, what was it that Zephyr called me… a porcelain doll.

I take a deep breath, trying to steady myself. Corvus is still standing there, his intense blue eyes fixed on me. I'm acutely aware that I'm half-naked, but somehow, that seems less important than the fact that he now knows what I am.

"You can't tell anyone," I say, my voice low and urgent. "About... what I am. It's supposed to be a secret."

Corvus raises an eyebrow, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "Your secret's safe with me, Adelaide. But you might want to be more careful in the future. Not everyone here is as... discreet as I am."

I snort at that. "Right. Because you've been the picture of discretion so far."

He gives me that infuriating smirk. "Fair point. But I mean it - I won't tell anyone about your Vesper nature. You have my word."

I eye him sceptically. "And why should I trust your word?"

Corvus steps closer, his eyes boring into mine. "Because, Adelaide, whether you like it or not, we're connected now. Your blood calls to me in a way I've never experienced before, and that makes you very, very interesting to me."

A shiver runs down my spine at his words. I'm not sure if it's fear or something else.

"That doesn't exactly make me feel better," I mutter.

"It wasn't meant to," Corvus says with a wicked grin. "But it's the truth, and in this place, truth is a rare commodity."

I take a step back, suddenly very aware of my half-nakedness and vulnerability. "Right. Well, thanks for the help. I think I'll be fine now."

Corvus's eyes roam over me, lingering on the newly healed skin of my arm before he frowns. "Self-harm isn't the answer, Adelaide, not anymore. There are other ways to deal with the hunger, the intensity of what you're feeling."

I bristle at his presumption. "You don't know anything about me or what I'm feeling."

"Maybe not," he concedes. "But if you ever want to talk about it," he says, "or if you need help figuring out your abilities, you know where to find me."

I snort. "Right. Because you've been so helpful so far."

He chuckles. "What can I say? I'm trying to turn over a new leaf. Give me a chance, Adelaide. You might be surprised."

Before I can respond, he steps back into the hallway. "Sweet dreams, Little Dollie," he murmurs before he turns back into a bat and flies off out of the arrow slit in the tower wall.

"So that's how you got in, creep." I slam the door shut and lean against it, lifting my arm to stare at it in wonder. "Okay, so super speed healing, no, but definitely faster than before." Does that depend on the amount of blood, and what kind? Synthetic versus real? And if so, where do I get real blood around here?

Huffing in frustration, I bet Corvus knows, and I just let him leave. Way to make friends and influence people, you dick.

Groaning as I want to call him back and ask these questions, but I have no idea where he went, so I slide down the door and stare at my arm. "You!" I snap at Orby, startling him. "What is your true purpose, hmm? Why are you here?"

Orby bobs in the air, seemingly unfazed by my outburst. Of course, he doesn't answer. He's just a magical orb, after all. Not a sentient being. Right?

Right?

I sigh, running a hand through my hair. "This is ridiculous. I'm talking to a floating ball and expecting answers."

Standing up, I walk over to my bed and flop down on it, staring at the ceiling. The events of the day swirl in my mind - the library encounter, the mysterious bottle, Ignatius in the dining hall, and now Corvus discovering my secret. It's all too much. This day has been shit, and I feel bad that I haven't even tried to contact my mum yet.

"What am I doing here?" I mutter to myself. "I don't belong in this world of magick and monsters."

But even as I say it, I know it's not true. I do belong here, in a way I never belonged in the human world.

I roll onto my side, my gaze landing on the knife lying on the floor where I dropped it when bat-boy thumped into my door. The urge to cut is still there, a constant itch under my skin. But now I know it won't give me the release I'm looking for. The wounds will just heal, leaving me unsatisfied.

I'll have to find other ways to cope with the intensity. It looks like I'm going to have to track Corvus down tomorrow and ask him to show me these other ways. I rest my hand on the back of my elbow where he touched me. I didn't vomit. I didn't run. I didn't find the feel of skin on mine repulsive. Why? Why is that when only my mother has ever been able to touch me, and even then, in short pockets of time? I wasn't always this way. As a child, I was reserved and skittish but not actively icked out by someone touching me. Then I got my period, that day I first saw Randall and things changed.

Blinking, I reach for my phone to check the date. My period. It was due today. Will I still have this now that my truer nature is being revealed? And what does it have to do with anything? Is it all a big coincidence that I started to really feel out of sorts on my thirteenth birthday? Or is there something more insidious at play here?

Exhausted with my thoughts, I dial my mum.

The phone cuts out, and I sigh. Obviously, it doesn't work here. We are in a parallel universe where the mobile network has no coverage. Yet, I've seen creatures with their phones. So, how do I get on their network?

Another thing to find out tomorrow. I just hope Randall told my mum I arrived safe and sound. But right now, I need to keep reading and get myself fully on a night schedule before classes start next week.