Chapter Nineteen

Over the next few weeks, I barely had a moment to myself—even less so than usual, that was. I'd been kept busier than ever learning how to control my wolf form, and celebrating its discovery with Cole. Okay, mostly with the celebrating thing. And most of our celebration was done in the privacy of our room. I couldn't shift at will yet, only when Ryker forced me to shift, but I had managed to shift back once on my own. Learning to run on four legs was proving harder than I'd expected, though. I mean, if I really was a shifter—and seriously, how the hell had the council missed that? Because the whole turning into a wolf thing kinda proved I was—shouldn't this all have been instinctive? Ryker, I could tell, thought the whole thing was as amusing as hell, and my lessons were split between trying to walk in a straight line, and resisting the urge to take a run at Kallan every time I caught his sniggering face turned my way, which was more often than not.

And then there was learning to use my newly enhanced senses, which sadly didn't apply when I was in my human form. Ryker agreed it was weird that my senses were only on par with a normal human if I wasn't shifted, but given the fact I was supposed to be a dhampir, weird was getting to be kind of relative.

And if weird had been the extent of my problems, I'd have been elated. Because the wolf thing? Having the coordination of a two-day-old pup aside, that was pretty damn cool. The Thaden situation, on the other hand, was a mess. I wasn't sure if he regretted what we'd done together, or what he'd told me the morning after, or if he just hated me on principle, but the rejection stung just the same. And I'd promised myself I wouldn't waste any more time even thinking about it—it wasn't like I didn't have enough to occupy me, what with Cole and shifting and Cole's reaction to my shifting—but he just kept creeping back into my thoughts.

"If brooding could fix your problems, they'd have been fixed a long time ago," Ling said over the top of a dusty tome.

"I am not br—Oh, I'm so brooding again, aren't I?"

"Yup."

"I don't know how he manages to get under my skin like this."

Ling lowered her book. "Girl, after everything you've been through, it'd be strange if he didn't get under your skin."

"At least Thessalia has stopped giving me a hard time."

"Firmly in the plus column," Ling agreed with a shudder. I might have been allies with Thessalia for a brief time last year, but we were never going to be friends. Which was fine by me—I was quite happy being ignored, thank you very much. People ignoring you tended not to be actively trying to kill you. Which, as Ling so eloquently put it, was firmly in the plus column.

"And Thaden has fulfilled most of his promises with the resident humans."

"Most?" Ling frowned, setting her book right down on the table in front of us.

"Yeah. Turns out swinging the time in the grounds is proving tricky. But the last of the new furniture arrived last week, and I'm not kidding Ling, you should have seen their faces." I shook my head bitterly. "It was like it was Christmas."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Ling said carefully, watching my face.

"It's furniture. Basic, functional furniture. How did anyone let their situation get so bad that furniture is the highlight of their year?"

"Good job they've got you to turn things around for them. I'm serious, Cali. You should be proud of what you've achieved. Centuries of tradition doesn't just get turned around overnight."

"See, that's the thing though. It's not centuries of tradition. Astor was—" I glanced around, and despite the fact that we were, as usual, utterly alone in the library, I lowered my voice. "Astor was human once, and not ‘raised by vampires in some kind of twisted adoption' human. She grew up knowing nothing about vampires. How could she have allowed things to get this bad? It's almost like…" I shivered. "Like she wants them to suffer."

"Well, they're suffering less because of you."

"Right, but what happens when I graduate?"

The question hung between us unanswered until I turned back to the abandoned book in front of me. "One problem at a time, I guess. How many of these journals do we have left to go through?"

Ling glanced to her right. "Twenty-eight."

Twenty-eight more journals of past academy dominas and domini—and these things were long. But if there was a record of any shifter leading a pack from within the academy, there was a pretty good chance it'd be here. Finding it, on the other hand…

With a groan, I slid my book closer to me. "Still, it might be in this one, right?"

"That's the spirit. Delusional optimism. Wait…"

"Ha ha, very funny."

"No, Cali, look."

She slid her book across to me, almost sending it right over the edge of the table in her excitement. I scanned the text quickly.

It grieves me to record the loss of Alpha Victor and his heir apparent Samuel during the Battle of Bloodswood. Their unfortunate demise has left the Nightfleet pack bereft of leadership at a time when strength and stability are most needed.

As there are no remaining direct descendants to assume the mantle, the pack has summoned Victor's nephew and current Darkveil pupil, Athelstan. Despite Athelstan's youth and inexperience, as Victor's closest living kin it is his bloodright to take up this duty.

Though I have my doubts, the urgency of the situation leaves little alternative. As domini of this institute, I shall render what aid I might to ensure that Athelstan has what support he requires to maintain his position while he completes his education.

"It's not exactly his position, I know," Ling said, "but…"

"But it's close enough." I pushed my chair back. "I need to tell Cole."

"Go." She bundled the book into my arms, and I hurried out of the library, excited and terrified in equal measure. Because this…this meant it was real. Cole would have to fight his father.

"Careful, dhampir girl."

I jerked my head up to see Jax's grinning face right in front of me.

"Er, sorry. Got to go, bye!"

I stepped round him quickly and hurried away, and it wasn't until I reached the dorms that it occurred to me to wonder why Jax had been going to the library. I shook my head. Somehow, I didn't think he was there for the books.

"Hey, princess," Cole said as I stepped into our dorm, pulling me into his arms and inhaling deeply. For a moment, I melted into his hug, enjoying the closeness of his body against mine. It truly did feel like coming home.

And then I pulled back.

"What's wrong?" he asked immediately, scrutinizing my face. "Who upset you?"

"No-one. I was in the library with Ling. We found this."

I held the book out and he frowned like he was trying to do advanced calculus in his head.

"And…there shouldn't have been a book in the library?"

"Not the book, what's in it. We found what we were looking for, Cole. There was a student who was also an alpha before. It's all in here."

At once, he was all business.

"We need to show Blaine."

"But…we can't take the book out of the academy. It belongs to the library."

Cole barked a sharp laugh. "You're about to defy the council by leaving the grounds again, and you're worried about stealing a library book?"

"Yeah, well, books matter. What?"

He shook his head ruefully. "Don't ever change, princess."

"Wasn't planning on it."

"Good. I promise we'll have the book—and you—safely back by morning."

"You'd better," I warned him. "Because if you get me banned from the library, you can go and bunk with Jax for the rest of the year."

If, that was, Jax wasn't too busy bunking with my friend.

*

When night fell, we slipped out into the grounds, book hidden inside my backpack and carefully wrapped—because that thing was older than half my bloodline, and I wasn't about to let it get damaged on my watch. Under the cover of darkness, we made for the gap in the wards, and slipped over the wall. Too bad I couldn't shift on command—my own command—because that would have come in handy right about now. Instead, I was sidelined while Cole shifted, and then had to scramble onto his back. Still, at least it was easier to carry the backpack in a form with arms, which was probably a large part of the reason it made it to the Wandering Willow in one piece.

Once Cole had shifted back and reclaimed his clothes, we headed to the old inn and pushed open the door.

"Greetings, wary—" Aodh cut off midway through his customary greeting and he blew out a breath. "Come in, quickly. You're letting the cold air in."

"We both know your patrons can't feel a thing, Aodh," Cole said curtly.

"No, but I can. I assume you're not just here to annoy me?"

We stepped further inside, letting the door swing shut behind us. I cast a glance around the inn at the half dozen ‘patrons' sitting at the crumbling tables and staring blankly into space, wondering if any of them were the same unfortunates from the last time we'd been here. There was no sign of the smashed tables I'd seen that time, at least.

"We need a portal," Cole said without preamble.

"Yes, of course," Aodh said, and my attention snapped to him. It wasn't like him to be so obliging—every other time we'd been here, he'd made a big show of how much of a pain in the ass we were. His gaze slid quickly off to one side, but not before I noticed it had been lingering on me. I edged closer to Cole before cursing myself for showing weakness.

"Don't worry," Aodh said. "The pie isn't for you."

Something about his tone stopped that sounding as reassuring as it might have, but this time I was careful not to react.

"Usual price," Cole said, and Aodh nodded quickly.

"Yes, of course. Come."

He stepped further into the room and shoved a couple of tables aside, as usual not making any kind of effort to hide his magic from his patrons—and as usual, not one of them seemed to notice he was in the room.

Cole passed him a pair of tiny crystals and Aodh thrust them quickly into his pocket, not pausing to hold them up to the light like he had before. Maybe he just trusted Cole not to cheat him by now?

The innkeep muttered a few words in an ancient fae language, and a portal sprung into existence. Through it, I could see the familiar streets of the Iron Shadow packlands, and Cole nodded in satisfaction. He stepped through, and as I made to follow, a hand wrapped around my upper arm and pulled me back. The portal snapped out of existence and I twisted round to glare at Aodh.

"What the hell are you playing at?" I demanded.

"Peace," he said, waving aside my anger. "I require just a moment of your time."

"You better open that portal back up or Cole's going to kick your ass. You had a deal."

"One that I shall fulfil. Just as soon as we've spoken about our bargain."

A chill ran down my spine.

"You did not imagine I'd forgotten?" He sounded equal parts amused and annoyingly smug.

"Hardly," I muttered. "You'd better speak quickly."

He eyed me. "You've grown more confident, haven't you?"

"Clock's ticking, Aodh."

His eyes glittered with amusement. "Time doesn't work that way this close to Underhill."

Well, that was disturbing.

"Rest assured, Cole will not notice your delay."

Also disturbing.

"What do you want?" I asked evenly.

"Nothing beyond your ability to repay, as we agreed. I merely require you to meet with someone, alone."

"Alone? Who?"

"A better question would be when. You have one moon in which to do as I ask, or you shall be considered forfeit of our deal."

"A time frame was never part of our deal."

"Nor was it specifically not. An error on your part, not mine."

I blew out a resigned breath. I had a lot to learn when it came to the fae. Namely, don't make deals with them.

"Fine. Where do I meet your friend? And how will he know I'm coming?"

Aodh reached into his pocket and withdrew a flat, egg-sized red stone that shone faintly. At first I thought it was reflecting the firelight, but as I looked more closely, tiny lights danced within the gem. Twenty-eight of them, I knew instinctively.

"Hold this tightly, and your intention more tightly still. The Cailleach stone will both guide you to your contact and alert him to your impending arrival. Unless twenty-eight days have passed…but by then, you'll have more pressing concerns."

I suppressed a shudder.

"I'm not going back on my word, Aodh," I said, aiming for bored and probably not pulling it off. "Who am I meeting?"

"Your father."