Shadow Rising

Stupid, ugly, dirty, uncivilized Elkie…

Geiser’s words repeated in my mind the second I saw his smug face the next morning at the breakfast table. They weren’t words I would forget in a hurry.

“Good morning, Theia,” he said politely, smiling his nauseatingly fake smile. “Please join us.”

He gestured to the spare seat next to an eagerly grinning Heidi. I slid into it.

“How did you sleep?” Geiser continued, as he leaned forward and filled my mug with coffee from the French press. He was acting as if last night hadn’t happened.

“Absolutely perfectly,” I replied tightly.

“I’m so glad to hear it.”

He sat back and flashed a loving smile at Mom.

His ability to fake normality was disconcerting. Talk about a psychopath. If it weren’t for the crescent of fingertip-sized bruises on the tops of my arms, even I might’ve thought I’d imagined it.

“Oh, Theia, this is Conrad,” William said as a short, gray-haired Mage in a tight blue suit came waltzing toward the table. “My PR extraordinaire.”

So this was the asshole pulling all the strings? The one who’d advised Geiser to bump off his lap-dancing mistress in favor of my super straitlaced Mom? The one who’d conjured up the wonderful plan of framing Nik’s Vanpari friends? Hell, he was probably the one who’d told Geiser the best thing to do with an Elkie stepdaughter was kill her.

“Nice to meet you,” I said through my teeth.

Conrad’s gaze roved slowly up to my pointed ears. A disgusted sneer twitched at the corner of his lips.

“A pleasure,” he said, cattily.

He sat down at the kitchen table and pulled out some paperwork.

As he and Geiser worked through their schedule of appearances and speeches for the day, I could hardly keep down my breakfast. This was all so gross. So fake. So wrong. I felt dissociated, like I was living some horrible nightmare.

So it actually came as a relief when Emerald flickered her judgmental gaze at me and announced, “We have to get to school.”

I leaped up. “Great! Let’s go!”

Mom looked astonished by my sudden enthusiasm. She flashed me a perplexed half-smile. “Have a good day.”

I practically ran out the house and dive-bombed headfirst into the back of Emerald’s convertible. She hated me too, but at least she didn’t want me dead. Or, at least, I didn’t think so.

As Heidi squished up next to me, I glanced out the window and saw Nik hurrying up the drive. All those tingly feelings he’d stirred in me seemed to reignite in an instant.

It was only as he got closer that I spotted the dark bags under his eyes. He looked like he hadn’t slept at all last night, and my heart ached for him. I couldn’t begin to imagine what he was going through, the sort of pressure he was under. No wonder he’d been such a turd when we’d first met.

He slid into the passenger seat beside Emerald.

“Morning,” she said, flashing him her pearly teeth and flirty grin.

“Morning,” came his stiff reply.

I couldn’t help it. I smirked. Seeing Emerald totally fail to rouse a speck of interest in Nik was pretty satisfying.

Looking peeved to have been brushed off, Emerald started the car and we began the journey to school.

I was desperate to get Nik’s attention. To have some kind of acknowledgment from him that our convo last night had taken place. But he was as silent and brooding as usual. Despite my attempts to catch his eye in the rearview mirror, he kept his gaze dead ahead and the sleeves of his shirt pulled securely down to the wrists. Beneath the fabric was his secret moon-class tattoo, the existence of which seemed to have sent me down a whole new path in life, a path where Nikolas Storm and I were allies against William Geiser, spies who were to instigate his fall from grace. The fact we were now bound together felt like the only light in my otherwise surreal new reality.

Not that Nikolas was acting like we were. I wondered when we’d get a chance to speak properly, to formulate something resembling a plan.

We reached Zenith, and Emerald parked up in the lot. It was strange to see the school back in its daytime incarnation, with the golden sun perched within the bell tower instead of the silver moon of Eclipse. Gone, too, were the imposing wooden doors and dark-green sprawling ivy. To think that many buildings across New York City—from public libraries to government offices—underwent the same daily transformation was mind-blowing. The kind of magic needed to pull it off must have been so powerful I could barely wrap my head around it.

Emerald was first out the car, followed by Nik. Heidi and I had to uncurl ourselves from the cramped back seat, which was made worse by the fact Heidi kept her egg familiar in a huge cage. I’d be happy once that thing hatched and perched quietly on her shoulder like Emerald’s quetzal and Nik’s owl did.

The parking lot seemed busier today than yesterday, with students lingering by their cars and around the benches. The Baphomet and Giantess security guards were at the doors, ushering everyone inside. That hadn’t been the case yesterday. I wondered what was going on.

We walked up to the glass entranceway doors where the guards stood. I kept my head bowed, hoping neither would recognize me from yesterday’s altercation. Blood rushed in my ears, and I felt a heat on my face, as though every eye in the parking lot was turned on me.

“What’s going on?” Emerald asked the Giantess, boldly.

“Emergency assembly,” the Giantess said in a deep, booming voice that sounded bored, as if she’d repeated herself a million times today already.

“Emergency?” Heidi said, sounding panicked.

My stomach lurched with a sudden jolt of fear. Had Retta’s and my little light-fingered spree last night been discovered? Good thing I’d left my bow and arrow hidden in my closet at home.

I glanced over my shoulder, calculating an escape route should I need one.

“There was a fight last night,” the Giantess added. “A Vanpari gang beat up a Celestial student.”

Emerald gasped. A hand flew to Heidi’s mouth. But Nik’s reaction was more like my own. He raised a single, suspicious eyebrow.

Was this fight anything to do with the one I’d witnessed last night with Trevor?

We entered the hall. Immediately, I became very aware of the somber atmosphere. All the chairs had been laid out in rows, giving the place a funeral-service vibe.

I scanned the backs of the heads of the students already seated until I noticed the short-cropped afro of Retta. I beelined for her, sliding into the spare seat beside her.

“Hey,” I said. “Any idea what’s going on?”

“Theia, hey.” She spoke in a whisper as she flashed me a small, friendly smile. “I think it’s about the fight. The one between Trevor and the Vanpari kid.”

I sat back in my seat just as Sister Celeste waltzed across the stage and stopped behind the pulpit. The room fell silent. The tension was palpable.

“I’m sure by now you’ve all heard rumors,” Sister Celeste began, her croaking voice echoing through the silent hall. “So I won’t dawdle. Last night there was an incident between a Zenith student and an Eclipse student. A fight. A Vanpari boy jumped one of our students on his way home from school.”

There was a hushed murmur from the audience.

I caught Retta’s eye. If this was indeed the same incident we’d been witness to, then that wasn’t what had happened at all. Trevor had been the instigator, not the Vanpari boy.

“Vanpari violence is increasing,” Sister Celeste continued. “Until we have the Twilight Curfew properly policed, you can expect more and more of these incidents. I must urge you all to go straight home after school and resist the lures of the twilight hours. I can’t bear the thought of any more of my innocent students being attacked. New York may seem fun at dusk, but the truth is, it can be a dangerous and unforgiving place. You’re too young to remember the violence of the past, but it’s still there, bubbling under the surface. It never really went away, and it’s only getting worse.”

There was a general hubbub of discontent from the students around me.

“Why should we let the moon-class frighten us away from twilight?” someone shouted.

“If we don’t use the twilight then we’ll have given it to them!” another cried.

“Why aren’t Eclipse students being told to stay at home? Why us?”

More and more voices of dissent joined in the fray.

It was surprising to see the Zenith kids being so openly oppositional toward Sister Celeste. My experience with them so far suggested they were a bunch of obedient suck-ups. I guess when it was something that affected them directly, they were willing to stand up. I’d heard them dish out Vanpari taunts in the safety of their school cafeteria, after all, and now that they were being told to quit visiting their favorite coffee shops to buy a skinny vanilla macchiato on the way home, they sure as hell weren’t going to stand for it.

Sister Celeste seemed unfazed by the outcry. “The moon-class have stronger powers,” she shouted over the din. “They never gave theirs up in the peace treaty like the sun-class did.”

I felt my frown deepen. More lies. Did this woman ever speak the truth?

The audience wasn’t about to back down.

“That’s not fair!” someone shouted.

“The bullies are winning!” cried another.

“You’re right, it’s not fair,” Sister Celeste said over the increasing volume. “But it’s how it is. Until we get a proper mayor who can take care of his citizens, it’s how it’s going to be. Which is why I’ve been forced to make the difficult decision of withdrawing from the Shared Premises Treaty with Eclipse School. The school will now be Zenith for twenty-four hours a day.”

A stunned silence fell.

Then, like an incoming wave, people began to clap.

I sat there, appalled by what I was hearing. Sister Celeste had used an incident to whip up yet more anti-moon sentiment. Just to push through her own ideologies. She was basically implementing Geiser’s separatist policy before he’d even got in power! And the worse thing was, everyone was going to let her!

Well, not me. I couldn’t just sit there listening to her use lies to steal Eclipse’s school away from them. I stood up.

“Where are they supposed to go to school now?” I demanded.

I heard the sound of swishing fabric as every head turned to look at me. Hundreds of eyes seemed to bore into me. My nervous heartbeat pounded in my ears.

Sister Celeste squinted. When she realized who it was standing before her, her wrinkled face became even more scrunched up.

“Theia Foxglove,” she said with a barely veiled tone of disgust. “That is not my problem. This school was a sun school long before that stupid 1885 peace treaty made us share it.”

“You mean the stupid peace treaty that effectively ended war in our country and led to economic growth and stability?” I shot back, folding my arms.

“Why yes,” Sister Celeste sneered in return. “The very same treaty that led to an enormous increase in Vanpari-related crime in our city. Not that a forest bumpkin from a purely sun-class community would be able to grasp such a thing.”

Her words were like a slap to the face. Wow. Way to show her true colors.

Of course, the weaselly Zenith kids started to titter. They clearly approved of the fact Eclipse had been forced off the premises. Now Sister Celeste was back in their good books. Spineless bunch of losers.

I looked to Retta. Among the sea of horrible laughing faces, she was gritting her teeth in a show of solidarity.

Then I noticed Nikolas. He was watching me with a look of intense pride. I’d never seen him look that way. For it to be directed at me made my insides ignite.

I sank down into my chair, my heart pounding from adrenaline and from the look in Nik’s eye.

I was determined to stop this sick charade in whatever way I could. If getting close to Nikolas Storm happened in the process, that would just be a very welcome icing on the cake.

*

As we filed out of the assembly hall, I grabbed Retta’s arm and pulled her close to me. I was desperate to tell her about everything that had happened after we’d parted ways last night.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, looking down at my hand clutched around her forearm.

I hesitated. I mean, I didn’t really know her that well—besides her being my partner in crime last night. Maybe it was best to leave Retta out of it.

“Nothing,” I said, shaking my head and dropping my hold on her.

Just then, Nik drew up beside us.

Retta raised an eyebrow at him.

“Uh? Can we help you?” she asked in a cold voice.

Nik and I exchanged a glance. I wasn’t sure how much I could tell Retta about his dual-class situation or being a spy, but my guess was very little if anything.

“You know Nikolas Storm, right?” I said, trying to sound nonchalant.

Retta folded her arms. “Yeah. Son of the moon mayor. Backing Geiser in the election. ’Course I know who he is.” She narrowed her eyes. “What I don’t understand is why he thinks he can stand next to me.”

Yikes. Retta had hostile down to a T.

Nik cleared his throat, evidently intimidated. I couldn’t blame him. Retta could be pretty scary when she wanted to be.

“I’m not backing Geiser,” he explained.

Retta raised a single eyebrow slowly, clearly skeptical. “Sure you aren’t.”

“I want your mom to win the election,” he added.

She let out a disbelieving scoff. “Really? And you’re talking to me because you want to join the Sugar Plum campaign trail or something?”

Nik and I exchanged another furtive glance. It was time to tell Retta what was really going on.

“Geiser’s up to stuff,” I said. “Nefarious stuff. And we want to stop him.”

“We think if we can expose him then the public will turn against him,” Nik added.

I felt a little tingle in my belly at being part of a we with Nikolas.

Retta regarded us with a cautious expression. “What kind of nefarious stuff are we talking about?”

Nik hesitated before answering. “He killed Carmella Reed and framed the Vanpari Five.”

Retta’s eyebrows shot up her forehead. I could tell from her expression that she thought what we were saying was far-fetched. Fair enough, really. I was still having a hard time getting my head around it all myself.

“Do you have proof?” she asked.

“Sort of,” I said.

“Nothing concrete,” Nik replied.

“But we know we’re right,” I added.

There was something I could show to convince her: the fingertip-sized purple bruises on the tops of both of my arms. But I’d not yet had a chance to tell Nik about what had happened in my room last night with Geiser. He was already uncertain about my involvement, thinking it was too dangerous for me. This might just tip him over the edge.

“Also…” I began in a cautious tone, unbuttoning my shirt sleeve, “he kind of threatened me…”

I pulled the sleeve up to reveal the dark-purple finger marks underneath.

Retta’s features twisted into a look of horror. Nik’s face blanched.

“He did this to you?” he gasped, anguish flashing in his eyes.

“He barged into my room last night. Said he’d bump me off if I made things difficult for him.”

Retta sucked air between her teeth.

“That asshole,” Nik hissed, clenching his hands into fists.

I didn’t quite know what to make of his reaction. He seemed really concerned, like he held some genuine affection for me. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking…

“If only I’d thought to record it,” I added sheepishly. “Then we’d have actual evidence.”

“We need to protect you,” Nik said firmly. “This is already escalating way quicker than I thought.” He ran his hands through his hair in an anxious gesture.

“I don’t need protection,” I said, as I tugged my sleeve back into place. “Nothing happened. It was just hot air. I can look after myself.”

He didn’t seem to hear me. “I’ll put a spell on your room tonight. One that will stop intruders getting inside.”

“You mean a lock?” I deadpanned.

But Nik was adamant. “This isn’t a joking matter, Theia. You know what Geiser’s capable of. If he threatened your life then you know he means it.”

Retta looked from him to me, clearly struggling with the new reality we’d embroiled her in.

“This is totally fucked,” she said. “I mean, seriously, what the actual hell? You really think you can bring down Geiser? Just the two of you?”

I couldn’t help but feel a bit sheepish. “Well, right now our plan is to find more evidence against him. Then we’re going to go to Bear Mountain to try and convince Nik’s friend to speak up.”

At the mention of his runaway BFF, Nik shoved his hands deeply into his pockets. He looked so worried for his friend it made my stomach swirl with sympathy.

“And Nik’s friend would be…?” Retta asked.

“The missing kid from the Vanpari Trials,” I told her.

Retta whistled slowly. If she’d been having a hard time getting her head round it all before, this next installment in the saga would be even more perplexing.

“This just gets crazier,” she muttered.

Silence fell. I chewed my lip, worried that Retta would brush it all aside. It would definitely be easier for her to walk away.

But finally, she gave a nonchalant shrug.

“I’m totally joining you,” she said. “On the anti-Geiser team. Let’s bring that douchebag down.”

Relief washed through me.

Then there were three.