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“Your father has asked you to spend Christmas with him.”
“Which father?” I chuckled. This was hilarious.
He furrowed his brows. “Valentine Morningstar. Your biological father. I’m sure you don’t want to call Stepan Lazarov father after everything he’s done to you.”
Yep, Headmaster Colin was my therapist. I hadn’t gone to our sessions since school had started, but I’d already told him everything during the summer holiday. Therapy had been part of the deal that allowed me to stay at the Academy indefinitely. That, and my promise to study Morningstar while I lived in his old room. I’d discovered a couple of things, actually, but that was a story for another time.
“Well, both my dads want me to spend Christmas with them, so I haven’t decided yet.”
“What is there to decide? Remember what we talked about. You have to learn as much as you can about him. When the time comes, you must be ready.”
“Yeah, I don’t know about that. There’s plenty of time until graduation.”
“You never know what might happen between now and then.”
He spun me around gently, then we both bowed and resumed our dance. We were silent for a minute, and while he was giving me time to consider his suggestion, I was trying to figure out what was amiss. Because something was amiss, for sure. I stole a glance at my table, and I saw Valentine and Stepan argue over my mom’s blond head. She made herself super small and poked at her food. GC and Pazuzu were watching the scene with extreme interest.
“Do you think…” I started reluctantly. “Do you think they know each other, Headmaster Colin?”
“What? No! How could they? They just met this evening. What makes you say that?”
“I don’t know. I just have this feeling.”
The song ended, we bowed, and the Headmaster kissed the tips of my fingers with endless care. It was as if he was worried that if he touched me in any way, it would all be too inappropriate. I smiled at him, thanked him, and went straight to GC and Pazuzu. A rock and roll song started, and most of the students were already on the dance floor. Pandora was dancing with Klaus. What?! She was trying to be his friend because… he was my friend? The world was fucked up.
“Hey you, let’s dance.”
Valentine and Stepan fell silent the second I approached the table. They do know each other. And that was when I knew what I had to do.
“By the way, I’ve decided to spend the holidays with Stepan and Ilena,” I threw over my shoulder as Paz and GC grabbed me by the hands and pulled me toward the dance floor. “We have all the time in the world, don’t we?” I smiled sweetly at Valentine. “One more Christmas with my mom and dad, and then I’m all yours, father.”
Father. The first part had him fuming, albeit guardedly, but the last part did the trick. He smiled back and nodded.
“As you wish, daughter. If that’s what you want, I cannot stop you. Your happiness is my main concern.”
Sure it is, you pompous prick. As if I don’t know every word that comes out of your mouth is a lie. But was Stepan
lying as well? He’d lied about not having heard of Grim Reaper Academy before. Was he lying about Valentine, as well? How could I hope to crack my newfound father, when I couldn’t crack the man I’d lived with my entire life? I’m a piss-poor detective. And that needs to change.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Nope, the fact that I was piss-poor detective didn’t change overnight, nor over the holidays. Stepan was like a wall I could not break. I could scratch at it for hours, days, and not get a one-inch crack, at least. Aloof, impenetrable, but surprisingly not a jerk. He stayed out of my way, avoided my questions grumpily, cut any confrontation short in seconds, and when I pressed him too hard, grabbed his old coat and headed out for a beer. Aside from the fact that I wasn’t getting anywhere with my investigation, this new side of him suited me just fine. He didn’t cuss anymore, he was less violent, and he generally left me and my mom alone. For the first time in nineteen years, I actually had a pleasant winter vacation.
I’d spent my mornings with Mom, sipping coffee and talking about Grim Reaper Academy, Valentine, my boyfriends, and my classes. Since I’d told her about the field trip to Heaven, she’d become even more religious, if that was even possible. She bought a bunch of new icons and built herself a small altar in hers and dad’s bedroom, which I told her was uncommon for Orthodox Christians. She didn’t care. Heaven existed, God existed, so she was going to take all necessary precautions, and then some. She didn’t like that I was dating Pazuzu, a demon, but oddly enough, she had no problem with GC, the false god. I tried to explain to her countless times that demons were not inherently evil, just like angels were not inherently good. I even gave her examples of what Sariel had done to me in year one. I soon discovered she was open-minded about many things, but not this one.
After breakfast, I’d hole up in my room with a steaming pot of tea and professor Lovecraft’s two volumes of short novellas. His writing style had proved to be challenging. I could understand why he hadn’t gotten the attention of any big publishing houses in the supernatural world. His writing was convoluted, with too many adjectives, too many adverbs, and a vocabulary so archaic and rarely used that I had to keep Google close. After a few pages, I usually fell asleep, which was super annoying, because I didn’t want to spend my entire holiday deciphering his books. I also had some serious studying to do. I took notes, wrote a bunch of questions down, and sighed in deep relief when I finally closed the second volume and declared it finished. As he’d told me, he’d written about a few Great Old Ones, but the stories were so complex, the plot drowned in endless descriptions, that I could barely make sense of them. In the end, to my absolute frustration, I realized I’d spent hours reading without understanding much of what I’d read. Francis’s Great Old One, Yig, was only mentioned in a short story called The Curse of Yig, but the description of the serpent-like monster had very little to do with reality. That was one thing I couldn’t wait to ask Mr. Lovecraft about. Why did he believe Yig was a giant serpent? Giant serpents didn’t have a bunch of slimy tentacles… Of course, I couldn’t tell him about the Yig I knew. Maybe Lovecraft’s Yig was some other god? So confused…
After two weeks of not getting much from my dad and spending too much time reading questionable literature, I returned to Grim Reaper Academy mostly the same as I’d left – clueless. I dumped my stuff in my room, went to dinner, then back to my room with two of the hottest guys in school, and had some life-changing, mood-improving sex. Sleep, breakfast, the first day of semester two. Life was back to normal. Valentine Morningstar wasn’t around and settling in my old routine soon gave me a feeling of safety I hadn’t felt in a while – more specifically, since Morningstar had entered my life.
“Hey, where’s your pixie?” Klaus caught up with me at lunch. We were waiting in line to fill our plates.
I chuckled. “On vacation.”
“What do you mean?” His voice was suddenly grave, which I found odd.
“I was at home, I didn’t need a pixie. So, I sent her away with a ring of the bell. Just like she taught me. I don’t need her to serve me all the time, and anyway, I feel bad when I ask her for things. It’s easier when she’s not around.”
Klaus’s pale cheeks turned red, and it had nothing to do with his generally shy personality.
