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When I do scrounge up the nerve, I find nothing I didn’t expect. Banter with the other heirs. Olivia’s posts on his page barely skating the edge between concerned girlfriend and overbearing. Her posts are like clockwork. Every Friday she tags him in whatever event they have planned. And every Sunday night she mentions him again, with lots of emojis about how much fun she had with him at whatever thing they supposedly did.
The wolves and witches don’t interact with him at all, but that’s not the case with the vampires. A majority of the events in Olivia’s Friday posts are in Cypress City. The vampire-run city that Stevie warned me to steer clear of our first week.
“Hey” Austin startles me out of investigation concentration, or as the teen dramas I like would say, stalker mode. “It’s almost time for third period. Want me to walk with you?”
“Oh, thanks, but no. I’ve gotta go all the way out to the infernal lair. Wherever that is.”
Austin whistles through his teeth. “Yikes. The Demonology class. Good luck.”
Following the map to the infernal lair is more of a challenge than it has any right to be. Why is the damn lair so far from the rest of the buildings? Do they really expect me to make it to the other end of campus, through the forest to the very edge of the grounds without shimmering—er, blinking—there?
Or is that what everyone else was doing?
That must be it. But without the benefit of seeing the place I’m blinking to, blinking in unfamiliar territory is never a good idea.
Elementary instructors used to show Celestian children the inherent danger of fast-travel on their first day of third year with a charmed frog. The frog would seem to blink out of its enclosure to the grounds just outside the class window.
Except only half the frog would make it.
It was a gruesome lesson no one forgot.
My only choice is to get there as fast as I can without the benefit of fast-travel. I’ll likely be a few minutes late, but I’m sure the instructor will understand.
The bell for the start of the period rings just as I finally get to the forest that surrounds the campus. I pick my way through the branches, trying to find the path the map shows, but it’s so overgrown there’s nothing but brush and vines and crunchy autumn leaves all covered in a thick layer of fallen pine needles.
The needles make every bit of ground I reclaim from the overgrowth slippery and unstable.
If I bust my ass out here and have to go to class with mud on my knees and uniform… I keep pushing through the twisted branches and vines, scraping my palms and face with every forward step.
“Of all the stupid places in the seven realms… Ow!” A thorn catches my leg, dragging through my skin. It’s lodged so deep, blood already beads at the wound.
A single drop falls to my sock.
Carefully, I pull the thorn out and think about cursing it.
I don’t. It’s only doing what it’s made to do. Instead, I focus on looking for the best way out of the forest. There’s no cleared path, but at this point I’d settle for trampled grass and sticks.
But there’s nothing. There’s no indication that anyone with two legs has been in the forest recently.
Or ever.
My only option is to shimmer out. Except I’d have to use a ring with demon magic, so technically…
I’d be blinking out.
“Get it together, Dove,” I scold myself before studying the map. Trying to make a mental image of the Demonic Lair as it relates to where I am is harder than it should be. My mind map isn’t perfect, but it’s better than getting torn to shreds by plant life. I force the mental image to clear up and touch the ring of demon power around my finger.
It’s the first time I’ve used demon magic here. The foreign power bites into me like shards of glass as I manipulate it. Sweat breaks out along my forehead, but I keep struggling to form the magic.
This is nothing like the practice sessions with Sera.
The magic stabs at my energy, pulling at the ward holding my native power dormant.
What in the seven fucking realms is happening?
With a grunt, I force the magic back inside the ring and brace myself against a tree trunk.
“Looks like you could use a hand.” The voice is familiar, but not in a good way.
