Initiation (36 page)

“Yep. Hasn’t stirred. The plot thickens?”

“Yes, but I can’t talk about it. The witch will change me into a toad or whatever.” I laughed.

“No problem. I needed to talk to you about something else anyway.”

“Oh?” I handed him a plate of food.

“Don’t look so worried. It’s good news.”

“Tell.” I bit into my steak.

He wafted a letter at me. “Read.”

“Sorbonne? Awesome. But–”

He arched his brows.

“I was hoping to go to Columbia, and I want you to come with. What do you think?”

“In New York?”

“Yes. Imagine it! All the life and buzz of Manhattan.”

“Hmm. Why the change of heart? I thought you had your heart set on staying in Paris.”

“A few things.” I pursed my lips. “Mainly those flipping shifters. Tad’s probably going back to Paris, Mason, too. Their packs are still in Paris, waiting for them to return. Plus, Faustine’s painted a really inviting picture of Manhattan. It sounds like the place to be. She said she’d get her mom to take care of everything for us.”

“I’ll definitely think about it,” Quinn promised. “Look, she’s waking up. If it’s okay with you, I’m going to go. I’ve got a few things to do before the ski team meets up. Why don’t you and Faustine join us?”

“Sounds good. See you later.”

I waited for Faustine to open her eyes, then immediately handed her some food. Soon as she was done, I decided to quiz her a bit. “How are you feeling?”

“Good, now that I’ve fed. I get so hungry after these tests. It’s like they last for days.”

“What’s the last thing you remember, Faustine?”

“Jeez, the spider! Never seen such a mega hairy one before. It was totally disgusting, and it was coming right at me, trying to hop up on my ankles. Blech.” Then she paused, her face a mask of confusion.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“I was in a tub. You know, having a bath. I must have dreamed that just now when I was sleeping, I guess. A nightmare. But you were asking what I last remembered. Sorry. Lemme think. Um… sitting down on the chair in the chamber, I guess.”

“Are you sure? Think really hard.”

She closed her eyes, but when she opened them, she still seemed confused. “Sorry, Cordelia. It’s all so muddled. I can sort of remember pieces. Like I think my fingers fused, but I can’t tell if it was part of my nightmare or not. I think it was, though.”

“Why?”

“Um. I don’t know. Because none of it’s clear; it’s all choppy. But I remember walking into the chamber and sitting in the chair. I must have fallen asleep and had dreams after that. I can remember bits of them. I guess I blacked out, as usual, seeing that I’m back in your room again.”

“I guess. How do you think you got back here?” I knew I was overstepping by asking her all those questions, but I couldn’t help it. My nosiness had taken over.

“I thought you brought me back. You’re always with me, so I assumed you did it.”

“But I wasn’t with you when it happened at home in New York.”

“I know.” Her voice was small. “It was probably whoever was with me at the time–Neave, Tessa, or Mom. Does it matter?”

“I don’t know.” I really didn’t, but I did know that I should stop torturing her with questions when she obviously didn’t have any answers. So I changed the subject. It was time for her to relax and have some fun. “Say, are you up to going skiing?”

“Now? Yes! Awesome. You’re coming, too, right?”

“Yes. Apparently, Quinn is in charge tonight; Jagger has another commitment. So it’ll be extra fun.” I was really looking forward to it. I needed to reconnect with Quinn and forget all about Jagger.

I
hadn’t run into Jagger since the trial. It had been over three weeks, but that wasn’t unusual. I had never seen him before he’d summoned me at the beginning of the term, even though we’d attended the Academy together for over two years. Not many of us actually got to meet Jagger. He either kept to himself or moved in completely different circles from the rest of us. And even now, we had no reason to bump into each other, unless we made a point of it. Obviously, neither of us had.

The night before the trial had been teasingly exciting. My hormones had been in overdrive as I sat next to Jagger on my bed, holding back because Martha and Faustine were in the room with us. I had been totally consumed with him, and would have jumped his bones if we’d been alone. That possibility had since become my go-to fantasy when trying to fall asleep.

But that’s all it was. A fantasy. After the trial, things had returned back to normal. I got on with my mentoring commitments, and he did… whatever it was he did. I hadn’t a clue. I kept hoping for a knock on my door, even a phone call, but…

My heart raced in anticipation while I waited by the ski lifts. He was bound to be up there. It was open house at the ski lodge that afternoon, an opportunity for the ski team to assess and recruit promising new candidates from the Initiate intake. I was looking forward to the après-ski even more–a bonfire barbeque!

I jumped off the lift and landed on the soft, white snow with Faustine beside me.

“O-M-G, it’s awesome up here today! Look at all the people!” she shouted, peering over at the mountains, her eyes shining.

It was great to see her looking so relaxed and happy. Just like a teen should. I watched her twirl in the snow, and then she lay down on her back and made a snow angel, the powder from her boots flying into her eyes. She sat up and giggled.

Abruptly, her lips turned down into a pout. I followed her gaze. In the distance, Martha and Ryker were throwing snowballs at each other.

“Hey.”

I turned around and looked into Jagger’s smiling face. My heart somersaulted. “Hey, yourself. Long time, no see.”

“Yes. I’ve missed you,” Jagger said quietly. “I wanted to come and see you, but…” He shrugged.

“But?” I wasn’t going to let him off that easy.

“You were so angry with me. Plus, you’re always with Faustine. Or Quinn. Even now.”

True. But that wasn’t an excuse. “That’s right. Professor Bern has involved me a bit more with Faustine’s program, so I seem to be busy all the time. I haven’t even made it onto the tennis courts. Speaking of which, how’s your brother doing?”

“I wish I could say
just great
.” He rolled his eyes. “He is in heaps of trouble.”

“Wow!” That was surprising. I looked over at Ryker; he seemed like a really nice guy. “What did he do?”

“It’s more a case of what he hasn’t done. He’s been cutting classes. Anyhow, I’ll tell you more about it later. I’ve got to go and supervise the ski-offs.” He paused. “Cordelia, it really is good to see you again.”

As he took off, he blew his whistle, signaling everyone to gather around him. There must have been thirty or so students up there.

I skied over to Faustine, who was busy chatting with Quinn and McKenzie.

“Okay, listen up, everyone!” Jagger said. “Only ski team members may jump off that ledge over there.” He pointed to the dead drop. “Everyone else has to stick to the runs. Beginners, please line up with Quinn. He’s going to take you down. Intermediates, line up with Sienna and Jewel, and advanced skiers with Delam and Patrice. We’re missing two ski team members today, so I’m going to have to supervise the rest. Everyone find their groups, and let’s get this show on the road. A barbeque and bonfire await us at the chalet!”

I noticed that Faustine waited for Ryker and Martha to ski over to their group before she joined hers. I saw her smile when they joined the beginners. She dug her poles into the snow and zoomed past them. Little showoff. She joined Delam and Patrice’s group.

Hmm. I went up to Jagger. “Is that a good idea?” I pointed at Faustine.

“Probably not. She’s in the right ability group, though.”

“I guess I better go with her,” I said, not feeling particularly confident that I would be able to keep up.

“Look, why don’t you tube down with my group. I’ll chaperone Faustine. Okay?”

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

And they were off. I skied over to my small group–McKenzie, Harrison, and Chun. “Hey, guys! Harry, my, how big you’ve grown! And look at those awesome ski pants!”

Harry hid behind his mom’s legs, eying me suspiciously. I guessed he didn’t remember me, but I’d only met him once before, and very briefly. I just felt like I knew him from all the pictures McKenzie had shown me last year. I smiled at McKenzie and turned to Chun. “I thought Kabir was coming.” Kabir was her new boyfriend, the guy she’d met at the dance.

“Yes, he’s here. He is skiing down with the beginners.”

“Okay, follow me, guys. We’ll take the lift up to the tube run.”

McKenzie watched the rest of the groups starting to line up, with envy written all over her face.

“Hey,” I said. “I can bring Harry down on my own, if you want to ski down with Jagger.”

Her eyes lit up. “Really? You wouldn’t mind? That would be awesome.”

“Go ahead.” I turned to Harry. “You’ll be fine with me, won’t you?”

He stuck out his lower lip. “Mommy?”

McKenzie bent down and kissed his forehead. “You’ll have loads of fun with Cordelia. She’s cool. Take her hand.”

I held out my hand, and he put his around my fingers, grasping them tightly. He was so tiny–a little human. Out of the blue, I felt totally inadequate to be responsible for him. Why had I opened my big mouth? There were vamps on the slopes. It wasn’t just a matter of tubing down safely–I could do that in my sleep–but also a matter of making sure that he didn’t end up as someone’s appetizer. No wonder Jagger had assigned himself to Harrison’s group. It was the most vulnerable of all. Much more so than Faustine even. Sheesh!

McKenzie was already gone, probably totally oblivious to the potential screw-up.

“Cordelia?” Chun prompted. “Can we go?”

“Yeah. Listen, Chun, let’s all of us get on one tube and slide down together.”

“Why? I kinda wanted to go on my own.”

“It’s safer. I can’t keep an eye on both of you if we go on different ones, and since it’s just the three of us now, let’s stick together.”