Initiation (37 page)

We made our way to the lifts, the day suddenly having twisted from a carefree fun time in the snow into a
make-sure-to-keep-the-human-toddler-away-from-the-vamps
kind of afternoon. Ugh.

Thankfully, I had worried for nothing. The whole thing went off without a hitch. I should have sat back and enjoyed the run down the mountainside, listening to Harry chuckle and scream in delight, instead of listening for vamps.

“Again, again!” Harry shrieked when we got to the bottom.

Chun and I laughed. There was no way we were turning down that irresistible request. So, up we went again. And again. Six times.

“Maybe later,” I said as Harry repeated his request for the seventh time. “Let’s get some food first. I bet you’re hungry for a hotdog or a burger.”

“A hotdog and some corn-on-the-cob?” He had obviously gotten over his initial shyness.

“And corndogs!”

“With butter?”

I tossed his hair. “Yep, lots of butter, too. Come on.” I walked them over to the chalet where McKenzie waited. Harry shot into her arms.

“Where did you guys go? I was about to send out a search party,” she said, only half-jokingly, I was sure.

“We went up and down lots and lots of times, Mommy. I wanna go again, but I’m hungry.”

“I bet you are. Let’s get you changed out of these wet clothes first.” She squeezed my shoulder. “Cordelia, thanks. I really appreciate it.”

“Any time. Harry’s great! Maybe we’ll get him on skis soon.”

“No!” Harry said. “I like tubing.”

“Okay, buddy. Tubing it is!” I laughed and went inside to get changed.

I took my time in the shower, letting the spray of hot water massage my shoulders and back. Getting dressed, I noticed all the chatter in the chalet seemed to have ceased. I guessed that everyone was outside, enjoying the food and the bonfire. The thought made me hungry, so I blow-dried my hair quickly.

As I passed another changing room on my way out, I heard someone. I stopped and listened.

“
Give me the boy
.”

What did that mean? Who was that? I put my ear to the door.

“
Scream, and I’ll kill him
.”

Ugh. Delam.

I could hear McKenzie clearly as she whispered, “Please. Let him go. He’s just a kid.”

“I will. I just want a little sip. His blood smells so good. Have a little drink yourself. You know you want to.”

What the hell was I supposed to do now? If I opened the door to help, Delam could kill Harry. But if I just stood–

A bloodcurdling screech tore through the chalet. I ripped open the door and rushed in, throwing myself on top of Delam. I had transformed, and I blindly ripped into him. He fought me, taking shots trying to jam his fangs into me. McKenzie continued screaming, tears streaming down her face.

“McKenzie!” I yelled, slapping Delam’s face away from my neck. “Get Harry and run! Now!”

She just shook her head, sobbing. “He’s gone!”

Gone? Like in dead? How? Surely, Delam didn’t have the time to kill him before I got in there. I grabbed Delam by the neck, raised him up over my head, then slammed him down hard on the floor. I’d had enough of him. I lifted his head and smacked it down hard again, just for good measure. He was out, so I transformed back. It seemed safe with Delam unconscious on the floor.

I looked around for Harry. “Where is he?” I asked McKenzie, who was still bawling. “Get a grip! Where the heck is Harry? Did he escape?”

“I don’t know. He just vanished,” she stuttered.

“What do you mean? Vanished?”

McKenzie just stared at me, her eyes empty and her lips quivering.

I took her by the shoulders and shook her. “McKenzie! Talk to me!”

She nodded, wiping the tears from her face with her sleeve. “Cordelia, he disappeared. Delam made a grab for him, but before he could even touch him, Harry disappeared. Just vanished, right in front of me.”

“Were you holding his hand when he vanished?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think so. I let go to pounce on Delam.”

“Mommy!”

I spun around. Right behind me was Harry! He ran around me and jumped on McKenzie.

“Harry! Where did you go? I was scared out of my mind.” McKenzie hugged him close.

“Mommy, I didn’t go anywhere. That man was scary.” He pointed to the unconscious Delam. “Is he asleep now? Can we go home?”

“Yes, of course.” McKenzie turned to me. “Cordelia, I’m going to go while the going is safe. Thanks. Can you tell Quinn what happened and ask him to deal with it? I’ll talk to you in the morning.” She grabbed her bag and rushed out, with Harry clinging to her.

In a daze, I went outside to find Quinn.

“Everything okay?” Ryker asked, appearing from the shadows.

“I guess.” I shrugged.

“I thought I heard yelling.”

“Yes. There was a situation in the chalet. Everything is fine now, but I need to find Quinn. Have you seen him?”

“Yeah. He’s by the bonfire, talking to Faustine.”

“Thanks. Are you walking that way?”

“No, I’m going back to my room. See you.”

“Right.” I watched him disappear toward the parking lot. Ryker. There was something strange about that boy. I thought maybe I should get to know him better, since he was Jagger’s brother.

Anyhow, it was time to find Quinn and have him do the cleanup. Annoying vamps. And I was a stupid demon. I should have gone with McKenzie to help keep her son safe. In fact, I should have insisted on her calling someone to drive her home. Still, Delam was out, so hopefully she was safe.

“Hey, babe. Did you have fun?” Quinn scooped me up and kissed me.

The heat from the fire felt toasty against my skin. “Hey. We have a problem.” I updated him with the short version, leaving out the part where Harry vanished.

“Not your fault, babe. We all should have expected that. I guess we were distracted. Anyhow, I’m going to go and deal with it. See you later. Keep an eye on Faustine. She’s over there.” He pointed to the other side of the bonfire.

I walked over and sat down on a log beside Sienna, who was sipping on a drink. Jewel plucked on a guitar while Patrice belted out a rendition of
No Woman, No Cry
. Faustine, Jagger, Martha, and a few others were humming along. I closed my eyes and tuned into the music.

“Some food?” Jagger appeared beside me with a plate of steak. “I saved this for you. Where have you been?”

“Jagger, let’s go somewhere else, some place we can talk.” And possibly make out. He looked hot, flushed from skiing. I had really missed him.

“Sure.” He extended his free hand and helped me to my feet.

I held on to his hand, rubbing his fingers as we walked into the woods. We came across a fallen oak tree. “Let’s sit here,” I suggested.

We sat in silence while I ate my dinner, watching the moon gliding in and out of the clouds. Once I was done, I told Jagger what had happened. The long version. I didn’t leave out anything.

“Another human does the vanishing trick. Now that is weird,” Jagger remarked.

“No kidding. I was dying to ask him to describe what happened. But he’s so tiny, and McKenzie was in a hurry to leave.”

“Delam is out? For sure?”

“Yes, he won’t be getting back up for hours. Quinn will probably drop him off at the infirmary.”

“Good. I’ll deal with him later.”

“Thanks. What a total jerk.”

“Ryker was outside, you say? And he went back to the dorm?”

“Yes. How are you getting along with him? Have you told him you’re his brother yet?”

“No. Not yet. I’m planning to soon. I was just waiting for him to settle down. All these issues with him not attending class and stuff aren’t helping. I was hoping to make friends with him first, have him trust me somewhat, before I told him. At the moment, all I seem to be doing is talking with him about his behavior. He probably dreads running into me.”

“What do you know about his mother?”

“Nothing. He’s not the sharing type at all. Even less so than anyone else I know. He hasn’t even fessed up to the fact that he’s a faery. Or a Wanderer. He doesn’t say much at all. He seems totally distracted most of the time, like his mind is elsewhere.”

“Maybe he doesn’t know what he is.”

“Perhaps. He seems pretty confident, though. It’s like he’s completely self-assured. To the point that he doesn’t attend his classes or tests. What’s up with that? Why bother to come here at all?”

“Maybe his parents made him. Or he just came to get to know you. He probably knows you’re his brother.”

Jagger laughed. “Now that would be funny, both of us going around in circles, each knowing. Although, I guess there’s a small chance that he isn’t… it’s not like we have a paternity test to prove it one way or the other. He doesn’t seem like a faery at all.”

“What makes you say that?”

Jagger shrugged. “Just a feeling. I can usually tell faery. He doesn’t even smell like one.”

“Hm. What does he smell like?”

“Totally neutral, which is really weird.”

“Maybe he uses some kind of faery-odor neutralizer.” I snickered.

“Ha, ha.”

“If you really want to find out for sure, why don’t you just break into Mrs. Stone’s office again and read his notes?”

“I tried. The folders are all gone. Frau Schmelder must have moved them to a new location after we broke in.”

“Have you tried asking him?”

Jagger looked at me, surprised. “You know I can’t do that. School policy, remember?”

“Listen to you,” I goaded. “And it’s within school policy to break into the head mistress’s office…?”

“All right, smarty pants.”

“Well, why haven’t you? The real reason this time.”

“Ryker’s a bit distant. He doesn’t exactly invite questions about himself. He’s almost formal when he talks to me. Not exactly buddy-buddy.”

“Weird. I wonder if he’s like that with Martha?”

“He seems to be. Not that she notices.” He smiled.

“So how are we going to get him to loosen up? To blab?”

“I don’t know.”

“We’ll figure something out. But not right now. We better get back. Quinn’s probably looking for me, and I want to know what he did with Delam.”

“Cordelia, hold up.”

“What?” I hoped it was time for some Jagger smooching.

“Don’t you think it’s a bit of a coincidence?”

“What is?” I was so glad I hadn’t puckered my lips.

“These so-called vanishings–first Faustine and now Harry. Both of them human, or partly so. It almost seems to be some kind of rescue mechanism. Really weird.”