Initiation (41 page)

“I’m really sorry. I got held up. But I’m here now, so let’s go. Where are Martha and Chun?”

“They couldn’t wait, but they just left a minute ago. We’ll catch up with them.”

By the time we got to the cafeteria, Martha and Chun were already sitting at a table with Quinn and the vamp twins. They were both so young-looking, and incredibly beautiful with long, flowing hair and wide smiles. From where I stood, it was nearly impossible to tell that they were vampires, and I was almost jealous of their model-perfect looks. Quinn probably wasn’t too unhappy to be spending every moment with those two, I thought wryly.

As we approached the table, the twins’ eyes widened and fixated on Faustine. I noticed them grabbing each other’s hands under the table.

“Cordelia! You made it.” Quinn rose and kissed me on my cheek. “Let me introduce you, now that the whole group is here. These are my wards, Audrey and Viola.” He pointed to each of them. I was impressed he could tell the difference between them; I was clueless. Faustine was very antsy through the intros and practically sped away as soon as he’d finished.

“You okay?” I asked, catching up with her at the food station. Was she worried about the vamps?

“I am now,” she said, as she bit into her meat right at the station. I let her munch down before we grabbed a few more rare slices and headed back to the table. She smiled widely at the twins, showing no hint of anxiety.

“Sorry I was so rude before,” she apologized. “I was ravenous.”

“No worries,” one of the twins replied. “We know what that’s like.”

“Yes, I guess you do.” Faustine giggled. “Being vampires, I mean.” Then, a strange expression came into her eyes, one I had never seen before. It was dark and intimidating. She looked the vamps right in the eye, one by one, and in an even, quiet voice, said, “Make no mistake. I. Am. Not. A. Snack. Try anything, and you’re toast.”

A chill ran through me.

The twins glanced at one another, then one spoke up. “No worries! We just want to be friends; that’s all.”

Faustine’s face softened back to its usual friendly expression. “Awesome! So, where are you from?”

“London. What about you?”

“I live in New York, but my dad is the demon king of London.”

I smiled at Faustine’s name dropping. I guessed she was making it doubly clear to the twins that she was not to be messed with.

“Are you a demon? Like a real one?”

“Yes, Viola. I am,” Faustine replied, leaving out the whole human bit. “So are Martha and Cordelia.”

I cast a glimpse at Martha. She seemed to be miles away, her eyes glazed. I followed her line of vision directly to Ryker. He was sitting and eating all by himself. I wondered where Jagger was. “Go invite him to join us, if you want,” I said, nudging Martha.

“Um. If it’s okay with you guys, I think I’ll go over and join him instead. I’ll see you upstairs.” She took her plate and left.

Faustine looked over at Ryker, and I saw their eyes meet and lock in a mesmerizing moment. There was something between them; that was for sure. But what?

J
agger had invited me to sit in on Ryker’s test again. The weeks since the last one had been uneventful, pretty routine, in fact. Professor Bern was still working out how to proceed with Faustine’s tests, which had basically come to a standstill. So, I was pleased to be sitting in on Ryker’s.

Ryker and Jagger had been pretty scarce. We sometimes ran into them during dinner, but when we did, Martha monopolized Ryker completely, so I hadn’t had a chance to needle him for any information. The Academy didn’t allow any direct questioning, but I was pretty good at extracting information through casual prattle. From the occasional chats I’d had with Jagger, I learned that he hadn’t had much luck in that department either. So Ryker remained an enigma.

I hoped that the test design would force some responses from Ryker. He had to have some powers, surely. He was Jagger’s brother, after all. Jagger was such a strong, full-on faery, that it was hard to accept that someone so closely related to him had no powers at all. Maybe he was a human hybrid, but that a human hybrid could suppress the powers to that extent was totally mind-blowing. Of course, we didn’t know for sure that his mom was a human or a Wanderer. Just because she had a connection with Spencer Darley didn’t mean she was a Wanderer. She could have married into the family, or been adopted. She may well be human, especially since Mason had been left with her. Faeries often preferred a human’s hand where their offspring’s growth and development were concerned.

Mason. Ugh. Yet another loose end.

I scrutinized my monitor, wondering what scene Ryker would be put into for the afternoon. Ryker, looking hot and broody as usual, sat in the chamber armchair, ready to start. The lights went out, and the blank screen was replaced by a video. It didn’t start on a static image, but jumped right into an amusement park scene.

It could have been any amusement park, but it definitely wasn’t a fair or even a pier scene. The park was one of the bigger ones, like Six Flags or Busch Gardens. The sun was just starting to set, and the skies were clear. Hundreds of people milled around–children with their parents, groups of teenagers, young couples, and the occasional loner. The lines to get on the rides were long, and the crowd brimmed with activity–laughing, crying, whining, getting on and off rides, buying popcorn, playing arcade games–a normal evening at any amusement park in the world. I felt a bit overwhelmed just looking at the mass of people, so not my scene.

Taking a quick look at the chamber, I noticed that Ryker was tense, sitting up straight, his back rigid. He moved his head around, as if searching for something, or maybe somebody. I turned my attention back to the screen.

Ah! How clever of whomever who had thought of the addition. I guessed Jagger had shared Ryker and Martha’s friendship with the tech, or perhaps Ryker himself had spilled; I hadn’t been at any of their meetings. Martha had appeared on the screen. She was on her own, looking positively human, blending with the crowd. I wondered how they’d managed to set that up? Had they actually taken Martha to a park and filmed her? Lucky! Or was it a special effects creation, set up in our film and television department?

Whichever, it was very realistic. Martha looked right at home in the park, strolling around confidently. She even nodded and smiled at passersby. I wondered how they’d made sure she didn’t stop and engage one of them in a long conversation. She went in and out of the rides and stalls until she came to a line beside a rollercoaster. She joined it and waited, again without engaging with anyone. She stood in line for about ten minutes before it was her turn to get into a car. She chose to ride by herself, even though the guy who strapped her in offered to sit her with another loner.

In the chamber, Ryker rose from his armchair and stepped forward purposefully–toward Martha, I assumed. He still seemed a bit tense, but he had a smile plastered on his face.

Martha’s car slowly moved up the track. As the car reached the top of the first hill, she took off her restraints and stood. I gulped. Her hands were up in the air, waving. She looked down and shouted “
Hi
” at someone.
Sit down
! I yelled silently. Even though it was clearly a special effect, it appeared so real that it made my stomach heave.

The car lurched forward, and she went flying off, screaming, her face frozen in terror. Had it not been a special effect, she would have transformed, and we’d have seen a demon somersault down to the ground.

“He’s gone! He’s gone!” the tech yelled, gesturing widely with his arms. “Look!” He pointed at the chamber.

Yep, Ryker had disappeared. Vanished, just like Faustine. “Boy! Another one bites the dust! Where do you think we’ll find him? In his bed?” If that wasn’t a sure sign that Ryker was a human of some kind, I didn’t know what was.

“Beats me, but let’s go look,” Jagger said. “Can we just have a quick run-through of Ryker’s recording in slow motion before we go? I want to see if he started to transform before he left.”

After we’d established that there had been no sign of transformation–just poof and he was gone–Jagger and I hightailed it to Ryker’s room.

Ryker wasn’t on his bed or anywhere else, so we checked Jagger’s room. Nope. While we stood wondering where to search next, my cell phone rang.

“Cordelia?” Dax’s voice sounded shaky.

“Yeah. What’s up, Dax? Everything okay?”

“No. Not really. Faustine has disappeared.”

“What?” I felt nauseous. “How? When?”

“About ten minutes ago. We were in class. She was sitting right beside me, and then she just… vanished.”

“Did she leave? Like walk out?”

“No, she
vanished
. I can’t find her; I’ve hunted all over the place.”

Ugh. “Have you looked in my room?”

“No. Should I? I haven’t got a key.”

“I’ll meet you over there. See you in a couple.”

I grabbed Jagger’s hand and pulled him along with me, explaining on the way. How could she just have vanished from class? Dax hadn’t mentioned any danger, or that she had transformed.

I unlocked my door and burst into the room, stopping short at the sight on my bed. Lying on my bed in a peaceful sleep, Faustine was making her small grunting noises. She lay in her usual position, but without being cocooned in a blanket.

But that wasn’t why I gawked.

Ryker
lay on the floor next to my bed. He seemed to be fast asleep as well. I bent down and shook his shoulder. “Ryker, are you all right?”

He opened his eyes wide and sat up unsteadily.

“Can I get you something to eat? Drink?” I had no idea what Ryker needed.

“Just some water, please?”

Water? Odd choice, but I got him a bottle while Jagger helped him get up and over to the sofa bed.

“Is Faustine okay?” Ryker asked, breathing heavily.

“Yes, I’m sure she is. She normally sleeps for quite a while after these episodes. How did you get in here?”

Ryker rubbed his eyes, looking disoriented. “I don’t know… I was at Disney World with Faustine, and she was about to fall off a rollercoaster…” He scrunched his brow and rubbed his shoulders. “I don’t know… Where am I?”

Poor guy, he was obviously totally confused.

“Ryk, it’s okay. You’re in Cordelia’s room. I’m going to accompany you back to yours, so you can rest up. Okay?” Jagger said gently.

Ryker nodded, still wearing a vacant expression. “I need to call Uncle Spencer,” he mumbled.