Initiation (44 page)

“Huh?” I stared at him blankly.

“There’s this weird energy flowing between you. You’ve gotta be able to feel it.”

“Maybe,” Jagger replied noncommittally. “Anyway, back on topic. We were talking about Faustine.”

“No, not so fast.” Ryker sat forward in his chair and glared at us.

I glared right back. I was glad Jagger was beating my heart for me, or else it would have been jumping around all over the place.

“Stare away.” Ryker laughed. “You two are synched to each other. Right?”

What could a fifteen-year-old Wanderer-faery hybrid know about synching? And how the heck could he tell?

“Well, normally, I wouldn’t be able to. I can only listen in on Faustine’s thoughts, and not always. I can only listen to yours at the moment because there seems to be an open field between you two. You ought to do something about that–major security liability, if you know what I mean.

“Anyhow, you want to know how I knew? Well, I know you’ve been wondering about me and Faustine… we’re synched, have been for a while, though she doesn’t have a clue, of course.”

“So you came to the Academy because you’re synched with her?”

“No, that’s not the only reason. I had my mom arrange it so that I was assigned as her Wanderer. So, she’s kinda my job.”

I knew that Wanderers were assigned to specific humans, notable ones who warranted study. I guessed it would have been easy to convince the Wanderer council to have assigned Faustine. She was pretty unique.

“Sneaky.” I smiled. “So, is your mom a Wanderer?” I slipped in as casually as I could.

He laughed. “Sneaky maybe. But it works for me. And for Faustine. And listen to you! Trying to needle me for info that’s clearly private.”

“I had to try.” I frowned. “Anyhow, it’s not like what you’re doing with Faustine is working like a charm. Well, not fully. You’ve been a pain with the whole protect-the-damsel-in-distress thing. However, it’ll work out if you use your common sense a bit more and stop listening to your synch emotions.” I snickered. “They are way off.”

“Maybe,” Ryker conceded.

Deciding to be a bit underhanded, since I couldn’t ask him directly, I mentally wondered if Ryker had heard from Mason. Although I hadn’t smelled Mason again, the memory of before sent a shiver down my spine.

“Ha! You’re sneaky,” Ryker said. “Yes, I caught that loud and clear. What’s with you and Mason anyway? He’s here? Where did you smell him? I couldn’t believe it when he attacked you, and I’m sorry I didn’t stay to help out, but I–”

“Had to take care of Faustine. Yeah, I understand. I was hoping you could tell me why he has it in for me.”

“I can’t imagine. That whole scene was out of the blue, I thought. But who knows with Mason?”

“What do you mean?” Jagger interrupted. “He’s still here?”

“I thought I caught a scent of him in the hall on the way to the labs earlier.”

“Thought?”

“Well, okay, I’m certain. I did catch a whiff of him, but that’s all. I didn’t see him, or any of his forms–not even a feather. It makes me feel tense, not a feeling I like.”

Jagger raked his fingers through his hair, his eyes shrouded in worry.

“Jagger, it’s okay. I’m not scared or anything. I’d just be better prepared if I knew what I was dealing with, that’s all.”

Ryker took a sip from his bottle of water. “I don’t really
know
him that well. He keeps things to himself. He moved out of our house last year and went to live in Paris. And that’s probably all I should say. But I am sorry about what he did to you.”

“Can you at least point me in the right direction to get some answers?” I asked. I would never be able to rest easy knowing that I had Mason gunning for me.

“You could try asking him…”

“Bahahahaha.” That was pretty funny in a sadistic sort of way.

“Not funny, Ryker,” Jagger spat sharply.

“I wasn’t attempting humor.” Ryker sounded sincere. “Why not just ask him? You can’t be afraid of him. You’re a demon.”

True. The only reason he’d taken me down in the corridor was because I had been at a disadvantage, with the rest of the shifters and Faustine to worry about. In a one-on-one, I’d have no worries. But then there was that time in the mountains… I’d have to watch it.

“It’s not that,” I retorted. “How would we even find him?” I figured that if I could track him down, I could just take him down. Talking would be kind of unnecessary, apart from the nosy aspect. I did want an answer to why he was after me.

Ryker’s face fell. “I’m happy to take you to him, if you just want to talk to him, but if you have other plans, forget it. He is family.”

I went over to Jagger and planted myself in his lap. I suddenly needed to feel his touch. “You mean wander me over to Boone Academy, or is he here?”

“No way.” Jagger lifted me off his lap and stomped over to Ryker. “What the heck are you playing at?”

“Just trying to be helpful. Cordelia wants answers only Mason has, so…” Ryker held Jagger’s gaze evenly.

I could clearly see the brotherly resemblance when they stood like that. Their profiles were nearly identical, the same straight noses and sharply defined, strong jawlines.

Jagger’s face was rigid. “And where exactly is he? You must know since you offered to take her.”

Ryker stepped back from Jagger and paced the floor. “I’m assuming he’s at Boone Academy. I don’t have any idea why you caught his scent today, Cordelia. Maybe he flew back to get something? I don’t know. But if you want to talk to him, I know where his room is at Boone. I’m just trying to be helpful here, so enough with the venomous looks, brother.”

“Jagger, I think I should go. I need a resolution to this. It’s driving me nuts.”

“You’re not going on your own.” Jagger’s face was set in stone.

“I can only wander one, maybe two if they’re light. You’re a bit too heavy,” Ryker said, looking Jagger up and down.

I stepped between them. “Look, why don’t Faustine and I go? Ryker has transported us together before, right?”

Ryker nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

Jagger shook his head. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard! What’s the point in that? She can’t even control herself. Plus she could get eaten alive at Boone.”

“She’d be ideal as back-up if I need it. She’s the most intimidating demon I have seen. You should have seen her during the test. She actually dented the concrete floor.”

“I get that,” Jagger said, sounding frustrated. “But my point is that she can’t control it! What if she starts laying into you instead of Mason? She could go nuts.”

Yes, there was that. The test situation was controlled, but in an unknown scenario, who knew how she’d react?

Ryker looked bewildered. “Eaten alive? That’ll never happen. I’ll be there, and I’ll just wander her off if I need to. Jeez, isn’t that what I’ve been doing all this time? It’s my job to protect her. Why would you think I’d let her get herself in trouble?”

I raised an eyebrow at Jagger. He didn’t exactly hop around in delight, but he didn’t say anything either. His blank expression was impossible to read.

I had to go find Quinn, anyway. We had a dinner date.

F
austine had been easy to convince. Though
convince
was probably the wrong word, as she practically danced with excitement when I suggested it. But I didn’t quite fill her in completely. All I told her was that we were going to skip school for a few hours and go on a little field trip.

Initially, I had decided to forget all about it. Neither Jagger nor Quinn were the least bit supportive. They both felt that since Mason wasn’t at the Academy anymore, the issue was a moot point. Why go look him up and invite further trouble?

What I hadn’t told them was that I smelled him regularly–sometimes even in my room. It was freaking me out. Either I was imagining it and losing my mind, or he really was hanging around me. But why? He could have pounced at me unexpectedly, but so far, he hadn’t done anything. He just stayed around, in the background. I wished he’d make a move or leave me alone.

I had tried tracking him by following his scent. When I felt close, I called out to him, but I never saw him. I was at a loss. Should I just go on, living my life on full alert, never sleeping properly, or should I take things into my own hands and confront him?

It was a no-brainer.

I decided not to share my plans with Quinn or Jagger–I didn’t feel the need to deal with their macho aggro–and approached Ryker directly. He was fine about it, but he didn’t want to be revealed to Faustine, so he’d stay in the background.

So, I had kept it short and made it sound like a day out when I invited Faustine to join me.

“O-M-G, that sounds like a blast! Sneak out of school for a while. Yay!” Faustine beamed. “Can Martha and Chun come?”

“Afraid not. There’s only room for two.”

“Oh? Two-seater convertible? Cool! My mom has one of those, a Spyder.”

Very flashy, I wondered if it was a pre-release. “Actually, we’re not driving there. It’s way too far. Boone Academy is in Canada, near Whistler.”

“Oh, that is far. I went skiing there last year, though. I had heaps of fun. The mountains are awesome, and the snow perfect. I don’t remember seeing a school around…”

“I’ve never been there myself, but the Academy is a little away from the main ski resort. Anyhow, I doubt we’ll get to see any of the sights. Like I said, this isn’t a fun trip. I have something I need to do.”

“Is it something private? I never know when I can ask questions or not,” she complained.

“In some ways, it is. However, you have my permission to ask me any questions you want, anytime. I can’t promise to answer them all, but I’ll try. I’m guessing you want to know about the trip.”

She nodded vigorously.

“I need to talk to Mason. He’s the shifter eagle who attacked us in the hallway.” I tried to keep it as simple as possible because I didn’t really want to put too much on her. She didn’t need all the details.

“He’s in Canada? I thought he was here. Why do you need to talk to him?”

“He was here, but his punishment for attacking us was that he was sent to Canada.”