Page 26

An annoying tickling at my nose pulled me from the ass-kicking I was about to give the old creepy guy who kept popping up in my nightmares.

I slapped his hand away. "I was just about to kick his ass," I complained.

Slevin giggled.

"If you put shaving cream in my hand or something you will die many deaths," I warned.

Slevin softly knocked his head into mine, sharing my pillow. "Oh, come on, I wouldn't do that to you, Beautiful. Besides, Harper already threatened to chop something off that I rather enjoy playing with if I messed with you while you were sleeping."

I opened my eyes and looked over at him. "Isn't this messing with me?" I asked.

Slevin smiled wide. "No! Besides, you've been asleep for forty-eight hours and the doctor said to wake you up after twenty-four. We gave you an extra day. Wasn't that nice of us?"

The annoying Wizard-born wasn't nearly as amusing as he thought he was.

"Medical staff at the Academy are concerned that you might have a concussion or something, or worse. You slept like the dead, not moving or anything. Usually, you talk or roll around; this time the only thing to confirm you were alive was an impressive amount of drool."

I knocked my head into his. "That's not funny. I'm alive, and was dreaming but it wasn't a nightmare. There was a conscious immobility where I was stuck listening to Zannie and Viggo argue about Viggo keeping his cock away from his little sister, then I was in the scary place but it wasn't as scary this time. Speaking of jerks, where is my brother?"

Slevin gave me a look since I was changing subjects. "Sleeping. They finally filled our empty room."

He didn't sound happy about it for some reason.

"Where in the hell am I supposed to put all of my clothes now?" he whined.

Ah, there it is, his unofficial walk-in closet is no longer available for his personal use.

"Zannie, right?"

It wasn't a complete sentence, but he understood and nodded.

"How bad am I, Shorty?" I asked.

Slevin propped himself up on his elbow and looked at me. "You look like hell, and you really should go to the Healing Center for magical healing. Rumors are running like wildfire around the campus about what's going on. The fact that there are over two dozen new Sentinels and a contingency of Imperial Guards roaming the campus and patrolling, only adds fuel to the fire. Your brother has been making a list of girls to entertain himself with," he said, making a face, and I gagged. "Zane is an interesting kid. Nothing like I was expecting, and even more interesting the more alcohol that's in him."

"Please don't encourage him," I pleaded. "If something happens to me and I need an organ transplant, that's where I have to go to get one."

Slevin chuckled. "That's dark. Besides, that child needs no encouragement on destroying his liver, but say the word and I will dump the liquor cabinet," he promised.

I sighed, not just yet; Zane was his own worst enemy.

For being twins, we were polar opposites.

Where I am responsible, put others before me, and had a problem with Royals and those who thought they wielded some type of authority over me because I was a Mundane, Zane always put Zane first, was completely irresponsible, and was able to get out of trouble and always gets what he wants by using his words and batting lashes.

I was always envious of that, to be honest.

"Did you know Zane was coming to Vancouver?" Slevin asked, twirling one of my long locks of hair around his fingers.

"No. Mother and Father sent him from what he told me. He is on babysitting duty."

Slevin snorted. "Don't you mean you will be babysitting him?"

"Pretty much," I dryly agreed.

We lay there in silence together, watching the shadows move across the ceiling. I was tired but I wasn't; I had slept long enough. There were so many questions that needed to be addressed, and so much to do, and I wanted to see my parents, but every time I started to ask something I needed to ask, it was Viggo I kept coming back to.

"The necklace is Viggo's, isn't it?" I wanted to confirm since Viggo hadn't answered me at the hospital.

"It belongs to Prince de Babineaux," Slevin confirmed. "He was wearing it, like that mala you have around your wrist now, when you had your little incident in our living room. That asshole owes us a new couch. When we were getting grilled about what happened to you and why you were screaming... Why were you?" he asked.

I shook my head because I didn't know, and it was one of the many questions that still needed to be addressed.

"Of course," Slevin grumbled, making a face, so I smacked him. "Whatever. When we tried to get you to stop rocking, you started screaming bloody murder when they touched you. You even punched Master Pachi! Then Prince de Babineaux pushed them all out of the way and took his necklace off then put it on you. The moment it was touching your skin, you stopped rocking then started screaming and... Is it a healing charm or something?"

I shook my head. "No. It's a holy object. What are you keeping from me?" I asked, trying to sit up so he helped me. "Thank you, but you are using ignorance as a way to distract me from your slip. What happened after Viggo put the necklace on me?" I asked.

Slevin made a face, crossing his legs in front of him. "Harper is going to kill me," he grumbled. "It was weird. The room was filled with people, but the moment Prince de Babineaux put his necklace on you, you screamed so loudly that the windows broke. Then, a sense of clarity washed over you, and you smiled at him, the softest smile I had ever seen from you, and you said... Ari, just drop it. Please?"

I struggled to swallow the lump that had formed in my throat. "Slevin, what did I say?" I whispered.

Slevin sighed. "Merci, mon amour, pour ta presence. Then you collapsed against him and were unresponsive," he said, wiping away the tear that rolled down my cheek. "Prince de Babineaux refused to let go of you, there was a threat on campus that none of us could find, but he felt it, he said, so we got you out of there and to the closest hospital that would have been safe... Then it wasn't. The Prince knew something, but he wasn't talking. He would only speak to your parents when they got there."

My eyes widened.

How does Viggo know my parents?!

"Moving on from that exceptionally embarrassing slip of the tongue," I mumbled, wiping away the second set of tears that rolled down my cheeks.

I wasn't a crier.

"Why is the Imperial Guard swarming the campus?" I asked.

Slevin shrugged. "If I had to venture an educated guess? They are here because your parents work for the King and Queen of the Unified House and they are making sure their trusted employees' children are safe. That, and you call the Commander of the Imperial Guard, Uncle. After what happened to the Academy on the Isle of Man, it isn't something they can afford to risk again. Harper still hasn't recovered from that one," he said in a quiet voice, looking at his hands. "He lost family and friends there, his cousins that were trying to stay closer to home for their aunties."

That, I hadn't thought of.

"The Imperial Guard is keeping everyone on lockdown," Slevin continued. "Curfew has been put into effect, the Night Class has been restricted and sequestered to the Windshire Basilica, and all activities that involve leaving campus have been canceled. Prince de Babineaux had a visitor from the Vampiric Court."

"Oh no," I whispered, fear flooding me that they would request his removal from the Vancouver Academy due to the security risk since he's a crowned prince.

"Don't worry, Beautiful," Slevin said, knowingly and with a smirk. "The representative was relaying concerns for his well-being since he is without a dedicated Guardian on campus and has a crown. Prince de Babineaux was not pleased by their intrusiveness and warned that they better not return otherwise he would file an official complaint against their actions. He then made Commander Azrael remove them from campus and forward his concerns about their actions and unannounced visit to the Imperial Court, more specifically, your mother."

My eyes widened.

That was something to ask about later.

"That's concerning."

He shrugged. "Prince de Babineaux is no stranger to the politics of our world, and he knows how to play them just as well as your mother does," he informed me, which was news to me. "The only difference is, unlike your mother, they never see it coming when he strikes."

I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but I was rather confident that finding it sexy as hell was wrong on a whole higher level of the issues I'm learning I have.

"I'm sorry that you were put in the position that you were and that you had to kill," I said, changing the subject because it was rude to gossip about other people, and if I wanted to know why Viggo engaged my mother in the Imperial Court as he did, I just needed to ask him. "I'm very impressed that your thaumaturgical abilities kicked ass as they did considering you are failing most of your classes. Are they at least going to give you extra credit for it?"

Slevin saw it for what it was, but he'd humor me. "No, they should though," he agreed. "But don't apologize, Beautiful. It isn't like you sent those damn Upír, Vrykolakas, and that sneaky Stregone there. What I would have given to get a piece of him," he said with a soft snarl.

I waited for him to calm down; Slevin doesn't lose his temper often, but when he does, it isn't pretty.

"Oh well," he said, snapping out of it quickly this time. "You were as much a victim as everyone else was. Those born without crowns know there is a risk to simply exist, especially if we want to straddle the line between the human world and the world of Thaumaturgy."

I made a face of disgust.

"Oh hush," he said, softly swatting me. "Humans aren't entirely bad, they just have no place in our world and it is a much easier generalized term to use, one that was never used in your home for obvious reasons. The point is, that normal people who want to walk the line between the human world and that of magic, have to be able to survive so we know a few tricks. My daddy is a badass who taught me things I really shouldn't know and can't boast about at school. My mommy taught me even more, many things that even daddy doesn't know about," he said with a giggle. "I'm capable of kicking ass and taking names when needed, and I didn't even break a nail," he smugly informed me.

There was a reason why Slevin was one of my best friends, and it was because he effortlessly pulled me back from the edge of losing it because of unfounded guilt.

"I love you, Shorty," I said.

"Love you, too, Beautiful," he said with a wink. "Now let's get you laid!"

I glared at him. "Shut up," I grumbled.