Chapter Forty-Five
ELLIOT GLARED at the Vice Chancellor as he stood giving a talk to the assembled students about enjoying their holiday and then coming back prepared to work hard. It was the Friday before the Christmas break, two days after the attack on him and Fal and, although there had been no more violence against them, he had heard the Neans enduring constant racist remarks and this smug-looking man in front of Elliot didn’t give a damn about the students who were supposed to be his responsibility.
The Vice Chancellor finished speaking and, as the students politely clapped, he walked off the stage. Someone needed to do something. Adrenaline rushed through Elliot and, before he could think through what a crazy idea this was, he was on his feet, making for the empty stage. By the time he had climbed up onto it, the students were getting up to leave, although Barve, Lila and Callie were still sitting staring at him with round eyes and Fal lifted his arms in a gesture that asked what the hell he was doing. Elliot wasn’t exactly sure.
“Could I have your attention for just one more minute?” he said into the microphone and the talking faded as everyone in the room stared at him. The professors who had attended, sitting in the front row to hear the Vice Chancellor, got to their feet, frowning at him and trying to wave him away from the microphone. He probably only had a minute before they pulled him off the stage, so he had better make the most of it. “You’ve all heard about Al Greela,” he said and saw an increase in attention from the sea of faces, “but I doubt any of you heard the true story. Al was a mixed up boy who was able to get the attention of the girl he loved by using magic to convince her he was someone else.”
A couple of the lecturers had got onto the stage but they held back at his words, so he carried on: “You probably never noticed him because he looked as Sapiens as I do. I have magic too, although I hope I’d never hurt anyone with it the way he did. People have been blaming Neans for what Al did and hurting my Nean friends when they were the ones who caught Al and stopped him. They’re not your enemies. Please remember that.”
He stopped speaking and walked towards the stairs that led to from the stage area to the rest of the room, Fal coming forward to meet him with a grin. Elliot smiled at him and then glanced, with uncertainty, at the lecturers nearby. One of them looked almost approving while Miles Sandham, his English lecturer, had a dark look in his eyes and tightly compressed lips. Whether he disapproved of the way Elliot had commandeered the stage or his words, Elliot didn’t know.
He continued walking until he was surrounded by his four friends.
“Nice speech,” Lila said and Elliot saw Barve smile at her as they stood side-by-side.
“Yeah,” Fal agreed, eyes dancing. “Not bad for a Sap.” He reeled Elliot in for a quick kiss that sent energy, like electricity, rushing through him. When they parted, he glanced towards his friends, to check how Barve in particular was reacting, but saw nothing but warmth in their eyes.
Callie handed him his briefcase and he nodded his thanks.
“Let’s just hope it does some good,” he said as they walked out of the lecture theatre with the throngs of other students.
* * *
Cassie hoped with all her heart that this was the end of it as she knocked on the office door, wanting all the lies to be over with. She was a soldier, not some kind of spy.
“Yes,” a voice called out and she walked inside. Miles Sandham was sitting behind his desk, a stack of essays in front of him and a lamp casting a soft glow onto the area. The man looked like any other professor, but he wasn’t.
She hesitated and then took the papers out of her backpack. “This is my full report on the use of magic by Greela, Trilema and Rivers, sir.” She passed them to him. “Will I be leaving the university and returning to the army now?”
She waited for his reply, standing at attention, her nails digging into her palms. She had joined the army to protect her country and had accepted this mission in order to help people, but Elliot and Farlden were just well-intentioned boys and it hadn’t felt right to deceive them for the last couple of months. She knew the threat magic could pose, but neither of the teenagers wanted to do anything harmful; she was sure of that. Trusting her, they had answered every question she had about their magic.
“Hardly.” Miles scanned the papers, rubbing his close-cropped beard as he did so, before he fixed his sharp gaze upon her. “Has your fake friendship with them made you forget that it was a magic user who was responsible for your sister’s death?”
She breathed in sharply and straightened, painful memories flooding back. “No, sir.”
“Good. These people are a danger to our country as you, more than anyone, should know. We brought them all together for more than just a few weeks of study. Farlden Trilema and Elliot Rivers will be at this university for another two and a half years, so this investigation for the government is only just beginning.”