The only thing that kept me from saying anything about my suspicions about Victor’s involvement in the Dark Watch’s attack was not knowing how he could have known the exact time the shields would go down.
Sure, he was a sleazebag and I hated everything about him, but working with the Watch to bring down Imperium was a new low that even I had problems attributing to him. Plus, for him to know when the shields would drop meant he also knew that Claire’s magic was responsible for overloading and shattering the crystals.
While in the forest, I caught sight of the remnants of the shattered crystal McTavish had mentioned the night before. I knelt, picking up a handful of shards and let them slip through my fingers as he had done. Then something caught my attention in the pile below. There, hidden amongst the bits of broken crystal, was a scale. I pulled it free and placed it flat on my palm to get a better look.
Whereas mine were oval-shaped and rich green in color, this one was like an arrow and shaded a blue so dark it was almost black. The sunlight caught it and it shimmered like a ripple of water. It still had magic. Scales that had been shed were dull and lifeless. This one had been ripped free for some reason—and recently.
“A water serpent’s scale,” I hissed under my breath. “Victor.”
He had officially reached a new low in my book and I knew he had something to do with the crystals shattering—at least this one.
With proof clutched in the palm of my hand, I left the forest and headed toward the main house, my decision made. I would tell the headmistress what I suspected of him, but leave Claire’s secret safe as I’d promised. That would be all the headmistress needed to know, and that would be enough to alert her of his involvement with the Dark Watch.
The courtyard was abuzz with whispers of a fight. Whatever it was, everyone seemed excited about it, but I ignored them. I had more important things to worry about than a couple of crazy idiots who were going to find themselves exiled for breaking the rules by tomorrow morning.
I entered the main house and made my way downstairs toward the headmistress’s office. The door was partially open, which meant she was in. I froze when I heard the voices coming from inside.
“The magic is too strong. If we don’t find out who is responsible, the next attack may end up being worse than the last.” I recognized Professor Elspeth’s low, even voice.
“She be right, Headmistress,” came McTavish’s rumbling burl. “And I’d also like to add that we be needin’ better security on the front than yer little rock pets.”
I grinned. The packmaster had never been fond of the headmistress’s spelled gargoyles and made no effort to hide it. To him, Bob and Frank were useless bits of granite. While I did agree they weren’t the best guards Imperium could have, I also thought them irreplaceable. The quirky, rather annoying gargoyles were part of what made the school what it was.
“You said the crystals were overloaded, that was what caused the shields to fail,” I heard the headmistress say so quietly I had to strain to hear her. “You believe it came from the inside?”
“Aye, that I do.”
“Then we must search for the one responsible, whether they are inside our walls or out…and when we find them, we eliminate the threat.”
“Beg pardon, Headmistress…but do you mean…”
“Yes,” the headmistress’s voice was stronger now and carried easily. “Eliminate them, by any means necessary.”
I started backing up, my eyes never leaving the door. No way was I going to warn them about anything. If they somehow managed to connect Claire to the broken crystals and something happened to her, I would never forgive myself. In protecting her secret, Victor would be able to keep his own for the time being.
The teachers were on their own. No help coming from me to “eliminate” anyone. I shoved the scale into my pocket as I rounded the corner and sprinted across the courtyard to my dorm.
It was getting darker now. More than anything, I wanted to check in on Claire and see if this day had been any better than her last. I was nearly at the girls’ side of the house when Irin, my roommate, saw me.
“What are you doing here, man?” he called out. “I thought for sure you’d be out with your girl.” His nose scrunched up, and he shook the blond hair back from his eyes. “Not every day your mate has a date to fight. I figured you’d at least go to cheer her on…” His voice trailed off, but I knew what the rest of his sentence would have been: if you didn’t go and fight for her instead.
“What are you talking about?” I hadn’t realized it, but I’d somehow managed to cross the space between us and was holding a fistful of my roommate’s Hawaiian-style shirt in a ball under his neck.
“I thought you knew.” His eyes grew round with shock. “Rumor’s going around that Claire and Victor are having it out at the Peak.”
“When?” I managed through my clenched teeth.
“Dude, should be pretty soon. I don’t think many left to go and watch because they’re afraid of Eagle Head.” My grip loosened on his shirt at his name for the headmistress.
“I have to go,” I said, more to myself than to Irin.
He nodded, solemn. “Yeah, you should. Claire seems nice enough, but I don’t see her being able to hold her own against Victor. If you hurry, you might make it in time.”
I didn’t bother answering him, just ran to the first open space, shifted, and launched into the sky, not caring who saw me fly away.
The Peak was the next mountain from the school. Halfway up was a sheer rock facing with a straight drop. For shifters, the top of the cliff had a reputation of being the perfect spot for a fight, though in all my time at Imperium, I had yet to hear of an actual fight taking place there.
Please let me make it in time. I spotted a handful of familiar faces standing out of the way. A couple held flashlights. The brave ones, I noted. The ones not afraid of the headmistress’s wrath should they be found out.
Then I spotted Claire standing opposite Victor. Neither of them were moving yet. The fight hadn’t begun, though from looking at their faces, it wouldn’t be long.
I sent out a scorching flame that singed the rock facing below them so they wouldn’t start before I made it, then landed near Claire and shifted.
“You’re just in time to watch your girlfriend learn a lesson, dragon boy.” Victor sneered.
“No, she isn’t fighting you. I am,” I replied easily with a shrug.
“But, Logan—” Claire objected.
“But nothing,” I said, staring at her hard. “This wasn’t going to be a fair fight, and I’m not going to stand here and watch you get hurt.”
“But…”
I gave her a small smile and nodded. “Just go over and stand with Lacy. Everything will be fine, I promise.”
But everything wasn’t fine. While I had been talking to Claire, Victor had already shifted. I spotted his tail from the corner of my eye as it headed toward me. I took a deep breath and sent a blast of fire toward it as I shifted to my dragon, turning to meet Victor head on.
I hadn’t planned on fighting when I got there. The only thing I’d been thinking about was Claire. Wryly, I wondered why I hadn’t planned better on the short flight here. As a water serpent, Victor’s bite would be lethal if he were in water. Thankfully, we were nowhere near the lake. Still, being on top of a rock face wasn’t slowing him down. He kept striking, moving impossibly fast for one out of his natural surroundings. He was huge—the thing made of nightmares and unrealistic horror movies.
I let out a long breath, filled with fire, and was surprised when it didn’t slow him down. He headed straight at me and into the flames, mouth open, fangs ready.
He’s crazy. He’ll be cooked to a crisp. He’ll never make it through that. I made the stupid mistake of stopping for those scant seconds to see if I had won—to see if he was still alive.
I hadn’t won. And he was most definitely still alive. While my attention had been locked on his head, his tail had managed to sneak up on me and began coiling around my body before I could react.
His magic is stronger than I ever gave him credit for, I thought, watching as the snake’s head came closer to mine, completely unscathed. His tongue came out as he hissed.
I tried to take another deep breath, but he’d wrapped himself around me so tightly that the best I could do was to take in small bits of air, enough to breathe, but not enough to do anything else. Not enough to fight.
This is it, I despaired as I got a disconcerting view of sharp fangs. Game over.