Lina led me through rooms, upstairs to bedrooms, down into the basement, and even further underground to a locked iron grate. Apparently, another group of students had put their own interdiction spell on the grate to prevent anyone else from going inside. I conjured a ball of light at the tip of my wand, and held it through the bars, but saw only a staircase leading further down on the other side.
"What's down there?" I asked.
She shrugged. "This is the first time I've been here. Someone said they heard there are old dungeons down there, and they blocked this off to keep students from getting lost or hurting themselves."
A shiver sent goose bumps racing up my back. "Dungeons? Thank god this thing is locked." I rushed back upstairs, two steps at a time, feeling a chill against my back the entire time. I wasn't sure why the thought of dungeons caused such a strong reaction in me, unless it had something to do with my time as a prisoner with Maximus.
Lina rushed up after me. "Are you okay, Justin?" Her large brown eyes filled with concern.
I glanced down the dark stairwell. A chilly sensation ran icy fingers up my arms. "Yeah. Just bad memories, I guess." As we walked back into the main den, I thought about more practical matters. "Will the university evict me if they find out I'm here?"
"I don't know." She led me down a hall, opening doors, and looking inside until she found a room with what looked like a brass bird bath embedded in the floor. Lina picked up a crystalline sphere, and set it inside the indention in the center of the brass construct. The crystal ball flickered on. Lights in the hallway blazed to life, and a background hum reached my ears as power was restored.
"This place doesn't use electricity," she explained. "Like most things here, it's powered by aether from ley lines."
"Cool," I said, unaware that such a thing was even possible.
Lina and I walked back to campus. "You sure look tired," I said, unable to keep my mouth shut about it any longer.
She regarded me with a tired smile. "I have to work hard, Justin."
"To impress Alejandro?" Her older brother was pretty impressive in the Arcane department, at least from what I'd seen when we'd first met.
"No, to prove to myself that I'm good enough." She sighed.
We reached campus. I gave her a hug before we parted ways. "I have faith in you. Just don't make yourself sick, okay?"
She smiled. "I won't." Her eyes lingered on mine for a moment. "Have a good day, Justin."
Since I'd agreed to meet with Vallaena every afternoon but Saturday, I headed for the school. I wanted to see her, but not for practice. Rage boiled my blood as I thought about her talking with Nightliss. As usual, my aunt waited on a bench in the rear gardens. And also as usual, she offered me a sultry smile when I appeared. It took all my willpower not to punch her in the face.
"You told Nightliss about the angel heart cure," I said, a growl rising from my diaphragm. I loomed over her. "She offered her heart—her life—to me."
"Did you take her up on the offer?" Vallaena asked, raising a golden eyebrow. "No, of course you didn't. Even with the fate of our world in the balance, you won't take the ultimate sacrifice even when freely offered."
My fists clenched. "She's dying. You took her will to live, and gave her a reason to die. I warned you not to tell her, Vallaena. And you did it anyway." Anger swelled inside me, but I pushed it away, snuffing out the heat until all that remained was a cold fury. "I want you to leave. We're not going to have these little classes anymore."
A slow wicked smile spread across my aunt's lips. "Oh, but you have no choice. Not if you want to ally yourself with the Daemos."
"I'll find someone else to teach me."
"I think you'll find very few takers."
"Then I suppose I'll just have to let the Daemos fend for themselves," I said, turning and walking away.
"Don't walk away from me, boy," Vallaena said, her voice still calm, but with an undertone of warning.
I kept walking.
"You're throwing everything away for one half-dead Darkling who is of no use to you."
I kept walking."You're being an idiot."
I almost said something, but I'd been called worse. I heard footsteps behind me on the stone walkway as I rounded the corner.
"You will not walk away from me," Vallaena suddenly snarled, and blurred in front of me. "You will take your lessons and do as I say if you want to survive."
"Is that a threat?" I asked calmly as my guts froze in place.
"Take it for what you will, boy." Her lips curled into a sneer. "I have put too much time into your education to let you throw it away over your dark little plaything."
My right hand shook. Somehow I maintained control. Pushed it back until only a lake of frozen anger remained. I would not let her bait me into a fight. "Go to hell." With that, I shoved past her.
Vallaena snarled. "You will not ignore me!"
Her iron grip clamped around my bicep, and flung me back down the pathway. Thankfully, I'd anticipated something, mainly thanks to her daily attempts to beat me senseless, and managed to land on my feet with a thud, sliding backwards. I looked up at the sound of clacking on the stone, and saw Vallaena in mid-shift, her skin turning a deep blue, horns sprouting from her forehead, and her muscles swelling. The clacking noise came from six-inch stilettos which looked ready to burst apart as my aunt's feet strained against them.
"Oh, crap," I said. My cold fury turned to bowel-clenching fear. I knew with deep certainty that this wasn't one of her little tests. This was for real, and my enraged aunt was ready to tear my head off and drop-kick it into the forest. I did the only thing I could do, reaching deep inside me for every bit of strength I had. Then I turned and ran like my butt was on fire. One look back told me what I already knew. My aunt was a lot faster in succubus form.
She chanted something in the furious voice of a woman who just found lipstick on her husband's shirt and fully planned to emasculate him in the most horrific way imaginable. Dark pools of liquid seeped through the earth ahead of me. Something struggled in the dark pitch, jerking, straining, snarling as it rose like a monster from a tar pit.
Snarling? Oh crap!
She was summoning hellhounds.
By now, Vallaena was only thirty yards or so behind me. I briefly considered veering for the forest where I might have a chance to lose her in the undergrowth. But I knew the hellhounds would be right behind me. My only other choice was magic. I pulled out my staff, and shook it to full length.
A black shape leapt from the earth. Before I could react, the hellhound clamped its jaws on the staff and wrenched it from my hand. I stumbled, nearly fell, as the sideways jerk fought my forward momentum. I leapt over another hellhound as it freed itself from an oily pool, and lunged for me.
I was out of options. Well, unless I considered apologizing to Vallaena. When I looked back again at her snarling face and flaming eyes, I realized it might be too late even for that.
My demonic essence clawed at my insides. It raged and slammed against my barriers. I could almost hear it in my head, demanding I free it. Demanding I give it a chance to live another day instead of dying painfully, torn to shreds by hellhounds.
Vallaena won't really kill me.
Then again, hell hath no fury like a woman pissed off. And I had just scorned the hell out of a woman who thought her poop didn't stink. Everything she'd done to me during our lessons had usually involved sexual innuendo. The only thing I sensed from her now was pure death.
FREE ME!
I flinched as the words rang in my head. Had I thought that, or was my spirit really talking to me.
DOES IT MATTER?
Actually, no. It didn't.
Instead of opening the cage a crack as I usually did, I broke the cell doors down. A dark presence filled me, spreading through my chest, my arms, my fingers, running down to my legs and toes. There was no anger. No fear. Only the will to survive another day.
I spun in place. Vallaena, flanked by hellhounds, rushed me. As I turned to meet her, my body swelled, muscles coiling like serpents beneath my skin. Deep beneath the surface, I sensed the mindless beast eager to rampage and destroy. But instead of letting it ride the wave of change to the top, I struggled to stay afloat of the roaring tide in my head. Just as I felt myself hitting the place where I would no longer be able to keep the beast at bay, I slammed a barrier of will between it and my reasoning mind.
My clawed hand slapped aside a diving hellhound. I reversed the swing, and backhanded the next black beast, sending it yelping and skidding across grass already shredded from previous practice sessions. And then my aunt was on me. Our arms locked onto each other's shoulders with a thunderous clap. I felt claws digging into my flesh, drawing blood even through the toughened skin. I snarled, and increased the pressure, forcing droplets of blue from her.
She roared, showing fangs on her beautiful but terrifying face. I slammed my head forward, ramming my horns against her nose. She cried out in surprise, and I used the opportunity to end the stalemate and flung her sideways. Vallaena spun through the air, crashing into a tree at the border of the forest. It shuddered, showering the area with acorns.
My warning senses tingled. I spun. Grabbed a hellhound by the throat. Threw it at my stunned aunt. Two more hellhounds came from my side. I slammed the ground with both fists on instinct just before they reached me, shaking the ground, and knocking them off kilter. I gripped each one, and slammed their heads together with a thunderous boom. The two hounds dropped senseless from my hands.
Vallaena struggled to her feet. Saw her hellhounds, and screeched a battle cry that echoed through the forest and probably all the way back to campus. She charged, her body growing even larger, manifesting into full demon form. I knew if I tried to match her, to allow myself to fully manifest, I'd lose control of my consciousness. As it was, the beast inside slammed relentlessly against what little control I had left.