Gabriella Poole - Blood Ties (Darke Academy)

‘Nearly there. You ready?’

‘Uh-huh. Now, where did I put my bangle?’ Isabella swept her hand through the chaos on her nightstand, then stopped. ‘Oh no!’

Her cry of horror got Cassie’s attention straight away. ‘What?’

Wordlessly, Isabella lifted the bangle on one finger. It was one of her favourites: chunky and fun, like a very beautiful piece of costume

jewellery, but made out of solid 24-carat gold.

And it had melted.

Cassie stared at it, dangling on Isabella’s finger. Her friend’s face was stricken, but she couldn’t get out a word of sympathy. Her throat

seemed to have seized up altogether.

‘How did this happen?’ wailed Isabella, trying to force the warped gold on to her slender wrist. ‘I must have left it too close to the radiator.

’

Or maybe too close to me, thought Cassie dully. Isabella’s nightstand was between her bed and Cassie’s. And the melted-wax look of the

metal was hideously familiar …

‘Ugh! Oh well. Never mind.’ Isabella tossed the ruined bangle on to the bed and forced her face into a smile. ‘I won’t let it spoil our day.

Come on!’

I’ll probably take care of that, Cassie thought as they gathered their coats and bags and scarves and headed out. What the hell was

going on? How could she be melting solid gold bangles and silver photo frames in her sleep?

She remembered Sir Alric’s words: Perhaps you can project some of your power beyond yourself .

Well, if this was something to do with her power, then that power seemed to making its presence felt more and more strongly. Was it

reaching out to those close to her? Oh, God …

If she could destroy solid metal, what could she do to flesh and bone?

What could she do to her friends?

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

‘W ell, this certainly is a change of scene.’

Dodging a fish seller, Isabella tucked her arm cheerfully through Cassie’s. ‘Just what we both need.’

That was for sure. Cassie was glad to get away from Fifth Avenue and Central Park – all the Upper East Side environs of the Academy –

so it was fun to squeeze into a tiny old Chatham Square teahouse for breakfast. Afterwards, they strolled through Columbus Park and

meandered aimlessly through the bustling vendors and tourists on Mulberry and Canal Streets. In crowded lanes and shop fronts,

decorations from Chinese New Year still lingered, tatty but cheerful. In spite of herself, Cassie felt her mood lift.

It was noisy, rowdy and chaotic; between the shouts of vendors, the blare and roar of cars and the music spilling from restaurants,

Cassie could barely hear herself think. More to the point, she couldn’t hear Estelle think. And despite the growing hunger inside her, the

drifting scents of temple incense and cooking food made it all but impossible to smell human breath, even for her heightened senses.

How Isabella heard her phone she couldn’t imagine, but the girl stopped suddenly and answered it. Cassie could hear nothing of the

conversation, but from her roommate’s doe-eyes, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to guess who was calling.

‘Cassieeee,’ wheedled Isabella, flipping her phone shut and sidestepping a vendor selling ripped-off DVDs. ‘That was Jake! Is it OK if we

meet up after all?’

Cassie came to a halt by a stand piled with leaf-wrapped packets of rice. ‘Uh, of course. Why wouldn’t it be?’

‘Well, you know …’ Isabella shook her head at the rice seller and they moved along. ‘I have noticed that it’s been a bit awkward between

you and him these past weeks, no?’

Cassie cursed silently. Not Isabella as well. Why did she have to have such astute friends …

‘Well, we are keeping a pretty big secret from him, Isabella,’ Cassie replied disingenuously. ‘I feel bad about it.’

She couldn’t bring herself to explain the real reason for the tension. Isabella would freak out big time if she knew Jake was hunting for

Katerina.

‘So do I, but it’s for the best, Cassie. You mustn’t tell! Swear it. You mustn’t. If you think that being part of the Few is affecting your

friendship with him now, imagine if he knows about the feeding!’

Cassie shuddered. She could imagine all too well. ‘Yeah. I know.’

‘Things will work out. He adores you, Cassie. It’s just that he’s got issues, you know that. About Ranjit. And Jessica. And …’

Cassie gave an exasperated moan, raking her fingers through her hair. ‘Look, I can’t blame Jake for being loyal to his sister. But if he’d

just try to get to know Ranjit a little he’d be able to see that he would never have deliberately led Jess into the trap. I can understand that

us being together is hard for him …’ She tailed off. ‘It’s kind of hard for me too,’ she said, mostly to herself.