P. C. Cast - Dragon's Oath

“And I think you’re better at spells and rituals than you let on,” she countered with.

“I think you’ll have to look up my records to see.”

“I’ll do that,” she said.

“You might be surprised by what you find,” he said.

She met his gaze. “Yes. I might be.”

The sun was just beginning to lift through the bluffs in the east when they reached the door that led to the professors’ quarters in the main house. Bryan handed her the basket.

“Thank you,” she said. “I–well–I suppose I will see you in class.”

“Not this semester. I took Spells and Rituals last semester. But you will see me.”

Anastasia drew a long breath and then said, “Dragon, about the kiss–”

He held up a hand to stop her words. “No,” he said quickly. “Do not tell me it was a mistake.”

“You’re a fledgling. I’m a professor.”

“Is that it? Is that the only problem you have with me?”

“That’s enough,” she said firmly.

Instead of being dissuaded, she watched a long, slow, triumphant smile tilt his lips. “Good, because that is only a temporary problem.” He took her hand, lifted it, and kissed her palm. Then, still smiling, he fisted a hand over his heart and with perfect respect bowed to her and said, “Merry meet, merry part, and merry meet again, Professor Anastasia.”

Before she could respond, he smacked her cheek with a quick kiss, turned, and strode away, whistling happily.

Dragon had been right—she was surprised when she looked up his records. “He’s practically a perfect student,” she muttered to herself as she thumbed through the files. She was also surprised by how the fledglings treated him, especially the ones who had come to her for love spells.

They didn’t dislike him.

Granted, none of them hung on him or fawned over him or flirted overtly with him. Well, none of the fledglings who had come to her for love spells flirted overtly with him. Others … yes.

Anastasia tried not to notice or care.

She couldn’t help noticing, though, that in general the fledglings looked up to him. He was popular with everyone, and that included his professors. And Dragon, in turn, was charming and arrogant, witty and mischievous. And kind.

He was kind.

Anastasia couldn’t even try not to care about that.

Whenever their paths crossed during the next several days, which they did frequently, his eyes found hers. His gaze lingered on her. Her gaze lingered on him.

And every morning she found a fresh sunflower in a crystal vase on her desk.

Anastasia was certain the entire House of Night would be commenting on the looks that passed between its newest Sword Master and its youngest professor. But it turned out they were completely distracted by a horrible human named Jesse Biddle.

“It’s as if he’s goading us,” Diana was saying as the Tower Hill Council Meeting convened in the drawing room of the professors’ quarters.

Anastasia, still feeling nervous about attending a Council Meeting, hastily took her seat and tried not to look surprised when Shaw, Leader of the school’s Sons of Erebus Warriors, entered the room followed by two of his most senior vampyres, as well as Dragon Lankford.

His eyes met hers for a heartbeat and he nodded briefly, before bowing and saluting the High Priestess.

“Good, everyone is here,” Pandeia said. “The Council Meeting can now formally begin.” She turned her attention to Shaw. “Explain exactly what took place last night.”

“It was just after midnight. The Dark Daughters had gone to Bloody Island to perform the Fautor per Fortuna Ritual for the Sixth Formers. As they were asking Nyx to bless them and help them to be favored by fate with the Change, Biddle stepped out of the shadows, knocking over the ritual candles and breaking the circle,” Shaw said, shaking his head with disgust. “The human forced them off the island. The High Priestess in Training said his gaze lingered hot and heavy on each of the girls, so much so that they felt tainted by it even after returning to their rooms.”

“She told me she believes him to be quite mad,” Diana said.

Pandeia spoke firmly, “I visited them today and I can tell you that I felt the echoes of fear and something dark and heavy lingering on them.” The High Priestess addressed Anastasia: “Did you smudge them?”

“I did, and almost immediately each of them reported feeling better— lighter was the word they used,” Anastasia said.

Diana’s gaze speared Shaw. “And why was there no Warrior present to protect our young fledglings?”

“The Dark Daughters decided the blessing would be their gift to the sixth-former male fledglings, so there were no males, fledgling or vampyre, present. You know that quite often the Dark Daughters perform rituals separate from the Dark Sons,” Shaw said, and Anastasia could see that he was trying to control his frustration. “That is why I have included Dragon Lankford at this Council Meeting. I propose that from now on, even if the ritual specifies only females be involved, male fledglings be present, if outside the circle.”

“Is that enough protection?” asked Lavinia, the literature professor. “Should our vampyre Warriors not protect our fledglings? Perhaps they should accompany them whenever they leave campus.”

Diana snorted in disgust. “Yes, if we want them to live as if they are prisoners. Our fledglings, especially our female fledglings, need to have the freedom to come and go as they please without an armed guard.”

Pandeia sighed. “Perhaps the Dark Daughters should be directed not to hold rituals on Bloody Island until this conflict with the sheriff dies down.”

“The island is ours!” Diana said, slamming her hand down on the table. “It has been named thus because of our rituals—we shouldn’t allow an overbearing human to infringe upon the rights of our fledglings.”

“St. Louis is no longer a barbaric outpost.” Pandeia’s answer was swift. “Its human population has more than doubled in the past few years. It has changed from a dusty trading post on the river to a thriving city.”

“And Tower Grove was a thing of beauty and serenity when St. Louis was a filthy, uncivilized infant of a settlement,” Diana said.

“Of course it was. Vampyres have always created beauty wherever we live. But with the changing times we cannot afford to alienate those who surround us, and if that means our Dark Daughters perform their rituals here on the vast acreage of Tower Grove and the prairie that we call home, rather than a sandy island within view of the city docks, then so be it. I hate to say it, but I can foresee a time when we will have to hide our identity from the human populace. It is a horrible thing to imagine, but a small price to pay for our young to be left in peace.”

“Humans will never leave us in peace. They hate us!” Diana snapped.

“Not all of them,” Pandeia countered. “Many of them do envy and fear us, but some of them respect us. You know there is no shortage of humans who willingly share their blood with us—there are even several vampyres here at this very Council Meeting who have human consorts, though the current trend is for humans to pretend disinterest in mingling with us.”

“I am afraid, High Priestess, that the trend is more than simple disinterest. With Sheriff Biddle’s encouragement, humans may think they can act against us,” Shaw said.

“They cannot stand against our Warriors,” Pandeia said, clearly upset at the direction the conversation had taken.

“Then let us send our Warriors into town to teach Biddle that he cannot harass our fledglings!” Diana said.