I gave an exasperated sigh. "I like you too. But if you knew anything about genies, you'd know we can't consider ourselves equal when one does the wishing." He pointed at me. "And the other," he smacked a hand against his chest, "must grant it."I went to the bar stool and slumped over, resting my head in my hands. "Why should you be my servant - " I shrugged. "Or whatever, if I didn't call upon you - or something." It was confusing. "Wasn't I supposed to rub a lamp? Where is your lamp?"Laeddin sat beside me. "The cave you and Abrea often visited. That was the inside of my lamp. Basically from the moment you found it, I've been your servant. I was just worried about showing myself to you too soon. "Why me and not Abrea?""Simple. You brought Abrea into the cave. You found the cave. It's been you for a long time.""Oh," I said, lifting my head and looking at him. "And I shouldn't wish to no longer be a vampire?"He shook his head, a strange emotion flitting across his face. "No, plea
Laeddin took us to a place in New York City called Bloomingdales. We had a salesperson help us. It was fun buying clothes after the small freak out I had when I turned to study my reflection in the mirror and saw no actual wings.Okay, a big freak out. "What's wrong?" Laeddin asked, popping into the dressing room with me. I screamed again, quickly covering myself with the shirt I was about to try on. His eyes roamed over my body quickly before focusing on my face. "Look at my back," I said, turning it toward him, my teeth chattering. His eyes got dark, like emeralds, and he licked his lips. I was mesmerized by the action. When he didn't say anything, I continued on. "There are tattoos of wings on my back." "I tore my gaze from his face and focused on the reflection of my back in the mirror. The wings were outlined in black and filled in along the edges. I knew tattoos were a thing in the human realm, but I never thought about having one, let alone one that covered my whole back.
On Monday morning, I woke with a mixture of excitement and apprehension swirling in my belly. The sun was just starting to rise, and my first inclination was to fly because Abrea would be waiting at my window. Except she wouldn't be this morning. My emotions floated to the surface. I needed Abrea. She was my friend. Before I got out of bed, I took a moment to really enjoy laying on my back. It was heavenly. Finally, I jumped out of bed and ran to the window, pushing it open. Birds chirped their song. Small animals rummaged in the trees that lined the back yard. A deer lifted its head and bounded away. My throat burned at the sight of the doe. I needed blood. At this point, it was beyond bad. More than a week since my last breakfast, I couldn't ignore my hunger any longer. "Where's a unicorn when you need one?" I whispered fiercely, turning from the window, surprised by how sad I felt. I missed my best friend. Having Laeddin was great, but I had to be careful of my attraction to
The school was big, bigger than the castle. Laeddin dropped me off at the front of the school. "I'll be back to pick you up at two forty."I climbed out of the car. "Thanks. See you later." I watched him drive away. All my senses were heightened. New smells - weird smells - assaulted my nose. And there was so much noise. At the Seven Magics Academy, there were less that seventy-five students. Here it sounded like a flock of sea birds calling to each other. Hundreds of humans swarmed past. They went up the stairs and through the front door. I turned, trying not to wobble in my heels, and followed the brunt of them.Inside the school, the air became denser, probably from all the bodies. Straight ahead was an open area with hallways breaking off to both sides. Ahead there were two sets of double doors, with a staircase to the right of the doors. "Are you lost, honey?" A guy with short black hair and skin much darker than mine bounced in front of me. His face was friendly. Dark eyes spark
The school had A days and B days. On A days I was supposed to go to different classes than my B days. Each class was ninety minutes long with a thirty-five minute lunch - except Tuesdays. That was what they called a "short day," which meant school started at eight-thirty instead of seven-thirty. It was Monday, a B day, and according to the paper schedule I clutched in my hands, that meant I had Creative Writing, PE, something called Homeroom, Calculus, and history. On A days, I had accounting, Homeroom, chemistry, English, and Spanish. Sydney walked me around the school, taking me to the cafeteria, the auditorium, and the gymnasium. She even showed me where my locker was. "This isn't a bad spot." Sydney flipped her hair and turned around. She wore tight jeans, a long peach shirt that was see through and had a tie around the hips. Underneath was a white tank top. On her feet were gold ballet flats. She looked cute. But I noticed she wasn't nearly as friendly once we left the office.
It turned out Miss Riplinger was fun, just as Sydney said, but she was mostly flirty. She strutted around like a peacock on the prowl. The guys ate it up. The way she leaned over them, her V-neck top exposing cleavage. The girls giggled like they thought it was funny, but I got the feeling it actually irritated them. When I first went in, Miss Riplinger introduced me and had me take the only seat available, which was in the back. Then she continued with whatever she'd been saying before I interrupted. I spent the remainder of class playing catch up. Luckily the book they were discussing was Wuthering Heights. I read the story more than once, so I had that going for me. She asked us to pair up with a partner and answer some questions on a worksheet she passed out. The girl in front of me turned. Her hair was a honey brown and cropped short so that it curled around her ears. She had dark hazel eyes and a friendly face. "Want to do this together?""Sure," I replied, grateful. "I'm Abby
Gym class was easy after the show and tell with Abby and Sydney. Troy was also in class."Small world," he said, running by with another guy. "Yeah." He winked and I winked back. Mrs. Hadley blew her whistle. That meant we needed to gather around. I followed after Abby. At first, I worried she or Sydney would treat me differently. If anything, my tattoo seemed to have upped my coolness factor. When Mrs. Hadley called Sydney and Troy up to be the captains in a game of volleyball, Sydney picked me first. Troy seemed disappointed. "I wanted you, Jack." I felt my cheek heat up. "No you don't. Trust me. I don't know the first thing about this game.""What?" Sydney gave me an evil glare. "You'd better stay out of the way then." Coolness factor back to zero, I thought. Once teams were picked, we went to a net. The first set of people rotated in. That meant me. Troy was in the back serving. The ball went over the net and over my head and landed on the floor in front of another girl."T
Calculus was a joke. I had no idea what the teacher was talking about. He might as well have been speaking borkanese. I was beyond glad when class was over, even when the teacher had me stay after class so he could give me a syllabus and a book. The layout of the school was beginning to make more sense and I found my history class on my own. If there was a dash and a number after the room number that was the floor the class was on. So history was 127-4. That meant it was on the fourth floor. The bell rang as soon as I entered the room. Mr. Henry glanced up and did a double take. He stood, worry furrowing his brows. It was my grandpa. Professor Pops. But he told me he taught at Harvard. What was he doing here?I waved slightly before sliding into the first seat I found. "Jack. Jack. Over here." I glanced up enough to see Cam waving me over. I got up and went over, sitting in the seat next to Cam's. In front of me was a very bulky guy. He might have troll blood flowing through his ve