That night, we all headed over to the Smoking Lamp. Because the natural thing to do after learning of an ancient, ultra-powerful being waiting around for someone with bad intentions to find it, was to go sip cappuccinos.
The Smoking Lamp was the hangout for Academy students, tucked away off Columbus Circle away from prying Norm eyes. We’re talking legit wood coffee bar, moody diffused lighting for the emo slam poet in everyone, coffee that won’t make you hack up an intestine, the works.
I waved to Cid, the djinn owner, as our group filtered in and took a seat at a round table. He didn’t nod back, but his eyes followed us. I understood his hesitation. One of the last times I’d been here, things had gotten kind of crazy with the espresso shots. I might have also ended up standing on a table.
“Everybody’s been talking about it,” Sylvia said the moment Cid came over with our drinks (and an extra stern look for yours truly). “This house, person, thing, whatever.”
“Not everyone,” Demarcus said.
Sylvia gave him the same deadpan look I noticed Asher had pretty much perfected with me. Seemed it was a secret weapon among partners. “Really? Name one person who’s gone on practical hours and hasn’t seen it.”
Demarcus was silent for a moment before taking a long sip.
“Thought so,” Sylvia said smugly. “Everyone.”
“It’s even worse than that,” Colson said.
He filled Sylvia and Demarcus in on what we’d learned from Master Deltroy earlier that day. I’d hoped Jen and Penny would have been there, too, but they’d be out on their own practical hours for the next few days. Shame. Penny was an ancient succubus who didn’t look a day older than any of us. Her family had been Supe royalty in Romania or something until they were attacked and poor Penny was left in cursed stasis until modern day. With that much old knowledge, I’d been hoping she might know something about the Cursed One that we didn’t already.
The table went silent when Colson finished filling in the others with what else we’d learned.
“Well…” Sylvia said, in a tone that said she was trying to be optimistic. “It’s not totally evil, right? That’s one good thing.”
“What do you mean?” Asher said.
Sylvia put her cup down. “I mean, it sounds like it’s just a really powerful being. And whoever finds it decides what to do with that power. Sounds like it doesn’t have a choice, does it?”
“Exactly,” I said, glancing at Asher, who merely shook his head. “It’s not evil.”
“Not yet,” he said firmly. “But you really think it’s a good idea to just wait around until it decides?”
“It won’t decide!”
“You’re right, because we’re going to find it first and keep it away from the Society. Or destroy it.”
“Oh, so we think we know better? Just because a few people tell you something is bad doesn’t mean they’re always right!”
“Yeah, and what about when we know something has the potential to be bad? You want to just wait around for it to make up its mind? There’s a reason they don’t let certain types of Supes into New York, Skylar! Because…” He did a short drumroll on the table. “They’re naturally bad!”
There was an uncomfortable pause. Demarcus took another long sip of his drink, eyes wide over the lip.
“Boy, if we argued like that we wouldn’t get anything done,” Sylvia said. “What’s your guys’ secret?”
“Having the patience of a saint,” Asher sighed.
“Venting to friends,” Mia added.
“A punching bag,” I said. “In the gym. Three hours a day.”
Asher snorted. “If you actually used a punching bag, you’d hit a lot harder than you currently do—”
I raised my fist. “Want to test?”
He grimaced.
Feeling the start of a smile, I lowered my fist. Then a thought hit me. “Calypso.”
“Excuse me?”
“Yeah, did you flash back to Greece there for a sec?” Demarcus said. “Not that I blame you…so lucky…”
“Calypso wasn’t evil. She wasn’t a bad person, she was just put in a bad situation.”
“Um, technically she wasn’t a person at all…”
“Not now, Mia.” I turned fully to Asher, wanting him to get this, hating how we could blame something on someone who hadn’t had a chance to prove themselves otherwise. Maybe it was because I could—in a weird way—relate. All my life I’d been the daughter of such important people. That’s what everybody judged me on. I hadn’t been given a chance to show them otherwise, show them whether I was actually good enough to live up to it, or whether I couldn’t. “Calypso did what she thought was right.”
“But it was still wrong.”
“To us.”
“To everyone! If something is going to go bad, then yeah we have to stop it. But if it has the chance to turn good—”
Thump.
We all jumped. I peeked around Asher and Mia to see that Colson had slammed his fist down on one of the bench’s armrests, splintering it. Over his shoulder, Cid was eyeing us again.
“It doesn’t matter what the Cursed One is or isn’t,” Colson said, voice so low I could feel the vibrations through the floor. “Good, bad, whether it deserved what it got or not, that’s not for us to decide, not until we see it. We’re going to find it, and we’re going to keep it safe.”
Then he stood and lumbered out.
“I’m such an idiot,” Asher said softly after a moment.
“You think?” Mia said. I’d never heard her sound so shrill. Her face was splotched red, hands clenching the side of the table. “Sitting here talking about people—about Supes—being naturally bad and he’s there the entire time…”
It took a moment before I understood. Colson was half-giant. Giants, one of the Supe races that we almost hadn’t let into New York, that everyone thought could only turn out rotten. I’m sure Colson had dealt with, and still dealt with, his fair share of bias thanks to something he had no control over. I know my grandpa Brune, who was also half-giant, did plenty.
Dragon spit, we were all idiots.
“I’ll go talk to him,” Mia said, starting to scoot out of the booth.
“No.” Asher stopped her and slipped out himself. “I need to apologize.”
Without waiting for Mia to protest, he went after Colson. Behind them, Cid’s eyebrows rose higher. I gave him a grimacing thumbs up.
I turned back to the table to find Sylvia and Demarcus sharing a brief, quiet look with one another. Mia was swirling her drink, eyes on the table.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I wasn’t thinking.”
“None of us were,” Sylvia added.
“I was,” Demarcus said. Sylvia shot him a withering look.
“It’s okay,” Mia said. “You can tell him later. I’m sure he’s not that bothered. It’s nothing he hasn’t heard before, right? There’s just…we all have a lot going on and he’s stressed.”
I had a feeling that stress was more than just the normal rigors of classes, but Mia didn’t seem inclined to share any more, and if there really was an issue between her and Colson, I wanted her to feel comfortable telling me.
“I know Asher didn’t mean to say those things, either,” Mia went on. She looked over at me, a slightly coy smile on her lips. “I get why he wants to find this Cursed One so bad. Why he wants to stop it.”
“Why…?” I said.
“He wants you to be safe. And if the Society gets their hands on it like we think they’re trying to, you know the first person Kasia’s going to use that power on?”
It clicked. Me. Definitely me. Kasia had made it clear she wasn’t finished with me—or the Dark Prince she’d cursed me with—not by a long shot. And as much as I wanted to believe that I could stand up to her, I knew I couldn’t do it alone. I needed Mia. I needed Colson. I needed Asher. Sometimes infuriating, thoughtful, frustrating, strong Asher, who had my back one hundred percent. Who I was sure was doing this to save the Academy, just the Academy, for no other reason. Like maybe to protect me because…
Mia was watching my reaction. I felt my face slowly grow hot.
“I…want to find it too. To protect everyone,” I said. I quickly took a drink to hide what I was sure was a face as bright as a headlight.
“Oooh…” Demarcus said, eyes going wide. “I do believe someone’s been bitten by the love bug—”
Sylvia elbowed him. Hard.
I caught Mia as we were leaving the Smoking Lamp. She looked curiously at me as I let Sylvia and Demarcus trail their way back to the Academy. Asher and Colson had already gone back, which I took as either a good sign, or a bad one.
“How are you and Colson doing?” I blurted, unsure how else to start the conversation.
Mia’s small nose wrinkled in confusion. “Colson? We’re doing fine. Assignments have been kind of tough but—”
“Are you sure?”
Mia paused, mouth partway open. “Yes…? What’s wrong, Skylar?”
“I just…” I kicked at an errant bottle in my path. “Things seem a little weird between you two since you came back from the last assignment. And I know how you like him. A lot…”
It was Mia’s turn to blush. Not like she’d been crushing on Colson for literally the last eon plus a millennium.
“Has he said anything?” I went on as Mia played with the cuffs of her jacket.
“We’re not thinking about that right now. The assignments are more important, and there are…other things.”
“So nothing at all? No dates—”
“No!”
“No midnight get-togethers.”
“Skylar…”
“No smooch—”
“Skylar!” Her hands twisted together. I grinned to show her I was teasing, but Mia didn’t return it. Her eyes had grown distant, and in that moment I was worried, seriously worried.
“Mia, if there’s something wrong…”
“There’s nothing wrong. Nothing we can’t figure out. As partners.” She looked right at me when she said that. “We can figure it out, Skylar. Colson’s fine. I’m fine.”
I remembered the way Colson looked, hunched over at the edge of the cliff. The frazzled way Mia looked when she’d come in to join us that day, as though she’d been dealing with more than just getting a letter from her parents.
“I’m just trying to help,” I said softly. “You know that, right?”
“I know that,” Mia said with a sigh. “And I promise it’s nothing to worry about. And if it was, I’d tell you.”
“You sure?”
Mia looked right at me then. “I’ll always tell you. If you always tell me.”
The way she said it, I felt like she knew. She knew the secret I was keeping from her, from everyone. Knew how badly I wanted to share it. How come the hardest people to be honest with were the ones closest to me?
“Come on, we’ve still got to study for Metal Work,” I said.
We entered back into step with one another, but my thoughts were somewhere else. All this talk about the Cursed One had reminded me that I hadn’t yet tapped out all my resources. There was a certain Prince who might be able to tell me what I needed to know.
I double-checked that the hallway outside my room was clear before slipping out. The guard gargoyles, which normally were there to make sure there weren’t any errant students wandering around after curfew (Exhibit A: Me) had doubled their patrols since Kasia’s curse inside Mia had manifested itself. I was honestly glad Lucien wasn’t taking any chances with the security of his students. But dang, did it make sneaking around when you weren’t supposed to difficult.
I cast a light concealment charm over myself as the nearest gargoyles floated by, their immense stone bodies somehow silently kept aloft as they drifted down the corridor. Technically, as an advanced student, I wouldn’t be in too much trouble if they caught me. That didn’t mean I was taking any chances.
A couple hallways later, I scooted past the last of them and entered Remembrance Hall. The windowed ceiling let in alternating shafts of moonlight. The broad, marbled floor was completely vacant this time of night, leaving only the lone oak tree that dominated the center, its branches misshapen and jutting from its trunk like a multi-armed beast. Or one of those inflatable tube men I’d seen outside used car lots.
I made extra sure I was actually the only one there and then took a seat in the grassy patch ringing the tree. I let out a sigh. Things had been crazy the last couple days. Between classes, training with Asher, and the few moments I had time to hang out with Mia and Colson, I’d barely been able to find enough time to think, not to mention attempt to get in touch with my inner darkness.
Yippee.
I crossed my legs, sat up straight, and slowed my breathing. Meditation had never been my strong suit, but something about the Hall, about being here in this place full of magic, made it easier. The oak tree groaned slightly behind me, moving in a phantom wind. Supposedly it’d been an ancient evil that my mom had been forced to defeat. And when she had—
Focus, Skylar.
I took another breath. I turned my attention inward. I could feel my consciousness being slowly enveloped by the cool darkness that always hung at the edge of my mind; a predator waiting for me to slip up. It was like a pool: fathomless and deep, and I let myself drift through it until I felt the sensation of change within my mind and I opened my eyes.
This was new.
Let me explain: the Dark Prince lived in a castle—an actual flippin’ castle—somewhere within my chest cavity. Or maybe my stomach. My heart? Soul? I wasn’t sure entirely where, only that it had rooms and halls and candles and décor that would make Dracula feel right at home. Normally the Dark Prince in all his prince-ness would be there to greet me.
He wasn’t this time.
I stood slowly, taking in my new surroundings. I’d arrived at a wide hall lined with paintings, all of them shrouded in shadow. Tapestries embroidered with different family crests hung beside those next to arching windows that showed nothing but the inky blackness of the world outside the castle. The Dark Prince had told me he was practically a god in this world, that he could create anything he wanted to, so I wondered why he insisted on keeping the world outside so dark.
It’s in his name, bozo, I reminded myself.
I walked to the end of the hall and looked both directions. More hallways, dimly lit with candles and filled with nothing but cold drafts and statues of gargoyles hunched over as if in silent prayer. I really hoped these weren’t alive. Farther to the left I thought I could see something like a chapel. I heard only silence.
I backed up and hurried the opposite way. Had I somehow slipped in without him noticing? Maybe I’d finally mastered my mental control enough to sneak in unseen. Regardless, this was a rare opportunity, and I wasn’t going to waste it.
I wound my way down more halls. I’d never seen the castle from the outside, but by the fifth hallway and third ballroom I knew this place had to be magic. Obviously. There was no way all this could fit inside such a small space.
I arrived at a junction. Two winding staircases rose before me, leading to a second floor (Seriously? How much real estate did he need?) and vanishing around the corner. But that wasn’t why I’d stopped. I cocked my ears, listening. I could hear faint whispers drifting down from the hallway on my right. My heart rate quickened. Was there someone else besides the two of us in here?
I went toward them, keeping my ears perked as the whispers ebbed and flowed. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but something told me that I didn’t want to lose them. Soon I reached a broad, tall door at the end of the hall. Unlike the wooden doors in the rest of the castle, this one was made entirely of metal.
I slowly drew closer. The whispers’ volume increased, leaking out from the sliver-thin cracks of the frame. My skin prickled, my senses on full alert. Something about the door kept drawing me in and scaring me at the same time.
Free…free…
I stopped. I’d been able to make out that voice, though I couldn’t tell who’d spoken it, whether they were young or old, male or female.
Free…free…
I was close enough now to see that the door wasn’t as solid as it first appeared. A couple large cracks spiderwebbed from the bottom, just wide enough to see through to the other side. I squinted, taking another step closer. My hands were starting to sweat, a strange chill icing the backs of my legs.
Just a little closer…
Free…FREE ME.
“So nice of you to join me.”
I whirled to find the Dark Prince, perfect smile pasted on his perfect face. Even after the few other times I’d seen him, his unnatural good looks still managed to take my breath away. His face had probably been the model for angels, every strand of his onyx hair in place, slashing across his golden eyes. His black suit fit tight in all the right places, his nimble hands adjusting the blood-red buttons. He was beautiful and flawless and powerful.
And totally not my type. I didn’t dig the whole sadistic malevolent dude vibe.
“I seem to have missed your arrival,” the Dark Prince said, his voice velvety smooth. “How foolish of me. After all, without me here to guide you, there’s no telling what sort of trouble you might get into…”
There was no threat in his tone, but I felt it all the same. I glanced back at the door, but it was gone. The entire hallway was gone. We somehow now stood in the same room we usually did; roaring fire, blood-red settees and couch, harp strumming in the corner beside a table with only two chairs.
Per usual, I stepped around the couch to put a little room between the two of us. Though I had no intentions of accepting any of his power, the guy could get a little handsy. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with that.
“Did you like what you saw?” the Dark Prince said. I pulled my eyes away from examining the rest of the room to look at him. Something about him was off. And then I figured it out: his normally relaxed, powerful posture was tight and upright. His eyes were laser focused on me, as though he might be able to draw out any truth I had hidden on my tongue.
“You have a lot of hallways,” I blurted. Something about his tenseness was making me tense. More than I usually was around him. Whatever that door had been, he hadn’t wanted me to find it. There was still a chance he didn’t know I had.
“Is that so? And did you see anything you liked? Anything that piqued your interest?”
I crossed my arms, forcing my tone light. “A new color scheme wouldn’t hurt. Some orange. Maybe even pink. I think pink would do a lot for this place.”
He continued staring at me for another long moment while I held my breath. Then he smiled wider, revealing rows of perfect teeth. “I’ll keep that in mind. Though I think it’s only courteous that you announce whenever you come to visit.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said.
The Dark Prince let out an amused chuckle. He took a step closer, trying to let his aura of power and—yeah, I’ll admit—hotness addle my brains and let him talk his way around whatever I wanted from him. But I was ready for his game and stepped back, trailing my hand across the back of the couch. I looked to the window, acting as though I was unconcerned while still keeping him in the corner of my eye.
“I needed to ask you something.”
“Oh?” His eyes fluttered shut for a brief moment, and I knew, somehow, he was sensing the world outside my body. “Not power. You’re in no danger.”
Only from you, I thought. “Not power. I told you I don’t need that.”
“That wasn’t the case a few months ago. And that won’t be the case forever.”
I clenched my hands into fists until my annoyance subsided. The last time he’d tried to “help” he’d nearly taken me over. Did he really think I was that big of an idiot? Or desperate?
“We’ve found something,” I said, trying to keep the conversation on track. “Something old that the Fae had hidden away. I figured you might know about it.”
Irritation flashed across his features. He drummed his fingers on the arm of the couch. “Is that all I am to you? An encyclopedia?”
“To be that you’d have to give me less lip, so no.”
“And what makes you think I’ll have what you want to know?”
I paused. I hadn’t exactly thought about that. The Dark Prince was some kind of curse. A sentient one. An annoying one, but a curse all the same. Because of that, I’d started seeing him as more of his own person rather than any sort of magic Kasia had conjured. He felt like somebody that had a history. Who might have memories.
“Would you have anything that might help?” I finally said.
“I might. But why would I tell you? After all, you’ve made it clear you want nothing to do with me.”
“You haven’t really done anything to make me think otherwise,” I snapped. I took a deep breath to stay calm. I couldn’t afford to lose my temper. But whenever I was around him he got my blood boiling like no other, except maybe Asher during some of our bantering bouts. “It’s a simple question. You don’t lose anything helping me. And maybe if you do help…”
I drew the word out. I forced myself to step around the couch until it was no longer between us. “Maybe next time I’m in trouble I’ll think twice about refusing your power.”
The Dark Prince stared unnervingly at me. Then he smiled. Then he laughed, a surprisingly bright, clear sound. “Perhaps you’re not as dim as I first thought.”
“Not making points…”
He waved a dismissive hand, and all the earlier tension seemed to flow out of his body, as though it had been nothing but an act. “Ask your question. I’ll tell you what I think you should know.”
That wasn’t exactly reassuring, but I’d take what I could get. “What is the Cursed One?”
The Dark Prince took his time walking around the couch and settling into it. He crossed his long legs, looking every bit the royalty his name implied. “How funny you should ask me.”
“Why’s that?”
“The Cursed One and I…” He almost managed to look wistful as he stared into the fire. “We’re quite similar. Both trapped by designs not our own. The Cursed One was locked away by the Fae for crimes it had yet to commit, and here I am, trapped inside you without a say in how or why.”
That had been my exact thought earlier. I tried to think of a way I could say what I was thinking without coming off callous. Then I realized I shouldn’t be worried about that with him. “You’re a curse. You don’t get to choose. Kasia created you and stuck you inside me. Bam, done.”
The Dark Prince was silent.
“Right…?” I followed up.
“You must think this is all fun and games for me.”
I scoffed. “You can’t honestly expect me to believe you don’t enjoy tormenting me.”
His toothy smirk was back. “Maybe a little.”
“But what is it?”
The Dark Prince stayed quiet. I couldn’t tell if he was actually thinking of an answer, or drawing out the silence to make me impatient. If it was the second one, it was working.
“Can you hurry—”
“I’m assuming it’s begun showing up again?”
“It—yeah. A few of us have seen it. It just pops up in this house, looks creepy, and then vanishes and destroys a bunch of stuff when it does.”
“The destruction is a side-effect of jumping between our plane and the plane the Fae trapped it in. Very soon it will stay on our side permanently. The wards hiding it are wearing off, but the Cursed One is not doing that itself. Contrary to what you might believe, it is not some malevolent force trying to break free and wreak destruction.”
“I know. It’s…sort of neutral, right?”
The Dark Prince snorted, somehow making even that sound extra condescending. “You think in such simplistic terms. It is not good, nor is it bad. It just is. A being that has been there since the beginning.”
“The beginning of what?”
“Everything. It is not power in the way you humans think of it. It is not a being to be harnessed, nor one to be allied with. It has a different kind of power.” His eyes glinted, daring me to ask.
I really didn’t want to, but I said, “What kind?”
“Sacrifice.”
My blood ran cold, even as the Dark Prince’s smile widened. “Oh, you don’t like that, I can see it in your face.”
“Nobody likes that.”
“Sacrifice is the natural order of all things. Something must be given for something to be gained. You give up who you are for what you might become. Parents sacrifice time, energy, sanity for their children in hopes that they may become better versions of themselves. And this…”
In one movement he stood, crossing the space between us in an instant. I gasped and stumbled back.
“Whoever finds and sacrifices the Cursed One will gain immense power. Power to do whatever they please. Power nearly unequaled.”
He drew a finger softly down my cheek, making me shiver. “Almost unequaled. Some have that kind of power already within their grasp.”
“If…if it can give someone power like that,” I said, forcing my voice to stay even, “then it’s evil.”
“Again, you think too simplistically. It is evil only if the user wills it so.”
His finger moved to tilt my chin up. “I could help you find it, right now. No waiting. You and I, we would be unstoppable—”
I forced myself to back away. I was breathing hard. I hadn’t realized it, but his magic, that stupid, persuasive, seductive magic of his had been ensnaring me the entire time he spoke. If I was going to keep risking coming in here, I had to get a better grip.
“Sorry, no dice,” I said, forcing a smile.
Surprisingly, he didn’t look upset. “You are a challenge, Skylar Rivest. And that will make it all the sweeter when I win.”
“I thought you said we would do this together. Be a super special team and all that.”
His smile merely widened. “If you wish to stop the Cursed One for good and ensure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands, then I think you’re at least smart enough to figure out what needs to be done.”
The fire suddenly didn’t seem so warm. Goosebumps rose on my skin. “We can’t…
“You must find it first, and you must kill it. If that happens no one else can gain its power.”
“There has to be some other way.”
“I assure you there is not. For until the Fae realize it’s returned and come to seal it again, it is at the mercy of those who find it first.”
Which would be us. It had to be us.
And if it wasn’t…
“Can you—”
I paused. I felt a strange stirring outside me, outside my physical body back in the real world. It was the prickle of growing magic. How could that be? I was supposed to be all alone in Remembrance Hall.
Without another word, I closed my eyes and shifted my spirit back to the real world and forced myself to stand, fighting off the usual wave of disorientation. The faint tickle of magic I’d felt before was growing stronger, putting my senses on high alert.
Then I heard something, like fabric tearing. I spun to the right. The center of the hall, just above the marble, shimmered with light. Sparks sprayed across the floor as a portal began to open. A Farcast portal, the kind we usually used for long-distance travel. Typically, the pre-conjured portals were supposed to drop us back on Jones Beach Park, but occasionally we ended up here if we weren’t concentrating hard enough. Or were in too much danger to concentrate.
I took another step closer as the portal widened. Through the blackness leading to the other side, I thought I saw movement. I heard muffled yelling.
Then Penny stumbled out. Jen’s arm was slung over her shoulder, her other one bent at an odd angle. Blood dripped from the tips of their fingers from multiple cuts slicing open their sleeves.
“Guys!” I rushed to them as they stumbled forward. The portal snapped shut behind them.
“The Society,” Penny mumbled. “They found us. They’ve nearly found the Cursed One.”