Page 12 of Shifting Tides

Too bad I didn’t have magic for this kind of situation. Lighting a candle and basic object moving, sure. Most of the magic I had managed to learn was the garden variety, and I just wanted the opportunity to find out what my magic was capable of.

Without a grimoire, I’d need a safe place to test and study—or maybe another witch to help me find new incantations and potions, though that was more unlikely than getting into the school.Damn witches and their secrecy.

Besides, Arya needed me. Of that, I was certain.

Chapter 4

Arya

The subway tunnel was a blur as the train sped through it.

I was detached from the world around me, struggling to keep reality from crashing down on me. I wasn’t ready to face what happened at my house, not yet, not in the presence of this stranger. I couldn’t afford to fall apart, not when I still knew so little about what was actually going on.

I cleared my throat, trying to dislodge the lump there, and looked at the man who was my seemingly reluctant escort. He was all puffed up like a lion, watching the passengers of the train like they were predatory hyenas in his savanna.

“Where is this school you’re taking me to?” I asked.

He regarded me with those steely eyes, and his features softened slightly. “I’ll explain soon. Our stop is coming, and then we can speak more freely.”

I nodded, understanding that he still considered us unsafe.

I looked at the uncaring, distracted commuters around us. They looked harmless, ordinary. They certainly didn’t look like the pale creatures portrayed as vampires in movies, but then Caesar looked like a regular guy, too—albeit a prettydarn good-looking one. To look at him, you’d never know there was a feathered beast lurking beneath the surface.

Could one of these people be hiding a supernatural identity and be out to get me?

I tried not to think about that, either. Grief and fear were playing tug-of-war with my heart, and I didn’t want either one to win.

Stop by stop, all the passengers disembarked until Caesar and I were the only two left on the train. I looked at the digital map on the wall. The next stop was the end of the line. Where were we going?

The train slowed for its final destination.

“Come on, this is where we get off,” Caesar said, rising from the bench.

Allowing a sense of curiosity to fill my fretful mind, I followed him to the door, and we exited as soon as it opened. The platform was dim and completely empty. The stairs to the right led to an industrial part of Chicago that I’d never been to before, but I couldn’t imagine a school for supernatural beings dwelling in this neighborhood.

I headed for the stairs, but when Caesar didn’t take the lead, I stopped short and looked back.

He was walking toward a janitorial closet in the darkest corner of the platform.

I cocked my head and walked up behind him, watching as he pulled the same subway pass out of his pocket and swiped it through the reader on the closet door. A little green light came on, and aclicksounded. Caesar pulled the door open and nodded for me to precede him inside.

Burning with skepticism and trepidation, I slowly crossed the threshold to find myself on another subway platform. A secret platform. Caesar followed me in and closed the door behind him.

“There, now we can talk freely,” he said. “This subway will take us to The Dome. Here, this is your pass now. It’s the only thing that will unlock that door and allow you to ride this private subway.” He offered it to me.

With a mild sense of privilege washing away my previous hesitation, I accepted it. “You’re trusting me with this?”

“All students get one,” he said with a nod. “None of our students are prisoners of the school. They can come and go whenever they want, with a chaperone if they’re minors, of course.”

That was comforting. Some part of me wanted to trust Caesar, even though I had no solid reason to yet. Knowing that I wasn’t expected to be confined to the school he was taking me to made me feel so much better about the situation. Not like I had anywhere else to go. No extended family. No friends except for Shea, who apparently would be in danger if I stayed with her.

“Let’s get on,” he said. “The train will be leaving soon.”

With his hand on my upper back, he gently steered me toward the waiting train.

“But where’s the school?” I asked.

“You’ll see,” he said, a hint of a smirk on his face. “I don’t want to ruin the surprise. There’s nothing like the first time you see it.”

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