Page 19 of Caelum

Deep inside, I felt thegouillestart to stir. He never stirred unless it was his day, but I knew I was destined to be what was called a Gargoyle now. Of all my souls, he was the dominant one. I didn’t need to wait until I was twenty-one to figure that out.

Sometimes that happened. Sometimes the soul was so beyond dominant that creatures knew what they were way ahead of schedule. In this case, if I hadn’t known for sure, his response to the girl told me loud and clear.

The creature wanted her.

I cleared my throat, relieved when the noise startled her and made her look away from me and back to Lori who was saying, “Well, you’ll pick up what you need to soon enough. We’re all equal when we come here, Eve, so there’s no need to worry.”

Eve smiled. “Thank you. I don’t have a specific date of birth, but June 21st is when I was due to turneighteen.”

I shot Eren a frown who stared back, just as puzzled. “That’s your birthday then.”

She shook her head. “No. It was the day the women celebrated their next year.”

Stefan lifted a brow. “You had a communal birthday?”

She nodded. “Yes. The men celebrated their next year on December 21st.”

I snorted. “Solstices.”

Eve blinked. “I’m not sure what they are.”

Christ, what a weird-ass place she’d been.

I could tell Lori was on the same page, but she kept her tone bland while she instructed, “Eve, you’ll learn your way around soon enough. You’ll find everything you need in your room. If there’s something missing, you just let me know and I’ll get it for you.” She handed over the credit card we were all given on our first day at Caelum. “This is topped up once a month. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. Your schedule starts the day after tomorrow to give you time to fit in and to figure out where things are. We run a tight ship here, and if you slack on your studies then you will be punished and the card will be rescinded. Do you understand?”

“Of course. But…” Eve shoved the card back at Lori. “I don’t need this. Thank you though.”

Lori shook her head. “It’s yours, Eve. Do what you want with the money. You may need things we don’t provide, and that’s how you will get them. The boys can explain how it works. You seem comfortable around them.” Her eyes twinkled. “Your computer and phone are in there as well. I think you may have to have a few lessons before you understand what they do.”

Eve bit her bottom lip and nodded. “Thank you, Lori.”

The housemistress waved a hand. “Only doing my job. Boys, show her to room three-six-four.”

Stefan nodded and tugged Eve down the corridor. Block A was closest to the teachers, and I knew that meant the faculty wanted to keep an eye on her. I didn’t have to wonder why. She was joining late, and that meant she was a wild card. A Joker. Who knew what she was capable of?

Few survived so long outside of the Academy. If we weren’t brought here before we were fifteen, most turned insane without outside help. The meds the humans gave us actually exacerbated our condition, infuriating the souls to the extent that more than one would become dominant, making the creature dangerous to the extreme.

Though Frazer and Reed had arrived here on the cusp of theirfifteenth birthday, I wondered if that was why they were nuts. They’d been locked up and fed meds like they were veggies. It had to explain at least a few of their assholish tendencies, right?

Block A was loathed by most. No one wanted to be near the teachers, but it had the best view of the ocean, and Eve’s room was no different. She had a corner unit, which meant she had room for a bed and a sofa, with a picture window that I’d have given my left nut for.

My lips curved as I watched her take in her new home.

“This is all for me?” she whispered, wide-eyed, clinging onto Stefan’s hand as though her life depended on it. Sweaty palms or not. “Where’s my roommate?”

“No roommates. That’s why Caelum is so big. We don’t do well with sharing unless it’s with people we consider Pack. Packs can take years to develop,” I explained, watching her face and wondering what she was thinking.

“Pack?” Her head tilted to the side in confusion, even while she stared at the widescreen TV on the back wall of her new quarters.

“Yes. People we choose to be our family,” Eren told her, his gaze was as fixed on her as hers was on the TV. She wasn’t really listening though. I could tell she was more interested in her new home.

Eren reached for the remote and showed her how to turn on the TV, and then switch channels. She beamed a smile at him that made him flush.

It figured that he’d like Eve too. We were a Pack, after all. Alexandre was missing, but that was because he was in the med bay. After fighting with Reed, he’d been caught unaware earlier today. He’d probably wake up tomorrow and be as smitten as Eren looked to be where Eve was concerned. Maybe that would take his mind off getting back at Reed.

We wouldn’t officially declare our soul for years to come, but sometimes you just knew what someone was without them having to say a word. With Reed’s temper? He was a Hell Hound, and there was no mistaking it. Considering Frazer displayed all the signs of being a Sin Eater and Samuel, their third, a Vampire, it fit. Death would be their business when they graduated.

Our Pack, on the other hand, was more about the preservation of life. As a Gargoyle, or agouille, I was a protector. As was Alexandre who I knew would be a Were. While Lorelei and Incubi weren’t renowned for their defensive abilities, they were enticers. They charmed and manipulated, drawing our enemies to us like magnets called to iron filings. Lorelei and Incubi could be destructive, but not to the extent of Frazer’s Pack. Though not the natural fighters that the Hell Hound, Sin Eaters,and Gargoyles were, they could and would call our enemies to us while dealing with the danger they’d drawn their way with their skills.

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