Page 10 of Demon Found

I turn slowly, feet like lead, reluctantly facing my last living relative.

Chapter Six: Lorelei

Seth’snarrowfacepeerscuriously at me, his slicked-back dirty-blond hair no different to how he wore it as a kid. A traitorous glimmer of hope flickers in my belly. Maybe, now I’m here, we’ll have a chance to be close, like we should have been. To be family.

Striding ahead of me through the academy grounds, Seth fires out information about the buildings and the classes held there, barely giving me time to take in the magnificence of the place. My neck aches from turning back and forward so quickly. Clusters of ancient buildings seem to sprout from the ground rock itself, vines and roses climbing the lower floors. Huge ornate doors, some teasingly open, allow the briefest of glimpses into marble hallways. It’s a palace on steroids. I’m going to be living and learning here, among these astounding towers and pillars, around all this greenery and space. Dammit, there’s even a forest and a craggy mountain in the distance. So much nature—my heart sings in my chest.

A screeching flock of harpies dive through the sky ahead, dashing in and out of gleaming turrets with a couple of griffins hot on their tails, and my feet come to a halt all by themselves. Will that be me? Will I find a place in that flock?

This academy, it’s a fairy tale.

“Hurry it up, Lorelei. I have my own stuff to do. I need to get you to the nurse, then you’re free to explore on your own time. Just, don’t show me up, okay?”

Blinking, I focus on Seth.

“Why would I show you up?”

“We’re crossbreed.” He shrugs like that explains everything. “I’ve worked my ass off to get in with the right crowd. I won’t have you blow my chances. You fuck up and you’re on your own.”

“Was that Camille’s problem with me? She was a complete bitch for no good reason.”

“Rein your neck in, Lorelei Smith. Find a way to apologize to Camille Fumus, you hear me? She’s one of the most influential girls in your year, in the whole academy. Youoweit to me to keep your head down. I got you in here, remember that.”

I tuck my chin into my chest and traipse along after Seth, the magic taken out of the tour. Like hell will I be apologizing.

We cross a grassy meadow bursting with wildflowers and birdsong before arriving at the medical center. The automatic doors buzz open and the tang of disinfectant assaults my nostrils. Stepping inside after Seth, I push down my unease. I hate hospitals. The acidic scent drags me back to memories of fading in and out of consciousness, to faces hanging over me, people draped in blue hospital gowns, to pain. I shake my head to dispel the stark images of Venez’s barren hospital wards.

This place is unlike any I’ve ever been. Modern art adorns the walls, luxurious sofas nestle in the waiting area along with afreehot-drinks dispenser and snack machine. Hell, I might just come here between lessons to hang out. Squeaky clean corridors, with signs directing patients to what sounds like state-of-the-art medicine, vanish in various directions. Surely this is overkill for an academy campus medical unit?

I guess the nearest hospital is the state-run Venez Infirmary. That probably wouldn’t do for the little princes and princesses who come here. What would happen if poor little Cleopatra had to slum it with the Venez citizens, after all?

“Lorelei Smith!” The sharp voice hauls me out of my daydream, and I follow the nurse in her starched white uniform into a cubicle.

“Medical history?” she snaps.

“Uh. I’m well.”

“Any surgeries or broken bones, any regular medication, any allergies?” she rattles off.

“Oh. Shit. Yeah, well, I have a food allergy. Can’t eat meat.”

I wriggle my wrist with my medical alert bracelet at her, but she snorts dismissively.

“I’ve broken a few bones too.” I hand her my papers, avoiding eye contact as she starts to flick through them. When I finally look up, she’s regarding me with a far more sympathetic smile.

“I’m supposed to believe you were this clumsy, this number of times?”

I shrug. It doesn’t really matter what she believes. None of the clinicians I saw as a kid ever questioned it. And my guardians only took me to hospital when it was bad, when they’d really gone too far.

“I see. Well, you’ll find this a rather different setup to the emergency department you’ve been in before. I’ll take a brief history, do a physical and...” she pauses, her gaze sliding over me “... and take some blood.”

It’s total overkill for an academy admittance but right now, for a chance to prove myself, they could do virtually anything to me and I’d let them.

“Sure,” I squeak.I hate needles.Hell, the last time someone attempted to take my blood, I was four and Seth had to intervene.

A scowl plasters the nurse’s face as she processes my results. The warm buzz of her sympathy vanishes as her fingers tap in angry staccato on the keyboard.

She hands me my papers, an extra sheet stapled to the front sporting big red lettering.

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