Page 76 of Validus Vale Academy 1
"How? Never mind..." The prick was obviously shocked that I could sense the binding mark. That shouldn’t be possible for a lowly professor like me.
“Release her,” I say again.
“Fancy the little dud for yourself?” he sneers, his regular personality returning to the fore.
"Do you want this deal or not?" I counter, my voice hard.
"Fine." After a beat, he extends his arm and our hands meet in a sharp, decisive shake, a flicker of magic sealing the agreement.
"Looks like we're partners," Drakeward grins, the expression predatory.
"For a very, very limited time," I mutter under my breath.
“By the way, I found out about the ex-dean—Dartmouth, he’s dead,” he states casually, with no more emotion than if he were telling me the weather.
I’m about to grill him for details when a small voice calls me.
"Alexis?"
Cosmo and I whirl around, instantly snapping our focus back to Theo.
34
My head is throbbing like the mother of all hangovers, but I know I didn’t go out drinking.
As I peel open my eyelids, the world swims into focus. Alexis is studying my face, a deep line of stress between his brows.
A wave of pain and nausea washes over me. What the hell happened? “Alexis?” When I push myself up on my elbows, I notice that I’m wrapped in a warm, soft sweater.
"Theo? Pulu? How are you feeling?" The professor’s rich voice makes my chest fill with warmth. Oh, right. I’m in Alexis’ office. Cosmo was here and then…oh. Those red trainers.
"What happened?" I croak, my voice all raspy.
He takes my hand, smiling gently. “You…”
But another voice speaks over him. “You freaked out and lost your mind, dud. What was that all about? Did you see something?”
Tension knots in my gut as I realize Cosmo is also looming over me.
"Give her a fucking minute, Drakeward," Alexis snaps.
Cosmo ignores him. “Tell me what you saw.”
As I close my eyes, trying to remember, I suddenly realize I don’t have an uncontrollable urge to spill my guts to Cosmo. Am I free? I think I’m free from his mark. My hand snakes up to my neck.
“It’s gone,” Alexis murmurs. “You’re OK now.”
Gods, sounds great, but I can’t concentrate on what that means. I have to grasp the fraying threads of my consciousness, pulling them together to weave a coherent picture of what I just witnessed. There is something I need to remember, and the memories are slipping away.
“There was an aura…an aura surrounding those shoes.” I picture the gold and lilac swirls. “I don’t know why I could see it, but I could. And then flashes. Vivid, impossible images. A world of white, hard light, quicksands and creatures and… Wes and Donovan.” My heart stutters. “They were there. I saw them.”
“Where, Theo?” Alexis asks gently, his hand stroking my hair. “Where was it? What did you see?”
“I don’t know, but it was Wes and Donovan,” I say, my voice wobbling, and I gulp back tears. “They were… in that place.” Just glimpses, fleeting moments, but it was them. Wes, his face gaunt, and with eyes filled with a strange, otherworldly light. Donovan, looking over his shoulder, had a haunted expression in his eyes.
They couldn’t see me, I knew that instinctively, but it was them. Itwasthem.
Shit.
