Sweet Nightmare, page 18
Later, I’m sure I’ll be mortified by my behavior. But for right now, I’ll take the comfort.
The thought has me burrowing deeper against him, and that’s when it hits me. The shaking I’m feeling isn’t coming from me at all. It’s coming from Jude.
I pull back so I can look at him, really look at him. And it hits me. Jude isn’t angry. He’s terrified. Because of me. For me.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, the words coming out before I have a clue I’m going to say them.
“We had a deal,” he snaps out, and his voice is so low and rumbly that I barely understand it.
“We had a bet,” I correct. “It’s not the same thing. But I know Izzy and I made a huge mistake.”
Jude starts to snap again—I can see it in the way his jaw works. Feel it in the way his chest tenses against me.
But in the end, he just shakes his head as he bursts out the double doors of the administration building and takes the steps down three at a time.
He doesn’t stop until we’re on ground level, several yards away from the building. Then, and only then, does he slide me slowly, carefully, to my feet. He holds on to me for a minute to make sure my legs—and everything else—can support me.
Turns out, they can. Barely. I lock my knees, just in case.
Jude watches the whole thing, gorgeous eyes swirling with a million words and even more emotions as he stares down at me.
“You need to trust me, Kumquat,” he finally says, and his voice is still all growly. “I won’t do anything that deliberately puts you in danger.”
“What about yourself?” I shoot back, because nothing Jude does is without risk.
“I was never in any danger. That’s what I was trying to tell you.”
“This time, maybe.” I narrow my eyes at him as the squid monster’s reaction to him plays over and over again in my head. “And why is that, exactly? What is it about you that turned that creature from homicidal to terrified in the blink of an eye?”
Again, he starts to say something. And again, he settles for snapping his mouth shut and shaking his head.
“You want me to trust you,” I whisper. “But you won’t trust me. About anything. How exactly do you think that’s supposed to work?”
He just stares at me, stonily, and suddenly it’s all too much.
Jude’s secrets.
The storm.
The fact that I still have the monster’s blood in my mouth.
Nausea swamps me, and I stumble backward several steps. Jude reaches out like he wants to help me, but I throw a hand out to stop him. Then I stagger over to the nearest trash can and vomit. A lot.
The only problem is that I’ve barely eaten all day, which means that all I’ve got to throw up is a bunch of stomach acid and whatever blood actually managed to make it down my throat.
Just the thought has me dry heaving some more, over and over again, until I’m convinced I’ve thrown up my stomach lining and maybe even my stomach itself.
I can’t even pretend to be sorry, not when the memory of biting that tentacle is forever emblazoned in my brain.
When I finally stand back up, stomach settled but the rest of me absolutely mortified that I just puked in front of a bunch of my classmates and Jude, Eva is standing next to me with a bottle of water while Luis rubs my back. I rinse out my mouth several times, then use the rest of it to wash the blood from my face and hands before finally turning around to look at the others.
All of them, except for Eva, Luis, and Jude, are very conspicuously not looking at me. I’ve never seen so many paranormals so interested in a pile of plywood in my life…
I look around for Izzy and find her leaning against one of the trees, a bottle of water in her hand as well. The only difference between the two of us is she looks hale and healthy and almost completely back to normal because apparently vampires heal a lot faster than manticores, even with their powers locked down. Not that that seems fair right now, considering she’s the one who went into that enclosure to begin with.
Still, I’m glad she’s all right. I’m in more than enough pain for both of us.
“You okay?” Eva asks, her brown eyes wide and worried as she looks me over from head to toe. “This looks a lot worse than your usual chrickler-related injuries.”
It feels a lot worse, too. But there’s nothing I can do about that right now. Time is ticking, and we still have to finish up with the menagerie.
The thought makes me nauseous all over again. The last thing I want to do right now is go back in that building.
Still, it has to be done. Jude may be able to handle the other monsters—and I will get an answer as to how that’s possible—but the chricklers still need to be taken care of. And I, by far, have the most experience with that.
But when I say as much to Eva, all the people who have been pretending not to pay attention to me puking spring into action.
“The only place you’re going is back to the dorms,” Luis tells me, looking completely annoyed. “Responsibility is one thing. Self-sabotage is something else entirely.”
“I’m okay,” I answer.
“I wouldn’t exactly say that, cher,” Remy tells me. And though his voice is relaxed, his eyes are watchful as they slide between Izzy and me. “You look like you’re one stiff breeze away from falling headfirst into that trash can.”
Considering I feel like I’m barely one tiny gust of wind away from having that happen, I’ll count that as a win. I start to say as much, but the looks on everyone’s faces convince me that doing so definitely won’t help my cause.
“I’ve got this,” Jude tells me.
“But the—”
“We’ve got this,” Mozart repeats just as firmly, her ponytail swaying with each word. “Besides, you wouldn’t deprive me of seeing the inside of the chrickler enclosure, would you? It’s been a lifelong dream of mine.”
“Mine, too,” Remy agrees instantly.
I make a face at him. “Tell me what a chrickler is and maybe I’ll believe you.”
He grins. “Isn’t that more reason for me to go find out?”
Even Izzy gets in on the action when she pulls two more knives out of seemingly nowhere, one of which looks like an actual saber.
When I give her a what-the-hell look, she just shrugs. “If the chricklers don’t actively try to kill me, I can always use them to make a nice oneiroi kabob instead.”
Jude rolls his eyes, but everyone else laughs—including me. But doing so makes my head hurt. Not to mention my stomach. And my side. And my…everything.
Maybe they’re right. Maybe I really should bow out of this one. That is, if I can walk, which—at this point—I’m honestly not certain that I can.
To test it out, I take a few steps back under everyone’s watchful gaze…which isn’t embarrassing at all. I start to turn around to block them out and end up slamming straight into a ghost.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Rocked to My
Manti-core
I’m assaulted by sound as it screeches, “Run…run…run.” Wild hair, bulging eyes, agony twisted on its sunken face, I’m pretty sure it’s the same ghost from earlier in Aunt Claudia’s office. But this time it disappears practically as soon as I walk through it, dissolving into what feels like a thousand needles jabbing into every part of me.
I bite my lip as the torment slams through me, and somehow, I manage to hold back the scream of pain welling up inside me. But I can’t do anything about my legs—abused, exhausted, and already shaky as hell—as they go out from under me.
I hit the ground, hard, and I’m left quivering on the sidewalk like a little kid who can’t keep her shit together, even though it seems to have gone as quickly as it appeared.
I start to push back to my feet, but Jude, Eva, and Luis are all crowded around me, worried looks on their faces. Remy, Simon, and Mozart are a few feet back and look just as concerned—but are still too close, in my opinion.
Only Ember and Izzy are giving me a wide berth. I don’t know if that’s because they don’t care or if they’re just afraid of catching whatever is going on with me right now.
Whatever it is that’s making them keep their distance, I’m grateful. I just wish the others would take a page from their books. I’m getting damn sick of Jude seeing me as some kind of damsel in distress when that’s not who I am. And it sure as shit isn’t who I want to be.
It’s that thought more than any other that has me climbing to my feet. Showing weakness of any kind is dangerous here, even to friends like Luis and Eva. Showing it to everyone else who’s standing around—including the guy who has hurt me over and over again through the years?
I need to nip that shit in the bud.
“Sorry, I lost my balance,” I tell them once I’m standing under my own power again.
Eva’s eyes narrow. “That didn’t look like you lost your balance. That looked like—”
She breaks off when I, very deliberately, step on her foot.
“I’m fine,” I say again. “Let’s just finish up so we can get out of here.”
Jude must figure out that that’s the only concession I’m willing to give right now, because he doesn’t argue with me, just nods before turning and heading back toward the admin building’s entrance.
But he’s only halfway there when a huge bolt of lightning tears across the dark-gray sky. It illuminates the whole area before slamming into one of the huge purple crape myrtle trees that line the quad. Sparks fly and a strange sizzling sound fills the air for several seconds before a giant branch falls off the tree and slams into the surrounding fence on its way to the ground.
“What kind of storm are we dealing with here?” Mozart demands, eyes wide as she turns to look at us. But the moment the words leave her mouth, a giant flame shoots out right after them.
“Look out!” I yell to Jude, who’s directly in the line of fire.
But he’s already moving, jumping backward just in time to avoid being flame-roasted by one of his best friends.
“What the fuck?” Simon shouts, looking horrified. “Are you all right, Jude?”
But before Jude can answer, Simon’s eyes start glowing a deep, bright gold that has every cell in my body being called to him. His skin is next, the deep brown taking on a glittery, gold glow that emanates in all directions. It takes up more and more space as the rest of him begins to shift.
Eva cries out in alarm, but I’m too busy trying to figure out what’s going on inside of me to check what’s up with her. Because all of a sudden my entire body feels like it’s burning up. Not like Ember, earlier, when she literally caught fire, but like I have a really high fever. One that’s melting—and reshaping—my body from the inside out.
“It’s okay, Kumquat.” Jude’s voice is steady as he reaches for me. “You’re okay.”
I don’t feel okay. I feel sick. Really, really sick.
My stomach churns, my breath comes in fast pants that I have no control over, and my skin aches like it’s about to split open.
Jude reaches over and calmly rubs my back, but even that small, soothing contact makes the fire inside me worse. I pull back from him just in time to see Simon’s legs go out from under him.
No, not his legs. His tail.
What the ever-loving hell is going on here?
Seconds later, Simon starts flopping around on the ground, gasping for air. I have one second to register the fact that he can’t breathe because he has gills and wonder how to help him while an inferno is swallowing me whole before Remy steps up.
“I’ve got this,” he announces, sounding completely unfazed by what’s going on. He picks Simon up and seconds later deposits him in the old, broken-down fountain in the middle of the quad. Normally it’s empty, but the rain’s been so heavy today that it’s filled almost to the top with water. Simon sinks under the surface as soon as Remy puts him in it.
Another flash of lightning splits the sky, followed by a loud rumble of thunder that shakes the ground we’re standing on. My legs, already aching and rubbery, turn even more unsteady.
I reach out for Jude, and he grabs onto my hand just as Mozart lets loose with another mouthful of flames—right before a giant pair of black-and-silver wings sprouts from her back.
At the same time, Luis ends up on all fours. The hair on his head starts growing seconds before fur starts sprouting up all over the rest of his body. A bunch of rainbow shimmers surround him, and in less than a minute, he’s turned into a huge, beautiful black wolf.
I reach for him, and he comes forward, letting me slide my hand along his spine before taking off in a ridiculously fast run around the quad.
“It’s okay,” Jude tells me, except it’s not. The black tattoos on his arms—the ones covered by the hoodie he always wears—are climbing up his neck, onto his jaws and cheeks and forehead. “Everything’s okay.”
“You—” I start to say, but my voice sounds different. Lower. Almost like a growl instead of a voice.
I try to clear my throat, and when that doesn’t work, I press a hand against the hollow of my neck. As I do, my nails prick the delicate skin there, and I look down to realize my fingers have curved and my nails have morphed into razor-sharp talons.
And that’s when it finally hits me. I’m not sick at all… I’m shifting into a manticore.
Chapter Thirty-Five
A Manticore Doesn’t
Change Its Tail
For a moment, everything inside of me goes blank as I try to absorb what’s happening.
There’s a part of my brain that says I must be mistaken. That no way could this possibly be what shifting feels like—what magic feels like. But all around me, people are doing things they shouldn’t be able to do. Things the school expressly forbids and stops them from doing.
It’s impossible, and yet it’s happening right now.
The burning sensation deep inside me gets worse with each second that passes, until I can barely stand to be in my own body.
“It’s okay,” Jude tells me again. “You’re okay.”
I don’t know how he can be so calm considering he’s practically in the same situation I am. Everyone else knows what it feels like to feel their power—they came here when they were freshmen and sophomores because of that power.
But Jude’s been here since he was a child. Not as long as me, who was born here. But still. My mother agreed to take him on when he was seven. And while I know he had experienced his power even at that young age, ten years have passed without him feeling anything.
So, yeah, I’m super impressed that he’s handling things as well as he is because I’m freaking out—especially every time I look down at my hands and see paws instead. Or when I glance over my shoulder and see a giant, stinging tail.
Make that a gross, giant, stinging tail. Because, holy shit, is it gross—long and scaly and black with a giant stinger on the end that looks like it can do some serious damage to anyone who gets too close. I don’t know whether to be terrified or horrified or a combination of both as it waves back and forth and curls under and over of its own volition.
I try to stop it, but somehow that only makes it worse until the thing is completely out of my control.
Jude jumps back as it slides by him, the stinger coming so close to his face that it nearly takes his eye out.
“Make it stop!” I wail, only it doesn’t come out like a wail. It comes out about an octave deeper than my usual voice and sounds a lot like a growl.
“I can’t, Kumquat. You’ve got to figure out what to do.”
“You make it sound so easy.”
“I know it’s not,” he soothes. “But it just takes practice. You’ll get the hang of it eventually.”
Eventually? How long is this lapse supposed to last? Long enough for those things writhing on his skin to cover his entire face? Long enough for me to sting him or anyone else who gets too close? Long enough for the entire school to turn completely magic?
I’m not asking the universe for an exact number here. I just need a ballpark figure so that I can calm my own shit down.
Behind me, Eva screams, and I whirl around just in time to see Jean-Luc fly across the fence, straight at us. His blond hair is streaming through the air behind him, and he’s got bloodred fairy wings coming out of his back. Jean-Jacques is right behind him, only his wings are a dark gray.
“Well, that’s the last thing you want to see in the middle of a shit show,” Jude comments quietly, and I have to admit he’s right.
The Jean-Jerks are menaces without their magic. With it…I don’t even want to know what kind of destruction these mafia fae can wreak.
As if to prove my point, Jean-Luc flies over to the nearest pecan tree and rips a branch straight off of it. Then he starts pelting us with the green nuts while Jean-Jacques laughs uproariously. Because apparently, even in an emergency, the two of them have the emotional maturity of overtired toddlers.
“What the fuck?” Ember snarls as one of the pecans bounces off her shoulder.
Seconds later, another one hits Izzy right in the face, and she pulls out yet another knife from what is obviously an inexhaustible supply.
But before she can take aim, Mozart—in her full, gorgeous, black dragon form—sends a stream of fire straight at the obnoxious fae.
It singes his translucent, bloodred wings, and he yells, “What the fuck, dragon? I was just having some fun!”
He starts to throw the entire branch at Mozart, but Izzy’s knife whirs the air at that exact moment and slices a hole straight through his right wing.
Jean-Luc screams as he drops the branch and goes into a spiral that ends with him slamming into the ground. Another quick blast of fire from Mozart and Jean-Jacques is landing right beside his friend.
