Page 30 of Ashvale: The Vampire's Thrall

I stood to face Hayes and West was at our side in a blink.

"I think not, Miss Romilly. You have been a vampire for all of five minutes, as the kids say." His smile was more like a sneer as he instead grabbed Rowan from somewhere to his right and shoved him in front of Hayes. "You will watch. Next class I will assess your elemental reach."

He disappeared as quickly as he’d arrived and I scowled as I sat on the floor between Hayes and Rowan. "Come on then, boys. Show me what you've got."

A cocky smirk played on Hayes face as he lifted his hands and turned them inward, calling forth a perfect sphere of air that swirled in his arms before he dropped it.

"What price do you have to pay?" I asked, curious, and he glanced at me once before turning his eyes back to Rowan.

"Air is all around us, I don't have to summon it from nothing, therefore the cost is only personal."

"You take an energy hit," Rowan explained. "If you wield too much magick without sufficient energy, it could kill you."

Neat, I thought with a roll of my eyes. It felt like the things that could make me die a true death was an ever increasing list. "Now you," I demanded and Rowan laughed slightly.

He took up a pose similar to Hayes and held his palm out in front of him until a small orb of water flowed there.

"Water is also all around us, in the air, in the clouds," he shot me a look before adding, "in other bodies—so the cost for wielding this element is also lower, similar to Hayes. But if I tried to take too much in one go, the cost would be heavier and I would need to pay the price."

Interesting. So unless you wanted to be carrying around water or dirt or were prepared to bleed willy-nilly, then it was better to have an element like air that required less cost and less prep to wield. "Do either of you have extra powers?"

"No," Rowan said, a small frown marring his face. "Maybe when I'm an undead."

Hayes shrugged but I could feel his smugness radiating from the bond.

"Tell me what it is," I said and he pretended to think about it before offering me a taunting grin.

"No."

“You realise I could just ask the rest of the class right?” I’d seen a few people approach West during the session to be Searched and it seemed like a very public affair.

Hayes’ mouth tipped up in a half-grin that mocked me. “As if I’d let West read me.”

Fuck. There went that plan. “Tell me.”

“No.”

"Why not?" I whined and he prowled closer.

"What, so you can use it against me, love? I think bloody not."

"I'll find out eventually," I pointed out. Eternity was a long time to keep secrets.

"Then I suppose you're just going to have to wait."

Bastard.

* * *

"So you didn't even getto do any magick?" Novalie flipped through the genealogy book from the library as she sprawled on my bed and I groaned.

"Don't remind me." Apparently the first years had begun trying to find and wield their elements today, and I'd spent my supposedly more advanced class sitting on the sidelines.

"You know a little more than me about all this," I said, gesturing to the castle around us after a moment of silence that was broken only by the sound of pages turning. "Can I ask you something without you laughing at me?"

She sat up, eyes glittering with interest. "Of course. Spill."

"Are werewolves real?" I'd been mulling it over while I had been sitting through the tail-end of West's session and the more I thought about it, the more convinced I felt that there was more than met the eye when it came to the silver wolf. It had chased me when I'd run, though what predator would be able to resist the chase? But even then, it had felt more like...playing.

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