Page 10 of Fortune Academy: Year One
I crawled along the carpet until I reached the source of the low murmurs. None of the other rooms showed signs of life, which I found odd given that this was apparently the dark mage dorms. They seemed like the type of supernaturals who’d stay up all night doing blood rituals or something creepy like that.
“What do you mean you used it up?” came an indignant reply on the other side of the door. I pressed my ear against it and held my breath as the sound of metal hit something solid as if someone had just thrown a knife against a hard surface, maybe marble or granite. These mages sure did live it up in these dorms. “I don’t have unlimited magic, you know. Artifacts can hold a charge but it requires sacrifice, which, if you recall, is against Academy policy. What do you want me to do, cut off your hand and recharge it with your blood?”
Dante grunted. “If that’s all it needed then I would have made sure to bleed on it instead of the street. Already had my hand cut off once today.”
A moment of silence ensued and I tried not to roll my eyes. Dante really had to make himself sound so pompous, didn’t he?
“I thought you said you were a hunter,” the mage said, his voice dropping into low, threatening tones. “The only supernatural I know of that has that kind of healing ability is a vampire. I’m already in enough shit with the dean. If she finds out I’ve been helping a fucking vamp—”
“Relax. I’m not a vampire. I’m just not your average hunter, okay? Now do what you need to do to recharge this thing.”
“Why?” Came the reply followed by a sliding sound as the dagger was picked back up again. “You clearly used a lot of magic already. What are you up to?”
Dante growled. “I came to you because you don’t ask questions.”
“Well that was before. Now you’re coming back for seconds and I’m going to need a little bit more information.”
“How about I cut you a deal,” Dante said, lowering his voice enough that I almost couldn’t hear him. I pressed harder against the door, wincing when the wood creaked. A moment of silence made me hold my breath while my heart thundered in my ears. I wasn’t sure what I’d do if they found out I was eavesdropping on them. My mission right now was to get answers, not get myself into trouble, but sometimes those two things went hand in hand.
“I’m listening,” the mage replied, making me relax with relief.
“I’ll give you enough sacrifice to cover blood duty for a week. You’ll be stocked up for a while, right? You won’t have to go to your regular sources. The dean is already giving the mages plenty of volunteers through the discipline program, but she’s started to notice more people with injuries than are on the punishment docket. This’ll help you lay low for a while.”
A low hum of approval. “All right, hunter, you’ve got yourself a deal. I’ll need some time to gather enough artifacts and then we can really test out your healing abilities. For now, show me your hand. That’ll be enough to charge the dagger for you.”
My blood went cold as I realized that Dante was going to lose his hand... again. And for what, for me? The second I heard his muffled cry my hand shot to the door handle, but I made myself freeze. I couldn’t just bust in and yell at the dark mage. Dante had asked him to cut off his hand, even if that was dumb, a little piece of my frozen heart warmed.
He’d given a blood sacrifice... for me.
Tingling swept through my body and a magical hum sounded from the other side of the door. Dante’s sacrifice had been made and now he was recharging the dagger. For what, I wasn’t sure, but I know it had to do with me. I’d find a way to make this all up to him... somehow. Not sure what was worth two lost hands, but I’d figure it out. I didn’t like to owe a debt to anyone. No matter his reasons, even if he was doing this for something selfish or for a longterm plan that I couldn’t understand right now, he still was helping me when he didn’t have to. In spite of myself, I was grateful.
“It’s done,” said the mage, making me scurry down the steps as fast as I could without being too loud.
I paused at the front door and frantically waved my bloodied shirt over the pad, but I must have smudged the blood on the floor when I’d fallen because it wouldn’t pick up a signature.
“What do you think you’re doing? I thought I told you to wait outside,” Dante growled, although he sounded less menacing and more exhausted than anything else.
I peered at him over my shoulder and gave him and sidelong smile. “What can I say. It was creepy outside.” I gave the ominous interior a once-over. While it was missing gargoyles like the exterior, faint runes fluttered over the walls as if spells were alive in the surface. If I focused, a faint whisper nagged at the back of my mind in a language I didn’t understand. “It’s not much better in here, to be honest.”
He chuckled, then coughed and adjusted his arm deeper into the folds of his cloak. I narrowed my eyes on the evidence of what he’d just done. “How’d you even get in here?” he asked, then shook his head. “Never mind. I don’t want to know. Let’s get you to your dorms before anyone finds out we’re here.”
I wanted to prod him with questions about why he’d be willing to let a dark mage cut off his hand for me, and what other blood sacrifices he’d agreed to. Instead I followed silently as he activated the pad, this time by leaning down and looking into the screen. A small laser swept over his iris before the doors opened. So, it was more difficult to get out of the dark mage’s dorms than in... that was interesting.
Once outside we passed by a few more buildings. One caught my interest, looking more like a stacked series of huts than the mix of modern and gothic architecture on the rest of the campus. “What’s that?” I asked, pointing to the tall pillars with buildings perched atop them.
“Panther shifters,” Dante said absently, grunting and failing to hide how much pain he was in as he stumbled. “They like heights... and walls they can chew on.”
I rested a hand on his bicep and refused to pull away when he froze. “Dante, why did you need to recharge that dagger? And why aren’t you healing?” I let my gaze fall meaningfully to the shadows in his cloak.
He rolled his shoulders back and straightened. “You weren’t supposed to know about that. Don’t ask too many questions, okay? That’s how you’re going to stay safe.”
I frowned, but I didn’t push him. I didn’t know enough about him yet to be sure if he was really trying to keep me safe, or if he just didn’t want me to learn his secrets. He didn’t seem to be healing as fast as he had the first time, which either meant that his powers had limits, or whatever the dark mage had done to him had taken more than just his hand.
“Here we are,” he said, indicating one of the larger buildings we’d come across. “This is the Freshman Ward. There’s a room for you here until you figure out where you belong.”
I looked longingly back at the other buildings, particularly the cool looking tree fort huts. “How do I know where I’m supposed to stay?” I didn’t know if supernatural strength was a shifter trait, but being a panther sounded pretty cool, minus the chewing on the wood part, anyway.
He gave me a weak smile, his dimples reappearing for a delightful moment. “You’d be surprised how many freshmen don’t know what they are or haven’t shown signs of supernatural abilities yet. You’ll fit right in once we get you into the roster. First step is attuning your blood to your room and the system will automatically log you, but it requires a spell, which is why I had to charge the dagger.” He gestured at the large basin off to the side of the building that I’d mistaken for a broken water fountain. “You ready?”
