Page 44 of Cry of the Damned
“Nothing shocks me anymore when it comes to the Academy.”
He nodded, his large hands resting on his hips. “I suppose not. All this shit costs a fortune—pardon my language.”
I waved his apology off.
“And it’s our dues that pay for all of it,” he added bitterly.
Bethel cocked her head as she read one of the package labels. “What is… ca-viar?”
“Fish eggs.” Owen wrinkled his red nose.
Bethel scratched her head. “Fish eggs? For a potion?”
“No,” I said. “To eat.”
She blew air through her nose. “I’ve used them in potions plenty of times, but I never thought of eating them.”
We were silent for a moment as we contemplated, then Owen sighed, climbed into the van, and walked all the way to the back. “I left an empty spot here in the corner.”
Bethel and I jumped in after Owen to examine the area. The space looked wide enough for both of us if we stood very close to each other.
“I thought you could hide behind the shelf, and I could put some boxes here in front of you. Then your nifty spell can do the rest. What ya think?”
“Let’s try it,” Bethel said, scooting past Owen and sidling between the back wall and the shelf. She beckoned me to join, and I squeezed myself into the remaining space. I ended up facing the side of the shelf, while Bethel stood directly behind me, her boobs pressing against my back. It was a tight fit, but it would do.
Owen pushed a box against our feet, then stacked a few more on top of it. “I will secure them with some bungee cords later so they don’t fall, but this is good for a test run. Do your thing, Ms. Bethel.”
Through a gap in the shelf, I could see Kall, Maki, Novuk, and Ila standing outside the van. All of them looked concerned, probably wishing they could take our place. But it had to be us. No one else but me knew the layout of the Academy, and no one else but Bethel could do the spell.
I felt the witch take a deep breath then begin to whisper something under her breath. Her hands moved at her sides as she cast the spell to camouflage us.
A moment later, Owen exclaimed, “By Lux! To the naked eye, you’re practically invisible. Good job. Now, we just have to hope our plan works.”
An hour before it was time to go, George showed up again, this time bringing coffee and a container full of pistachio pastries. To my surprise, everyone had tasted coffee before—thanks to Nosh—and they all liked it, except for Ila.
“I’m going to have to fix that,” I told her, lifting my steaming cup in her direction.
She stuck her tongue out and made a gagging sound. “I can’t believe you used to complain about my tea, and you drink that awful thing. It looks and tastes like… Well, I won’t say like what.”
Owen laughed, his large belly moving up and down. “I used to think the same thing when I was younger, but it grows on ya, and after a while, you can’t do without it.”
Ila didn’t seem convinced.
Too quickly, it was time to leave, so Bethel and I climbed back in the van, and Owen boxed us in, securing everything to make sure nothing got out of place during the ride up to the Academy. It was almost 4 PM, the latest time at which Owen was allowed to make deliveries. Bethel and I were going to have to hide and wait until it got dark to make our move, so we’d chosen this time so we would only have to stay hidden inside the compound for a couple of hours, max.
Through that gap in the shelf, my eyes connected with Kall’s. We hadn’t talked about last night. As he’d promised, he was asking nothing of me. I felt terribly callous, as if I’d taken advantage of him, but when I tried to sense how he felt through our tetrad bond, I got nothing but calm and quiet. Honestly, maybe he was some sort of saint, and I was being an idiot with all my concerns.
Good luck,he mouthed just as Owen slammed the doors closed, plunging Bethel and me into darkness. A moment later, the engine roared to life, and we began moving. Behind me, Bethel’s breath rustled my hair.
“Are you nervous?” I asked.
“Nervous?” she huffed. “I’m about toshit my pants,as a city rat would say.”
I didn’t think I had ever seen her worried about anything, and knowing that she felt this way made my own anxiety spike. I gnawed on my lower lip as the van lurched from side to side, and the witch wrapped her hands around my waist to steady herself.
“I had sex with Kall,” I said, as a distraction from what awaited us.
“I figured that much,” she said, sounding interested. “How was it?”
