Fallen University: Year Two

Chapter Six

“When are they going to tell us if we passed or not?” Jayce glared down at his dinner discontentedly.

“You certainly did,” I said with a grin. He was the nicest one out of all of us, and probably the least likely to ever be seduced by the dark side of our supernatural powers. “What are you worried about?”

Jayce shrugged. His blue eyes were serious as he nodded at Kai, who had taken a spot on the other side of the cafeteria. He’d been avoiding me like the plague all afternoon, ever since we’d finished our exams.

“Kai just got me thinking, that’s all.”

“We passed.” Resting a hand on his muscled thigh, I gave a laugh that sounded nervous even to me. I waved my other hand as if trying to banish the cloud of anxiety that hovered over us. “We did.”

The cafeteria began to empty as people finished their food. Just as my group finished ours, Vesper appeared at the door.

“I bet she’s here for you guys.” Hannah sat up straighter, biting her lip. “Good luck!”

Vesper gestured to Kai then walked to our table. “Headmaster Toland would like to see all of you in his office,” she said. “Immediately.”

My stomach sank like a stone. Jayce, Kingston, Xero, and I looked at each other, giving and taking strength from one another. I held Jayce and Xero’s hands as we walked out, squeezing them tight.

We’re going to be fine, I told myself firmly. No matter what.

Toland sat behind the desk in his large office. He looked a little better than he had before, but I couldn’t tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

“Take a seat, please.” He gestured to the five chairs that had been arranged in front of his desk. “First, I should tell you that you all passed your final exams.”

“All of us?” Kai tilted his head, sounding almost disbelieving.

“All of you,” Toland said firmly. “But I also brought you here to thank you. The information you gave us will be very useful in our attempts to get back home. We’re optimistic about returning to earth before the new school year begins.”

“That’s great!” Jayce beamed happily. “How long will it take?”

“As long as it takes.” Toland gave him an indulgent smile. “Dismissed. Oh, except Kai. Hang back a minute, would you?”

I tried to catch the vampire’s eye, but he wouldn’t look at me. The fury I’d felt from him earlier had faded into a vague sort of concern—but that was a guess at best. I was having as much trouble feeling him as I’d had trying to feel Xero when we first got here.

The only difference was, Xero had come back to me.

I wasn’t sure Kai ever would.

Nothing changed much over the next few weeks.

Which, given our circumstances, was pretty fucking bad.

It felt like Kai and I had gone back to square one, and this time there wasn’t even a bar in the snowy mountains to corner him in. He just stuck to his skulking, and I stuck to trying to ignore the gaping hole in my armor.

It wasn’t easy. Every week, Toland held an assembly. Every week, his optimism waned a little bit more. First, he said we’d get back before the beginning of the school year, then it was before our first break, and then he stopped talking about getting out altogether. Meanwhile, I joined the rest of the student body in going positively stir-crazy.

“I just wish there was something to do,” I said to Hannah one lazy morning as I stared out my window into the dark, red-tinged wilderness beyond the cave. Fallen University had a month-long break in between school years, so classes hadn’t started back up yet, although they would soon.

“Like what?” She glanced at me from where she was lounging on her bed.

“I don’t know. I kind of want to see what’s out there. I still can’t tell if those are trees or bones.”

She shot me a warning look. “No! Don’t even think about it, Piper.”

“But look!” I flung a hand out toward the window. “It’s right there. I could pop out and be back before anybody knew I was missing.”

“Yeah, and get caught by a demon and blow the school’s cover,” she said, rolling her eyes. “It’s not that bad. At least we’re safe inside the school. Read a book or something.”