a kid,” he said with a sneer, giving me a nasty look before turning away and leading his pack down the hall. The last wolf to leave was the kid that had waved to Jetta and Mack, and he looked highly disturbed by the events. He paused, giving me a nod before following the others.
“Always protecting the lasses, huh Declan?” Ryanne asked me, one pretty eyebrow arched.
I let the power I was holding flow down through my legs and into the concrete. The lights flickered back on, one florescent tube at a time.
“Actually, I think I was protecting him,” I said, studying Toni and her dangerous necklace.
“That’s why ye were draining the bejesus out of the lecky, jest to give the boyo a pat on his back is it?” Ryanne asked.
One of the twins was looking at the lights coming on, bewildered, and the other was staring at Toni.
“Holy shit, look at that necklace,” she said, reaching for it.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” I warned, but it was too late. Her hand got almost six inches away and a fat spark jumped the gap. She yanked her hand back fast and shook it out.
“Fuck. What the hell was that?” she said.
“Toni? Declan? Everything alright out here?” Gina Velasquez suddenly asked from the door of her apartment.
“Yeah, Gina. Toni was meeting some of the students,” I said, meeting Gina’s eyes directly.
“Oh. Toni, why don’t you come in now,” she said, after a glance at the witches and nodding hello.
“Okay, Mama. See you, Declan,” she said, then skipped back to her mother, the two of them disappearing into the apartment.
“What the hell was that? With the necklace?” the blonde who had gotten shocked asked.
“She’s Chris Gordon’s goddaughter. The necklace is strongly warded to protect her,” I said.
“Oh. That has to be the most powerful Artifact I’ve ever seen. Don’t you think, Brit?” the blonde said, looking at her sister for confirmation.
“Oh, where me manners. Declan O’Carroll, this is Erika and Britta Boklund. Britta is me roomie. Declan’s the only male witch at the school,” Ryanne said.
“Did you do that with the electricity?” Britta asked me, not bothering to say hello. “Or did the necklace?”
“I suspect that be Declan. Eh, ye mucker?” Ryanne asked me with a smile.
“Yeah, well, what do you expect? That Delwood’s a freaking monster,” I said.
“Yes, isn’t he just a magnificent beast?” the aggressive twin, Erika asked, smiling and looking down the hall in the direction he’d gone. Her sister was frowning at me.
“You blacked out most of the building,” she commented.
“Well, it’s back up now, so no harm done, right? Anyway, nice to meet you. Maybe I’ll see you all later,” I mumbled, turning to look for my dropped books.
“We’re in a school of less than fifty kids. Of course you’ll see us, genius,” Erika snarked. Her sister was still studying me, and Ryanne was grinning.
“Right then, see ya, D,” Ryanne said, as all three turned and headed toward the dining room, shopping bags in tow.
“Did he really black out the whole building by himself?” I heard Britta ask as they disappeared.
I collected my books and stood up, stopping when I spotted Caeco watching me from the stairwell.
“Making new friends?” she asked, curious.
“I don’t know if the twins are really friend material,” I replied.
“What about the Irish witch?”
“I met her once at the restaurant. Couple of months ago. Passing through with her sisters,” I said, carefully, watching her.
“Uh huh. And now she’s here. Funny that. And what about Delwood? I passed him and his minions in the stairwell. He was cursing about, and I quote ‘a faggot witch boy.’ Is it imperative that you always make enemies with the biggest bully?”
“It’s kind of my thing,” I said, shrugging.
“Well, if that’s your thing, then I want my axe. Let me have the keys to Beast. Please,” she added, holding out her hand.
“You think it’s a good idea bringing it in?” I hesitated.
“Oh please. Did you read the rules? It said no firearms or explosives. Nothing about axes or knives. Have you seen what our roommates are packing?”
Jetta and Mack each had a duffle bag under their beds that were stuffed with machetes, knives, throwing stars, and even a spear, at least in Mack’s case.
“They’re re-plating all their blades with silver and they offered to plate any of our stuff too. So let me get my axe, please,” she said.
“Okay, here ya go,” I said, handing her the keys. She took them with one hand while her