Year Two: Rebels - Cara Wylde Page 0,52

She settled in the middle of the table and began to fill my plate and hers with the food the staff had started bringing. I didn’t feel like eating, so I sipped my coffee while keeping an eye on all the men at the table.

Headmaster Colin seemed to be just fine. He was acting normal, finishing his coffee and grabbing some bread and butter for starters.

“What a beautiful ball last night, don’t you agree?”

“Indeed,” Professor Lovecraft said, smiling broadly. “A delight, and the student demonstrations were exquisite.”

“Did you have fun?” the headmaster asked me, Seth, and Davien.

Davien grumbled something under his breath, and Seth made it a point to stuff his mouth with bacon at that exact moment. I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

“Yes, it was great,” I said quickly.

Adrian wasn’t eating, either. He had his arms crossed over his chest in a stance of grumpiness and annoyance. I knew he didn’t appreciate the position I’d put him in the night before. He’d thought he was my only lover. How cute. Didn’t he know that both Seth and Davien had visited me at the Karmic Asylum? He’d probably thought we were just friends, or that the boys cared about me because they’d helped him get me out of the caves and then saw me fall apart in their arms. I was pretty sure he’d just been lying to himself because he didn’t like the idea that I was free to choose what I did with my life and my body and that, no, I wasn’t his just because we’d had sex once in year one. There was no way that an Unseelie warrior who was born with powerful instincts hadn’t guessed what was really going on.

Headmaster Colin and Professor Lovecraft were struggling to make conversation. It fell flat because no one at the table was in the mood for small talk. This whole thing was ridiculous. I decided I was done playing games, and since we were all here, why not be a little honest about our intentions? So, I pushed my empty cup aside and started digging into my breakfast as I began to tell them exactly what was on my mind.

“I’m surprised you guys haven’t gone home for the winter vacation.” I shot one glance at Seth, and another at Davien. They remained silent. I looked straight at Adrian. “Especially you, Professor Wyvern. You have a daughter if I remember well. I’m sure she would’ve loved to spend Christmas with her father.”

“Inna is at the Seelie Court. She has friends there. At this time of year, the Unseelie Court is covered in snow, and she’s always preferred summer.”

I nodded. “Well, I’m sure we all have our reasons to be at the Academy, and not at home.” I took my time to finish chewing, then set my fork and knife down. “Here’s mine. I have discovered a way to banish the Great Old Ones. My focus is, of course, on the monster under the Academy, but if I can rid the world of all the cosmic spawns that entered our universe thousands of years ago, even better.”

Headmaster Colin choked on his food. He took a sip of water and cleared his throat. Lovecraft looked confused, but Adrian’s eyes had turned wide. The only ones who didn’t have a clue what I was talking about were Seth and Davien.

“What monster?”

I turned to Seth. “The one you saved me from in year one.”

He shook his head. “I don’t…”

“There’s a monstrous being sleeping under the Academy. It has been there for thousands of years. Those who worship it call it Yig, The Father of Serpents. It’s not a snake, mind you. It’s more like a tentacled creature that needs to be fed regularly by its disciples, the revenants. It cannot be killed since it came here from a universe where life and death don’t exist. It’s eternal, you might say. But it can be banished, and that’s what I intend to do. That’s why I’m here, at Grim Reaper Academy. I don’t care about becoming a Reaper, all I care about is sending Yig back where it belongs.” I looked into Headmaster Colin’s eyes. “I know how to do it. It’s just a matter of time. In exactly one year, if all goes well, our world will be free of the cosmic spawns. No more blood sacrifices in caves, and dungeons, and God knows where.”

Both Seth and Davien were in shock. I could tell they had dozens of questions. The