The Vaga (18 page)

I think of Julian but know that I can’t have him vouch for me or they’ll know he isn’t actually a student here. Sam would probably do it?

‘Uh, Sam Martin could verify it. He’s an art student here.’

He writes down the name. ‘Good. Well under the circumstances, Miss Cole, I would normally say no to your request for an extension. But considering your transcript, and the reputation of your uncle, I will consider this information once I’ve confirmed your story with Mr. Martin.’

I breathe a sigh of relief. ‘Thank you, Professor Jenkins.’

He nods sternly. ‘Very well. That is all then.’ He pushes his chair back and I follow his lead. As we reach the door he says, ‘I’ll be in touch soon.’

He closes the door behind me and I make my way out through the lobby. My phone sounds out and I check the message.

Where are you at the moment
?

It’s from Uncle Jo.

I text him back and he says he’ll meet me in fifteen minutes at the library.

I walk out of the building. Magi and Julian are waiting for me.

‘How did it go?’ Julian asks.

‘I think he bought it. But that reminds me.’ I pull out my phone again and text Sam, letting him know that he’ll probably be receiving a call very soon.

When I’m finished Julian says, ‘Now are you ready to eat?’

‘I suppose I could eat
something
,’ I say, knowing that using all that magic today has exhausted me in more ways than one.

‘Good. Because I’ve got heaps of food.’ He walks over to the nearest table and lays out the mini smorgasbord.

I laugh. ‘You really did get heaps of food.’

He pops a grape into his mouth. ‘I told you. Plus I thought Magi might like some.’

The fact that he considered Mags makes my heart swell, and as I watch him place a plastic cup of water and a sandwich down for her I almost tear up.

I’m standing there like a stone statue when he reaches into the bag and pulls out a peppermint bar. ‘Just in case you felt like a bit of sugar.’ He shrugs, holding it out to me.

I wake from my stupor and take the chocolate out of his hands. ‘Thank you.’ My heart flutters at his thoughtfulness.

We sit in silence and eat for a while before Julian asks me about Sam.

I know I have to tell him, but there is still a flicker of doubt about whether I can trust him or not.

I decide to bite the bullet. ‘You remember the animal that saved us at the museum?’

He nods.

‘Well, that was Sam.’

I go on to explain about what happened and why I teleported him to another realm, but for some reason I leave out Taqôq Wiyon and my vision of Erebus. I’m not sure why I do this, but I decide to trust my instincts and keep those parts to myself. Instead, I just tell him that last night Sam sensed I was in danger. He followed me to the museum this morning where he battled the Crocotta, and then when I saw him he had me teleport him to a medicine man for healing.

‘So Sam is a shapeshifter.’ The way he says it isn’t a question, more of an unsavoury statement.

‘Why the negative reaction?’ I ask.

He sighs. ‘It’s nothing. It doesn’t matter.’

I turn towards him. ‘I’ve heard that excuse already today. Sam actually said the same thing. I have a feeling you’re both not telling me something.’

His voice lowers. ‘What did Sam say
exactly
?’

‘He said that you get up his nose, figuratively speaking.’

He chokes on a laugh. ‘Touché, Sam.’

‘Am I missing something between you two?’

Julian shakes his head. ‘There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Elena. I’m not sure what you saw in my memories, but I’ve done some pretty awful things in my life. I’ve hunted and killed many creatures, some of them shapeshifters. If Sam is one of them then he’d be able to smell their deaths on me, hence his comment about me
getting up his nose
.’

My eyes widen in surprise. I haven’t wanted to bring up his memories, as some of what I saw disturbed me and I’m not sure I’ve processed it all properly yet. I need time to make sense of things and now is
not
that time. I’m too exhausted to even think straight.

But Julian talking about shapeshifters so naturally just seems too bizarre. I mean, I knew of supernatural creatures existing, but up until about nine hours ago I didn’t have any proof. Julian seems to have known about them his whole life and it makes me feel naive.

‘You’ve killed ones like Sam?’ I ask.

He looks down at his hands. ‘You mean, were they
good
like him?’

I nod, unsure as to whether I want to hear this or not.

I remember seeing some of the creatures Julian had killed. I also know that he was trained to obey. But does that justify the taking of lives?

‘To be honest, I don’t know whether they were innocent or not. I followed orders, pure and simple.’

My stomach does a flip.

He turns away from me, as if sensing my disapproval. ‘I can see that makes you uncomfortable.’

Yes, it makes me uncomfortable. It makes me sick to my stomach to think the Puritans are just taking out anyone who stands in their way. Their arrogance knows no bounds. How many have to die before they’re stopped?

‘Didn’t you ever question them?’ I ask, my voice hardening as my anger rises.

He scoffs. ‘I didn’t grow up in your world, Elena. I was raised to obey and to hunt. I’ve never known anything else.’

‘Yeah, well try being the hunted for a change,’ I blurt out, and as soon as the words are out of my mouth I regret it.

Julian’s jaw hardens.

‘I’m…I’m sorry. I don’t know where that came from.’

An awkward silence follows.

‘I do,’ he says a few seconds later. ‘It’s the place that holds your anger. I have one of those to.’

His energy shifts, and I don’t know how, but all of a sudden I know that he’s thinking of his parents.

I realise Julian has his own demons to bear, just like I do. I don’t think any of us escape the clutches of pain or loss in life.

‘So Sam is a shapeshifter huh?’ He whistles, diverting off an obviously sensitive subject. ‘Didn’t see that coming.’

‘Neither did I.’

‘I suppose he’ll want a
thank you
for saving us back at the museum?’ he says, picking at his food.

‘I already thanked him. Besides, I think you guarding Phoebe back there has made up for some of it.’

He rolls his eyes. ‘I doubt that somehow.’

My phone tings. It’s from Sam.

Have spoken to Jenkins. All good. Phoebe ok but still dealing.

‘Everything okay?’ Julian asks.

‘Yep. Sam said Phoebe seems okay with everything… for now.’

He stands up and starts packing away. ‘I wouldn’t want to be a witness to that conversation.’

‘I second that.’

I’m not sure how she does it, but Phoebe has clout, and apparently it doesn’t matter if you’re human or not, she’ll take you down if she deems it necessary.

By the time I text Sam back Julian has already cleaned up everything.

‘You have domestic skills as well?’

He smiles at me. ‘I have many skills you haven’t seen yet.’

I blush at the thought of what skills he actually does possess. I know in my dreams he had a few good ones. The one where he trails his finger down my neck while nipping on my ear runs through my mind, and as his fingers reach the top of my jeans I—

‘Elena?’

‘Huh…what?’ I respond, a little breathless.

‘I said, are you feeling alright? You look a bit flushed.’

I grab my bag. ‘Yeah…uh…totally fine. Thanks for lunch.’

He cocks his head. ‘Uh…you’re welcome.’

My phone goes off again.

‘Uncle Jo wants me to meet him in the library,’ I say flipping it shut.

Julian’s left eye twitches, as if the sound of Uncle Jo’s name has given him a nervous tic. ‘Okay. Shall I just meet you out front after?’

‘Whatever he has found, and trust me he’s found
something
, it’s probably best if you hear it too.’

He throws me a look. ‘Alright. Not sure that’s what your uncle would want, but…’

Shaking my head I move towards the library, and after throwing the rubbish in the bin he follows me.

The library is one place Magi isn’t allowed and I tell her to have some time to herself for a while. She licks my hand and pads away, heading in the direction of who-knows-where.

Walking into the three-storey building the first thing I always notice is the heightened smell of human distress. Libraries would normally evoke a calming, soothing effect on people, but at college it is a place of anxiety and deadlines.

The ground floor is the computer station, filled with wooden cubicles that weave up and down the room in snake-like formation. The sounds of fingers typing across keyboards and pens tapping against benchtops echoes out into the immense space, while the large glass windows overlooking the manicured campus gardens acts as a nice backdrop to the chaos going on inside. The exposed circular stairway stands in the centre of the room, giving you the option of going up—into the loud epicenter of college library interaction; or going down—into the eerily silent study section where the smell of old books overrides all other senses.

Knowing Uncle Jo as well as I do, he’ll be downstairs looking through the old books with a keen researcher’s eye. After our conversation earlier I know he’ll be wanting to know more about Erebus and the Vaga. The bonus of this library is that it holds a large collection of historical and biblical books, dating back centuries. He should have been able to find something.

We pass the librarian station, or as we call it “the vault”. To get past Mr. Arnold—the head librarian slash The Dictator—it takes subtle body movements that don’t draw his attention, or in any way elicit a down the nose response. You must avoid eye contact at all times, and if perchance he does look directly at you then the easiest thing to do is lay down and play dead. Phoebe has done this multiple times and it never fails to enrage his already stuffy demeanour.

‘He’ll be downstairs,’ I whisper back at Julian, leading him to the staircase.

Julian’s phone rings as we reach the first step and I automatically cringe, feeling the eyes of The Dictator bearing down upon us.

He pulls out his phone and his face drops. ‘I have to get this,’ he says. ‘I’ll meet you down there in a bit.’

Before I can respond he answers the call and makes his way quickly towards the entry, ignoring the death stare emanating from the librarian station to his right.

The Dictator looks my way, and I quickly turn and make my way down the stairs, into the library’s underbelly.

The whole area is empty, and even the low whirring of the fluorescent lights overhead can be heard against the deafening silence. I search the aisles for any sign of Uncle Jo, finding him in the back section at a round table strewn with books.

He looks up as I approach. ‘Glad you could finally make it.’

‘Sorry, I was held up,’ I respond, ignoring his tone and sitting down.

He scans my face, his features shifting. He places the book down on the table. ‘What happened?’

There is no use denying what occurred. If I’ve learnt anything it’s that keeping things from Uncle Jo will only result in further torture when the truth finally does come out.

I tell him about Sam.

His epic frown makes an appearance. ‘Are you being serious?’

‘Of course I’m being serious. I wouldn’t joke about this.’

He exhales loudly, and from somewhere in the library I hear a
shhh
.

He draws in closer, keeping his voice low. ‘You didn’t pick up on him?’

Why does everyone think that I can pick up on every living organism out there
?

‘No, I didn’t,’ I hiss. ‘I don’t have the ability to power sense the entire world you know.’

He scratches his chin. ‘It would be handy if you could.’

I roll my eyes. ‘And here I thought you’d be more concerned with the fact that another supernatural being exists on campus.’

‘Ellie, you and I both know they exist. It would be naive to think that our family are the only ones on the whole planet that possess different abilities.’

‘I know that, but it still sort of comes as a shock when you find out one is dating your best friend.’

Smirking he says, ‘How did Phoebe take the news?’

I shrug. ‘Not sure. I haven’t spoken to her yet.’

An eyebrow goes up. ‘That should be an interesting conversation then.’ His gaze softens. ‘Is Sam alright?’

Picturing the horrible scar that runs down his back I say, ‘He’s okay. It was close though.’

He nods thoughtfully. ‘I’m glad you were there to help him. I’m also very thankful that he showed up at the museum when he did.’

‘Me too.’

‘Seeing Taqôq Wiyon again must have shocked you a bit?’ he says.

Shocked, surprised, warmed me to my core.

‘Yeah, it did. I wasn’t sure I’d ever see him again.’

He smiles. ‘I had a feeling you would.’

‘You did?’ I ask, surprised.

He nods before turning serious. ‘These events are unlikely to be just coincidence, Ellie. Especially considering the new threat.’

My skin tingles. ‘What do you mean?’

He moves forward, lowering his voice even further. ‘Julian’s return, Isis making an appearance, the Vaga, and now Sam and Taqôq Wiyon? I have a bad feeling. I don’t like this at all.’

His words wreak havoc on my nerves. ‘I know you are making a point, Uncle Jo, but can you spell it out for me?’

The intricate webbing of his irises capture the glow of the overhead lights, turning them a nice shade of lime green.

He turns the heavy leather bound book in front of him around to face me. ‘This is an earlier version of
Hesiod’s Theogony
. It is a large-scale collection of poems and stories that encompass the Ancient Greek mythical cosmogony of the universe, and how it came into being.’ He points to the page. ‘In here it speaks of Erebus.’

My eyes widen as I take in the page, reading the passage in front of me with apprehension. “The initial state of the universe, or the origin (arche) is Chaos—a gaping void (abyss) considered as a divine primordial condition, from which appeared everything that exists. Then came Gaia—Earth, Tartarus—the cave-like space under the earth, then later-born Erebus—the darkness within Tartarus, and then finally Eros—representing sexual desire and the urge to reproduce, devoid of the emotion of love.”