“So, do you know anything about Guardians?” I ask tentatively.
“What do you want to know?”
“Do Guardians have something which… makes them turn?”
“Turn? You mean something which makes them keep the balance?”
“Keep the balance?” I pull my hair back and tie it on top of my head, waiting for his answer.
“Guardians are meant to keep the balance between good and evil. It’s why they can take an evil soul or save a good one. Depending on the situation they find themselves in, they can do either, but it’s still a choice. They don’t have to react to the call of the Superiors.”
“Superiors?” I mumble, the word almost getting stuck in my throat.
“I thought you knew a Guardian? You don’t appear to know anything about them.” He frowns.
“Humour me,” I demand.
“Okay.” He shakes his head, giving me a suspicious look. “The Superiors, I guess, are similar to what normal humans would call angels. They send the tasks to the Guardian’s brain, almost like an order, but the Guardian can choose whether to carry them out. Normally they accept because they have no real emotion when they’re doing the job.”
“So… so they don’t turn into the Guardian after being kissed by the person they love?” I question.
“Are you sure you’re okay after the accident?” Sebastian asks, rubbing my head like a kid.
“Sure, just curious.”
“Hmm, what’s this?” he says, reaching for the book I picked up from home.
“It’s a story. A fiction book about a witch who controls a Guardian. She’s evil and wants to use him to rule the Witch Council and ultimately overthrow the Royal Empire.”
“So how does it turn out?” he asks.
I shrug. I “I haven’t read the end yet.”
“You want to watch a movie?”
“Sure,” I reply, and we settle down to the TV.
“Oh my God!” I shout. “I overslept again and this time you were with me,” I complain, jumping off the sofa, my narrowed eyes pinning Sebastian to his seat like it’s all his fault.
We both rush to get ready and practically run to school. This time we’re not late to class, but we do burst through the school doors right into a corridor full of students. At our loud entrance, everyone stops what they’re doing and turns to stare.
“See, told you she likes whoring,” Taya sneers, laughing with her friends.
I barely see Jacobi’s back as he walks away from me.
I slip into the toilets and pull my phone out. I look at Jacobi’s last text and squeeze my eyes closed. He may be parading around with Taya and therefore has no right to be angry when seeing me with Sebastian, especially as I’m not the one kissing and pawing anyone, but still, I want him to know the truth.
Me – There’s nothing between him and me. We’re only friends. It’s you. It always has been. I’m going to ask my dad to transfer me out of Caspian. I think it’s for the best.
My stomach drops at the text, but I know it’s what I need to do, so I press send, then pull up my dad’s number and touch the call button.
I can’t stop staring at the message from Juniper. She’s leaving Caspian which is the last thing I want to happen. She needs this place, to learn and grow as a witch. She’s more powerful than she realises. I sensed it when I was healing her. I wish I could have explored her power more, but there wasn’t the time. Why can’t we just be left alone to get on with life? I thought being young and at school was supposed to be easy, compared to later life. Damn, if this is easy, I dread to think what’s going to happen in the future.
“Jacobi.” Taya screams at me from across the corridor. “It’s time to go. I want to get ready for our date tonight. You can walk me home.”
I really can’t be dealing with this woman right now. I begin to stomp off down the corridor, hoping to escape in the new car my mother and father had delivered for me without even questioning how I lost the old one.
“I don’t think you want to do that, Jacobi. I might just get lost if I walk home on my own. I might find myself in Juniper’s flat, and we know that’ll only lead to trouble.”
I stop dead and look up at the ceiling in frustration. Then, letting out a sigh of annoyance, I make my way over to Taya and pin her against the wall. I stare intensely into her eyes, silently conveying the anger I feel towards her for threatening Juniper again.
“I’m warning you, Taya. Stop with the games you’re playing,” I order her, slamming my hands against the wall, on either side of her head. “I’ll do what you want and put the charade on when there are people around, but as soon as we’re alone, all bets are off. I will not act like the dutiful boyfriend when I hate your guts, and I’m warning you, if you so much as touch a hair on Juniper’s head again, I will destroy you. What you did to Juniper will look like a walk in the park, compared to the pain I’ll put you through. There’s something which lurks inside me, Taya, it’s dangerous and dark, and if I let it out anywhere near you, you’ll regret the day you set your sights on me. Now, walk yourself home and try to make yourself look pretty, if that’s possible with your dark heart. I’ll see you at the arcade later where I will play the dutiful boyfriend, and then I’ll go home and scrub myself until I bleed just to get the scent of you off my skin.”
I thump my fist hard against the wall, and Taya flinches before ducking underneath my arms and putting as much distance between us as she can.
“What has she got that I haven’t?” she asks desperately.
I throw my head back and laugh. “Class, Taya, class. Now, get out of here.”
As if fearing for her life, Taya rushes out of the academy, leaving the doors blowing in the wind behind her. I take a moment to compose myself before looking down at my phone and Juniper’s message again. She can’t leave Caspian. I can’t let it happen, and there’s probably only one person who can help me stop her. I shove my phone in my pocket and collect my school bag before leaving through the still swinging front doors.
“I need your help,” I inform Sebastian as he opens the door to his room.
His eyes go wide when he sees me, and he opens his mouth to reply, but nothing comes out. I barge past him and into his room. It’s not one of the larger ones on campus, but as I look around it, I can see he keeps it tidy and is obviously conscientious about his studies. He’s owns a lot of books on the different elements of magic.
“Er...you can’t just barge in here.” Sebastian finally recovers his voice and stands up to me.
Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I show him the text message from Juniper.
“She’s going to leave?” he questions in shock.
“Yes, and I need your help to stop it. What do you know about what’s going on?” It’s my turn to seek answers.
“I know she loves you, and it’s pretty obvious you feel the same way about her, but what I don’t get is why you aren’t together? Why are you out there sucking face with Taya every day? If Juniper looked at me the way she does you, I’d be by her side every moment I could.” Sebastian motions for me to sit down on an old Windsor chair in his room. He obviously senses I’m not going to leave anytime soon.