Drew stood above him with a cold condescending glare. He was glaring down at O'Connor as though he was nothing but a pesky bug. The intensity of that gaze was so powerful and so menacing that it even had me flinch.
"You bastard! You just hit me!" Nick shouted at Drew and pointed at him with an accusing finger.
"You didn't seem capable of shutting that filthy mouth of yours, so I did it for you." Drew told him frostily. "If you're as strong as you always claim to be, you would've been able to dodge that attack easily. The next time you intend to insult someone, think about where you stand first."
"Where I stand? I might not have that high of a position at this school compared to you, but it's certainly higher than hers! She's nothing but a conniving slag who has you all wrapped around her finger! There's no way that she would've fairly gotten your attention unless she offered something that you wanted!" Nick argued furiously.
Wind suddenly whirled past me and pushed against Nick, forcing him to slide across the dining room and all the liquids that was in the dining room seemed to surge together and slam into him. Jacks had also rushed past me and held Drew back.
"That's enough!" the guardian commanded. "You six, report to the Head Guardian's office right now!"
"Head Guardian? But we're -" Nick protested.
"You may be Moroi but you attend guardian training therefore placing you under the jurisdiction of a guardian. Go before I drag you by the cuff!" the guardian glared at him menacingly.
"I'll see you three at Assembly." I told the three girls through teeth that were still gritted because of the anger that I felt. Thanks to the amendment of the bracelet earlier by Rosette, I could barely feel my magic trying to break free and pummel Nick to the point of no return.
The six of us walked out of the dining room and Nick was kept at the front by two guardians so that he couldn't possibly provoke us anymore than he already had. I noticed that Drew was still seething with anger and shocked coiled through me when I saw fire suddenly surround his fists. He took a step forward and was about to charge at Nick when a wall of earth appeared in front of him and his fists were dripping with water. I stood directly in front of him with my palm flat on his chest and the wall skimmed my back.
I had moved first it seemed with the twins acting next. No doubt Jacks was preventing Drew from getting himself into deep trouble by creating that wall of earth, as did Quinn. I used the only method that I could use which was to physically step in front of him.
"Drew." I called out to him with a firm tone. His attention had still been directed beyond the wall where Nick was but eventually, he tilted his head down slightly so that he could look at me. I simply shook my head and gazed up at him with serious eyes. Beneath my palm, I could feel him taking a deep breath before letting it out again. He seemed to understand what I wanted to say without me having to actually say anything.
I gave him a small sweet smile, glad that he was able to calm himself before he made a mistake. I was surprised when he suddenly brought his hands up and cupped my cheeks with his large warm hands. He said no words, he didn't even open his mouth, but his eyes said everything for him. The gratefulness was there in his eyes, as was the fury. Fury in my stead for what Nick had said.
"Ahem," the other three coughed noticeably and the intense moment between Drew and I was instantly broken. We both blinked, stared at each other for a moment longer before mirrored grins spread across our faces.
"It seems that I'm not the only impulsive person around here." I smirked at him as his hands dropped and we both took a step away from each other.
"It seems that your recklessness has rubbed off on me," he grinned.
"Why do I get the feeling that that was a complete lie?" I rolled my eyes.
"You think that because it is." Quinn scoffed. "Drew is naturally impulsive."
"Most of the time, he acts before he things it through properly." Jacks added.
"That habit of his has gotten us in trouble far too many times before." Dan sighed.
"Hey, it just goes to show that you're all real." I smiled. "It's more realistic if you're not perfect. It just means that you're not aliens."
"Aliens?" they stared at me in shock.
"Well I can't say that you're human because you're not. That idiom doesn't work or you. So I settled for saying that you're not aliens." I smiled sheepishly.
"That certainly makes more sense," they laughed.
"We should probably go before the guardians think that we've made a run for it." I suggested.
"We could make a run for it…" Quinn grinned.
"But I think that Kai should meet the Head Guardian." Drew shook his head. "It might come as a surprise for her."
"Why?" I frowned.
"The Head Guardian is a woman."
"So? The Head Guardian when Rose Hathaway was in school was a woman." I rolled my eyes and tapped the wall of earth. "Jacks, you should probably get rid of this."
"You're probably right about that," he chuckled and with a gesture of his hand, the earth was thrown towards the forest where it belonged.
The five of us went to Aunty Jules' main office which was not far from Martin's office. The door was left open for us and we walked in calmly with passive expressions on our faces. Nick had already begun trying to plead his case that it was our fault and not his. After about a minute of his incessant blabbering, Aunty Jules held up her hand and literally commanded him to shut up.
"Hello Guardian… Belikov." I smiled politely and made sure that I paused to pretend to read her name plate on her desk before greeting her. "My name is Kylie Valentine, I'm the new kid." I briefly introduced myself.
"Ah yes, I've heard about you. The one who managed to beat one of my best tag team guardians," she smiled in amusement as she rested her chin on the bridge formed by her hands.
"Your 'best tag team'?"
"Yes, Guardian Maxwell and Guardian Jenson form one of the best pairs that we've got in this Academy and in our entire vampire community. Their co-operation with one another is exceptional."
"It is..?" I stared at her in shock.
"Wait a minute… you beat Jenson?" the four royals stared at me in shock.
"GUARDIAN Jenson for you four." Aunty Jules corrected them. I couldn't help but smile at that. She always did have a thing for manners.
"Sorry, Guardian Belikov," they apologised to her before turning their attention back to me.
"You beat both of them?" Dan stated dumbly.
"Maybe…" I trailed off shyly.
"You saying maybe means that you beat them." Jacks rolled his eyes.
"Well done." Quinn grinned and smacked me on the back.
"Anyway!" I squealed with embarrassment. "We're not here to talk about that. We're here about what happened just now in the dining hall."
"Ah yes. What did happen there?" Aunty Jules asked sternly and the amusement disappeared instantly from her eyes.
"It was their fault!" Nick shouted immediately as soon as he had the chance.
"I was not asking for your opinion, O'Connor," she told him coolly. "I've already heard enough from you before those five even got here."
"Well… I suppose that I started it." I said thoughtfully and the four royals stared at me in surprise.
"You're joking." Quinn blinked.
"You did not just say that." Jacks dead panned.
"How could you think that?" Dan commented.
"Are you an idiot?" Drew stated bluntly and I glared childishly at him at the insult.
"Well it's because of me that he got angry." I tried to reason.
"The blockhead got angry because he couldn't stand the fact that we left his table and joined yours." Jacks rolled his eyes.
"You only got involved to defend us." Dan added.
"He started it all because he came up to you first and riled you." Quinn stated.
"So, actually Guardian Belikov, none of us have any guilt in saying that it's totally his fault," the four of them said and glared at Nick.
"But, it is to my understanding that three of you used magic against him." Aunty Jules said.
"Yes. That was our fault."
"Then as punishment, you four shall be banned from training practice for an entire week and that includes training outside of school hours," she stated with a firm tone that left no room for debate. "As for you, O'Connor, from what the guardians have told me. You are mostly at fault and what you said to Valentine is inexcusable. You are to be placed under house arrest for two full weeks including the weekends."
Nick's eyes bulged and stared at her in shock. "You can't possibly mean that."
"I do not say things that I do not mean, O'Connor. You are all dismissed with the exception of Valentine." Aunty Jules commanded and everyone left me alone in the office with her.
"Good luck, Kai. She probably just wants to welcome you to the Academy or something…" Quinn whispered to me as he passed me.
I gave them reassuring smiles that I would be just fine and I was shocked to find that as soon as the doors closed, a file hit me straight in the face. "Ow!" I squealed in surprise and glared childishly at her for her own immaturity. "Did you have to throw a file? You're meant to be the controlled one!"
"How could you put yourself in danger like that!" she shouted.
"It was under control. I wasn't running away, just staying loyal to my team and school, that's all." I argued defensively.
"I'm not talking about breaking out. While I am angry about that too, not nearly as angry as about the fact that you jumped straight into the fight."
"It was to protect Lady Drozdov. You're not going to make a flawed argument about how I should've protected myself first before protecting her are you? I might have been away for six years and lived in the mortal world, Aunty Jules, but I still remember that our motto goes something along the lines of: 'They come first.'"
"That only applies when you're a guardian and a dhampir in training!"
"I am a dhampirs in training."
"But you're not just a dhampir in training. You're my niece, and more importantly, you're the last surviving Ivashkov."
"You're really emphasising the family name there."
"I'm heavily emphasising it because you don't seem to understand. Royal families are decreasing by the century. During Rose Hathaway's generation, about two or three royal families were wiped out entirely. We can't afford to lose another one. At the rate that we're going, there will be none left."
"Is that really such an issue?" I sighed tiredly.
"What are you talking about? Of course it is!"
"It isn't." I stated bluntly. "What is there to differentiate royals from ordinary Moroi? It is almost nothing but a title that has others fawning over them. Being a royal offers no advantages. It's not like they're extra powerful or anything. A royal is only a royal because of their family name, because of something that their ancestors had done thousands of years ago."
"Kai, royalty is royalty. It establishes a system that is much easier to follow, that is all. Without the existence of royal families, the election of monarchy is much harder than you could possibly imagine. Think of it as having different political parties."
"Yes, but members of political parties do not have people falling at their feet for their favour."
"Perhaps, but the existence of royalty is in our culture, in our tradition. It's not something we can just wipe out and expect to be able to adapt. Not to mention, there is one thing that you don't know of just yet. It's normally something that you learn in the last year as a dhampir in training. The reason why royals are so important, is because of their ability to cast the charms against Strigoi. You may not know yet, but royals have much more power than you think. Magically, they are superior as well."
"They are?"
"Yes."
"So they're not really just royals in name?"
"No, they're not."
"Oh…"
"That is why the Strigoi make royals their biggest target, because with them gone, our protection against them weakens."
"And that would be very bad." I grimaced.
"That would be an understatement," she sighed. "You had better go or you'll be late for Assembly. This is the one Assembly that you mustn't be late for."
"I take it, you've heard?"
"Oh I've heard alright. About all of it. We can talk more about that later, for now, run so that you won't be late."
"Yes, Ma'am." I saluted with a cheeky grin before running out of her office and down the halls towards the chapel where Assembly was held. I met the other three girls at the entrance and they all beckoned at me as soon as they saw me. We rushed inside and took our seats towards the back since that was the only place where there were seats left.
This Assembly was somewhat solemn because Martin paid tributes to the two guardians who had died. When he began to talk about the ceremony that was going to take place later, he also read out the names of those who would be getting their tattoos, and also the number and type of tattoos that they would be getting. Being the somewhat dramatic person that he was, he left my name till last.
Whispers erupted throughout the entire chapel when he called out my name and the whispering became open chatter when he announced the number and type of tattoos that I would be getting. Martin let everyone talk for a moment before calling for silence and the three girls turned to stare at me in confusion and shock but they had to hold their questions for until the Assembly was over.
"You had made four more kills before the five that you made earlier?" Ingrid screamed at me in shock.
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"That's absolutely incredible."
"I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want you to be scared of me. I wanted to be normal so I asked them to keep it a secret." I told them with a hushed tone.
"When did that happen?"
"That night when the guardians caught me." I told them.
"The night that you were dragged to the school?"
"Yeah."
"So that was why you fringed when we asked you how you were found out."
"Yeah, it was kind of hard to hide when they caught me in action." I nodded sheepishly.
"This little prodigy saved our lives that night." Dan stated and casually draped an arm across my shoulders.
"If it weren't for Kai here, one of us would certainly have died because all of the guardians who were assigned to watch us were already preoccupied." Jacks commented with a grim voice.
"Wait, but how did you meet Kai?" Els asked curiously.
"Weren't you guys out on a binge for Dan's party?" Roxy added.
"We were. We went to the most well-reviewed club in that area." Dan nodded.
"Kai's club…" Ingrid nodded in understanding.
"Hey, it's not my club, I just work there." I protested.
"That does explain why you already seemed to be acquainted with the four royals." Els commented.
"Oh! Look at the time! It's time for class so let's go, Els!" I squealed and dragged her hand so that I could run away from the conversation.
"Kai! Slow down!" Els complained. "I won't talk about it anymore, so please, slow down!"
"Sorry…" I murmured and slowed my running to a walking pace. "I just wanted to get away from that conversation as soon as possible."
"You know Kai, I'm glad that it's you." Els smiled sweetly.
"What do you mean?" I frowned in confusion and tilted my head to the side slightly to glance at her.
"I'm glad that the prodigy is you. You don't thrive in it, you're incredibly modest, a little overly so, but I'd rather have that than have someone who brags about their successes."
"Well, I think you'll find that one of the only things that I will brag about is my successes as a soccer player." I grinned with a wink.
"Kylie!" a familiar voice called out and Els and I turned around to see Ingrid's brother's friend, Eric not far behind us with a group of his friends. "Sorry, I'll see you guys later," he told them before strolling towards us in a half jog. "So I guess that you ended up having a different type of party after all. You were the talk of the entire weekend, Kylie."
"Sorry for not being there for your party even though I said that I'd be there. Some things came up and I just had to be there." I apologised.
"That's quite alright, listen, since you're probably heading to a lesson right now, how about we meet up later if you have the time?"
I took a quick glance at Els and she discretely gave me an enthusiastic nod. Her eyes were practically screaming for me to say yes. "Sure thing, would lunch time be okay for you?"
"Lunch time at Rose Hathaway's statue?"
"Okay, I'll see you there." I grinned wryly.
"Let's hope that you don't get dragged off again this time," he smiled flirtatiously and I was surprised when he suddenly leaned down and kissed my cheek. Well he was certainly an openly and actively flirtatious guy. He pulled away and the glance he gave me was filled with an emotion that I couldn't name. Something about it made my spine tingle but I couldn't work out whether it was a good tingle or a bad one. I simply smiled back at him before taking Els' hand and heading towards our classroom.
"Oh my god, congratulations, Kai for getting together with Eric!" Els squealed in delight and practically jumped up and down with joy.
"We're not together."
"Yet." Els winked. "But you will, I can tell. He wants it, and since you didn't reject him, that means that you're not against getting together with him."
"I guess that he does seem nice. We'll see how it goes." I smiled sheepishly at her since I knew that she had hit the nail. I had no reason to reject Eric, if he did want to get together with me.
"Wait a minute… you're hooking up with him, after training!" Els groaned and slapped her forehead in frustration.
"Is there a problem with that?"
"Moroi have heightened senses, he'll smell sweat if you go straight after training."
"Who says that I'll sweat?" I smirked. "Because of what happened this morning at breakfast, none of the four royals are allowed to train at all for the next couple of weeks which means that my highest competition won't be there today. No offence Els, but I don't really think that anyone else in our class is capable of making me sweat if I wanted to avoid it."
"You do have a point there…" she nodded in agreement.
"Els, you could've at least tried to defend yourself there." I sighed in defeat. "I mean really, where is your pride as a fighter. Don't just accept that someone else is better than you at fighting so easily. Strike an argument or something."
"Yes but trying to defend myself against you would be pointless because I've seen you in proper action." Els pointed out.
"That's no reason to not argue." I scoffed.
"Kai, I don't think that many people have the same capability that you have for arguments. Most people just lose them," she laughed and nudged my shoulder playfully.
"Hey, I resent that! I'm not that good at arguments… I don't think…"
"So you say, Kai. So you say."
9