“Cut him, girl! This is unacceptable!”Tarlaz shouts. The small shadow is jumping up and down on the wall, and while I feel like I should be the voice of reason right now, I totally get it. I could try and magic up my own version of what we’ve lost, but without knowing the specific flavors it would be hard toreplicate, and there aren’t any servers currently in the room with more versions of the tartlets.
“Don’t listen to him, child,”Elgen croaks in my head.“You attack this original and your death will be swift and meaningless. This injustice can be corrected later.”
I’m not sure what she means, exactly, but even I’m not dumb enough to attack an original over a canapé. Still…who eats someone else’s snack? Who the hell does this guy think he is?
“You know, I could have licked that,” I blurt, completely weirded out by the way Germain barely chews the canapé and swallows it down, licking his lips as he stares at me the entire time.
“And did you?” he asks, his lips twitching as he smooths his sleek, blond hair.
I eye him, contemplating how I should respond. I almost want to say ‘yes’ just to mess with him, but going by the challenging glint in his eyes, I get the feeling he would like that.What is this guy’s deal?
When I don’t answer, he adjusts the collar of his suit, and he strides closer. Stopping before me, he peers down and holds out his hand that’s crawling with shadows. “I’m Commander Germain. We’ve met but we haven’t been formally introduced.”
I stare dumbly at his hand.“What is he expecting me to do?”I hiss at the shadows.“Kiss it?”
“I think he wants you to shake his hand, child,”Elgen rasps, still sounding like she’s plotting his demise.“Don’t touch him.”
“What? Why shouldn’t I touch him? What if he gets offended?”Germain doesn’t exactly look like the type of guy who handles rejection well.
“Sorry, it’s an old habit, I guess,” Germain says, pulling his hand back when I take too long. “Even now it can be hard forgetting some of the human ways. Do they still shake hands in the human realm? Ah, it doesn’t matter.”
I watch his expression carefully, noting how his hand at his side is still crawling with shadows. I’m not sure why it makes me uneasy. My guys always have shadows slithering around, but there’s something about Germain’s shadows that puts me on edge. It makes me wonder if he was purposely trying to get me to touch him. I go to peer at the queen’s table across the room, at where my guys are, but the table is still blocked by the glass tower.
“I’m not sure,” I say, clearing my throat. I’m tempted to point out that fist bumping might be more popular now, but that would only give him another excuse to touch me, and I’m becoming acutely aware that my mates warned me to stay away from this guy, and here I am, chatting to him and worrying about the fact he ate my food. I start to move away from the table, but Germain blocks my path with his body.
“Whoa, hold on,” he says casually. “We’ve only just met. How about we get to know each other better before the games?” There’s a wicked gleam in his eyes, and my stomach completely hollows out.
“Watch it, girl,”Elgen barks a warning at me.“He’s trouble. I can sense it.”
“Sure,” I murmur to Germain, “but let’s get away from these glasses. You’ve seen how clumsy I am.”
I only manage to take one step when something firm slides in front of my heel. I don’t see Germain’s shadow in time, and I pitch forward, tripping on it and losing my balance.
“Oh, I have, which makes me all the more curious to find out why they’ve chosen you as their little pet,” Germain says, his voice devoid of any warmth now as he grabs my arm painfully, stopping me from falling.
What?By the time his words register, it’s too late. The instant our skin connects, my vision blurs and my movements become sluggish. I blink slowly, trying to clear my mind, but itdoesn’t help.“What’s happening?”I mumble to the shadows.“I can’t see properly.”Dark shadows begin dancing in my vision, and I can’t tell if they’re real or not. One of them takes on a human form and smiles at me, and I frown.“Elgen, is that you?”
“We’re still here on the wall, girl,”Elgen replies, sounding concerned.“It appears he has affected you with his power.”
Germain pulls me into the darkness behind one of the pillars, and I stumble as he yanks me forward and props me against the stone. Black dots dance on the edges of my vision.Focus, Shade. Focus. What did the guys say about Germain? “Elgen, what’s his power?”I hiss when I struggle to come up with anything.
“He can create mind illusions,”she answers.
“What kind of illusions?”Panic starts making its way through the haze in my mind. Despite whatever he’s using to control me, and how relaxed my muscles are, it’s pretty obvious I’m in danger. The guys had warned me to stay away from Germain and here I am in his grasp. “I could use some advice right now,”I whisper under my breath, hoping one of my guys will be able to hear it using their power, but there’s no reply.
“His power isn’t as strong as Professor Galen’s,”Tarlaz explains.“His illusions will feel real for a few seconds, but they fade quickly enough.”
I shake my head.“It’s not just illusions. I feel like…like…”Laughter tumbles out of my mouth, and I can’t seem to clamp my lips together no matter how much I want to.
Germain grins widely, showing off his perfectly straight teeth, and even with my blurred vision I notice the way his expression has changed. He gives me a cruel smile. “We don’t have long, love, so let’s get to it, shall we? Let’s start with something easy. How did you come to this academy?” Tiny, jagged shadows slither up my chest, reaching my neck and pressing against my flesh.
“What?” I rasp, my heart pounding.
“It’s a simple enough question. How did you get here?” he bites out, repeating himself. As he does, he lifts his hand and grabs my face, gripping it painfully. I struggle as he brushes his fingers across my nose, and an unpleasant floral and musky scent fills my nostrils. I hold my breath.Oh crap, is he drugging me? So it’s not just his power that’s affecting me?I realize too late, and my head grows lighter as it feels like my tongue turns to fuzz.Shit.
“The professors found me,” I mumble, unable to stop the answer from slipping out. “I’m…I’m here because of the academy tattoo.”
“Very good,” he praises, slapping my cheek with his other hand.
