Chapter 2

Kore spent almost all of her free time in her room. Where else was she supposed to be if she wasn't welcomed in the communal areas? She didn't really care at this point, she just kept to herself.

The looks she received from some of the Arcanes told her that they thought she was beneath them.

The rain outside drowned out everything. It echoed against the opened window. The wind was a slow whistle that kept her from wanting to rip her room apart with the way she could feel some of the lower-ranked Arcanes judging her.

It was a lot easier to be alone than to be judged.

Arcanes didn't like Witches. It was simply a fact she had to live with. Some of the Arcanes were nice, those were the five closest to Markus, but the vast majority of the Key House was against her being here but they wouldn't speak out about it. With Dante Iscariot's permission, she stayed here and that was all that mattered.

Arcanes considered Vampires to be sacred, just like the Witches considered the Crowns and Saints sacred. There was something about the link between blood and Magic that made Vampires almost more ethereal to them.

Kore already wanted this year to go quickly. With the Japanese school year beginning in April and finishing in March of the next year, she would be back in England as soon as she turned nineteen in November.

She had better things to do than spend time in further education. While she was an intelligent person, she was not an academic person. She just wasn't a person who could learn within the classroom. All of this stuff was about remembering as much as you could and regurgitating all of the information you could remember onto a piece of paper.

It didn't work for her, and she never saw the point in studying if the topic didn't interest her. That was probably why she failed her classes, or barely passed them all the time. Why did Kore need to learn all of this when she already had a career ahead of her? Her mother wanted to retire as soon as Kore would turn twenty-five, so there was plenty of time for her to learn everything she needed. None of it would have been in the classroom.

The classes Iscariot Institute offered were only there to give them a way to get into university.

Everyone in the Key House already had jobs secured after they left the Institute, either in governments or companies or even in university. They were all from noble families, showing the Arcane world that Mundanes and Arcanes could co-exist without endangering people.

The academic year here started in April and finished in March of the next year.

She would be gone before December.

She had better things to do than spend time in further education.

Witch society was in ruins at the moment, even if they hid it from everyone.

Three Clans, three Lines, three rulers.

That was what it was supposed to be.

That was the Order of Witches.

Whitestone dealt with Light Magic and the Witches who were alive.

Blackwood dealt with Dark Magic and the ancestors who were dead.

Greylight dealt with Magic and Magic alone.

It had worked for centuries. The balance was good until politics came into play.

The Greylight Clan was never interested in politics compared to the other two Clans, preferring to keep Magic in place rather than let lesser Witches think they had the right to dictate what Magic did.

Magic did as Magic wanted.

This disinterest in public affairs displeased the other two Clans, forcing their hands on the matter. The public became upset with the rules placed on Magic by the Whitestone and Blackwood Clans. Those two Clans had a weaker grip on Magic but a stronger grip on the public.

An uprising against the Greylight family happened.

Her mother couldn't handle the Challenge, but she refused to let her Magic be taken.

With her mother dead, there remained only two Greylights that could take the title of Crown Greylight. She was the daughter of the former Crown, being First-born child, allowing her the title when she came of age. If she died, or relinquished the title, her oldest cousin, First-born of her oldest uncle, would take the title after her.

The Greylight Clan stood with Kore but she couldn't take leadership until she was nineteen.

Kore lit a candle in remembrance of her mother, the flame arching higher and higher as the rain poured and the lightning struck. It danced brightly, a small show of thanks before the tip of the flame curled into a picture of a bird for just a split second.

She smiled.

After a week, the storm let up and her mood lightened along with the rain leaving. It had taken a few weeks for the death to finally settle in her, but she found comfort in the rain while it lasted.

)()()(

It was nearing dusk but she knew she had enough time to have a hot drink. She leaned against the countertop of the kitchen, small and hardly in use. She had already made a coffee for herself, sipping on the enough-sugar-to-kill-an-elephant caffeinated liquid.

Kore yawned, finishing her coffee with a few gulps since it had gone cold within the time she spent on her phone. She slipped her phone into the side pocket of her uniform jacket, having decided to go for the short skirt instead of trousers because of the slightly warmer weather as the end of March came.

She knew the Key House had left without her. It wasn't their duty to keep her safe. She could do it herself. She wanted an extra coffee to wake herself up before she even thought of heading to class.

"I'm late, I know," she said, walking into the classroom with an uninterested attitude. She glanced at the teacher, jutting a thumb at the new man. "Who's he?"

"Take your seat," the man said with a look of disdain aimed at her for being late.

The classroom had tiered seating with a desk in front of the teacher. A whiteboard sat on the wall.

She pursed her lips before going to the back of the tiered classroom and taking her seat at the corner. It was the furthest from anyone else in the class and she was closer to the window. She didn't like anyone behind her.

"Did anyone else new arrive?" the teacher asked, looking at Markus.

"No. She is the only new student,"

"Right," he said, turning to me. "I'm Laurent Adrastos, your law teacher. I'm originally from Orion because the Chamber thought the oldest class needed a better understanding of the law and Arcane law. We just started the basic GAL but we can go over them if you need me to?"

Kore shook her head, "No, I know GAL."

She tapped her fingers against the table, her nails making small sounds and tiny sparks on the table in her anxiety. Instead of physically writing her notes, she just held the pen and had the ink of her pen begin to repeat everything that Laurent Adrastos wrote on the board. She just listened as he spoke, letting the words sink in as she watched the dark clouds walk across the night sky.

A single candle sat on Laurent's desk, a long white candle with a large flame that she began to manipulate out of boredom. She twisted it this way and that, making it go higher and then lower—nothing a normal candle wouldn't do.

"Miss Graylight, stop it before I give you detention for disturbing the lesson,"

She smiled as Laurent turned around and simply glared at her. She rested her chin on her hand, looking down at him from the highest seat in the classroom. "Did Headmaster Iscariot inform you of me then?"

"He did,"

"Does Orion know of me being here?"

"They do,"

She didn't respond to that as he continued the lesson.

Orion shouldn't have known, nor should the Arcane Chamber. The Order of Witches didn't even know. If Orion knew, they would tell the other two authorities in the Arcane world.

Gripping her pen too hard, she managed to snap it in half. She sighed, holding her right wrist in her uninjured hand. The plastic casing of her pen had lodged itself into her hand, breaking the skin in several areas but there was one that was deeper than the rest. That piece made her concerned about damage to the blood vessels in her palm.

Some of her classmates had the guts to turn around to look at her, curious as she stood up.

"I'm going to the nurse."

"I'll come with you," Annaliese quickly said, shooting a glare at Silas as soon as he opened his mouth. Wylan, Annaliese's boyfriend, shook his head at her and muttered that she should sit down.

"No need, I'll go by myself,"

Laurent shook his head. "You're not going alone. There are Fallens in the nearby town. It would be safer if someone brought you there. It is the middle of the night."

"But—" Kore tried but was interrupted by Markus snapping his book closed.

"Mr Adrastos is right," Markus said as he stood up and nodded to the door. "We don't want any Fallens thinking they can walk onto the school grounds."

"Fine."

)()()(

"How deep is it?" Markus asked, looking at her from the side of his eye.

They walked side by side, leaving a foot of space between them as they headed towards the main building where the infirmary would be.

"Enough to need stitches but it'll heal by tomorrow night if I get the pieces out of my hand," Kore kept her hand elevated enough so she didn't lose more blood. "The pieces are keeping me from bleeding too much. You don't need to take me to the nurse, I can make it there myself."

"I know but there is a chance of a Fallen smelling it. Witch blood is potent enough to travel a long distance." He kept his eyes on the shadows of several trees before he addressed someone else. "You might as well come out and introduce yourself."

"Shouldn't you be in class?" the new girl said, holding a knife firmly in her hand. It was a short dagger and she slipped it into a sleeve to hide it.

Markus didn't react to it so it must have been normal.

The new girl was a Prefect, wearing the Lock House uniform with green detailing and a shiny badge on her breast. She was one of the four Prefects, working alone for her six hour shift. More often than not, Kore didn't have a use for interacting with the Prefects since they tended to keep outside the school grounds for their shifts. And they were usually young Guardians with Laurent Adrastos being their mentor.

"There was a mishap and Kore injured herself. I am escorting her to the infirmary," Markus paused, emphasising good manners, "Good evening, Evette."

"Evening," Evette looked at Kore, scanning her hand as she brushed dirty blonde hair out of her face, "You shouldn't be walking around when you're bleeding."

"I'd like to get this sorted out before I go to bed," Kore said.

"Good," she nodded. "There's been a few sightings of Fallens in the town so you'd better hurry and get it sorted."

"I'm Kore Greylight,"

"Evette Jones," she smiled, "I'd better get on with my patrol. Nice to meet you, Kore. Good to see you again, Markus."

Kore nodded.

"Good to see you too, Evette," Markus said, "Have a pleasant patrol."

Evette Jones was an interesting girl, Kore could already tell without using any of her gifts. She was even more interesting when Kore opened herself up to Magic and took a good look at the supposedly Mundane Guardian girl.

No, she wasn't any old Guardian.

She was Warden and she hid it well.

The infirmary wasn't a long trek away. Markus, being ever the gentleman and knowing she couldn't open doors easily at the moment, opened the doors for her and allowed her in first. He brought out a first aid kit along with sterilised tweezers, putting them on a side tray thing for one of the beds as Kore settled herself on the bed.

She took the tweezers, testing them before she began to gently pick the plastic out of her hands. She dropped each piece into the metal dish, fully knowing that there was blood on the pieces and that Markus was standing only a couple of feet away.

"I didn't know Witches could control their scents," Markus said, looking out of the window for a moment before looking back at her.

"We can't," Kore said, not expanding on the topic but her mind kept trailing back to Evette. "Do the others know that the school allows Wardens to attend class?"

"We don't have any Wardens,"

She looked up, giving him a look before she went back to sorting her hand out again, "Hm. Then what the fuck is Evette?"

All the niceties and pleasantness dropped from Markus's face, his posture going cold and stiff.

Instead of sitting on the bed like she was before, Kore found herself on her back with Markus looming over her. Both of her legs were trapped under his as he half leaned onto the bed, one leg still touching the floor while the other pinned hers. His right hand was on her shoulder, forcing her back while his left held her injured wrist down at a painful angle.

She just gritted her teeth, regretting wearing a skirt but Markus wasn't interested in that.

He was angry and she knew it. He was angry at her knowledge, and angry at himself because he didn't know how she knew.

He was curious.

How much did she actually know?

Did she keep more secrets than he knew about?

The way his old blood bubbled in his body was fascinating. Dark red eyes just made it a little more interesting, and the peak of long fangs beneath his lips didn't scare her either.

Her hand hurt at the angle he held it, and so did her shoulder.

"Hit a nerve?" she mused with curled lips turning into a grin. "Why?"

"What else do you know?"

"What else is the school hiding?!"

He tightened his grip on her shoulder, feeling the muscle tighten under his hand as he watched her grit her jaw. A little pain might loosen her tongue but the fire in her eyes was intriguing. She wasn't afraid of him and he wanted to know why but not at the moment. There were more important things.

"Who told you?"

She rolled her eyes, biting her lip from screaming when he dug his thumb into her injured palm. Blood pooled a little more in her palm, staining his thumb a little as he pressed a shard of hard plastic further into her flesh.

"Her blood!" she half yelled, the pain edged on for a second. He gave her a moment to continue, digging it in again when she didn't continue. "There's Magic in her blood, the kind that you find in Arcanes but not. Humans, full Mundanes, don't have Magic at all. Let me go!"

He didn't move, pausing in thought as his Vampiric features went away before releasing her completely. Markus tried to help her to sit up, but Kore swatted his hand away before trying to send a kick aimed at his family jewels. Luckily, he stepped away before she could, letting her kick his thigh instead.

"You motherfucker!" she muttered when she examined her palm after sitting up. "Get me a scalpel. You've forced one of the pieces in further and I can't reach it with the tweezers."

"Let me try," he stepped forward, only stopping as he saw her curl up on herself.

Her Magic crackled around her like electricity, warning him if he touched her again, he would be fried. She tried to hide her hand away from him, slight fear and immense anger lacing her eyes.

Good.

"Rather have a rabid dog try to get it out with his teeth than you touching me again," she spat. "Just get me a scalpel and I'll get myself sorted."

He did as requested, putting the scalpel on the tray and watching her take a deep breath in. She closed her eyes for a moment, settling herself before she began to slice into her own palm with the precision of a surgeon. It didn't take long to find the last piece of plastic.

She didn't even try to stitch her palm closed, only putting a large square of gauze on it before wrapping it slowly. The only time she asked for help was when she needed to tie it together. She couldn't do that one-handed.

Kore noticed that his thumb was no longer stained but she didn't comment on it as he wrapped her hand. His skin was warm against hers, fingers now gentle as he tied the wrappings.

As soon as she had that done, she snatched her hand away from him. Kore took the metal tray of bloodied plastic pieces and shoved them in the appropriate bin. She did the same to the things she used and had come in contact with blood.

Her eyes flashed silver, making his glow in retaliation.

"You still haven't answered my question," Kore said, giving him one final once over before turning back and beginning to walk away. "Leave me alone."