Chapter 3

She didn't go back to class. She wouldn't risk it when she had an open wound. It needed time to heal and it wouldn't be fine until a good dozen hours later.

Kore headed back to the House until dawn, letting herself heal a little bit more without the chance of the Fallens outside the school smelling her blood.

Fallens were dangerous Vampires, ones who had let their bloodlust take over. It usually occurred in turned Vampires but born ones could also go Fallen too.

As the sun was hot with clear skies on a Wednesday, she decided to go on a walk in the afternoon. She brought a book and a sketchbook with a single sharp pencil, making her way into the main area of the school.

Her hair was pulled back today, to keep it out of her face and show off the colour.

Wearing her black and red uniform with the skirt, she stood out against the rest of the awake student body. All of the Key House was still asleep since it was only one in the afternoon. She had her circular sunglasses on and earbuds in but she could still see all of the students chatting away as they walked past her, whispering to their friends.

Evette quickly showed up, "Afternoon, Kore. Key House isn't supposed to be out during the day."

"Iscariot said I was allowed out during the day," Kore said, taking out her earbuds as Evette almost guided her to sit down on a bench near a blossom tree. "I couldn't sleep."

"Nightmares?"

"Paranoia."

Evette was on guard straight away. "Why are you paranoid? Did one of the Key House try something?"

Kore shook her head, lifting her hand up to show the bandage still there, "No, no. Still not finished healing though."

"Your kind, they heal quickly, don't they?" Evette asked curiously, her eyes lighting up. "Not as fast as... them, but a lot quicker than humans. When do you think you'll be fine?"

"Couple hours. I've still got residual pain and will for probably a week."

"That sounds so nice and horrible at the same time. Is the pain like phantom pains? There but not?"

"Yeah. It's not too bad," Kore said. "How's your thigh? I can sense you're injured."

Evette tugged down her skirt, where a thick bandage sat on her upper thigh. "It's not bad. Just a nasty cut a Fallen gave me when I went out on patrol into the town. Good thing Markus went with you last night. I don't know how the Fallens would react to you."

"If you want, I can get you a cream that will heal them instantly," she suggested, "Punctures, scratches, bites, it works quickly."

"Why didn't you use it on your hand then?"

"It works for small wounds," Kore lifted her hand and dismissively waved it. "This doesn't count as small. I had to cut into my hand to get one of the pieces out."

"Ouch. That does sound painful,"

"Eh, you get used to the pain after a while."

As they spoke, more Lock House students seemed to stare. Kore didn't care that they tried to listen in, Evette and Kore were speaking too low for them to hear. The sun was bright but the tree kept them in the shade, letting them stay warm instead of overheating like the students around them.

"Jones!" A Lock House boy suddenly appeared before them both, stopping their conversation. "You nag at us about interfering with the Key House, and here you are! It's a bit hypocritical of you, don't you think? Please, excuse me." He said when he looked at Kore.

"You're excused." Kore smiled, teeth on display. "I don't believe we've met. Actually, I'll stop you there. I was having a conversation with Evette. Why have you interrupted us?"

"Evette Jones is a Prefect," he said. "She should be telling you to go back to your House, not hanging around with you."

"Though it is none of your business, I have permission from Headmaster Iscariot to be here. Evette is just checking in with me. I'm new to the school and she is just making sure I'm settling in well," she tilted her head. "Or would you rather I not be settled in well and the headmaster never knowing?"

The boy hesitated before dropping into a low bow. "I apologise. I didn't mean to insinuate that she shouldn't check in on you."

"What did you mean then? That she shouldn't be able to have a conversation with me because you believe she is being hypocritical if she does?" He hesitated again but Kore took pity on him and waved a hand, dismissing him before looking at Evette again. "Gods, I hate people sometimes."

"I hate him sometimes," Evette said. "They all always forget that as a Prefect, I have authority over them."

"Yeah, how did you become a Prefect?" she tilted her head. Her Magic was in effect, slowly, surely untwining Evette's unwillingness and distrust of her to tell Kore the truth. "Is it due to your Warden status?"

"Yeah, it is," Evette's eyes flashes silver before she grinned. "It's nice to talk to someone who understands the Warden stuff. None of my class knows."

"Of course, they don't," she said. "Why would they? I didn't know the school let Wardens attend the school. I was surprised to find that they let them teach here."

"You mean Laurent Adrastos?"

Kore nodded.

"He's been teaching here since I started school," Evette said. "My parents aren't quite fond of me being here but if I wanted to attend Iscariot Insitute, I needed some sort of oversight. Laurent teaches me some Warden stuff."

Wardens weren't born, they were made after going through a few trials in Orion. Only the most capable became Wardens and everyone else was simply a Guardian. They were the people sent to keep Arcanes in check, being almost half Arcane and Mundane at the same time.

"Oh, that's cool," Kore checked her phone. "I'd best get back to my House. I have some work to finish. Have a good rest of the day."

Evette nodded, getting up too as she left.

Something tightened in Kore's chest, like a snake wrapped around her, quickly restricting her blood flow and movement for a moment. Kore had to swallow down a painful gasp, determined to will away the pain. It went away after a moment and she resumed her walking.

It was getting worse.

)()()(

Though her dominant hand was her right, the one Kore had injured, she didn't find it hard to use her left. There were several instances where she would go with her right only to wince and revert to her left hand.

Cooking was too tricky, so she opted for cakes and coffee until she could actually have something that didn't need her right hand. She could deal with snacks and takeaways for now.

Kore sat at her desk, hunched over a textbook as she tried to finish a piece of work when a knock sounded at the door.

"Go away, Alastair," she muttered, fiddling with the pencil in her hand to try and concentrate.

She knew it was Markus, he was the only Vampire and his blood hummed a certain way. Old and powerful, she liked the way it didn't seem to flow in his veins. The humming was closer to the humming of Magic than just simple blood.

"We ordered some food. I thought you'd like a bowl," he said through the door.

She snapped the fingers of her good hand, turning in her chair to watch the door swing open. He tried to step inside but Magic didn't let him get his foot past the threshold. Markus arched an eyebrow before she just nodded once. That allowed him in.

He walked in with a bowl of food and a carbonated beverage, placing them in the space next to her. "Richard had mentioned you didn't eat meat. You haven't cooked any food for yourself because of your hand."

"Can't really cook when your dominant hand is hurt and some bastard decided to hurt it some more. Thanks," she sighed, pulling the bowl closer and seeing the rice and tofu in there. "Sweet and sour, my favourite."

"Is it?" Markus leaned against the side of the desk, his back facing the windows while he crossed his arms loosely. "I would rather you not attend class until you are healed. The Houses have wards that prevent Fallens in, but the ones on the main building are much weaker. I don't want to tempt the Fallens into trying to get into the school."

"Fine with me," she said, taking a piece of the chewy yet crunchy tofu. She gestured with her fork. "This is good."

"I'm glad you like it," he said with a toneless voice before falling silent but not leaving.

She could feel the questions he had, the curiosity he wanted to be sated. "Ask your questions."

The corner of his lip curled as he moved, his left hand on the table and his right on the back of her chair as he turned to face her. Markus leaned down a little, eyes glowing as Kore felt the prickle of Magic in the air.

"How do you know Blood Magic?"

She sighed, picking at her food.

"It's in my blood," she said. "Couple of centuries ago, there were four Witch Clans. Whitestone, Blackwood, Greylight, and Redwater. Redwater was known for Blood Magic. Back then, the Crowns, the leaders of each Clan, lived for a long time and would have many children. The Redwater leader had three children, all daughters, after thirty years, and knowing he already had an heir in his oldest child, a son, he married his daughters off to sons of the other Clans. Then there was a dispute and the Redwater leader was killed and every Redwater. That included the married-off daughters, but one had a daughter without the Order knowing."

"And that daughter was married into your bloodline," Markus said, moving his right hand so it touched her shoulder.

Without hesitation, she took her fork and stabbed him in the left hand on the table.

"Don't touch me." She glared at him. "That daughter was my great, great, great grandmother? Something like that. The Gift comes to each Greylight Crown or Heir, usually manifesting when they are ready to take the title. Only a First-born can take the title."

He only looked at the four bloodied indents in his hand, surprised by the fact she could wound him but he didn't show any outward pain. Kore gave him a glance at the hand on her shoulder before her eyes met him again, silently asking him to remove his hand. He did as requested, putting his hand back on the wood of the chair.

"Your mother," Markus asked, his tone soft as he knew it was a delicate subject. "She wasn't killed because of a treaty, was she? The other two Clans—"

A sad smile appeared on her lips as she looked out into the darkening sky. "She was Challenged, meaning her ability to wield Magic and her ability to run the Clan was questioned. The Crowns of Whitestone and Blackwood deemed her unfit to rule, and if she was unfit, her ability to use Magic would be stripped. Instead of letting them take her Magic as they would have, she gave it up to the Saints. The Challenge killed her."

"Your mother had the Blood Magic Gift and they wanted it,"

"Yeah," she sighed. "And since she refused to work for the goals the Whitestones and Blackwoods had in mind, she was deemed unruly and unfit to rule her Clan."

"Because she didn't want to align herself with them, they challenged her to take her Gift?" she nodded as Markus continued. "And instead of the Saints taking the Gift, it got transferred to you."

"How'd you figure that out?" she hummed, bringing the bloodied fork to her mouth. Blood of all kinds was tempting for her, not to taste, but rather to control. And Vampire blood was even more remarkable.

Markus just watched her consume his blood. He was surprisingly not unsettled or uncomfortable. Most Vampires would have been.

"It explains how you knew about Evette." Markus stood up straight. "How can you master the Gift within a couple of weeks? You said your mother died only a few weeks ago."

"I always had the Gift but it stayed dormant." She tilted her head side to side, thinking for a second. "I always had it, but I couldn't access it until recently."

"Does Iscariot know?"

"No," she finished her bowl of food before going for the drink, cherry-flavoured sparkling water. "If Orion knows that I'm here, then they will tell the Chamber and the Order. Legally, the Order can't do anything to stop me from attending school because I'm eighteen already. It doesn't mean they won't try to bring me back to England."

"And if they did?"

"If they find me before I'm nineteen, I will be made into a slave for the Order."

"And if they found you after you turned nineteen?"

She tilted her head towards him, eyes dark like a snake in hiding. She just smiled. She would destroy the Ordder and everything they stand for if they went against her family again.

She stood from her desk, sudden chills going down her back as she took a breath in. Blood had been split. She knew whose blood it was, the Magic in it vibrating slowly. She went for a small box under her bed.

It was dark brown wood with stained carvings on the top and sides. She opened it to a large selection of herbs and spices, all separated into mesh bags if they were harmless, or glass pill bottles if they were harmful. She found a small bottle that held several dozen small seeds.

"I'm going to powder these real quick," she said, taking out a mortar and pestle to grind the seeds up into a powder.

It took her about ten minutes to do everything she wanted, creating the necessary cream for Evette.

She handed Markus the container.

"Healing cream," She explained. "It should help Evette heal if she gets hurt. Will also kill any Fallen bacteria in her wounds."

Markus raised an eyebrow at her knowledge, pocketing the cream container.

Kore shrugged. "Mother wanted a well-rounded education."

"And poisons?"

"Extracurricular activities." Kore grabbed onto Markus's tie, tugging it down and making him lean down a little as she grinned a sharp smile that threatened to do damage. "If you repeat anything I've told you, you tell the Order where I am, you do anything that puts you against me, and your allocated blood will have something a little deadlier in it. Understood?"

Markus just watched her eyes, seeing the silver glow appear as she promised him the threat she stated. He knew she was serious about what she said, and now he knew she was capable of doing so. There was a familiar danger to her presence, something he knew he also had. The danger that a predator had, the potential there but not always acted on.

Witches had instincts just as did Vampires, though Vampires focused on blood while Witches on Magic. But this little Witch had both interests.

He leaned a little closer, his own eyes glowing in retaliation.

"Crystal."

"Good!" Kore smiled, letting go of his tie as the door opened, "Get out."

He fixed his tie, unbuttoning his jacket and waistcoat as he straightened it. He knew she was watching the way he did it. He was handsome and she was allowed to appreciate the sight.

Markus knew Kore Greylight was better a friend than a foe.

)()()(

Being a Vampire, Markus required less sleep than other Arcanes. Reaching nineteen soon, he was maturing enough to barely need sleep. He only went to sleep or to rest to avoid some of his more tedious studies as the Key House's Senior Prefect. he let Richard do those tasks usually, he knew what was expected of him if Markus wasn't there.

For the time being, he had to stay away from the duties which would occupy his mind. He needed to think about what was happening in his House.

Kore Greylight was a wildcard thrown into the neat little deck he sorted and perfected. He didn't know how much power she held, though he assumed it was a fair bit because of her standing in Witch Society and her Magic. The Order wouldn't try and hunt her down unless she was powerful, and if she was powerful, they would want to control her.

Blood Magic was a dangerous game when adding in a Vampire as a player. The little Witch needed to be careful. If Markus saw her as a threat to his friends or himself, he would easily get rid of her without a moment's hesitation. He was more concerned with what lengths she was willing to go to to keep her freedom.

He was thirsty but the blood allotments he had weren't dulling the craving. He could control it as he didn't need to drink as much as other, less powerful Vampires, but he felt it still. He wanted to claw at his throat at times, that pain would barely impact what he felt deep inside but it was something else.

He remembered Kore's blood.

Having dug his thumb into her injured palm to get her to loosen her tongue, he had stained his finger with the crimson liquid. When Kore sorted herself out and got rid of all of the used materials, he cleaned his thumb with a simple curl of the tongue.

Flavour had burst on his tongue, making him pause for barely a second. It was like sweet electricity zapped his throat as it went down, the tang of barely-there spice kept the taste from overpowering the savouriness. It quenched the insatiable thirst for a long time.

Witch blood was a delicacy in all forms.

The Order revered the blood of their Three Clans and always kept it protected from Vampires.

Blood had Magic and Magic was sacred.