Novel - Arcanum 101 (with Rosemary Edghill) Page 20

  “Ms. Llewellyn,” VeeVee said, sounding surprised.

  The blonde woman smiled. “Hello, VeeVee, Daniel. And this must be Tomas Torres. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

  “Señora,” Tomas said, feeling a little bewildered. Was this the famous Ria Llewellyn who was responsible for the school? She didn’t look anything like he’d imagined.

  “I like to come up every once in a while to see how my money’s being spent. I seem to have picked a particularly interesting day to come,” Ms. Llewellyn said.

  “So to speak,” Ms. Smith said.

  “But I see everything’s turned out well,” Ms. Llewellyn added, indicating Rosa.

  “We got rid of the Trollking,” VeeVee said. “And maybe we can figure out how it got here in the first place.”

  “Oh, Mr. Moonlight has a few theories. But we can talk about them later,” Ms. Llewellyn said. She eyed them all again, and Tomas got the unnerving sensation that she was learning every detail of everything that had happened to them with that sweeping glance. But she reacted as if she had simply expected that they would handle everything, and was pleased, but not surprised. “Let’s get you back to the picnic before all the food is gone.”

  It was the end of a very long day. One that—when he’d gotten up this morning—Tomas could never have imagined taking place. So much had happened. His mother had found out about his powers. He’d saved his sister from a monster. And… VeeVee wasn’t mad at him any more.

  According to Mr. Moonlight, the monster they’d fought had been almost here ever since their fieldtrip to Underhill. His theory was that it was one of the creatures that had been left behind in the Chaos Domain they’d nearly been trapped in: it had gained power from the unformed essence-of-magic that had surrounded it, but it had wanted out. It had been able to follow them out of the Chaos Domain itself, but not back to the World Above. Rosa’s wildly out-of-control temper tantrum had provided it with the last link it needed to make its way into the World Above, since her Talent formed a bridge between worlds. Apparently they were lucky that nothing worse had come through. That was a chilling thought.

  Now Tomas stood beside VeeVee on the steps of the Main Building watching one of the school cars head down the drive. His mother and Rosalita were in it. They were going back to New York, but in a few weeks, Rosalita would be returning to St. Rhia’s, this time as a student. Ms. Llewellyn had put something she called “shields” around Rosalita. She’d explained to Tomas and to Mrs. Torres that they were only a temporary measure, but they would hold until Rosalita could return to St. Rhia’s to begin to learn to live with—and use—her powers properly.

  Mrs. Torres still wasn’t completely prepared to accept the idea of her children being… not normal… but Rosa’s brush with death had at least convinced her Rosalita would be safer at St. Rhia’s than she would be in a convent. And Ms. Llewellyn had solemnly promised that Rosalita—and Tomas—would attend church every single Sunday that Rosalita remained at St. Rhia’s, which had done much to convince Mrs. Torres that whatever else the school was, it wasn’t a hotbed of brujeria.

  “So mi hermana is going to be a student here, just like me,” Tomas said musingly.

  “Oh, I don’t think there could ever be anyone just like you,” VeeVee said lightly. “She’ll be just like her. And she’ll learn to control her Talent. That’s the important thing.”

  “What if she doesn’t want it?” Tomas asked. Now that he knew Rosalita’s “invisible friends” had been real all along, he could barely imagine what the world she lived in was like. And she was only a baby. Her powers were going only to get stronger.

  “Human Talents are given for a reason.” Inigo Moonlight strolled out onto the steps behind them. Tomas jumped at the sound of his voice; the man—Sidhe, rather—moved absolutely silently. “It would be rude indeed to reject a gift without understanding the intentions of the giver.” He spoke reprovingly, as if imparting a much-needed lesson.

  “So I can set things on fire for a reason?” Tomas asked. He still wasn’t really convinced about that.

  “Sometimes,” Mr. Moonlight answered, “it is more important not to set things on fire.” Before Tomas could think of anything to say to that, the enigmatic headmaster of St. Rhia’s had strolled away again, leaving the two teenagers alone.

  “I guess he’s put me in my place,” Tomas said, turning to VeeVee.

  “He does that to everybody. You’ll get used to it,” she answered with a smile.

  “I guess I will,” Tomas said. “I guess I’ve got a lot of things to get used to around here.”

  VeeVee’s smile grew wider. “Here’s one,” she said. And suddenly she leaned forward and kissed him, right on the mouth.

  Lalage and Kurt were walking back from the Infirmary. Although he’d protested that it wasn’t a bad bump on the head, Dr. Carter had still insisted on taking X-Rays and then keeping him under observation for most of the afternoon. Lalage had stayed with him, and they’d gotten a lot of things said.

  Things she’d always wanted to hear—from someone. And things Kurt had always wanted to say—to her.

  “I feel a little bit bad about chasing Tomas around all these weeks,” she said, as they came around the corner of the Main Building. “I know he’s not in love with me, but you know, I think he still kind of has feelings for me. So how do I explain to him that I’m just, well, dropping him?”

  Kurt put a hand on her arm to stop her, and pointed. Up ahead they could see Tomas and VeeVee, and it was obvious that neither one of them was aware of anything else at all. Kurt turned to Lalage and smiled.

  “I’m pretty sure you’re not going to have to figure out how to tell him much of anything,” Kurt said.