Eventually, I would be forced to show Ricky exactly what I could do. I knew I had magic, and with my ring's power backing me up he would be shocked to see that I wasn't insane - at least not because of that - and was telling the truth. I fell asleep dreaming about my brother hanging out around the fireplace in Airlee.

Chapter Twenty-Six.

The semester dragged on. February faded into March, then April approached. Vampires, since they were already dead, took a very long time to starve. But old stores of food could only last so long, and it seemed that whatever was contaminating the blood supply only ruined any new blood brought to Public. On top of that, it was difficult to get shipments into the school, because the demons against the barrier were making it more and more difficult to get on and off the grounds. I waited and waited for something to be done about them - just waiting there to break in and kill us all - but the Committee members didn't seem to be in a rush.

I kept waiting for change, waiting for someone to do something. But nothing happened. That's the trouble with always looking forward. You forget to focus on the right now and work on changing that. Finally, there was a shift with only a few weeks left in the semester.

A darkness circled around me as smoke filled my lungs. In the dream, I was surrounded by intense heat, angry voices, and pain. I could hear a beating in my ears, but I couldn't tell if it was my heart or my surroundings. I tried to draw breath, but my lungs filled with something acrid and dank. I choked, trying to force myself to wake up, safe in Astra. Safe in Astra, why would I be afraid? I asked myself in the dream. I felt like I should run, but there was nowhere to run to. What do you do when your only home is your most treasured hideaway and at the same time your most blatant giveaway to your enemies? The demons knew I was there.

I couldn't be safe.

I felt safe.

Safe in Astra.

I opened my eyes.

Racking coughs burst out of my mouth, burning my throat as they ripped my lungs apart. I couldn't see, and even opening my eyes hurt as poisoned air a.s.saulted my senses. There was a painful pressure all around me, as if the air was made of acid and hurt when it touched my skin. Somewhere, distantly, I heard screaming, but I couldn't make out the words. My mouth stayed firmly closed against the pain that was in the air, attacking my body and mind.

I had thought I was having a bad dream, but I wasn't. It was worse. My reality was that bad. You know you're in trouble when you end up living your nightmares.

I pushed the covers off my body and my legs were hit with the same acid pain, as if the very air wanted me dead. I felt like I was being beaten by batons dipped in acid. I stumbled. Unable to open my eyes, I was forced to rely on touch and the memory of my room to find my way. It was one of those times when I really regretted not being a tidier person. Leaving my book bag on the floor had seemed like a good idea when I wasn't blind, but now that I was, and the bag was a stubbed toe waiting to happen, it simply felt like folly. My mother would have said that it served me right for being messy, except that she probably wouldn't have wanted me dead as punishment.

Realizing that the pounding I had dreamed of was my heart, I took a deep breath and tried to force myself to stay calm. I was elemental and I was in Astra. And someone was going to come in here and attack me?

No.

Obviously they were confused about how things were going to work around here.

I did not get attacked in my own dorm. Not this semester. Not ever again.

Summoning up all my faculties, however dusty they were from sleep, I quested towards my ring. It burned brightly on my hand, increasing in strength when I called to it.

My first request: I needed to be able to see. Even if I could get out of this room, Mrs. Swan was somewhere and might need my help. Besides, at any moment something, or someone, might jump out and attack me.

I needed to be able to see.

I called to my magic, asking it to circle my head in some sort of safety. Almost instantly, something that felt like a water bubble formed around me and I could open my eyes without pain. Why couldn't magic just read my mind and do what I wanted before I asked it? That would have saved me feeling like the skin on my face was being slowly peeled away with a cheese grater.

I almost wished I had kept them closed.

Scanning the room, I felt a pressure that was fighting to get to my face and would suffocate me if it could. The air looked dark gray, as if it was filled with ash from a volcano. For all I knew, it was.

I stumbled to my door, afraid to touch it in case it burned, but there was no heat. The gray that filled the air was not smoke from a fire. Instead it had a thick, almost paste-like feel that stung. I shivered in fear, and without another thought I pushed the door open, hoping that the hall would be clearer.

It wasn't.

If my room had felt like thick paste, this felt like trying to walk through burning cement.

I stumbled, my foot having caught on something hairy, wet, and gross that absolutely did not belong in Astra. Before I could stop myself I went flying forward, hitting the opposite wall. Instead of trying to stay upright I let myself slump down, at the same time twisting around to see if I could get a glance at what was behind me.

Under the acrid smell was another smell, the rank aroma of wet dog, which made sense, because the furry body I had tripped over was a h.e.l.lhound. At least something on this campus made sense, it was just unfortunate that it related to the most evil thing that existed in the world: demons. I tried not to let fear consume me as I realized that I was sitting mere feet away from a giant animal that wanted me dead and that I hadn't been able to defend myself against in the past. Last semester Lisabelle had saved me, Sip had saved me, I had never saved myself. Well, I had to start somewhere.

Trying not to move, I stared at the great beast, but to my intense relief it was dead. I couldn't see from what, but something about the angle of its body, and the smell, made me wonder if it had drowned.

"CHARLOTTE!" Mrs. Swan's voice rang out down the hall and I turned my head towards it. My movements felt constricted and painful, as if there were ropes wrapped around my body that I had to fight through. But I managed to start crawling along the floor, away from the dead body of the h.e.l.lhound and toward Mrs. Swan, who was crouching low on the stairs.

How had the demons penetrated Public? Again. . . .

"Are you alright?" I asked Mrs. Swan. Her eyes were fixed on something behind me, and she didn't bother to answer the question.

"RUN," she cried, moving out of my way so that I could crawl past.

"What about you?" I yelled. The bubble around my head made everything I could see look slightly distorted, including Mrs. Swan.

"You have to leave," she bellowed at me. "Everyone is expendable but you. RUN." I hated to hear that. I hated that my existence put people I cared about in danger. Her eyes bore into me.

I ran.

Moving through the muck that the air had become was difficult. I realized halfway down the large staircase that the muck was merely suffocating instead of downright murderous only because Astra Dorm was fighting back. Whatever the demons had sent to attack us, Astra was making it clear that it would have none of it.

I had never felt so proud to be elemental.

When I reached the thick front door I turned back, afraid of what I would see. If Mrs. Swan was in trouble I would have to go back and help her. There was no way I would leave her here to die.

To the contrary, everything fighting Mrs. Swan was what was in trouble. Lots of trouble. Mrs. Swan was no slouch in the battle department. Her tall frame was now stretched as tall as it could go and she was blocking the way to me, sending shafts of power splintering into the attacking air. I was so in awe watching her that I wasn't paying attention to what was going on around me.

All of a sudden a ma.s.sive weight plowed into my side, knocking me backwards. I felt the air slammed out of my lungs as I hit the ground hard.

I tried to cry out to Mrs. Swan, but I couldn't. Instead, I looked up into a pair of cold, familiar dark eyes. They weren't unfriendly, though, because they were Lisabelle's, and she looked absolutely panicked. If I'd had more energy I would have grinned.

"Are you alright?" she choked out, coughing as the thick air hit her. She didn't have a bubble to protect herself like I did and the air was still dangerous.

I tried to nod, but I couldn't move my body that quickly.

"We came to help," said Sip, sliding around her taller friend. Her eyes were directed towards Mrs. Swan, but the three of us quickly realized that Mrs. Swan was just fine without our help.

Far from being the thin and quiet woman I had lived with for the past month and a half, Mrs. Swan looked strong and dangerous. She wielded a long shining staff like a club, beating away at something on the second floor that I couldn't see. As she moved forward, further out of view, the thickness of the air started to dissipate. I wondered if the staff was part of her water maven past or if she was like Lisabelle and just liked to hit people.

When I was finally able to take a deep breath I realized that Mrs. Swan had everything in hand. Whatever the demons had sent after me, she and Astra were capable of handling it. When I had first moved in I hadn't believed everyone who said that I lived in the most secure place on campus, but after tonight I definitely wasn't going to argue. I was very well protected.

"Let's get you out of here," said Mrs. Swan as she walked up to us. Her face was beaded with sweat and there was a grin lighting her face. She had enjoyed herself. As we moved through the door, Risper and Lealand went dashing past us.

"What on earth is he doing here?" Sip muttered, glaring at Lealand's back. She liked everything to be in its exact rightful place at all times, and obviously that couldn't happen when a student was out of bed and helping a Committee member fight off demons in the middle of the night. She did not approve.

We soon saw, though, that Risper and Lealand were the least of it. Professors and students alike were dashing towards Astra across the cold-blotted darkness, some enveloping my friends and me in a net of safety as others went to help Mrs. Swan. The demons couldn't possibly last long against this onslaught.

Without another thought I sank to the ground, dead to the world.

Chapter Twenty-Seven.

Before I opened my eyes, I already knew where I would be. The infirmary. With Jacob. Sure enough, Sip's voice piped up. "I know you're awake. No use pretending."

I glared at her through hooded eyes. Despite the events of the night before she was as bright and bubbly as ever. She didn't even look tired.

"Are you alright?" she asked, coming to sit with me on the bed just like she had the first time I had come to Public, her feet dangling over and pumping wildly with all of her excess energy. It felt like a lifetime ago, even though it had only been a few months.

I nodded. "I'm fine. I think I was just in shock. I'm not injured if that's what you're asking."

"You were indeed in shock," said Jacob with his French accent. He came into the room but didn't entirely move out of the way of the door as it b.u.mped into his behind, almost tipping him over along with the steaming liquid he carried.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, his face going as red as Lough's did when Lisabelle was around. He tried to cover up his embarra.s.sment by minutely examining my chart.

"Fine," I said, waving my hand to indicate I didn't want to talk about me. "How are Mrs. Swan and Astra?"

"Oh, they're both in good shape," said Jacob with amus.e.m.e.nt. "Mrs. Swan is not one to be trifled with."

"Clearly," I muttered, shifting uncomfortably. I should have figured out sooner how powerful she was.

"She seemed so nice," Lisabelle murmured from the corner. I jumped, not having noticed her there. She lowered a book from in front of her nose and grinned at me. "Then again, everyone is nice compared to some people." Her grin widened as Sip giggled.

Jacob, not understanding, left the liquid with strict instructions for me to drink it, and bustled away. The door had barely closed behind him when I demanded to be told everything.

"Risper is coming to explain," said Lisabelle. "He threatened us with death if we told you anything before he got here. Besides," she gave me a crooked smile, "we don't really know much."

"I didn't see Keller anywhere," I observed, trying not to keep the sadness out of my voice. What if he had been on a long-lasting Valentine's date with another girl while I was under attack, and hadn't even come to help fight off the attackers?

"That's the spirit," said Lisabelle. "Excellent priorities."

"He and his aunt were having dinner off campus," said Sip immediately. "I think they're on their way back now. He told me to tell you he'd be here soon."

The tightness coiling in my gut eased a little.

"What are you reading, Lisabelle?" I asked, eyeing the book my darkness friend held. She wasn't exactly the most studious of us. Then again, who could be when they hung around with Sip?

"I'm glad you asked," she said, and closing the book she held up the front cover for me to see.

"Vampire Masks since the 1800s," was printed in black lettering across the cover.

"Lisabelle," I said. "Do you know why I like you?"

"No," said Lisabelle, stretching her long arms, "but feel free to tell me at length."

"I like you because you have a good heart, even if it is black around the edges. You're doing my research for me?"

"Something like that," said Lisabelle. "I want this solved just as much as you do. Without Zervos strutting around campus, who will I find to hate on?"

"I'm sure you could figure it out," said Risper dryly, his hulking frame coming through the door. Unlike Jacob, he didn't trip as he came in. In fact, he moved, as usual, with a fluidity of motion that had me wondering whether, in all his years of fighting, anyone else had ever landed a punch on him.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, before he even reached my bedside.

"Fine," I said. I knew my voice was getting testy; I hated it when people fawned over me. But Risper could take it. He probably didn't care at all that I found his concern annoying.

He grinned. "If I were softer of heart I would tell you to stay in bed, but luckily my heart is black shale, so you are free to leave at any time."

He exchanged a grin with Lisabelle as I gleefully tossed my covers off. I had learned very well last semester that if nothing serious was wrong we kept our own clothes on in the infirmary, so I didn't even have to change or worry about embarra.s.sing myself in front of Risper.

"What happened?" I asked, sitting on the edge of the bed. Risper never sat still for long, so I wanted to pump him for as much information as I could while he was still here.

Risper shrugged. "A few demons got past the force field. We aren't sure how, but we're working on it. Of course they came straight for you."

My gut churned. I was the reason they were surrounding Public in the first place. I was putting everyone in danger and I hated it.

"Maybe I should just leave," I said. "Or maybe you should actually deal with them, instead of letting them sit there and beat down our defenses."

Risper's face darkened instantly and his eyes became two black bullets turning towards me. "It is under control. You would do well not to insult things you do not understand."

"I might understand them better if someone explained them to me," I shot back recklessly. "If I left, so would the demons."

"You wouldn't last a day without protections," said Lisabelle with conviction. "There's no chance." Her uncle continued to stare at me, but he didn't say anything. I had stepped over a line, but he wasn't going to try and put me back into place. Maybe he realized how hard this was for me, maybe he just didn't care. The hard look on his face gave none of his thoughts away.

I looked towards Risper's niece. Deep down I knew she was right, but that didn't change the fact that I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to anyone else at Public because of me and those d.a.m.ned demons.

"It's not your fault," said Risper, breaking the silence. The kindness in his voice surprised me. "We're better off than we have been in years, and it's because of you."

I tried to believe that, but the events of the evening before made it difficult. And obviously no one was going to listen to me when I said I thought the demons should be gone sooner rather than later . . . meaning gone NOW.

"So, what else happened?" I asked, shaking off the melancholy that threatened to envelop me.

"Mrs. Swan is a very capable fighter and Astra protects its own," said Risper simply. "There were more protections than usual placed on the dorm, due to your presence, so it was harder for the demons to get in than they expected. Also, with the addition of Mrs. Swan, who I would not for the wide world want to meet somewhere in a dark ally, you were in very capable hands."

"Was Astra damaged at all?"