VALENTINE
We were still at the border of Silvermist when the impossible happened.
The eight wonders of Aethoria exist for a reason — to defy logic, to challenge the powers of Mother Nature herself. But even they paled in comparison to what I witnessed that night : Damian apologizing.
Did he hit his head or something?
Even Vincent asked me the exact same question and I couldn't give him an answer. I thought of one and almost fried my brain in the process.
Bring back the cold and ruthless Damian, you impersonator!
He continued. "Return to Aethoria and let no one get a word of this."
"What about you?" I stepped forward. "You're coming with us, right?"
Everyone awaited an answer but he just stared at us like we were stupid or something.
"No. Leave for Aethoria. What happened will not leave this room." He said, anger glazing his looks. "Ernest and Brynn's fairies will care of Caleb. Are we clear?"
We nod silently including Dominic. So the next morning before dawn, we packed our things and left. By the time we arrived Aethoria, it was almost noon. Sometimes I forget we have the same time with the human world just not the weather.
- - - - - - - - -
Dominic bareged into my room before I'd even say down. "I think it's best Caleb stays with me."
I frowned. "What are you saying?"
He repeated but with a little more edge to his voice. "Caleb should be with me… We mermaids have a pearl that can heal literally anything and anyone. It can work."
"I understand that you care but Damian gave an order and that's what we're going to follow." I said.
"I'd rather inject bleach into my veins than listen to Damian."
"Dominic, you're not thinking straight!"
"And you're not thinking at all."
I stepped forward to whisper. "You're being an asshole."
"Why wouldn't I?" He yelled. "Cakeb won't wake up. It's been hours and I've got a migraine crawling into my skull."
"That's why you have to leave Caleb's healing to Brynn and her Fairies. That's their specialty."
"The moment Caleb leaves my sight, Damian will snatch him up and he'll get hurt again!"
"It's not his fault Caleb got hurt!"
"How'd you know that?"
"Well, you lied to him too. How'd you think he felt, finding out someone he trusted wasn't who they claimed to be? What'd you expect — a kiss and a hug?"
"That's not what I —" Dominic dragged his hand through his hair. "Damian is a monster!"
I was startled but I let him speak.
"Damian will never know how to love properly or live properly. He can never experience joy or feel pain properly. He's a psycho! He'll never live like the rest of us and neither can Caleb."
I rubbed my face. "Wow. Now, I want to crawl into a hole and die."
"Make this easy for me."
"I hate you."
"Let me search for the fucks I have to give." He pretends to study his surroundings. "See? None."
"You have terrible bedside manners." I massaged my temples.
"Depends on the bed."
"Get out of my room." I said with a half-laugh, nudging him out — only to find Vincent waiting outside.
He gave Dominic a pat on the shoulder and turned to me. "You talk to him?"
I heaved a sigh. "Might as well have spoken to a wall."
"That's the same way I felt when I talked to Damian." He sighed.
I straightened. "Why? What happened?"
"He found Caleb's attacker."
My stomach twisted. "Who?"
"You're not gonna like it."
- - - - - -
James Reverend.
Of all the names I expected, his was the least.
He was all bright smile, blush-worthy face, and every inch the regal Merman he was. Only, he wasn't a Merman. He was a Vampire.
One thing I've learned about the mermaids is that they don't hunt. They don't smile when their fists crack against ribs. They don't attack anyone or human like wolves in a feeding frenzy.
Caleb was the first to bleed this semester.
I remember the look on his face when I saw him — bruised cheekbone, split lip, that slow, stunned blink of someone who didn't understand why. What I was trying to understand was why he was attacked. Caleb never started anything. He doesn't even have it in him. The dude reads during lunch. Apologizes when people bump into him. He's kind. Too kind for a place for this.
Dominic found him first. But Damian? He followed the blood trail and it led straight to James.
James was that attacker, yes but not the disease. He was a symptom?
The main disease sat behind a mahogany desk, dressed in tweed and temure — Good Ol' Professor Reverend.
I should've know.
A Vampire like him hide behind books and ethics and ancient bloodlines. He hates humans and not in the loudest, obvious way but in the quiet, systemic way.
When we first interrogated him, he called it "preserving the order between the weak and strong" but it's just straight-up cruelty.
And Caleb getting hurt wasn't the first time.
Damian pulled the academy's surveillance logs while I bribed he night guard with an offer he couldn't resist. What we found made me sick.
It had happened before. Again and again.
James pretended to be a friendly Merman. He'd befriend human students, make them feel special — then hurt them. Brutally. And when the humans fought back? They got expelled. That's why there were so few human students on this side of the campus.
How did we miss this?
This infuriated Damian. He not only confronted them but he leaked the footage of James attacking Caleb and a half-blood in school.
Damian sent an anonymous report to the Head Master and a single note to Professor Reverend. It had no name, just four words inked in blood :
I'M COMING FOR YOU
The next day, James was transferred, suspended. You name it.
And Professor Reverend?
Well, he disappeared.
But I know what happened to him.
After all, I was the one who watched him breathed his last with his blood under my nails.