Denouncement Read online

  “We were wondering where you were. Need help bringing groceries in?”

  “To tell you the truth, I haven’t been shopping yet. I ran into Thorin and just finished explaining everything to him while freezing my ass off in the green belt area. Anyway, he wants a lesson tonight. I wanted to make sure you guys were all right with that happening at our place.”

  “It’s fine with me. Hang on.”

  Aerianna stopped talking. Iris assumed she was checking with Violet.

  “Yup, we’re cool with it. Vi’s heading to Cirrus’s for a few hours. Roz and I were talking about getting ice cream. You want us to get groceries?”

  “That would be amazing! Thank you guys so much.”

  “Sure thing. See you soon.”

  Iris registered Thorin’s question as her mind became whole once more. “No, I don’t need to call them. I talked to my roommate, Aerianna, and she said they’re cool with us using the dorm room.”

  “Don’t tell me you’re telepathic."

  Iris chuckled. “No, I’m not telepathic. There’s this room—” And she was off explaining the Gallery of Doors and how she and her friends could communicate through it.

  “Sounds like telepathy to me.”

  “But we have to be in the Gallery of Doors or it doesn’t work. That’s why I don’t consider it telepathy. Besides, I can lock the doors and keep people out if I want to.”

  “And have you ever done that?”

  “Nope. No reason to. They’re all my friends.”

  “I was thinking for . . . Never mind,” he mumbled and looked away from her. “Why didn’t you call her?”

  “On the off chance Big Brother is listening,” Iris shrugged. “We figure there’s no reason to get ourselves placed on some kind of watch list. There’s also no guarantee we aren’t already on one.”

  “Makes sense.”

  Iris’s dorm was empty when they walked in which suited Iris just fine. Once she’d locked the door and turned on some music, her mind switched to teacher mode and the lesson began. She found it much easier to teach and explain things to Thorin—she wondered if it was because magic seemed to make sense to him the way it made sense to her—but she still had to ask Cirrus for a better way to explain doorways.

  In the hour he practiced, Thorin mastered the basics. He could open himself to, draw in, and release power without using it as well as complete a dozen different movement-related tasks. From there, Iris touched on doorways and Thorin managed to make one to the other side of the tiny dorm room before claiming exhaustion and calling it a night.

  “Hey!” Aerianna called as she unlocked the door to their room.

  “Hi,” Iris called from her bed.

  “Where’s Thorin?”

  “He left about five minutes ago. Where’s Roz?”

  “She decided she wanted to start the quarter off right by sleeping in her real bed and not on the make-shift one she has here. How’d it go?” Aerianna’s tone hinted at concern.

  “Makes sense. The lesson went fine. He’s a natural. Picked up most things by the second or third try. We’re meeting again on Wednesday and most likely Friday before the basketball game. He might be ready to join monthly sessions after that.”

  “That’s amazing. It’s been what, an hour?”

  “A little more, I think. I don’t know. I lose track of time when I teach. All I know is I’m exhausted and ready for bed.”

  “I bet you are. What’s your first class tomorrow?”

  “Japanese at nine. You?”

  “Bio at eight.”

  “Yuck. At least it’s not seven-thirty chemistry. Which I have again.”

  “Gross.”

  “Have you heard from Vi?”

  “Yeah, she’s on her way back. You want me to turn the light off?”

  “No. It’s fine. But can you toss a granola bar in my backpack? Thanks. Night.”

  “Night,” Violet called as she entered the room.

  Iris put her earbuds in and pressed the play button on her “Bedtime” playlist. She concentrated on her breathing for a few moments before readying her body to accept the flows of power surrounding her. As she closed her eyes, she sent her mind in search of other magic users nearby. Since Thorin had shown himself as a new magic user, there may be others at Davis waiting to discover their abilities.

  Her senses moved away from her body. An image of Brett solidified in her mind and she almost jumped to his dorm room. It coincided with a knife-like pain at the back of her neck. Iris wondered if she alerted him to her presence, or if he was already thinking about her. Either way, the aura extending from him was as dark as ever. It sent a shiver through her spine and she closed her mind to all power.

  The knifepoint of pain remained for another twenty minutes. Iris was more than a little annoyed by the time the pain subsided. She rolled over and changed to an audiobook in an attempt to get her mind to stop spinning. It did the trick.

  Iris stared up at a familiar mansion. She needed to get inside. Someone was trapped in there. Being held against their will. She tried to stay hidden in the shadow of the building. Her heart thudded a quick pace that reverberated throughout her entire body. The first window she came to held no light. She tried to open it. It budged. No alarm sounded. She pushed the window up further and slid inside before closing it behind her.

  She counted to ten and listened for any sounds of movement before creeping across the thick carpet to the door. A thin beam of light shone through at the base of the door. Iris put her ear to the wood and listened. She had to take a few calming breaths to reduce the thudding of her heart in her ears.

  The hall sounded empty. The doorknob turned silently. Iris cracked the door open and looked into the hall. There was no one in her immediate view. She opened the door further. The hallway was empty. She pulled the door wide and exited the room.

  Iris looked around for a staircase. She needed to get upstairs. There wasn’t one. She scanned the hall again. Matching doors at either end of the hallway caught her eye. They looked like they might lead to stairwells like in a hotel. She closed the door behind her without a sound and moved toward the door at the end of the hall on her right. It was closer.

  Like the window and room’s door, the stairwell door opened soundlessly. Iris took a moment to listen before ascending one floor. A second floor. She stopped and readied her body to accept the power surrounding her.

  Hurried footfalls ran down the hall one floor below her. She closed her body to any power. Ascended to the fourth floor. Opened the door to the hallway. Pain flooded her body from a point at the nape of her neck.

  Iris woke drenched in sweat. Her heart pounded and her lungs stung from lack of air. The pain at the back of her neck receded. She didn’t think she had the mental capacity to follow it back to its source. Was this Brett’s doing? She hadn’t dreamt about the mansion in months. It felt different from before. She hadn’t been as confident. And it felt more like reality. Like her dreams that came true. Both the thought of it being Brett or a dream that might come true scared her and made getting back to sleep difficult.

  Chapter 8

  “All right, what was the dream about?”

  “What dream?” Iris tried to act confused by the question but it did no good.

  “Whatever one you had last night,” Rozlynd responded as they sat around the dorm room the following evening.

  “Don’t bother trying to deny it,” Aerianna added. “You’ve been chewing on your bottom lip on and off all afternoon, and you’re beyond distracted.”

  Iris released and bit her lower lip again. She tried to come up with a way to explain away her dream without bringing up Brett. Cirrus saved her the trouble.

  “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m hungry and I know Iris has to eat before rehearsal. Why don’t we go to the DC? It’ll give The First some time to think about how to explain her dream and we all get food. It’s a win-win.”

  “I hate it when you call me that,” Iris told Cirrus.
>
  “Can’t help if it’s the truth, though.” He shrugged as he pulled his jacket on and led the way out of the dorm.

  “Where’s Zarina? I thought she was going to join us tonight,” Violet asked Rozlynd once they’d situated themselves in an upstairs corner of an empty room.

  “She’s at the library.”

  “It’s the first day of the quarter,” Aerianna noted.

  “Yup. She’s taking this really difficult English class that requires a research paper and they have to turn in topics by the beginning of next week. She wanted to get a head start on finding sources. Oh, and she also wanted me to tell you she may not be at rehearsal either, Iris.” Roz added.

  “That sucks. Though, she always has been one to get started on things early.”

  “Yeah. But we’re not here to talk about Zarina’s study habits. Nice try, though,” Roz told Iris. “So spill!”

  “Fine!” Iris let her fork drop to her plate and leaned back in her chair. They’d just badger her until she told them. “You remember that dream I had last year about the mansion? Well, I had it again.”

  “Oh. I was hoping it was a new skill or something,” Cirrus said in disappointment.

  “That’s because you haven’t heard about this dream,” Violet told him. “She’s in this field of tall grasses staring at an over-sized plantation style mansion surrounded by a large grassy lawn and she has to get inside, but she doesn’t know how and her heart is beating really fast and—”

  “Babe!” Cirrus yelled loud enough for Violet to hear him over her own ramblings. “Why don’t you let Iris tell it?”

  “No, she’s doing great. Pretty accurate, actually.” The looks surrounding Iris told her to continue the story. “Well, the next step was me getting into a first-floor window, into the stairwell, and up a few floors. On the third floor I started looking for someone, but when I tried to, um, you know,” Iris added in a hushed tone, “footsteps flooded the hall on the second floor.”

  “What did you do?” Aerianna prompted her to finish the story.

  “I hurried up another flight of stairs and into the hall on the fourth floor. That’s when I woke up.”

  “Any clue as to what woke you up?” Violet asked.

  “Probably the pounding of my heart and labored breathing,” she fabricated. “I’m kind of surprised I didn’t wake you guys up.” Iris picked up her fork and looked down at her plate to give her enough time to school her eyes back to blue.

  “I was sound asleep,” Aerianna told her. “And you know I can sleep through most things.”

  “Yeah.”

  “I had my earbuds in. Sorry. If I’d heard you were having a nightmare, I would’ve woken you.”

  “Thanks, Vi. If it happens again and you notice, please do.”

  Violet nodded, and they all went back to eating their dinner. Iris was thankful they didn’t bring up her dream again though she got the distinct impression Cirrus knew she left something out. Thankfully it was Monday, which meant she could go straight to band rehearsal and avoid further questions. That night, the dream returned. As did the knife-like pain.

  “How were your first few days of class?” Thorin asked as she let him into her dorm building Wednesday night.

  “Not too bad. I have a little catching up to do in Japanese for my sake and I already know I need to do a lot of studying for calculus and chemistry. I probably shouldn’t have taken chemistry. It was only a recommendation. Not a requirement.”

  “Yeah, but it’s better to have a strong grounding in chemistry before moving onto physics.”

  “Only if you can pass the damn class. I’m not sure I will this quarter.”

  “There is that. So, what’s on the docket for tonight?” he asked as soon as she closed the door to her dorm room.

  “I want to catch you up on the rest of the basics so you can join the monthly training sessions. I think we have one scheduled for the weekend after MLK, but we haven’t confirmed it yet.”

  “Woman, how am I supposed to make plans if I don’t know when I’m busy?”

  “Call me woman one more time and you won’t be busy.” A rush of heat surged through Iris and her eyes smoldered. She couldn’t control her reaction to his word or tone.

  “It’s just a phrase. I’m sorry,” Thorin said without sounding too sorry.

  Iris stared at him for a few more moments. He gave her that soft smile. It lowered her internal temperature. Iris pursed her lips and expelled a breath of air. “Okay. So, you remember how I mentioned the Gallery of Doors?”

  “Yeah, but I didn’t follow you one hundred percent.”

  “Most people don’t until they’ve seen it for themselves. Anyway, I’ll head there now and knock on your door. I want you to concentrate on the knocking and send your mind toward it. There will be some kind of defense set up—like a maze—that you have to travel through. Keep heading toward the knocking and you’ll be fine. Got it?”

  “Sure. How long should it take?”

  “A minute or two. But once you get used to it, only a few seconds.”

  “I bet I can do it in under a minute.”

  Iris couldn’t help but smile in response to his huge grin. “Ready?” she asked. Once he nodded in the affirmative, she sent her little self through her own warren of hedge mazes and caves to the Gallery of Doors. The caves were darker. More complex. They took her longer to get through. She wondered if her mind had altered the path due to her recent dreams and feelings of unease about Brett. She’d have to ponder it later.

  Instead, Iris walked over to Thorin’s door and knocked. She studied the etchings on its surface. It took her a few moments to register the solidified lines formed a storm filled sky with a prominent bird in the middle, lightning forked from its wings. She knocked again. Her eyes locked with the Thunderbird’s. The storm looked so real. It almost seemed to undulate on the surface of the door. Iris reached toward the storm. The door opened. She pulled her hand back as fast as she could.

  “That was the weirdest experience of my life. How long did it take me?”

  “No clue.”

  “Dammit wo—”

  “Call me woman one more time—”

  “I’m sorry. It’s just a phrase. I don’t mean anything by it. I swear! I’ll try to reign it in.” He looked at her face and quickly turned to take in the room. “So, this is the Gallery of Doors?”

  Iris understood his desire for a topic change. It was the best idea. Even in the Gallery of Doors her eyes seared and fluctuated colors with her mood. She didn’t need to blow up at him again and wasn’t sure why he irked her so easily. “Yes, it is.”

  She showed him around the room and pointed out all the doors and whom they belonged to before Thorin tried finding his way to the Gallery once more. By his fourth try, he was almost as fast as Iris. His natural talent astounded her. It showed throughout the remainder of the lesson.

  “You’ll definitely be ready for group practices after one more lesson on Friday,” she told him as they walked to his car.

  “That would be amazing. You don’t hold them in your dorm room, right?”

  “No. We have a larger practice space. I’ll tell you about it later.”

  “Cool. Hey, thank you. I mean it, thank you. You have no idea how much better I feel after learning about all this stuff. I’ve been sleeping better and everything feels right in the world.”

  “I’m glad. That’s how I felt too. See you on Friday?”

  “See you Friday. Oh, and if you need any tutoring in calculus or chemistry, let me know. I’d be more than happy to return the study favor.”

  “I may have to take you up on that. Thanks!”

  “No problem. Bye,” he waved and climbed into his car.

  Friday’s practice was even smoother than Wednesday’s. Thorin caught himself from saying woman on two occasions. It made Iris smile to know he was genuinely trying not to piss her off.

  “So, no practice tomorrow, right?”

  “Nope. And probably
not next weekend either.”

  “Cool. You want to see a movie then?”

  “Sure. That sounds like fun. Just let me know when.”

  “Tomorrow night. I’ll pick you up around six. We can grab a bite and see what’s playing.”

  All Iris could manage was a nod and a smile.

  “See you tomorrow then.” He gave her a one-armed hug, climbed in his car, and was gone in a second.

  Chapter 9

  Iris tried not to tell her roommates about Thorin asking her to a movie, but her smile and blueish-purple eyes told them something was up. Aerianna and Violet berated her until she yelled, “I’m seeing a movie with Thorin tomorrow night,” to shut them up. It didn’t work. Instead, they called Zarina and Rozlynd and the four girls teased and congratulated her. Aerianna had an observation that gave Iris pause.

  “Didn’t you say he has a girlfriend?”

  “He did at the beginning of the year. But now you mention it, he hasn’t talked about her in weeks and I didn’t see her at either of the social gatherings we were both at. Should I ask him?”

  “No. That’d be too weird,” Zarina and Rozlynd said in unison over speakerphone.

  “Yeah. Just play it by ear. See if he mentions her or you get a chance to bring her up. But in a sly, casual way.”

  “Right, because I’m so good at things like that.”

  “Precisely,” Violet agreed with a smile. She ignored Iris’s sarcasm.

  “Well, if I’m going out tomorrow night, I should work on some homework tonight,” Iris told her friends. The three roommates said goodbye to the pair on the phone before Iris sat down at her desk. She opened her textbooks, pulled out paper, and readied her laptop. Her brain refused to concentrate on any schoolwork. She gave it up after an hour and looked up what movies were playing instead.