One Broken Legacy

Chapter 24: Cassey and Kiri

It took no time to dismantle my dorm room. A duffle bag and backpack held everything I needed. I changed out of my uniform, leaving it on the bed as I turned the lights off. I felt more like myself with it gone.

"I knew they would kick you out," a nasal voice echoed down the hall. "Filthy witch."

"If I was a witch Cassey, the first thing I would do is put a curse on you." I walked past the girl, and she fell in step with me, her nose upturned as she sneered through her spotless glasses.

"At least you and your dog will be gone. We don't need your kind here. They finally figured out your kind is shameless, tramping across campus like you own it." I rounded the corner to the main lobby as a mob of students began to form around our duo. So much for leaving quietly.

"Cassey, you're causing a scene. I don't have time for this." I set my duffel down as I stared at the open school gates. Kiri was supposed to meet me. Her damned car probably crapped out on her.

"Where's Nick, anyway, lurking in the woods?" From the corner of my eye, I saw her look around dramatically like she was waiting for something to lunge at her from a hiding spot in the open courtyard. "Everyone here is lucky I got proof that he was one of them. Did he run back to the other dogs?"

My heart stopped, the cold numbness of blood loss slowly moving through my limbs. "Don't call him that," I bit.

"What? You don't like the word dog? Are you worried people are going to think you're dating a dog."

I spun on my heels, ready to give Cassey a piece of my mind, but an ear-splitting squeal stopped me. God, Kiri needed to take speed limits seriously. Cassey and I both turned the gates, but I kept an arm's length between us.

The awful vehicle came into view, a cloud of dust rising from the gravel as Kiri took the loop like she was on the Formula One raceway. Her brakes protested as she skidded to a stop, landing her car perfectly in a parking spot.

Snowy hair appeared as she emerged from the vehicle, her porcelain skin offset by a navy-blue dress, which did nothing to hide the fact that her body hadn't seen light for most of its life. As she climbed the steps, the sound of her bare feet slapping the tiles let everyone know she had arrived.

"Lexi, are you ready to go?" She beamed, her pearly whites bright. "Sorry I'm late. I was trying to straighten up the apartment."

"It's fine." I laughed as Kiri pulled me into a stern hug. "It gave me time to pack. I was worried I would be late."

Kiri appeared distracted, and her eyes narrowed, pupils flashing dark to cover her irises, jaw clenched. With a movement akin to a horror film, she turned to stare at Cassey. "What did you say?"

"Nothing." Cassey gaped at her, abandoning the stuck-up look from before. The students that had been lingering by the doors now closed in, trying to hear every bit of conversations. "I said nothing."

"Do you have a problem with us?" The lull of a dream washed over me, and my eyes blurred slightly.

"Kiri don't use it," I pleaded, grabbing her arm. "You can't control it, not that well."

Black eyes looked to me, hollow of the girl I knew. She frowned, the indent of fangs pressed to her front lip. "Lexi."

"It doesn't matter what she said." I took ahold of her fingers, which now sported five long talons. "Don't prove her right."

Kiri looked to Cassey one last time before curling her lips over her teeth. "I am not a killer," she murmured, the words distorted by the jagged points in her mouth.

I tugged on her arm, and Kiri let me lead her down the steps slowly. While she stood up brazenly against the girl, her face on full display, I ducked at the flashes from camera phones. My face couldn't be in the media.

"Kiri, they're ignorant. They don't know about us. You didn't know about them at first." I threw my bag in the back before pushing her into the passenger's seat and running to the opposite side. She couldn't drive until she got a grip on her emotions again.

"I thought they were just stupid," she hissed, staring down at her receding nails as we whipped out of the courtyard. "Now I know they're cruel and stupid."

"Not all of them. We do have allies."

Officer Reese was a good man, and Lana, from The Children on Man, was too, as much as I could tell. I hadn't thought about her since that night, but after seeing Cassey and the bystanders, her stony face came back. She wanted to protect others but only saw Coth as monsters.

"No, we don't."

Her words broke my heart. For all Kiri knew, she was right. I had Coth allies with my name, but I would always be caught between humans and the supernatural. Kiri was caught between her pod and the supernatural, not belonging to either. At least I could pretend to be one, she couldn't.

Maybe it wasn't just humans pushing away Coth. Kiri couldn't identify with the supernatural because they didn't try to understand her. The Siren seat was empty, her species pushed away by Coth. It had to change.

"You have me and I have you." I rubbed her back as she turned to look out the window. "I promise I will try to change things."

"How are you going to do anything?" Her voice was scarcely above a whisper. "You have friends, Lexi, I don't." She was right, I had Nick and Anya. Somewhere along the line, they had become my friends. By necessity or choice, it was still true.

I had the power to change this. Even if I didn't have the acceptance of everyone, I had a right to the Morill seat. Uncle was satisfied letting Kiri fall victim to her species stereotype, but that was no different than what humans did to us.

"You don't yet, but I will change it." For you and everyone.

As I drove down the road, I made a promise to whatever god was listening I would start changing things. The attacker here would be caught, and I would return to the manor and take over for my uncle. It was time I stepped up.