Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Selene
Imissed Viv even though I saw her daily. Our shared room back home was a privilege I wish I had again. Tomorrow would mark two weeks at the academy. We saw each other daily, but it wasn’t the same. And now I’d upset her.
“So you’re saying I can’t have any friends?” Viv clutched an Algebra textbook to her chest, her knuckles turning white. She wasn’t the quietest person, and since Ivy and Gwen had called us out on the training field last week, she hadn’t been so subtle about her distaste for them either.
“No.” All I’d mentioned was to blend in a little and avoid large gatherings.
I sighed, leaning closer to her. “Mom’s killer is still out there.
We don’t want to draw attention or for anyone to figure out we are the daughters of the No Name Elemental who was killed by a dark mage at her vacation home. ”
Gossip and drama continued outside of high school walls as well, apparently, and it had made its way here. Mom’s name hadn’t been leaked to the public, to my knowledge.
Viv sighed. “Has Headmaster John given you any updates?”
“No, but I’m supposed to meet him later this week.” I glanced past her and down the hall, which was emptying for the next period. Everyone was moving fast for a Monday.
“It’s been two weeks. Dark mages aren’t known to be patient.” Viv shrugged and closed her locker. “I think we’re fine. Go find a guy to talk to. There’s a ton here.”
“We don’t know if we’re fine.” My tone lowered, her dismissiveness agitating. She knew I wasn’t interested in a relationship. Besides, her safety was my main focus, which meant there was no time for any relationships.
“I’m fine. This is blending in. I’m a teenager. Just because Mom is gone doesn’t default you to being her,” Viv huffed, her face reddening.
My throat went dry and not due to the cold I was getting over—seclusion had apparently weakened my immune system.
Viv turned and walked away before I could respond.
I hadn’t intended our conversation to go south.
My hope was for her to hide in her friend group, but the entire student body was starting to know her name—more than just being “one of the new sisters”.
I wanted her to have a chance at a normal life, and this was as close as it got.
Something inside me found it hard to let things be that way.
My normal for the past sixteen years of my life was different from everyone else’s.
I didn’t socialize. Viv had the same life, just a different mindset.
She still had aspirations. Mine had died when I watched Mom boil from the inside out at the hand of a water mage that had turned dark.
My head hurt, and I couldn’t blame the pulsating pressure on the cold I was getting over or the daily migraines I’d been getting from caffeine withdrawal.
**
Biology lab was hardly interesting, and I was thankful training was the only thing left for the day.
I needed to drop my books off at my locker first. My parachute pants—as Viv called them, despite their lack of puffiness—doubled as trousers and workout pants, so I wouldn’t need to change.
They were efficient, unlike her typical jeans or the school-provided trousers.
The numbers on the lockers descended the closer I got to my locker, 143.
Iridescence turned the front of them from azure to indigo, most likely a byproduct of tempering steel.
The lockers were secured with standard padlocks—nothing important should be kept inside.
Not that there was a student who could manipulate metal, but it would be easy to break with the right tool.
Down the hall, a group of sophomores flicked their gazes behind me and magic crawled along my skin.
A forceful gust of wind wrapped around me, sending my books and papers sailing across the black cobblestone floor.
I ignored Ivy and her posse behind me, quelling my anger without showing a physical response.
I bent down to pick up a piece of paper, but a white heeled boot stepped on it.
I looked up to see who owned a boot that was overly fashionable for the middle of Alaska.
“A little clumsy, are we?” Ivy said, grinning as Gwen joined her and the two boys stood off to the side.
I gritted my teeth and moved to pick up my other books and papers, but before I could, another bout of wind swirled through the hall, lifting my books into the air.
They perfectly stacked on top of each other right in front of me.
I reached out, letting them settle in my hands, and glanced at Ender, whose hand was out in front of him.
Ivy’s jaw dropped as she stared at Ender.
She regained her composure and fixed her annoyingly beautiful, curly black hair that had been ruffled by the magic.
Ender’s gaze flicked to her, then back to me.
A low grumble came from him as he scowled and brushed past me.
His shoulder never made contact, but his radiating warmth still reached me.
“What was that about?” Gwen asked Ivy, and I didn’t plan to stay to hear her answer.
Yes. What was that about?
I deposited my stuff in my locker and grabbed my water bottle, embossed with the academy logo, before heading to training. I’d found it on my bed as part of the welcome basket.
Training was outside again today, and time flew by. My sister sat at the corner of the field, watching. I decided to ditch the rest of my training and headed her way, going unnoticed. A perk of keeping a low profile.
Viv’s class regularly ended early, and she often watched the junior and senior training sessions.
I knew what she was thinking: She could take any student here, including any of the popular four.
And I didn’t doubt it—except one. I’d seen Ender fight, and he was beyond in tune with his element, more than anyone else his age and even most professors and guards.
“Come to scold me for being out in public?” Viv calmly asked as I sat down next to her.
“No.” I plucked a blade of grass. “Just came to see if you wanted to sneak out later and eat some Oreos on the east dorm’s roof.”
Viv let out a low chuckle that slowly faded into silence. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” I threw the blade of grass at her, using a touch of magic to send it flying into her face. She swirled her finger toward the blade, drawing the water in the air to create a bubble around it and sending it back at me. It struck my black T-shirt, soaking the edge of it.
We both laughed, and I realized how much I had missed us. We saw each other most nights, but it wasn’t the same. Our world had been flipped upside down two weeks ago. Her mission was to live. Mine was to survive. To keep her safe and kill the mage before they set foot anywhere near her.
“I hate that you let them walk all over you,” Viv said, vacantly watching the match. She meant Ivy and the others. Nick was talking to some girl, and I was surprised the four of them weren’t together. I scanned the field for Ender and the other two but found him alone, leaning against a tree.
The moment I laid eyes on him, his gaze flicked to mine. This time, instead of looking away, I glared at him. I had no clue why he had helped me with my books earlier, but his stunt had only put a larger target on my back for Ivy and Gwen. At least his shirt was on—smug jerk.
“Wow,” Viv said. “I haven’t seen that look since Mom took away your pet bearded dragon.”
“He’s trouble,” I said without missing a beat.
Viv went to say something, but I held up a finger. Something unidentifiable ached annoyingly in my stomach and my senses woke. Something was off.
A millisecond later, a distant scream came from the woods.
“Did you hear that?” I stood, glancing around the field. No one seemed to notice.
“Uh, no?” Viv copied my movement. We were close to the woods and everyone near us was engaged in watching the training, the hum of other students’ conversations easily masking the scream.
The dull ache turned into a painful throb, and that was enough to send me into the woods. My actions were rash. I should have gotten Viv far away from whatever threat was in the woods—but my gut instinct tugged me forward. It didn’t feel right, and whatever it was, I needed to get ahead of it.
“Stay close,” I ordered, Viv running right behind me.
I sprinted through the woods, ignoring the brush scraping against my arms. Five minutes later, I heard a commotion as I reached a thinned-out area before the base of a mountain.
Ivy stood in front of Gwen, who lay unconscious on the ground, her strawberry-blonde hair covering her own face.
A thick old book lay open next to her, and before them stood three large rock creatures, their boulder heads almost reaching the top of the pines.
The creatures were conglomerated jagged rocks that ground against each other as they moved. One was about to crush Ivy with an arm that looked like an asymmetrical, monster-sized chakra keychain.
The flutter of magic thrummed along my spine as heat pricked at my hand.
I called on my magic, and it flowed from my hand with ease.
It merged with a nearby tree like an invisible tentacle and I closed my hand, my magic wrapping around its trunk and embedding itself—compliments of my earth magic.
With a little more push of magic, the roots ripped from the ground and the tree crashed into the rock creature.
The creature fell, causing the ground to shake.
That probably got the academy guards’ attention.
Ivy turned to me, eyes wide with shock and her umber skin a ghostly pale. Blood soaked through a hole in her leather pants, and she shifted her weight to her uninjured leg. Behind her, the other two rock creatures were advancing, and I kicked into action.
“Viv. Grab Gwen and get them out of here.” I picked up the book and tossed it at Ivy. “Go warn the headmaster.”
“What?” Viv clamored. “I’m not leaving. They can take themselves.”
“Vivian!”
She knew Ivy couldn’t carry Gwen with a bum leg.
“Fine.” Viv rolled her eyes and went over to Gwen, picking her up and throwing her over her shoulder in a fireman’s carry with a humph. She glanced at Ivy. “Come on.”
They disappeared into the woods and I turned to face the two oncoming threats as the third stirred on the ground.
Now this was my kind of party.