Tennessee.
“Don’t freak out. It’s probably nothing,” I grumbled and stepped away from the door. “Tenn can text you for a number of reasons.”
I opened up my text messages and found a single text from our Coven Leader in a group chat to me and Deacon.
Tegan and I will be arriving there Wednesday night.
“Ah shit.” I pushed away from the wall and ran my hand through my hair. “Shit. Shit. Shit.”
I knew this would happen eventually. Hell, I knew he was coming for the Yule Ball this Saturday. But still. Wednesday night. That meant I had two days to prepare for his arrival. I wasn’t worried about Tegan. In fact, I was excited for her to come. My twin had all kinds of great ideas for just about anything. Her presence could only bring good things. And I could use her help with the Ball.
But Tennessee?
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Damn it.
Son of a biscuit batter.
I took a deep breath and typed what I hoped was a calm, not panicked, response. See you then!
I groaned. Why does he have to come so early?
No, no. Don’t freak out, Emersyn. You can handle this. It’s fine, right? Right.
I leaned against the wall and chewed on my thumbnail. Tennessee was coming to New York. Our Leader. Our boss. The guy who could hate what we’ve done with this school and have our Marks and magic stripped.
Really? Tenn is gonna do that? Now you’re just being crazy. I didn’t know why I was panicking. The school was in great shape. The location was perfect. Classes were running smoothly. Students seemed to be thrilled to be here. I was super proud of Caroline and Noah for their mascot project. It was a great idea that I wished had been mine. Everything was going great so far. And I had three whole school days to make sure we were ready for Tenn’s arrival.
And besides, I really only had one concern.
The shifters.
Chapter Eight
Emersyn
My plan was to go room to room, say hello to all the shifters, and see if any issues were brought up. It wasn’t until I swung the door open of my first classroom that I questioned whether this was a good idea.
The second the door opened, two dozen eyes snapped toward me.
I froze mid-step.
All of these students were children, some about Amelia’s age but most as young as Bentley…and they were staring right at me. None of them moved.
I cleared my throat and waved. “Hello…”
“Hello?” A man stood up in the back of the classroom. He looked up at me with the craziest green eyes I’d ever seen. They sparkled like the North Star against his beautiful ebony skin. He smiled and it made his whole face light up. “Oh, hello! You must be the Empress, right?”
I cleared my throat and nodded. Then held my left hand out for him to shake, subtly showing off my Empress Mark. “Yes, but please, call me Emersyn.”
He shook my hand with a smile still in place. “Nice to meet you, Emersyn. I’m McCallis, this is my classroom. To what do we owe the honor of your presence this morning?”
“Um…” I shifted my weight around and glanced at the students watching us. “Well, honestly, I’m just going room to room to make sure all of our shifters are doing okay here.”
“That’s very thoughtful of you. Thanks.” He gestured to the class. “Would you like to see what we’re working on?”
I bit my lip. “If that’s okay, I’d love to. Which class is this?”
“My class is to teach our young shifters how to assimilate in the human world. But today’s lesson is focused on shifting on the fly.”
“Oh…on the fly? Isn’t all shifting that way?”
He chuckled and shook his head. “Not quite, no. See, in the human world, we have to be ready at any given moment to shift back and forth between our animal forms and our human forms. It could mean the difference between life and death.”
My eyes widened. “That sounds…intense.”
“It is. Which is why it’s the first thing we teach in this class.”
I pursed my lips and looked at the students. “So, how does it work with your clothes? I’ve been wanting to ask Silas but —”
“Good luck getting a single word out of that guy.” He walked over to the line of students and pointed to the boy’s white cotton shirt. “The answer is…cotton. Or any natural material, like silk or wool. So long as we’re wearing one-hundred-percent natural material, our clothing shifts with us.”
“And if it’s polyester?”
“We shift back in our birthday suits.”
I chuckled. “Wow. That’s incredible. So basically, y’all live in cotton.”
“Basically.” He rubbed his hands together. “All right, class. Now, let’s give this a try. Focus on what I taught you. Deep breaths and let it go.”
The kids grimaced and nodded. Some of them closed their eyes and took deep breaths. A good handful scrunched their faces up like they ate an entire bag of Sour Patch Kids at once. Then there were a few wide, panicked stares in the back of the room. There was a flash of light and the little girl who’d been standing right in front of me turned into a calico cat. She spun around in circles and flicked her tail.
“Yes!” McCallis pumped his arm. “Nice work, Molly.”
The two boys standing beside her scowled and balled their fists – light flashed and then two dogs stood in their place. No wait. Not dogs. Wolves. They stuck their snouts in the air and howled.
“That’s it, that’s it, good job!” McCallis moved down the line to the opposite side of the room. “This isn’t a competition. Just concentrate and push.”
Lights flashed left and right like a fireworks show as the students shifted into their animal forms. I gasped. Incredible. Up until this moment, I’d only seen dragon shifters – which was breathtaking to watch – but this was just as amazing. In front of me I saw a red fox and a black bear cub. Off to my left there was a falcon, a long-eared white rabbit, and what looked like a lemur. A giant, neon pink butterfly fluttered around my head. A monkey bounced up onto the windowsill. On the other side of the room, a few more wolves were sniffing around a coyote.
A little kid in the back of the room whined and stomped his feet. “It won’t go!”
“Just breathe, Ryan. Don’t force it.” McCallis called out to him. “Reach down inside and feel it.”
Ryan wasn’t the only student struggling, there had to be almost half of the class fidgeting with their clothes and trying to shift. With each one of their classmates changing, their desperation grew thicker. I knew how they felt. That was me back when I first discovered I was a witch. I couldn’t get the hang of things as fast as my sister did and it sucked.
Then I remembered that poor kid from lunch on Friday. He’d been so startled that it forced him into his animal form. Maybe that was all these other kids needed, a little push. That was how it was for me, too. When I was calm and trying to get my magic to work, I got nothing, but the second there was danger my flames soared to life.
Maybe they just need a little boost…
I walked through the class, dodging tails and flapping wings, until I got closer to the kids who were still in human form. They all looked up at me with fear in their eyes, which made me feel a tad guilty about what I was about to do, but I wasn’t going to hurt them. Just a little surprise.
I rolled my wrists and summoned my magic to my hands, then flicked my fingers out in front of me. Big, glowing orange flames shot out from my palms. The students screamed and dove away from me — and shifted. I grinned and pulled my fire back, but the trick had already worked.
There wasn’t a single human in front of me now.
McCallis cheered and clapped his hands as he walked around the room. “Excellent. SEE, guys? It’s that easy! Now try to shift back.”
“Incredible.”
“It really is.” McCallis sighed and shook his head. He stopped next to me. “I love watching kids learn to shift, seeing their excitement. It’s almost as good as wa
tching non-shifters’ faces when they see us turn to animals.”
I covered my face with my hands. “Sorry!”
“No, no, don’t be. I’m sure our reactions to your abilities would be the same.”
“Touché.”
“And thanks for that assist there.”
My cheeks warmed. “No problem. Happy to help. So, may I ask which animal you shift into?”
He grinned. “A black leopard.”
“Wow. That’s awesome.” I glanced around at all the different animals. “But I don’t see any dragons here.”
“And you won’t.”
I frowned. “Why not?”
“Because literally the only way for one of us to be born a dragon shifter is if we’re born with the royal bloodline. And even that doesn’t automatically mean you’ll be one. It’s been known to skip around.” He shrugged. “And if you are a dragon, you live in Issale with King Kothari –I hear you know them?”
“Yes, I’ve been there and met them. I know Koth and Silas, mostly. A couple of the others were very quiet. Issale is a beautiful place.”
“It really is.” He frowned and turned to look over his shoulder. “Actually, we have a new student who just arrived today from Issale. She’s our only student actually from there, so it’s quite an honor.”
I followed his gaze to a little girl with long jet-black hair braided down at her sides. Her tawny eyes were wide and bouncing around. She chewed on her bottom lip and huddled in the corner with her arms wound tight around her stomach. My heart broke for her. She looked terrified. This had to be overwhelming for her. Issale didn’t have modern technology, the magic of their species prevented technology from working in their homeland. So New York City was a rude awakening.
“Did she come with siblings?”
He shook his head. “Nope, not even parents. Apparently they were just concerned that she hadn’t shifted at all yet and shipped her off here. Just arrived a few hours ago. As far as I know, she hasn’t made much in friends along the way.”
Alone and no friends? Jeebus.
“May I?” I whispered to McCallis and pointed at her.
He nodded.
I walked over and crouched down in front of her so we were eye-to-eye. “Hi sweetheart, how are you?”
She shrugged. I needed to make this right somehow. If I could, I’d take her under my wing and — OH. I wasn’t going to be much help, but I knew someone who could be.
Amelia.
I smiled at the girl. “What’s your name?”
“Landy,” she said softly.
“HI, Landy. I’m Emersyn.” I shook her hand. “You just got here today, right?”
She nodded before I’d even finished asking.
“I’m sure this is a bit scary and overwhelming, right?” When she nodded, I smiled. “That’s okay, though. We understand. But if it’s okay with you, I’d like to introduce you to my friend Amelia.” I tucked my hair behind my ears. “She’s your age and you’ll love her. She’d be thrilled to show you around school and New York, introduce you to people. What do you say?”
Landy pursed her lips and glanced around the room. “O-o-okay. I’d – I’d like that.”
I grinned and stood straight, then held my hand out for her to take. “Then follow me.”
Chapter Nine
Emersyn
There was some seriously terrified energy rolling off of Landy as we walked across campus. Amelia’s schedule was the one thing I knew by heart here. Which was good because Landy was squeezing my hand so tight I was going to have bruises—not that I told her or even let on that she was hurting me.
I just wished I knew what to say to her. Everything that came to mind just didn’t sound right. How you liking the weather here? Are you cold? How’s your dorm? Do you miss Issale? Has anyone taught you about automatic flushing toilets?
But I had faith in my plan to introduce her to Amelia.
She was too much like Deacon for this to not work. She was confident and charming, and genuinely cared about people’s feelings. And now that I knew she was a Ravenclaw, I knew she’d be thrilled to learn more about the shifter species – since she’d already asked us a million questions about them over the weekend.
It was a win-win. In theory.
Amelia was currently in her basic charms class, which I didn’t feel guilty about pulling her out of since I was a Wand and could teach her anything she missed. Or I could ask Lennox to teach Amelia anything she missed. Because this was important. Landy was our only student from Issale - shifter home country. If things didn’t go well…I didn’t even want to think about that.
As we entered the main building, I pulled Landy close to me and hurried us down the hallway. Amelia’s class was one floor up, so we took the stairs. All the while, Landy never spoke. She just watched everything around us with big, wide eyes.
When we got to the door, I paused then turned to Landy. “Do you want to wait outside the room for us?”
She bit her lip then nodded.
I spun and grabbed the handle, then yanked it open. These students were witches, my people, I wasn’t worried about startling them as much. In fact, the students didn’t even flinch. Some of them paid me no attention at all. Granted, most of them stared. Amelia sat front and center. Shocking. And she spotted me in an instant. Her violet eyes sparkled as she sat up straight in her seat. She grinned and waved at me.
I smiled then turned to her teacher. “Pardon my interruption, but may I pull Amelia out of class for a bit?”
The teacher – a young woman with crazy red curls whom I hadn’t learned the name of yet – smiled and nodded. “Of course. Miss English, go ahead and take your things. Don’t forget your homework.”
Amelia was already on her feet and skipping over to me. Her tulle skirt swayed with every step. She met me by the door and bounced out into the hallway. “So, what’s up?”
I wrapped my arm around her slim shoulders, then led her into the hall and over to Landy.
Amelia gasped. “Oh…hello…”
“Amelia, this is Landy. She’s a shifter from Issale who just got here.” I gestured to my soulmate’s cousin. “This is Amelia.”
“Hi!” Amelia lunged forward and gave Landy a huge hug but stepped back quickly. “Welcome to New York!”
Landy blinked and tucked her black hair behind her ears. “H-h-hi.” She looked down at the ground and pulled on a loose thread of her gray sweater.
“I love your necklace!”
Landy looked up with wide eyes.
Amelia pointed to her throat. “Your necklace? With the beads and shells? I really love it, is it handmade?”
Landy nodded. And twirled a couple of the beads around the thin piece of leather.
“May I look?” Amelia asked. When Landy nodded, Amelia leaned forward to inspect the beads. She grinned. “They’re so cool. This is exactly how I pictured the Camp Half-blood neckla—"
“Camp Half-blood!” Landy gasped. Her face paled. “You know Percy Jackson? The books?”
“Know them?” Amelia shook her head and waved her arms around. “Girl, those are my favorite books – well, tied with Harry Potter, of course.”
“You…you’ve read them?” Landy’s jaw dropped but her eyes shined a little brighter. “All the books?”
Amelia nodded then frowned. “Yeah. Wait, do you have bookstores in Issale?”
Landy sighed. “There’s not, but my brother takes me down the mountain sometimes to this little town and they have a really small bookstore there. Those were the only books for kids they had.”
“Wait, wait, wait.” Amelia did this excited little dance. “You made your own Camp Half-blood necklace! Oh my Goddess, I want one. I need to make one – why didn’t I think to make one?!”
I chuckled. “You know, Tegan loves those books, too.”
Both girls gasped and spun toward me.
“Are you serious?” Amelia squealed. She turned to Landy. “Tegan is like the coolest. She’s like Percy and A
nnabeth combined! She’s the High Priestess.”
“Pretty sure I heard her and Bettina having this same discussion the other day when they were trying to decide which cabin they’d be —"
“Which one did they pick?” Amelia whisper-shouted.
I giggled. “Tegan said she was Team Poseidon all the way, because she does what she wants. Bettina said Hades, because it’d be really cool to control an army of the dead. Both answers are, of course, very concerning.”
“Which one did you pick?” Landy asked.
“Pick?” I pursed my lips. “Not sure which one I’d want, but given my abilities, I think that would put me in Hephaestus’ cabin.”
Landy frowned. “Abilities?”
Amelia’s grin turned absolutely wicked – and it reminded me too much of Deacon. “Oh yeah.”
I flicked my wrists and two bright glowing flames filled my palms. “Fire.”
Landy’s jaw dropped. “Whoaaaaa.”
The bell hanging on the wall just over our heads blared – we all flinched and covered our ears. Note to self, turn that volume down a notch. Damn. Then the sound registered. It was the bell to dismiss class. I looked down at my watch to see where we were headed next.
“LUNCH TIME!” Amelia cheered. She hooked her arm around Landy’s elbow and smiled. “Come on, Landy. You gotta meet my friends. They all love the books, too.”
“Really?” Landy looked shell-shocked. She kept staring at Amelia like she was a unicorn or something. “Do you think they’ll like me?”
“Of course they will! You have a Camp Half-blood necklace!” Amelia led her new friend down the hall toward the stairs, her long blonde hair swaying back and forth. “Diana insists she’s Diana, because they share the same name, even though you can’t possibly be in her cabin since she’s a maiden – but we let her have it. Nicole is Apollo. Brooke is Aphrodite—”
“They all love the books?” Landy asked in wonder as we went down the stairs. “No one in Issale has read them.”
“Oh yeah. We love them so much. Although, Megan is only on Mark of Athena, so no spoilers.”
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