by Wendy Knight
Adara didn’t have a grown-up to hide behind.
Aquis closed her eyes briefly against the sad picture, trying to stay calm. No one could know. No one could know what she housed in these walls. “Well, you will. While there have been a few natural disasters in history that were truly natural, the majority, unfortunately, were caused by Elementals who were untrained. Who had these amazing powers, these amazing gifts, but didn’t know how to use them. Their ignorance cost thousands of lives.” She smiled, her heart dying a little more as Adara shrank back, trying to blend into the shadows near the walls. “This exact reason is why we started Vitolas Academy. To shape and mold and train these young minds to be able to use their gifts to their advantage, and really, to the advantage of the greater good.”
A boy next to Adara had bright white hair like Aquis, but with a shocking blue streak running through it. He raised his hand. “I’m five. I don’t know what any of those words mean.”
Beck.
He was home.
She hadn’t held him since he was six months old. And now he was here, adorable and precocious and fierce and everything she’d dreamed he would be.
Aquis crouched in front of him, trying to keep the tears at bay. She’d waited for him for so long. Watched from afar, because the Counsel had warned her to stay away. But it was over. He was here, with her. And one day, she’d get Sonas back as well. Back where she could protect them and give them the love they deserved.
“We will teach you, little Beck. Just know that here, you are safe. I promise.”
Adara shrank back further into the shadows. Aquis caught the movement and turned her attention to Adara.
“Our little Firestarter. I expect great things from you,” she whispered. “Adara, right?”
Adara cringed away from her.
“It will take time, but you’ll see. No one will hurt you here. In the meantime, are you hungry? I’ve got food just for you two in my office.”
That definitely caught the little girl’s interest, hope burgeoning behind the golden-brown eyes. Slowly, she nodded. Aquis took Beck’s hand and motioned toward Adara, but didn’t touch her, mindful of the Pyra burn, and led them both out of the room to her own office.
Adara, her little Firestarter. Aquis had looked for her for years. Five years, actually.
The Counsel had forbidden her from telling Adara any of her history, but Aquis had never been very good at following orders. Now she just had to find Flint.
She’d heard he was still alive, out there somewhere.
She wanted to tell him she’d found his daughter.
Just getting started? Read on for a sneak peek of Adar and Beck’s story, or get it here:
http://bit.ly/SeaOfFlames
Sea of Flames
Book One in the Star Crossed Academy series
CHAPTER 1
TWELVE years ago
“Mother Nature might be crazy, but she doesn’t do half the stuff she’s blamed for.” The tall lady with the white hair smiled around the room, but Adara wasn’t buying it. Adults didn’t smile unless they wanted to hurt you with it.
“Pompeii? Have you heard of Pompeii? Maybe Mount St. Helens?”
Some of the adults nodded, but Adara snuck peeks at the other five-year-olds and none of them looked like they knew what was going on. Most hid behind their grown-ups.
Adara didn’t have a grown-up to hide behind.
“Well, you will. While there have been a few natural disasters in history that were truly natural, the majority, unfortunately, were caused by Elementals who were untrained. Who had these amazing powers, these amazing gifts, but didn’t know how to use them. Their ignorance cost thousands of lives.” The woman smiled again, and Adara shrank back, trying to blend into the shadows near the walls. “This exact reason is why Vitalos Academy, and several others throughout the country, were started over a hundred years ago. To shape and mold and train these young minds to be able to use their gifts to their advantage, and ultimately, to the advantage of the greater good.”
A boy next to Adara had bright white hair like the lady giving the speech, but with a shocking blue streak running through it. He raised his hand. “I’m five. I don’t know what any of those words mean.”
He was Adara’s age. She didn’t know what those words meant either.
The woman crouched in front of him. “We will teach you, little Beck. Just know that here, you are safe. I promise.”
Safe. Adara wished she could believe it, but safe? For her? Not a chance.
She shrank back further into the shadows. The woman caught the movement and turned the force of her steel blue eyes on Adara. “Our little Firestarter. I expect great things from you,” she whispered. “Adara, right?”
Adara cringed away from her, and the lady’s eyes softened. “It will take time, but you’ll see. No one will hurt you here. In the meantime, are you hungry? I’ve got food just for you two in my office.”
Food? Adara hadn’t eaten since the day before. Food sounded good.
Slowly, she nodded. The woman took Beck’s hand and motioned toward Adara but didn’t touch her. Adara followed behind while the other grown-ups talked and the kids watched with curiosity.
Adara and Beck were the only ones without grown-ups of their own.
The lady’s office was bigger than Adara’s bedroom at home. There were two tiny tables just Adara’s size along one wall, with tiny, colorful chairs and little plates and cups. And food. Cookies. Milk. Yummy things that Adara was never allowed to have at home. “You two are welcome to anything you want—”
“Ms. Aquis, there’s someone asking for a late acceptance at the front gate. Should I tell them the enrollment period has ended?” A man with flaming red hair like Adara’s poked his head around the office door.
Ms. Aquis hesitated, her gaze sweeping out the window and across the school grounds. “No. I’ll come talk to them.” She leaned toward Beck and Adara, her hands on her knees so she was almost eye level. “I will be right back, okay? Go ahead and eat.”
Beck nodded and dug in, but Adara hesitated, watching the woman’s retreating form. What if it was a trick? What if Ms. Aquis just said that so she could punish them?
“You should eat. This is yummy. We might not get to eat again, you know.” Beck had a cookie in each hand and a mouthful of something already.
“We might not get to eat again... ever?” Adara whispered. The sound of her own voice was too loud. It echoed across the walls and slammed back into her face and she recoiled.
Beck shrugged. “I dunno.”
Hesitantly, checking again over her shoulder to see if any grown-ups had come back, Adara reached for a sandwich. “You should eat something good for you before you have cookies.”
Beck paused mid-bite, crumbs spilling down the front of him. “Why?”
“So you won’t get fat. My mommy said if you eat cookies, you’ll get fat.”
Beck poked his tummy, giggling. “I don’t care.”
The cookie did look yummy, but Adara finished her sandwich. If she didn’t get fat, maybe her mommy would let her come home.
Beck watched her, chewing slowly. “I’ll eat something good for me if you eat a cookie.”
Adara shook her head. “I’m not allowed to have cookies.”
“Why not? Cookies are the best!”
“Because they make you fat.”
“You’re a kid. Why do you care?”
Adara opened her mouth to respond but didn’t have an answer. She started to tremble, because if she didn’t have the right answer, she’d be punished.
“Hey. Oh.” Beck dropped his cookie and hurried over to her. “It’s okay. Don’t cry. You don’t have to eat cookies if you don’t want.” He reached her, putting a little arm around her shoulders.
Pain shot through her, like when her mommy had held the ice against her skin until it burned because she’d snuck a Halloween candy. But this—this was so, so much worse.
Beck’s scream echoed on the h
eels of Adara’s shriek, and he jerked away from her and held his arm to his chest, tears filling his big blue eyes. Adara didn’t cry, and she didn’t make another sound, but her entire body shook.
The pain faded quickly though. Not like before with the ice. By the time the grown-ups came, she could barely feel it at all. Beck wiped his tears, staring at her accusingly. “She hurt me.”
“I didn’t,” Adara whispered, but she knew it wouldn’t matter what she said. They would be angry no matter what.
“What happened?” Ms. Aquis asked, kneeling in front of them both. She took Beck’s arm, looking it over, but didn’t touch Adara.
“She was crying. I wanted her to feel better, so I gave her a hug. She hurt my arm!” Beck wailed.
“Does it still hurt? Mr. Galvan? Could you come here please?” Ms. Aquis called over her shoulder. The man who had come before appeared in the doorway. “Can you check her for injuries? Beck, does your arm still hurt?” she asked again when he didn’t answer.
“A little.”
“Adara? I’m Mr. Galvan. Can I see where he touched you?” Mr. Galvan had kind eyes, but still, Adara shrank away, trembling.
“I’m not hurt,” she whispered over and over. “I’m not hurt.”
He met Ms. Aquis’s gaze, and she closed her eyes briefly before shaking her head.
“You promised we wouldn’t get hurt here. You promised we were safe!” Beck yelled.
“Beck, Beck, calm down.” Ms. Aquis hugged him, and instantly he stopped squirming, but his fierce glare never left Adara’s face.
Mr. Galvan reached for an olive, offering it to Adara. “These are fun to put on your fingers.”
“Will it make me fat?” she asked, barely daring to breathe.
He shook his head, smiling, but his smile was sad. So sad. Hesitantly, she took it and popped it in her mouth. It was weird, kind of bouncy. Yummy. Her eyes darted to the table, searching for more, and Mr. Galvan pushed the plate toward her. “Does your shoulder still hurt?”
She shook her head, carefully fitting an olive over her finger. “It only hurt when he touched me.”
“You hurt me! I didn’t hurt you! I was trying to hug you so you’d feel better!” Beck howled.
“Listen, little ones. You’ve learned a hard lesson today. Beck, you like water, right? You can tell it what to do?” Ms. Aquis sat back on her heels so she could see them both, and then settled on the floor cross-legged in front of them, pulling off her high-heeled shoes.
Adara’s mommy wore high-heeled shoes. It hurt when she stepped on Adara’s bare feet with them.
Adara edged away.
Beck nodded.
“And Adara, you can start fires sometimes, huh?”
Adara’s eyes widened and she backed further away. “It was an accident. I didn’t mean to—”
Ms. Aquis shook her head quickly, reached for her, but her fingers stopped just before they touched Adara’s skin. “It’s okay. That’s a good thing here. That’s why you’re here. We like Firestarters. There aren’t very many of you. But here’s the sad part.” She glanced at Mr. Galvan, who nodded encouragingly. “Because Beck likes water and you like fire, it hurts when you touch. Not just you two. If Adara touches anyone with white hair, or here in the academy, anyone with brown or blond hair, it will hurt her. She will hurt them. If Beck touches anyone with red hair, it will hurt. We’re called Elementals.”
“Can’t I just like fire, instead? So I don’t hurt her?” Beck asked. Adara peeked at him over her olives. “Why does hair color matter? What if I dye my hair?”
“Unfortunately, in here, it matters. Our hair color tells us what kind of element we are. It tells us who is safe to touch and who will hurt.”
Beck pouted, his little lip jutting out and his chin trembling. “But what if I want to be friends with her?”
“Oh,” Mr. Galvan said. “You can still be friends. You just have to be careful. But definitely, be friends. Be friends no matter what color anyone’s hair is.”
“But how do I make her stop crying?” Beck pointed at Adara, who shrank away. “She’s crying right now. She needs a hug.”
“You make her laugh. You tell her jokes. You just don’t touch her, Beck. Okay? Can you do that?”
Beck hesitated, watching Adara. “Mr. Galvan can give her a hug because he has red hair?”
Mr. Galvan nodded. “But Adara doesn’t like to be touched. Not by anyone, even if they have red hair. One day, maybe, but not yet.”
Beck scowled, his dark eyebrows drew together, and Adara held her breath, waiting for the next accusation.
“Adara?”
“What?” she whispered.
“What’s a snowman’s favorite letters?”
She blinked. That wasn’t an accusation. She looked at Ms. Aquis and Mr. Galvan but they both just grinned. Was this another trick? “I don’t know.”
“I and C. I.C.” Beck giggled and Ms. Aquis and Mr. Galvan laughed, and Beck said, “Do you get it? I and C because it sounds like icy and snowmans are icy!”
Slowly, Adara understood, and despite herself, she smiled. “Icy. I get it.”
Ms. Aquis rubbed Beck’s shoulders before she rose to her feet. “I think you two are going to be the best of friends.”
Beck’s giggles died and he studied Adara, eyebrows drawn together again. “Do you want to be best friends? I promise I won’t touch you unless you’re falling off a cliff or something. I promise I won’t hurt you.”
Adara held her breath. She’d never had a friend. Especially not a best friend. “Okay. I promise I won’t hurt you, too.”
CHAPTER 2
FIVE years ago
Sneaking out of the academy when her hair literally glowed in the darkness was not the easiest thing Adara had ever done.
Well, it was now. But the first hundred times she’d done it, it had not gone as smoothly.
“Beck,” she hissed, searching the darkness around her. “Where are you? Did you get caught again?”
They kept threatening to expel him. He never followed the rules and he almost always got caught. If, for some inexplicable reason he did not get caught, he usually turned himself in. And yet, no one kicked him out because, one, he had nowhere to go. He was an orphan and he’d been at Vitolas Academy since he was five, just like Adara. And two, because he was powerful. He was harnessing more powerful water spells than some of the teachers, and no one knew why. And three, because everyone loved Beck. Headmistress Aquis, all the teachers, all the students, everyone loved Beck. He did walk on water because he could control it, but a lot of the water Elementals could do that. It was just that Beck—well, he did it with so much flare.
Adara knew why he was so powerful, though. It was the same reason she was.
When everyone else was sleeping, they were practicing.
And while everyone else knew how their own elements worked and stuck to their own Elemental groups, Adara knew her spells and Beck’s front to back, upside down and sideways. When they worked together, they were unstoppable.
Ms. Aquis said it was unlike anything she’d ever seen a twelve-year-old do.
But Ms. Aquis didn’t know about their night practices.
“Over here, Sparky. Took you long enough.”
She just caught sight of the bright hair through the trees. Beck was already running away from her, disappearing further into the woods. Away from the academy. Away from everything safe and good. Adara didn’t hesitate to follow him. “Don’t call me Sparky, Teardrop.”
“What kind of a nickname is Teardrop?” Beck slowed his pace, waiting for her to catch up. Her one goal in life was to be faster than he was. She had been gaining on him, but he’d hit a growth spurt the past summer and she had a hard time staying with him now. “It’s so long. Nicknames are supposed to be short. It’s like three times longer than my name.”
Adara rolled her eyes, pumping her legs faster, lengthening her stride like their coach had taught them. Focused on her breathing—
Too focused, she nearly crashed into a tree. Her hand shot out, small sparks leaping from her fingertips, but there wasn’t sunlight left to pull from, and her lighter was still in her dorm room. No fire meant no fire spells. Which meant she had nothing to attack the tree with and had to throw herself to the side instead.
Instantly, Beck knelt next to her. “Are you okay?”
He didn’t touch her, but his hands moved toward her as if he wished he could. Gloves didn’t help — that had been one of the first things they’d tried. Covering themselves head to toe in oven mitts and thick material hadn’t made a difference either. She sat up, brushing dirt and leaves from her hair and clothes. “I’m fine. Do you think we’re far enough away yet?”
Beck looked back toward the academy. They were fast little Elementals, but Cealis, or air elements, were usually the fastest. Terras, with their cumbersome earth element... well, they were not. But they were powerful.
“Not yet. They might still see the fire through the trees. Can you go a little further?”
The river ran alongside them, as far as they’d ever dare go. One day, Adara wanted to follow it all the way to the end, but she was twelve and still afraid of the dark.
Maybe more so now. Now that she knew what lurked there.
“Yeah. I can go further.” She rose to her feet, careful not to fall into Beck again, and they jogged more slowly through the night. She felt bare without her fire. Her element was practically useless at night, unless someone was polite enough to build a bonfire before battle.
As far as she was aware, that wasn’t really an option.
She was a Firestarter, which they’d told her was super rare. She had the fire within her — and she’d used it twice. Once on her mother when she was five, and once before that.
Never since.
No matter how hard she tried.
And she had tried.
Her teachers had tried. Her coaches had tried. She’d worked with Ms. Aquis, the headmistress, over and over again. None of them had ever met a Firestarter before, and no one knew how to access it. Adara just hoped she figured it out before she was sent out to fight.