by Rain Oxford
“Stop,” I ordered. “Shifting and attacking a student is not acceptable. If he endangers you, tell a teacher and they will deal with it. You absolutely have the right to protect yourself and your family, but when you gang up on someone, you are in the wrong. Sam, come with me.”
His face was full of fear, but I didn’t say anything in front of the other students. When we were alone, he asked, “Am I going to be expelled?”
“Who would that help? You need to learn to control your magic, not be kicked out on the street. Why aren’t you in classes that focus on controlling your powers?”
“I guess I tested wrong. Or my mom doesn’t have enough money. I don’t know.”
“Well, we’ll talk to Ms. Hunt about it and see what is best for you and your classmates. You’re not getting expelled. You’re not in trouble.”
We stopped at Remington’s office and I knocked on the door. “It’s not a good time!” she called.
I let my power free and sensed her mind. She was stressed and hyper-alert, which told me something was wrong. There wasn’t another person in the room with her, but I did feel a conscious creature. I opened the door.
Remy’s office was similar to mine, except it had a private bathroom. Also, there was an Inland Taipan on her desk, reared up to strike her. Remy was standing three feet away from it with a dagger pointed at it. The serpent ignored me, as it was completely focused on killing Remy.
“I can handle this, Devon,” she said.
“I’m sure you can. I would set it on fire, but that’s just me.”
“It’s a familiar. It’s here because a wizard sent it after me. Killing it means I won’t find the actual culprit.”
I focused my power on the snake, but I didn’t detect anything more than an unthinking animal mind. It wanted heat and food. Its actions, however, were contrary to its simplistic instincts. “Are you sure it’s not under someone’s control?”
“It doesn’t matter. It was still sent by someone.”
“It matters, because I can’t detect a wizard’s mind from it.”
The snake struck at her and missed by an inch. She tossed her dagger at it as it retreated. The blade sliced through its neck, easily severing its head. “I hope it wasn’t a familiar,” she said. She picked up the dagger and wiped the blood off on her brilliant blue blouse before slipping it into a strap in her boot. “How can I help you, Devon?”
“Sam is having trouble with his classmates, who shifted and attacked him. Are there any alternative classes you can put him in?”
She sighed and gestured to the seats across from her desk. When we sat, she brushed the dead snake off her desk nonchalantly and sat. “We don’t have a huge operation here, so we don’t have an excess of teachers.”
“What about counselors?” I asked.
She addressed Sam. “There are three options. We have support staff that can help you outside of your regular classes with emotional, social, or academic issues. We can also change your schedule to put you in a lower or higher level. You would have the same teachers, but different classmates. The third option is the simplest, and the one I suggest; talk to your teachers. They can observe what is going on and advise you. If you are not falling behind or getting ahead on your classwork, I don’t suggest changing your classes. Again, your teachers can advise you on that.”
He thought about it for a few minutes. “I keep asking questions in class and it bothers everyone else, but I’m learning and I don’t want to go back. I don’t want to be a tattletale, though. Can I get extra help after class? Or can I get a tutor on math and someone to help me control my illusion magic?”
Remy nodded. “Of course. Mr. Mason can help you or I have a list of students who volunteer to tutor math. We have plenty of fae staff who would be happy to help you. You can choose whatever staff member you feel can help you best.”
“Well, it sounds like you two have this under control,” I said, standing. “I’ll head back to my office. Let me know if you need me.” When I reached my office, Ms. Baumwirt and Kita were standing outside my door. “Can I help you?”
“Ms. Ruckman here needs a lesson on keeping her hands to herself. She punched another student for no reason.”
“I didn’t mean to punch him,” Kita said.
“Be quiet,” Ms. Baumwirt snapped.
“I’ll take care of it,” I said, my voice stern. Kita shuttered and stared at her shoes. Her hyena was responding to my alpha tone like most shifters did. I was surprised, though, because she was female. Hyena females were usually dominant to males, yet she submitted as easily as Brian did.
Ms. Baumwirt smiled, confident that I would punish Kita sufficiently. “Good. I’m glad some of the newcomers are doing their job. I’ll get back to my students.” She left. I unlocked my door and gestured for Kita to enter. She did, and I closed the door behind us.
“So, what happened?”
She shrugged. “I got angry. I couldn’t help it. I didn’t mean to hit him, I just did.”
“He didn’t say anything to you to instigate a problem?” She shook her head. “Sit down,” I said, pointing to the couch. She did. I sat in my chair and updated my notebook on the case.
After ten minutes of silence, Kita asked, “Am I being expelled?”
“No. You can go when you feel calm, but I want you to meet with Amelia Bell rather than go back to class. She’s a fae counselor, but she’ll be able to help you. I think you need to miss history class for a few days. You might be detecting Ms. Baumwirt’s disdain.”
“I’m not in trouble?”
“You can’t attack your classmates without cause, but I don’t think punishing you is going to do any good. Your problem is with the anger, and violence doesn’t help that. If your problem was anything else, yes, you would be punished. Does your anger come on fast or slow?”
“Sometimes fast, sometimes slow.”
“I want you to meet with Ms. Bell today and for the next few days during your history class. She will decide if you need to see her regularly. Either way, I want you to come to my office any time you feel anger. If you can, come here without hitting anyone. If someone tries to stop you, put your hands over your ears and come here anyway, even if it means leaving class. It’s better that your teacher is mad than that someone gets hurt.”
“What if it’s not during school hours?”
“Come here anyway. If I’m not here, go to Ms. Hunt and ask her to let you into my office. You can nap on the couch, read a book, or write in a journal. Ms. Bell will have some exercises you can use to calm yourself. When you feel calm, go back to what you were doing.”
“Thank you, Mr. Sanders.”
* * *
“There is definitely weird shit going on here,” Darwin said.
It was dinner time and Darwin, Henry, and I were eating at the table. “I haven’t noticed anything.”
He laughed. “You mean you haven’t noticed anything that’s weird enough for you. I walked into my classroom yesterday and found all of the desks and chairs on the ceiling.”
“I had a class of shifters who all started talking to someone who wasn’t there,” Henry added.
* * *
Sunday, August 21
I was looking forward to getting some quality sleep. After organizing my desk, I turned out my light and started unbuttoning my shirt.
My blinds snapped up, startling me as it broke the silence.
I paused for a second, my mind instantly going to an undine. That seemed like a stretch, though, so I reached out to feel if there was someone invisible near me. There was no one. Maybe blinds just do that here…
I pulled the blinds down and waited for a moment. When nothing happened, I walked back to my bed.
My blinds snapped up again. “Oh, come on. I’m too old for all-nighters.” I went back to the window and was about to pull the blinds down when I got a look at the East. More importantly, I saw the windows of the building. “The hell?”
There were flashing lights. T
hey weren’t synchronized, but that was definitely strange. Although I had expected some goofing around, kids could get hurt in the school alone, so I had a responsibility to check it out.
Maybe it’s not kids but some sinister monster on the loose. I can hope.
The flashing had stopped by the time I left the Center, but I still made my way across the grassy field to the school. The front door wasn’t locked, so I figured no one bothered to lock it at all. I started checking classrooms, particularly those in which I saw lights. Not to my surprise, I didn’t see anyone or any lights. It was still a creepy place at night, though, which reminded me of the university.
After half an hour, I had checked the bathrooms and all of the classrooms and didn’t so much as hear anyone. Then I saw light under the door of the library as I started to pass it. When I heard a soft sound, I pressed my ear to the door. I couldn’t identify the sound, but it wasn’t speech, so I opened the door. Inside I saw Cy at a table with his head in a book. Sitting on the table beside him was a beautiful red fox.
Her eyes narrowed when she saw me. I brushed my power over her mind and instantly felt resistance. She had magic.
“Your wizard should be in bed,” I said. She didn’t argue, so I went to him and put my hand on his shoulder gently. He woke with a start. When he realized he was caught after hours, he tried to stand, only to trip. I caught him by the arm and helped him up. “You’re not in trouble. Go to bed. If you sleep like this, you’ll have a bad back when you get to be my age.”
He nodded. “Sorry.” The fox vanished.
“Don’t apologize. If the worst thing you’ve ever done was study after hours, you’re a model student.” I decided to walk him to his building, since there were plenty of monsters that could attack. “Your familiar is cute,” I said. “I heard foxes are special.”
“They run in my family. Misaki is the daughter of my father’s familiar, and she was the daughter of his father’s familiar.”
“That’s nice.”
“She’s also the reason I’ll die alone. Ours are the most possessive of all familiars. Yuki chased away my mother, just like Misaki will chase away anyone I might love. In exchange, my familiar can become one of the most powerful magical beings in the world. We will help each other learn and develop our abilities.”
“I knew they could be possessive, but that’s a lot on your very young shoulders. I take it you didn’t call your familiar intentionally?”
“No, she was born when I was. Foxes don’t get called; they find us within moments of our birth. Did you call your familiar?”
“Yes. My heart was cursed and I was going to die, so I called my familiar and she saved me. She’s a gargoyle.”
“That is so cool.”
We reached the West. “Studying is important, but you’ve got to keep up your health.”
* * *
Wednesday, August 24
I was skimming through some disciplinary notices when the shadows condensed in the corner of the office. My first thought was that it was a shadow walker, but my instincts didn’t warn me of danger.
It was Vincent who appeared out of the darkness. “You’re early,” I said.
“Your mother and I are going on a vacation and I wanted to finish it beforehand. You’re going to meet Hunt three days a week, around midnight. The exact nights have to be flexible around his schedule.”
“Sounds good. What do I need to do so that you can bind my mind control?”
“Hold still.” He held up a thin, silver chain.
“That necklace is missing its amulet.”
He scoffed. “This is a little more secure than an amulet. Give me your right arm.”
I extended my arm and he pushed up my sleeve. Then he dropped the chain, but it didn’t fall to the floor. Instead, it shot up like a snake and spiraled around my arm, pressing itself to my skin when it was in place. Before I could ask him what it was, it started melting into my skin with a sharp, burning pain, as if it were digging its way into my flesh. I shouted with shock and jerked my arm away automatically, but the chain wasn’t deterred. When I tried to pull it off with my left hand, Vincent grabbed my arms to stop me.
“This is what it’s supposed to do. The pain will pass momentarily.”
I still struggled until it was finally over. No longer was it a silver chain. I now had a chain tattooed on my arm. It wasn’t exactly tacky, but I would have preferred a number of things to a chain if I was interested in a tattoo, and I was pretty sure one would have hurt less. “You should have warned me about that.”
“The dread is the worst part. This will bind your ability to control minds. It shouldn’t affect your mind reading, visions, or instincts, but since those abilities are all related, don’t bet your life on it. When you can control your power, you will know, and then I will break its bond to you and it will vanish. If you are in dire need of that power, you can tear it off, but you mustn’t let go of it, because it will seek you out.”
“That’s the weirdest thing that has been done to me since I learned I was a wizard, and that includes Gale’s curse, Astrid’s snacking, and an undine’s poisoned kiss.”
“Your life is very normal for a paranormal.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s an oxymoron.”
* * *
I unlocked my door, just as I sensed Rocky’s presence. She appeared in my room, glaring at me. “Knowing our lives are bonded, how could you purposefully make yourself weaker?”
“I can’t risk hurting my friends.”
“If you die, it will impair me.”
“It’s not permanent. If I need it, I can take off the chain. This is just temporary until I learn to control it better.” I set my notebook on the desk and turned back, but she was gone. I focused on a piece of paper on my desk, picked it up, and realized it was a message.
To: Devon Sanders
From: Drake BaDour
Date: Wednesday, August 24
Message: I know you’re busy, but I need your help. Pitch, Jorge, and Blue have disappeared. I went to their houses and nothing was packed up. They were just gone. I’m not asking you to come work for me again; I just need you to take this case. I’m worried it’s hunters.
I went to Remington’s bedroom down the hall and knocked on the door.
“Give me a second.” A moment later, the door opened. Remy was wearing a red silk bathrobe. “Hi, Devon. Come in.” Her room was similar to mine, except her color theme was dark red, she had a bookshelf full of books, and weapons decorated her walls like art.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt anything. I’m going to head to Drake’s club first thing in the morning because three of his employees went missing.”
“Oh. You have a case. Is life here not keeping you busy?” She wasn’t irritated.
“I can’t use my gun as much.”
“I know the feeling.”
“I’ll have my phone on me if you need me. I don’t plan to be gone long.”
“How are you enjoying it here so far?”
“It’s interesting. Have you settled anything with Flagstone?”
“He’s still coming to terms with the fact that he can’t hover over and protect me. I decided the least awkward way to move forward is to avoid each other.”
“That sounds healthy.”
“Would it be awkward for you if I kissed you, seeing as how I’m your boss?”
“Wouldn’t that set off your father’s ward?”
“It doesn’t work in the Center because we’re all adults.”
Instead of answering, I put my hands on her waist, pulled her against me, and kissed her. She kissed back with all the passion I expected from her. While she was ridiculously beautiful, I liked her for her personality. Most people saw her as angry, but that wasn’t her entire character. Love and trust didn’t come easily to her.
It was difficult for her to trust someone, but that was what made it special that she trusted me. She had a lot to prove to herself and her father. Not to me. I had bee
n in her mind several times and although we had only known each other for a few years, it felt like much longer.
I had spent four semesters of classes believing there was no possibility that we would end up together, but I never denied that I liked her. There was more passion between us than anything I felt for anyone else.
We broke the kiss slowly. “I have to be up early in the morning, so we can’t go any further tonight, but let’s continue when we have more time.”
“Does that mean you and Flagstone are really done?”
“Unlike you and Vincent, I don’t have visions of the future. I can’t know what will happen. All I know is what I feel right now. I can’t help but care about Rosin, but that doesn’t change anything. Dating Rosin comes with too many obstacles I’m not willing to overlook. I don’t know you as well, but I do like you, and you don’t have the same issues. You’re not a rebound. I enjoy spending time with you and think what we could have might be a lot more real than what Rosin and I had. Can that be enough for you?”
I considered it for a few minutes. Remington was both hot and a good friend. Since Rosin Flagstone was her father’s familiar, the issues between them couldn’t be resolved. Flagstone helped Hunt raise her, and worst of all, Hunt and Flagstone could see through each other’s eyes. That meant that whenever Flagstone and Remington did anything sexual, there was a chance Hunt would see it. Flagstone’s only job in life was to protect Hunt, not his daughter, so it complicated everything.
That being said, I knew Remy well. She had feelings for Flagstone, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t care about me. She needed options, not coddling. “Let’s do what feels right and see what happens.”
“That sounds good. I’ll see you when you get back.”
“I look forward to it. Good night.”
“Good night.”
I gathered together everything I needed for the case, took a shower, and went to bed.