by Kat Adams
It wasn’t like I could just walk up to him and ask. How would that conversation go? Hey, buddy. Got a question for you. Are you a leecher? Are you a dark elemental using magic to steal our elements and make yourself more powerful? What’s your role in forcing elements into young elementals?
I walked deeper into the woods, lost in my thoughts. If Spencer really was dark, he wouldn’t be able to get through the wards protecting the academy. I stumbled to a stop as I thought about that. Jules was dark, and she still made it past the wards, yet Alec couldn’t until she’d dropped them. Neither could other dark elementals. So how could Jules? Why didn’t I question that before?
Cressida would know the answer, I was sure of it. I closed my eyes and tried to feel her. I truly believed we were connected at an entirely different level, so maybe she’d still feel me trying to reach her when I wasn’t at Clearwater.
“Cressida,” I said softly. “I understand now why things are out of balance. Dark elementals are using magic to enhance their powers. They may not be creating new elementals like I originally thought, but they’re casting spells to speed up the process like reverse leechers. I can’t help but think Spencer is doing something more to enhance his powers, that he’s not that strong of an elemental without the magic.”
I paused as I deliberated the next question. “Do you think he’s dark? He used forbidden calls in training, saying I needed to learn how to defend myself from them since the dark elementals use them. But in all the battles last year, Alec never used one on me. I’ve only known Spencer a week and he’s already used two. And in the same lesson.”
Thinking back to my botched attempt to use magic to control my water element last year, I reasoned, “I know using magic doesn’t automatically make you bad, but he’s done some pretty craptastic stuff during trainings. I don’t see how any of what he’s doing is training me. If anything…” I hesitated as my theory continued to form. “It’s like he’s testing me for weakness.”
The wind whispered through the trees, dancing around me. Even if Cressida didn’t hear me, my element did and seemed to agree. Carefully, I held up my hand and called air, relieved when it answered. “Hello, there. I’ve missed you.”
The element spun around me like an excited dog seeing its owner after a long time apart. I smiled and called fire, blending the elements in a gentle tornado of wind and fire. Remembering I was standing in the middle of a thick grove of trees, I killed my calls before I started a forest fire.
“Well, I should get back before the guys send out a search party,” I told no one in particular and returned to the cabin. Bryan and Rob were both up and sitting at the two-person dining table, glorious cups of steaming coffee in their hands. There was a third on the table, which I promptly snagged and brought under my nose, inhaling deeply before taking a sip.
“Where’ve you been?” Rob asked.
“Went for a walk.” I took another sip. “I think my air is back. Same with my fire.”
“I guess milk isn’t the only thing that does a body good.”
I rolled my eyes at the cheesy line. Clay wasn’t the only one with the wit and sarcasm to come up with them.
Bryan’s cheeks colored. “Real nice, bro.”
Rob laughed and stood to get more coffee. He lifted the pot. I nodded even though I’d barely gotten a sip and joined him at the counter while Bryan covered his cup with his hand. Placing my back to him, I regarded Rob and whispered, “Did you tell him about the job?”
He shook his head.
I widened my eyes and nodded for him to do it, hating that I was the only one who knew. Secrets were never my thing. If it were up to me to keep it, I’d fail. Epically. “Tell him.”
“Tell me what?” Bryan asked as he bounced his gaze between us. “What’s going on?”
“Rob has something he wants to tell you.” I pushed him toward the table when he remained silent too long. He shot me a look. I smiled in response and pushed again. “Do you want me to leave?”
“No,” Rob groaned and nodded at the only other chair. “Have a seat, Reed. You need to hear this too.”
“I already know.”
“Not everything,” he responded, which immediately put me on edge. There was more? Oh, happy freakin’ day. I took a seat and waited impatiently for him to explain. He leaned against the counter and stared into his coffee cup. “I’m going to work for the Council.”
“Dude, that’s great.” Bryan grinned, clearly happy over the news. He stood and pulled Rob into a bro hug, slapping his back.
“Wait for the punchline.” I kept my attention on Rob as they broke their embrace.
He went on. “It starts right away.”
Bryan stiffened and whipped his head to regard me. “You knew about this?”
“He told me last night.”
“It’s not like we didn’t see this coming.” Rob set his cup on the counter. “I’m almost twenty-four. I should have left the academy long before now. Stace offered me the job. I accepted.”
“Doing what?”
“Patrol,” I answered when Rob didn’t.
Bryan looked ready to pull him into another bro hug. His expression brightened. “You’re going to be a hunter? That’s pretty awesome.”
“No.” I smacked the table, punctuating my firm disapproval. “That’s not pretty awesome. He’s going to be putting his life on the line every day.”
“How’s that any different than you being the prophecy?”
Well, that shut me up.
Bryan dumped the rest of his coffee down the sink and set the cup on the counter. “Proud of you, man. Going to work for the Council is major. Being part of the patrols is even better. Only the strongest callers get to be on the frontline like that.”
Was I the only one who saw this for what it was? Rob purposely hunting for dark elementals, purposely working for the very governing body we questioned all the time? I hated the idea. Clearly, I was in the minority.
I stood and took my coffee with me to the living room, ignoring Rob protesting for me to stay. It wasn’t that big of a cabin, so I’d still hear him. “You haven’t told me anything I didn’t already know.”
“Stace offered to rent this place to me.”
I spun around, spilling coffee all over my hand. I licked it off my fingers as I stared at him. That part of the story, I didn’t hate. “For reals?”
“That’s the part I didn’t tell you last night.”
“What’d you say?”
“Yes, of course. All employees on patrol are required to live in warded places, and since this place is already warded, saves me some time.” He glanced around the cabin. “It’s small, but it works.”
I sank onto the couch, pouting. I wanted this place, dammit.
“Wow, look at you adulting.” Bryan slapped Rob on the shoulder. “I’m heading to the academy. Some of us still have classes to pass.”
“Low blow, bro.” They laughed.
“Congrats again, Rob.” Bryan moved into the living room and leaned down, kissing me tenderly. “See you later, Katy.”
“I’ll come with you.” If we teleported back, I’d still make it to 3C. Not that I was overly thrilled to hurry to school, but Stace needed my help with all the new elementals, magically enhanced or not. Besides, I wanted to talk to her about my new theory of Spencer using dark magic to enhance his powers. “Give me a second.”
I rushed to the bathroom to make myself as presentable as possible without any of my stuff with me. I’d have to forgo fresh makeup. Yesterday’s mascara would do. I combed my fingers through my hair before piling it into a high messy bun of ginger locks, holding it in place with a hair tie I found in one of the drawers, and studied my reflection. This was as good as it was going to get.
I rejoined the guys, running my hands down my uniform to smooth out the wrinkles. Ugh. My clothes looked like I’d slept in them. Maybe I should change before heading to class. “Ready?”
Rob slipped on his shoes. “We should all hea
d out. Stace said she wanted me to make sure all my charges were transitioned to other handlers. I need to talk to Clay and Leo, make sure they can take them. Man, this is my dream job. I can’t believe it’s happening.”
Neither could I. His dream job was my nightmare. Still, I didn’t miss the pride in his voice. Going to work for the Council made him happy. And I wanted him to be happy. Ugh, being a nice person sucked sometimes. “Then we’d better go. I don’t trust my landings, so one of you gets to teleport me.”
“Not a problem.” Rob hooked me around the waist and slammed our bodies together. He kissed me quickly and grinned.
And then we popped out.
JESS WASN’T in the room when I walked in, which pleased me greatly. I wouldn’t have to explain my walk of shame. I changed into a clean uniform and applied fresh mascara before hurrying to the 3C building, hoping to catch Stace before class started. My revelation about Spencer testing my weaknesses instead of working on my strengths weighed on me. Until I made sense of it all, I’d not mention it to the guys. It would only elevate their suspicion of my handler. Since Cressida didn’t respond to my conversation this morning, I’d talk to the 3C professor.
As I walked in, I spotted her over at the whiteboard, writing out the day’s assignment. “Professor Layden? I have a question for you.”
She finished writing the last of the assignment—work on calling your primary without your partner smelling the scent of your call—and then capped the pen. “You’ll be partnering with me today so we can demonstrate.”
“I, uh, that’s fine. About that question.”
“I wasn’t asking your permission, but thank you for being fine with it.”
Ouch. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. “Listen, I think Spencer—”
“Hi, Katy!” Trevor rushed in and grinned wide, holding up where I’d signed his gauze. It looked a little worse for the wear, and I was pretty sure it was the source of the weird smell now in the room. “Look, I still have on my cast. Syd said I should be fine to take it off, but I don’t want to.”
“You should probably listen to the healer, buddy.”
He shrugged and held it to his chest like it was his most prized possession.
“How about this, if you get rid of that, I’ll sign whatever you want.” I thought about that and bit the inside of my lip. Please don’t ask me to sign any body parts.
“Okay!” He tore it from his arm and tossed it in the wastebasket by the door. He ran back to my side and held out his arm where the bandage had just been. “Will you sign my arm?”
Whew. Being asked to sign that body part didn’t bother me. I did and stepped back. This kid had no concept of personal space. “There you go.”
“Thanks!” He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he ran to the top of the amphitheater classroom and took a seat just as more students poured in. The room filled with noisy chatter while everyone found seats.
I moved next to Stace and waited for the students to settle. When they didn’t, I glanced at her. She gave me a look and a nod. I grinned, picking up on her meaning. There were more fire elementals than any other callers, so I settled on that element and conjured up fireball after fireball, tossing each one up and holding it in place with air, loving that my elements were back.
The flames waited patiently, dancing in place in awesome wonder. Trying something new, I walked to the far wall and pushed the fireballs to the center of the room. Today was Thursday, so the training field would be filled with water elementals after classes. Why not give them a preview of their power?
Using my finger like a gun, I aimed at the fireballs and pulled the invisible trigger with my thumb. “Pew, pew, pew.” One by one, I hit each fireball with a burst of water. The elements battled, hissing and spitting at each other before fizzling out in a puff of steam. I blew on the tip of my finger after the last fireball died.
The class erupted in applause. I rejoined Stace at the front of the room. “Show-off,” she muttered for my ears only. I grinned, taking it as a compliment.
“Everyone grab a partner and work on the assignment on the board,” she instructed in a commanding voice that didn’t fit her tiny form. “We’ll be coming around to check your progress.” She lowered her voice. “Katy, join me at my desk.”
I followed her and waited until the class had paired up and gotten to work on their assignment. “Now can I ask you my question?”
“No.”
I stopped myself from dropping my jaw. “Why not?”
“If it’s to express doubt about your handler, then this is not the time nor the place.” She nodded at the new elementals struggling to conceal their calls. “Stay after class so we can talk. As your faculty advisor, I have a few things to go over with you. For now, let’s help the students with their calls.”
Fair enough. I’d actually forgotten about her being my faculty advisor. Talking to her about my doubts made even more sense now.
“Start with the fire elementals over there.” She motioned toward Bridget and Todd, two first years who tried to set each other on fire on a daily basis. “See if you can get them to relax enough to focus on their call.”
I marched over when I smelled the scent of their call from where I stood. “Are either of you jumpers?”
They both blinked at me, not understanding the question.
“No,” Todd finally answered. “We’re both fire.”
“Is that why you’ve been trying to set each other on fire since the first day of class?”
Bridget spoke up. “That’s because he’s a jerk, and I can’t stand him. He thinks he knows everything.”
“Just because I know more than you,” he countered.
Okaaay. This kid seemed to be living up to his jerk title. Looking around, I saw two more fire elementals. “Come with me.”
I dragged them both up a few steps and over to the other two. “Hi!” I said in an overly enthused voice.
The two boys stopped and looked at me.
“This is Bridget, and this is Todd.” I motioned as I introduced them. “What’re your names?”
“Greg,” the smaller kid with thick glasses said.
“Chris,” the bigger kid stated, his voice prickling with attitude.
Perfect. Chris was good-looking and could easily hold a girl’s interest. Bridget was already smiling up at him and batting her eyelashes. No doubt Todd would take issue with that.
“Greg, meet Todd. You two are now partners.”
“Wait,” Todd protested. “I’m partners with her.”
“Not anymore,” I corrected him.
“Who are you to tell us who we can partner with?”
“Problems?” Stace appeared at the ideal time.
“She’s trying to break us up,” Todd stated in a super whiny voice. For someone who wanted to set his partner on fire a second ago, he certainly didn’t like the idea of being separated from her.
“Katy is the TA. If she sees a reason to separate you, then I trust her.” She shut down the subject with nothing more than a look. She then nodded at me. “Carry on.”
I stayed close as the fire elementals worked with their new partners. Within minutes, Chris had Bridget giggling like the schoolgirl she was, much to Todd’s dismay. My work here is done.
I walked around the room, helping students with their calls and showing them how to conceal the scent. I wasn’t very good at it myself, so showing others how to do it actually helped me more than it helped them. By the end of the second hour, I had a solid grasp on how to conceal my call and demonstrated it several times.
I was pretty sure Stace meant for it to work out that way.
17
“And that’s why I think Spencer is using dark magic to enhance his powers.” I told Stace everything. The way the guys reacted when shaking his hand. The way he seemed to be testing me for weaknesses. The forbidden calls. “Leo thinks he might be a leecher.”
She shook her head, dismissing the idea as quickly as Cl
ay had. “Even if they still existed—which I don’t believe they do—leechers can’t conceal their powers. If he were a leecher, we’d know.”
“What if he’s using dark magic to conceal what he really is somehow?”
“It’s possible, I suppose. Not likely, but possible.”
“How else is he still able to call an element after I hit him with light? How else do you explain the cut on my hand and dark magic finding its way inside? Oh, and he’s been stealing our air calls on top of everything else.”
She sat on the corner of her desk. “Even Clay’s?”
“Clay was the first one he went after.”
“Why do you think it’s dark magic he’s using? There are plenty of spells to enhance powers that aren’t dark.”
I held up my hand, palm facing her. “I think when I called light on him, the dark magic he used to counter my call somehow traveled through the beam and burrowed inside my hand. He’s not who he says he is. I’m sure of it. He might not be a leecher, but he’s definitely hiding something.”
“That’s a pretty hefty accusation.” She blew out a breath. “I agree he doesn’t seem to be as genuine as we’d been led to believe, but dark magic? That’s not for the faint of heart. The Council agrees, which is why I’m teaching a class on how to defend against it. The dark elementals are growing in both numbers and strength.”
“What if it really is dark magic? Would that mean I wouldn’t have to train with him anymore?” Oh, please. Oh, please. Oh, please.
“That means you’ll not be left alone with him.”
“You mean he’ll still be allowed at the academy? Even if he’s dark?”
“Using dark magic and being a dark elemental are not the same thing. A lot of good elementals have dabbled in the dark arts, myself included. The temptation is there. Most experiment with a few spells and abandon the practice. Others…” She trailed off and bounced her head from side to side. “They keep going until it’s too late.”