InkBorn (InkHaven Academy Book 2)

by Kenna Bardot

  “How are you doing that?” I asked him, eyes wide.

  He pulled from me again, a strand of red from the tips of my fingers. “I can feel Air, or to be more precise, I can feel and manipulate other people’s Air as though it were my own. Docent Woods and a few others have the gift but it is quite rare. It’s a very close connection to Air, so close that we connect to it even in others.”

  “I didn’t know it was some sort of special gift when I observed Docent Woods using it. I thought it was just achievable through years of study.”

  He shook his head, a smug smile playing on his lips. “No, it’s not something you learn in this school or anywhere else. You’re either blessed with it or not. It’s an affinity that’s particularly rare. It’s also something that most favors Protectors. It allows us the ability to understand what is inside a person we are protecting even when they aren’t Airs.”

  “Oh. What a burden it must be to feel everything.” It wasn’t a question, because I knew how much of a burden it was to feel what I felt. I could not imagine feeling someone else’s turmoil.

  “Sometimes. During the last trial, I felt everyone around me.” He met my eyes. “I felt you, Little One. You struggled. It was not very obvious, because you were quite able to breathe and survive, but I could easily sense that you weren’t doing well.”

  “There’s really no need to be so abrupt, Cel. You can be nice.” A tall girl with dirty blond hair passed by, and I recognized her voice from the trial. She was the only girl in Cel’s glass.

  “Zeevar, Blythe. This one needs the push.” Cel slapped a hand on my shoulder. “Right, Kaia?””

  “Uh-huh, sure.” I nodded reluctantly.

  “Don’t mind the brute, Kaia. I’m Blythe.” She reached out a hand to shake, and I took it.

  “Don’t let the calm demeanor fool you, Kaia. Blythe is one of the best Assassins in our year.”

  She flushed. “You make me seem so ruthless, Cel, and I’m not. I just like to make sure I do it in the easiest manner possible for me and for the Inked involved.”

  “Still doesn’t stop you being the best,” Cel contested.

  Her words struck a chord. “How did you know?” I asked.

  “Huh?”

  I shook my head apologetically. “Sorry. How did you know you wanted to be an Assassin?”

  “Oh.” She looked surprised at my question, and I had to admit I was pretty surprised I had asked it.

  “I’m sorry. I know it seems so personal, but I just finished my third shadow introduction and we have to choose soon, and I never asked how I’m supposed to choose.”

  “Oh, I don’t mind you asking.” She gave me a kind smile. “I just thought about where I could make a difference and while rebirths are hard I guess I thought that if I could help someone reach their rebirth as painlessly and as peacefully as possible then that’s what would work for me.”

  Cel chuckled. “Blythe is all about the Three Tenets of the Air Mages.”

  Blythe tucked a strand of hair behind her right ear. “So I am. But so should we all. Good luck on your choice, Kaia. It was nice meeting you, but I have to run.”

  “Bye, Blythe. It was nice meeting you too.”

  “Blythe.” Cel nodded her off. She rushed off with a shy wave, leaving me thinking as Cel looked at me seriously.

  “I didn’t know you were having such a hard time choosing.”

  I sighed. “My men try to be helpful, they really are, but I can’t make decisions when my brain is clogged up with how my decision impacts them.”

  He chuckled. “Think of the Tenets and how they apply to you. That should help.”

  Cel stepped closer behind me, wrapping an arm around my waist and dragging me back into his chest. The other hand glided along my arm, coming to a stop and cradling my wrist delicately.

  “Try it. What I made you do earlier.”

  I took a deep breath, and I forced myself to make a cyclone like he had guided me to do so. My cyclone grew slowly, growing ever larger under his guidance. “This isn’t easy.”

  “I’m giving you a boost, because there’s something dampening your Air, I can feel it. It makes it harder for you to access it on your own.” He wrapped a hand around my wrist. “You need to try harder. You can break it. I feel it - it wants to break free.”

  “I’m trying, ok? We’re working on it,” My voice caught, watching that cyclone grow impossibly large.

  “Try harder. Don’t doubt that you’re an Air Mage but don’t feel like you’re enough of one when you could be so much more.” He pulled at my Air again and, where initially it had felt like a boost it now felt like an intrusion. It felt like he could control it, own it, more than I ever could.

  He snapped his fingers and just like that the cyclone disappeared. Wella stood just where the cyclone had been, her arms crossed over her chest and one of her more frequent men standing at her side. The hatred in her glare struck me to the core.

  Catty bitches.

  Cel’s body grew more tense behind me as I felt him take a step back and give me more room to move.

  “I always knew you were in love with Hawkins,” she spat at Cel, who growled behind me. “But using poor, pathetic Kaia as a means to an end just to have him is desperate, even for you Castelo.” My body strung tight with her next words. “What, did Vali ask you to keep an eye on her since she can’t function on her own? Then you saw it as the perfect opportunity to seduce her? Zeevar knows she’s never found a dick she didn’t want.”

  Emerson’s eyes came to me from across the room, and he gave a shake of his head. I remembered his words not to be mad at Cel, and it finally clicked about what I should be mad at.

  He had been keeping an eye on me for Vali.

  It shouldn’t have hurt.

  But it did.

  “Little one, that’s not what this is,” Cel whispered, and I nodded my head as though I believed him.

  “Okay, Cel.” I noticed he didn’t deny anything directly.

  “She’s a sure thing. Never says no to a good lay,” Wella snickered, knowing she’d hit a weak spot in my armor but incorrectly guessing what it was.

  “I’ve had offers, Wella. I just don’t broadcast them all, and I stick to my men. I’ve no need to advertise my escapades across the school to convince myself I have worth,” I spat at her.

  “I do not - ”

  “And Vali asked Cel to look out for me. Am I supposed to see that as a bad thing?” Yes. “He cares enough to make sure I’m safe in his absence. Of all the guys you’ve fucked who’ve moved on from InkHaven, how many have ever bothered to check on you?”

  “Fuck you, Kaia,” she snarled.

  “Not open to that, darling. Hell, even the one standing beside you could care less that I’m insulting you. All he cares about is getting his dick wet. You’re replaceable, even though female Airs are rare, and you’re always going to be unless you fix your shitty attitude.”

  Emerson arrived and stood by my side, taking my hand in solidarity, silent but glaring daggers at the woman I was facing off with.

  “Is that your way of telling me you can take my men from me?” She stuck her nose in the air, but I could hear the fear in her words, see it in the slight tremor in her lips.

  “No, Wella. I’m not interested in your sloppy seconds. No offense.” I gave her companion a fake smile. He just smirked back at me with a raised eyebrow in response.

  “Then you shouldn’t fuck Alec Gaius and Ronan, since I’ve had both of them,” she said the words with an arrogant smile, intending to land a blow.

  I huffed a laugh at her. “So has half the school. You weren’t special, and as soon as they were done with you they went on to their next conquest. I doubt they even came back for seconds. Too smart for that.” Her face paled at my words, and I pressed my body back into Cel, feeling some of the tension leave him.

  “Let’s go.” Shoving my sword into my back holster, I took his hand with the one not claimed by Emerson, and guided them both out t
hrough the foyer and up the stairs.

  “Kaia - ” Cel started.

  “You should have told me. I wouldn’t have been angry if I’d known the entire time. But you should have told me,” I whispered, and Emerson tightened his grip on my hand.

  “I should have,” he agreed. “But it isn’t as nefarious as she made it seem. It isn’t like I don’t enjoy being around you.”

  “Are you in love with Emerson?” I asked abruptly, and his eyes widened even as Emerson’s hand in mind tightened.

  “I’m not stupid, you know? I see the way you look at each other. I don’t want any of my men to want something and think they can’t have it.”

  I turned to Emerson, thinking about the fact that I hadn’t touched him for some time. If I chased him away, made him feel unsatisfied would he leave? I took a deep breath and decided to be brave. “Do you still want Cel?” Neither man spoke, but the way they looked at each other spoke volumes. I nodded abruptly. “No more secrets. If you want to have any prayer of the rest of the guys allowing this, then you need to be completely honest with me and with each other from now on.” I released their hands, striding up the stairs and leaving them in my wake.

  When I was about halfway up, I turned around to stare down at them. They both still stood there, not moving. “You two figure out exactly what you want, how we’re going to do it and let me know where me and the others fit in.”

  ✽✽✽

  Why was it that days sped by when I didn’t want them to? Because they did. I stood along with the rest of my class plus all the Fourth Year Ink students and Fifth Years from both tracks in the ballroom. The last time I’d been there, I’d been with Alec Gaius and Ronan, and we’d thought I was going to die during my first individual trial from last year.

  I survived, sure. Didn’t negate the fact that I was still petrified. The door swung open and all the Docents poured in along with the Headmaster and six gentlemen I didn’t recognize. Three of them wore Air Mage uniforms and the other three wore Ink Mage ones.

  Headmaster Stewart took center stage and turned to address us. “Good morning, Fourth Years, and welcome to the Choosing Ceremony. Today, we are joined by Mages Owens, Whitehouse, Hammonds, Hollis, Lloyd and Michaelson. Ink Mages Owens, Whitehouse and Hammonds are the Heads or Deputy Heads of the three different Ink sects while Air Mages Hollis, Lloyd and Michaelson are the Heads or Deputy Heads of the three different Air sects. They are here to witness those who will join the different sects they represent. Mendez,” he addressed a tall, lanky man I hadn’t noticed entered the room behind them. He looked oddly familiar as he walked up with a tall box that he laid next to a stand placed center stage. He pulled a familiar jar from it, sending cold shivers down my spine. No one had explained to me what happened in the Choosing Ceremony, but I understood after seeing the jar.

  Anyone who knew my history would have been wary telling me.

  It involved that fucking jar.

  And I didn’t have such a good history with jars.

  Once the jar of nightmares was set on the pedestal, he stepped beside it and the Headmaster continued, “One by one, as your name is called, you will step up and declare your choice. Once you are within the circle of the jar, no one can hear you. Mr. Mendez will, after the jar has made its choice, announce which sect you are part of. I am sure this will be no problem to all of you who were tested by the Zeevar jar.” He threw me a nasty grin that had me swallowing nervously.

  “Docent Ho,” he called out. Docent Ho stepped forward holding a piece of parchment.

  “As the Headmaster said, please step forward when I call your name. First we have Mr. Anderson.”

  Justin Anderson swaggered towards the stage and stood in front of the jar. He held out his hand where he carried a thin-bladed axe with a pointed end. A red light surrounded him, seeming to pulse with life before winking out.

  Mendez walked forward to peer at the axe handle. He announced, “Security.”

  Docent Ho shook his hand as he passed, as did one of the Mages - the one introduced as Michaelson, who must have been from the Security sect. I rolled my eyes - well, he looked intimidating enough anyway. Not that intimidation was the most important thing, of course.

  Docent Ho called the next name, “Berkshire.”

  He walked up with a thin rope wound around his waist. When he reached the stage, he unwound it and revealed a metal spike at each end. He held that part of his weapon and the same thing happened as it had with Justin.

  He stood in the sphere longer though, and I wondered if he or the jar were having a hard time determining where he was meant to go.

  Finally, the light abated and Mendez stepped forward and peered down. “Protector.”

  This time, along with Docent Ho, the Mage named Lloyd stepped up to congratulate Warren Berkshire. I nodded at the choice - after our training session in class, I could see him making a good Protector.

  The time ticked by as Docent Ho called the others. Mendel went next, and he joined Justin in Security then Dunn, Ferguson, and Kline all chose the Assassin sect when their turns came.

  As the choosing ceremony progressed, I kept wondering why it was that Mendez looked at their Conduit before announcing which sect someone would be part of.

  “Ramos,” Docent Ho called, and Pia stood up, swaying her hips as she walked up to the jar. She held one dart, by the tip, in between two fingers, over the opening.

  Hers went by quickly and before long she was announced as an Assassin, and the Air Mage named Hollis was shaking her hand. I looked around and noted that it was finally my turn as Docent Ho called, “Shaw.”

  I stood from my seat, trembling a little. As I walked down the aisle, I heard Otto whisper, “good luck,” and I turned around to see him smile at me sadly.

  He was thinking of Lottie, as I was desperately trying not to do. She’d have been a protector. I was sure of it, and that was something I would never see her be.

  When I walked up, I realized that Mendez was the same man who’d been there on my failed attempt to test with the Zeevar jar from the previous year. I gave him an awkward smile, which he only answered supportively.

  “Please hold out your hand with Conduit over the jar. Speak your preference, and it will do the rest.”

  My eyes darted towards Gale, who sat in a row with other InkHaven Docents. They’d clapped every time someone finished their ritual. I’d avoided his gaze, because I knew he worried about me. Knowing how the choosing ceremony was done, I knew he had probably been wrestling with the knowledge of how I’d react to it.

  When he looked at me, I saw the love, the concern, the confidence. I shot him a smile; I didn’t blame him. I just wanted him to know that I loved him. That I loved him and didn’t blame him.

  I drew my curved sword from its holster even as my whip seemed to tighten around my arm. I held it in front of the jar and felt a warmth emanate from the opening before I was engulfed in what felt like a warm wall of red.

  I stared down at the opening, at my hand as I stretched it over the top.

  The words Gale had told me once before rang in my head, “you’d make a good Assassin.”

  Should I be like Blythe? Be an Assassin so I could ensure that rebirths were smooth and peaceful.

  Or should I be a Protector to honor Lottie?

  I could also join Security and rock. Rock like Docent Ho rocked. Her passion was infectious, and she was a tiny woman who had a big presence.

  I looked back down and whispered my choice to the jar. I felt the light swirl around me and an almost unbearable heat on my hand where I held my sword. Then the light faded and Mendez appeared next to me with a big smile.

  He bent down to look at my sword, and that was when I saw it. On the hilt was an etching - two swords crossed to form an X and surrounded by swirls.

  “Security,” Mendez announced and everyone around me clapped. Air Mage Michaelson shook my hand. “Welcome to the Security sect, Miss Shaw. We are happy to have you.”

  “Thank
you, sir.”

  “Miss Shaw. Not that I’m playing favorites, but I’m happy you’ve decided to join my sect,” Docent Ho murmured as she shook my hand.

  “I did because of you, Docent Ho.” I smiled at her, and she squeezed my hand momentarily before letting go. She shot me a wink.

  I shot Gale a smile, but was stopped by the Headmaster who said, “Congratulations, Miss Shaw. It appears your time with the jar did not end in failure this time.”

  I tensed up and clenched my jaw as I walked back to my seat. He sure knew how to make a girl feel special.

  The fuckface.

  ✽✽✽

  I wore the most obnoxiously bright dress from my clothes. It was one Lottie had picked for me that day we’d gone shopping. Of course.

  Since I hadn’t wanted to go to the stupid party anyway, I was determined to make it as uncomfortable for Emerson and Marisole as both seemed set on me going.

  The dress was short and clung to every bit of curve in my body. That was sure to make Emerson edgy, and the bright colors would blind the black-loving Mar.

  They deserved it, the pricks.

  I teetered on precariously tall heels towards the room where Mar said the party would be held. It wasn’t much of a risk, because a shit ton of students were milling about or on their way to the party as well. I wasn’t really alone alone.

  And I tended to only hurt myself when I was truly alone.

  “Kaia! There you are,” a voice huffed out from about two feet to my left and I turned towards it carefully just as Mar came to an abrupt halt in front of me.

  “What in Zeevar’s good graces are you wearing, Kaia Wren Shaw?”

  I laughed at the reaction. “A dress, Marisole Chesson. Don’t you like it?”

  She scrunched up her nose. “It’s horrendous.”

  I ran a hand down the bright, glittery fabric. “Now, Mar. Horrendous might be too harsh. I won’t deny that it is a bit garish but it has a certain appeal to it.”