INTEGRATION (Bonfire Academy Book Two) (Bonfire Chronicles)

by Imogen Rose

  “This will be a year of intense training, a year that will most probably run into two or three for some of you, especially those who are still working on some of the Initiation processes.”

  I saw Faustine wince. Yes, she still had a lot of work to do to get her powers under control.

  Frau Schmelder continued, “Because Integration is mostly work with very little free time, we do offer a final Enrichment year here at the Academy, for those interested in staying longer to work on your special skills. Although not compulsory, we highly recommend it, because those specialized skills can take you places you may not otherwise have considered going. Just something to think about.”

  She glanced over her shoulder, waving at me and the rest of the beings seated behind her. “I don’t need to introduce the staff; you should know who most of them are. I’ll just point out a few of our new additions. First, Cordelia.” She pointed at me, and I smiled at the audience. “Cordelia is Professor Bern’s apprentice. She’ll work with those of you still honing your paranormal powers. Next, we have Delam. He’ll work at the infirmary with Dr. Marks. Let’s hope you don’t have to run into him too often.” She smiled as laughter filled the auditorium. “Finally,” she said, raising her voice to silence the crowd, “we have another two familiar faces, Octavia and McKenzie. Octavia, as you know, was one of our student legal representatives last year. She is now one of the Academy’s legal advisors, and McKenzie will assist her. Let’s hope that none of you will need their services, either.

  “We do have additional new staff for our various sports and extracurricular activities. You’ll meet them later, if you sign up for any of those. You have each been assigned a staff supervisor. Go and meet with them at your scheduled times. I shall see you back here at our next meeting in two months. That’s all for now.” She nodded and walked off the stage in her usual abrupt manner. I rose and followed, along with the rest of her staff.

  Jagger hadn’t been on stage with us, so I wondered where he was. He’d come to my rescue, so he must have been able to see, or at least feel, me transform. I wondered what his role at the Academy would be this year. Probably something to do with the ski department. I felt an urgent need to see him, to be near him. However, getting together with Jagger would have to wait. I had a meeting with Professor Bern. And I was excited to find out more about my new job.

  “Walk with me, Cordelia. Let’s head over to the labs and have our chat over there,” Professor Bern said as soon as we came off the stage. “Did you have a nice week off? Where did you go? You look very chic, by the way.”

  “Thank you.” I looked down at my charcoal pantsuit. “I picked this up in Paris, shopping with my mother. I spent the week there, catching up with family and friends. It was fun, but I’m glad to be back.”

  “Did you resolve your issue?” she asked with a glint in her eye.

  “Issue?”

  “The boyfriends. Did you make a choice? Not that there is much of a choice to be made.”

  I stopped and gaped at her in shock. How on earth could she know about Jagger and Quinn? No one but Jagger and I did. Could Jagger have told her?

  She shook her head. “No, no one told me. I’m guessing that’s what you’re thinking by the look on your face. I’ve been watching you. I had to when considering you for this position. And to be frank, speculating that you may have synched with Jagger almost changed my mind about hiring you. That and the fact that you’re still stringing along that other poor boy.” She sighed.

  “I’m not exactly stringing him along,” I said defensively, upset that she was delving into my private life. “It’s not really your business anyway.” I started walking down the corridor again.

  I saw her pursing her lips, obviously taken aback by my insolence. I decided I had better watch myself. She was not to be messed with; her witchy powers could turn me into a toad in an instant. I’d bet a powerful witch like her didn’t even need to even mutter a spell to magic that. She could probably just breathe it out, not giving me any time to react.

  She sniffed, catching up with me. “It is my concern if your personal life starts interfering with your work.”

  I lowered my eyes in deference and said in my sincerest voice, “It won’t. I won’t let it. How do you know Jagger and I synched?”

  “I didn’t know for sure until just now when you admitted it. It was just a guess from watching your interactions with him, especially last night, and then again just now at the meeting. It’s fascinating—a demon synching with a faery. I don’t think I’ve seen that before. Have you told anyone?”

  “No.” How did she know about what happened at the meeting? Jagger hadn’t even been there.

  “Good. Make sure the next person you tell is Quinn. He ought to know so he can move on. And it’s not like it’s your fault. Quinn won’t be angry with you. Just disappointed.”

  “Maybe. I don’t know. I’m conflicted.”

  Professor Bern grabbed my arm and pulled me back. We stopped walking and she faced me, her eyes boring into mine. She cocked her head. “Conflicted? If you’ve synched with Jagger, there’s nothing to be conflicted about. Surely you know that?”

  “I do!” I threw my hands up in the air. “It’s not that simple, though. Sure, we’re bound. But I still have free will, the ability to choose.”

  She shook her head. “Technically, maybe. I guess you could choose to ignore your synched partner. But why would you? Are you telling me that your feelings for Quinn overpower your basic natural urge for Jagger?” She bent her neck forward and blinked at me.

  I frowned. “I don’t know. I need some time to figure it all out. I’ve known Quinn for a long time, and I’m not just going to dump him because of some paranormal biological phenomenon. That’s what it is, right?”

  “Yes. But it’s not just some paranormal biological phenomenon. I suggest you do what you have to do to resolve it. I won’t interfere as long as it doesn’t affect your work.” She yanked open the door to the hallway and ushered me through with a slight push. She was clearly pissed off at me.

  I guessed she’d assumed I was issue-free when she invited me to apprentice. I could understand her frustration. I knew that the only reason she’d invited me back was because I had mentored Faustine during Initiation and been very involved in the initiation process, which was far from complete. Professor Bern wanted me there for the rest of it. She needed my full attention; any distractions on my part were unacceptable. I shoved all thoughts of Jagger and Quinn out of my mind as we walked through a second door into Lab dOME. That was what the metal sign on the door said, anyway. This was a brand new addition to the lab complex.

  As somewhat expected from the name, Lab dOME was dome shaped, a bit like a mini planetarium. I looked up in awe, mesmerized by the lights playing off into every which direction, bouncing off the solid crystal walls that enclosed the entire area. I spun around, the cavernous space totally blowing my mind.

  “Amazing, isn’t it?” Professor Bern asked, sounding very pleased. “This is where you will be spending most of your time.”

  I turned around, slowly this time, and looked around the room again, taking it all in. In the center of the dome was another, smaller dome—a glass one. The new containment chamber suite was an amazing upgrade on the makeshift one in the basement that we’d used last year. Fit for a princess, especially for Princess Faustine. “Is this a gift from King Sebastian, Faustine’s father?” I couldn’t help but ask.

  “Actually, no. Mason Darley’s father donated the funds used to build this.”

  I stared at her, rubbing my chin. “Mason’s father? Why would he donate money for this?”

  “During Mason’s Initiation sessions at Boone Academy, it was determined that a containment chamber was needed to explore his powers.”

  “Why? He disappears?”

  “They wouldn’t tell me—confidentiality—but I would assume so. Since they didn’t have one, not even a makeshift one like ours, they decided to build one. Their budget
didn’t cover the costs, so they had to look at fundraising options. Boone Academy reached out to Mason’s father to explore the possibility of a donation toward building one at their facility and—”

  “So why is it here?” I interrupted. “I mean, he was sent to Boone Academy to keep him away from this place, from me and Faustine. I bet Faustine’s dad is furious.”

  “I expect you’re angry, and I don’t blame you. I was getting to the ‘Why here?’ before you interrupted me. When Mason’s dad was contacted, he called Frau Schmelder and offered to have the chamber built here in exchange for Mason being readmitted. The Academy trustees didn’t feel that they could turn down the offer. This was a huge investment. Plus he donated money for the new skydiving facility.”

  “I’m pretty sure Faustine’s dad would have forked over the money—”

  “Yes, I’m sure he would have. But the offer was made in confidence. No such unsolicited offer came from anywhere else, so we had to consider the offer on the table. I’m sorry, Cordelia. I realize that it’s not ideal that Mason is—”

  “Ideal?” I spluttered, having a hard time not transforming. I couldn’t get any other words out, so I just glared at her.

  She shook her head. “Stop acting like a baby faery. Look around. This is your lab. Who cares who paid for it? I know that’s not what you’re angry about, anyway. However, more money went into this lab than the entire rest of the school. The walls are made from reinforced crystal. This will take our research to a whole new level. And now, instead of just one specimen, we have two who need this kind of facility. So suck it up and concentrate on the incredible possibilities this offers.” She turned and stomped toward the smaller dome. “Come over here.”

  I followed, swallowing down my fury, trying to concentrate on the architecture of the place. It was amazing, but so what? I wondered if being Professor Bern’s apprentice was really worth the aggro of having Mason back in my life. Not only was he back in my life, he was also back in Faustine’s.

  Even though I wasn’t her mentor anymore, I felt strangely protective toward Faustine. She probably didn’t even need me; her powers would protect her. Plus she had Ryker, her guardian Wanderer. But I felt that I needed to be there for her anyway.

  What was Mason playing at? I had no doubt in my mind that he was behind his dad’s offer. But why? Why did he want to come back to Bonfire Academy?

  Professor Bern stopped abruptly and bent over in front of me, nearly causing me to trip over her. She fiddled with something on the floor, which was made out of slabs of shiny, reflective material. I peeked over her right shoulder, trying to see what she was doing.

  The floor slab in front of her suddenly lit up into a keypad. Professor Bern tapped in a code, and the slabs behind the keypad slid under the glass dome, revealing a metal staircase.

  “Follow me,” Professor Bern muttered impatiently, stepping onto the first stair and making her way down.

  I tread carefully on each step. My feet were longer than the width of the steps, so I walked down diagonally, concentrating on keeping my balance. Fourteen steps later, I breathed a sigh of relief when I placed my foot on the floor. The area made me feel claustrophobic. An armchair in the middle of the floor was the only furniture.

  Professor Bern sat down in it. “You’ll be next, Cordelia, when the chair returns.”

  Before I could ask her what she meant, the ceiling slid open and the chair rose, disappearing through the opening. The ceiling closed for a few seconds, then reopened to let the empty chair slide back down again.

  I walked over and slumped down in it. The chair wasn’t attached to anything; it seemed to levitate by itself. Once I was through the opening, I waited for the chair to stop moving, and then I got up and walked over to where Professor Bern sat on a glass stool. We were inside the containment chamber.

  “Nice,” I said, hoping to break the silence.

  “And hopefully functional,” she added. “We’ve added containment spells, so it should be pretty impenetrable.”

  “Hmm.” Pfft! Not to Wanderers, but she didn’t know that Faustine’s case involved Ryker whisking her away from the chamber. No containment chamber could prevent that, no matter how state-of-the-art fancy. And if Mason were a hybrid Wanderer, the chamber wouldn’t hold him, either. In fact, it would be a total waste of his dad’s money. I wondered if his dad knew that but had gone ahead anyway just to get Mason admitted back into the Academy.

  “’Hmm? What do you mean? You don’t agree?” She tilted her head.

  “No, it’s not that,” I replied hastily. “I just meant that we haven’t had much luck before, with the old chamber. What’s so different about this one, apart from the fact that it’s obviously impressive-looking?”

  “The engineers tell me that the glass is strong enough to withstand an earthquake. It’s both bulletproof and spellproof. I tried casting a spell from outside the chamber, but was unable to,” she declared triumphantly.

  The fact that Professor Bern, one of the most powerful witches in the world, couldn’t cast a spell through the glass was pretty remarkable.

  She smiled. “Impressed, eh?”

  “Yes, I guess I am,” I said. “What about Wanderers? What if Mason is a hybrid?”

  “Yes, I have considered that, regarding both Mason and Faustine. I did rule out that possibility for Faustine, since she has no Wanderer history in her family. Mason is a bit trickier, though. His background is very vague. I did explain to his father that if there was any such history, it would be important to share that with us, especially since he could be wasting his money on this chamber. His father was not forthcoming about the family history, but he paid for the facility, fully warned. So I have to assume that Mason’s not a Wanderer, though I can’t be sure. If the containment chamber works, we’ll be sure that he isn’t. And if it doesn’t…well, the only natural conclusion is that he is. We don’t know of any other way of escaping this chamber. Although Faustine is still an enigma.”

  Yes. But she wasn’t an enigma. Not to me. Faustine could not be contained, but that was because of a Wanderer—Ryker. Ryker, who happened to be Mason’s adoptive brother. Was it possible that Ryker had sprung Mason out of the chamber at Boone Academy? I’d have to find out. Professor Bern didn’t seem to have considered the possibility that someone else would help her students escape the chamber. Why would she? “What do you need me to do?” I asked.

  “Well, you will continue to be involved with Faustine’s training. We’ve only just begun to gain insight into her powers; she has a lot of work to do before she can fully immerse herself into the Integration process. However, I have another project for you.” She shifted, looking very uncomfortable.

  “What?”

  She cast a glance over my shoulder, blinking nervously at me.

  I turned around, and through the thick glass of the containment chamber, the beady eyes of an eagle glared back at me. I shuddered.

  WTF? Mason? What the heck was he doing there? Sure, he was going to use the chamber, but not with me around! I was relieved that I was on the other side of the chamber when he suddenly pecked at the glass with his enormous beak, making me jump a little. Stupid bird.

  I turned around and glared at Professor Bern.

  “That’s your other project,” she said, her tone deadly serious, her face set in a cold mask.

  I swallowed hard. She had to be kidding. I wanted to yell and scream, but her deadpan expression had me silenced.

  “I won’t tolerate any insolence. Let me make it quite clear that any insubordinate behavior will be punished. Severely. You are my apprentice. This is your project. You will carry out your work to the best of your ability and report your results to me. Henri will supervise you. He is one of my most experienced and trusted assistants and was present at Faustine’s sessions.

  “It’s not what you were expecting, I know. However, as we have discussed, Mason needs the containment chamber, so it only makes sense that you oversee his process as well.” Profe
ssor Bern threw Mason a death glare, and he immediately transformed into his human form.

  Not that he was any more palatable in his human form. In fact, I almost preferred the bird version. He tried to lock me in his stare, but I made sure not to look at his face. I turned to Professor Bern instead.

  “Are you ready to talk to him?” she asked sharply, snapping me back to reality.

  I nodded, feeling numb.

  “Wonderful. Remember, he’s just an Integrate, one that still has a lot of work to do on exploring and developing his powers, much the same as Faustine. Neither of them was able to get as much done as they should have during their Initiation year. So they have a lot of catching up to do, while they also take part in the Integration sessions, which I expect you to get involved with as well. However, we can discuss that later.”

  Professor Bern walked over to the armchair, sat down, and was transported back to the basement. Once the chair reappeared, I did the same. She was waiting for me downstairs, and I followed her up into the main dome.

  “Mason, please have a seat,” she said, waving at a group of metal chairs around a glass table.

  I hadn’t noticed Henri walk in, but he was already seated, and he smiled as we walked over. I waited for Mason to sit, and then chose the seat farthest from him.

  “Mason, welcome back to Bonfire Academy. Have you had your meeting with Frau Schmelder?” Professor Bern asked.

  “I have.”

  His voice sent a lightning flash of anger right through me. I closed my eyes momentarily to try to dampen it.

  Professor Bern nodded. “Good. So you’re aware that you’re on probation.” She narrowed her eyes into dangerous slits and hissed, “Do not try anything with me or my staff. Understand?”

  He returned her gaze with no hint of fear, just a smug turn of his lips. “Yes, ma’am.”