INTEGRATION (Bonfire Academy Book Two) (Bonfire Chronicles)

by Imogen Rose

  “You said you met Audrey and Viola at McKenzie’s house?”

  “Yes. Mac invited me over for lunch last week. I went over with Octavia.”

  “I wonder how they know each other?”

  “They didn’t say, and I didn’t ask, even though I was dying to. That school rule really sucks. But they did talk a lot about London, so I guess they know each other from there. I wasn’t paying a lot of attention to their chatter, though. Harrison kept me busy with his stories. I love that little boy.”

  I was surprised McKenzie had allowed Harrison to be around the twins. The smell of his human blood must have driven them insane with desire. She must trust them, or maybe she just trusted that she could keep them in line. “Yeah, he’s a little cutie. I guess he’ll be starting preschool soon.”

  “Yes. He couldn’t stop talking about it. He wants me to come and visit his classroom.”

  “Can’t see any reason why not. Sounds like it might be fun for you. Come to think of it, maybe we should look into some lessons for you at the human school, just so you can have contact with other humans.”

  “Quinn already asked The Smelt. She said no.”

  “He did?” I was surprised. I knew that Faustine and Quinn were close, but I hadn’t realized just how chummy.

  “Yes, he had the same suggestion when I told him that I missed human company. Anyhow, The Smelt’s just being a stickler with the rules. I’m supposed to concentrate on exploring only my demon part while I’m here, and she feels human interaction will interfere with that. Plus she still thinks I don’t have enough control of my powers to be trusted around humans.”

  “And you don’t agree?”

  She raised her shoulders. “Don’t you?”

  I considered the question. She seemed to have taken control of her transformation into a demon and to be able to perform at will. “You’ve come a long way, but we haven’t finished with your Initiation process, yet. You may have powers that you’re still unaware of. It’s probably best not to risk any of those popping up at a human school for the first time. That’s probably why The Smelt said no.”

  “Eh, I don’t think I have any other powers.” Then she paused and looked down. “Apart from being able to disappear. I still don’t have a clue how I do that, but it doesn’t hurt anybody.”

  “All the same, it’d look pretty suspicious if you did it in public.” She’d have to learn about her guardian Wanderer sometime, but it wasn’t up to me. Either way, until we got a handle on the whole situation, it was probably best not to have her mingle with the humans, apart from Harrison. He’d be used to all sorts of strange stuff with both his parents being vamps and his mom hanging out with the rest of us. I wondered how McKenzie would make sure that he didn’t talk about it at school.

  “I guess,” Faustine agreed. “Anyhow, the next best things are the vamps, and I kind of like Viola and Audrey. They’re into clothes and stuff. Didn’t you think it was cool what they’d done to their uniforms?”

  “Yes, I did like that. What else do you know about them?”

  “Nothing much really. They talked a bit about their time in Japan, which sounded really interesting. I want to travel there one day. But what I really want to know is more about their life in London, and how they were turned.”

  “And you said that Octavia took you over to McKenzie’s house?” I nearly hurled when I spoke the name Octavia. Images of her with Jagger enraged me to the point that I could barely keep pus from seeping out my skin. “How did that come about?”

  “I don’t know. Quinn arranged it.”

  I really needed to get a full report from Quinn. I seemed to have missed out on a lot during my week in Paris.

  All thoughts of Quinn were dispelled when I picked up Jagger’s heartbeat. It was as if he’d heard me thinking about Quinn. He was getting closer, and I made it to the door and opened just in time for him to appear outside it.

  “Cordelia,” he said, his rakish smile sending a shiver down my spine. “I stopped by to see if Faustine wants to come skiing. And perhaps you’d like to as well?”

  “I’d love to!” Faustine said enthusiastically, jumping up to look over my shoulder. “That was so much fun last week. Can we go back up to the same drop?”

  “That’s why I’m here.” Jagger laughed. “I was pretty sure that you’d be upset if I went without you.”

  “Yes, I would! That was the best session ever.”

  I could only imagine what the drop was like if the little daredevil was into it. I preferred gentle skiing. “Sounds like I’d hold you back—”

  “No, not at all, we’ll take it at your pace,” Jagger assured me. Faustine pursed her lips.

  I chuckled. “I’m sure, and thanks. But you’ll have much more fun without me to hold you both back. So, go. I have something else I need to do anyway.”

  I needed to have a chat with Quinn. It was time to let him go. And I needed time to think of how I was going to handle it. Tomorrow, after my first session with Faustine, I would break it off with him. I had to.

  The next day, Quinn went MIA, and no one seemed to know exactly where he’d disappeared. Faustine was the first to notice his absence.

  I had left her sleeping in my room and gone down to the dOME lab to help Henri set up for Faustine’s first test session. Quinn was scheduled to escort her to the lab.

  “Did Quinn drop you off outside?” I asked, when she came walking into the lab by herself.

  “No, he was a no-show.”

  “A no-show?” That didn’t sound like Quinn. “Did you try calling him?”

  “Yeah, he didn’t answer.”

  “That’s odd. I’ll check in with him after we’re done here. So, who brought you over? Jagger?”

  “No, I came over by myself.”

  I gave her a stern look. “You can’t be doing that. If something like that ever happens again, call me. Okay?”

  “If you insist,” she said grudgingly.

  “I do. I worry about you with Mason on the loose.”

  “I know, and I promise to behave.” She smiled. “Nice lab!” She twirled around, the reflections from the crystal walls playing off her shimmery hair.

  Henri walked up the steps from the test chamber, where he’d been preparing for Faustine, while I was to calibrate the computer with the data from Faustine’s previous Initiation sessions.

  He nodded at Faustine. “Ready?”

  “Yeah, I think so. This is really different from the old lab, very nice.”

  Though it was really nice and very high-tech, even the new lab wouldn’t contain Faustine if Ryker interfered.

  As soon as Henri and Faustine were under the chamber and out of earshot, I whispered, “Ryk?” I immediately felt his breath warming my earlobe. “Ryk, can you make sure not to wander her off today?”

  His whisper was barely audible, just a note in the air, but I was pleased to get his cooperation. “And, Ryk, thanks for bringing her over safely. I’ll catch up with you later,” I said under my breath, spying Henri’s head emerge from the steps.

  Henri plonked himself down next to me and stared at the computer screen. I looked over at the chamber; Faustine was all set, sitting in the armchair with all the probes attached.

  “Okay, we have her baselines already. You did a great job entering all the data,” he said, pointing at the column of numbers, which I hoped would eventually make sense to me. “So, let’s jump right into it and stimulate her to transform. And keep our fingers crossed that the chamber contains her.”

  Well, that was up to Ryker. He was fiercely protective of Faustine, having not only synched with her but also been assigned as her Wanderer. Any sign of trouble and his natural instinct was to whisk her away to safety. However, I had managed to get him to see how important it was to let her explore her powers in a safe environment, so he hadn’t interfered in our latest sessions with her. The result was that she had learned to control her transformation somewhat, but she still needed a lot of work. Plus, we needed
to find out if she had any other powers.

  Henri nudged me. “Still with me, Cordelia?”

  “Yes. Sorry.” I really had to get a handle on my daydreaming.

  “Have you chosen a stimulus?”

  “Yes. Not the spider this time because she is probably expecting it. We did use it a lot last year.”

  He nodded, and then spoke into the mic. “Faustine, are you ready?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Can she see us?” I asked.

  Henri shook his head and then spoke to Faustine again. “Relax, close your eyes, and count down from twenty.”

  She slumped back in the chair, crossing her legs in front of her, totally relaxed. Then she started counting down and fell asleep, as Faustine always did at the sessions. While she snoozed, I tried calling Quinn, but his phone went straight to voicemail. I left a message and then called Jagger.

  “Cordelia?”

  “Yes, are you busy?”

  “I’m with Mason.”

  That at least meant that Quinn hadn’t been attacked by the annoying bird.

  “He isn’t supposed to be at a test session, is he?”

  “No, that’s not why I’m calling you.”

  His voice suddenly turned husky. “Then why?”

  “Have you seen Quinn this morning?”

  The warmth in his tone disappeared all together. “No. Why would you ask me that? I don’t tend to hang out with Quinn.”

  “It’s just that he didn’t turn up to bring Faustine down to the dOME lab this morning, so I’m a bit concerned.”

  “I see. That is unusual. I’m guessing you already tried calling him. He probably just got held up somewhere.”

  “Maybe, but he’d have called or at least made arrangements for someone else to accompany Faustine.”

  “He didn’t? She didn’t go there on her own, did she?” Jagger sounded frustrated.

  I put his mind at rest, telling him that Ryker was here.

  “Well, I haven’t seen him,” Jagger responded. “I’ll let him know you’re looking for him if I run—”

  “Jagger!”

  “Oh, okay! I’ll stop by his room. Happy?”

  “Yes, thanks. Gotta go. Faustine’s ready to be tested.”

  “Everything okay?” Henri inquired.

  “Yes.”

  He eyed me curiously. “If you’re sure and ready to concentrate on the task at hand.”

  “I am,” I reassured him.

  Faustine was in a semi-sleep state, perfect for the simulations. I clicked on the monitor, bringing up the first of two scenes I had chosen for the session. The first one was neutral, just to get her back into the swing of things, and the second was stimulatory.

  The first was a static image of her bedroom at home. I looked at the image in envy. My own bedroom at home was pretty rad, one most Parisian teens would covet. Faustine’s was incredible: a suite, with everything anyone could ever want, decorated impeccably in the latest hi-tech gadgets, collectible Renaissance furniture, and fine silks.

  I looked over at Faustine, who was grinning happily. She suddenly pouted and flicked her hair, then reached for something and waved her finger around her lips. I looked over at the image on the monitor and guessed that she must think she was sitting on the pink upholstered stool by her makeup table. Glancing over at her again, I nearly giggled at the faces she was making—at herself in the mirror, no doubt. She picked something up and seemed to be combing her hair. Then she stood and straightened out the skirt of her dress. She picked something up off the floor, turned around, and made for the wall of the chamber. She extended her arm and turned her hand.

  I looked over at the monitor. Oh. She was at the door to her room, obviously ready to head out somewhere after having preened.

  “Shall we abort?” I asked Henri, noticing that Faustine was getting more and more frustrated with her vision of the door, which was obviously not going to open. Her knuckles were starting to bleed from the pressure with which she was rubbing them on the glass.

  “No,” Henri said. “I assume she’ll change to her demon form, and that’s the whole point, even if it comes from a visual you weren’t expecting to cause a transformation.”

  But she didn’t transform. Instead, she maintained her human form and exhibited a totally human reaction to the stuck door, except she wasn’t aware that her innate demon strength was making her hand push against the glass so hard that her knuckles were bleeding.

  I could actually see bare bones sticking out through her skin. I had to stop her. I yelled at Henri, “Henri, I insist. Abort. She’s not transforming and look at her hand!” There was no reply. Henri had already rushed off to the chamber.

  I glanced back at Faustine again, hoping that Henri would get to her before she totally messed herself up. She was gone.

  I couldn’t really blame Ryker. He had promised not to interfere as long as she didn’t come to harm. Those knuckles looked as though they would need serious medical attention. I wasn’t surprised he’d whisked her away. The person I was annoyed with was Henri. This would totally mess the results up in so many ways. First, he’d now assume that this chamber wasn’t as impenetrable as it actually was. He’d assume that Faustine could magic her way out of the chamber without even transforming—attributing it to an unknown power.

  I knew exactly what had happened, but couldn’t share it. I had promised Ryker I wouldn’t tell anyone. If only Henri could work it out for himself, but there was no reason for him to think that Faustine had a guardian Wanderer. I bet he’d never even heard of such a phenomenon.

  Henri walked back and slumped down in his chair. He waved his arms around. “Well, this proved to be a total waste of money. Not only didn’t it prevent Faustine from disappearing, but the safety failed. I was completely unable to bring her back once she got worked up. Jeez, I just hope she’s okay.” A trail of sweat trickled down his face. He got up and paced. “Professor Bern is going to be very disappointed. Anyhow, let’s go and find Faustine. Any ideas where she might have disappeared to?”

  “Yes. I’m pretty sure she’ll be in her bed in my room. I’ll go over and check. I’ll call you.”

  I was back in my room minutes later and found Faustine snoozing happily. Ryker sat beside her, wrapping her hand with a bandage.

  He looked up at me, anger pouring from his eyes. “What the fuck, Cordelia? Why didn’t you stop the test? Letting her do this kind of injury to herself in her human form is inexcusable. I trusted you.” He held up her bandaged hand.

  “Henri couldn’t get her out of her state; he’s really upset about it. We should probably let a doctor have a look at that hand. She won’t heal well in her human form.”

  “I already had a medic look at it. I took her to my mom’s doctor.”

  “Eh? In London? How did you manage to do that so fast?”

  “Took her back in time,” he said matter-of-factly.

  “Of course. So her hand will be okay?”

  “She’ll need surgery, some reconstructive work as well. Her bones are broken.”

  “You didn’t get that done?”

  “No, I just got them to do the basics. The doctor said that the surgeon here could cope with the rest.” He turned back to Faustine and felt her brow, brushing her hair off her face with his fingers and tucking the loose strands behind her ears.

  “Ryker, is this the first time you’ve rescued her before she transformed?”

  “No. Remember? I did the same when she was attacked in the hallway.”

  “Yes, but she was unconscious when you took her. I wonder if she’ll remember you taking her this time?”

  “I doubt it. She was still in the alternative consciousness that you’d put her into for the test.”

  Faustine’s eyes flickered, and she cried out in pain.

  “Cordelia, give her this.” Ryker held up a couple of white pills. “Painkillers. I better make myself invisible. I’ll be watching, but take care of her.”

  I nodded as Ryker be
nt over Faustine and kissed her forehead before fading from sight. His tender gesture almost brought tears to my eyes. He really loved and cared for her. Like Quinn did me.

  Faustine cried out again. She opened her eyes and focused on me. “Cordelia, what happened? My hand is on fire.”

  “Here, swallow this.” I slipped the pills Ryker had given me into her mouth. “They’ll dissolve if you hold them on your tongue for a couple of seconds. They’ll probably make you fall asleep.”

  She nodded.

  “It may take a while to work. You’ll heal better if you transform.”

  She closed her eyes and scrunched up her face. Then she opened her eyes again, despair flooding from them, and shook her head. “I can’t! I tried. I just can’t.”

  That sucked. She just wasn’t trained well enough yet to harness it at will. She was almost there and could do it when she was in control of herself. The pain must have been interfering. I watched her writhe around in pain, feeling utterly helpless. Ryker must be beside himself seeing her in this state. I had to do something—even if I totally hated doing what I was about to do. I called Octavia. I had no idea if her blood would heal Faustine as it had Jagger. The visual almost made me puke.

  “Cordelia?” Octavia’s voice was higher than usual.

  I bet she was shocked to hear from me. It had to be a cold day in hell for me to have called her after what she had done with Jagger. I decided to keep it short and formal. “I need you to come to my room. Faustine is injured. We need your blood.”

  “On my way.”

  I walked over to Faustine’s bed; she was out cold. I perched next to her, rubbing her forehead. I noticed that the bandage around her hand was seeping blood and wondered if it had been a good idea for Ryker to have time travelled all over the place with her in this wounded state.

  Ryker appeared by my side, his forehead beaded in pearls of sweat. He looked at Faustine and shook his head, despair written all over his face. “Jeez, Cordelia. This is awful. What can I do?”

  “Nothing. Octavia is on her way. You should make yourself scarce, but stick around in case I need you.”

  “Like I’d leave,” he muttered and faded away.