INTEGRATION (Bonfire Academy Book Two) (Bonfire Chronicles)

by Imogen Rose

  “Oh, that smells divine. Thank you.”

  “Eat. I’m going to go and clean up. I’m assuming you don’t want any polite dinner conversation?”

  I scrunched up my nose.

  “Right.”

  Once he disappeared back into the kitchen, I carefully scraped the mushrooms off the meat and dove in. When I finished eating, I leaned back in my chair and yawned. I was worn out despite the meal I’d just devoured. I needed to give it a bit of time to seep into my system. In the meantime, I was happy just sitting.

  Jagger walked back into the room. “What’s bothering you most? The fact that Quinn didn’t tell you where he was going or that you can’t find a way of contacting him?”

  “To be honest, at the moment, I’m mostly weirded out by The Smelt.”

  “The Smelt? Why?”

  “Like I told you, I can’t place that scent I picked up in her office. It was so faint. Plus, she acted all weird. I can’t put my finger on it, but it was all just too strange. I’ve never seen her like that before. I mean, although I’ve seen her stern and brusque, she’s never distant. That’s what she was—distant. Have you ever known her to be like that?”

  “No, can’t say I have. Could you have caught her at an awkward moment?”

  “I don’t think so. She was just looking through a pile of paper on her desk when I got there. She seemed to blank when I mentioned Quinn. There was like no recognition of the name, like she didn’t know him at all.” I shook my head, then had a thought. “It was like she was…possessed.”

  Mrs. Stone called me three days later. “Cordelia, did you still want that chat with Frau Schmelder?”

  “Yes, I’ve been waiting for you to call,” I said a bit snippily. “Why the long wait? Have you heard from Quinn, yet?”

  “Ah, my apologies, I should have called you before. She got called away and just got back this morning. And no, I haven’t had any news from Quinn. I assume you haven’t either?”

  “No. What’s Frau Schmelder’s mood like?” I asked, the memory of her death glares causing my skin to break out in goose bumps.

  “Back to normal. I have no idea what that was all about. The few days away got her back to her normal self, thank goodness. Anyhow, I mentioned that you needed to talk to her, and she said to come along whenever. She has some catch-up work to do, so she’ll be in her office all day.”

  “Great, I’ll come by later. I have to take Faustine to an Integration class first.” I immediately decided to ask Faustine to come with me to The Smelt’s office. She had the olfactory ability of a bloodhound and would be able to detect that scent if it was still there.

  “All right. See you later.”

  I put my phone into my pocket and made my way to Professor Kunz’s lecture hall. Professor Kunz was the Chair of the Integration program, and the demon-shifter Integration class was the only class he personally supervised. He’d asked some of the auxiliary staff to help out with this year’s intake. I didn’t blame him. Since Quinn wasn’t around to accompany Faustine, I had been asked to go with her. The whole school was on edge, waiting to see how Faustine and Mason would behave together in an interactive classroom situation. Very few graduated from the demon-shifter Integration class. Most just aimed to endure it.

  I stopped and picked up Faustine from the dining hall where she was busy chatting with Martha and the vamp twins.

  “I’ll walk over with you guys,” Martha said. “Do you know if Ryker is coming?”

  I shrugged, but knew that he wouldn’t let Faustine face the class on her own, even if she did seem totally unfazed at the prospect of sitting in on the same class with Mason.

  “Why do we need to go to this class?” Faustine asked. “It’s not like we’re ever going to get along with those shifter types.”

  “My point exactly!” Martha drawled.

  “Maybe not. We don’t need to get along with them, but it’s handy to be able to tolerate them,” I said, not even believing my own words.

  “Pfffft! I really don’t see the point,” Faustine repeated.

  “To be honest, neither do I, except if one of you has to deal with them on a political level at some point. Remember that each city council has at least one shifter rep.”

  “Yeah, well, I won’t.” Faustine flicked her hair.

  Martha puffed out her chest. “I guess I might.”

  Faustine laughed and punched Martha’s shoulder. “Keep your tiara on. On your head, not your boobs. Deflate. You look like Dolly Parton.”

  “Dolly who?” Martha asked.

  “Oh, never mind.” Faustine sighed. “What makes you think you’ll be taking over as the demon sovereign of Dallas, anyway?”

  “Why not? I’m the brightest of my parents’ offspring. Seems obvious.”

  “Are you the oldest?” I asked.

  “Well, no.”

  “Then you might have quite a fight on your hands. Why would you want to anyway? Seems like a lot of aggro for very little return.”

  “I want the power,” Martha said sounding very matter-of-fact.

  “I guess you better pay attention to this class, then. My dad says that dealing with the shifter reps is extremely tricky.” I increased my pace; we were running a bit late.

  “I guess I can spend my time snoozing through this unit, then.” Faustine chuckled. “No shifters in my future!”

  She was so wrong. She didn’t know it yet, but she was her father’s heir. As her father was the demon king of London, she would one day sit on the London council, in charge of all the London demons, and have to deal with the two shifter representatives. So it was important for her, probably more than anyone else in the class, to learn how to tolerate and even get along with the foul beasts.

  And she would have stood a good chance of being able to do that if weren’t for Mason. She didn’t seem to have an innate repulsion toward them. However, Mason really messed up the whole situation. His very presence in the lecture hall would have Faustine concentrating on a possible bird massacre, rather than listening to the actual lecture.

  We walked into the hall, all eyes on us. A few hisses came from the shifters, who had all congregated on the left side of the auditorium.

  I covered my nose. “How can you stand that unbearable stench?” I asked Faustine.

  She shrugged. “It just smells like wet dog. I kinda like dogs—the small ones, anyway. I’ve been thinking of getting a Jack Russell terrier when I go back home.”

  “Wet? No, it doesn’t! Rotting dogs, maybe.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Let’s sit in the back in case you need to hurl or whatever,” she said, pulling me down into a seat.

  With my hand still covering my nose, I scanned the shifter section of the room for Mason. And there he was, glaring at us. Jagger was with him, hopefully keeping him in line. I noticed quite a few members of the academy staff scattered among the students. I saw no sign of Ryker, though I was fairly sure he was with us.

  Professor Kunz was already positioned behind the podium, casting a stern eye over everyone, ensuring that no one misbehaved. The salt-and-pepper-haired warlock was famed for his short temper and unusual punishments, which normally kept everyone in line.

  Normally. I couldn’t help but remember my own first Integration session with Professor Kunz. Faustine’s twin half siblings, Mariel and Jaques, had both been in the class. The two demon-shifter hybrids were incorrigibly bad, exhibiting the worst of both their species at all times. Even Professor Kunz’s looming demeanor hadn’t prevented them from heckling him from the back of the auditorium. They’d been swiftly turned into golf balls, then accompanied the professor to the range after class. Still, that hadn’t prevented them from repeating their behavior at the next session or the later ones. I looked over at Faustine, grateful she wasn’t like them.

  “Welcome to my class,” Professor Kunz bellowed into the microphone. “I see that you have predictably divided yourselves into the shifter and demon groups.” He pursed his lips. “Well, by the en
d of this unit, I’ll expect to see the divide gone and an even distribution of both species throughout the auditorium.”

  The exaggerated eye rolls throughout the students made me snort.

  “Cordelia?” Professor Kunz said sharply.

  I stood up. “Nothing, sorry.”

  “Come on up,” he ordered.

  Darn.I walked up to the stage and glared at the snickering students.

  Professor Kunz scanned the crowd. “Colton, come on up.”

  A blond, very hot shifter stood up. He stared at me, his light blue eyes gleaming. I waited for the sneer, but it never came as he joined me on the stage. I recognized him from my own Integration classes, which meant that he must have become a member of the staff.

  Professor Kunz smiled at us and then faced the audience again. “Let me introduce you to two of our Academy staff members, Cordelia and Colton. Both of them actually managed to graduate my unit, with flying colors if I remember correctly.” He glanced over at us and stroked his beard. “Well, Colton, anyway. It should be pretty obvious to everyone who the demon is and who the shifter is, right?”

  Everyone nodded.

  Hot as Colton was, his shifter smell was as strong as ever. I nearly gagged at having to stand so close to him. I really needed to get Professor Bern to help me overcome my repugnance at the stink.

  Professor Kunz coughed, and I immediately pulled my hand away from my nose.

  Professor Kunz nodded approvingly. “Hug.”

  Colton and I stared at him blankly.

  “Hug,” he repeated. “Each other. I want to demonstrate to our students that it is possible. There are even a few incidences of mating between your species, resulting in hybrids.”

  Gross, but yes, I was aware of the hybrids, one set in particular: Jaques and Mariel. Faustine didn’t know about their existence yet, thinking she was her father’s only child. It suddenly occurred to me that she might have inherited her father’s tolerance for shifters.

  I turned and faced Colton. If it weren’t for the stench, I’d have no problem hugging him. As shifters went, one couldn’t come across as less threatening or more gorgeous than the six-foot-six ripped hunk in front of me.

  He held out his hand. “It’ll be all right,” he said, obviously aware of my hesitance.

  Taking his hand, I felt my heartbeat quickening, probably from anxiety, but perhaps a bit of excitement as well. I took a step forward and met his rock hard body as his arms enveloped my waist. The hug was brief, formal, and perfectly executed, even if the detachment process was a bit clumsy. I turned and bowed to the audience; Colton followed suit.

  The audience didn’t react, hushed to silence by our very unnatural performance. I glanced over at Jagger, almost afraid of his reaction. His face was set in a stoic mask, but I could only imagine the emotions behind it. I would have been positively furious if the situation had been reversed. In fact, just seeing him sitting next to Mason—even Mason in male form—pissed me off.

  Jagger suddenly smiled. Obviously, my expression had betrayed my emotions. I needed to work on that.

  “That’s what I’d like to see from all of you.” Professor Kunz beamed, running his fingers through his goatee. “Thank you for the demonstration. You may go back to your seats.”

  I avoided looking at Faustine and Martha as I walked back to my seat, fearful they’d cause me to erupt into giggles.

  Once I was seated, Professor Kunz continued, “You all look similar in human form. It’s easy to imagine you intermingling with humans. However, your human manifestations do not come with an infusion of humanity. You remain paranormal, and thus prone to react in a way that will arouse suspicion. You need to learn to assimilate, to move within the human population seamlessly. In order to do that, integration within the paranormal population is important. Demons and shifters are the two most challenging groups to integrate. I completely understand that it’s against the natural order of the paranormal world for you to associate with each other.

  “So why bother? The same reason you need to integrate with the other paranormal types and eventually humans. You have to be able to live undetected among humans. No species can betray the other to the human world, not even demons and shifters. So you will at least have to have each other’s backs when it comes to that.

  “Unfortunately, there is more than normal strife between the demon and shifter populations this semester. It’s not my job to be Dr. Phil and have you work out your issues on an emotional level, but it is my job to give you the tools you need to learn to tolerate each other. Of course, for those of you who wish to delve into this phenomenon on a Dr. Phil level, we have academy therapists and psychiatrists available. Feel free to make an appointment with one of them. I would recommend Dr. Amour.” He paused to allow for the chuckles he obviously had expected.

  “Despite the name, she’s tough as nails and levelheaded. My job here is, first and foremost, to give you the tools to allow you to be able to tolerate each other. I also hope to teach you to go beyond that, to learn to cooperate and work together. Those of you who are able to embrace and excel at this class will go on to exciting positions once you leave this academy.

  “There are a few of you who are already destined to work in prominent positions in the future, which will require application of the skills you learn here. So, listen up and learn; otherwise, you may lose out on important, powerful positions.” He adjusted his notes.

  “You are probably wondering what positions I am talking about. Well, to name a few, these will include positions within the diplomatic service, government agencies, and of course, the city paranormal councils.”

  Professor Kunz moved over to the screen descending from the ceiling. The room darkened somewhat, and an image came up on the screen. The professor flicked his laser pointer to the first bullet point on a list. “This unit will consist of six more sessions. After that, you will undergo a test, not a written one, but one in a simulation chamber, much like the one used during your Initiation process. The pre-tests to record your base lines will take place during the next month, before our next session.”

  His pointer kept moving down the screen as he spoke, but not at the right speed, which was very distracting. He stroked his beard again, making me wonder if it was itchy. I’d hate to have that awful growth on my chin.

  “You’ll have the next section on different days. I will email you the dates and times. There will be one for the shifters, one for the demons, and a few different ones for the hybrids. Then we’ll move on to two combined sessions, followed by three individually tailored ones. Any questions?”

  He didn’t expect a response to the obligatory query. No one ever asked any questions, as everyone wanted out of there as soon as possible. So there were gasps of surprise when a solitary hand went up.

  “Faustine?” Professor Kunz boomed in response.

  She rose from her seat. “I’m wondering about the simulation tests. What if we don’t pass? Will we still be able to graduate?”

  I smiled. She must be worried, since she hadn’t even completed her Initiation process yet and probably felt preordained to fail. She was hardly going to be able to host a tea party with the shifters in just six weeks. Or maybe she could, as long as Mason wasn’t involved.

  “Unfortunately, yes,” the professor replied, the displeasure clear in his voice. “The failure rate is so high that if we let this unit impact graduation, we’d have very few students ever leave this school. However, you won’t graduate with honors if you don’t pass. And remember, unless you want to work for someone rather than have people work for you, you’ll need the honors diploma.”

  Faustine nodded.

  “Thank you, Faustine, you may sit now.”

  “I have one more question.”

  “Okay.”

  “Say, if we’re not really intending to have much to do with the paranormal world once we leave here, do we need that diploma? I mean, I’m just planning to head home to regular high school.”

  P
rofessor Kunz raised his eyebrows and waved for her to sit. “I guess not, Faustine, but you can never know what your destiny is. It’s best to be prepared. Your father sent you here for a reason. Take advantage of all the skills offered to you, including this one.”

  He turned off his pointer and brightened the lights. “With that, this session is over. Hybrids exit first, then demons, and finally the shifters.”

  I stood up. “Come on, Faustine, let’s go.”

  She pulled me down. “Let’s wait and go out with Martha,” she said, jerking her head at Martha, who was chewing on something.

  “What’s that?” I asked Martha.

  “Diced beef,” she responded.

  Faustine giggled. “Martha needs to feed constantly when she’s near shifters or she transforms.”

  “I don’t blame you!” I said. “Can I have some? It might help with the barf reflex.”

  Martha held out a little Ziploc pouch, and I took a handful of the cubed bits, popping them into my mouth. “Delish! Where did you get these?”

  “Professor Bern had the kitchen supply them after my Initiation tests. Good, aren’t they?”

  I nodded. Once the hybrids had left—and I noticed that Mason didn’t leave with them—I took Faustine and Martha back to my room.

  “Martha, do you have to be anywhere right now?” I was hoping she did, so I could bring Faustine with me to The Smelt’s office.

  “No, not really. I was going to try to find Ryker and hang out with him for a while. I haven’t seen him for ages. I was thinking of heading over to his room. Why?”

  “We’ll walk you over. Then, I have to go see Frau Schmelder. Faustine, come with?”

  “Oh, I’d rather stay here and play in your closet, plus I have some homework to do. I’ll be fine; you go.”

  “I can stay,” Martha offered. “Playing in your closet with Faustine almost tops an afternoon with Ryker.” She grinned.

  “To be honest, I’d like you to come with me, Faustine. I’ll update you on the way.”

  I could feel Martha fighting the urge to pry; she deserved a gold medal for effort. We walked over to Ryker’s room and knocked. Martha looked disappointed at the lack of a response, but brightened when we ran into Chun in the hallway. Once she was out of earshot, Faustine nudged me.