Justine’s smile came across a little slick. To rise to the position of Headmistress of a powerful school, a wizard would need to be a Level Five Skapti in more than just wards. Was it possible to develop more than one skill?
“I did want to see how you were fitting in at the Academy, but another reason I asked you to come here tonight was to lift your barriers,” she said.
Barriers.
“I do have the ability to pull in power?” I breathed out.
“Come now. You know you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t.”
“But I lost it. Seven years ago, when…” Ah. “You took it from me.”
“Suspended it. You were too young.”
The echo of what I’d lost had haunted me for months. After that, resignation had settled in like a heavy load on my shoulders. But, wait… I leaned forward, eager. “What’s my skapti? Will you test me?”
“I already did when you were ten.”
“And…”
Her eyes darted away, telling me she could rival Donovan as the king of elusive. “It’s complicated.”
Naturally. Wasn’t everything? I couldn’t stop my shoulders from slumping. “I don’t have a skapti, do I?”
“You have more than one which is unusual for anyone, let alone an outling.”
While I’d guessed Justine had more than one, I’d never considered I could, too. I would’ve been thrilled even if my only skill was sweeping. “What are my skapti, then?”
“I’m afraid, in your case, I can’t tell you.”
“Why not?” This was ridiculous. Everyone else knew their skapti. They might as well have it branded on their foreheads. I wanted to fit in, to feel like everyone else. Instead, I was again being told I was different. Unusual but she might as well name me a freak.
“We’ve found that revealing to multiples—which you are—can hinder your discovery.”
“As in, I need to figure this out on my own.” How long would that take? “This does sound complicated.” But strangely wonderful. The idea was blooming inside me. “Are there limits?”
“What do you mean?”
“Everyone has a set skapti, like, for example I’ll be good at cooking and accounting and…” Ugh. “Say, sweeping?”
Her hands spread wide. “I don’t think it’s wise to discuss this further.”
More elusiveness. But at least I had one innate ability I could develop once I learned what it was. As for any others, time would show me if that promise held true or not. “At least I can pull in power. I won’t stand out as a misfit or be escorted to the front gate and told to get lost.”
“Never that.”
I leaned back against my chair, contemplating options. What could my skapti be?
Lifting off her seat, Justine snapped her fingers in the space between us. Like I stood in a wind tunnel, air rushed around me. Me, not Justine. As quickly as it started, the wind stopped. My hair dropped back onto my shoulders.
“What…” I said.
Justine grinned. “Barrier lifted.”
Wow. “So, I can—”
“I imagine you have many questions, but I’m afraid our time is up. I have another appointment.” She stood and shooed her hand my way. “I’ll see you tomorrow perhaps?”
“But…” I stood, fidgeting. I’d barely begun to explore the idea of more than one skapti. Learning my ability to pull power hadn’t left me when I was ten was awesome, but I felt like a baby taking my first step. I needed to know more about the Academy or I’d stumble.
Beautiful strands caught my eye, weaving through the window behind Justine, reaching toward me.
“You’re calling them,” she said, shifting to stand between the threads and me but they darted around her, waving. “First lesson? Push them away and don’t seek them again without the guidance of a professor.”
“What?” My voice came out dreamy. The strands glinted in the nearly-extinguished sunlight. Beyond pretty. Green, yellow, purple, pink, and so many more.
“Fleur. Listen. Fleur!”
My eyes opened. “What?”
“Push the strands away.” A no-nonsense tone ruled her voice.
“But I want them.” I was greedy. They needed me and I needed them.
“You can’t have them until you’ve been taught to handle them. If you don’t push them away, no, cut them this instant, I’ll have to raise your barriers again.”
Take them away? “Oh. Sorry.” My knees weak, I sank back into the chair.
“Think of scissors and snip.”
One cut and they snapped back, out through the window. Gone as quickly as they’d arrived.
Their loss left me isolated. Alone. As if I now existed in a world painted in black and white.
“They’re only gone a short while,” Justine said. “Trust me in this. In no time, you’ll be able to call them again. Touch them. Start to control them.”
“Thank you.” I knew my words came out humble but I’d realized how close I’d come to snatching them up like I’d done years ago. Would I have unleashed something I couldn’t control? I could’ve called fire again and hurt Justine. “I’m sorry.”
Wait. Fire. Was that one of my skapti? If so, what good could that do?
“It’s all right,” she said. “I understand you’re excited. It’s a joy to see a student with your potential this eager to learn.” She smiled as if I hadn’t just endangered her life. But maybe she had ways to combat rogue students like me. She had sounded in control of the situation even while I’d essentially bolted. “Now, go to your dorm. You need to rest. Stone Selection is tomorrow.”
I rose again. “Okay. I’ll, um, see you tomorrow, then.”
“Goodnight!” she called out as I shut the door behind me.
In the hall, I realized I wasn’t ready to return to my room where Patty would have questions. She knew about this meeting; knew I’d be asking Justine about my skapti. Patty meant well but her gushing would overwhelm my mind, drag out details I wasn’t ready to share.
Returning to the steel door opposite the stairs, I went outside and leaned against the rail overlooking the moat. Because I couldn’t help it, and Justine wasn’t around to chastise me, I practiced calling in the colorful strands then snipping them to release them. I didn’t draw in their power, because I didn’t know how. But I couldn’t stop teasing myself with the strands’ endless possibilities.
As the horizon swallowed the sun and the world around me was eclipsed by darkness, I found that drawing in threads and releasing them became seamless.
Knowing I could control this one thing eased my mind a tiny bit. I was determined not to make the same mistake I’d made seven years ago.
In the forest, stillness reigned. No voice called. Had I imagined it before?
Eventually, when my brain was worn out, I went back inside and took a left, walking past the quiet administration offices and through the mall empty of students, the shops closed up for the night.
What time was it? I needed to find the sundial and figure out how to read it. Sync myself with it, that is, per Donovan.
When I reached the library, I turned and exited out through the glass door leading to the inner courtyard, aiming for my dorm on the right. My yawn slipped out. Pulling strands was exhausting.
Creepy gargoyles watched me pass. At first, I thought they spoke, but then a voice from ahead reached me, and I stopped on the path, listening.
“You said you would…”
The snootiness of the voice told me who it was. Ashton.
“I’m sorry,” someone else said in a male voice I didn’t recognize. But I’d met only a few of my fellow students. “I am trying.”
“Not hard enough…at stake.”
Unable to hear everything but needing to know what was going on, I crept closer.
“I can handle it,” the guy said.
Silence broken only by the chirp of tree frogs descended. The pause went on so long, I thought they’d left.
I needed to leave, too. If I d
idn’t get to bed soon, I’d sleep through Stone Selection tomorrow.
I’d turned when the unknown guy spoke again. “Give me one more chance. I promise I won’t…” The last bit of the sentence was spoken too low to hear. “Just don’t tell anyone.”
Ashton’s sigh went on forever. “Okay.”
A mosquito bit my arm, and I flicked it away.
“Wait,” Ashton said. “What was that sound?”
The second voice rose in panic. “What sound? You don’t think we’re alone?”
My heart jolted. Flee! Yet I remained frozen in place, fear of being caught making it impossible to move.
“Something…Someone’s…”
Internally smacking myself, I unlocked my limbs and raced back toward the main building. I smacked through the outer door and looked around frantically. Where could I hide? Bolting across the hall, I flung open the entrance to the library and rushed inside.
I slammed into Moira.
“Oh, whoa.” My breathing pumping in and out of my lungs, I shoved my hair off my face. “I, uh, hi.” Please don’t ask why I was rushing around like a banshee.
She said nothing, just stared at the wall blankly. Nothing there except a poster announcing the Grand Ball. Which, I guessed, could interest her. The Ball would be held at eight p.m. on the last day of Orientation. Gowns and suits were mandatory.
I shook my head, knowing I’d have to deal with the gown mandate later. Me, wear a gown? Ester hadn’t included one in the cardboard boxes.
When Moira still said nothing, I waved my hand in front of her face and jumped away from her when she didn’t blink.
“Moira?” I asked, totally creeped out. What was going on with her? “You okay?” Grabbing her shoulders, I shook her. “Moira!”
“What?” Her voice came out sleepy, and she yawned. “Damn, I’m tired.”
No kidding.
“Why don’t we, um—” A glance over my shoulder revealed an empty hallway. No Ashton. No unknown guy peering around, either.
If Moira was with me, and I came across Ashton and a guy, they might believe we’d been together in the library, that it couldn’t have been me on the path. I hated using Moira for cover but couldn’t think of anything else at the moment. “Let’s go to our rooms.”
“Sure,” she said slowly. Her fingers tightened on my arm. “My legs are limp, like jelly. My back’s all wobbly. All of me is wobbly.”
Yeah. Okay. “Are you sick or something? Maybe I should take you to the clinic.”
Her eyes widened though her pupils remained unfocused. “No clinic. I’m fine.” She yawned again. “Can you help me get to my room?”
“Sure.” I slid my arm around the back of her waist, supporting her. “Lean on me, okay?”
“Yes. Lean.” Her head hung limply, and her auburn hair brushed her cheeks. “I appreciate it.”
“I imagine you’re…worn out from reading in the library.” Yup, that sounded stupid, but I was thinking on the spot here. I hadn’t had time to dream up anything better. “You just need a good night’s rest.”
“You’re right. I do.”
We left the library and I took us right, past the admin office. We exited through a door adjacent to Earth Coven.
No Ashton lurking around. Or odd guys saying they wouldn’t do…something again. That they could handle it. Whatever it was.
“Sometimes research can be boring,” I said, making conversation.
“Guess so.” Moira’s body wasn’t the only weak thing about her. So was her voice.
“I bet reading made you tired.” After all, people read dry books to help them fall asleep all the time. I’d nodded off more than once myself at Ester’s, only to wake when she poked me.
“I wasn’t in the library all evening,” she said as I held open our dorm’s front door and helped her inside.
My skin peppered over with goosebumps, though I wasn’t sure why.
“I found you in the library.” I’d assumed she’d been there since dinner.
“Yes, but before that, I needed to…”
“What?”
Her eyes—milky and drained of their usual bright color—met mine. “I don’t…” She shook her head but the gesture didn’t seem to clear her brain.
While cool air drifted around us, sweat burst from my forehead. I leaned back, staring at Moira, compelled to hear what she said next but dreading what she’d say.
Somehow, I already knew.
“Something…” Her words came out slurred. “No, someone…called me. I had to go into the forest.”
Chapter 18
“What did you—” Alys’s glare stole the rest of her words the second she opened the door. She snatched Moira’s arm and dragged her inside their room. After helping Moira over to her bed, Alys stormed back to where I stood in their doorway. Hands clenched at her thighs and her face aflame, she fumed.
Did she think I was responsible for Moira’s loopy behavior?
“I found her in the library,” I said in a lifted voice, my words coming out defensive.
In full-on sneer mode, Alys slammed the door in my face.
Nice talking to you, too.
I stalked to my room. My mood lightened and I snorted with unexpected laughter when big fat, brightly painted orange lips formed in our door. They parted with a sigh straight from a gothic drama.
“Awesome color, Sexy,” I said. “Looks great on you.”
“Thank you, Fleur, darling. I’ve got a hot date tonight.”
“Anyone I know?”
“A door in Wind Coven.”
“Which floor?” I held up my hand. “Wait. Don’t tell me. Let me guess.”
The lips pursed.
“Room 227.”
He huffed. “How’d you know?”
“A dragonfly told me.” Actually, I hadn’t seen Alex again, but our brownie loved to gossip. I shook my finger at the lips. “Don’t stay out too late. I want you home by eleven.”
“Mom!” the door said, playing along with my game.
“And don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”
“Sugar, you need to get out more often.”
He was probably right.
His lips smoothed. “Would you like admittance to your room?”
“I would.”
“Then so it shall be.”
Our door had a genie complex but I had no problem indulging it. Who would’ve thought I’d be friends with a door?
Inside, I leaned against the back, my unease shifting away when I saw how homey our room appeared. This morning when I got out of bed, I’d straightened the quilt Ester made. The plump pillows I’d laid on top begged me to jump onto the bed and snuggle against them.
Patty sat on her bed, her brow furrowed, telling me she was in the middle of a mindspeak convo. She’d told me that each night, she enjoyed mindspeaking with her parents, followed by quick chats with most of her twenty-seven siblings.
Who was she talking to right now? Posey or Calvin? The girls’ names all started with P and the boys’ names with a C. It took Patty awhile to get through them, and envy burned through me on a regular basis. Imagine having that many people eager to hear about your day, your thoughts, whatever came into your mind?
It hadn’t taken me long to start wishing I was part of Patty’s family.
After refilling the bowl of cream for our brownie and setting beside it a slightly crushed donut I’d picked up at breakfast, I jumped onto my bed and clicked on the floor lamp. My welcome packet lay on my bedside table, and I dropped it on my lap. I really needed to see what the rest of the week held for me.
Orientation schedule first.
Day Three (tomorrow)
Stone Selection
Knew that already. Dreaded it already. But it was scheduled for the entire morning. After the ominous suggestions my friends had whispered about the Selection, I’d be naïve to assume picking a stone would take only a few seconds. However, all that time? How complex could it be?
Lunch
My belly growled already. I’d eaten late with Donovan but missed dinner. Patty and I had yet to hit the mall to buy snacks but we needed to do it soon or I’d waste away.
Afternoon free period
To recover from Stone Selection? Ugh. I’d be glad when this part was over.
Day Four
Stone practice.
Perfect. Would I learn how to extract power from the environment and perhaps use it? If so, I’d need to figure out at least one of my skapti, right? Well, more than an odd ability to throw fire. I couldn’t see many practical applications in that.
I sighed. If only discovering my skapti was simple.
Day Five
Introduction to Magical Creatures—which sounded beyond cool. We’d be split into three groups, by Coven.
Stone Practice
Day Six
More Magical Creatures
Stone Practice
Day Seven
Free time.
Yay.
Second Year students arrive.
And, at eight…The Grand Ball.
Blessed fae. I not only needed to find a gown, I really needed to learn how to dance.
After brushing my teeth, I turned off my light and snuggled underneath my blankets.
I rolled onto my side, facing the wall, trying not to feel jealous as Patty continued to mindchat with her family.
We ate a quick breakfast then packed into the lobby with everyone else, joining up with Donovan. Or he joined up with us; hard to tell. Alys, Bryce, and Moira were right behind him. I was surprised to see Moira, but the healers must perform miracles. While pale, she appeared mostly back to normal.
“I’m a freakin’ wreck!” Patty said, clutching my arm.
Yeah, so was I. I danced on my toes. It was happening! Finally.
“All right, everyone,” the Headmistress called out. “If I could have your attention?” She stood on the first landing of the grand staircase with her arms lifted overhead. When we quieted down and faced her, she lowered her arms to her sides and smiled. “Welcome again. Day Three! I imagine it feels as if time is going by much too quickly.”
“Except now.” Beside me, Patty rolled her eyes. “Get to it,” she hissed out.
“I know you’re all excited about Stone Selection, and I don’t want to hold you back.”
Crystal Wing Academy: Book One: Outling Page 14