Ignite (Solar Academy Book 1)

by Raven Steele

  Mr. Stenberg stood. “We’ll start right away.”

  As soon as he was gone, Linda lowered her voice and said, “I want you to know I gave Anne an assignment off campus, one that should’ve taken her out of town for the weekend, but she refused it. Quite sternly, actually. I’m sorry.”

  The lump in my throat bobbed up and down. “Can you call her out for being a back-stabbing bitch?” I cast my eyes downward. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

  She laughed. “It’s okay. That’s what she is. I trusted her with important documents. To discover she’s secretly working with the ISA is unsettling to say the least. But don’t worry. I’ll find a way to keep her distracted.”

  “You’ll be with me tonight, right?” I couldn’t hide the insecurity from my voice.

  “I wouldn’t dream of being anywhere else. You’ll need both me and Ed to navigate through his magic, but don’t worry. I know you have the power within you, and I think you’ll find this spell easy to break using your fire.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Because it comes from your mother. I bet you’ll feel her fire once you start using your own. The flames will reach for each other, because they both burn with love.”

  The thought made me smile.

  She nudged me forward. “Now get going. Make sure Bonnie is ready for that spell tonight.”

  “Got it. Thanks, Linda. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

  “Thank me later when your mother is awake and far from here.”

  I left her office feeling much better about our plan. The only thing that still worried me was who Ms. Pearson might be working with. She’d taken the letter from someone wearing a hood. Who had that been? A student? Another teacher? What if the wrong person discovered our plan tonight? It could end with my mother’s death.

  The sun had set. The school’s Saturday night activity consisted of games on the front lawn. Strings of lights had been hung up to light up the area. On one side, a soccer game was in play and on the other side, volleyball.

  Hudson and I started with volleyball, but I’ll admit I wasn’t on my game. I couldn’t stop thinking about what I was going to have to do in four short hours.

  A volleyball smacked me in the head.

  “Heads up!” Becca’s voice called from the other side.

  “A little late for that,” I mumbled.

  Hudson grabbed my hand. “Where were you just then?”

  “Nowhere. I’m fine.”

  “Rotate!” Maisy yelled at our team. I don’t know how I ended up on her side.

  She grabbed the ball and walked to the back of the grassy court to serve. I turned around and lowered into what I thought was a good volleyball stance, arms clasped straight in front of me.

  A moment later, something hit the back of my head again, and I was flung forward so violently I fell to the ground. Double whammy. I wanted to say something sarcastic, but my mind was spinning way too fast along with my vision. Even voices, which had grown louder, didn’t quite make sense.

  Becca knelt by my side, her red hair spilling across her shoulders. “Are you okay?”

  “What happened?” I mumbled, then winced when I tried to sit up. I groaned and touched my head at the pain crashing through it.

  “That bitch Maisy served the volleyball straight into you.”

  “But it shouldn’t have hurt that bad.”

  “She used her magic to make it ten times more powerful, which is strictly forbidden. She’s going to get detention for sure.”

  I glanced behind me. Hudson was yelling at her, but Grant had stepped in between them, putting space between a smirking Maisy and a furious Hudson. I could feel his arctic storm from here.

  “Hudson,” I said but my voice was barely a whisper. It hurt to speak loudly. I should heal any second.

  He heard me nevertheless and turned around, his expression softening when our eyes met.

  “That’s what I thought,” Grant snarled at Hudson’s back. “Ever since you started hanging out with that Fury bitch, you’ve turned into the biggest pussy.”

  Hudson’s ice crackled and surged inside him, making my own heat swell. He whirled around and smashed a sudden ice-crusted fist into Grant’s face. Grant flew several feet. He only hit the ground for a moment before he disappeared then reappeared behind Hudson, breaking rules of time and space. Grant kicked Hudson in the back, making Hudson’s back arch painfully.

  “No!” I said and pulled myself to my feet, swaying slightly.

  Maisy stepped back and laughed as Hudson and Grant threw punches at each other.

  “Fight!” a familiar voice cried across the field.

  Ireland came sprinting from the soccer field, her fists pumping at her sides. I groaned.

  Maisy turned to face her. “Oh, it’s on, bitch. I’ve been waiting for this.”

  “She’s not the only one you’re going to have fight,” I said and raged towards her, fire lighting up my hands. I thought about shooting some of it towards Grant, but by now he and Hudson were rolling on the ground. I might hit Hudson.

  “Stop this at once!” a teacher yelled and hurried over. Other students had begun to gather around us.

  No one listened.

  Maisy’s gaze flickered to a lawn chair next to her. With a swish of her hand, it flew my direction. I ignited it into a ball of flames. While its ashes fell to the ground, Maisy mentally tossed a rake towards Ireland.

  Instead of ducking it, Ireland snatched the handle from the air and pumped it into the air while bellowing a battle cry as she continued to sprint across the lawn. She looked like a great warrior of old, minus the rake in her hands.

  Someone grabbed my shoulder and spun me around. I cocked my fist back to punch whoever it is, but stuttered when I saw who it was.

  “Stop this!”

  I stared into Bonnie’s watery eyes and blinked. The sight of her extinguished some of my flames. I sucked in a slow breath. “You’re right. We have bigger things to worry ab—”

  A bolt of lightning zapped inches from where I was standing. My whole body was thrown backward through the air stopping only when I slammed into the ground.

  Bonnie screamed and rushed to me. I groaned and struggled to sit up. Through blurry vision I spotted Grant and Hudson. They had stopped fighting to see what had happened. So had Ireland and Maisy. Ireland stood above her, bent over and holding a fistful of Maisy’s hair. Ireland’s other hand was fisted and cocked back like she was about to punch her.

  Beyond them, Arrow stormed towards us. Literally. It’s like the air around her was charged, darker than night, and swirling with crackling energy. She snapped her hand towards me. Another lightning bolt shot my way. I managed to roll out of the way, taking Bonnie with me, before it struck the ground.

  Much of the crowd backed up, some running away.

  Hudson left Grant lying on the ground and sprinted next to me. He pulled me to my feet. “We need to go.”

  “No.” I pushed past him and stalked towards Arrow. I was tired of running. That’s all I ever did in my life. Hid who I was. Buried my power. But not anymore. I knew what I was capable of now.

  Tonight I would show them who I was and save my mother. No one said I couldn’t do both.

  Chapter 27

  I dodged a lightning bolt, then another. My hands ignited with fire. I snapped one hand forward, driving a line of flames straight for Arrow. I vaguely registered a teacher yelling at us to stop, but at this point I didn’t care if I was expelled. I’d just run with my mother.

  Arrow dived out of the way of my fire, laughing. I hated that she thought this was funny. Did she not know that I could mentally explode her into a thousand pieces?

  “Stop now!” I demanded.

  She rolled up to her feet. “You can’t tell me what to do.”

  She shoved her hands forward, sending a blast of frigid air at me. I couldn’t dodge this. It hit me square in the chest, sending me through the air again, my hair twisting around
me. Hudson caught me, but the force made us both fall to the ground.

  “Stay out of this,” Grant said to him. Somehow he had untangled Maisy from Ireland and stood between the girls.

  Ireland shoved his shoulder. “It’s you who needs to stay out of it.”

  “Please, Rose,” Hudson said. “This has to stop.”

  His grip on my arm usually soothed me, but there was anger and rage in his icy touch. It made my own flames burn even hotter. My eyes shot to Arrow. Her eyes had glossed over, and veins thumped in her forehead. She was summoning the storm around her, and in a second, she would release it upon me.

  My eyes darted to a utility shed next to her. With Hudson’s touch amplifying my power, I focused my fire on the structure. The shed exploded. Everyone, including me and Hudson, dropped to the ground. The blow slammed into Arrow and she flew over a dozen feet to the side. She hit the ground and continued to skid, her face covered in dirt and grass. Debris flew all over the lawn, the burning pieces leaving little smoke trails in the air.

  Ireland’s head popped up from the ground, and she laughed.

  I wanted to join her in my victory, but no triumphant pride swelled inside me. Instead, I felt darkly powerful, like I could command the beasts of hell. I sucked in a breath, my chest tightening.

  “Enough!” a voice shouted and the world came to a stop.

  Literally.

  Even my flames froze, ash stilled in the air, and my body became immoveable. I strained against the strange sensation, but still couldn’t move. I could sense Hudson behind me also trying to break the hold over him.

  Linda Swanson, the only one still able to move, walked into the midst of the frozen world and glared at me first. Hard. “What is the meaning of this?”

  Her gaze left mine and turned to the others. “You are all better than this. You are students of Solar Academy, the most elite school in the world. You are held to a higher standard than others. But this?” She swept her arm through the air motioning to all of us. “You are all behaving like a bunch of unruly three-year-olds! I should expel you all!”

  Though her words held truth, I didn’t care. It truly felt like Arrow had been trying to kill me.

  “Students of Solar Academy,” Linda continued. “When I release this hold over you, if any of you engage in any more fighting, you will be sent home immediately. I don’t care who your parents are.” She looked pointedly at Arrow. “Three, two, one.”

  The world came back to life. Black smoke and flames rose into the night air, and a lightning bolt finished its path to the ground right near where I’d been standing. Arrow must’ve been in the process of zapping me when Linda stopped time.

  Linda’s head jerked to Arrow, but Arrow quickly dissipated the storm around her.

  “Arrow, Maisy, Grant, Ireland, Hudson, Rose, and …,” Linda looked around to see who else might’ve been involved. “Bonnie?”

  “She didn’t do anything,” I said quickly.

  “Thank you,” Bonnie mouthed. Her hands trembled. Of all the things that had happened, this one made me feel the worse. Maybe I should’ve walked away from this fight, but would Arrow and Maisy have let me?

  “Fine,” Linda said. “Anyone else involved in this mess that I need to know about?”

  “Nope,” Ireland answered. “We didn’t need any additional help to kick their asses.”

  “Shut up, Ireland.” Linda sighed and rubbed at the tension at the back of her neck. She probably had a lot with everything going on. “Those I named are to go straight to their dorms. I don’t want to see you the rest of the night. Tomorrow morning we will meet to discuss your punishments. The rest of you can continue the night and have fun, but if one more fight breaks out, the event will be canceled along with all the others the rest of the month.”

  Several groaned and used choice words to express their dissatisfaction, some directed at Linda, but most directed at me. Of course it would be though. I was the new kid, the only thing that had changed at Solar Academy in the last few months. I was an easy target to blame.

  Ireland hurried over to argue with Linda about her punishment. She still had fight in her and probably wanted a way to expel more of it.

  “Let’s go,” Hudson said, his voice quiet in my ear.

  I let him guide me away. We passed by Bonnie, who had tears in her eyes. I stopped briefly to whisper to her. “Meet me in my room in two hours with Bennie.”

  She forced a smile and nodded.

  I followed alongside Hudson and glanced back at Arrow. Bennie stood next to her, saying something quietly. The evident intimacy there made me nervous. Maybe I was wrong to trust him. Maisy and Grant joined them. Both looked royally pissed. I feared our fight wasn’t over, but I hoped at least it didn’t happen tonight. If all went according to planned, I could be long gone from here with my mother by morning.

  The thought of leaving Hudson made a pain shoot through my gut. I gripped his hand tighter as we walked back to the school. I may never see him again.

  Somehow he must’ve sensed my dread through our connection. “What is it?”

  I shook my head quickly. “It’s nothing.”

  “More secrets?”

  I stopped walking and turned to face him. “Just know that everything I’m doing is to protect you. You have the chance at an amazing life, and I won’t be the one to mess it up.”

  He ground his jaw together. “I don’t need your protection, and I want you in my life.”

  I pressed my palm to his chest, trying hard to ignore the fullness in my throat. “You’ll understand soon.”

  Ireland jogged up to us, her eyes alive with anger. “Ms. Swanson won’t budge, not even when I said they started it. I saw Maisy spike that ball into your head, the bitch.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” I said. “Karma will get them.”

  She snorted. “Screw karma! I want to be the one who teaches them a lesson.”

  “Maybe you’ll get that chance one day,” Hudson said, glancing behind her at Grant, his eyes angry. “Maybe we all will.”

  With only minutes until my friends arrived, I paced the room again, my hands opening and closing. My heartbeat thumped in my ears, a constant swooshing sound that was giving me a headache. Or maybe it was the fact that my head had been slammed by both a ball and the ground. I should’ve healed by now, but my flames were too busy eating up my jittery nerves.

  What I was about to do was the most reckless and stupid thing I’d ever done. But it was also the most important. If I failed, it would mean I’d never see my mother again. And who knew what would happen to me then.

  I shook my hands out and puffed air past my lips. I could do this. I had to do this.

  A knock on the door made me jump. I hurried to it and opened it quietly. Bonnie and Bennie hurried into the room.

  I looked at Bennie. “No one saw you, right?”

  “They never do.”

  Sometimes I wondered if he used some kind of cloaking spell to sneak into the girl’s dorms. He did it way too much and never got caught.

  I turned to Bonnie, noting her change of clothes. She was wearing a long-sleeved black shirt and long black leggings. “You’re doing the spell in my room, right?”

  “Yeah, but you never know. Maybe I’ll have to slip out of here under the cover of darkness.”

  “I told her it was stupid,” Bennie said. He dropped onto my bed and began to cut at stray threads in the holes of his jeans with a knife.

  “Ireland coming?” I asked.

  Bonnie nodded. “She’ll be here in a minute.”

  “Good. There’s something I wanted to say first before she gets here.” I turned to Bennie, who straightened under my glare. “What’s up with you and Arrow? You two seemed pretty cozy out here.”

  He bristled at my accusing tone. “She’s not my type, but she’s a great kisser.”

  Bonnie wrinkled her nose. “Disgusting.”

  “She also told me something important about tomorrow.” He snapped one last str
ing with his blade, then looked up at me, his eyes dark. “But since you seem not to trust me, maybe I’ll keep the information to myself.”

  “Bennie!” Bonnie blurted.

  “I didn’t say I didn’t trust you,” I clarified. “You two just looked extremely close earlier.”

  “Because that’s what I have to do when I’m extricating secrets from people—touch them. It’s a special spell I made up all on my own.”

  I looked at Bonnie for confirmation.

  “It’s true. He can get anyone to tell them things by touching them.”

  If we weren’t out of time, I might’ve pressed further to be sure I could trust him, but I had less than an hour before I had to go see Linda. “Fine. I’m sorry. What did Arrow tell you?”

  Before he could answer, Ireland snuck into my room, also wearing all black. Her eyes lit up when she saw Bonnie’s outfit.

  “Did I miss a memo?” I asked them.

  Ireland high-fived her. “Great minds!” She looked at me, then Bennie. “What did I miss?”

  “Bennie was about to tell us about Arrow,” I explained to her.

  She raised an eyebrow. “Did he make it past first base yet?”

  He snorted. “First base? I always hit home runs.”

  “Just talk!” Bonnie said through a violent shiver.

  He cleared his throat and sheathed his knife. “She said she was recruited by the ISA over a year ago.”

  I sucked in a breath. “To do what?”

  “They wanted her to join the Foundation to be a spy for them. She managed that easy enough. Hell, it’s pretty much filling out an application on a website. Not quite the power group it used to be.”

  “What did they want her to do exactly?” Ireland asked.

  “At first, nothing. Just be their eyes and ears to anything they might be interested in, specifically among students who broke their rules or even spoke bad about them.”

  “They’re punishing kids now?” I asked, mortified. It was one thing to punish adults, but teenagers? They broke rules all the time and also said stupid things about authority figures. I couldn’t imagine one of us being detained at one of the ISA’s facilities. I heard they tortured people in an attempt to “rehabilitate” them, which was basically another word for stripping them of their powers. The process was violent, and for some, deadly.