The Brave & The Broken: Gifted Fae Academy - Year Two

by Brittni Chenelle

“I promise I’m not here to cause trouble.”

  “Sure. I’m surprised you didn’t bring your Fae friends to kill Ms. Vivian. I mean… unless you’re going to do it yourself.”

  “What are you talking about? Do what? Kill Ms. Vivian? Relax, crazy.” I didn’t feel any different than when I lived here, but it was obvious they saw me differently. It was odd to hear Alyssa speak this way about the Fae, though. She was the one who’d woken me in the middle of the night to tell me one had been killed. What changed?

  She shrugged. “All I’m saying is, what did the Fae ever do for any of us?”

  I froze as I began to suspect the cause of her new philosophy. The last time I saw Alyssa, she’d been as much of a Fae admirer as anyone, and only one thing could have changed her mind. I hoped I was wrong when I asked, “Where is this coming from?” My gaze moved to the TV screen where a clip of Kai’s speech was playing. I sighed. “Listen, what Kai said was—”

  The door swung open behind me, crashing into the wall. I nearly leapt out of my skin as Vivian strolled in. The rest of the orphans shrank back. Her red lipstick was smudged, her auburn updo lined with flyaway hairs, but otherwise she looked more put together than I remembered.

  “Crawling back, I see.” She huffed. “Just as I said.”

  I felt my nerves give way and my body started to tremble. “I was actually wondering if you would sign something… as my guardian.”

  16

  Kaito

  I shoved one of Calvin’s coconut cookies into my mouth. “You’re kidding right? Ensley?”

  Cal smirked. “Why is that hard to believe?”

  “I don’t know. She just… doesn’t seem like a killer to me.”

  He shrugged. “She’s a little sloppy, which is why we sometimes send Carter in to help her control them, but he’s…”

  “A dick?”

  “I was going to say unpredictable.”

  I nodded, eying the half-eaten plate of cookies. “Why haven’t you assigned me another speech?” I asked, grabbing a cookie and walking over to the window.

  “The media is still buzzing about your first one. Why are you so eager?”

  “I’m not. I’m just a little stir crazy.”

  Calvin grabbed his jacket. “Then let’s go out for a bit.”

  I gaped. “They’ll recognize me.”

  He shrugged. “So wear a hat or something. Come on.”

  I wasn’t going to argue with that. I was dying to get out of the tower.

  Cal said, “I’ll meet you in the lobby.”

  I headed to my apartment to grab my jacket and to see if I had a hat in the closet The Fallen had provided. It was stuffed with clothes that suited me better than the goofy GFA uniforms, but I hadn’t taken much time to look through it. I threw on my jacket and swiped a plain black hat from the shelf without browsing through my options. Calvin’s entire organization hinged on me and he trusted me enough to let me leave the tower. It was a testament to how much time we’d spent together over the last few days. Since our heavy breakfast chat the other day, we stuck to simpler topics, but we shared a mutual respect, one I hadn’t been able to garner with anyone else.

  I stopped short when I opened my door to find Zane. “Ah. Sorry, man, I’m headed out,” I said.

  “Kai,” he said, looking at his feet. “I… I just…”

  “Spit it out.”

  “I think you should be careful with DT.” His blue eyes looked blurred behind his smudged glasses, his hair vibrant cobalt in the tower lights.

  “He’s your boss, right? You’re the whole reason I’m even here.”

  “I know, I know. It’s just, he’s dangerous. You’ve been spending time with him and I want to remind you not to tell him about… you know... anything he could use against you. At the end of the day, he’s going to put his mission first.”

  I patted his shoulder. “I’ll be alright.”

  This whole damn organization was a bunch of hypocrites. Where did Zane get off lecturing me about DT? I might’ve dropped my guard a little, but I wasn’t about to start gushing about Reina. Her dream was to attend GFA and, even with all the chaos, I had the power to make sure she finished unharmed. Calvin had agreed not to attack the school. He’d put food on the tables of thousands of families, yet people only judged him for his gift. I understood that.

  I almost stopped short when the elevator doors opened and Carter sheepishly stared back. I eyed his guitar before stepping into the elevator and pressing the button for the lobby. Please don’t say some dumb shit to me.

  “So uhm…” he started.

  Fuck.

  “I wanted to apologize. I shouldn’t have used my gift on you. That wasn’t cool.”

  I scoffed. “Whatever, man.”

  “What is it? Why do you hate me so much?”

  “Quan is dead, man. And you helped kill him.”

  “And yet you’re the leader of The Fallen. We all do things.”

  “Your gift is manipulation. I’m fucked up about everything we ever discussed. I never saw you without your damn guitar and I can’t help but wonder what kind of shit you were tricking us all into. I mean... what about all the girls? Did you use your gift to—” I swallowed hard, desperate to shake the thought from my head. “That’s rape.”

  “I… haven’t done that in a long time.” I turned away, pleading with the elevator to go faster. “Don’t act like you’re Mr. Perfect. I saw the video of what you did to Reina. You think that wasn’t against her will? You think that wasn’t fucked up? This isn’t a contest, it’s just what always happens when one person gets too much power.”

  “What about Yemoja Roux? She’s the most powerful Fae in the world.”

  He smirked. “She has just as much blood on her hands as your new buddy, DT.” Carter pulled a small box from his backpack. “I was headed to your apartment to give you this… but now I’m thinking you’re not ready.”

  I hated him. He was everything I didn’t want to become, but I couldn’t deny that I agreed with some of what he said. It seemed no matter what side you were on, there was no way around getting blood on your hands. Curious, I took the shoe-sized box but was surprised by the weight. I lifted the lid, revealing five razor sharp daggers, already loaded into a belt.

  “I’m not a killer, Carter.”

  “That’s fine. But every Fae in the city wants you dead. I thought you might want something to defend yourself… you know... just in case.”

  I took a deep breath and stared at my former roommate. He looked sad, but I couldn’t excuse any of his choices, not after all he’d done. He was lost, and part of me blamed him for dragging me to this side of the war. I missed the version of him that was just kind of an idiot. I missed the version of life that was just lunch boxes and recess. Life before power. I sighed. “Thank you for the gift.”

  The elevator doors opened and I stepped out and said, “I know we all sometimes do questionable things, but our reasons why matter. Who are you protecting, Carter?”

  He nodded to the gift in my hands. “I thought it was obvious.”

  The doors closed between us. This is shaping up to be a fucked up day. Rather than carry Carter’s gift around, I put on the belt and got rid of the box. I touched each dagger, feeling their sharpness move into my magical range. I’d never used my gift on a weapon before and felt guilty as I relished the possibilities. I told myself I’d only use them in self defense, but that wasn’t the kind of world I lived in.

  The lobby was crowded. I watched the sea of people part around Calvin, giving him a wide berth. He was unfazed, numb to the coldness of the very citizens he strove to protect. He wiggled his eyebrows when he saw the belt but didn’t mention it as he ushered me into a car. He told the driver to take us to a familiar area on the outskirts of the city. There was a nice park there, one I visited often when I first moved to Ancetol due to its proximity to my closest friend’s house.

  I was pleased to learn that Calvin had planned to walk the park all along, and w
e did so mostly in silence. It wasn’t long until my thoughts drifted to the last time I was there. It was summer then, and unlike today’s bare trees that cut through the gray sky like cracked porcelain, back then they were full and green. My ankle was sprained from a scuffle I’d gotten into at school with the Elites, so my arm was slung around Reina’s shoulders as I limped along. I could almost feel the brush of Reina’s wild curls against my face, or feel the summer heat beat down on me while she gave me a break from my own life.

  “Thinking of your parents?” Calvin asked as we moved into a more thickly wooded part of the park.

  Zane’s warning pushed into my head. “Yeah,” I lied. “You?”

  He shrugged. “I hardly ever think about them anymore.”

  The pine trees in this area were thick and pushed onto the walking path, scraping our jackets as we passed. I knew Zane was right about hiding my connection to Reina, but I resented the wall it cast between me and my new friend. He’d trusted me enough to let me out of the tower. He trusted me with his history, and I was nothing but a liar.

  “I actually have a gift for you,” Calvin said, pulling me back to our conversation.

  I held out my hand. “Gimme,” I said with a grin.

  “We’re not there yet. It’s a little further ahead.”

  I scanned the path and, in the distance, I saw a figure I recognized from the night of the winter ball. He was the gemini who ported us from GFA to the tower. Like his twin, he was tall, red-haired, and freckled. Despite the comfort I’d developed around Calvin, apprehension seeped into my bones as we approached. “Are we going somewhere?” I asked.

  Cal flashed his white teeth. “You’ll see.”

  My pace slowed and I instinctively slipped my hands into my pockets. As I waited for Calvin to reveal his gift, my thoughts raced. Suddenly our isolated location didn’t feel charming or refreshing. Danger hung over us, and Cal’s calmness that I’d come to enjoy over the last several days now felt like a joke he never let me in on.

  Calvin’s red-headed companion waited for orders, but Cal turned to me instead. “I wanted to do something to show you my appreciation.”

  I looked into his cobalt eyes for a clue, but I saw no trace of the monster or my friend. Instead, I saw a twisted smile and a glint in his eyes that told me I wouldn’t like what was coming next.

  17

  Reina

  Vivian glared at me, her brown eyes wide as if I’d slapped her. After a long pause, a smile stretched across her face. “Well, well, well, isn’t this a treat? All that talk about when your gift came in and how you would go to GFA and never come back.” She straightened her spine, peering down at me with a raised eyebrow. I handed her my tablet.

  “All I need is your signature.”

  She pushed past me. “All I need's a million dollars.”

  “Ms. Vivian, please.”

  Before I got the words out, she spun, her hand clasping around my wrist. My gift rose to block her, but her malicious grin said she didn’t know I couldn’t feel it. Instead of freeing my arm, I yanked my gift back, allowing the electric pulse to burn me as I ground my teeth.

  “You’re nothing without me,” she said, but a thrash of my gift told me she knew she was lying.

  “Why?” I muttered through my teeth. I fought the urge to counter her, to learn the truth. She was far weaker than anyone I’d encountered at GFA, and I could destroy her in a matter of seconds, but that wasn’t why I was here.

  “Please, I need you to sign for me,” I said.

  Her gaze shot up. “Get out of here, you little shits!” she spat, and I heard the footsteps of the other orphans retreating. She leaned in and nodded to my tablet. “I promise you, I’ll never sign that.”

  The dull but relentless pain of her gift dropped me to my knees, and she leaned over me, her grip tightening.

  “Why?” I asked.

  “You’re not worthy of a gift.”

  Lie.

  “You’ll never make anything of yourself.”

  Lie.

  “You’re going to get yourself killed out there.”

  Truth. My eyes widened. “You… you care about me?”

  She ripped her hand away, as if she’d just remembered I had a gift.

  I gaped. “You don’t want me to get hurt. But why are you so...”

  She turned away. “You wouldn’t understand. It’s not easy doing what I do.”

  “Explain it to me and I’ll leave.”

  Her gaze swept the room and, when she was satisfied we were alone, she helped me to my feet. She took a deep breath. “You’re all broken when you get here, every single one, damaged beyond repair.”

  I crossed my arms defensively, already unsure if I wanted her to continue. I’d already made up my mind about her. She was an evil person, but just a few words into her explanation, I felt my opinion of her waiver.

  “I don’t have pity for any of you.”

  Lie.

  “That’s just the way life is, and it only gets harder. Broken children come and go, all looking for some way to feel in control, all looking for someone to hurt.”

  My time at the orphanage ran through my head. The bickering, the anger. But when I thought about where my resentment settled, it was always Vivian. I couldn’t recall a single argument between me and the other kids, because at the end of the day it was us against her.

  I nodded. “You’re mean to us on purpose so that we all hate you and not each other.”

  She turned her face away, but a quick brush of her hand across her cheek told me that her cold facade had broken.

  “Get out,” she barked. “I’m not going to sign.”

  I nodded, slipping the tablet back into my backpack.

  She sniffed, but the softness was gone from her face. “You’re the worst fuck up I’ve ever known.”

  Lie.

  I reached for the door.

  “I hope I never see you here again.”

  Lie.

  I felt my heartbeat in my throat, and tears threatened to fall and choke my words. I looked back at her over my shoulder. “Thank you, Ms. Vivian,” I said. “For getting me through the worst year of my life.”

  I thought about Vivian the whole way back to Yemoja Roux’s apartment. I wasn’t sure if I agreed with her tactics, and I was sure there were moments when she enjoyed hurting us, yet I could no longer place her easily into one box or another.

  It seemed like the more I walked the path of the Fae, the less I understood the concept of right and wrong. Vivian, Kai, even me; we all seemed like we were one decision away from slipping from one side or the other. If Vivian had a reason, so did Kai, and I needed to find out what it was before Oden and the others got to him, or worse, before he got to someone else. It wasn’t until I reached my destination and stood in front of Yemoja Roux that I even remembered that I’d failed to get the signature. My internship was over. With the school’s curfew, I’d never be able to find Kai—unless I dropped out. I rubbed my face with my hands. He wasn’t even in my life and I was still losing because of him.

  “I take it it didn’t go well,” Yemoja said, plopping down beside me on the couch.

  I shrugged. “Actually, I think it went really well.”

  Her posture relaxed as she started to braid my hair. “So you got the signature then.”

  “No. But I have a plan.”

  Her hands dropped from my hair as she waited.

  A surge of uneasiness hit me before the words toppled out. “I’m going to drop out.”

  She stood quickly and started pacing, her body moving like she was holding back her words. “I… I don’t think that’s wise,” she finally said.

  “I need to find Kai.”

  Her voice came out sharper. “It’s too dangerous. If I let you go, or even brought you along on my patrol without that internship, I could lose my position. And you could die out there without me.”

  I shook my head. “It’s the only way.”

  “Actually…” She s
at beside me. “I had a thought while you were gone.” She wrung her hands. “What if… I adopted you?”

  The air left my lungs.

  “I could sign on your behalf. You could stay here if you want, or at GFA. You could be Reina Roux.”

  The name Reina Roux was like a slap to my face. “What? No.”

  “N-no?”

  “I’m not available for adoption. My parents died, but it doesn’t mean I’m just going to replace them.” I stood, backing away toward the door.

  “I’m sorry,” Yemoja Roux said. “I didn’t mean to spring that on you. I was just thinking—”

  “No.” I wasn’t trying to be cruel, but the word kept falling out. “I’m sorry,” I said before I pulled the door open and ran out.

  18

  Kaito

  I held my breath as Cal nodded to the man with the red hair. A moment later, Carter stood in front of us. My stomach dropped. Carter’s blonde curls were tossed freely as always, but he wasn’t wearing a jacket, meaning he hadn’t planned on being ported from the tower. Even more strange, he didn’t have his guitar. His lips pressed into a hard line as he took in his new environment. I watched as the danger I’d felt a moment ago shifted to him. His eyes darkened with understanding and teared up as his gaze locked on me in a silent plea.

  Oh fuck. I turned to DT, trying to keep my expression as neutral as I could. “Hey, man, send him back. You don’t have to do this. I was thinking about working things out with him anyway. He gave me this belt and stuff, so we’re good.”

  But DT had already begun to move toward Carter. Carter trembled. He winced as DT grabbed the back of his neck. “Wait!” I said too loud. “Don’t. Just… just let him go.”

  DT grinned. “Kai, why don’t you tell Carter how you feel about being manipulated by his gift.”

  “It-it’s really no big deal.”

  “No, no. no!” DT said. “Tell him what you told me.”

  Carter broke into sobs. “Please, Kai,” he said.