“We?” Max said, looking over at the car.
“Oh, Tia. She’s driving,” Leo said. “Tia, come out and say hi.”
A few seconds later, a strangely familiar woman, tan, like Leo, stepped out of the driver’s side of the car and gave me a silent nod.
“Hello,” I said, but Tia only smiled.
Leo gave me a wink and grinned. “She’s a little shy. I’ll just put your bag in the trunk, and we’ll be off,” he added, reaching again for my bag.
I thanked him, then turned to Max. His eyes were narrowed and his brows drawn together.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, which seemed to break the consternation spell he was under.
His expression relaxed as he met my eyes. “Nothing,” he shook his head and smiled. “You sure you got everything?”
“I think so. I found a welcome guide in the files that said not to pack too much since they had most things there already,” I said, still feeling a little wary. It must have shown on my face because Max raised an eyebrow and leaned closer.
“You sure you’re all right? You can always change your mind, you know? It’s not too late.”
I shook my head. “I’m OK. I think it just won’t seem real until I’m there.”
“All set?” Leo called, opening the back door for me.
“All right, then. Queue me when you get there. Or before. Just…whenever,” Max said with a slow smile.
“I will. Same goes for you. I want to know everything about your Citadel orientation.” He gave me one last bear hug, picking me up off my feet and squeezing me tightly before setting me back down.
“OK, go,” he added, and I made my way to the car. Leo gave me another quick smile as I ducked in, and he closed the door behind me. I rolled down the window to wave at Max, his arms crossed over his chest as he gave me a wide, closed-lip smile. With a final nod, we pulled away from my house, down the dirt road, and finally, out of The Grind.
“Have you ever been to the islands, Halsey?” Leo asked as we boarded the plane. It was a private jet, so Tia just drove right up to the stairs of it, then gave the car keys to an attendant who got in and drove it back in the direction we’d just come from.
“No,” I said, watching the car over my shoulder until it disappeared back into the shadows of the airport roads. “I’ve never been out of The Grind—er, Portland. Whoa…” I whispered as I reached the top of the last boarding step. Inside the plane, white recliners lined either side of the wide, open seating area, separated by an aisle down the center. Windows that were easily the size of the one in my bedroom back home ran the length of each wall.
“Choose any seat you like, Halsey,” Leo said, holding a hand out for me to walk ahead of him. I got about three steps when a woman in a colorful floral dress stepped into the seating area. She seemed about ten years older than Leo and I were, maybe more, and I wondered if she were a teacher from Eden’s Bluff. Her dark hair fell over her bronzed shoulders in several braids with beads at the ends, which made a chorus of pleasant clicking sounds as she walked toward me.
“It’s lovely to meet ya, girl,” the woman said, her accent thick and melodic. “My name is Sylvie, and back on da beach, dey gettin’ yer room fixed as we speak.” She smiled, the brightness ever bit the wattage of Leo’s. “The trip will take about tree hours. Tell me what questions ya have.”
I’d had so many questions, but in that moment, I drew a blank on all but one. “Are we the only ones on the plane?” I asked, glancing out the window for what would surely be several other cars approaching.
“Jes’ us, Tia, and her co-pilot.” Sylvie beamed another broad smile at me, and I felt my expression shift to surprise that Tia wasn’t just our driver, but the pilot too. “Yer de only one Eden’s Bluff selected from dis area,” Sylvie added.
“Wow…” I said, genuinely surprised. “I mean, why? I didn’t get into The Citadel, and everything I saw said you’re on the same level as they are.”
Sylvie exchanged glances with Leo and laughed, a heavy, full sound.
“De Citadel is a fine institution, but der a little less so wit-out ya now, Miss Halsey Rhodes,” she said, sobering. “We look for a little extra in prospective students. A little some-ting showin’ yer wantin’ to be more dan what everybody’s tellin’ ya is possible.” Sylvie’s dark eyes seemed to flash gold for a fraction of a second as we started to taxi. Sun shone through the large windows and streaked down her face and shoulders as she gave me a knowing smile.
“So you just looked at my records? My activities?” I asked, still not quite sure how, out of everyone in the Portland area, I was the only one they’d selected.
“A little of all those things,” Leo said, typing something into a tablet he must have taken out of the bag in the seat next to him. “Eden’s Bluff is a fairly new school, just four years old this fall, but they’ve developed an algorithm that identifies the traits they’re looking for in prospective students.” He turned the tablet to face the front of the plane, and a 3-D projection of the world map appeared. On it, white dots lit up in several countries, too many to quickly count, but I couldn't help but notice there was only one in Maine.
"Are all those students?" I hesitated to ask.
Leo nodded. "The ones they’ve selected so far, yes. The school is small, just about three thousand students so far, but it’s growing," he added with a quick, knowing glance at Sylvie.
"Plenty of room to grow wit no dirty streets and shops clutterin' up da place," she said, which sent a chill through me.
"Wait, there's no town?" I asked. "It's just the school?" I tried to remember if they'd said anything about this in the virtual tour, but if they had, I know I would’ve remembered.
"I wasn’t sure about that prospect at first either,” Leo said with a laugh. “But honestly, at Eden's Bluff, there's no need for a town, Halsey," he said with another slow, brilliant smile. "It's paradise."
Chapter Twelve
We took a helicopter to the island, which wasn’t even in sight of the mainland airport where we’d just landed. I’d never been in a helicopter, or a plane for that matter, so I was glued to the window this entire trip.
After about an hour more of blue sea and fog, which finally dissipated, the island appeared in the distance. As we flew closer, white beaches stretched out from dense, green forests and clearings until in the center of it all stood the multitiered structure from the virtual tour. It was even bigger than I imagined, with flocks of brilliantly colored birds soaring in the skies above it. I could actually smell all the flowers in the air before we even got out of the helicopter.
“Welcome to Eden’s Bluff,” Leo said, his voice loud and clear through the headset I was wearing. The ground grew closer as the helicopter set down in a clearing, and three men who looked like natives rushed to the perimeter. “When they recruited me a few years ago, I spent the whole time looking out the window too,” he added. “I came from Reno, The Ridge—kind of like what you call The Grind—in Nevada. I couldn’t believe the mountains could look so small.” He chuckled.
“You have a Citadel wall there too?” I asked, a little embarrassed about the one we had in Portland until he all but choked on a laugh.
Leo raised his dark eyebrows. “I was surprised to see you only had Hover droids guarding it.”
“Hover? We call them Sweeper droids,” I said, which provoked another chuckle from him.
“What do they sweep?”
“Nothing,” I answered, now chuckling too. “I mean, I guess because they scan everything. A person, a building, anything they’re trying to read for information. They sweep for it, you know?” It was the first time I’d ever had to explain anything about a Sweeper droid to another person, so I didn’t know when to stop talking.
“Makes sense,” Leo finally said with a neutral smile. As soon as he turned back around, I rolled my eyes at myself, feeling the heat rush into my cheeks. Fortunately, the pilot turned off the engine a few seconds later, and I removed my headset after w
atching Sylvie and Leo do the same.
“Let’s get ya settled,” Sylvie said, extending a long arm full of bracelets as we made our way down the steps. One of the men darted in and came back out with my bag while the other two escorted us up to the enormous house, which looked a lot like an old southern plantation. In the distance, several more houses were scattered near the water, though they were smaller and simpler.
On the other side of an enormous, swirling iron gate, I counted at least eight columns supporting the roof of the wind-around porch, raised several feet off the ground. Once through the gate, we followed the men escorting us up the driveway, then the steps. They opened the huge doors to reveal an elaborate staircase in the center of the room, and directly in front of it was a table with the biggest, most exotic collection of flowers I’d ever seen.
“Take her bag to Griffin Hall, room seven,“ a man said as he came into the room. His nearly white blond hair was startling until I recognized him as Uri from the virtual tour. He wasn’t wearing the fancy suit he had on before, not even one like it. Instead, he wore a pastel blue polo shirt, which made his eyes of the same color seem to glow, and flowing white pants over sandals. The whole ensemble made him look more like someone from a vacation advertisement than the director of a prestigious school. But he turned to me and smiled, folding his hands in front of him at his hips. “Halsey, we are so happy to have you here,“ he said, beaming. “You must be hungry after your trip. Please, follow me.“
We walked further into the foyer, winding around the back of the enormous white staircase to the dining room, which was full of even more exotic flowers and trays of colorful fruit, various greens, cheeses, and soups. A handful of attendants stood at the back of the room, all of them wearing the same light gray and white uniform shirts and shorts—all of them with the same tanned, but hollow-eyed expressions as Tia and the men who greeted us at the helicopter.
“I’ll take you on a tour of the grounds later,” Leo said. “Though some of the buildings won’t open until classes start in a few days.”
“A few days?” I blurted, surprised classes started so soon. I thought there would be time to get acclimated like the 3-D tour said. Not to mention, I hadn’t even seen what credential programs they offered here.
Uri chuckled. “Don’t worry, Halsey. These aren’t the program classes you might be expecting—you’ll still need to decide that path,” he said, and I sighed in relief. “The classes Leo is referring to are the honing classes, designed to help you acclimate. Some say it’s the best part of the year.” I must have given him a strange look because Uri chuckled again, but this time, so did everyone else. “Now, shall we eat?” He held out an arm, gesturing for everyone to have a seat at the table. “The soups are getting cold.”
I barely knew where to start with the array of choices from the buffet.
“Try these,” Leo said, spooning some dark, heart-shaped berries onto my plate. I also opted for a bowl of stew that smelled nothing like cabbage. He sat next to me while Sylvie and Uri sat across from us at the table. The number of attendants had nearly doubled in the time it had taken to get our food, but I wasn’t sure why if it were just the four of us who were eating.
One of the attendants poured water into our glasses, and I immediately took a drink, not realizing how thirsty I was until I saw it sparkling in the glass. I was astonished at how unreal it tasted, which is to say, it tasted like nothing at all—and that was what made all the difference. In The Grind, the water always had a metallic taste that I’d apparently become accustomed to. This water made me look intently through the glass…the perfectly translucent glass.
“Comes from a spring right here on the island,” Uri said, apparently noticing my fascination. I put down the glass quickly, a little embarrassed.
“I can tell,” I said sheepishly. “The water in The Grind doesn’t taste anything like this. What kind of fruits are these?” I asked, trying to change the subject.
“Hurricane berries,” Leo answered with a small grin. “They’re native to the island as well. Try one.”
I did as he suggested and was shocked by the explosive flavor. It was tart, but also sweet, and nothing like I’d ever tasted.
“Why do they call these hurricane berries?” I asked, barely willing to stop chewing long enough to form the words.
“Because dey ripen at de beginnin’ of hurricane season,” Sylvie answered, but it took me a second to process what she said. This, then, must have been the beginning of hurricane season, just like Max had mentioned.
“Then storms are coming soon?” I asked, swallowing.
“We have a little time yet, and plenty of experience under our belts.” Uri nodded, then seemed to study me again. Why was everyone watching me?
In the same second I registered their odd attention, my fingers and lips started to tingle, and my throat felt like it was starting to swell.
“I think…I’m allergic,” I said, dropping the berry I was about to put into my mouth. ”My fingers are prickling, and my—“ I stopped abruptly and clutched at my throat.
“All perfectly natural,” Uri said, still beaming his megawatt smile at me as several of the attendants rushed toward me. “No, wait for the rest,” he said to them.
I tried to respond, but my voice was crushed, and I was only able to emit a few gasping shrieks. Why wasn’t anyone helping me? They were all just sitting at the table staring at me with stupid, patient smiles like I was over here having a temper tantrum or something.
I tried to scream for help, but it came out as a deafening screech like when Jen’s goons tried to drag me off back in The Grind.
“Oh! Maybe a hawk?” Sylvie said, pleasantly surprised at the sound I’d just made. I stared at her in disbelief until a searing pain ripped down either side of my back, making me fall out of my chair with the feeling of being yanked backward.
“I think bigger than a hawk,” Uri said, leaning forward a little as Leo got to his feet. I stared at them, imploring, but they didn’t move. Leo’s dark brows furrowed as he crossed his arms over his chest, his jaw clenching. I tried to yell for help, but again, I only heard the ear piercing screech I’d made a second ago.
After a ripping sound and a final burst of pain that radiated down my spine, I was pushed forward, face first into the planked wooden floor. I landed on my hands and scrambled to push up to my knees, stopping in horror as I watched my fingers shifting again, my fingernails growing and curving until my hands spread out like…feathers.
I got to my feet only to fall backward, my center of gravity somehow having shifted like I was carrying a pack full of lead. It wasn’t until I was on the ground again that I saw why. The shadow that loomed overhead made me scramble backward, as if instinctually trying to escape a predator.
But the predator was me.
Huge, dark brown, half-formed wings folded in around me, stretching out several feet in either direction once I took notice. All the breath left my lungs, and the air suddenly felt thin.
“What…” I breathed, and to my utter surprise, I actually heard my strangled voice.
“Eagle,” Uri said. “Definitely an eagle. Marvelous. Sylph, then.”
I shot him what I was sure must have been a crazed look because I was afraid to move, to speak, to do anything. I was paralyzed by the innumerable possibilities of what the hell was happening to me.
“Leo, give her da water,” Sylvie said, prompting him to cross to me with a cylindrical glass bottle. He stopped several feet away from me and splashed the contents of the bottle over me. The water cooled my skin, which up until now had felt like a fresh sunburn. The feathers I’d developed returned to fingers, and it felt like the weight had been lifted off my back several minutes later. When I turned to look over my shoulder, the enormous brown wings were gone.
“You’re OK,” Leo said, looking at me with an equal mix of pity and apology in his wide, brown eyes.
“What—?” I started again, but didn’t have the chance to finish my q
uestion before Uri came from around the table and offered me a hand up. I took it and stumbled to my feet, then quickly moved several steps back from everyone.
“There was really no good time to explain everything on the trip here,” Leo offered, his expression still pained.
“What just happened?” I finally managed, my throat feeling raw and scratchy.
“The world isn’t as you’ve come to know it, Halsey,” Uri said gently. “At least, not for you. Not for anyone on this island. That’s why we recruited you.”
“What are you talking about?” I nearly yelled, but my throat was too dry and sore to push out the words with any force. Leo handed me the rest of the water in the bottle.
“Drink that,” he said with a kind nod. I glared at him, but did as he said. The water was impossibly salty, and I nearly gagged, but in one swallow, the dry, swollen feeling was gone.
“That’s seawater?” I glanced up at Leo again, who offered a small smile this time.
“It reverses the change. Makes it dormant again until, well, until you call it back.”
“Call it back?” I asked, incredulous.
“You’ve undoubtedly heard of the virus known as Red Fever, haven’t you, Halsey?” Uri asked, jerking my attention back to him.
I narrowed my eyes. “Yes, it makes people violent.”
“Only those not of the blood.” Uri smiled. “Elemental blood—Sylph, of the air, Salamander, of fire, Undine, of water, and Gnome, of the earth.”
I looked at him for a long time, waiting for the words he’d strung together to make sense, but they never did.
I shook my head. “I need to know what just happened to me. What were those wings!?”
Uri arched a white-blond eyebrow. “It seems you have Sylph blood, Halsey.”
Chapter Thirteen
I glanced from Uri to Leo, then to Sylvie. They were all watching me with the same pitiful expressions on their faces, like I'd just missed winning the legacy lottery by a few numbers.
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