by Maria Amor
“News for me?” Julia raised an eyebrow. She had given Blake the two weeks to “prove” his trustworthiness and he’d managed—somehow—to come through, right before break. He’d come through in a way that Julia had least expected: getting some of the guys to back off her. At that, he had managed to do it without “claiming” her; he’d instead just talked to the boys at Sandrine that always seemed to either want her help with homework or get her advice about something, or to invite her to some party.
He’d positioned himself nearby, and every time she seemed to be besieged, he’d point out—firmly—that obviously it wasn’t working, and they should focus on arranged pairings or learn how to treat a girl like a human being.
“I had an interesting chat with one of the professors,” Blake said. Julia’s eyes widened. She hadn’t been able to even figure out who to talk to amongst the professors; she’d had no leads. Once Blake had earned her trust—at least as much as she’d been willing to bestow—she’d admitted to him, reluctantly, that she was trying to figure out what was going on with the abduction. She hadn’t had anyone to confide in for weeks—she needed some kind of partner-in-crime, and Magda wasn’t her idea of a good candidate, even if she was fun to be around.
“What did you find out?” Julia was still skeptical of Blake’s interest, but she had to admit she didn’t have much in the way of resources. She needed some kind of lead, some place to begin. If Blake was willing and able to help her out, she had to take what she could get.
“I found out that there was a security breach on campus that night,” Blake said. Julia rolled her eyes; that much was obvious—if there hadn’t been a security breach, then none of the students would have been abducted.
“Tell me something I don’t know,” she said tartly.
“What you don’t know—I would assume—is how the breach happened, where it was,” Blake said, raising an eyebrow at her and pinning her down with bright, ember-blue eyes. “I could tell you all about it.”
“What’s that going to cost me?” Julia crossed her arms over her chest; in spite of her distrust of Blake, she had to admit the initial impression of him being good-looking, and just confident enough, without being annoying, had stuck with her.
“I was going to offer to talk to you about it over coffee in the dining hall, but if you wanted to pay me I’d be okay with that,” Blake said. Julia rolled her eyes once more. All alone in the world of the School of Sandrine, she’d started spending more and more time in the library, reading, trying to understand her newly-developed abilities.
She had resisted the idea of studying with Ewan Crofts, but as it became more and more clear to Julia that the professors at Sandrine weren’t sure what to do with her, she had actually begun to look forward to the sessions in the summer, to being able to truly examine and develop the strengths she had suddenly come into.
Her ability to control the wind had become far more acute than it had ever been—even during the power surges that came up during her transition. Julia had only to think about the wind rising or falling and it responded to her commands; even more impressive—to her professors, at least—she could direct the wind in currents and countercurrents, almost weaving with it.
She had managed to add three more languages to her proficiency since her birthday, listening only to a handful of tapes of the languages in question before she caught the grammar, the intonation, and what she considered the “internal logic” of the vocabulary; she might not be able to carry on a native conversation in the three new tongues—but she could function in them, and Julia knew that she would eventually be fluent.
She had carefully avoided even practicing with her compulsion ability, beyond knowing that she had it—it was something that terrified her, to a degree.
“Okay,” Julia said. “Coffee and a slice of pie, and you tell me what you know.” She met Blake’s gaze and mentally compared him to Dylan. Dylan would have just given her the information without any buildup; but Blake wasn’t her longtime friend and co-conspirator. Blake had more spirit than Dylan tended to—but then, Julia knew, that was just as much a function of his alignment as Dylan’s ability to soothe her frazzled nerves had been a function of his.
Stop comparing them. It’s useless. A tiny, almost ignorable voice in her mind pointed out that Dylan was better looking—barely—but Blake had a little more rugged appeal; but Julia ignored it.
She closed the book and shoved it into her backpack, lifting the bag up and rising to her feet. You have to admit, he makes the uniform look good, Julia thought, as Blake led the way out of the library and towards the dining hall. Blake’s uniform fit him perfectly, and while neither the boys’ nor the girls’ uniforms were meant to have any sex appeal at all, Blake wore his with a swagger that almost mimicked what he was like in the tailored suit he’d worn to her birthday.
“Why don’t you find us a table somewhere tucked away where we can talk in private,” Blake suggested when they got to the dining hall and scanned their cards to confirm they were entitled to be there. “I’ll get coffee and pie.”
“If they have any of the pumpkin, I’ll have that,” Julia told him; it was only available on a limited basis, and the dining hall was running out of the supplies they needed for it. Remembering that reminded Julia that she’d spent all winter break without Dylan, and she felt a pang of guilt; all that time had passed, and she was no closer to figuring anything out about his situation than she had been the week after her birthday.
Julia left Blake’s side to find a table in the dining hall. Late in the afternoon, there weren’t very many people in the dining room area; but she still wanted to find an isolated place to talk to Blake about whatever it was he’d discovered.
She spotted a table for three tucked away along one wall, close to a corner that no one liked to sit in. Julia made her way towards it, and sat down before anyone else could think to take the spot, hoping that no one would claim the corner table either.
A few moments later, she saw Blake coming out of the serving area, with two mugs and two plates on a tray. Her heart beat faster in her chest, and Julia tried not to question just why that was.
Julia waved him over, and Blake carried the tray to the table, setting it down between them as he sat. “So,” Blake said, as he took his own pie—apple—and coffee and set it in front of himself. “Where should I begin?”
“At the beginning,” Julia suggested, claiming her slice of pumpkin pie and her coffee. It surprised her—a little—to realize with her first sip that Blake had figured out exactly the way she liked it; but she didn’t comment on that fact.
“I spoke with Professor Brenton,” Blake said, taking a sip of his coffee to chase the bite of pie down. “He said that one of the things they found at one of the kidnap sites was a rag, doused with valerian, ether, vetivert, and a few other aligned substances.” Julia’s eyes widened at that; she hadn’t known whether the kidnapped students had been hurt or drugged to get them off of the Sandrine campus.
“You said that Brenton knew about the security breach,” Julia pointed out. “What’s the deal there?”
“Brenton said that whoever did the kidnappings knew the top-level codes,” Blake said. “They were able to get access to the school because they could tell security something that would make them look like they belonged here. He said he thought—but he wasn’t sure—that they were probably in landscaping or maintenance uniforms.”
Julia pressed her lips together, considering. She might be able to go to Brenton later on, on her own, and find out more information; but what Blake had found out on his own, if she could trust it, opened up a particular suspicion in her mind. The materials in the rags that they’d found seemed to be earth-aligned, and most of the maintenance tasks done on the Sandrine campus were done by earth-aligned entities.
That seemed to point to earth-aligned Guardians being behind the kidnapping; but Julia couldn’t see why they would abduct six students just because they were her friends and allies.
“I don’t have all of your abilities,” he said, half-smiling as he took another bite of pie. “I could ask, but I couldn’t compel.”
“Don’t talk about that,” Julia said.
“The really interesting thing is that they haven’t been able to close the gap in security procedures,” Blake pointed out.
“They haven’t? After all this time?” Blake shook his head.
“They implemented a new password, and new codes, but they weren’t able to figure out how the kidnappers got the original codes—so they can’t know if they have the new ones.”
That fact deepened Julia’s sense of alarm. Her grandmother had sent her back to Sandrine reluctantly enough; if she knew that there was such an open spot in the school’s defenses, she wouldn’t let Julia stay there. If I can’t stay here, then I won’t be able to find out what’s going on with Dylan. It stood to reason that the most evidence that she could find would be at the site of the kidnappings—at least at first.
“I’ll have to think about how to move forward with that,” Julia told Blake.
“But you’ll keep me included, won’t you? I have to admit, I’m pretty curious about where this is going to lead.” Julia shrugged; she didn’t think that she would trust Blake with more than just the basics—but she had to trust someone, and she needed someone who could be a good partner for what she had in mind. Magda wouldn’t have had the native intelligence to work out who to approach for the information that Blake had gotten. For that matter, how did he figure it out? Julia had to wonder.
“I guess I can keep you around for a while,” Julia said. “You’ve come in handy getting me a lead, at least.” Julia considered for a moment longer, eating the crust from her pie thoughtfully. “How did you know to talk to Brenton?”
“He’s involved in security,” Blake said. “I remembered my mom mentioning it.” Julia raised an eyebrow but didn’t press him further for details.
“I’ll have to think,” Julia said. “But thanks for that.” She didn’t know how to ask Blake to leave her alone—and Julia realized that she would actually feel lonely if she did. Magda was getting more and more involved in fencing club, and Julia’s other friends—who hadn’t been abducted—seemed to have largely abandoned her, though she couldn’t entirely tell if it was because of Keegan’s rumors, or the fear that they’d be abducted too.
In either case, she couldn’t really blame them. “Aren’t you afraid that if you hang out with me long enough, you’ll get abducted too?”
“Not really,” Blake said with a shrug. “I figure they got who they wanted, and if they want to come after me—well, I’m pretty well able to defend myself.” Julia raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
“They captured a pretty powerful water-aligned Guardian, and five air-aligned students who were strong, too,” Julia pointed out.
“They haven’t come after you though,” Blake countered. “And if they were after you, they would have done it by now, right?” Julia shrugged.
“Maybe they just want me isolated for some reason,” she suggested. “Though I have no freaking clue why.”
“That’s possible,” Blake said. He put his plate aside and finished off his coffee. “But I’m happy to help you get to the bottom of it.”
Julia hesitated, but she couldn’t put her finger on a good reason to distrust him. He’d done so much to earn her trust, had helped her; she couldn’t just push him away, could she?
“I guess I should head back to the dorms or something,” Julia said with a sigh. “I don’t really have anything to do.”
“So why don’t you ask for an off-campus pass, and come with me into the town?” Julia stared at Blake in surprise. As a senior, she could get a pass to go off-campus three times a week; she and Dylan would have made use of the once-weekly passes they could get the previous year as juniors, but Ruth had more or less forbidden it, and her energy spasms had made it a risky proposition.
“I don’t know,” Julia said, looking down at her empty plate.
“Oh, come on,” Blake said. “You’re well enough able to take care of yourself, right?” Julia thought about it. Ruth hadn’t forbidden her from leaving the campus, but she hadn’t been in favor of it either; Julia still didn’t have complete control of her full abilities, and she was—obviously—in danger with Dylan and her other friends missing. “And you’ll be with me. We can keep each other safe.”
“Are you trying to take over for Dylan?” Julia crossed her arms over her chest and half-scowled at Blake.
“Obviously, I can’t do that,” Blake said. “But I could be a backup for you. I’m not a weakling.” He held out one hand, palm up, and before Julia’s eyes a small, intense ball of fire formed right in the center, blue and orange and red swirling around with no apparent source: only Blake’s energy. “I’d bet that together we could be pretty formidable.”
“But we wouldn’t even know until it was too late if someone was after us,” Julia pointed out.
“Put that telepathic talent of yours to use and there’s no reason we’d be surprised.” Julia frowned and thought about it hard. It would definitely be a good change from the way she’d been living her life since Dylan had been abducted; she was hungry for something different.
As long as she and Blake were back on-campus before curfew, there shouldn’t be any trouble with her parents or grandmother. And, she thought, smiling to herself, Guthrie was more willing than ever to go along with her requests.
“Okay,” Julia said. “But—promise me we’ll be back well before curfew?”
“Of course,” Blake said. “Whenever you want to come back, we will.”
“Even if it’s like, one mile out from campus?” Blake laughed.
“I thought air-aligned Guardians were carefree and impulsive.”
“Most air-aligned Guardians don’t have their friends abducted from under them,” Julia countered. “But we can go.” She wanted to put her backpack away in her room before they left. “Let’s put our stuff away, and I want to change into street clothes before we go.”
“Good idea,” Blake said. “I’ll get the passes for us.” Julia took their plates and cups onto the tray and carried them to the dirty dish disposal. She felt her heart beating faster in her chest, and in the back of her mind she knew that going out alone with Blake would just start more rumors; but she couldn’t resist the idea.
Julia hurried to her room and dropped off her backpack, finding her purse in the drawer before she changed into a pair of jeans and a sweater. She pulled on a coat over it, slipped her feet into her favorite Doc Martens, and hurried back down to where Blake would be waiting for her at the entrance to the school. I hope he was able to get the passes, or we’re going to look like fools.
Blake stood at the gate in his own street clothes: jeans, a suede jacket, and worn leather boots, his hands stuffed in his pockets, though it wasn’t too cold; when Julia approached, he pulled one hand out of his pocket and showed her the two passes. “Guthrie couldn’t sign off on them fast enough,” Blake said with a smirk. “Where to?”
“Let’s get an Uber or something, and go to the mall I guess,” Julia said, feeling shy without being able to say just why.
“Sounds good—and if we miss dinner, we can grab something there.” Blake offered Julia his arm, but in spite of the fact that she was feeling better about him, she couldn’t make herself take it. It would have been weird; she would have compared it too much to taking Dylan’s arm and felt guilty over it. Instead, she snatched up the pass with her name on it and shoved it into her pocket, giving Blake a quick smile to take the sting out of her rejection.
“Let’s get going,” she suggested. “I want to see that new candy shop everyone’s been talking about.” As they stepped through the gates to leave the campus, Julia had to wonder how it was possible to feel so comfortable and so awkward around someone at the exact same time. She glanced at Blake once,
twice, again, trying to think of something to talk to him about and not being able to come up with anything. We can’t spend the whole time in silence. Come on, Jules: you’re better than this! “What’s your favorite candy?” It was a weak question, but at least it was something.
“I love sour gummies,” Blake said. “And anything with cinnamon or ginger in it, obviously.” Julia grinned, rolling her eyes.
“Of course,” she said.
“What about you?” Julia shrugged.
“Sour gummies—especially sour cola bottles,” she replied. “Anything with a really strong flavor.” She considered it. “I like chocolate, but not all the time.”
“Then all those boxes the earth-aligned boys kept sending you were a bad idea for sure,” Blake said, chuckling.
“Yeah, that didn’t really endear me to them,” Julia said. “If just one of them had thought to send me—like—a pound of jelly belly beans, or something like that, it would have been different.”
“I’m glad they listened to me and backed off a bit,” Blake told her. “It was like watching someone slowly be eaten alive.” Julia made a face and took out her phone to hail the nearest Uber driver.
“I’ve sort of gotten used to it,” she admitted. “I mean—you saw how it was at my birthday.”
“It’s gotta be annoying though,” Blake said. “Especially…” he looked at her and looked away. “So will you be straight with me? Was there ever anything at all between you and Dylan?” Julia stared at him, tempted to turn around and walk back to campus, canceling the ride into town.
“No,” she said, watching him intently for any sign of a reaction. “I know there were a ton of rumors, but we’re just friends.”
“But you feel responsible for him, right?” Blake raised an eyebrow. “I mean, you’re going through so much trouble to find him.”
“Because I owe him,” Julia said. “And because he and the others are my closest friends.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Blake said. “But if it were just him, would you be this anxious about it?” Julia considered.
