The rest of my air fell out as my heart bled for her. I missed her. And the unknown of what became of her was too much to handle.
"Whoa." Asher's voice filled the air around us.
Noah and Piper nodded in agreement as their eyes fell in somber remembrance of our vibrant mentor.
As I turned my attention to Asher's amazed gaze, my eyes shot to Hattie.
At first, she stood motionless, staring, but in the next instant, she quaked with spasms throughout her body and her knees buckled beneath her. Noah jumped behind her as she collapsed in a twitching, slow-motion faint, and he lowered her gently to the ground.
Her strange reaction was exactly like her episode at the stables earlier. It was like a psychic overload had bowled her over.
In the same moment she fell, Clayton bombed out from behind a garden statue at the edge of the terrace. A blur of purple from his jacket filled my vision as the shock of him overwhelmed my senses. He knelt and checked on Hattie as she remained motionless on the ground.
"Get Graney Greta," he said to Piper. "Please. Hurry."
Piper ran across the terrace and through the high glass doors to find the head nurse.
I stared at Clayton in disbelief as if he'd just materialized out of thin air.
Where the hell had he come from? His timing was impeccable.
I stared at him in shock, wondering yet again what his supernatural abilities might be. He'd kept them hidden so well. For all I knew, he could be a ghost.
He looked up at me with a guilty expression, knowing he'd just busted in on a private conversation.
"Yeah, sorry for jumping in like this," he said, baring his bright white teeth. "I, ah, may or may not have been eavesdropping."
Clayton carried Hattie's limp body as Graney Greta supported her head.
"Asher, you stay with Noah and Piper," I said, rushing toward the infirmary. "I'll be back once Hattie is settled."
Asher stared with a million questions beaming from his eyes. It was as if he'd been left on the biggest cliff-hanger of his life. I was sure Noah and Piper would quench his curiosity with further details of the story from Hell's Gates. They'd heard it enough times.
As Clayton placed Hattie on the bed, I positioned the pillow squarely under her head. She murmured and whimpered as if caught in the middle of a strange dream, and Clayton looked at me with worried eyes.
"Not to fear," Greta said, placing a cool towel on Hattie's forehead. "It's all very new for her. She's not quite able to process the flood of sensory information, particularly at the rate it's been coming. I'd say she has very little experience of her gifts and is easily overwhelmed."
I nodded, having suspected such.
Graney Greta straightened her white frock and pushed her wild gray hair back with her reading glasses. "Maybe the two of you could slow down a bit, you know, with your eager orientation activities. Keep it to a gentler introductory level." She peered at us through her tipped brow.
"Yes, Ma'am," Clayton agreed. "I hadn't realized it would be too much."
She nodded in acceptance and turned to me.
I swallowed hard as I tried to find the words of agreement, but all I wanted to do was learn more about Hattie and whatever it was that kept overloading her circuits. Slowing down was the absolute last thing I wanted to do.
Clayton caught my hesitation and glared at me with lifted brows. He cleared his throat to get my attention.
Snapping to, I nearly choked on my spit.
"Yes, Graney. Sorry. We'll slow down and give her more time to adjust before moving forward with her training."
I looked at Hattie lying peacefully in the bed and knew she'd be okay. She'd just need additional support around how to manage her overloads.
Graney Greta narrowed her eyes on me, like she could see right through me, and she probably could. But instead of belaboring the point, she swatted us away.
"Good, then. Be off with ya. We'll give her a bit of a rest."
With no room for negotiation, she shuffled us out of the infirmary and closed the door at our backs.
Clayton ran his hands down his jacket to smooth out any wrinkles as if to clear his squeaky clean reputation of any tarnish.
"Well, that's a glitch I've never seen in a new recruit before," he huffed.
I turned and blocked his way, refusing to allow him to avoid the true conversation that needed to be had.
He wasn't as squeaky-clean as he had hoped.
"Eavesdropping?" I said, tipping my head. "Isn't that a little beneath you?"
My anger from Josie's attack on the terrace returned like a runaway freight train. And the fact that Clayton had remained a silent bystander through her rant made me fume further.
"Yeah, I know," he muttered. "Sorry about that."
Sorry about that? That was it?
Not this time. Clayton couldn't hide behind The Big Three any longer. I just wasn't going to allow it. It wasn't who he was, and I knew it.
"You're a follower, Clayton. Just one of her minions. You're not fooling anyone."
As soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted them. It was really none of my business how Clayton wanted to live his life. But I couldn't help caring. I'd seen glimpses of him in the last two days that I believed were his true self. And I couldn't deny that I liked it.
Damn it.
But it was true. As much as I wanted to hate him, like the rest of The Big Three, I just couldn't.
"It's how I protect myself," he murmured.
"What?" I pulled my chin back, not expecting a response.
"It's how I remain unexposed. You know, keep a certain image to hide what's really going on." He shrugged one shoulder.
I stared at him in disbelief.
"Never mind," he said. "It doesn't matter."
I held his eyes with mine, and for the first time, saw the self-loathing that hid deep within him. It took me aback, and I nearly gasped.
It was the exact opposite of the nature he portrayed to others.
He blinked and pulled his gaze away from mine.
I wasn't sure if he knew what I'd just seen, but at the same time, it was almost like he'd allowed it.
"I'm really pissed that Josie did that to you," he continued. "It all happened so fast, I didn't know how to stop it. I, I stayed back afterward to try to apologize or whatever. But then I heard what you were saying." He rubbed the back of his neck as if trying to process everything. "I hid behind the statue so I could hear the whole story."
I nodded with my lips pressed tight.
"It's not at all what Josie's been telling everyone," he added.
"Yup," I agreed. "I'm aware."
"Why haven't you explained yourself?" he asked, standing taller. "You should defend yourself." His voice grew louder.
"Oh, right," I chimed. "Against the word of the queen bee herself? She had everyone believing the lies before I could explain anything. Those woods were off-limits. Everyone knew that, so I didn't stand a chance. She's clever like that, you know. Finding people's weaknesses and exploiting them."
"Weakness?" The sound snapped my head around, and I stared straight into Josie's glib face as she entered the hallway from out of nowhere.
She chuckled. "Weakness is a good choice of words. Very suiting for the situation, don't you think?"
My palms squeezed tight as my temper shot my internal temperature to near-boiling.
At this point, violence wasn't out of the question as I imagined attacking her and punching her straight in the face.
But before I had the chance to throw it down, Clayton swung his arm in front of me.
His interception was probably a blessing since a physical altercation at Hazeldene was never a good idea. But at the same time, I was ready to fight this battle with Josie. It was beyond time to shut her down.
"You're full of shit, Josie," Clayton said.
My hands immediately unclenched as my jaw fell open.
"Excuse me?" Josie retorted.
Her voice
remained bitchy, but a flash of surprise shot from her eyes. She was caught off guard by Clayton's accusation.
"You're full of shit," he repeated, more slowly this time as if she had difficulty with hearing and comprehension.
She glanced at Lauren, looking for support. Lauren giggled nervously, twirling her long, chestnut curls, hoping it would all blow over.
Clayton pointed a finger at Josie and continued. "It's time for you to tell the truth and clear Shaye's name. Your bullshit stories are a smokescreen to appear stronger than her. But it's crap."
Josie's face tightened into a grimace.
"I knew it!" She spat, staring at Clayton as if he were nothing to her. "She got to you. Probably some kind of spell." She let out a condescending laugh. "Pitiful."
Clayton squared his shoulders and stepped closer to me.
"I'm sick of the games, Josie. The lies. It has to stop," he stated without wavering.
Josie looked at me as if I were a speck of dirt on her shoe and then stared back at Clayton in disgust.
"Have you lost your mind?" she barked. "That girl is cursed, Clayton. She's playing with you, and you're allowing it."
My breath sucked in.
Cursed?
What the hell was she talking about now?
Josie huffed in disbelief. "Seriously, Clayton?"
He stood taller.
"That's bullshit, and you know it," he retorted.
"Oh, yeah," she seethed. "Just ask Miss Rosco. She's practically mayor around Lakefield and knows everything in this town. She's assessing the academy for accreditation, and is well aware that Shaye is our weak link." She snickered, narrowing a side-glance at me. "That girl is cursed. She has a debt to be repaid, and a hellish demon coming to collect."
My eyes widened.
What the hell was she talking about? Cursed? And what did Laney Rosco have to do with any of this anyway? I barely knew her.
My eyes squeezed shut, warding off a migraine.
As the four of us stared at each other in a stand-off, my mind raced with the crazy words she'd spewed. I strained to not let them affect me, but they were too powerful. They seeped into me like insidious venom from a striking viper.
Could it be true?
Was I really cursed?
The notion wasn't all that far-fetched.
Being cursed would certainly explain a lot. And having a hellish demon on my trail sounded about right.
And a curse might explain why I was so unclear about my past.
Why I could never trust anyone or allow them close enough to truly know me.
Why I couldn't get a handle on my fire element and burned everything around me every time I actually felt something.
Shit. I was cursed.
I stared at Josie's back as she glided away with an arrogant strut, leaving my mangled carnage in her wake once again.
"You know she's full of shit," Clayton said, attempting to pick up the pieces.
"No," I replied. "I don't think so."
As the last word left my mouth, the door behind us smashed open, and Asher came running in. Noah and Piper followed behind him like a couple of frazzled parents who'd lost control of their hyper child.
"Asher," Piper called. "We told you to wait outside."
Her words drowned out by Asher's exuberance.
He pulled in between Clayton and me and looked up into my face. His auburn curls danced around his sparkling eyes, making me smile.
"Is everything okay?" he blurted. "Is Hattie alright? What's going on?"
He bounced in his heels, not wanting to miss a single thing.
"She's okay," I said, placing a hand on his shoulder to calm him. "She just needs to rest."
"Oh, good. Okay." He looked to Clayton, then back to me. "What? What'd I miss?"
Noah and Piper pulled in closer, sensing, too that they'd missed something.
Clayton's eyes met mine in a silent pact that we'd keep our new information quiet for the moment, until we knew more about it, anyway. Stating that I was possibly cursed was not something I just wanted to blurt out, particularly not before it was proven. There were enough rumors floating around about me. This was one I did not need added to the list.
Asher studied my face through his innocent eyes. "Why does Josie spread those lies about you? It's so obvious none of it is true."
I smiled at him as his words soothed my aching soul. His gift allowed him to see the truth in people as he felt their emotions. I wished all the students at Hazeldene had the same ability. His calming effect went into full throttle when he felt disruption in the injustice around him, and it helped ease my tension.
"Jealousy," Clayton said out of nowhere. "Josie's threatened by her."
"Totally," Piper chimed in. "She hated Shaye from the moment she met her, before she knew anything about her."
Asher's brow pulled together in confusion. "What is she jealous about? Everyone here is special."
Clayton shrugged. "Something about her gifts." He gazed at me with his dark brown eyes, as if trying to understand me better.
"And Josie isn’t used to not being the prettiest girl in the room," Noah blurted, pulling Clayton's attention off me. "She knew she'd lost that game as soon as she saw Shaye."
All eyes fell on him, and he quickly looked down as his face burned red.
"Not that that matters," he shrugged. "It just does to her, for some reason." He paused. "And it didn't help that Shaye commanded the attention of anyone who set eyes on her."
Noah hid beneath the black hair that fell over his forehead, but I could still see the crystal blue in his eyes as he peered at me through his dark lashes. A nervous pang shot through my stomach as I felt his angst. And now, he was talking himself into a hole, as usual. I prayed he would just stop talking and allow the moment to blow over.
But it was too late. He'd already said the words. And it wasn't so much the words, but how they sounded when they left his lips.
Piper stared with her big eyes, speechless at Noah's admission. It wasn't like she hadn't always said it, though. She teased me to no end that Noah had a crush on me, but I'd always dismissed it. His friendship meant too much to muddy things with errant emotions.
Clayton rubbed the back of his neck, averting his eyes from Noah as the silence in the group became unbearable.
"Whatever her problem is, I can't help but think there's some truth in it," I blurted.
I couldn't help saying it. It was how I felt.
Josie knew something about me. It was enough to give her the confidence to continue her attacks on me, and it was high time I found out what the hell she knew.
Everyone's eyes landed on me.
"You know, where there's smoke, there's usually fire." I shrugged. "Something tells me there's a growing blaze, and I need to find it before it becomes an inferno."
"What's this I hear of infernos?" Chancellor Kelly's voice shot us to full attention.
She walked into the great room with her entourage around her. With narrowed eyes, she studied me and then squared her shoulders.
"With the trials only days away, it seems to me that now is a good time to practice controlling such a blaze." She glanced at me as one eyebrow lifted.
Prof Finneas and Hannah Luna watched me for a reaction, and I fidgeted under their scrutiny.
Finally finding my voice, I cleared my throat and said, "I agree." I glanced at the others. "We need to begin training right away."
Asher stepped closer and looked up at me with a hopeful gaze. "Do I get to train with fire, too?"
I smiled. "I'm not sure yet, Asher. Part of your training will include finding your main element and where your strengths lie."
"You'll need to keep Hattie close, as well," Chancellor Kelly added. "She's showing vulnerability to the forces around us, yet she'll be a necessary part of your planning."
I shot my attention to her, curious about how Hattie fit into all of this. I'd already felt something intense from her like she had a larger role in the c
haos than any of us knew.
"Will do," Clayton stated as if reminding the chancellor that he was Hattie's mentor.
Prof Finneas stepped forward, swiping the thinning wisps of hair across his shiny brow. He pulled his feet together as he stood straight, accentuating his effort at constant formality.
"You mustn't veer off the strict expectations of preparation for the trials," he stated as if reading from a script. "The history of the Fire Festival must be honored and respected. Such a ritual requires focus and precision. I expect you will all use the utmost integrity while you prepare." His head tipped as if waiting for a reply.
"Yes, Professor Finneas," Piper chimed. "We promise."
He nodded and glanced at the rest of us.
"Yes, sir," Noah and Clayton said at the same time.
I nearly laughed as their melding voices stopped short, and they cast annoyed glares at each other.
Prof Finneas turned his attention to me. His steady gaze proved that it was my response he waited for.
I pressed my lips together, struggling with my inner demons. The internal debate that churned through me sent my scheming in fifty directions as I struggled to find an adequate response to his inquiry. I wanted to play this by my rules, but with the pressure of the headmasters bearing down on me, I had no choice but to kowtow.
But there were so many factors racing through my mind.
Should I face my demons?
I had to decide right now, in front of my friends and in front of my mentors.
Would I sacrifice everything to discover the source of my curse?
I'd have to confront Josie. I'd have to expose my weakness to all.
I'd have to face the banshee who'd been stalking me from the shadows.
And then there was Hattie. Was I ready to learn her secrets? Whatever she was hiding seemed to have the power to dismantle me.
And Clayton. Was I ready to allow someone in?
My inner debate exhausted me as I rushed to find the answer Prof Finneas waited for—the answer they all waited for.
I drew in a deep breath, scanning the faces of the people that meant the most to me, each and every one of them.
"Yes, Prof," I nodded. "I'll focus my preparation for the trials with integrity. And I'll do what's necessary to sharpen my skills while upholding the core values of the academy."
Mystic Coven: Fire Festival (Supernatural Academy Graduates Book 1) Page 6
