She winked at us as we snickered. “I think I’ve met all of you last term, although some of you transferred in from other schools.”
She asked the newbies to introduce themselves. Lillian stepped forward, her fair skin flushed with nerves. I remembered how awkward this was, having to stand there in front of the whole class and talk about herself. I smiled at her encouragingly, and her face relaxed. She came from a non-magical family like myself. When the fallout of the reactor explosion had triggered powers in her, she’d been picked up immediately from her home and brought to the academy.
“My computer science teacher got suspicious when I picked up a USB stick for a few dollars and backed up my entire PC with it.” She grinned as the class laughed. “My powers aren’t as spectacular as some of yours, but they’re super useful.”
She won’t have any problems fitting in. I like her. On the way back to her chair, I stuck out my hand, and we fist-bumped. Mrs. Palmer looked on with an indulgent smile before turning serious. “Thanks for welcoming the new students, class. Amber, since you’ve already met Lillian, would you like to be her mentor for the rest of the term?”
I nodded, surprised and pleased. Kiernan had been my mentor last term, and although I hadn’t called on him often, it had been comforting to know somebody was there to help.
“Sure,” I answered. Maybe Lillian could help me with Tech-Mag—even after one class, I had a feeling I was going to need it.
Mrs. Palmer laid out the course work for us until the end of term. Elemental Magic would take up a huge chunk throughout the coming months. During the last term, we’d had ninety minutes of class daily. This term, we were expected to do twice as much.
“We’ll split the time we have. One part will be theoretical knowledge and indoor exercises. The other will consist of teamwork and outside work. Some of you will get the hang of it immediately, others will need a lot of practice. You will make mistakes. Some of your powers can be catastrophic and need to be curtailed. Some of you will need encouragement to stretch yourselves.”
Her gaze swept over us, taking in our spell-bound rapture. “You will also learn parry and sortie—”
Lance leaned over and whispered, “What are those?”
I shrugged. “I think they’re fencing terms? No idea.”
Mrs. Palmer shot a sharp look at Lance, who sat up right away. “Sorry,” he mouthed.
“As I was saying, you will learn parry and sortie, which means how to defend and attack. I understand you already practiced some of this in P.E. with Mr. Castle, but we will formalize the concepts.”
I was sure I wasn’t the only one whose ears perked up. We were going to learn some really bad-ass things, by the sound of it. At the same time, the idea of releasing my lightning powers onto another student, even with a teacher present, made my stomach heave. Images of smoldering bodies flashed through my mind. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to push the memories down. A hand covered mine, and a thumb stroked over the back of fingers.
“It’s okay. Shh, it’s fine,” Lance whispered.
Mrs. Palmer had turned away to grab a list from her leather bag. Lance’s touch had pulled me from the edge, and a couple of deep breaths grounded me in the present. By the time the teacher turned back toward the class, I was fine. But as much as I liked Mrs. Palmer, the next thirty minutes were pure torture. She ran through admin procedures, who to contact if we were sick, which texts we were expected to work with, and finally, who was going to pair up for the final exam.
“I’m making this easy. Pick the person next to you. If there’s a problem, discuss it with me after class. You’d better have a good reason, though. Part of the teamwork process is to learn to work with people, even if they aren’t your first choice.”
“You okay being my partner?” Lance grinned as he said that.
My stomach flipped again. His grin went straight through me, and I smiled back helplessly. Trying my hardest to keep my face from showing how flustered I was, I nodded. “Sure thing.”
When we were dismissed, Lance took my hand and kissed it. My mouth fell open, yet I couldn’t think of a thing to say. I stood like a fool, my hand suspended in the air, staring after Lance as he left the room. Before he disappeared, he turned and waved.
What had just happened? I quickly looked around to make sure nobody had noticed. No such luck. Kiernan and Julian approached with broad grins on their faces.
“Looks like he’s into you.”
I shook my head vehemently. “No, he doesn’t even like me.”
Just because he suddenly behaved differently didn’t mean I’d forgotten his derision last term. He was probably only grateful because I’d helped him when he’d gotten knocked out. That was all.
Kiernan laughed. “No, he likes you. Why else would he have covered your lunch when you first got here?”
My jaw dropped again. Lance had done what? I remembered my first few days at the academy and my humiliation when I hadn’t even had enough money to buy a lunch token. At first, the woman handing out food had refused to serve me, but then relented. I thought it had been because she’d felt sorry for me. I’d had no idea the kid flinging insults at me had been the reason she’d changed her mind.
Julian watched me closely. Putting his arm around me, his voice dropped to an intimate level. “Are you interested in him?”
I jerked back. “Interested? I... No… What…?”
I was so confused, I didn’t know what to say. My boys were giving me permission to date a third guy? Did I even want that? I had no idea. But Lance both intrigued and bewildered me. I wanted to learn more about him.
Julian’s lips brushed against my temple. As I shivered in reaction, he murmured, “Because if you were, we wouldn’t mind. Just don’t fool around behind our backs, okay?”
7
What? Had I heard that right? My gaze flew to Kiernan for confirmation. His hand brushed along the collar of my shirt, and my knees weakened. As if on command, both boys stepped back, leaving me to sway for a moment until Kiernan steadied me. “We’ll be late for P.E. if we don’t hurry up.”
Linking my arms with Kiernan and Julian on either side, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. I loved having them back, and judging by their grins, they were just as happy as I was. The awkwardness between Kiernan and me had disappeared. And what about Lance? Things are about to get even more interesting.
That feeling lasted for all of five minutes until we arrived at the P.E. hall. The boys put some distance between us, and we entered the building one by one. The hall wasn’t as big as my old high school sports facility, but it served its purpose. We didn’t play basketball or dodge ball—P.E. at the academy was more about the practical application of what we’d learned in all the other classes.
The teacher in charge, Mr. Castle, was tall and built. He would have been good-looking, even at his age, if he hadn’t been such a bully. It wasn’t even that he picked on the slow and fat kids. No, he had an underhanded way of insulting you to your face. Or maybe I was a bit slow to pick up on it, but last term, he’d said a few things to me I hadn’t realized were offensive until the other kids had snickered. Yeah, maybe I’d been just that stupid. But not stupid enough to trust him again.
He didn’t disappoint. The needling started the moment we entered the hall and found Mr. Castle waiting for us. “Well, well, well. Amber Whitman. I don’t know how you managed to pin the blame on Mr. Strickland, but you’re not fooling me. I know you lost control of your powers, and somehow Malcolm took the fall for it. I can’t expel you from my class, but put one foot out of line, and I’ll have you handed over to the FBMA.”
Okay, so this time around he didn’t bother subtly attacking me. It sounded like he was on the warpath. Did I mention I hated P.E. with a passion? For a split-second, the ever-present ball of magic at the pit of my stomach contracted, ready to explode. It would be so easy to hit him with my lightning power. But knowing I could probably reduce him to a pile of ashes was enough to hold me back.
I stood up straight and glared at him, wanting to show I wasn’t going to take any crap from him. That was when he stepped close and whispered so quietly only I could hear it, “Give me one reason—one reason—to report you, and I’ll make sure you’ll never get out of here. And don’t even think about lashing out. We’re watching you.”
I must have lost all the color in my face because Julian grabbed my arm and said, “Woah, girl. Are you okay? Do you need to sit down?”
Smiling shakily, I said, “No, I just felt a little woozy. Maybe I didn’t eat enough.”
Julian let go of me but stayed close. I could feel his worried gaze on me, and I stepped away to prove I was fine. Kiernan waited until Castle had found another victim before asking, “What did the dirtbag say to you?”
I didn’t want to seem weak in front of the boys, but Castle had actually freaked me out. So I told them. Kiernan’s face turned grim, and Julian stared at me. “Report you to who? And who is watching you? You need to tell Ms. Farkas.”
I knew Julian’s story and how he revered the head witch. After she had taken him in, he merited her with saving his life. To him, she was a mother-figure and could solve any problem. I liked her, too, after she’d helped me defeat Strickland last term. But I couldn’t imagine she’d believe me if I went to her complaining about another teacher. Not without proof anyway.
Like all the other classes on the first day, P.E. was all about admin and schedules today. We wouldn’t be tested individually by Mr. Castle, and our grades depended on our performance throughout the coming months. Just like in Mrs. Palmer’s class, we would train for defense and attack, honing our primary powers.
For the last thirty minutes of class, Castle split us into groups. Lance was in one group with half the students. Julian, Kiernan, and I were in the other group. As we stood, excited for something to happen after all the boring talking, Lillian waved at me from the back of the hall. There were at least forty students in this class, and I hadn’t seen her up to now.
Mr. Castle clapped his hands, drawing our attention. “Let’s make this more interesting. Half of you,” he said, pointing at the other group, “will attack the other half with all you have. I want to see what your baseline skills are.”
Deadly silence fell in the hall. We all stared at him, eyes wide and scared. Most of the students here had potentially deadly magical powers and were barely in control of them. We were first-year students, not experienced third-years.
Lillian raised her hand and said, “Mr. Castle, I don’t have any offensive powers. What am I supposed to do?”
Mr. Castle regarded her thoughtfully. “Good point. Thanks for raising it. Why don’t you join the other group?”
Lillian looked like she was about to cry. “But… I don’t have any defensive powers either.”
“That’s too bad. Move position, please.” Mr. Castle turned away, expecting his instructions to be obeyed. Lillian walked the length of the hall and joined my side.
“I’m scared. I don’t know what to do. My magic is all about technology.” Her voice was so low, I could barely hear her.
Kiernan said, “Why don’t you let us shield you? We’ll try our best to deflect any attacks.”
Lillian quickly moved behind Julian and Kiernan. I smiled at her encouragingly before taking my position next to the boys. As I eyed up the group of twenty minus one students opposite us, I swallowed hard. This was completely stupid. And reckless. Somebody could get badly hurt. And Castle didn’t seem to care.
The teacher waited until we were all lined up. “Right, this is going to be fun. Consider it a warm-up for your finals. First, I’d like the attacking side to throw your primary powers at the opposition. You’ve known each other since the beginning of last term. You know what those powers are. And you’ve learned how to cancel them out. You need to work together to quickly decide whose magic is the most appropriate to defend your party. Ready? Let’s go.”
I eyed up the kids opposite me. Despite what Mr. Castle had just said, I really wasn’t sure what most of their powers were. Lance’s was air, but what about the others? Next to me, Julian and Kiernan had dropped into a defensive crouch, ready for whatever might come their way.
“One at a time, please,” Mr. Castle instructed. I exhaled with relief. Instead of a group onslaught, we were supposed to defend ourselves against each attacker individually. That would be so much easier. The first up was a tall, freckled boy with a one-sided smirk.
“He’s a fire mage,” Kiernan called out. I relaxed, knowing my lightning power would be useless against the student’s particular magic. Instead, Julian tensed, ready to let rip. The attacker stretched out his arms, palms facing us, and sent a column of solid fire toward us. I ducked as the first wave of heat rolled over me. The stink of burning hair was thick in the air.
8
The flames roared so loudly I couldn’t hear my scream. The heat pushed the air in front of it into a storm, blowing our hair backwards and singeing our skin.
Julian, for God’s sake, do something. As if he’d heard me, he stretched out his fingertips and sent a stream of grayish water toward the approaching inferno. The two elements met with deafening impact. Fire and water combined to create a column of hissing steam, canceling each other out. Once the spectacle was over, both sides stared at each other in shock.
Even Mr. Castle seemed impressed. He looked up at the ceiling where the evaporation had left a damp spot. “Well done, both of you. We’ve got time for one more. You”—he pointed at Lance—“show us what you can do.”
Lance nodded and stepped forward. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Then he straightened to his full height and blew lightly, then ever stronger. At first, a breeze moved the hair next to my ears. Then, the gentle puff of air turned into a raging hurricane, blowing me off my feet. Stumbling backwards, I tripped and fell on my butt, curling into a ball to protect myself from the onslaught.
“Stop,” I screamed, but my voice was carried away by the relentless attack. When I glanced up from underneath my elbow, I saw Kiernan standing his ground, leaning into the storm. His face was determined, although the power of the magic aimed at him distorted his cheeks like in a wind channel. Whatever he was trying to do, it did no good. The storm was as strong as before, until all students were flat on their backs or curled up like hedgehogs on the ground. The only one left upright was Kiernan, tilted forward at a forty-five degree angle.
As quickly as it had started, the wind stopped. In fact, it died so fast, Kiernan fell forward onto his face. For a moment, we were all too shocked to react. But then Kiernan’s voice sounded from the ground, muted by his position. “What the hell, Lance. Bit of warning next time?”
Lance burst out laughing. “Sure. Next time.”
Mr. Castle clapped his hands. “Alright, class. Now you know how to duel. We’re going to practice this every week until the exams. At the moment, the dampeners are on fully. Even if your powers go out of control, you’ll have a safety net. During the exams, we’ll be turning the dampeners way down. There’ll be teachers all around the grounds to make sure no one gets badly injured, but we want to keep the duels as realistic as possible.”
I packed up my stuff and left with the boys. We arranged to meet for dinner later, and Lance promised to join us after picking up some paperwork from the office. But it wasn’t until I was nearly back at the dorms when something struck me as odd. Something Castle had said. He wanted to keep the exercises “as realistic as possible.” What did he mean? Why did they have to be realistic? What exactly were we being trained for?
Things got busy quickly. Homework was piling up, and instead of hanging with my boyfriends, I spent most evenings writing papers and doing practical drills. Sharon had taken a leave of absence after the first day of the new term. She’d been back a few times to fetch a change of clothes, but hadn’t spoken to me.
I asked Beth, but my roommate shrugged. “No idea what she’s up to. I heard she was running an errand for the h
ead witch. That happens sometimes. I’m just glad she isn’t around much. Aren’t you?”
Sharon wasn’t as aggressive toward me as she’d been last term, but I wouldn’t consider us besties. There were so many weird things about that girl, it made me weary of her. Like her obsession with chocolate. What was all that about? Every night, she ate several candy bars, yet didn’t gain an ounce of weight. It was totally unfair, if you asked me.
Slug sat next to me, pushing his head against my arm like he usually did when he was bored. Soon I got tired of the constant badgering.
“Hey monster, why don’t you hunt a mouse or something?”
The look he gave me was one of pure disdain.
“Or go and bother Beth. She’d love to play with you, wouldn’t she?”
Beth nodded and stretched her hand out to tempt him to move to her bed. Slug hissed at her as his ears flattened. What the… I stopped writing and stared at him. The cat had never been aggressive toward my roommate before. In fact, sometimes I thought he loved her more than me. But come to think of it, he didn’t play with her as he used to. When was the last time he’d cuddled with her? I honestly couldn’t remember.
“What’s up with him?” Beth asked, the bafflement obvious in her voice.
I shrugged. “No idea. He’s been grumpy all day,” I lied. Slug tilted his head and glared at me as if he understood what I’d said. Just then, somebody knocked on the door.
Beth jumped off her bed and opened it. Her boyfriend Luke grinned as he swaggered into the room, his eyes sparkling with humor. He had nearly the same hair color as their girlfriend Kenzy, only short on the sides and fashionably long on top. As a redhead, he flushed quickly and brightly, which never failed to amuse me. Luke was a good-looking guy, a little too skinny for my taste and only slightly taller than Beth.
When I’d first found out Beth was dating a guy and a girl, I’d been scandalized, but I’d since learned that relationships among magic-born people often tended toward polyamory. Still, it was my duty as best friend to roll my eyes when Luke lifted Beth off her feet and kissed her on the lips.
Second Chance Soul: a paranormal reverse harem steamy slow burn academy adventure (Second Chance Academy Book 2) Page 4
