Ignite (Solar Academy Book 1)

by Raven Steele

  After dinner and saying goodbye to the twins and Ireland, I retreated to my attic bedroom. I walked up the stairs and once again caught sight of the faint words, “Build a solid foundation.” I didn’t even know what that was anymore. I thought I had that with my family before my mother killed all those people. Then after what she did, a new foundation had been built in its place, one in which I believed my mother was an evil person. I used that hatred to make me stronger and well-guarded from others. It had been a safe place for me.

  But if what Linda said was true, and my mother had been tricked or manipulated somehow, then all I’d known in the past ten years was wrong. Part of me desperately wanted that to be true, for that meant my mother never stopped loving me.

  My bedroom was much cleaner than when I’d first arrived, including a new mattress with no stains on it. Ireland and Bonnie had helped me decorate it from old stuff of theirs they didn’t want anymore. A large poster of superheroes hung opposite my bed just below the rafters, and all along the tops of the wooden beams, Ireland had placed several black candles. I had pointed out how dangerous that was, but she had responded saying how it wasn’t any more dangerous than being my friend. Touché.

  I flopped back onto my bed, arms open wide. Today had jumbled my mind and soul into a thousand different pieces. I wasn’t sure how I’d put them together without leaving scars and jagged edges. I just couldn’t get over what Linda had said about my mother possibly not being a murderer. I’d lived most of my life wishing she had died. That kind of hate had twisted into my veins and taken a firm hold. Untwisting it might shatter me.

  But it wasn’t just Linda’s revelation that had me all knotted inside. It was Hudson, too. Something crazy had happened between us, something that felt explosive, and I wasn’t sure if it was in a good way.

  I remembered Maisy’s early invitation just then. I didn’t want to go, but Hudson would be there. Maybe I could get him alone and talk to him about what had happened between us. Maybe ask him to the school Halloween party.

  Warmth spread in my lower abdomen at the thought. Pleasurable heat that had me sighing. Even though the power between us had felt dangerous, it had also been exhilarating, sort of like the way I’d felt when I’d gone cliff-diving last summer. Toes hanging over the edge of a high cliff, water sparkling below. Knees weak and head spinning. Courage and fear battling for control over my heart and mind. But taking that first step and falling recklessly through the air? I couldn’t get enough of it.

  That’s how it felt touching Hudson.

  I needed to see him. To understand why and see if maybe it had been a fluke.

  My mind made up, I sat up and dangled my legs over the bed. Darkness filled my window, but the hanging lights above me held it at bay. The party would start soon.

  I walked to the window and glanced to the campus below me. The full moon hung in the darkness, spreading its silvery web across the land in a tight embrace. I lifted the top pane. The smell of rich earth mingled with the faint scents of pine and hickory filled my nostrils. Cool air rushed in with the aroma and twisted around me. This chill drew me to the night. I loved this time of day because of the drop in temperature. It was often a temporary relief to the never-ending flames burning within me. Sometimes they barely churned, just a crackling ember, but other times they roared into a great firestorm. Tonight, however, they simmered, like a controlled burning across the land. Hot, but not out of control.

  But that could change quickly.

  A wolf howled in the distance, making a sharp chill grate along my spine. I didn’t think there were supposed to be wolves in New Hampshire. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to go out tonight. I narrowed my eyes, and my gaze roved the wild landscape. The silhouette of tall, jagged trees cut into the night sky.

  Intimidating as it was, I wasn’t going to let it deter me from going to that party and talking to Hudson. I had a pocket knife should I need it. I snorted. As if that would stop a wolf. But it was better than nothing.

  Despite the risks, I needed this. I needed to feel in control and proactive. I may not be able to do anything about my mother, but I could do something about this thing with Hudson.

  I turned away from the window and found said knife in my top drawer. I tucked it into my pocket. Forty more minutes.

  With nothing to do, I left the confines of my room and quietly slipped down the stairs. A few girls still walked the hallway, traveling between the community bathroom and their rooms. They didn’t pay me any attention as I walked past them. It would shock me if they did.

  I approached Ireland’s room carefully before ensuring her door was closed, then I darted past. I didn’t want her to know where I was going. She’d only give me a hard time, and I wasn’t ready to explain to her why I felt the need to go through with this.

  Within a few minutes, I was out the back door and sneaking across the campus to the trail behind Cyrus Hall. Several lamp posts illuminated my way, but I stayed just out of reach of their warm glow. I was pretty sure what I was doing was against the rules and didn’t want to be caught.

  It took me some time to find the path Maisy had talked about. It wasn’t until I turned on the light on my cell phone and walked several feet into the forest that I discovered it. It was a narrow trail with all kinds of branches encroaching into the space, their spindly arms reaching as if to grab me.

  I’d be a liar if I didn’t admit I was a little freaked out, especially when another wolf’s howl sliced through the darkness. I ran my palm over the outline of the blade in my pocket, trying to find comfort in it. Fear turned the simmering flames inside me to a low roar. Sweat broke across my skin.

  The path wound down a small gully and up another hill. I expected to find the well just on the next rise but it wasn’t there. I continued walking further and further away from the academy until I wondered if I’d missed it altogether.

  I almost turned back when the path opened up into a small meadow. At its center was an ancient stone well that looked over two hundred years old. Several names written in colorful paint had been scribbled against its stone surface, like graffiti, but prettier. A circular, worn slab of wood sealed its top.

  I turned off the light on my phone. I didn’t need it in the meadow, where the moon’s glow spotlighted the space as if a theatrical play was about to start. I must have been early because no one was here but lightning bugs flitting through the darkness like hell’s angels.

  Not far from me, I spotted the remains of a fire. That must be where they would light the bonfire. I settled onto the ground, my back against the old well, and waited for others to arrive. The cold stone cooled me through my t-shirt, and I focused on the contact. If I didn’t think I’d get caught doing it, I’d turn and give the damn well a giant hug just to feel its coolness all over me. It sucked feeling like I had a fever all the time.

  Several minutes past. I lost count as my mind wandered back to my mother. She must’ve come to this very spot many times when she was a student. I turned on my phone and swiveled around to see if I could find her name among the hundreds of others scribbled along the stone, some written over the tops of others.

  My fingers traced over a pink Susan, a blue Henry, a green Alexander. So many kids leaving their mark for students after them. I continued searching, even around to the other side. I froze when I saw the word “Aurora.” My heart thundered against my ribcage as my finger hovered over the rare name.

  It stood out from among the others, not because it was written in a deep red color, but because her entire name had been etched into the stone as if she’d written it with a sharp rock. It must’ve taken her days of scratching into the hard surface.

  Tentatively, I touched those deep grooves and closed my eyes, as if the ancient well might speak to me, but there was nothing. Only roughness against my fingertips and cold stone. I tried to imagine what she might’ve been feeling to come here day after day to engrave her name into this permanent structure. Such passion and emotions behind the strokes. Devoti
on to something. But why? To prove a point? To expel pent-up rage?

  There was so much I didn’t know about her. Could she really be innocent? I thought back to when I first heard about what she did. I hadn’t believed it either. My mother was too kind, had too much love to do something so horrible. I remembered fighting with my father for months after, insisting she was innocent. It wasn’t until he finally showed me the raw footage of that day that I finally believed what he and everyone else in the world said: Aurora was evil and power-hungry.

  When the stone remained silent, keeping its secrets to itself, I leaned back on my palms and stared at her name. A gust of wind stirred the branches around me. The moon had shifted its position in the sky, taking some of its light with it.

  What time was it?

  I looked at my phone, surprised to see it was almost eleven. Where had the time gone? And where was everyone?

  I stood and brushed myself off. The quiet whisperings of the forest, sounds I was familiar with, was all I heard. No students. No fire crackling. No party. Realization dawned on me.

  Maisy had set me up.

  A wolf howled, the cry much closer than before. Another one followed.

  Well, shit.

  I slowly backed up until I had returned to the trail. I walked briskly, yet quietly, through the forest as I made my way back to campus.

  A twig snapped to my left. Another to my right. The hairs on the back of my neck lifted.

  I picked up my pace. Sweat pooled in my pits and between my breasts, something I hated with a passion, but unfortunately a common problem with my internal fire. I pressed my shirt against me to help absorb some of the moisture.

  A glint of gray flashed in my peripheral vision. I snapped my head around to see better, but it was gone, disappearing behind a line of trees. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think I was being hunted. By a pack of wolves.

  Chapter 9

  Screw walking.

  I sprinted down a small gully, my arms flailing wildly. When I started up the other side, a wolf appeared at the top, one so large I mistakenly took it for a bear at first glance. It shook its gray ruff and bared its teeth in a hungry growl.

  I yelped, my breath hitching painfully, and dove into the forest off the trail. I ran as hard as I could, jumping over fallen debris and darting around thick trees. I had no idea where I was going at this point, nor did I care. Just as long as I got away from the massive wolf and his starving glare.

  While I ran, I yanked out my knife and pulled the sharp blade out of its metal casing. Probably wasn’t a good idea to run with an open knife, but if I had to choose between knife implement or teeth, I’d choose death by knife.

  Behind me, the sound of puffing breath and padding feet pushed me faster. I searched the trees around me, wondering if I could grab a branch and hoist myself up and out of danger, but I’d never been good at flipping or climbing. I’d probably just end up on my back, a position I didn’t want to be in with a wolf pack hunting me.

  What I was good at was creating fire—just not safely. I didn’t dare use it for fear of starting a forest fire. And so I adjusted my grip on the handle of the blade, my only weapon.

  A light flickering through trees caught my attention. I veered slightly to my left, even as I felt a wolf grow closer. Maybe I was almost back to campus, even though I was pretty sure I was far away. Or maybe it was a cabin. Either way, it was the only sign of help around.

  “Help!” I called. “Someone help me!”

  The light grew stronger and the trees began to thin. Dozens of dark shadows began to take shape. Suddenly the light moved towards me in a steady stream. A flashlight. Someone was holding a flashlight.

  “Help! Wolves are chasing me!”

  The hungry growl of a wolf practically chomped into the back of my feet as I kicked up dirt and leaves in my wake.

  I burst free from the forest into a wide field of—I swiveled my head all around—headstones? Are you freaking kidding me?

  Rows and rows of old headstones, gray and blackened with age, poked through the ground, many of them teetering sideways. Beyond them lay another wall of trees.

  “Hold still!” a voice called. Light bounded towards me. There was something familiar about the voice, but I couldn’t place it over the hammering of my heartbeat.

  I did as the voice commanded. Just as I stopped, another growl erupted behind me, deep and throaty. I slowly turned around. Two massive wolves stood only a dozen feet away. They stared at me with oddly intelligent eyes.

  Footsteps slowed behind me. I didn’t dare turn around to see who it was. A female voice began to chant, words that sounded like a foreign language, but not one I’d ever heard before. The wolves snarling grew louder, and I nearly choked on the knot in my throat.

  The temperature in the air dropped several degrees, followed by a strange electrical current that lifted the hairs on my arm and on my head. The wolves glanced around, and I had the impression they were frowning, but I didn’t know how I knew this.

  “Whatever happens next,” the girl said behind me, “don’t move.”

  “Bonnie?” I gasped.

  There was a slight pause. “Rose? What the hell are you doing out here on a full moon?”

  I didn’t get the chance to answer. Dark mist began to rise from the graves around me, as if the ground had grown colder than the air on top, and yet the mist maintained pillar-like formations, shifting and moving within tight confines.

  The wolves snarled at them, while I stupidly stuttered.

  “Just hold still,” Bonnie whispered. “It will all be over soon.”

  “I love this part,” another voice whispered next to her.

  Bennie?

  Bonnie mumbled more words, hissing her S’s, with the H’s and R’s sharp and pointed. I’d never heard her sound so scary or powerful. It made chills skitter across my flesh.

  The floating mist-shapes rose taller and slithered across the wet grass towards the wolves. One of them floated only feet away from me. It turned as if it could feel me watching. I sucked in a breath. A pair of eyes, ashen and forlorn, met mine. My heart practically leapt from my chest. These were ghosts! Risen from their deathbeds.

  The wolves continued to growl, but the largest of the two took a step back. His massive head swung back to me, and I swore he was vowing an oath to eat me later. So animalistic, predatory, and yet, I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was also something human about them.

  A ghost nearby began to wail, a tortured sound that made my bones brittle with coldness. I gripped my arms, and my teeth began to chatter. I’d never been more cold, not even when I’d touched Hudson. His had had been a welcoming, soothing chill, like the kind you feel when you dip your toes into the ocean on a hot summer day. This feeling was nothing like that. It was bitter, raw, the kind that will make you lose your toes and fingers, ears and nose, leaving you a monster for kids to run from in terror.

  I had to get away if I was to survive. The feeling was so powerful, I turned to bolt, but Bonnie’s hand pressed down on my shoulder.

  “Don’t move.”

  A ghost broke free from the others and sliced through the air towards the wolves. Ice crystals formed in the air in its wake, but a second later they melted and dropped to the ground in a dirty rain.

  The ghost smashed into a wolf, disappeared altogether, then reappeared on the other side. The wolf howled in pain and snapped at the translucent figure, but its powerful jaws went right through its haunting form.

  With no recourse against the ghosts, the two wolves turned and scattered back into the forest.

  I might’ve exhaled the breath I was holding, but there were still ghosts swarming around us, their anger and wrath palpable in the cold night air.

  I remained grounded while Bonnie began speaking in that harsh language again. Slowly, the ghosts floated back to their headstones and dissipated into the ground.

  It wasn’t until every single one of them was gone that I dared turn around and s
peak. “What the hell was that?”

  Bonnie grinned big. “That’s my ability. I can call upon the dead.”

  Bennie was sitting on the grass, legs splayed out in front of him, palms back against the ground as if he had been watching a concert.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked.

  “It never came up.”

  Bennie nodded towards the trees. “What were you doing out there?”

  “I was invited to a party.” As soon as I said the words, I felt stupid. Clearly I’d been the ass of Maisy’s joke.

  He laughed out loud, a sound that contrasted sharply with the dark ambiance around me. Bonnie shot him a sharp look.

  He choked on his laughter and cleared his throat. “No one goes out on a full moon. Everyone knows that.”

  “Why?”

  “Because of the werewolves.”

  “Werewolves? Are you kidding?”

  “I wish,” Bonnie said. “They are nasty creatures, and mostly only come out on nights like this.”

  “Mostly?”

  “Strong ones can come out at will, but that’s a rare gift.”

  “And who are they as humans?”

  Bennie and Bonnie glanced at each other. “We don’t know for sure. Their identity is kept secret for their protection, but the school gives them permission to run as a wolf one night a month.”

  “Are you saying those wolves could’ve been students?” My body was numb with shock. My dad sent me to a school with werewolves! I bobbed my head side to side, contemplating what it meant. Was turning into a wolf worse than supernaturals who had the ability to move things with their mind? Create ice out of moisture in the air? Spew flames uncontrollably?

  “Some probably are,” she answered.

  “Which is why it’s so strange someone invited you to a night party,” Bennie said. He came to his feet and brushed himself off. “Who was it?”