Victory: Year Four

by Amabel Daniels

  I shrugged. “I’m keeping my options open for other schools.”

  She slapped her hand to the desk. I was damned proud of myself for not flinching at the loud noise or uncharacteristic reaction she’d allowed.

  “Why do you want me to be stuck at Olde Earth?”

  “That’s not the proper way to view your role at this institution.”

  I clenched my teeth. “Why are you so worried about what I do?”

  “I don’t want you to throw away your gift.”

  So help me God. If she goes on about how few Pures there are…

  She didn’t, though. Simply stared at me instead.

  “What do you want from me?”

  Still stared.

  I shot to my feet, sick of feeling like I was at the same level or inferior to her, seated across from her.

  “Why do you care what I do?”

  “Because you’re a powerful individual. And if you’re not guided on how to wield and appreciate your talents, they’ll go to waste.”

  “For who? You?” I wasn’t wasting anything. In fact, I’d felt more useful, more needed, more valued when I was back home in Coltin over break. I’d helped those officers and Susan with terrified and abused animals. I’d rescued a lone and lost injured grog.

  Here? I was merely tested and labeled.

  If I stayed with Olde Earth and near Glorian’s reach of decisions, I’d go nowhere and do nothing.

  “I’d rather you not waste my time, that’s for sure.” She pointed at the seat. “Sit down, and let’s finish this discussion like mature individuals.”

  I leaned over her desk and jabbed my finger at her. “How about this, instead? Stay out of my way, and keep your nose out of my business.”

  And then I left.

  Chapter Fourteen

  It was a good week before I could get a moment alone with Paige. Since she was busier with her part-time job as a dorm supe, I had to try harder to truly get one-on-one time with her.

  We agreed on a late dinner, takeout from the cafeteria in my room. As we ate, or more like while she ate, I told her about what I’d found on Glorian’s computer before my assessment.

  “So that’s why you’ve practically put up black-out curtains on your windows.”

  Until I had a better idea to ensure privacy, yeah. I shrugged.

  She wiped at her mouth. “Too bad you didn’t have a spare flash drive on you.”

  “Because everyone always has one.”

  Well, I bet she always had one on her.

  “Would’ve made it easier to just copy that data and then check it out later.”

  Okay. Snooping was one thing. Actually stealing data was another. That was my opinion, at least.

  I’d noticed since Paige had helped decode the messages on Stu’s phone that she’d seemed more interested in the computer range of information. She’d always planned to follow Ethel’s footsteps and go on for a Master’s in Library Science. I kind of liked this new interest she showed in computers, though.

  “There was no way to tell what the camera was strapped to?”

  I shook my head. “No. Just that it had to have come from the roof. A bird. I saw a talon.”

  Paige nodded. “I’ll check into it. Maybe there’s something somewhere about birds being used for surveillance.”

  “I’m going to ask if there’s a way to tell them off.”

  “The birds?”

  “Yeah. If I can find them following me and at least tell them to back off.”

  She pointed at me. “You could do that. The telling off part, at least. And make sure you spread the word to the others. Not Aura, though.”

  Agreed. I didn’t trust that Glorian kept an eye on Aura for any good reasons, only selfish purposes. But anyone keeping an eye on that girl had to be better than all of us simply assuming she was behaving.

  Three days later, Flynn and I were paired up—for a change—during Martino’s training session. At first, I could see the obvious reasons we hadn’t been paired. Flynn was taller. Leaner. Stronger. So much more muscular but not beefy. And the only way I would know something tougher was coming my way was when he’d let loose enough to show me one of those sneaky, mischievous grins. He wasn’t smug about it to come off as cocky, but whenever I sensed he was amused, that was about two seconds before he’d get a solid hit in or manage to wrestle me to the ground.

  Being underneath him, recognizing how heavy he was even in this pretend scenario of a fight, I felt small. But in a good way. It never mattered that he’d brought me down—every small loss taught me something to improve. Each time we fell body-to-body, I fell a little deeper into a dazzling confusion of attraction.

  That was probably the bigger reason why Martino hadn’t paired us up from the beginning, even if practicing against a guy would be more challenging for me and teach me better.

  “Are you guys going to just stay there, or…”

  He’d just slammed me to the ground and pinned me there. I hadn’t minded once I took a whiff of the unique pine smell he always carried. With him laughing and smiling down at me, his face so close… I almost could have overcome the anxiety of having our lips this near. Every time I’d wanted to kiss him, I feared I’d either miss his lips entirely, bump his nose, or worse, have a flashback to when I’d taken the ancient species from his lungs.

  I’d been hoping he’d magically sense my weirdness and hesitation and make the move for me.

  We turned our heads in unison to see Paige standing on the bright-blue mat. Tapping her foot and smirking at us.

  And…the moment is killed. I wouldn’t have wanted our first real kiss in the gym with others around anyway.

  Flynn stood and then offered a hand to help me up. He kept our hands together and twined our fingers as we faced Paige. Sabine came trotting up behind her. “Did you tell her—them yet?”

  Oooh. News. I raised a brow. “No, she didn’t.”

  “What’s up?” Flynn asked.

  “The birds,” Paige said.

  “The spy birds,” Sabine added.

  I’d told Sabine about what I’d found on Glorian’s computer. Flynn, too. When I’d mentioned it to Wolf and Marcy, they didn’t seem bothered. After all, the Menagerie and the greenhouse were already under some form of surveillance measures. In some spots, multiple cameras were recording—all for the upped security of the animals since the last incidents of danger.

  “I found it.”

  “We found it. Give a girl some credit.”

  Paige rolled her eyes at my sister. “Yeah. You helped.”

  I wasn’t sure how. Paige was the research, info-digger. She was skilled at looking up things and she was even more adept at navigating some records and outdated files easier accessed through Ethel’s username in the Olde Earth database.

  How these two were working together though… I listened up.

  “I started looking back at projects Glorian documented. All the councilmembers and department heads have to fully outline their objectives for research.”

  “When they’re doing it the right way.” Sabine scoffed.

  True. Bateson and Griswold had studied plenty of stuff off the records.

  “Like a thesis submission?” Flynn asked.

  “Yeah,” Paige replied. “And there was one from five years ago. She’d wanted to train birds—chrajanas—to carry cameras.”

  Chrajana. Didn’t ring a bell. I was no ornithologist, but that was an odd name.

  “An ancient species?”

  Sabine nodded. “So, she’d set the research submission up as a collaborative project.”

  “With who?” Flynn asked.

  “The CIA.”

  “Say what?” I asked Sabine, not even caring that I gawked at her.

  “Mmm-hmm.” She rocked on her heels and nodded. “CIA.”

  Wow. I closed my mouth and frowned. That was a…well, that was an awfully high-up kind of collaborator. It showed an inkling of what kind of ties Glorian likely had in all kinds of
governments over the world.

  Which meant more than just a few people had to know elves existed.

  “It seems like the agent she was supposed to be researching for is a Diluted elf.” Paige continued. “Her aim was to train and set up a program to condition these chrajanas as spies with very small cameras.”

  “Which she’s been using on students.” I felt the need to point out the injustice. The CIA, no governmental agency, would have the right or desire to spy on high school kids. This was all Glorian’s doing. Suthering couldn’t have known about this current use of the chrajana spies.

  “And here’s the better part,” Sabine said. “Bernie knows where they’re housed. I mentioned it and she was surprisingly chatty about it. Maybe because I’ve been saying I might want to go into law enforcement. But—”

  I held up my hand. “Whoa… Whoa.”

  “I’m not a horse…” she sing-songed.

  “Law enforcement?” I asked.

  She shrugged.

  “You didn’t tell her?” Paige asked.

  She knew what my sister wanted to do? Before me? How many more times are they going to one-up each other with assumptions of me knowing what’s going on?

  “I was going to,” Sabine said. “Yeah, law enforcement. I’d mentioned interest to Bernie.” She waved around at the mostly empty gym. Lorcan had already left to clean up in the locker room. “Why do you think I’m so eager to do this kung-fu stuff?”

  Wow. Sabine…as a cop? “Because of your Impressor skills?”

  She shrugged again, which turned into a nod. “Pretty much. Anyway, back to the important stuff.”

  Her going into a potentially very dangerous career wasn’t important?

  “Bernie told me the general wing where these ancients are. Seems Glorian doesn’t like them to be public knowledge.”

  “Yeah, because she wants to use them herself,” Flynn retorted.

  “And Bernie let something else slip.”

  We all waited for a beat as Sabine grinned at us, apparently enjoying knowing something we didn’t.

  Paige ruined her fun. “They can detect scents.”

  “From the air?” Flynn asked.

  “Well, birds do fly in the air…”

  Flynn gently shoved Sabine’s shoulder at her sarcasm.

  Paige went on. “They do. That’s why they’re so good at what they’re instructed. They find their targets—”

  “Who can’t even see them following,” I added.

  “So y’all know what this means, right?” Sabine asked, grinning again.

  I shrugged.

  “Lorcan. He—heck, I think we all—still want to find Stu,” Paige reminded.

  Stu. Yes, this would be perfect. I elbowed Flynn. “Can you go find him?” It didn’t seem right to talk about this without him present.

  He took off toward the locker room.

  “No wonder a spy agency would be interested,” I said, still letting the news sink in.

  Sabine rubbed her hands together. “So, you and Flynn can find the chrajanas. Release one. Tell it to find Stu, and then we’ll get him.”

  “Get him?” I asked. “You only just said you’re interested in law enforcement. I think you have to go through the program before you can get anyone.”

  Sabine sneered at me. “It’s a saying.”

  Paige exhaled hard. “But, I wonder how hard it’ll be to break out a chrajana. I’m sure Glorian’s watching who goes near them if she’s so vested in them.”

  That was a valid point. I had an idea for that though.

  Flynn and Lorcan ran toward us from the locker room. My guy was hardly out of breath and seemed the same as when he’d run off. Lorcan, he must have just stepped out of the shower. His red hair was dripping wet and his t-shirt clung to his chest and shoulders, not only showcasing the muscles underneath but dampening in spots from water not toweled off. Parts of the Aussie Sabine had trouble tearing her stare from.

  Until he shook his head, just like a dog—or grog—and sprayed water at her face.

  “Lor!”

  He looked at us expectantly and we filled him in.

  Just as I’d expected, his excitement grew.

  “Now, how are we going to do this?” he asked.

  So, we planned.

  Chapter Fifteen

  At dusk the following day, Flynn, Lorcan, and I went to the Menagerie. With Paige providing us the scientific name of the chrajanas, we intended to log in to the Menagerie database and locate the wing where they were kept. We were confident we’d be able to release at least one.

  “But what if Wolf comes by?” Lorcan asked. He’d dressed in black, and I wanted to laugh at the fact Flynn and I had done the same.

  Just like when we’d snuck out past curfew freshman year.

  Now, though, we weren’t sneaking, really. And curfew was a moot point for seniors, it turned out. All of us were familiar with the Menagerie and friends with the manager.

  “I told him Marcy wanted to talk to him,” Flynn said.

  I choked on a cough. “What?”

  He grinned that devilish smile and shrugged.

  “Oh,” I teased and lightly punched his shoulder. “That’s sneaky.”

  “But most importantly, it worked,” Lorcan pointed out.

  Wolf was nowhere to be seen in the cavernous home for so many creatures. Plenty of staff and caretakers were about, but not the head honcho.

  Regardless of Flynn’s ruse to get Wolf distracted, we hurried to his office. I felt a need for haste because even if it was promised Wolf would want to go see Marcy, I’d bet they’d argue and he could soon be returning—and likely in a sour mood.

  “There.” Flynn had logged onto Wolf’s computer and used his log-in info to access the lock system. Wolf had never trained us on the software, but he’d had no issues letting us have our own usernames to log in to his office computer. “I’ve got it.” He scribbled down a code that would need to be punched into the keypad for a window to the chrajanas’ room.

  “Now off for a little help.” I smiled and led the way.

  The crockeys seemed ready to sleep, nestling together and on little hammocks strung within their expansive, natural-themed room. As soon as they saw us coming, they chattered and jumped, clapping with excitement. “Easy, fellas, easy,” Flynn said, laughing.

  Their enthusiasm was so infectious.

  I asked the smallest one to come along with us and I gave it the instructions to enter the chrajanas’ room and let one free.

  We waited in the hallway down the wing from the room.

  “You’re a genius, Layla,” Flynn said moments later. He pressed a kiss to my head. Down the corridor came the crockey. Above him flew a black bird, exactly like the one I’d instructed to seek help when Bateson tested us with the condors.

  It was a smart plan, if I’d say so myself. Glorian wasn’t a full Pure. She couldn’t see crockeys, so using an ancient species—an invisible helper—to sneak into the chrajanas’ room and tap in the lock release was damned ingenious. Plus, the little monkey hybrid loved to steal—which made him the perfect guy to take one of the itty-bitty cameras from a shelf in the room.

  Follow me. The black bird came to perch on my shoulder.

  After we set the crockey back in its room, we left the Menagerie. Knightly sniffed the ground ahead of us, leading us three back to the boys’ room. There, we used the backpack from Stu’s campsite and his phone to order the chrajana to scent him. I handled the commands to the ancient bird while Flynn wrote down the serial number of the tiny camera.

  It was actually a common, commercial brand of small recorders, and within a few minutes, we made a new account and had a live feed of the chrajana’s leg cam.

  “Ready?” I asked the guys. The chrajana sat on my arm like I was some professional hawk handler. It bobbed its head, as though it had been telling me he was prepared for his task.

  I stroked the smooth black fur of its head and it chirped a strange sound. It seemed like
a positive response, so I petted it again, admiring its glossy obsidian feathers. Just under two feet tall, it was a large bird, at least, it was big to be casually perched on my forearm. Sure, I was stronger, but I wasn’t bulky. Despite its size, it was light, not weighing me down.

  Again, I hadn’t handled many birds, so maybe this was normal. Their bones were, after all, designed differently, hollow for the sake of being light enough to take flight.

  “Go on,” I whispered to it at the open window. “Be safe.”

  Cold gusts of wintry air blew in and chilled my face, but I kept my eyes open to see the chrajana launch and soar through the cloudy night sky.

  I shut the window and turned back to the guys. Lorcan sighed and plopped on to his bed. Flynn shifted over from sitting on the edge of his. He reclined onto a pillow and patted at the mattress, welcoming me to sit next to him.

  “Hey, what are you planning to do after graduation?” Lorcan asked. He’d picked up a foam stress ball and tossed it and caught it, not even looking at me.

  Now that’s not putting me on the spot…

  Everyone knew that I wanted to be a vet. Yet, I’d told no one here that I’d applied over the summer for the top schools. None of which were Olde Earth partners or facility hosts.

  “Uh…something with animals.”

  Lorcan laughed. “Well, duh.”

  I didn’t follow up and couldn’t even enjoy how Flynn was tracing a finger up and down the inside of my forearm as it rested between us. Waiting, I dreaded another question, from either of them.

  Would they think I was abandoning them, or our kind by not wanting to continue with school through the Academy? My delay to tell anyone about my applications only proved that was my true fear. I didn’t want to hurt their feelings or let my goals cast me as a mutineer.

  “You still want to do the teacher thing, dude?” Lorcan asked instead.

  Flynn shrugged next to me. “Yeah. Suthering thinks it’s a solid plan.”

  “Teacher?” Sue me for not telling anyone where I’d applied for vet school. He never told me about his hopeful field of study. Then again, I’d just recently been surprised by Sabine’s choice for school after this year. That lack of knowledge was more forgivable. We didn’t see each other as much as Flynn and I did.