Of Water and Moonlight (Thunderbird Academy Book 1)

by Valia Lind

  It was new and fascinating.

  I grew up in a community that is consciously female, and I've never thought anything of it. I love my coven and wouldn't trade it for anything. But besides Nolan's brother, I've never had many guy friends. When Liam stayed in Faery with his family instead of coming back this semester, I was once again minus guy friendships.

  But here is Noel, someone I'm starting to trust. It's a new experience for me, and not one I'm complaining about. Maybe one of these days I'll be comfortable enough to ask him about Aiden. But not yet.

  Christy is still chattering about the party, and while Jade and I have already exchanged a few looks, it's too late to bail now. I watch the petite brunette, amazed at her energy and go-get-them attitude. I think even if we resisted, she would've gotten her way. Maybe I need a little more of that in my life.

  As I sit there, and let the conversation flow around me, a tingle starts up at the back of my spine, and I raise my eyes to scan my surroundings. Almost immediately my gaze lands on Aiden who has just walked into the room. He finds me right away, as if drawn to me, but doesn't approach. Talk about a new experience. What's happening between Aiden and me is even more unlike anything in my life before.

  I find myself falling deeper and deeper under his spell. Noel bumps me with his shoulder, and I look over to see him pointing to the pepper he can't reach. I pass it on and when I look back at Aiden he is already lost in the crowd.

  Glancing back at Noel, I wonder why can't I be attracted to someone like him? I know he's crushing on Jade, but he's got plenty of nice friends I'm sure he would be happy to set me up with. But no. Instead I'm getting all twisted up inside over tall, dark, and broody. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to spend my nights in the library with him.

  Which brings me back to my initial dilemma. I look over at Christy one more time. I need to take a page out of her book and light some fires. Maybe if I'm even half as persistent as Christy, the headmaster will let me talk to my family.

  21

  After lunch, I wave goodbye to my friends and head straight toward the headmaster's office. I'm done with classes for the day, and I don't have training with Aiden for another couple of hours. I'm prepared to sit outside and wait Headmaster Marković out if need be. But when I reach the office, he's talking to Miss Cindy, and when I ask if I can speak to him, he makes time for me right away.

  "What can I help you with, Miss Hawthorne?" he asks, motioning to the chair in front of his desk I occupied last time.

  Deciding that diving right in is my best bet, I sit up straighter, leaning my shoulders back and meeting the headmaster's gaze head on.

  "I need to speak with my sisters."

  His eyes flash with something that is gone before I can identify it. He leans back in his chair, studying me carefully.

  "Now, Miss Hawthorne, you know we are under strict rules at the moment."

  "I understand that, Headmaster." I dare to interrupt, growing bolder by the minute. This is family, and that fuels me like nothing else. "But I ask you to give me this one leeway. It's been too long since I've heard from them and with my father still missing... I'm sure you can understand how unsettling that can be."

  Even though we both know what I'm doing is manipulative, I think Headmaster is a little proud of me for speaking up. I'm typically the one to keep to the background. I've always found it easier, since I have such powerful sisters. I don't have to be the one in the spotlight. It's why I hate it so much. But even if he's not proud of me, I am. It seems I'm finally finding my footing, and I'm not about to back down now.

  "This is not to become a habit." The headmaster surprises me. "If I allow direct communication, it cannot be more than fifteen minutes."

  "Understood," I reply, trying to keep the excitement at bay. But my whole body is buzzing with the prospect of hearing my sister's voices. If I get extra lucky, my mom might be there too. But I know that's less likely at the moment, so I will take what I can get.

  Headmaster Marković pulls out a drawer before producing an older rotary phone. All of our cell phones were confiscated when the school went on lockdown, so even this piece of communication technology makes me happy. He proceeds to wave his hand over the device, and I can feel the magic stir in the air before he mumbles a few words under his breath.

  "You have fifteen minutes, Miss Hawthorne." Headmaster Marković motions toward the phone before standing and walking out of the room. I don't waste a second to grab the receiver, dialing my house number. As the last rotation falls into place, I listen to the ringing in my ear, hoping my sisters are home by now. Unless something happened, at least one of them should be home.

  After what seems like a hundred rings, no one answers. I push the hook down on the phone and dial Bri's shop next. If they're not at home, at least Bri should be at the store.

  "Herbs & Trinkets, how can I help you?" Harper's voice sounds on the line, and I breathe a sigh of relief.

  "Finally! Why aren't you home?"

  "Maddie?!" Harper exclaims, and then I hear some commotion in the background, and Bri's voice comes on the line.

  "Maddie, is something wrong?"

  I realize after weeks of very strict communication rules, I probably just freaked them out.

  "I'm okay, I promise. I managed to talk Headmaster Marković into letting me speak with you," I hurry on to say, and I can almost hear my sisters’ shoulders relax.

  "If you called, then you're not entirely okay," Harper comments gently, and I grin despite myself. They know me too well.

  "I just miss you is all. Are there any news of dad?"

  The silence on the other end of the line is heavy, and I know the answer before they even say it.

  "No. Mama is with the council, trying to see if we can find another tracing spell," Harper replies, and I nod, even though they can't see me. It makes sense, but I wish Mom was there so I could hear her voice as well.

  "What is it, Maddie?" Bri ask, her older sister senses tingling.

  "There's just a lot going on," I begin, unsure of exactly to approach the subject. Even though Headmaster is giving me privacy, I doubt he's going to be too keen on me sharing sensitive information. Even though I know he enchanted the phone before he let me use it.

  "I'm trying to find more information in that... place I told you about." This secrecy spell is really getting in the way of my communication. I have got to find a way around it.

  "The... place." Bri stops, clearly confused. "Why can't I name it?"

  "I think it's an enchantment. To keep it extra safe. I can't say it either, and when I've tried telling Headmaster about it, my mouth just won't work."

  "That's curious," Harper comments, and I understand what she means. "I would be interested to know the reason behind it, if you ever do figure it out."

  "I will," I can't believe after all this time I'm finally talking to my sisters. "But how is everything? Is everyone okay?"

  "We are, Mads," Harper says. "The spell is holding strong for now, and it's been a very quiet month. If we stay inside the barrier."

  "And the outside?"

  "We try not to worry about that for now," Bri hurries to say, and that tells me what I need to know. A lot more is going on than they want to tell me. We're still protecting each other, even across miles and miles of distance. "But what about you? How are you? We miss you."

  "I'm okay," I reply, wondering how much to tell them and how much they may already know. "This place has had its share of adventures, that's for sure. But I'm holding my own."

  "Of course you are."

  "There's also a boy," I say before I can stop myself. My sisters inhale simultaneously, making me laugh. "It's not unheard of."

  "Tell us about him."

  I think of how best to describe Aiden, and after a moment, all I can come up with is, "He's frustrating."

  "Ah, those are the best kind," Bri replies, and I smile at the dreamy tone of her voice. From what she told me, she and Mark didn't exactly see eye to eye in the b
eginning.

  "It's not like that. Well, I actually don't know. He's been training me in combat. And he knows about the place. He seems to be everywhere, and I just don't know what to do about it." The words rush out of me at once, as if I've been holding them in this whole time.

  "Maddie, boys have a tendency to mess with our minds. And they don't even have to do much. It's kind of part of their DNA makeup."

  "So, I'm supposed to be confused?"

  "It's part of the process, I'm afraid," Harper comments and tears come to my eyes unbidden. I wish they were here. I wish I could sit and talk to them face to face.

  "You'll figure out how you feel, Maddie," Bri says. "You are a smart girl. Even when he's driving you crazy, don't forget that. It's easy to let feelings cloud our judgement. But also, don't run from them. It's okay to embrace them and use them as tools to help guide you. We're emotional creatures by nature. But just because we are, doesn't mean we're not strong and resilient. You're a Hawthorne. That boy better watch out."

  But running from my feelings is what I'm good at apparently. I've been denying it for weeks now, the pull I feel toward him. And a part of me has no idea what to do with this information.

  "Thanks," I say, instead of getting into the details. I feel like I'm almost out of time. "I'll keep digging on my end, and please keep me updated. I feel so disconnected being this far away."

  "We miss you, Mads. But you're always in our thoughts," Bri says warmly, and I tuck her words deep inside of me.

  Just then, the door opens, and Headmaster Marković steps back into the room. My time is up.

  "I love you," I add hurriedly.

  "Love you too," my sisters echo, and then the line dies.

  Instead of heading back to my room after my talk, I go outside. The weather has been turning cooler by the day, but I don't grab a jacket.

  I follow the avenue of limes as it curves around the fountain and toward the pond. But rather than moving toward the little island, I keep going.

  Kate and I explored some of the grounds last year, but we weren't as brave as I'm feeling right now. When everything started happening with the Ancients, everyone got paranoid. We were pretty confined to the main building for half of the year. Kate hated it. Her family is way stricter than mine, and she longed for the school to be her freedom. But now she's back home, and I have no idea how she's dealing. Not that her family is terrible or anything. They just put a lot of pressure on her. Which I can now understand firsthand.

  My parents have always allowed me to be my own self. Yes, they want me to be successful, but it has never been about putting unrealistic expectations on me. I mostly do that to myself. But since the battle in Hawthorne, since I returned for my third semester, it's like everyone around me is holding me to that unreachable standard. Even the headmaster succumbed to it by letting me use the phone when no one else can. They're all expecting me to be something great. I'm not sure I'm cut out for that kind of greatness.

  I'm good at magic, and I'm good at research. I always envisioned myself more as a Watcher, like my dad, than a leader like my mom and sisters. But now I'm being put in all kinds of situations that require me to be the one at the front. Like the library. Why can't I tell the headmaster about it? Why is knowledge of the place so guarded? It feels like I'm being given this responsibly over all this information, and I have no idea what to do about it.

  When the trees around me get thicker, I realize I've walked farther than I planned. I'm on the opposite side of the pond, as far away from the school as I've ever been, while still within the grounds. From where I am, the island in the “middle” of the pond seems to actually be much farther away. I see that it's not directly halfway between the two ends. This side of the pond is much wider, almost like its pear shaped. I'm not sure why it's even called a pond. It's large enough to be a lake. But then again, what do I know.

  Walking up to the water, I squat down to let my hand run over the silky waves. The breeze is just strong enough to make the sparkling liquid dance. When my finger dips into the pond, my magic shudders within me, as if shaking itself awake.

  Maybe this isn't the greatest idea, but the call is too loud to ignore. I glance around quickly, but the coast is clear. The chill of autumn has been creeping in for days now, and the water is going to be even colder, but I can't help myself.

  Stripping down, I'm in my undergarments and a tank. The air moves around me, prickling my skin with goosebumps. Before I can think too much of it, I step right up to the bank and dive in headfirst. The shock almost makes me come back up, but then the water engulfs me entirely, and I feel safe. I swim for a few seconds, then finally break the surface. A few months ago, I met Skylar, the newest addition to my hometown. She's half mermaid shifter, half witch, so her body temperature regulates in water, unlike mine. But even so, I enjoy the chill of the liquid against me.

  The feel of the drops racing down my skin sooth me like a familiar caress. Sure, I take showers every day and am surrounded by water, but this feels different. There's something freeing about the natural water around, water that's connected directly to the earth. My magic is going haywire inside of me, bursting to be set free, and after a few seconds, I let it.

  Surprisingly though, it builds slowly, like an oncoming storm. First, the waves move around me as if barely touched by the wind. But then, the turbulence starts, and the small pond becomes an angry ocean. The wind dances around me, sending some of the water into a whirlpool right in front of my eyes. If I was anyone else, I might be terrified at this display of power. Storms can be unpredictable, but I don't fear this one. I embrace it.

  Lying back onto my back, I allow myself to float as I spread my arms out, and with it my magic. I'm being taken on a ride, and all I want to do is get lost in it. I close my eyes, and feel the magic pulse through me while the waves beat at my skin.

  Suddenly, a pair of arms wrap around my waist, yanking me upright. Instead of screaming in surprise, I react. My leg comes up hard, my knee connecting with my attacker. My magic almost solidifies the water beneath me, and instead of trying to retreat, I'm suspended in place as I unleash my magic. I push both of my palms out, slamming them directly into the hard chest. The move and my magic blasts into the attacker, sending him skidding across the top of the water. At the last moment, before I plunge him into the depths beneath, I realize it's Aiden.

  "Are you out of your freaking mind?" I scream dropping my hands and retracting my magic. Aiden drops below the surface of the water but comes up for air in the next moment.

  "Are you trying to get yourself killed?" he yells in response, pushing the hair out of his face. With water dripping down his skin and his hair in disarray, he looks ridiculously attractive. But also very mad.

  "Excuse me? I should be asking you that!" Now that my magic knows I'm not in danger, it settles, but barely, still just under my skin. He swims a few feet over, his eyes on me as the storm continues to dance around us. It quiets enough that it's not a danger to us but doesn't dissipate completely.

  "I thought you were in trouble," Aiden says, not taking his eyes off me. Whatever I am about to say dies on my lips. There's genuine concern in his voice and it pierces me right through. Just then, he must hear how he sounds because his eyes dart away from my face, and to the water around us. I tread it to move closer to him, and now we're only a few feet apart.

  "We're in water, Aiden. That's kind of my thing. My magic, it needed some exercise." I shrug, and his eyes come back to my face. A huge part of me wants to close the distance between us and reach out. I'm not sure what I'm feeling yet, but I'm feeling it so intensely and entirely about Aiden.

  "So, what you showed me in training, that wasn't even half of it?"

  "No. Ever since the ritual I performed with my sisters, my magic has been unpredictable. For a while there, I thought it went dormant. But now I know it's been growing. Slowly."

  "And you have been repressing it." He says it like a statement, but I still feel inclined to answer it lik
e a question.

  "Repressing it is easier than trying to explain it to the headmaster. I'm already too visible for my liking."

  "You don't have to hide around me," he says it so quietly, but since it's just the two of us, I hear him. Not only that, I feel every word deep inside. My eyes catch onto his and suddenly, I want to show him what I can do.

  "If I use too much magic, they'll be able to tell," I say, still watching him as I swim a little closer. "You need to be closer."

  His eyes flash at my words, but then he swims toward me, so there's nothing but a sliver of water and my tank between us. If I breathe too deeply, our chests will brush against each other.

  "I have to touch you." I realize how it sounds the moment I say it, but Aiden doesn't blink, just nods, giving me permission. One of my hands falls to my side, as my magic trickles down beneath our feet, while my other arm traces up Aiden's shoulder. It comes to rest right at the nape of his neck, and suddenly, we're breathing the same air.

  The feel of him under my fingertips warms me from the inside, and the water doesn't feel so cold anymore. Aiden jerks, glancing down, trying to see through the water as the liquid solidifies to let us stand in one place. His hands drop to my waist, since he no longer has to tread water, and now I'm flush against him.

  "Did you freeze it?" he whispers, rearranging our bodies a little.

  "No. Kind of just packed the water molecules into something more solid than not." It's the best explanation I can come up with but it's enough. He looks fascinated. "If it gets too much, hold tight."

  It's the only warning I give him as I raise the hand I've had in the water straight over our heads. The water rises all around us, creating a wall way over ten feet tall. Instead of keeping them straight, I pull at the points at the top and begin twisting them together. The waves and the wind dance, creating a beautiful picture, with us smack dab in the middle of it.