Paranormal Public

by

Maddy Edwards

Copyright © 2011 by Maddy Edwards

This novel is a work of fiction in which names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real persons, places, or events is completely coincidental.

All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without the written consent of the author.

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter One

“Charlotte, did you make dinner?” My stepdad’s voice floated up to me from downstairs. I clicked my computer to sleep. I had made dinner. He was just too lazy to check the fridge before he asked me where it was. I wanted to yell that back to him, but I didn’t. I knew better; there were consequences for defiance. I took my time in answering, though. When he yelled again I called back that it was in the fridge. He asked what I had made. Again, I wanted to tell him to look for himself. I didn’t.

It was important to stay calm. My stepdad knew that. I was sure that’s why he pushed my buttons, not just because he was naturally a terrible person.

After I told him I had made lasagna, I slammed my door closed. My room didn’t feel like mine anymore, but it was still better than the rest of the house. I had already started packing my suitcases for college, even though I wasn’t leaving for another week and a half. Somehow, it felt more real if I packed. I couldn’t wait to get out of the house. My stepdad had informed me that my room would become storage once I was gone, meaning that after I left I couldn’t come back. That was fine. There was nothing to come back for anyway.

I had made sure to pack as many things of my mother’s as I could fit. My stepdad wouldn’t miss them, and anyhow, he and my little brother still had a lot of her stuff. I had her jewelry and her pictures. Stuff guys didn’t care about.

There was a tap on my door.

“Come in, Ricky,” I called, surveying my suitcases. It was getting to the point where they weren’t all going to fit in the car.

Ricky was my ten-year-old brother. Now that I was leaving, every time I saw him I got nostalgic. Seeing him reminded me of the things he and I shared, and the things we didn’t. We didn’t look anything alike; I was short and thin, he was tall and still had some baby fat. My hair was a soft brown, while his was a straw blond that flopped into his eyes every time he moved his head. He already needed glasses, while I could see fine. The only thing we had in common was our eyes. We both had our mom’s gray eyes. We shared that she had died.

“Hi,” he said, opening the door. Ricky was ten and already more mature than I was. He did everything he could to keep me from fighting with his dad. Despite his best efforts, though, he usually failed.

“How was the park?” I asked.

Ricky wandered into my room, tidying up as he went. Sometimes he reminded me of a little old man with blond hair.

“Fine,” he said. “We threw water balloons at passing cars.”

“Wonderful supervision that day camp of yours has,” I remarked.

“Right?”

“What’s up?” I asked. I had been worried about who would take care of Ricky once I went to school, and I had caved and told him so a few days ago. He laughed so hard he nearly fell off the couch and hit his head. I told him it would serve him right if he got hurt laughing at me, and he retorted that he already took good care of himself. If I had been a good cook, he said, he might have been worried, but since I was awful he would be much happier when his dad started ordering takeout every night. As a mature eighteen-year-old I decided against sticking my tongue out at him. Instead I threw a pillow.

“Think you’ll be home for Thanksgiving?” he asked. He wasn’t looking at me.

I couldn’t tell him I’d rather vomit in my prom dress, so I just said, “Yeah, there’s a decent chance.”

When Ricky didn’t say anything, I looked up from my packing. His right arm was crossed over his left in front of his chest. “With so much practice, how are you still such a terrible liar?”

“I promise I’ll write you whenever I can,” I said.

“I know,” he said. “It’s good you’re going. You’ll be a lot happier.”

I blushed. I did feel bad that I hated his dad. I just hoped he understood all my reasons.

“Yeah, but I will miss you,” I told him. Ricky stopped wandering around and walked towards my door. “Where are you going?” I demanded.

“You’re getting all girlie on me,” he said. “I’m leaving before I catch anything.”

“You can’t catch cooties, Ricky. That’s something teachers made up so you’d behave in school.”

Ricky looked at me. His face was grave. “No, it isn’t.”

I wondered what else I could get packed in the hour before I had to go to work. I just hoped nothing odd happened tonight; I had broken enough mugs for a lifetime. If I broke any more, Mr. Jefferson might fire me.

“Charlotte, get down here,” my stepdad cried. So much for avoiding him before it was time to go. I stomped past Ricky’s room, which was twice as big as mine. After my mom died, my stepdad had insisted that Ricky and I trade, saying that he was going to be home longer, so it made sense for him to have the bigger room.

I headed downstairs to find my dad and little brother sitting at the kitchen table. There were plates, forks, and knives set out, because I had set them out, but I didn’t see the lasagna. My stepdad didn’t even look at me. I couldn’t remember the last time he had asked me how my day was, and it had been years since he worried about where I was or if I was getting into trouble. If I had ever gotten arrested, it was my firm belief that he wouldn’t have bothered to bail me out of jail.

Now, I tried to keep myself from growling in frustration. “Don’t break anything while you’re getting dinner,” my stepdad said. “I don’t want to wait for you to remake it.”

My stepdad was very familiar with me breaking dishes; he had to replace entire sets every couple of years. Not that it was hard for him, since he owned the discount store in town. I grabbed the lasagna and brought it to the table. I was about to serve him a portion when he covered his plate with his hand. He still didn’t look at me.

It took every ounce of control I had not to dump the lasagna on his head. Instead I took the platter to the microwave. Once it was ready I served both of them and started to leave the room.

“What are you doing tonight?” asked Ricky.

“Working,” I said as I went back to the kitchen.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” he called after me. I could hear the hurt in his voice. He liked it when all three of us sat at the table, even though my stepdad and I could barely be polite to each other.

“I already ate,” I called back. We both knew it was a lie, but the alternative, eating with them, wasn’t an option.

“Charlotte, Ricky’s going to play at Harry’s house tonight, so you can drop him on your way to work,” my stepdad said. I didn’t bother answering. Harry was Ricky’s best friend. His house was not on my way to work, but my stepdad didn’t care. Now that I was leaving he could treat me any way he wanted.

Without my meaning to break it, the dish in my hand shattered and the shards went clattering to the floor. I stared at the one broken piece still in my hand. I guess I had gotten angry, but I hadn’t meant to break anything. My stepdad, used to my breaking stuff, called, “If you break one more thing before you leave you’re paying for it. That better be cleaned up by the time you have to do the dishes.”

I threw the last piece of broken plate down on the floor – hard – and went to grab the broom.

Later, on the way to Harry’s, Ricky linked his fingers through mine. “Seriously, are you going to come back and visit?” he asked.

My stomach rolled. I hated lying to Ricky, but I couldn’t tell him the truth. “Yeah, of course,” I said. “All the time. I’m sure college won’t be that big of a deal.” I was not going to admit it, but I was scared to death of college and how big of a deal it was going to be. I would be living on my own for the first time with a group of other kids who would be living on their own for the first time. I was nervous and excited and scared all at once. But I would miss Ricky.

“You’re lying,” said Ricky.

“Well, maybe,” I said, “but I’ll miss you too.”

Ricky shook his head and sighed. “You’re going to be too busy for me.”

“Ricky,” I said, halting. “Don’t be silly. You look like a little old man. I’ll never be too busy for you.”

“Mom would want you to come home,” Ricky pointed out. I started walking again, faster. “She wouldn’t want you to be mean.”

“Ricky,” I cried, “I’m not mean. It’s complicated.”

“That’s such a girl thing to say,” said Ricky. Then, abruptly changing the subject, he said, “Are you going to be alright getting home tonight? Without dad?” Ricky understood my problem. Unlike the friend I had told about it, Ricky hadn’t laughed at me. Plus, he was more of an adult in our relationship than I was. Minus his inability to cook.

“I’ll be fine,” I lied again.

“Can’t you tell the truth once before we get to Harry’s?” Ricky demanded. “We also need to talk about you dating at college.”

I yelped. “Ricky! What are you talking about?”

Ricky removed his glasses and dusted off the lenses. “I know how guys are. You need to be careful. And my dad isn’t going to tell you that.”

“Ricky,” I said, “you’re ten.”

“You say that like it means something,” said Ricky, sticking the glasses back on his nose.

I rolled my eyes. We were almost at Harry’s.

“Look, you avoided dating all through high school or it avoided you,” he said. I couldn’t help making a strangled noise, but he continued: “It would just be smart if you continued to do so in college,” Ricky finished.

I glared down at my little brother. “I’ll date if I want to.” There was no way I was going to tell Ricky that I had been harboring ideas of getting a boyfriend in college. He was right. I hadn’t dated in high school. I had kissed a couple of boys in middle school, but then my mother had died and I just hadn’t been interested. I was hoping college would be a fresh start.

“So,” said Ricky, “no dating. Or I’ll have to knock some heads together.”

“Sure thing, Ricky,” I said.

“Lie number three,” he said, and trudged off to Harry’s.

I got to the coffee shop a little bit late. I had walked fast after I’d left Ricky at Harry’s, partly because of my little problem, but I was still late.

Mr. Jefferson waved to me as I came dashing in. The shop was busy, as it always was before eight o’clock. A couple of my friends were sitting in the corner, and I waved to them as I went behind the counter. I didn’t have time to look and see who else was there before I had to start serving.

Mr. Jefferson came over as I was setting out more mugs. “Alright?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “It’s busy tonight.”

Mr. Jefferson shook his head. “Lots of parents taking their kids out for one last meal before they ship them off to college. Kids don’t know it, but the parents are all going to throw a big party once we’ve gotten rid of you all.” He was grinning.

I laughed.

“Naw,” he said. “I think most of the parents will miss their kids something terrible.” He said “most,” not “all.” I wondered if he had been thinking of me. My stepdad couldn’t wait to get rid of me. All the evidence I needed was that I couldn’t even keep my room. If I wanted to come home I would probably have to sleep on the couch.

I kept an eye on everyone who came in and out. Lots of kids I had just graduated with were still around. I had mixed feelings about finishing high school. We all had the same questions: What will college be like? Will it be better or worse than high school, or just different? I didn’t like not knowing my future, but I couldn’t wait to get out of that house. I sighed. And placed another mug on the counter.

Chapter Two

I sat dejectedly looking out the window. I had no idea how I was going to get home, which was silly, because I only lived about three blocks away. But for the past two weeks I had been afraid to walk home alone, especially after dark.

The couple of times I had been out late and the sun had already gone down, I’d had my stepdad pick me up. It had worked fine, except that tonight he had poker and my shift at the coffee shop had ended an hour late. It was now almost ten o’clock.

“Charlotte, what are you still doing here?” Mr. Jefferson asked as he came out of the back. I saw him and smiled. He reminded me of Santa Claus, all white beard and pot belly. “We did good business today. It’s always good in the summer,” he said, happily rubbing his hands together.

“Just deciding how I’m getting home,” I told him. But he wouldn’t give me a ride. He slept above the coffee shop and I’m not even sure he had a car. But I was tempted to ask him to at least walk me part of the way.

“Charlotte, you’re eighteen years old. You should be able to find your way home by now,” he joked.

I gave him a small smile. “Yeah, I know.”

Despite his encouragement, I still didn’t move. When he realized I wasn’t going anywhere he walked around the counter and sat on the bench next to me.

“Everything all right?” he asked. I’d been working for him for a year now and he knew me pretty well.

“Yeah, fine,” I said. There was no way I could tell him what was wrong. He’d just think I was crazy. I had tried to tell one of my friends a couple of days ago and she had laughed at me. Of course, I might laugh too if one of my friends told me that a massive black dog with red eyes was following her around and that now whenever she went outside at night, a thick mist would swirl around her. When I told her about that happening to me, my friend laughed so hard she fell out of her chair, then teased me about being afraid of the dark.

“Not looking forward to college starting?” he asked.

“No, definitely not,” I grumbled. “It should be illegal to have classes while the sun is out. School should be a rainy day activity.”

Mr. Jefferson chuckled.

“I’m sure you’ll do well this year,” he told me kindly. “It’s a great, exciting step in your life.”

“Yeah, thanks,” I said. He was right, but the easiest thing to worry about was the unknown. “I guess I should head home now.”

Mr. Jefferson had been my last hope. I knew there wasn’t anything else for it. I’d have to walk alone.

With my hand on the doorknob I turned to Mr. Jefferson and asked, “Have you ever come across an animal you knew was evil?”

Mr. Jefferson looked surprised. “There are some pretty bad animals out there, Char,” he said. “Plus, unfortunately some get rabies and are sick.”

Rabies. Hmm, that was something I hadn’t thought of. Maybe the dog had rabies. I wondered if that would give it red eyes. Somehow I didn’t think so. “Thanks again,” I said.

Mr. Jefferson, not noticing my apprehension as anything unusual, told me to have a good night.

I took a deep breath and told myself I was being silly. I was eighteen years old and nothing ever happened in this town. I couldn’t still be afraid of things that went bump in the night. It was just a stupid dog, and of course there was mist. I lived in Maine and there were a million lakes and the ocean. Just because the mist seemed to swirl around me until I almost couldn’t see anything was irrelevant. Right? Yeah, sure.

I opened the front door and listened to the welcome bell jingle as I stepped outside. It was odd to feel so scared in a place where I’d spent so much of my life. Since it was late – past eight o’clock is late around here – all the other shops along Main Street were closed. I could hear a car coming in the distance, but it would just speed past.

For a moment I stood still, uncertain. Since I only lived three blocks away, all I had to do was walk down Main Street and then turn right into the residential area. It was literally a five-minute walk.

But I couldn’t move. At this moment I hated where I lived as passionately as I’d ever hated anything. I’d be fine as long as I was on Main Street, but my street had no street lamps.

“This sucks,” I muttered. Every part of my body was tense, so I pulled my phone out of my bag and held it in my hand, ready to call for help if I had to.

Part of me felt like I was being ridiculous, because I’d grown up in this town and literally the worst thing that had ever happened was some stolen garden tools. Then again, there was a first time for everything, and another part of me felt sure there was a boogieman right around the corner who was about to leap out at me.

The last part of me wondered if this had anything to do with my mother. But I pushed those thoughts aside.

Suddenly, while I was still walking along Main Street, I thought I heard a growling behind me. The black dog was there again. I gasped. I was positive my heart had just stopped beating.

My hope of avoiding him was dashed. I didn’t want to sprint all the way home. I didn’t want to show fear. But I was so scared I wanted to scream.

I looked behind me and felt like I was plummeting from the very top of a roller coaster, all fast panic and rolling stomach. There in the shadows was a pair of red eyes looking back at me.

Then they were gone.

Probably just a trick of the light. Right?

“I’m not crazy,” I said to myself. “I am NOT crazy.” I walked faster. “Don’t be afraid,” I ordered myself. For what it was worth.

I was almost relieved to have the mist come. It wasn’t exactly warm and comforting, but somehow I felt like it shielded me from the dog.

Only two more blocks.

I heard a snarl.

Despite my instincts telling me to stay calm, I started to run.

“Hi Charlotte.”

So much for good intentions. I staggered to a stop.

Standing in front of me was Cale Marks. He was a guy I’d known for most of my life until last year, when he graduated and left for college. No one in town had heard anything from him since. I remembered him as a nice guy who played a lot of sports.

He reached out and took my arm to steady me. I hadn’t seen him in a while, but I thought his face looked strained. He had a shock of red hair that was currently falling into his eyes, and a sprinkling of freckles across his nose.

“Hi Cale,” I said. I couldn’t help it. I looked over my shoulder. The mist was clearing a little. I didn’t see any sign of a massive dog.

“How are you?” Cale asked, still holding my arm.

His touch was distracting. “What?” I asked. “Oh. Fine.” Looking at him I knew I should ask some penetrating question about the last year, like how was school or where had he gone, but all I could think of was that my friend Katie had a massive crush on him and was heartbroken when he left. I had to admit, he was attractive in a boy-next-door sort of way. I decided I liked the boy-next-door sort of way better anyway.

“Can I walk you home?” he wanted to know. He finally let go of my arm, leaving a warm spot where his hand had been.

“How did you know I was going home?” Typical me, arguing with someone who was offering to do what I had been wanting all evening.

He shrugged. “Nothing’s open. You live like a block from here. Where else would you be going?”

Good point.

“I guess,” I said. I wasn’t sure about having Cale’s company; we’d never really hung out in school, but at this point I would take what I could get.

“So, where have you been this last year?” I asked, remembering that I hadn’t even seen him around at Christmas.

He coughed. “Went to private school in Vermont.”

“How’s that?”

“Great, actually,” he said. “It’s been really eye-opening.”

“Like, academically?” I shifted so that I could see his face better as we walked and so that I wouldn’t be tempted to constantly look over my shoulder.

He grinned. “Yeah, that’s part of it, I guess, but also there’s a lot of…diverse people there.”

“I bet there’s a lot of argyle too,” I muttered.

“What’d you say?” he asked, leaning towards me so that he could hear.

“Nothing,” I said, looking off into the distance and trying to act cool.

“How have you been?” he asked, trying hard to continue the conversation.

I was getting the distinct feeling that he was waiting for something, but I had no idea what.

“Do you have somewhere else to be?” I asked.

“You like asking lots of questions, huh?” he observed.

“I like information,” I told him. “It helps me function properly.”

He threw back his head and laughed. “Do you have trouble functioning properly?”

“Only Sunday through Saturday,” I said under my breath. But to him I said, “Sorry. I won’t ask so many questions.”

“No, you should,” he said. “It’s nice to have someone be curious. Besides, I was actually hoping to see you at some point while I was home.”

“You were?” I asked, shocked. Cale hadn’t said two words to me for the entire time we were in school together.

“Yeah,” he said. “You were always nice to me and I was hoping to run into you. You were always nice in general, actually.”

“I’m only nice to people I don’t know,” I informed him. “Just give it time.”

That made him laugh again. “Oh, I see. So you’re really a tough girl?”

“Yeah,” I said, grinning. “Don’t mess with me.”

“You realize you’re only like five feet tall?” Cale asked, still smiling broadly at me.

I smiled back. “Yeah, but it’s not the size of the dog in the fight….” My voice trailed off. I’d been enjoying the banter with Cale but had reminded myself of the dog I’d been “seeing.” More and more I was thinking that it was some stupid illusion.

Seeing the sudden strain on my face, Cale asked me what was wrong.

“Nothing,” I said. The uneasy feeling I’d been having returned. We were now on my street, the one that didn’t have streetlights. I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. Over and over again I told myself that it was no big deal, that I hadn’t even really seen anything following me. Who had black dogs with red eyes following them anyway? No one.

“Sorry if I’m a little distracted,” I said to Cale, feeling awkward and like I’d been bizarre the whole time.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Cale, smiling. “It’s part of your charm.”

We had almost reached my house when Cale said, “Hey, Charlotte?”

“Yeah?”

He took a deep breath like he was about to say something, but instead just let the air out slowly. “It was great to see you.”

“Yeah, um, you too,” I said. I couldn’t wait to get inside my house. Cale hesitated for a second, then wandered off down the street.

Before I could dash inside I heard a low growling noise behind me and froze. I didn’t dare look around, but Cale was gone, not that he would be much help against the flesh eating monster I imagined to be hiding just behind the bushes.

Slowly, I turned around. For some reason, actually seeing the massive black dog standing there, foaming at the mouth as it glared at me, was not as terrifying as thinking it was following me but not being sure. Now, instead of being crazy I was just about to be murdered by a massive animal. It was a wonderful improvement.

The dog’s belly was almost touching the ground. Every muscle in its body looked coiled, ready to spring free. I recognized that position. I saw it all the time on TV. It was what an animal did before it leapt forward. The big black dog was about to attack.

I couldn’t move, couldn’t think. Running away seemed impossible. It was clearly faster than I was, and there was nowhere I could run to anyhow. In my mind I calculated the distance from where I was standing to the front door of my house; I would never make it inside.

All this went through my head in the split second before the dog launched himself towards me. But just before he plowed into me, the swirling mist came back in full force, slamming around me, blocking my view. I couldn’t see, I couldn’t breathe, I smelled the faint stench of something tangy and heard a high faint screeching noise.

I tried to shove my way through the mist. No way was I just going to stand there and get torn into tiny bloody pieces.

Through my confusion I could tell that the dog was now preoccupied. He was snarling in front of me, but it wasn’t at me. It was like he had completely forgotten I was there. He seemed to be trying to nip at something that he could never quite get his jaws around.

Meanwhile, the mist, which had been getting thicker around me, suddenly cleared enough so that I could see the dog, with a last ditch effort, spin and come towards me. He took me, and apparently the mist, by surprise as he hit me and knocked me backwards onto the porch.

I felt my head hit one of the steps, and my vision flickered out. The last thing I noticed before I blacked out were shapes crowding around me and someone, who sounded a lot like Cale, asking if I was all right. I tried to answer, but I couldn’t.

Then there was nothing.

Chapter Three

When I woke up I knew three things. First, my eyes were too tired to open, but I had to open them anyway. Second, I was in a very comfortable bed, which meant that it wasn’t my bed. Third, I was surrounded by the smell of lavender. My room did not smell like lavender.

“Are you awake?” a light female voice asked me. I felt what could only be a finger prodding me in the shoulder.

My gray eyes snapped open and I tried to sit up all at once. “What?”

“Morning,” said the girl sitting at the bottom of my bed. She was so small that her feet dangled over the edge. Her skin was pale and she had spiky blond hair and luminous violet eyes.

I was in what looked like a small, undecorated dorm room. The walls were white, and next to the single window there sat a desk, a dresser, a chair, and a mirror, and of course there was the bed I was lying in. A bright light was filtering through the spotless glass. I stared around the room and then back at the girl.

“Where am I?” I demanded, pulling the covers more tightly around myself, as if they somehow offered protection.

The girl’s purple eyes brightened with surprise. “You’re in the Infirmary at Public,” she said.

“I’m in an Infirmary?” I squeaked. “What happened? What is ‘Public’?”

“Yes, you are,” she said. “You hit your head, so you had to visit the Infirmary first. Actually, you’re really late. All the other Starters got here a week and a half ago. And Public is a college, Paranormal Public University. I don’t know why they brought you here so late, though.” She frowned a little.

Something about that amount of time sounded familiar to me, but my addled brain couldn’t quite grasp what it was.

I reached up and felt the back of my head where I remembered hitting it against the steps of my house, but all I could feel was my brown hair.

“They healed you really fast,” said the girl. “The nurses here can heal anything. When students get hurt playing Dash they come here and by that night they’re as good as new again. I’m SO excited you’re here.”

I rubbed my head. I had no idea what was going on, except that this girl was way too chipper. “But I already have a college to go to,” I protested.

“I’m Sip, by the way. It stands for Sipythia Quest, but no one calls me that. And yeah, you’re looking at me like I’m crazy, but I’m really not.”

She was right about how I was looking at her, so I tried to stop. I looked down at my small hands instead. “Sorry,” I said. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Charlotte. Charlotte Rollins.”

“Oh, I know,” said Sip, grinning.

“What is this place?” I asked again. I felt like I was swimming against a tidal wave. All I wanted to do was crawl back under the covers and fall asleep and wake up on the day I was supposed to leave for college for real.

“Paranormal Public University, like I said,” she repeated. “It’s a school for… paranormals. You know, vampires, pixies, mages, and the like.”

“Paranormals don’t exist,” I told her, crossing my arms over my chest. “There’s no such thing as a vampire.” I was determined for all this to be a very bizarre dream.

“Of course we do,” she said, laughing. “You don’t think that every person who wrote a book or made a movie about us got it wrong, do you? And that all the history books are wrong? Of course not. Your mother was one,” she pointed out. “Your mom was a mage from Airlee Dorm. I’m in that house. It’s mostly mages, though there are some werewolves and dream givers as well.”

My first surprise was that she had mentioned my mother. It added legitimacy to her claim, but being reminded of my mother hurt. My second surprise was that this tiny girl was a paranormal. She looked perfectly normal. But something about what she had said sounded familiar.

Suddenly it snapped into place. I had always wondered if this would happen, but I had tried to block it away most of the time. What I had wondered was whether my dark secret would be uncovered. Mom had always been honest with me when I was little, telling me that she had magic. She’d even shown it to me a couple of times. But for some reason she wouldn’t discuss with me why she never had anything to do with the magical community. We were sectioned off in the normal world. Every time I asked, she would change the subject. Then she died and left me alone with my awful stepdad.

When I started high school and gave no signs of magic, I decided that my mother had been crazy. She had shown me her own magic, but maybe I had imagined that, and since she was dead there was no way I could ask her. I had gone about living my ordinary life assuming that paranormals and magic didn’t exist. You can’t miss what you never had.

My stepdad hated any talk of magic or paranormals. He thought my mom was being crazy and said that she was filling my head with nonsense. My mother said that men secretly value “rationality” above God or sports. She could never mention any of it around him, so all she would do is tell me little bits in secret. She tried to pretend that she hadn’t told me she was a mage. I had never known what parts to believe and I was afraid of my stepdad. I hated it when he yelled.

Once my mother died, living at home was pure misery. My stepdad had never wanted me around to begin with, and he also had my little brother to take care of. My brother was his biological child, whereas I was not. He basically pretended I wasn’t there. I think I reminded him too much of my mom and I don’t think he could handle it. He never got over losing her.

If my father had been alive my stepdad would probably have tried to send me to him. But since he wasn’t, it was easier to just tolerate me and hope that I would disappear eventually.

If my father had been alive a lot of things might have been different.

“My mom told me she was a mage,” I said, still looking down at my hands. It was the first time I’d said it out loud; I had never dared before. Somehow, saying it was freeing. It sounded right and it was a relief to talk about my mom. “At the time I didn’t really believe her. She didn’t say much about magic, so I figured she was kidding.” But a part of me had always hoped that she wasn’t.

“I understand,” said Sip, nodding. “And the professors here think you’re a mage, too.”

“But I’ve never done any magic,” I protested. I tried to remember movies where I saw kids waving their hands while silver fire poured out or whatever. None of that had ever happened to me. I had never moved things with my mind or made stuff disappear.

“You just haven’t been trained,” Sip assured me. “It will come, with time and the proper professors. Your mom had magic, so there’s a good chance that you do too.”

I wasn’t sure if I believed her, but I didn’t argue. I liked the idea of following in my mother’s footsteps.

“So, what now?” I asked. “I mean, I should probably head home soon.” Not that my stepdad misses me, I thought to myself, but I still had packing to do for college. “But maybe I can visit again?”

Sip was shaking her head. “You got here late, so you have a lot to do. Classes start tomorrow, and tonight is the Demonstration. Starters demonstrate their paranormal abilities for their dorms. Besides, you need to see the campus. We can do that now, I guess. There is SO much for you to do! Basically, you aren’t going home.”

“But what about my college?” I demanded, panic starting to rise in me.

“You’re still going to college,” Sip pointed out. “The subjects you’ll be taking in the first semester will probably just be a little different than at your other school.”

“Do I have a choice?” I asked. “About all this?” I waved my hand to include the Infirmary room, but I really meant the whole paranormal/magic completely changing my life plan thing. I was supposed to start normal college. I had packed for it. There was nothing normal about Paranormal Public University.

Sip grinned. “Not technically. Untrained paranormals are dangerous. The professors don’t take kindly to rogue mages. Besides, you’ll like it here. I promise.”

I thought that might turn out to be true. Being about to start paranormal college was way more exciting than starting normal school. Besides, this couldn’t be worse than what I was leaving. My stepdad wouldn’t even miss me and Ricky was already more mature than I was.

“So, I’m staying here? What about my stepdad? My brother?” I wanted to know. This all sounded well and good, but I wasn’t sure it could really happen. Sure, my mom had told me about magic, but when she died the idea that I might be a mage had died with her.

“You need to be trained,” said Sip gently. “I’m a Starter too and we are going to be roommates. That’s why I’m here now. They wanted you to see a friendly face and get to know someone.” Sip was a friendly face all right. I’d bet she could sell coal to miners.

She continued, “I know it can be hard, but your stepdad has already been told that you left early and will call when you have a chance.”

That might be what someone told him, but he wouldn’t believe it. He’d know the truth, and what was worse was the fact that he’d be happy to get rid of me. He’d be much better off with just himself and Ricky anyway, I thought.

Suddenly it hit me: I wouldn’t be going home that night or any night soon. No more stepdad ignoring me, no more brother who got everything he wanted. I was sad, but I wasn’t that sad.

I started to smile.

Then I took a deep breath. This was crazy. I knew this was crazy, but somehow all the bad feelings I’d had for the past couple of weeks were gone. With every breath I took I felt more relaxed and happy than I’d felt in years, at least since I lost my mom. It felt good to be doing something my mom would want me to do. I’d been so busy with school and avoiding my stepdad that I hadn’t had much time for anything else.

“What if I suck and can’t do any magic,” I started to ask. “And are there really vampires?”

“You won’t suck. How can you suck at your destiny?” she said. “And yeah, there are really vampires, and elementals and pixies and fallen angels. They have their own dorms.”

“Which are you?” I asked. I couldn’t tell just by looking at her.

“Werewolf,” she said smiling.

“I don’t really know what that means,” I said.

Sip’s grin got bigger. “No, you don’t, but trust me, by the end of this first semester you will.”

She paused, looking at me carefully. “Do you need a little time?” Sip offered.

I didn’t. I knew my answer.

I squared my shoulders. “No. I’m ready.” I told Sip. “I’m staying. What do I need to know?”

Sip clapped her hands together in glee. “Awesome. You are going to love it here.”

“Yeah,” I said drily. “Once I know anything about it.”

“Let’s start with the basics,” she said, making herself more comfortable on my bed. “Here’s the deal. Tonight you’re going to join your dorm. It’s a big deal. You will be in Airlee Dorm and I will be your roommate. Awesomeness.”

I grinned.

“So, what types of paranormals are here?” I asked. She was a werewolf, and I was a mage, and there must be vampires, but who else was here?

“There are five dorms: one is Cruor, which is Latin for blood; it’s the vampire dorm. Aurum (shining dawn) is for fallen angels, Volans (flying) is for pixies, and Astra (stars) is for elementals, but there aren’t any more of those, so Astra is empty.”

She sounded sad about that, but I had so many other questions racing through my mind that I didn’t get a chance to ask why.

“What does ‘Airlee’ stand for?”

Sip sighed. “It doesn’t stand for anything. They just named it that when they decided they needed another dorm. Paranormal Public started out with just vampires, fallen angels, elementals, and pixies. They didn’t want to mix the paranormal types, they don’t get along, so when werewolves and mages came into the mix they realized they needed another dorm.

“Airlee is a newer dorm and is therefore considered lesser by some.” She said the word as if it left a bad taste in her mouth.

“Because Airlee has werewolves, mages, and anyone else with an ability that isn’t vampire, fallen angel or pixie, everyone in those dorms looks down on us.”

“Oh,” I said.

Apparently there was a hierarchy to paranormals and I was in the dorm that was at the bottom of it.

“We have to work really hard to prove ourselves, but it’s going to be SO great,” said Sip. Apparently nothing bothered her.

The door opened and in bustled a woman dressed in something like what I thought a nurse on crack would wear. She wore a rainbow of colors with bright pink-rimmed glasses almost falling off her nose.

“Oh, darling, you’re awake! Isn’t that lovely?” the nurse said to me, barely looking at Sip. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m feeling much better,” I told her honestly. “My head feels fine.”

“Lovely, lovely. I’m Nurse Tabby,” she said. “If you need anything, just come by. My door is always open, so to speak.”

“Now, do you remember much about what happened?” She pushed her pink glasses higher up on her nose.

“Just that I hit my head,” I said.

“You did indeed. Nasty bump, but I think we mended it just fine. You do have a hard skull, I think. Lucky.” She poked me on the tip of my nose as she giggled.

“Um, thanks,” I said, rubbing the tip of my nose where she’d tapped it.

“Oh, that’s alright darling. Now, Sip,” said Nurse Tabby, turning to my new roommate. “Take her to dinner and make sure she eats lots of fruits and vegetables.”

Sip nodded, but her hair stayed perfectly in place. “Of course.”

“You girls have a good night,” said Nurse Tabby, bustling out and closing the door behind her.

I felt like my head was spinning.

“We should get you food,” said Sip seriously. “You look like you could use something to eat.”

My stomach grumbled.

“So, when’s dinner?” I asked.

Sip laughed. “Right now.”

I looked around for my clothes, but they were nowhere to be seen. “Um, do we have a uniform or anything?”

“No,” said Sip, grinning.

“You wear that,” she said, pointing to a plain white shirt and jeans. “It’s pretty casual around here until you can get some of your own clothes.”

I got out of bed. Sip headed out the door with a vague comment about having to do something before we went to dinner. After she left I got dressed.

I felt strange. Just a few hours ago – or so it felt – my life had been normal. I’d been working and waiting for college to start. My worst problem was whether to have a separate suitcase for my movie collection. The summer had been boring. Its biggest highlight had been hanging out with Ricky. I had known those days were numbered and I had wanted to spend as much time with him as I could. Now, suddenly I was in a paranormal college with a werewolf for a roommate, and she was telling me that I was a mage and about to start college with vampires.

And I had thought going to normal college would be stressful.

Of course, in reality, nothing had been exactly normal since my mother died, and even this summer, especially since the dog and the mist had shown up, “normal” had been a relative term that I wasn’t very familiar with.

I wondered what had happened to Cale. I had been surprised at how nice it was to see him.

I sighed. My life had been turned upside-down. Again.

Once I was dressed I went out into the hall. It looked like your average dorm, only cleaner, which made sense if it was the Infirmary. Sip was waiting for me outside the door, and we headed off to wherever she was taking me.

We didn’t see anyone as we walked through the halls. Sip explained that all the other students were probably in their own dorms, getting ready for dinner and the ceremony. The walls were covered with pictures of different paranormals. Some were vampires transforming, or werewolves brawling.

When we stepped outside it turned out that I hadn’t been in a dorm at all, but in one wing of an ultramodern building.

“So, the University is housed in this building,” said Sip. She pointed upwards at the glass and steel structure stretching into the sky. “Each dorm is detached and scattered around the grounds. And the professors and the President have their offices in a house over there.” She pointed away towards the trees.

I stretched my neck up. All I could see were walls of glass. It was breathtaking. Each glass panel shimmered with a different colored light.

“See,” said Sip, “we have classes in the tower part. All those floors are classrooms, and the dining hall is on the first floor.” I looked around. Surrounding the building with the tower were several smaller buildings, each made of colored glass and steal. Green grass, trees, and stone paths stretched around the campus as far as I could see.

“Isn’t someone worried a stone will go through a window and bring the whole thing crashing down?” I asked.

Sip laughed. “I’d like to see someone try to use a stone to take down the Tower.”

“Hey Sip,” said a boy walking towards her. I stopped craning my neck upward so that I could focus on the guy. His cheeks were round and red, like he was always blushing.

“Hey, Lough,” said Sip, grinning. “This is my new roommate, Charlotte.” Lough stuck out his round hand and smiled. “Are you a Starter too?” he asked. He had blond hair and his hand was warm and calloused. I liked him instantly.

“Yeah,” I said. “Just got here.”

“I’ve been here a week now,” said Lough. “Did they have a hard time finding you?”

“No idea,” I said. Lough thought it was odd that I was late to school.

“Sometimes they aren’t sure or stuff goes wrong,” said Sip. “I’m sure they didn’t mean for you to be so late.”

“Yeah,” said Lough, “not a big deal. Is it time to eat yet? Other people are going in.”

The paths were all smooth stone under my feet as we walked towards the Tower along with a lot of other kids heading in the same direction. I stared at them with interest. My classmates. At college. I had a lot of expectations for college. Like lectures and drinking. I wondered how much of that would happen at Paranormal Public.

“That’s the dining hall,” said Sip, pointing to the Tower again. “I am so hungry.” She rubbed her stomach.

“Are you sure I’m supposed to be here?” I asked, running a hand through my brown hair.

“Of course,” said Sip. “You’ll be fine. Don’t worry. I think all the Starters are nervous.”

But Sip didn’t look nervous and neither did Lough. She smiled and waved at other students as we headed into the building. There was a short entryway, and then we came to a massive room. I stopped short, surprised by all the noise. A kid behind me, not expecting me to stop so suddenly, bumped into my back.

“Watch it,” he muttered, shoving me out of the way. I stumbled, but caught myself. The guy that had almost knocked me over had pale skin and a red-jeweled ring on his hand.

“Vampire,” said Sip. “His name is Tale. You should watch your step. They aren’t nice.”

“Right,” I said. Sip grabbed my arm and propelled me forward. Lough wandered in after us, but he knew his way around, so it wasn’t a big deal if he got lost, whereas I had no idea where I was or what I was doing.

I took a deep breath and followed Sip to get food. The dining hall looked like something out of the future. On one side of the wall were trays and dispensers for silverware. Across from that area, food was kept behind warmed cases. Students went up to the case and pointed, and the food appeared on the tray. I had visited normal colleges. None of them had that in their dining halls.

Instead of just concentrating on filling my plate, I tried to look around the room and take everything in. The dining hall was one big room, with windows making up the far wall and long wooden tables, with chairs surrounding them, blanketing the floor.

As I followed Sip I saw that very few of the other students didn’t have rings on.

“Do the rings mean you aren’t a Starter?” I asked Sip.

“Yeah,” said Sip. “You get your ring tonight, then after you pass your Starter examinations it fills with your dorm color. Or if you perform really powerful magic.”

“When are Starter examinations?”

“Whenever you want to try for them,” she said absently. “I think I’ll go for mine next week, but you have to pass them by the end of the first semester.”

“What?” I yelped.

Sip put her tray down at an empty table near the back. At the front of the room, with another wall of windows as a backdrop, was a podium.

“Come on,” said Sip, heading in that direction.

“Wait, where are we going?” I asked. “Don’t we eat dinner now?” I stared longingly at my food.

“Yeah,” said Sip. “After we do our Demonstration and get our ring.”

I stopped dead. “Where do we have to go for that?” I asked, hoping she wouldn’t point towards the podium.

But of course she did.

In front of it was a long table where both students and adults sat.

“They’re the professors,” said Sip when she saw where I was looking. “Plus, all the student representatives of each dorm.”

“That’s where we do our Demonstration?” I asked in a small voice. I started to feel like something was constricting my throat. Kind of like I’d swallowed an elephant.

“Yup. It’s no big deal. You demonstrate your ability and then they give you a ring and then you sit back down.” Sip said all of that like it would be the easiest thing in the world. “It’s just a formality. A show of honor. It’s not like a vampire is ever going to be in any dorm besides Cruor.”

I didn’t have a choice, since Starters were expected to demonstrate their skills, so I followed Sip and we joined a line of other Starters, each waiting for a turn on the podium. Now that I was at the front of the room I could see the long table more clearly, and I wished I couldn’t. It was filled with stern-looking faces. None of the professors were smiling, and the eight students looked as stern as the professors. Not one had a look of encouragement.

I felt my heart start to beat faster. I had to perform in front of all of these people and I had no idea how. My mother had only told me I was a mage. She hadn’t told me how to do anything. The elephant in my throat started to rise up.

I noticed one of the boys at the long table looking at me. He had black hair and light blue eyes, and his features were delicate enough that I would have thought he’d look feminine. But he didn’t; he looked strong and confident. I tried to study him without his knowing it, but he turned his head to look at me and I thought I saw the ghost of a smile pass over his face. Ricky’s warning flashed in my mind: no dating. I forced my attention back to the present. I didn’t even know the guy.

The woman sitting in the middle of the table stood up. She was the only adult wearing completely black clothes on her tall, wiry frame. Her steel gray hair was pulled back into a severe bun, making her look even more intimidating.

Her voice rang out through the hall.

“Let us begin.”

With a wave of her hand the lights flickered and dimmed, and blackness rolled in around us.

Chapter Four

The President was a very powerful mage. She continued to call rolling black power towards her until it was gathered like a blanket around the podium.

With that as her backdrop she began to speak. “Good evening, Starters. Today marks the first day of your paranormal learning. We all hope that you will work hard and learn well. I am the President, and these are my colleagues on the welcoming committee.” She extended her hands in both directions to take in the professors and students sitting alongside her.

“They are here to discuss any unusual paranormal cases, as well as to see what the new students can do.

“As Starters you will be expected to abide by and follow all orders. Certainly if a professor tells you to do something, you must do it. You will be expected to make a decision within the week about what type of paranormal ability you will specialize in. For some of you, such as the werewolf, the pixie, the fallen angel, and the vampire, the choice is clear. For others” – somehow I felt like she was looking at me when she said it – “the choices are more opaque. By the end of the first semester you will be expected to take a test in your chosen paranormal ability. This will allow you to move from Starter to full-time student. If you fail the test, you will be expected to leave campus immediately. There are no second chances. Once you have passed your examination you will no longer be considered a Starter.”

The President clapped her hands together. “Are we clear?”

She waited. No one moved. When she was satisfied with the response, she continued.

“Other information you will need: As a Starter, unless you were here two weeks in advance you will not be allowed to participate in Dash.” There were some cries of dismay from the other students around me.

“In the afternoons you will take classes with your dorm. In the late evenings the classes will be mixed. You are NOT, under any circumstances, allowed outside during the nights unless you have express permission or are going to the library. I cannot stress this enough. We are living in dangerous times.

“Also, the elemental dorm, Astra, must be kept orderly until we have elementals studying and teaching there again.” There was a slight crack in her voice as she said it. “So as punishment for certain infractions, students will be assigned to assist with the cleaning of the building. Lastly, the pond by the administrative dorm, where my office is located,” she said with a wry smile to a few chuckles from other professors, “is always off limits. It is an elemental pond, and until Astra is bustling again we will respect their property and leave the pond alone.”

I sighed. There was so much to learn and remember. It didn’t sound like I had a chance of even getting through the first semester.

“You are all here for a reason,” she said more quietly, her eyes softening. “We would not have admitted you if we did not see your potential. Do not waste it.”

I looked sideways at the other Starters. Most looked as pale and scared as I felt. A couple, like Sip, looked excited.

“Now, each Starter is expected to demonstrate his or her ability in front of the panel and your fellow students. Once you have done so and I have presented you with your dorm ring, you may return to your dinner. Vampires change into vampires and so on. All we want to see is your skill. This is not a competition and you are NOT allowed to attack other students.”

I wondered what had happened in years past that had prompted her to say that last bit.

The line started moving quickly. As I watched each Starter walk to the podium, I got increasingly nervous.

“Evan Drapper.”

The first Starter in line was a pale boy with straw blond hair. He walked up to the panel, his face smug. His hair grew darker, his skin even paler, his lips redder. He opened his mouth to show off a set of white fangs. I gulped. He’d just turned into a vampire without even trying.

There was polite clapping, mostly from other vampire students, and he walked off the podium to be presented with a ring.

The line of Starters continued. The next two up were werewolves, Katie and Lauren Bells. They were twins and skipped up to the front hand in hand, their brown hair swinging in braids. They turned to face each other, grinning. They weren’t as small as Sip, but they weren’t very big. Hair started to grow on their faces and they started to shrink closer to the ground. Right before my eyes twin girls became twin werewolves.

This time I was too shocked to gasp.

A very slight young man was next, Jordan Lawrence. His arms and legs looked like uncurling wires. He came forward and spread his green arms wide. I noticed that his skin shimmered and his smile became bigger, more mischievous. Pixie. The pixies were gorgeous.

Every transformation was a new shock, but one of them, a black-haired girl wearing a shoulder-baring black dress, was the most surprising. She had a long pale face. She was more striking than conventionally attractive, but when she moved, all eyes followed her.

Looking supremely confident, she twirled her hand through the air. A lick of black flame burst from her hand to dance around her. Gasps could be heard throughout the room as students pushed their chairs further away from the podium and the girl alight with black flame.

Ripping my eyes away from the black-haired girl, I looked at the panel. The President was busy shuffling paper. Her lips were pursed together. The two professors to her left exchanged angry looks. I wondered why they looked so uncomfortable.

The girl, aware that everyone in the room was gaping at her, smirked, and the flame vanished.

“Magic of darkness,” Sip whispered to me. She was up next and had given the girl as much space as possible while she was standing in line. “Darkness for short.”

“Do they have a dorm?” I whispered back.

Sip smiled grimly. “Not their own. They’re in Airlee.” Her ears were turning pink and I could tell that she was nervous.

“Most mages who can control darkness are with the demons. There are only a few who come here to be trained. The professors are always wary of them,” she explained. “I don’t know why this one chose to come to Public. She’s the only one here right now.”

As it turned out, “wary” was an understatement. The President stood up. Her face was red with rage. “Lisabelle Verlans, you may join the Airlee Dorm.”

Without a word the mage of darkness, Lisabelle Verlans, stepped off the podium. The President almost threw an Airlee ring at her. Lisabelle Verlans, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she passed the panel, started weaving her way through the tables. I wanted to keep watching her to see where she sat, but Sip had stepped up to the podium.

After a brief pause while the whole room let out a collective breath, the President nodded.

“Sipythia Quest.” Sip stepped up to the podium and smiled, clasping her hands in front of her. Her face was smooth and serene. Her eyes blazed with confidence.

Suddenly, she whipped around, crouching low in a fighting stance. The next instant she sprang into the air, almost floating upwards.

Sip, the tiny blond girl who had greeted me when I woke up, was a werewolf, and a powerful one. She could move with incredible bursts of speed.

She raced around the professors once, so fast I could barely follow her movement, enjoying the sound of applause from other Airlee students.

Gracefully she returned to her human form, grinning from ear to ear.

After giving Sip a ring, the President indicated that she could take her seat for dinner.

I was so busy clapping and cheering for Sip that I had forgotten what was supposed to happen next.

When the hall grew quiet again I looked around. A jolt shot threw me. I was next. Every face was turned expectantly towards me. I felt like I was on display under a microscope and expected to do something I couldn’t do, and be something I wasn’t. The professors sat quietly, waiting. I had no idea what to do.

Before I knew it the President was nodding at me. “Charlotte Rollins.”

I took a deep breath and walked forward. There was a good chance I would throw up. I thought about running away, but that was impossible. I wanted to be here. I desperately wanted to prove myself. I also knew that the black-haired boy was staring at me and his intense eyes alone made me want to run and hide. I couldn’t read the look he was giving me. It was a combination of surprise and consideration. It really wasn’t helping.

As I stood in front of the panel I could feel my hands shaking and I tried to steady them. They would have to be steady, I told myself, so I could put the ring on later. It was such a silly thing to think.

A slow panic was creeping through me, like shadows lengthening. All the people standing in front of me had great powers, whether as vampire or pixie, werewolf or angel. Even Lisabelle Verlans, who clearly didn’t have a friend in the room, had stood up in front of everyone and shown them what she could do.

Now here I was with a chance to be brave and all I felt was lost. The air had gone out of my lungs, but as I tried to draw it back in all that happened was that I made a sort of sobbing noise.

There were snickers in the room. I saw one girl cover her face to keep from laughing.

I could do this, I told myself. I’d come this far. I was here and I hadn’t even thought that would happen; after my mother died, I hadn’t even let myself keep believing that her magic had been real. But here I was. They had come for me and that must mean something.

I squared my shoulders, ready to fight. My mother had been a mage. If she could do it, so could I.

I tried with all my might to perform magic. I tried so hard. But the truth of the matter was that I didn’t know what I was doing. No one had ever shown me what to do. I’d just grown up a normal girl. The idea that I was now suddenly paranormal was all well and good, but there was no way I was going to be able to do magic. Not tonight.

I heard one of the professors give an awkward cough. I wiped sweaty hands on my jeans.

“Boo,” someone called out. A chorus of boos followed it.

“Silence,” ordered the President, but I hardly heard her. I was concentrating too hard. Everyone who had gone before me had done something exceptional. Besides, they were all clearly paranormals. I had just been told that I was a paranormal, but I hadn’t become one of them. Not yet.

It didn’t help that all the professors were gaping at me; they had probably never seen a student fail the Demonstration before. I wondered if they had ever brought a student to Public before only to sit and watch her embarrass herself in front of the entire school on the night of the Demonstration.

I tried to give a shaky smile, but I felt like crying.

The President took pity on me. “Airlee Dorm,” she said. She wasn’t smiling. “But,” and I was scared to breathe, waiting to see what she would say next, “please visit my chambers when dinner is finished.”

My ears were ringing. Everyone was staring at me. I gave a quick nod and scurried to my seat.

I sat down next to Sip and dropped my head onto the table. One of the professors gave us all permission to start eating and went through some sort of speech about how great the start of the school year was. But I was so mortified I barely listened. I obviously didn’t belong there. I needed to get back to regular college, fast.

I would probably get to the President’ office and she’d tell me it wasn’t true that I was a paranormal, and I should leave immediately. She just hadn’t wanted to mention that in front of everyone else.

My forehead thudded against the table as I practiced disappearing.

Sip patted me on the back. “Don’t worry,” she said. “Not everyone can perform in front of a crowd.”

“Yeah, I’m sure I’m just so talented. It just didn’t come through tonight. That’s like saying Brad Pitt is only kind of attractive. Blatant crap.”

Sip was quiet for a breath, then she said fiercely, “You’re a paranormal.”

I put my head back on the table. “How do you know?”

“Because,” Sip insisted, “the professors don’t go to so much trouble for everyone. They went out of their way to get you.”

Before she could elaborate, someone behind me said, “Hi again, Charlotte.”

I recognized that voice, but I had never expected to hear it here. I spun around in my chair. For the second time in two days Cale Marks was standing behind me.

If I were quick or had a different personality, I’m sure I would have come up with something witty to say. But sadly I was neither, and I just stared at him.

“Careful or you’ll catch flies,” said Sip wisely.

I glared at her, but closed my mouth.

“What are you doing here?” I demanded. I was overwhelmed and confused, and seeing Cale didn’t help.

“Nice to see you, too. I go here,” said Cale, shrugging. “I came to pick you up back home, because you knew me.”

In a flash I remembered that Cale had been there the night the dog tried to attack me. It hadn’t been an accident that he’d run into me, it seemed; he ran into me because he’d been looking for me.

“You saved me?” I asked in a small voice.

Cale laughed. “Not really. The vampires are the ones who really saved you. I was supposed to explain what was going on. They thought it might come better from a friendly face, but then you got knocked out and it didn’t matter.”

“Do you want to sit down?” Sip offered, smiling up at the much taller, and standing, Cale. At least one of us had manners.

“No thanks,” he said, running a hand through his red hair. “I should get back to my friends.” He pointed to a table by the windows. “We’ll catch up, though. Just wanted to make sure you were settling in,” he said, and headed off before I could say another word.

“Wow,” said Sip. “So, you already know a pixie?”

“A what?” I gasped. “No way!”

“He’s sitting with pixies,” said Sip, “So I’m pretty sure he is one. Besides, the ring on his hand….”

I had been too surprised to even look at his hand or notice what color ring he wore. I felt like I was running a race, but no matter what I did everyone else was going to be faster than I was.

“Don’t worry,” said Sip kindly. She must have seen the distraught look on my face. “It’s overwhelming now, but you’ll get used to it.”

“I doubt it,” I informed her.

While we ate in silence, a group of pixies walked past us. They were the type of girls who walk like they know everyone is watching, because they are. Each of them was gorgeous in a delicate sort of way, with perfect shiny hair and brightly painted nails. I flinched, thinking of my own chewed cuticles.

“That’s Camilla Van Rothson,” said Sip, pointing out the lead pixie. She had long blond hair and a button nose. “She’s a sophomore and the best in her class.”

“Best at what?” I asked.

“Pretty much everything,” Sip muttered. “I wouldn’t get on her bad side. She has a reputation for ruining the lives of girls she doesn’t like.”

“Any girl?” I asked, thinking that given my performance, or lack of a performance, on the podium just now, she really couldn’t view me as much of a threat.

“Lots of guys fawn over her,” Sip explained, “and she likes the attention.”

“Great,” I said. “Well, that’s one problem I don’t think I’ll have.”

When I looked up again the black-haired boy’s eyes were looking directly at me. It was difficult, but I looked away.

Throughout dinner I noticed one clear fact: different paranormal types did not mix. There were no vampires sitting with pixies, no werewolves sitting with fallen angels. They all kept to themselves. Sip had said that there was an ironclad social hierarchy among paranormals, and I could see it immediately.

It had started when the demons had started trying to kill them/us off. Apparently, not associating with other paranormals was for protection. If you didn’t trust anyone outside your own paranormal group, it was harder for the demons to get to you. But it seemed weird at a college. I had expected my college to be this great mixing pot, where different types of people came together and shared ideas, or alcohol, and we all learned and grew as people. Of course, now I wasn’t going to school with “people.”

While I was busy eating and trying to take everything in, a guy with a brown glowing ring walked past the table of vampires. Of all the paranormals, the vampires were the easiest to spot. Despite the lack of a dress code they all wore all black, and most were paler-skinned than you’d think possible.

As the werewolf was walking past, he tripped and went soaring through the air. The guy was slight, with blond hair and a pale complexion. I wouldn’t have expected him to be so graceless. His tray, piled high with all the food being served that night, flew into the air.

Throughout the room there was a collective gasp, then silence as the blond werewolf crashed to the floor. The table of vampires that he’d been passing roared with laughter. Instantly, every werewolf and vampire in the place was standing. The werewolves were growling and the vampires’ teeth were fanged.

“GO, MIKE,” yelled a few of the werewolves.

In the next breath the werewolf who had tripped, Mike, was on his feet, hurling himself into the table of vampires. The hall erupted in noise. Suddenly there was a fight and everyone wanted to watch it. The pixies, who appeared to hate both sides but hated the vampires more, cheered when the vampires landed a punch but cheered even louder when the werewolf did. I wasn’t sure who the Airlee students were rooting for, but they didn’t seem to like the vampires either. The fallen angels were quiet.

The werewolf was hopelessly outnumbered. He’d landed a couple of punches on a beefy-looking vampire before two other vampires grabbed him to hold him down.

The black-haired boy who I’d been sure was staring at me was at the vampire table in an instant. I didn’t know it was possible for anything flesh and blood to move that fast.

He commanded respect. The vampires looked less certain about beating up Mike once he showed up. Everywhere around the room, quiet spread. I glanced at the professors, but they were eating like nothing out of the ordinary was happening. Apparently they didn’t get involved in the mere squabbles of their paranormal charges.

The black-haired boy plucked the vampires away from Mike as if they weighed nothing. I was surprised to see that he wasn’t wearing a brown ring like the other werewolves; his ring shone silver, marking him as a fallen angel. Apparently he was one, at least, who didn’t care so much for the differences between paranormals.

“Keller,” said a female voice sharply. Everyone turned. Making her way through the crowd was a female vampire who looked like she was more floating than walking. It reminded me of mist. She reminded me of Lisabelle Verlans, except that she was beautiful. Her lips were a deep red and her black air fell over her shoulders in waves.

“That’s a vampire princess,” Sip whispered to me. It was the first time she’d spoken since the fight broke up. Her eyes were still locked on Mike and the vampires.

“Enough,” the vampire princess ordered.

“Tell your newbies to leave the werewolves alone,” Keller demanded. He was still holding the collar of a vampire in one hand and Mike’s collar in the other.

“Tell the werewolf not to attack my vampires,” she shot back. She was unbelievably gorgeous, I thought. And angry. Power radiated off her like heat.

Without responding, Keller shook the collar of the hapless Mike. “Do you hear that?” he demanded. “Leave them alone!”

Silence fell throughout the hall like un-rung bells.

Chapter Five

Finally, the President rose one last time and walked to the podium, commanding respect with a razor sharp back and a hard look around the room. Without her even having to ask, silence fell. I stopped eating so that I could listen to what she had to say.

“This concludes the evening,” she started, folding her hands in front of her. She spoke with a clear and commanding voice. I had a feeling that only really crazy students defied her.

“Welcome once again to students and Starters,” she said. “This is going to be another wonderful year. For everyone who is new here I just want to set a few ground rules.” She paused to clear her throat.

“For everyone familiar with Dash, the first competition will be this weekend. Any student not on probation is allowed to sign up to compete. Finals will be at the end of term. Two teams will compete for the grand prize along with individual finals.

“Also,” she said, and here her voice lowered and became urgent, “I have an announcement for everyone. Under no circumstances are you to help anyone onto these grounds. I do not care how well you know the person. I do not care if it is your own mother. You will take her to the security office where she may be issued her clearance. Any student found violating this directive will be instantly expelled.”

She glared around the room. It felt like she was going to make eye contact with every student before she sat down, just to make sure she’d gotten her point across.

“That is all. Good luck and have a wonderful start to term.”

I gulped. “That’s who I have to go see now?”

“Uh huh,” said Sip. “I’m sure she’s not as bad as she looks.”

“You’re right,” said Lough, “She might be worse.”

After dinner Sip showed me how to get to the President’s office. She couldn’t go in with me, but she said she’d wait outside.

She led me along a path to the building that housed the professors’ offices, as well as the President’s. It was just as modern as the class building, made completely of steel and glass and looking more like a fortress than an office building. Outside it was the pond that the President had mentioned. It looked harmless enough, but I already had proof that not everything here was as it seemed.

Sip led me up the steps and into the building. I had expected some sort of elaborate lock on the front door or someone standing guard, but all Sip had to do was grab the handle and pull it open, and we could walk inside.

“I’m not sure I’ll be staying in Airlee Dorm tonight,” I told Sip.

“Why not? Of course you will,” she said, waving her little hands indignantly. “What are you talking about?”

“I couldn’t do anything paranormal,” I explained patiently. “There’s no way they’ll let me stay.”

“As I’ve already pointed out, they wouldn’t have brought you here just to send you home,” said Sip, putting her fists on her hips and glaring at me. I sighed, releasing my breath slowly. She just couldn’t understand, but I wasn’t going to keep arguing with her.

She pointed at a plain-looking door. “It’s through there,” she said.

I had expected double doors made out of iron or something massively over the top and fancy, but somehow the President’s door didn’t need decoration; the fact that her powerful position spoke for itself made her even more intimidating.

The next second the door opened and the President stuck her head out. She looked around the room as if we weren’t there. Eventually her eyes settled on me. I had the feeling she was looking through me more than at me. “Come in.”

I glanced at Sip one last time and wondered if she could see the despair in my eyes.

Since the President had come to the door herself I expected it to be just the two of us. But I was wrong.

In the room were two professors I thought I recognized from the panel at dinner, but I’d been so terrified that I hadn’t really looked at the other adults sitting at the table, so now I wasn’t sure if these were the same people.

The room was sparse except for a wall of books behind a heavy oak desk. The President slid into a chair behind it and invited me to sit in front of her. A professor went to sit on either side of her, making it three against one.

The President first pointed to the rosy-cheeked woman on her right. “This is Professor Lambros,” she said. Professor Lambros had lively brown eyes. “I teach pixies,” she explained with a wide smile. “Because I am one.”

The other professor was named Zervos. He had sweeping black hair, shadowed eyes, and a ferocious glare, which at that moment was directed right at me. The President explained that Professor Zervos taught vampires in the morning and one mixed class later in the day.

The introductions over, the President leaned back in her chair and steepled her fingers. “What happened tonight was…unusual,” she said drily.

I started to say something, although what it was going to be I had no idea, but before I could get a word out the President raised her hand, silencing me.

“It shouldn’t be tolerated,” Professor Zervos cut in.

“It has happened before,” said Professor Lambros, defending me. “With me, for example.”

“And I didn’t think it should have been tolerated then either,” Zervos snapped. “I thought you should have left until you had a clearer handle on your abilities as a pixie.”

“Good thing it wasn’t up to you,” Professor Lambros said under her breath.

Professor Zervos was a lot older than Professor Lambros. He must have been teaching here even when she was a student.

“The protocol is flexible,” said the President. “Since we went to the trouble of getting her here I’m inclined to let her stay for the first semester.”

The three professors kept talking about me as if I wasn’t even there, as if what I thought didn’t matter. Professor Zervos was completely against letting me stay, even tonight, while Professor Lambros argued passionately that I deserved a chance.

I was in college. I was an adult now. Yes, these people were in charge, but this was my life. I said, “Don’t I get a say? It’s my life.”

Professor Zervos’s mouth curved up in an unpleasant smile, like I’d said the worst thing in the world and it was exactly what he had expected me to say.

“No, you don’t get a say,” Professor Zervos sneered. “You Starters always think you’re adults. You always think you know better than your betters. You know nothing. You are not even the paranormal we thought you were.”

I felt my hands clench in my lap, but I knew I should be quiet.

The President was looking at me consideringly.

“Why do you want to stay?” she asked.

Why did I? I wasn’t sure if I could put it into words, but I had to try. “I want to stay because of my mother,” I said slowly. “She was the best person I ever knew. I want to be like her.”

Professor Zervos snorted, but I plunged on. “She taught me well. She told me I had magic and I…I didn’t believe her. Then when she,” I had never been able to say that she had died. Somehow saying it would make it true. On a practical level I knew that I had lost the thing I loved most in the world, but that didn’t mean I was going to talk about it. “After that I stopped believing I had magic. I lost faith in what my mother had said.” I hung my head. “It’s something I’ll always regret. But now I’m here,” I continued slowly. “I may not have the years of training other students have had from their families, but I have desire. I will work hard, harder than you can imagine, and I’ll make my mother proud.”

The President nodded. “I do hope, Charlotte Rollins, that over the course of your time here you come to want to stay for yourself, as well as for your mother. You will have the first semester if you want it. If at the end of that time you have shown no paranormal abilities, you will be asked to leave. Until you prove that you have magic you will be on probation. If you put one foot out of line,” she warned me menacingly with her finger, “you will be sent home. Since it will be difficult for you to accomplish your course work, I will assign you a tutor.”

Great, she already thought I couldn’t handle it.

Professor Zervos started to protest, but the President cut him off. “This is not a negotiation,” she said. “I am the President and I will thank you to remember as much.”

Professor Zervos looked like he wanted to say more, but instead he sank down in his seat, silent.

“I want to stay,” I said. I had already come too far to leave with my tail between my legs. Plus, I couldn’t let that embarrassment tonight during my Demonstration stand as my only act at Paranormal Public. I could do better, and I would.

Professor Zervos made a scoffing noise while Professor Lambros clapped.

“Thank you,” I added.

“Oh, don’t thank me,” said the President. “Until you prove you are paranormal you will be miserable here,” she said with a thin smile, “which apparently will make professor Zervos very happy.”

As Professor Lambros started to rise I felt a slight tremor come up through the floor. Instead of standing, I gripped the arms of the chair harder for support. The tremor came again, stronger this time. The President sprang to her feet. “This meeting is over. Ms. Rollins, think about what we’ve told you. Zervos?” But he was already on his feet and heading towards the door.

The two swept out of the room before I had a chance to say anything else.

“Students playing pranks,” Professor Lambros said, shaking her head sadly. “It takes up a lot of the professors’ time. “Anyway, come along,” she continued, putting her hand on my arm. “Let’s get you out of here.”

I followed Lambros out.

Once we were in the hall my legs sagged. I felt like they had suddenly become more like jelly than flesh over bone.

“Are you alright?” asked Lambros, concern in her bright brown eyes. “Don’t worry. The President is hard on everyone.”

When Professor Lambros saw Sip waiting for me she said, “Ah, delightful. Sipythia, can you escort your new roommate back to the dorm, please? I believe she’s had rather a long day at this point.”

Professor Lambros didn’t know how right she was. When I didn’t move, she peered at me. “What is it? Getcha going!” She made a shooing motion with her green-tinged hands.

I pushed myself away from the wall. Whatever I had just gotten myself into, it wasn’t going to be good.

“Thanks,” I said.

“Of course. You deserve your chance,” said Professor Lambros, beaming.

I followed Sip out. The dark sky was cloudy and I could barely see the moon. I had expected the campus to be quiet and empty, but it wasn’t.

Vampires walked everywhere, shaded hair and pale skin luminescent in the night. None of them paid much attention to us, but being around so many vampires at one time made me nervous.

Sip didn’t seem to notice. “How’d it go?” she asked as we walked outside.

“She said I was on probation. I have until the end of the semester to prove that I’m a paranormal. If I can’t do it by then, they’re kicking me out. But Sip, don’t they have some kind of test they can perform on me? My mom was a paranormal, so I should be too, right?”

Sip was quiet for a breath. “I’m not sure. Werewolves can become werewolves, so can vampires. Fallen angels definitely have to be blood and so do pixies. Mages are a little more complicated.”

“Right,” I said, “Well, I have this semester to prove myself or I’m going home.” Or, at least I wouldn’t be allowed back at Public. There was no way I was going back to my stepdad’s house. I might miss Ricky, but I could still see him even if I didn’t live at home.

Sip took me to Airlee Dorm, which was a fascinating mix of building styles. It rose out of the ground as if it had been built into the side of a hill. The building itself was old brick, painted blue. Slides were shooting from the upper floor windows to the ground. “For us werewolves,” Sip explained.

Inside, there were a few other students around, but we passed them without saying anything. As Sip had explained to me earlier, each dorm was unique, decorated in the style of its occupants. Since Airlee’s students were a mishmash of paranormals, Airlee’s style was hard to define. The wood trimmings were brown. The carpets were the same blue as the outside, while the walls were covered with paintings of paranormals that looked like they had been done by students.

“Who are they all?” I asked Sip.

Sip shrugged. “People who were in Airlee Dorm and then became famous for one thing or another.”

She led me to a room on the third floor. I was just about to follow her inside when the door to the room next to ours came flying open. It banged hard against the wall and bounced back. The wall was left with a small dent where the door handle crashed into it.

I could hear a voice yelling, “I’m not living with a freak like you. Get out!” And stepping out of the room was Lisabelle Verlans.

I came to a dead stop. Lisabelle didn’t look upset. It hadn’t occurred to me that we were actually part of the same dorm, never mind that we would be neighbors.

“What are you looking at?” she wanted to know. She examined her cuticle while she asked it, and somehow we both knew she was threatening me.

“Nothing,” I said, trying to look anywhere but directly at her. I wasn’t a chicken, but being scared of Lisabelle was just common sense, a healthy dose of realism to keep me alive.

“Alright,” said Lisabelle, looking up at me and grinning. “Keep it that way.”

“Are you going back in there?” Sip asked. Lisabelle was still holding the door to her room open, and her soon to be former roommate was still ranting and raving inside. Lisabelle slammed the door closed, cutting off the sound.

“Not until she’s gone,” said Lisabelle coolly.

“I’d hate for something to happen to her,” said Sip sternly.

Lisabelle threw back her head and laughed. “Are you threatening me, little werewolf?”

Sip stood her ground, even though I could see she was scared. “I’m telling you to do the right thing,” she informed Lisabelle.

Lisabelle thought that was really funny.

“Do you want a place to crash tonight?” I asked impulsively.

Both Lisabelle and Sip looked at me like I’d lost my mind. Probably because I’d just offered the only darkness mage in the school, who clearly had issues in polite company, to stay with us.

Her eyes trailed over me slowly, then she said, “You have more backbone than it looks like.” With that she turned on her heel and walked away down the hall, whistling.

As I fell asleep that night I wondered if the next day could possibly be any worse.

Chapter Six

The next morning, before I opened my eyes, I thought there was a chance that everything that had happened yesterday had been a dream, and my stepdad would come into my room any minute to tell me to get up for lunch. Ricky would probably scold me for sleeping in. He wasn’t a teenager yet. He didn’t understand.

“Hey, Charlotte, you awake?” Sip’s voice asked.

Nope, not a dream.

I opened my eyes and peered at my roommate. Her whitish blond hair was already perfectly combed back and she was dressed in a neon green top and jeans.

Sip was staring at our blank walls. “We have to do some decorating.” She smiled brightly. “I have some neon colored posters.” Sip liked neon.

Once I was dressed and had brushed my brown hair out, Sip and I went for breakfast. Maybe it was just my imagination, but I felt sure that more people stared at me than at Sip. I couldn’t even bring myself to think about my Demonstration at dinner the night before…in front of the entire school. Being called into the President’s office was just the icing on the cake of the most embarrassing day of my life. I had known college was going to be an adjustment, one of those life milestones my teachers were always talking about, but this was ridiculous. And if this kept up I’d have a lot more embarrassing days ahead of me. Like, a semester’s worth.

At breakfast there was a table of vampires here, a table of pixies there, and I wanted to be a part of it. I wanted to learn magic; I wanted to make my mother proud. She would have wanted this for me. She had once told me that learning mage-craft had been one of the best experiences of her life. I did notice, though, that there were still no tables with mixed paranormals. There were no vampires sitting with werewolves or pixies sitting with fallen angels. And the divisions were clear. Vampires, fallen angels, and pixies had the best seats in the dining hall. They were closer to the door, further away from the professors, and closer to the food.

“Well, look who it is, The Girl Who Can’t Do Magic,” said a sneering voice behind me.

I turned. Camilla Van Rothson, her shiny blond hair perfect and smooth, framing pale, ever so slightly green translucent skin and glaring brown eyes, was standing behind me.

I looked around to see who Camilla was speaking to, but I was the only one there.

“Yeah, I’m talking to you, reject,” she said. Her voice was light and airy, like she didn’t have a care in the world. Two other pixies with her snickered.

“Go away, Camilla,” said Sip, but I could see her hands trembling a little.

“Don’t tell me what to do, little werewolf,” said Camilla, her attention turning to Sip. “You’re only here because of your daddy.”

Sip’s face turned bright red. Her purple eyes locked on Camilla’s brown ones. “That’s not true,” she seethed.

“Riiight,” said Camilla, rolling her eyes.

“Don’t you have anyone else to grace with your presence?” asked Lisabelle Verlans, coming up to our table. She held a breakfast tray in her hands. Lisabelle was dressed in all black today. She had even found time to paint her fingernails black. She should have been a vampire, not that I was ever going to tell her that.

Camilla tried to keep her composure, but I could tell she didn’t like talking to a mage of darkness.

“I guess it figures,” said Camilla, her smug smile returning. “The Daddy’s Girl Werewolf, the Probationer, and the demon all hanging out together.”

Lisabelle moved so fast I barely saw her before black fire sprang up in her hands. Sip jumped to her feet ready to step in.

She grabbed Lisabelle’s arm. “Stop it,” she hissed to the much taller girl. “She’s trying to get you in trouble and you’re letting her!”

I could see that Lisabelle was thinking hard, her eyes still locked on Camilla’s. Slowly, very slowly, the black flame in her pale hand dimmed.

“Good,” said Sip. “Now sit down and eat your breakfast.” Lisabelle gave Sip a look that said she’d never seen anything quite like her before. My guess is that it had been years since anyone had tried to tell Lisabelle what to do.

“You’ll regret staying, Probationer,” said Camilla as she walked off. “Almost as much as you’ll regret hanging out with those two.”

The whole time Camilla had been standing there insulting me and my friends, I hadn’t said I word. I’d always been shy, reluctant to stand up for myself, but I’d never just sat there and taken it before.

“What did she mean about your daddy?” asked Lisabelle, putting her tray down at our table without being invited.

“Nothing,” said Sip fiercely. She suddenly grabbed up her tray and stomped away.

“For someone so tiny she’s definitely got a temper,” said Lisabelle. She was grinning.

“I should go after her,” I said. “I won’t know where I’m going otherwise.”

“We have all the same classes in the first half of the day,” said Lisabelle. “I’ll walk with you.” We finished our breakfast in silence. I didn’t dare ask Lisabelle any questions, and she was shoveling food into her mouth without bothering to make small talk.

Once we were finished we headed out of the dining hall. Sip suddenly appeared at my side, her face doing a good impression of a thundercloud. “Sorry,” she muttered, falling into step next to me.

As the three of us headed to the start of classes, Lisabelle explained how the day would go. Sip, mostly quiet, would throw comments in here and there.

“The first half of the day you have classes just with other Airlee students. Most of them are going to be Starters, but some won’t be. The classes will be about fallen angels, mages, darkness, dream givers, et cetera. You will be taught as whatever paranormal you are…which means I have no idea what they are going to do with you,” she said to me with a grin.

I rolled my eyes. Sip said, “She’s going to be fine. Her mother was a mage so they will probably just put her with the mages.”

“What about the second half of the day?” I asked.

“For second half classes we mix with other dorms. Again, it depends on what paranormal you are…so who knows what they will do with you,” she said, again reminding me that I wasn’t officially a student yet.

I came to a dead halt. Camilla Bitchy Whatever Her Name Was might be able to talk down to me, but not someone I was starting to be friends with. “I’m going to stay here,” I said stubbornly. “I am going to prove them wrong!”

Lisabelle watched me for a moment, and then said, “Good.” And kept walking ahead.

The morning went about as I had expected. Only one teacher, a Professor Anania, looked frustrated when she saw that I had no paranormal specialty. She had dusty brown hair and a very long nose.

“Well, what am I to do with you?” she asked in A History of Your Paranormal Type. “The class is about studying your own type’s history. You are supposed to develop a better understanding of how your type got to be where it is today, which will help you have a better grasp of your magic. If you do not know what paranormal you are, how are you to better understand? For all I know you are a darkness mage.”

There was a surprised gasp from everyone in the room, and Professor Anania, realizing that she had overstepped, backed away from that accusation. “I’m simply saying that I do not know what to do with a student who does not know her own magical history,” she said. Then she glared at me like this should be obvious, like it was somehow my fault that the President was keeping me around despite that fact that no one went to Public who wasn’t a paranormal.

“I don’t know what you are supposed to do with me,” I told her honestly. “I thought figuring that out was your job.”

“It shouldn’t be that complicated,” said another of the students. Probably Lisabelle.

Professor Anania pursed her lips. “It is a big deal. I am the professor and you are the students and if I say it’s crucial then I will thank you not to argue with me.”

“My mother was a mage,” I said, trying to be helpful. “You could put with me them.”

“Ms. Rollins, I realize that it is hard for your young mind to grasp such subtlety, but it would be unforgivably bad of me were I to teach you a history that is not your own. What are we if not a product of our history?”

“Ourselves?” Sip offered.

“What would happen?” I asked, because Professor Anania seemed to expect a response.

“That’s not the point.”

Nothing at all would happen except that I might end up having to switch studies later if they found out I was a different paranormal. I didn’t see why this professor didn’t know it too. She tapped her foot on the floor, thinking.

Finally, she gave a gusty sigh. “You may join the mages unless you would prefer to wait in the President’s office.”

“No, thank you,” I said. “I’ll risk joining the mages.”

I sat with the other Starter mages, a group that included Lisabelle, and we worked quietly for the rest of class.

By the end of the first half of the day I was miserable. The classes had been unbearably hard and most of what the professors had told me I hadn’t understood. Many of the other students had grown up in households of paranormals, but not me. I didn’t understand terminology like “lightmare” (which was a particular type of paranormal animal), and since I didn’t know how to use my magic I couldn’t begin to practice my skills like the other students were doing.

As we left lunch I could see Cale walking towards me. He gave me a smile and pushed one strand of his red hair out of his face as he reached me. I had the distinct realization that he was the sort of guy who looked good effortlessly, while I felt like I was a little sweaty and my face was hot. I was sure that my thick brown hair had started to frizz.

“How’d your classes go?” he asked, beaming at me.

“Oh, splendid,” I said, thinking of all the professors who were irritated with me.

Cale laughed. “It’ll get easier,” he said. “We should catch up this weekend. Maybe get breakfast.”

“Um, yeah….” I said. I liked Cale and it was great to have a friendly face, but he was a pixie and I wasn’t sure what that meant for us hanging out. Everyone seemed to keep to his or her own dorms.

“I’ll find you later and we can talk about it,” he said, and walked off to join a group of friends.

Since my mom had died I hadn’t been anti-social, but I’d been quiet. Cale and I had always been friendly, and that’s about it. I couldn’t figure out why he suddenly wanted to hang out.

I had been pretty sure that nothing could be worse than my first half day of classes, but that was before I walked into A History of Hellhounds and Demons since 1700 and saw that not only was Professor Zervos the professor, but Lisabelle and the fallen angel Keller who had stopped the fight at dinner the night before were also both in class.

If I was at a normal college I’m sure I would be happy to have someone I know in class, but I felt certain that Lisabelle and Zervos were going to hate each other, and since he already hated me he’d be directing a whole lot of animosity over to our little corner of the room. Besides, unlike normal school, I got the idea problems here were solved with violence. While all my other professors had greeted students as they came in, Professor Zervos had kept his face invisible behind a manuscript.

When I walked in I could feel Keller’s eyes on me. I wanted to tell him it was rude to stare, but I didn’t have the nerve.

I felt my face turn red and hurried to find a seat. Lisabelle sat next to me, folded her arms over her chest, and glared at Zervos. I hadn’t told her how badly he had wanted to get rid of me yesterday, but she seemed to have her own reasons for hating him.

Suddenly, Professor Zervos slammed his chair back so hard it hit the wall behind him. He tossed his manuscript on his desk and leaned both fists onto the dark wood.

Smiling a cold smile, he said, “A History of Hellhounds and Demons since 1700.”

Chapter Seven

I looked around to see if the other students looked as uncomfortable as I felt, but most of them were vampires. Since Professor Zervos was also a vampire, they looked as relaxed and happy as ever. Besides Keller and Lisabelle, Camilla, the nasty pixie from breakfast, and Lough, Sip’s friend whose power I wasn’t sure of yet, were also in the class.

Can anyone tell me what darkness is?” asked Professor Zervos, his face twisted with amusement.

Lisabelle’s hand shot up. Well, she should know. She’s a mage of darkness. Professor Zervos ignored her and kept looking around the room.

Camilla, who had given me a dirty look when I came in, raised her hand.

“Yes, Camilla?” Professor Zervos smiled. Apparently he liked Camilla. Could this class get any worse?

“Darkness is all black magics. Every mage or vampire has some darkness and is therefore considered a threat to join the demons,” she explained, her dainty green hands folded neatly in front of her and a smile so smug on her face I wished I could smack it off her.

“And who are the demons?” asked Professor Zervos. He ignored the sort of squawking noise Lisabelle was making next to me.

“Demons and hellhounds are the natural enemies of paranormals,” Camilla explained. “Hellhounds are loyal to demons. They are normally known as scouts who do a demon’s bidding, but they are dangerous. They are more powerful than any regular dog and are more a match for a werewolf,” she said. “They seek the powers of paranormals. If the paranormals are destroyed there will be no one to challenge demons’ dominance.”

“Exactly,” said Zervos. “Which is why we have been fighting them for centuries.”

“Wait,” said Lough. He was sitting next to Camilla. “Aren’t we losing our fight against the demons at the moment?”

Professor Zervos glared at him and Lough’s face got a shade redder. “We aren’t ‘losing’ exactly. We are just not as strong as we have been in the past. We….”

“Why?” Lough interrupted. I could have told him that Professor Zervos didn’t like questions, or students, but Lough either hadn’t noticed or didn’t care. Why Zervos was a professor was beyond me.

He growled. He was sick of Lough. With a flick of Zervos’s wrist Lough came flying out of his chair. With a cry he jerked back, and with a sickening smack he slammed against the back wall. “Because we do not have all five dorms at full strength. The loss of the elementals has fragmented the other paranormals,” he barked at Lough’s crumpled form.

Silence hung in the room like a heavy weight.

Lough slumped on the floor. Without looking at Zervos I got out of my chair and went to help my friend up. He was dazed, but conscious. “You’re pretty when you’re blurry,” Lough muttered to me. I wondered what he thought I looked like in focus.

I was afraid to look over my shoulder at Zervos. Luckily, he was distracted.

“Or really any strength at all,” Keller was saying. I glanced sideways at him. He sat back in his chair, looking relaxed.

“Because, Keller Erikson, the Astra, or elemental dorm, is dormant. It is more difficult to maintain magical blocks against the demons without them,” said Professor Zervos. “Which you know very well.”

“All five dorms have to work together?” Keller asked, sounding surprised. A flicker of a amusement moved across his face.

Zervos ground his jaw together. “The paranormal powers complement one another,” he explained. “Without one, particularly one as potent as the wielders of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, as the elementals are, it is more difficult to fight off the demons. But do not fear, we have been fighting them off for many years without the elementals.”

Lough started to ask what had happened to the elementals, which was exactly what I was wondering, but he didn’t get a chance to finish.

Zervos was tired of the topic and cut him off, saying, “This is not what I had meant to discuss today. I simply wanted to give those of you who are dumber than wood an overview of what you will be up against. You will be expected to train hard, to learn your talents and specialties (assuming you each have one), and to learn them to perfection. Anything less could prove fatal.”

“Now,” he said, stepping around his desk so that he could pace back and forth in front of us, “the demons have two classes, the Upper and the Lower. The hellhounds are loyal to both, but of course the wishes of the Upper take precedence.”

I was busy scribbling this down madly when Professor Zervos said, “Here is an image of what a hellhound commonly looks like.” I finished writing and popped my head up to see the picture displayed across a large board at the front of the room. My eyes locked on the picture and I let out a loud scream.

Instantly the room went silent. Lisabelle reached over and clapped her hand over my mouth, whispering “Don’t be pathetic” in my ear.

Lisabelle smelled of wet wood and warm nights, and somehow it calmed me enough so that I tried to take a breath, but her hand was still covering my mouth. I pulled it away and sucked air into my deprived lungs, but I could feel waves of panic racing over me and I tried to get them under control.

When I finally looked at Professor Zervos, I saw that he was beside himself with rage. His eyes were bulging out of his head and his face was turning a bright red color.

He pointed an imperious finger towards the door. “Out,” he intoned. “Now.” At least he didn’t slam me into a wall.

My face bright with shame, I gathered my things. Professor Zervos slammed the door open for me and I scurried through it and out into the hall.

“If I have anything to say about it,” said Professor Zervos before he closed the door in my face, “you will never attend another day of classes at this school.”

I felt the whoosh of displaced air as he closed the door in my face and left me standing alone. Once he was gone I sank against the wall and stared at the floor. The picture Professor Zervos had shown me was of the dog that had been following me for the last few days I’d been at home. Only Professor Zervos had called it a hellhound, not a dog. But that didn’t make any sense. I remembered the mist and my fear, I remembered feeling as if I was being followed, but I had never thought that it was anything paranormal. I had just thought that it was a stray dog that had taken a liking to following me around at night. Now I saw that my mother’s warnings of danger hadn’t all been crazy talk. Apparently everything my mother had told me was true.

I wished she were around to help me. If she hadn’t died I wouldn’t be at this school without a clue about what was going on. But she was gone, and I had to figure it out on my own.

Zervos’s class would be letting out soon, and I still had a full schedule of lessons for the rest of the evening. It was an odd schedule and one that would take some getting used to, but at the moment all I wanted to do was get through the rest of the day. Given how Zervos’s class had just gone I was pretty sure it was going to be a challenge.

But the rest of the day didn’t go as badly as I had expected. The other professors were pleasant enough and not one of them mentioned that I didn’t know my paranormal specialty and was on probation.

Still, by the end of the day I was exhausted.

At dinner that night I sat down next to Sip, who I hadn’t had one class with all through the second half of the day. I was mortified when Lisabelle joined us and, before I could say a word to Sip myself, gave her a detailed recap of my screaming in the middle of class, everyone else’s shock, and Zervos throwing me out.

Sip covered her mouth as she listened. “I can’t believe you screamed,” she said.

“Yeah, well, I did,” I said dejectedly. “And Zervos will probably get me kicked out for sure now.”

“He doesn’t have that authority,” said Lisabelle. “It’s not like screaming violates your probation.”

Not wanting to talk about it, I asked, “What happened after I left?”

“Nothing,” said Lisabelle, shrugging. “Camilla started to talk shit about you, and Keller finally told her to shut up.”

“Keller didn’t strike me as that nice,” I said.

“Telling someone to....” Sip couldn’t bring herself to say “shut up” so instead she said, “...do something like that isn’t nice.”

“Don’t look now,” said Lisabelle, “But the round-faced boy is coming.”

“You know his name is Lough,” said Sip, glaring at Lisabelle.

“Yes, but his face is SO round,” said Lisabelle, laughing. Catching Sip’s stern glare she said, “Sorry. I’m sorry.” But she continued to grin.

“What’s his talent again?” I asked Sip.

“Dream giver,” said Lisabelle instantly. “Rare. Strong. He comes from a family of them, but it’s sort of a useless talent.”

Sip looked ready to argue, but Lough had reached our table.

“Hi,” he said, coming to a full stop and smiling around. He even smiled at Lisabelle, while she glared daggers back at him.

“Mind if I join you?” he asked, oblivious to Lisabelle’s hatred.

“Please do,” said Sip, scooting over so that he had room.

“Thanks,” he said. “There’s only one other dream major and he’s always busy,” he said, pointing to a blond guy over in the corner. At that moment he had his face glued to a girl’s face and he didn’t appear to have any intention of coming up for air. “He has a girlfriend,” added Lough. “That would never happen in a high school cafeteria.

“Thank you, captain of the obvious,” Lisabelle scoffed. “What’s wrong with dating? Or, not dating?” Lisabelle’s eyes were locked on him.

Lough went bright red. “Nothing,” he muttered.

“Stop making him uncomfortable,” Sip chided Lisabelle.

Lisabelle raised her black eyebrows and kept eating.

“Are you okay?” Lough asked me. He looked genuinely concerned.

“I’m fine,” I told him. “Thanks.”

“Hellhounds are scary,” he said. “And thanks for earlier. You took a risk helping me.”

“Yeah,” I said. It didn’t feel like I had taken a risk. It felt like I was the only student here who was a fish out of water. I was a dolphin swimming in a sea of sharks. There was no way I was going to tell him about the night Cale walked me home. Thinking of Cale reminded me that he and I still hadn’t had a chance to talk. I wanted an explanation for what he was doing there. I also wanted an explanation for why a hellhound had been following me.

I looked around, but I didn’t see him anywhere. Instead, I saw Keller, who was watching me again. I was tired of it. I had had a really long two days and nothing had gone well. Now this kid was always watching me and laughing with his other fallen angel friends. But I wasn’t something to be laughed at. College was hard enough without people you didn’t know giving you weird looks when they didn’t think you were paying attention.

Making up my mind to do something about it, I pushed my chair back and stood up.

“Excuse me,” I said to my friends. Lisabelle frowned at me, but Sip and Lough were busy talking to each other and barely acknowledged that I was leaving.

I marched towards Keller. He was sitting with a group of his friends; I recognized two of them as guys I saw him with often. I’d had a class with each of them, and I knew that their names were Nate and Marcus. Nate was tall and thin, while Marcus was short and stocky.

Keller watched me coming, but it took him until I was almost to his table to realize that I was headed right towards him. His smug smile faltered.

I put my hands on my hips and said, “Just what do you think you’re doing?”

His smile instantly returned. My irritation level skyrocketed.

“What do you mean?” he asked, folding his hands in his lap.

“I mean,” I said, “you’re always harassing me. Leave me alone!”

“I’m not always harassing you. How am I?” He watched my face closely. His smiled broadened. “Right?”

“Hey, Charlotte,” said Cale from behind me. I got the distinct impression that he wasn’t happy I was talking to Keller.

“What?” I snapped. Then, realizing how rude I sounded, I said, “Sorry, long day.”

“So I hear,” said Cale, eyeing Keller.

“I can tell you from my firsthand experience that she handled herself admirably,” Keller offered. Somehow even that sounded like he was making fun of me. His smile had disappeared, though. He was about as happy to be talking to Cale as Cale was to be talking to him.

“I just wanted to see when you wanted to get together and catch up,” said Cale, looking at me and ignoring Keller.

“Um, yeah, any time,” I said, trying to smile.

“How about breakfast tomorrow?” asked Cale. He had turned his back to Keller’s table and refused to look at him.

“Sure,” I said. “That’d be great. I need to hear all about how you ended up here.”

Cale’s face reddened. “Yeah, it’s not that interesting.”

“You sure your girlfriend’s okay with you having breakfast with, well, a girl?” Keller asked, raising his eyebrows at Cale.

“My girlfriend doesn’t control me,” said Cale, looking at an invisible dot somewhere on the wall behind Keller. I could see his chest puff out and his shoulders square as he said it.

“Who’s your girlfriend?” I wanted to know. Given how Cale had acted around me, I had been picturing him as single.

When Cale took too long to answer, Keller very casually said, “Oh, you don’t know? Camilla Van Rothson. His girlfriend is Camilla.”

Chapter Eight

I had gone over to Keller’s table to tell him off. That had failed miserably. Worse, I was about to get terrible news.

After Cale wandered away, red-faced, I turned back to Keller with my arms folded. I might be all shy in class, but not now. I was going to stand up for myself.

“Oh, right, you wanted to know what I wanted,” Keller said quietly. “I wanted you to know that I’m your new tutor.”

Oh, no way!

To him I said, “Don’t you have better things to do? Like, sharpen knives or something?”

Keller laughed. “No, and I’m very good at what I do,” he said. “And we have a lot of classes together, so the President thought I could help.”

“I don’t like it,” I informed him.

Keller rose more gracefully than I would have thought possible, and walked over to me. “What you like isn’t the most important thing at the moment. The most important thing is that you are trained. I am the best one to help you with that,” he said. He was so close I could see the slight sprinkling of freckles over his nose. I wondered if he used Chapstick, then chided myself for looking at his lips.

“Fine,” I said. “When do we start?”

“Before your date tomorrow,” he said. “In the library. I’ll fit you in before my knife sharpening.” He walked away without another word.

It was bad enough to have Keller as my tutor, but before breakfast? I didn’t like getting up early; I never had. At the normal college I had planned to attend, I hadn’t signed up for any classes that started before noon. The President hadn’t acted like she was punishing me when she decided to let me stay at a paranormal school when I couldn’t do anything paranormal, but she definitely was.

I wandered back to my friends and finished dinner in silence. It was a long time before I could sleep that night. The homework was already piling up. The professors thought that assigning three chapters of reading per class was normal. I wondered if they knew eighteen-year-olds needed sleep too. I gave up halfway through and went to bed more frustrated than when I’d gotten up that morning. I was still going to meet Cale, but I was pretty sure Camilla might try to kill me because of it.

Before I left for the library the next morning I put on a sweater and jeans, wrapped a light blue scarf around my neck, and brushed my hair out.

Outside, the entire campus was empty and there was a thin mist drifting over everything.

The library building was just as ultramodern as all the others. It was four stories high, and through the long, glass-paneled windows I could see stacks and stacks of books on every floor.

The big metal doors opened silently, and I noticed that the first floor was filled with long, dark, wooden tables surrounded by chairs upholstered with black leather. Each table was illuminated, but I couldn’t see where the light was coming form.

Sitting in the middle of it all was Keller, reading a book. He looked quiet and peaceful. It was the first time I had seen him look unguarded. Without the usual furrowed brow, his face was smooth and concentrated.

Not wanting to be caught staring, I walked into the open.

Without looking up from his book, which I could see was titled Adventures of the First Fire Werewolves, he said, “You were staring at me.”

“No, I wasn’t,” I said. “I just got here.”

He closed his book and left it on his lap, sitting back and clasping his hands behind his head. “You aren’t a very good liar. Don’t worry. This is supposed to help you.”

I was surprised. Keller hadn’t seemed like the warm and cuddly type, but he was trying to be nice. “You sound like my brother,” I said.

“Wonderful,” Keller muttered.

When I raised my eyebrows he said, “Are you close?”

“Yeah,” I said. I felt a pang when I thought about Ricky. Hopefully I could write to him this weekend. Meanwhile, I ignored Keller’s accusation that I was lying. There was something that pulled me towards Keller, and the more I resisted the stronger it became.

I folded my arms over my chest and glared at him. “So, what are we doing here?”

“You should sit,” he said, indicating the chair opposite him.

Reluctantly, I sat.

Keller leaned forward in his chair. “So, what do you know about paranormals?” he asked. “What has your family told you?”

I shifted. “I don’t know much,” I said.

“Your family didn’t tell you anything?” he asked.

“No,” I said, glaring at the floor.

Somehow, Keller knew enough not to press. “Alright, here’s what you should know,” he began.

“Wait,” I said. “I thought you were going to help me with magic. I’m supposed to be able to do magic.” Maybe if I tell enough people, I thought, it will be true.

He shook his head. “You have to understand the history first.”

“No,” I said. “Just tell me how to do spells and I’ll do it.”

“You’re rash and impulsive. Your life will depend on rational thinking.” He touched his fingertip to his temple. “The demons are getting stronger. We all need to know how to fight, not just blindly walk into trouble. That will get you killed, particularly with the fragmenting of the paranormals.”

“Exactly,” I said, frustrated. “I need to know how to fight. And did you see me yesterday? I couldn’t even handle seeing a stupid picture!” I didn’t want to think about how embarrassed I was over that.

He waved it off. “That doesn’t matter.”

“Yes, it does,” I said. “I need to know the magic now.”

“This is the way to understand it,” he said jabbing his finger at the books around us. “You’re too stubborn.” That was something my mom had told me, too. Being reminded of her softened my resistance just enough. Looking at Keller’s set jaw and flared nostrils, I knew I wasn’t going to win this argument. At least not today.

I lifted a shoulder. “Fine,” I said. “Tell me the history.”

He eyed me for a second, waiting for me to resist. For the next hour he gave a brief history of paranormals and demons. He focused on demon power. He talked about how the demons’ power grew: basically, when enough of them combined with hellhounds and attacked, their power increased. One demon or hellhound was never as dangerous as many. And nothing was ever as dangerous as the demons and hellhounds together.

Eventually I asked why the demons cared about the paranormals. Why couldn’t we all just co-exist?

The demons, he said, view the paranormals as lesser. They think the paranormals have to be gotten rid of because they have things like schools and families; they don’t just hunger for power. The demons will get rid of all the paranormals if they can.

By the end of the hour my head was spinning. I now had an extra class to take notes in and study for.

“Are you going to give me a test too?” I asked as we walked out of the library together.

“No,” said Keller. “I have better things to do with my time.” And with that he walked off to join a group of fallen angels. But just before he reached them he turned around. “Have a great breakfast with Cale.”

With a gasp I remembered Cale and breakfast. I was late. I raced off to the dining hall, ignoring Keller’s grin as I hurried past him. As I ran I wondered what good it did me to have a tutor who didn’t like me.

Since Cale and I were meeting early, the place was almost empty. Having found out who Cale’s girlfriend was, I wondered if Cale had suggested the early breakfast time to avoid running into her. If I were dating Camilla Van Rothson, I’d probably do everything I could to make sure she didn’t find out about my having breakfast with other girls too, even if it was in a completely platonic way.

Cale was already waiting for me at a table by the windows. I got my food and joined him, and he stood up and pulled my chair out for me. This was impressive; most guys would have just sort of nodded and then kept shoveling food into their mouths. Cale wore a dark blue sweater, and his red hair had its usual windblown look. I hoped that my own brown hair didn’t look that tousled. Despite the early hour, there were no signs of tiredness around his blue eyes.

“How’s it going?” he asked, smiling at me.

“Alright,” I said, sliding into a seat across from him.

He laughed. “It will get easier. I promise. I had a really hard time my first couple of weeks too.”

“Yeah, but at least you knew what you were,” I pointed out. “It’s not like you ended up standing in front of the entire school and looking like a total idiot.”

“You’ll get there,” he said. “Don’t even worry about it.”

“Yeah,” I said out loud; I didn’t want him to know just how worried I was inside. It was easy for everyone who already had a place at school to tell me not to worry, but the truth was that no one understood what it meant to feel like they didn’t belong. Plus, Cale was the sort of person to whom everything came easily. I was just the opposite.

“Sorry I didn’t tell you about Camilla,” he said.

I shook pepper onto my eggs before I answered. “That’s okay.” What else could I say? Hey Cale, why are you dating an evil lunatic? That probably wouldn’t sound good.

“She’s really nice,” he went on. “We met last year.”

“Hmm, I’m sure she is,” I said. Clearly he didn’t know that Camilla and I had already sort of met and that she’d been anything but nice to me.

“You have a class with her, right?” Cale prompted.

“Right,” I said. “The History of Hellhounds and Demons since 1700.”

“With Zervos,” said Cale knowingly. “That guy is crazy. He’s a vamp, so he only likes other vampires.”

“He seemed to like the pixies alright,” I pointed out, thinking back to how he had called on Camilla while he was just irritated when Lough tried to talk, and ignored Lisabelle completely.

Cale shrugged. “Yeah, a lot of professors and students who grew up in the paranormal world think there’s a pretty strict hierarchy here.”

“It felt like that,” I told him, “But Cale, we didn’t grow up around other paranormals.”

“At least not knowingly,” he said, smiling.

“Right, so why is there a paranormal hierarchy?” I asked. I had never wanted to flirt with Cale. Now that I knew his girlfriend was Camilla, I didn’t even want it to look like I was flirting with him. Asking him about the history of paranormals seemed like a good way to avoid flirting.

Cale frowned. “You shouldn’t worry about it too much, and I guess there’s no reason you should just come here and automatically know the hierarchy,” he said, looking around as the dining hall started to fill up. “But it goes by dorms.”

“Right,” I said, “but why?”

“The Cruor, Aurum, and Volans dorms were here second. Astra was here before any of them. Somehow they think that makes them more important. It was elementals who founded the school, but since they’re gone…. They don’t matter now.”

Cale took a couple bites of toast, then continued. “Everyone looks down on Airlee Dorm, since it’s made up of more than one type of paranormal and includes darkness mages when there are any here. Plus, dream giving isn’t exactly a legitimate skill.”

“Lough seems to think it is,” I said.

“I mean, it’s not bad,” said Cale, “but it’s not as useful, as being a vampire, let’s say.”

“I don’t know much about any of them,” I admitted.

“I didn’t either when I first got here, but you’ll learn stuff in class,” said Cale. “That’s the first thing your Intro to Para Studies should start with after all the introductory crap gets out of the way. Your professor is going to explain about all the different types of paranormals.”

“That’s what they said yesterday,” I confirmed, nodding my head.

“Who do you have for the class?” asked Cale.

“Umm, let me look.” I still didn’t have my schedule anywhere near memorized. I pulled out the folded piece of paper and scanned down the list.

“Professor Korba,” I said, reading it off. I remembered the tiny man yesterday who had stood at the front of our lecture hall. “He seemed nice.”

“He is,” said Cale. “He’s a pixie. Very old and well-respected.”

It made sense that he was a pixie given how small and delicate he had looked. Of course, Cale was also a pixie and he looked anything but small and delicate. His skin only looked green if I tried very hard to see it. It was more common for pixies to be small like Korba than larger like Cale.

“Are you going to tell me how you ended up here, and why you were one of the ones that came to get me?” I asked. I’d been desperate to know since I’d first seen him at Public and he still hadn’t told me.

Cale smiled. “There’s really not much to tell,” he said. “I had started feeling sick, and my skin color had started to change a little. Finally my dad told me we were pixies. He said I couldn’t go to Stanford because I had to come here. I told him I couldn’t come here because I hadn’t applied, and he laughed for a week. He was really relaxed about the whole thing. I freaked out. I wasn’t going to be able to play football any more.”

I smiled. “Well, you were good at football.”

Cale beamed at me. “Thanks.”

“It’s cool that your dad was there to explain it all to you,” I said. “We all thought you got some prestigious scholarship and were too busy to come home.”

“I sort of did,” said Cale laughing. “There’s nowhere more prestigious in the paranormal world than Paranormal Public University. And as to the other thing, the President asked me to get you, because we had known each other. She thought it might be easier on you. No one expected you to be attacked before we could explain everything.”

Cale had finished eating a while ago, but he suddenly sat forward and said, “I should go.” I glanced over my shoulder. Camilla had entered the room. Her eyes were scanning around, but I don’t think she’d seen us yet.

“Alright,” I said, starting to get up. “Thanks for breakfast.”

“Any time,” he said with a distracted smile.

He got up and hurried to deal with his tray. Camilla saw him walking and pounced. As usual, three of her friends were with her. I watched Cale give her a one-armed hug, because he was still holding his tray. One of Camilla’s friends, a pixie named Kia who was even smaller than Camilla herself, saw me and glared. As Cale turned his back to deal with his tray, the tiny pixie girl whispered into Camilla’s ear.

I wondered how I could have missed that the two of them were a couple.

When Camilla looked over at me I became very grateful that pixie stares weren’t fatal. She gave me a look of such disgust it left me speechless.

“How was your date?” Lisabelle asked, appearing at my table. Sip was with her.

My face reddened. “It wasn’t a date.” But Lisabelle had asked the question I’d been trying to answer. I wasn’t sure how I felt about Cale. We hadn’t been friends in high school, but it was different here. Somehow, knowing each other for such a long time meant something, even if it was just that I felt like I was floating in a sea of new experiences and Cale was the one familiar thing for me to latch onto.

“Right, because he has a girlfriend,” she said as she jerked her head towards Camilla, who had turned to trail off after Cale. “It explains why she was so bitchy to you from the beginning.”

I stopped midway through lifting my fork to my mouth. I hadn’t even thought of that. The first thing Camilla had done when she’d seen me was make fun of me for being on probation, and call me a reject. Now I knew why. She’d been mad that Cale had gone to get me.

I was pulled out of my reverie when Lisabelle said, “I was going to see if you and Sip wanted to explore some of the trails tonight after classes,” she said, starting to eat her toast.

“Where can we walk on trails?”

Lisabelle almost choked on her food and glared at me.

“Are you kidding?” she asked.

My blank face told her I wasn’t.

“On the east side of campus,” she explained.

“Oh, I didn’t know there were trails.”

Lisabelle made an exasperated noise. “Haven’t you explored campus at all?”

“No,” I said. “When would I have had time to do that?”

Lisabelle didn’t answer. She just rolled her eyes.

“We have to get you out more,” she said matter-of-factly as Sip joined us.

“I’m on probation. I can’t do anything that gets me in trouble or they’ll kick me out,” I answered. Even the thought of the President catching me breaking the rules made me shudder.

“Honestly, they’re probably going to kick you out anyway,” said Lisabelle cheerfully. “You might as well live it up.”

“Lisabelle!” cried Sip. “That’s not nice.”

“No one’s ever accused me of being nice,” said Lisabelle.

Before Lisabelle could answer, Lough joined us and the conversation shifted to other stuff. Lisabelle almost completely ignored Lough, so Sip was left to talk to him. I was too wrapped up in the thought of how I was going to get through the rest of the week to pay much attention to what they were saying.

Right before we left for class Lisabelle leaned over to me and said, “Don’t worry. We’re going to get you a tour of the grounds.”

“That’s what worries me,” I muttered. Lisabelle just threw back her head and laughed.

Yesterday Professor Korba’s class had been mostly introductory stuff, like introducing ourselves to each other. But today I was excited. I wanted to know more about werewolves and vampires and everything else. I hoped that the knowledge would help me feel more at home at Paranormal Public, instead of excluded from everything. It might also help me prove to Keller that I understood enough history so that we could start learning real magic.

Since the class was in the first half of the day, only other Airlee students were in it. Lisabelle, Lough, and Sip were all there. Plus a few others, including the twin werewolves, Katie and Lauren, from the first night.

Professor Korba stood waiting for us at the head of the room. The classrooms at public all had light carpeting, white walls, and dark wooden desks. It looked like the professors had free reign to decorate as they wished, because Korba had his walls covered in drawings of paranormals.

I soon discovered that Professor Korba liked to spend his class time with him talking – and us listening. Lisabelle literally looked like she might cry.

“The vampire,” Professor Korba began, “is a creature of the night. Vampires can drink the blood of any red-blooded mammal and survive on it, but of course vampires prefer human blood. Some vampires have magical powers that include moving objects and controlling fire. A very few have healing powers. The vampires here who can heal are trained to do so. Their physical characteristics are clear. They are normally tall, thin and strong. They have difficulty going out in sunlight, but may do so if they take the proper precautions.”

Lough raised his hand. “What are those?”

“There is a special mixture they can wear,” explained Professor Korba.

‘“Glorified sunscreen?” Lough offered.

Professor Korba frowned. “Don’t make fun, young man. Most vampires could rip you to shreds in your untrained state if they so desired. Then they’d go find some real work to do.”

Lough paled. “At least I didn’t get thrown into a wall,” he muttered to Lisabelle. She ignored him.

“They can be killed using a stake to the heart or by chopping off the head. They can be harmed with iron and they can be kept away with garlic. The garlic is the weakest of these methods, of course, but it should do the trick in a pinch. It will not hurt them, however. As you know, most of the vampires are on the side of the paranormals, but there are a few who are on the side of the demons. Really, I would suggest that if there’s a vampire attacking you, you should simply run.”

“Great,” I heard Lisabelle say on the other side of Sip. “Be pathetic.”

If Professor Korba heard her he didn’t give any sign. He just continued to talk.

“Now, moving on to how a vampire becomes a vampire….”

“This is going to be the longest class ever,” said Lisabelle, settling back into her seat with a glare at Korba.

“I think it’s interesting,” I informed her, and returned my attention to Professor Korba. I barely noticed when the lights in the room started to flicker.

Chapter Nine

For the rest of class Professor Korba discussed werewolves and pixies. He explained that werewolves were similar to vampires in that humans could become them if they were bitten. They were also similar in that both were shape-shifters. I had known that werewolves were – obviously – they could change into wolf form at their convenience. But it surprised me to learn that vampires could shape-shift into mist at night. Only very skilled vampires could do it, and even they had trouble doing it for any length of time, but still, it was a very powerful ability.

It reminded me of my last few nights at home. Mist had always surrounded me as I walked. Now I wondered what, or who, that mist had been. There was a very good chance it had been one or more vampires.

Professor Korba also talked about pixies. Most were pretty, petite and liked attention. (Sounded like the perfect description of Camilla.) They loved clothes and were known tricksters, but once their loyalty was won they would stick with you until the end. Many could also fly for a short distance if they chose to.

Professor Korba concluded the class by saying that later in the semester we would learn about fallen angels and mages. He said if we were good he might even throw in a lesson on hellhounds.

“I’m not sure that’s an enticement,” I heard Lough grunt as we left class. I grinned.

I had dreaded the second-half sessions, mostly because Professor Zervos hated my guts. I had expected him to go to the President yesterday and immediately demand my removal from his presence, but since no one had come to me to say I was kicked out of his class, I went anyway.

It wasn’t as bad as I had thought it would be. He basically acted like I wasn’t there. Most of the rest of the afternoon went like that, until I was relieved to find that I’d gotten through my second day of classes. I tried very hard not to notice Keller and mostly succeeded. At one point he caught me looking at him, but I quickly looked away.

After dinner Sip and I went back to our room. She had been unusually quiet and I asked her why.

“Are you going to stir up trouble with Camilla?” she asked worriedly.

“I wasn’t even talking to Camilla,” I told her, trying to play dumb.

“Yeah, you were doing worse than that. You were talking to her boyfriend,” Sip accused.

“He asked me,” I informed her. “And I didn’t know they were dating when I said yes.”

“Did she see you?” Sip wanted to know.

I looked away, unable to meet her eyes.

“Awesome,” said Sip, exasperated.

“She hated me before,” I told her.

“Because you knew him before,” said Sip. “This is worse. Now you knew him before and you’re talking to him here at school.”

I heard a faint tapping on the door. Relieved at the distraction, I went to open it.

Lisabelle was framed in the doorway. She was dressed in her customary black, but instead of her usual scowl a huge grin spread across her face.

“Ready for your tour?” she asked.

I put my hands on my hips. “Is this really necessary?”

“Come on,” said Lisabelle. “The vampires are out and about. We will blend right in.”

“Because they have class,” I told her. “We don’t have an excuse. Plus, look at Sip….” I pointed to her white-blond hair and large purple eyes. “She doesn’t blend in anywhere.”

“Thank you,” said Sip. “I think.”

“So, it’d be better if we didn’t get caught,” she informed me. “Come on!”

I glanced at Sip again, who was sitting on her bed. “It would be kind of fun,” she said shrugging. “I know a lot of older students do it. And you really haven’t gotten a very good look at the grounds.”

I wanted to go. If the President wasn’t going to kick me out for not having magic, then why would she kick me out for being outside past curfew? “Let’s go.”

I don’t know what we expected when we went outside. Fire breathing dragons sitting around drinking tea maybe, but the campus outdoors at night wasn’t anywhere near that exciting. It was just like campus during the day, only with fewer students walking around and more shadows.

It felt nice to be outside when we were the only ones there. Defying the professors’ orders was oddly freeing. Besides, they didn’t own me. They’d already made my first few days at Public miserable, now I was going to have a little fun.

Sip, gleeful to be out at night, raced around in ever widening circles in werewolf form. Her whole body looked fast and strong.

In fun, she raced towards us, then turned around and backtracked. Suddenly, she paused. Repeatedly she used her nose to point in a direction off to our right.

A grin spread across Lisabelle’s face.

“Look,” she cooed, pointing far into the distance where we couldn’t see. “It’s the fallen angels’ dorm. Charlotte, we could go see your new tutor!”

I shuddered. Part of me wanted to see Keller, but the other part, the part that said he was my tutor and had no reason to like me and was a fallen angel so he couldn’t like me, dreaded the moments when my eyes would flick in his direction.

“He wouldn’t want to see me,” I said. Sip was still running around. I had the strange impression that she was laughing.

“Sip, stop that, you’re making me dizzy,” protested Lisabelle.

Sip raced towards us, transforming mid-stride. Once she was back to human form she said, “I’m just practicing. If you practiced maybe you’d have more control over your magic.”

Lisabelle raised her black eyebrows. Without warning, black fire snaked out of her hand to whirl around Sip. Instantly Sip changed back to werewolf shape and zipped away, the fire trying to catch her. I watched in awe as the magic spun and curled, trying to keep up with Sip. Chunks of grass flew up in dark patches.

“Can’t you do anything but throw fire?” she taunted.

Lisabelle didn’t stop the fire, but while she was throwing it she reached into her robe and pulled out a wand. At some point I’d been told that darkness mages carried wands, but I’d forgotten it until I saw Lisabelle’s. It looked like a branch that had been thrown into a fire and cooked. It was black and studded with what seemed to be black jewels. Sip never took her eyes off it. Lisabelle twirling it idly, eyeing Sip in turn.

Standing next to her, unable to do any magic, I felt useless. I would not always be this helpless. I. Would. Not.

Without warning, Lisabelle swung the wand and sent a burst of power towards Sip. At the last possible second the power transformed. It wasn’t just raw magic now; it had burst into a dozen small black birds. Sip squealed in surprise and I gasped. The birds were darting after Sip.

Sip hadn’t been working hard a minute ago, but now she was doing everything she could to avoid the birds and the black swirls of magic. Lisabelle wouldn’t actually let anything hurt Sip, at least I didn’t think so, but the birds looked dangerous.

It quickly became clear that the birds were not that fast or that smart. Lisabelle must not have the magic or the control yet to make them deadly, which at the moment seemed like a good thing. Sip was running and dodging, staying far ahead of the little black creatures.

When Sip came back towards us she didn’t even look tired. I wasn’t sure how hard Lisabelle had tried to trap her friend with the fire and the birds, but she had failed.

In the blink of an eye, Sip transformed back to human form. I was relieved when she gave a short laugh.

“Did I know you could do that?” she asked Lisabelle.

Lisabelle scoffed. “Of course not.”

Sip grinned and I rolled my eyes. “Now we just have to get the magic out of you,” said Sip to me.

“Yeah, well, apparently that’s Keller’s job,” I muttered.

“Do you think Keller’s cute?” Sip asked suddenly. They had some second session classes together, so she spent a lot of time with him.

“He’s easily the most beautiful guy here,” said Lisabelle. “And that includes all the vampires and pixies. It even includes Cale, despite what Camilla wants everyone to think.”

I cleared my throat. “He’s alright,” I said. “Cute” wasn’t the word I would have used to describe him; neither was “beautiful.” But did I think he was attractive? Yes, yes I did.

“He’s a fallen angel, you know,” said Sip. “From one of the purest and most famous families.”

“So?” I asked.

“So, he’s expected to marry another fallen angel and continue the line,” she explained.

“Did you want to marry him?” I asked. I was getting irritated, but I wasn’t sure why.

Sip grinned. “Nope, but I’d do other stuff with him.”

Lisabelle laughed.

“Where are we going?” I asked, pushing my brown hair out of my face. The wind had picked up and my hair kept breaking free of its ponytail.

“Towards the woods,” said Lisabelle. “It’s beautiful, and it’s a shame you haven’t seen it.”

Lisabelle pointed ahead of us. I looked in the direction of her finger.

We were heading straight towards the pond and the President’s offices. The moon, which was nearly full, shone down, lancing a streak of pearl through the black water.

“We are breaking the rules and you are taking us towards the President’s office,” Sip said. “What, are you just trying to save her time when she gets around to punishing us?”

Lisabelle just grinned.

“They use it for Dash some years,” Sip added, pointing to the pond. “I think this year Dash is on the field, though.”

“What’s Dash?” I asked as we walked closer to the water.

“What?” Lisabelle and Sip cried at the same time.

“I keep forgetting she has no idea about paranormals,” Lisabelle muttered, shaking her head. “Complete shame.”

“It’s not my fault,” I retorted.

“No one said it was,” said Sip quickly. “We just forget.”

“What’s Dash?” I asked again. “What kind of game can move around?”

“It’s a school-wide competition that’s held every year. It’s an obstacle course that every student who enters gets to go through. The best student from each dorm then competes, and the student who wins that wins all sorts of honor and gifts for the dorm,” Lisabelle explained. “It’s a really big deal. The student who wins is a hero. And the obstacle course can be put anywhere, so some years it’s here.”

“An obstacle course?” I asked skeptically.

“Yeah!” said Sip. “Any student can enter his or her name at the start of term. You do the course three times, and your best time gets entered into the school-wide competition. Then the best four individual times compete in the finals.”

“I wish I could enter,” I said. I pulled the scarf closer around my neck, trying to protect myself from the wind.

“Yeah,” said Sip chewing her lower lip. “It’s too bad that since you’re on probation you can’t.…”

“Oh, well, I’d be no good at an obstacle course anyway,” I said, lifting my shoulders. I didn’t want them to know how disappointed I was. I don’t even know why I was disappointed. I wasn’t athletic; I’d never competed in anything. But somehow, navigating an obstacle course to compete for school-wide honor sounded fun. Plus, my friends were excited about it.

“When’s the first competition?” I asked.

“This weekend,” said Lisabelle. We had come to a stop in front of the water and were all just taking in the breathtaking view in front of us. I loved water and this lake was the prettiest I’d ever seen. “We’re both doing it. You have to come and cheer Airlee on.”

“Yeah,” I said. I kicked a pebble and waited until I heard it splash. “Great.”

Lisabelle cocked her head. “Do you hear that?”

Sip and I both quieted to listen. Murmurs. Voices. People were coming towards us.

Sip’s purple eyes grew huge and alarmed. She grabbed my arm and the three of us started running. If I got caught roaming the grounds at night after we’d been warned not to do just that, the very least we’d get is detention, and I would probably get expelled, since you couldn’t put someone on probation who was already on it.

The three of us raced for cover. We dashed into the closest building.

It wasn’t until we were inside and had slammed the door behind us that we realized our mistake.

We were in the offices of the President.

I felt like I’d just swallowed a rock. It hadn’t been long since I’d been there, but somehow the building was different at night. Any of the friendly charm that had been there during the day was replaced by shadows. The only light was a lamp that burned at the far end of the hall. My eyes were still adjusting to the dark and I could barely see my friends.

Every second that ticked past I expected someone to come through the door, saying that they’d seen us running and that we were finished.

“Think we’re safe?” asked Lisabelle in my ear. Her breath tickled my skin.

At the sound of her voice I jumped, and she was forced to put her hand on my shoulder.

“Calm down or you’ll get us caught,” she hissed.

I nodded, telling myself to take deep breaths. I wasn’t going to get expelled when I hadn’t even been there a week. I wasn’t. Was I?

Sip looked upset and was chewing her lip. I could tell she thought this was a terrible idea.

“We have to get out of here,” she said, her voice barely audible.

“And go back out there to get caught?” demanded Lisabelle, “No thank you.” I could just imagine her eyes snapping in the dark.

“So what do we do?” I demanded.

“Wait,” said Lisabelle, shrugging. In silhouette I could see her folding her arms over her chest and leaning against the wall.

“I tell you it’s not good,” a muffled voice said from down the hall. I could see where it was coming from and it made me feel queasy. The light in the President’s office was still on. We had thought that the building was empty, but there were other people in it with us. We weren’t alone.

“We’re dead,” said Sip, putting a hand on either side of her face. I could see her pale hair illuminated by the moonlight. It was trembling.

“Shut UP,” Lisabelle hissed. She crept closer to the door the voices had come from. Sip and I tried to pull her back towards us, sure that at any second the President’s door would be flung open and we’d be caught. But she ignored us.

Now that I was listening, the conversation behind the door was clearly audible.

“The demons are growing in strength. They are even trying to penetrate the walls of Public,” said a female voice I didn’t recognize.

Another voice, male this time, said, “That’s nonsense. They aren’t that strong.”

“Of course they are. Why wouldn’t they be when our defenses are down?” snapped the first female voice.

“Our defenses are not down.” That was the President.

“Yes, they are. And now they are going to be permanently,” said the first voice.

“Just because we do not have an elemental to complete the Power of Five does not mean we are defenseless,” said the President.

“We should have protected them better,” said another voice, muffled.

“We tried to protect them, but we couldn’t force anyone to do anything they didn’t want to do,” said the President. “We can’t save everyone.”

“There have to be some out there,” said another voice. “Somewhere.”

“Enough,” cut in a man’s voice. It was harsh and grating. “Demons are everywhere. They are attacking paranormals across the country. Their confidence is growing by the day, by the hour. As long as we do nothing to stop them they will continue to kill us one by one.”

“We could call the paranormals in. We are safer together. They would be safer here, at Public.” That was the first female voice again.

“You think Public is safe?” the man spat out. “What do you think those light flickers and trembles mean? That the electricity is cutting in and out? No, they mean that the demons are getting closer to breaching our defenses.”

I tried to swallow the rock lodged in my throat. The President was having a conversation with at least three other people, and they were talking about demons attacking paranormals. And not just any paranormals. The demons were trying to attack Public. I felt a stabbing fear radiate out from my stomach. Seeing the hellhound at my house had been bad enough, but I didn’t think I could take seeing demons overrun Public.

“Well, well, well,” said Professor Zervos’s voice behind me. “What have we here? Students out of bed at night, I see.”

We were caught.

Chapter Ten

I turned around to look into the cold black eyes of Professor Zervos.

“Just what do you three think you are doing?” he asked, his voice sounding silky and dangerous.

Before Lisabelle could say something that would get us in even more trouble, the door to the President’s office came flying open.

“What’s going on here?” Her eyes locked on the three of us, cowering in the shadow of Professor Zervos, and her brow puckered. I could see dark circles under her eyes that hadn’t been there the last time I’d seen her. She was tired.

“I found these students eavesdropping on your conversation,” explained Professor Zervos. “In your offices. I was handling the situation.”

The President looked at Professor Zervos. “If they were listening in at my door then I should be the one to handle the situation, don’t you think?”

Professor Zervos let out a noise that sounded like a balloon popping.

“You three, come in,” she said. We started to follow her into the room, with Professor Zervos bringing up the rear until the President said, “No, Thads, not you.” I wasn’t sure who she was talking to until Professor Zervos came to a halt. I could see his nostrils flaring as he tried to get control of his rage.

“Fine,” he snarled. He turned on his heel and stalked off.

With a thin smile, the President opened the door for us and we walked in. I was surprised to see that the room was empty.

“Didn’t you hear voices just a second ago?” I muttered to Sip.

“Quiet,” she hissed. “You too,” she said, glaring at Lisabelle.

“Please sit down,” said the President, gesturing toward the open chairs. “I do believe you have some explaining to do.”

She settled into her own chair, cradling a cup of what looked like tea.

I wondered what exactly was going on. The last time I’d been in this room I’d been threatened within an inch of my life. The President had not been at all kind to me. Now, when all she should be saying is “Pack your things, you’re expelled, dummy,” she was sitting calmly behind her desk, waiting until one of us spoke.

“We didn’t mean to,” Sip burst out, clutching the President’s desk.

“We really didn’t,” I added.

“Didn’t mean to what?” asked the President, raising her dusty gray eyebrows.

“Eavesdrop,” said Sip guiltily.

“So, you did hear the conversation?” she asked. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking.

“Not exactly,” said Sip. “I mean, we heard a couple of sentences, but we didn’t understand them.”

“What did you hear?” she asked again.

Sip told her everything we had heard.

“Did you have to recap it word for word?” Lisabelle murmured to her. No wonder the President was concerned.

But all she said when Sip had finished was, “I see.” After a pause she added, “Well, there’s only one thing to do.”

“Don’t expel us,” I said, unable to help myself.

The President looked at me sharply. “Why ever would I do that?”

“We broke a catalogue of rules....” I started to give her a list of all the rules we’d just broken, but Lisabelle kicked me under the table to shut me up and whispered, “You two suck at getting caught.”

“Ouch,” I said, rubbing the injured area.

I looked at the President. I was sure she was trying to hide a smile.

“Never mind,” I muttered.

“You girls will not get into trouble, provided that you speak of this to no one,” said the President. “All I ask, instead of a punishment that would draw attention to the catalogue of rules you broke – as you said – is that you spend every Saturday morning for the next month cleaning Astra Dorm. I may even assign you there again, as I’m sure this is not the only time you’ll be breaking the rules.”

She looked down over her spectacles at the three of us. Her eyes lingered on Lisabelle. I wasn’t sure if she was joking, but I had to admit she was probably right.

“You want us to clean?” Sip asked incredulously. “That’s our punishment?”

“You can always rely on her for the worst timing in the world,” Lisabelle muttered to me.

I was about to grin when I caught the President’s eye and thought better of it.

“I do,” said the President. “It needs cleaning. This is all to the good for all of us. Plus, Charlotte is on probation. She most certainly should not have been outside at night.”

“What about Professor Zervos?” asked Lisabelle.

“What about him?” The President’s voice had gone quiet. “He is not in charge here. I am. Although I am grateful to him for bringing this matter to my attention, I have now dealt with it in the way I see fit. As is my right.”

“Now,” she continued, before Lisabelle could interrupt again, “you are to report to Astra Dorm first thing after breakfast Saturday morning. I will have someone there to greet you and show you what must be done. Good night.”

She offered Sip a token. I recognized it as basically a permission slip that said we were allowed to be out of our beds at that time of night. “This is so that you get back to your dorm without further incident,” she said as she ushered us out of her office.

“Oh, Charlotte, one more thing,” she added.

I looked back at her. This was it, where she’d tell me not to bother showing up at Astra Dorm because I’d been expelled.

But all she said was, “Be careful.”

She closed the door in our faces.

No one said a word as we walked back to Airlee. Real college wouldn’t have been like this. At most normal colleges, like the one I had planned to go to, there wasn’t the threat of murderous demons hanging over everyone’s head. As I understood it, you could come and go as you pleased. You didn’t risk getting yelled at or need tokens to get you safely back to your own house. Stumbling around campus drunk was an accepted practice at a lot of places.

I thought the President had let me off lightly. I was on probation. Usually that should mean that if you step out of line you are in a lot of trouble, but I had gotten the same punishment as my friends. Yeah, it’s fun to have an adventure and risk getting caught, but neither of the others was on probation, and they were both very clear about their powers. Lisabelle could just twirl her fingers together and she had magic flying everywhere. And tonight Sip had demonstrated that she had an excellent grasp of her werewolf skills.

Lisabelle, who now had a room of her own at the end of our hall, went there and closed the door without a word.

I pulled the covers over my ears and turned out the light on my nightstand. As I fell asleep I repeated to myself over and over again that I was still a student at Paranormal Public. They hadn’t gotten rid of me yet.

The rest of the week flew by. Professor Zervos was extra miserable to me now. I felt sure he had thought the President would expel me, so when I walked into class the next day he was bitterly disappointed. Every chance he got he asked me questions he knew I wouldn’t be able to answer. Each time, I just sort of sat there and stammered out a reply until he made some cruel comment about how stupid and untalented I was and moved on to one of the pixies.

Camilla was another one who took every opportunity to make my life miserable. During my first couple of days at Public it had been nice to see Cale around, but now that I knew he was dating Camilla I tried avoid the two of them at all costs, with mixed success. I couldn’t go to the bathroom alone any more because one of Camilla’s pixie friends would follow me in there and either lock me in a stall or dump bucketsful of water on me. I didn’t help my case with Professor Zervos when I left his class to go to the bathroom one afternoon and returned sopping wet.

And as for Keller, I couldn’t even bring myself to look at him. He still sat with all of his fallen angel friends, but at least he wasn’t one of the ones who made fun of me. I figured he must be embarrassed to be “tutoring” me; I wasn’t good at anything.

At one point one of the pixies in Zervos’s class said, “Let’s get the Probationer to do it. She’s expendable.”

As usual, Professor Zervos pretended that no one had said anything. But if I replied in any way he would suddenly get his hearing back, and I’d be the one who would get detention. So I kept my mouth shut.

“Nice that you let harassment go on in your classes,” said Lough. I sucked in air, sure that Zervos would hurl Lough against another wall for defending me.

But Professor Zervos just shrugged and said, “As students in college you must deal with your own messes. It is not for the professors to intervene.”

To my great surprise a warm male voice said to the pixie who had taunted me, “She may be on probation, but she’s still more valuable than you. Does that bother you?” I snapped my head around to look at Keller, who was, as usual, sitting slouched in his chair. He never looked at me.

“You better watch what you say, Erikson,” said the pixie. It was one of Camilla’s friends, a senior named Kevin. “You never know when you’ll need to watch your back.”

All traces of humor disappeared from Keller’s face. “Are you threatening me?” he asked, leaning towards Kevin.

I was fascinated to see that Kevin backed off a little. I hadn’t thought that the pixies were afraid of anyone on campus, but now I had seen that Keller was an exception to that rule.

Professor Zervos smoothly cut in before things could get out of hand. I gave Keller a small smile of thank you. He had just defended my honor. Of course, he still ignored me.

By the end of the first week I was exhausted. I had wanted to stay at Public to make my mother proud, to follow in her footsteps, and to learn what I was born to know, but it was looking less and less like that would be a possibility. Given everything that had happened, there was no way the President was going to let me stay.

And why should she? At the end of the first week I still hadn’t done any magic. I was hopelessly outclassed in every subject, and all of the professors simply shook their heads when they saw me coming. They meant well, but they knew just as well that you couldn’t teach a student paranormal magic when the student couldn’t DO paranormal magic.

The weekend couldn’t come soon enough, but first I had to get through classes on Friday.

A History of Your Paranormal Type, with Professor Anania, was in the first section of classes. Today she wanted to talk about our paranormal rings.

“Can anyone tell me what exactly they do?”

Sip’s hand shot up. “Yes, they enhance our power and identify which paranormal we are.”

“Exactly, and how do they enhance power?” she asked.

“We can use them as a focus if we know how,” Sip replied.

“Do they do anything else?”

Lauren Bells, one of the werewolf twins, said that as we got more experienced our activities would be finely etched into the rings, to make them unique to us.

“Can they hold power?” asked Professor Anania.

The class chorused that they could.

“Alright,” said Professor Anania. “Hold out your rings.”

Every student stuck out a hand.

“Now, put a little bit of power into it,” she said. She was holding out her own ringed finger and watching it start to glow the deep silver of the fallen angels. I stuck out my hand and waited for my ring to light with the white light of Airlee. I concentrated on the metal surrounding the clear stone, waiting for light, waiting for anything. In the corner of my eye I could see little lights starting to flicker in front of the other students. All of their rings were lighting up. My classmates were moving their powers into their rings. I gulped and focused harder. Somewhere, deep within me, I felt power start to coil and rise inside me. I encouraged it, as gently as I could, towards the ring, but nothing happened. I gasped in frustration and Professor Anania looked up sharply.

“Get it together, Charlotte,” she said. “Try harder. If all of your classmates are capable of such simple magic then surely you don’t want all of them to be better than you.”

I glared up at her. Re-focusing on my ring, I tried to concentrate. I ignored my classmates and their brightly glowing rings, filled with power that I desperately wanted to control in myself.

After several minutes of letting me try, while I worked so hard that a fine sheen of sweat sparkled on my forehead, Professor Anania stopped me.

“Congratulations, Miss Rollins. Again you have managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory,” she said.

I slunk back in my chair and crossed my arms so that my ring was covered. I didn’t want to see it. I felt miserable. I’d been there a whole week and I couldn’t even do the most basic magic.

I collapsed into bed Friday night, not at all looking forward to cleaning Astra Dorm the next morning. But at least it would get me a day off from Keller. My lessons with him weren’t going any better than the rest of my schoolwork, mostly because Keller never even mentioned magic.

What he always talked about was history. At one point I had accused him of not being able to teach me any magic because he was a fallen angel. In response he had gone into a long explanation about how all of the magics were interconnected and good students understood parts of all of them, because that allowed them to work together more effectively against the demons. Basically, as usual he had made me regret asking. I’d never met anyone who handled all of my rapid-fire questions with such ease. I found it unsettling, but since we’d be cleaning Astra Dorm and it was the first day of Dash, I was pretty sure that for once there would be no time for torture al la Keller.

On Saturday morning Sip and I met Lisabelle in the hall outside our rooms and the three of us stumbled blearily down to breakfast. We had to be at Astra Dorm by seven because at eleven the whole school was gathering in the sports fields for the first Saturday of Dash. I would be on the sidelines because of my probation, so all I could do was cheer Lisabelle and Sip on.

After breakfast we headed outside. The day was gray and it looked like it was about to rain. I zipped my dark blue fleece up to my chin as we walked.

“Do you know who’s meeting us?” asked Sip. She was walking between Lisabelle and me, her head bent low to avoid the wind.

“No idea,” said Lisabelle. “I just hope it’s not one of the pixies. Can you imagine Kia ‘helping’ us? Charlotte has us in enough trouble with them.”

“It’s not my fault,” I said irritably. I was tired of feeling like everything was my fault. I hadn’t spoken to Cale since that breakfast. I had planned to avoid him, but not ignore him when he actually walked past me. Now whenever I saw him around campus he turned the other way. Cale’s ignoring me made everything else that was going on worse. I should be the one ignoring him; he was the one who hadn’t told me about Camilla.

“Why would a nice guy like Cale date a girl like Camilla?’ Sip asked.

Lisabelle opened her mouth to reply, but Sip whirled on her. “Do NOT make a joke about guys and their blood-flow.”

Lisabelle doubled over laughing. “You said it, not me.”

Sip went bright red.

We walked in silence until Sip said, “Here we are.” As we rounded a bend in the path, Astra Dorm came rising into view in front of us. Without even realizing it, we had arrived.

There was no other way to say it, Astra Dorm looked cool. As the oldest dorm on campus it was built entirely of stone, and each corner of the building had a tower. The towers were different colors -- green, blue, white and red -- which represented Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. There was also a larger tower in the middle painted black.

“I was wondering when you three would show up,” an amused male voice said from behind us.

I turned around and stared into dancing blue eyes. Keller Erikson was standing in front of Astra Dorm. My tutor was also the one who would help us clean.

Chapter Eleven

“You again!” I cried, as Keller walked towards us. The more nervous I am the more awkward I get, and I had come to the uncomfortable realization that Keller made me nervous.

Lisabelle and Sip, who had been slower to turn around, were just realizing that Keller was the one who would be helping us.

“What are you doing here?” I demanded, crossing my arms over my chest and glaring.

“Sometimes you rival me for sweetness,” said Lisabelle to me.

Keller handed me a mop. “Stop it,” he chided me. “I haven’t done anything to you.”

I blinked and fumbled to take the mop from his outstretched arm. He was right. He hadn’t.

I felt my face turning hot and looked away from everyone.

“Aw, come on,” said Keller. “Apologize to me. You know you want to.” He smiled.

“Sorry,” I mumbled into my shoulder, wishing I could disappear. “It’s been a long week.” Just once I would like to be as confident as Keller seemed all the time.

“It must have been,” Keller commented. “Otherwise there’s no way Cynthia would have asked me to help you three out.”

“Who is Cynthia?” ask Lisabelle, Sip, and I in unison.

Keller grinned. It lighted up his whole face as if someone had turned on the switch in a room. “The President,” he said.

“You call her by her first name?” I asked, incredulous.

“Of course,” he answered, leading the three of us up the overgrown path. “What else am I supposed to call my godmother?”

“You’ve got to be kidding,” said Lisabelle, hurrying so she could walk next to him. “That old dragon is your godmother?”

Keller laughed as we reached the front door. “Yeah.” Somehow he was more relaxed here, away from the glare of the school and all the other students. She had asked him to tutor me. I should have known she would ask him to do this as well.

“Why you?” I asked.

Keller lifted his shoulders. “She trusts me.”

He pulled out a large metal key and fitted it into the lock. Just as the four of us entered Astra, a cool light mist started to fall.

Inside I felt warmth and comfort surround me. It was a feeling I hadn’t had since I’d come to Public. The whole week I’d been stressed and worried, but inside Astra Dorm I felt happy and oddly relaxed. I must just be glad to be away from the main campus, I thought.

“What do you think?” Keller asked. His blue eyes, which never seemed to miss anything, were directed towards me.

“It’s beautiful,” I said, looking around. The floor was some sort of white stone, covered in blue carpets. The furniture consisted of a table with a large lamp, another table in front of a silver-edged mirror, and two armchairs that stood next to a winding staircase. Everything in the room was covered in a thick layer of dust, but even the grime couldn’t obscure Astra’s magnificence.

Keller walked past me and set down the cleaning supplies. As he moved we brushed shoulders, and I was conscious of the touch long after it was gone. I watched as his back bent and stretched. He was always graceful. Maybe it was a fallen angel thing or maybe it was a Keller thing. Afraid of getting caught staring, I quickly looked away.

“So, this is the dorm,” he said, straightening up. “Sip and Lisabelle, I was thinking you two could do the kitchen,” he continued, pointing straight ahead. “It’s probably in the best shape and with two of you it shouldn’t take very long.”

“How often is this place cleaned?” asked Lisabelle, running her hand along the edge of the mirror. It came away covered in dust.

Keller shrugged. “Every couple of weeks. Any time the President catches a student doing something wrong, so it’s pretty often.”

“We aren’t in trouble,” I said.

“No,” said Keller. “Of course not. She just sent you down here to help me clean out of the goodness of her heart. Oh wait, she’s the President of Public, she doesn’t have a heart.”

I felt my face flush and occupied myself by examining the wall.

“Where’s the kitchen?” Sip asked. She’d already gone over to the cleaning supplies and picked up a pair of latex gloves. She put them on and smacked her hands together. “I’m ready to do some damage.”

Lisabelle rolled her eyes. “To what? Dust? You can’t damage dust.”

“Sometimes I think you’re too literal-minded,” Sip said to her.

“Better to make sense than be you,” said Lisabelle, grinning.

Sip threw a towel at her, but Lisabelle ducked out of the way.

“Are they always like that?” Keller asked me, watching.

“I’ll let you know,” I told him. For some reason he found that funny.

“So,” said Lisabelle, now that she was done harassing Sip, “kitchen?”

“Through there,” Keller said, pointing to a plain wooden door. It had a wheel with four spokes carved into its center. “I’ll get Charlotte set up, then come check on you.”

I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of being left alone with Keller. I was left alone with him enough when he was tutoring me, and now through my own foolishness I was forced to spend the weekend with him too. But Lisabelle and Sip ignored all of my pleading looks and walked away.

“Come on,” said Keller, motioning for me to follow him. “This way.”

I followed him through a maze of rooms. Each room we passed through was more beautiful and distinct than the last. We walked past what had to be sitting rooms, a classroom, and even a game room that was in the shape of a diamond. Most of the furniture had white linen thrown over it.

“Why are all the rooms so different?” I finally asked.

“Most elementals specialized in Earth, Air, Fire, or Water,” Keller explained. “A few could control all of them, but the ones who couldn’t had clear affinities for certain things.” That explained the different colored towers I had seen when we came in. He pointed. We were in a room that must have been decorated by a fire elemental. The walls were a red that you mostly saw on fire engines, and over the mantel was a picture of a field alight in flames.

“Charming,” I said. Our feet hitting the stone floor was the only sound, which should have been creepy, but even the silence was strangely comforting here.

Keller shook his head. “These were very powerful mages. They commanded respect.”

“What do you mean?” Even when he wasn’t tutoring me he was tutoring me. The professors at Public were good, but they obviously thought all the Starters needed to know about were the basics. And I wanted to know more.

“It’s obvious,” Keller said. “Fire is essential to a fire elemental, so they are going to surround themselves with as many representations of fire as they can. If nothing else it’s comforting.”

“That makes sense,” I replied, still looking around the room. “Do you know what happened to the elementals?” It was something I had wanted to ask, but I had sensed that the topic was taboo.

When Keller didn’t answer immediately I lifted my hand to poke him in the arm. I caught my breath. I couldn’t bring myself to actually touch him. I dropped my hand.

“I don’t know what happened to them, really,” said Keller. His voice sounded wistful. His back was turned so he hadn’t seen me freeze. “It’s not something a mere student tutor gets told. But it was bad. Really bad.”

“You mean no one knows?” I asked. I was walking around the room, inspecting the walls and furniture. I wasn’t sure what had piqued my curiosity, but now I wanted to know everything I could.

“Oh no, I’m sure someone knows,” he answered, “just not a lowly sophomore at Public. Everyone knows it was the demons, but that’s about it.”

“You’d think it would be common knowledge how one of the power branches of paranormals became extinct,” I commented.

“What makes you think they’re extinct?” Keller asked. His blue eyes were following me around the room and I tried to not let it make me nervous.

I glanced at him with surprise. “Do you see any elementals here?” I asked, waving my arms around.

Keller smiled. “No, but I think the professors and all the senior paranormals are hoping that there are still elementals out there.”

“Because of the demons?” I asked.

Keller’s face hardened. He scuffed his foot on the floor, his lips pursed tightly shut, before answering. It was the first time I’d seen him show any major emotion that wasn’t rooted in sarcasm. “Yeah. Because if there aren’t we just might be doomed.”

Then he turned on his heel and headed down the hallway. “Come on,” he said, and I hurried to catch up. He reached out his arm to grab a door handle. I watched the muscles in his arm flex as he moved.

“Through here,” he said, opening one of the doors.

I followed him into the grandest room I’d ever seen. Most of what I’d seen at Public had been beautiful but modern and practical. The classrooms weren’t decorated, they didn’t have strange magics going on in the corners. None of the paranormals flaunted their abilities. But this room looked like it was fit for royalty. It was lit with sconces in the walls and massive floor to ceiling windows.

I looked up and up to the cathedral ceiling stretching high into the distance. More silver-edged mirrors hung along the walls, interspersed with massive tapestries. The images were of what could only be elementals, battling against demons and hellhounds. One showed an elemental standing in the ocean, water swirling around her, as demons came down from all sides.

“Wow,” I breathed. “Giants could fit in here and still have room for a couple of elephants.”

“Right?” said Keller. “None of the other dorms have this.”

“Why do the elementals?” I asked. I didn’t dare to leave the doorway in case I disturbed anything.

“Because this wasn’t just a dorm. It was also where the senior elementals had their headquarters,” Keller explained.

“So they entertained here?” I asked. Out the windows was the far side of campus; the forest met a gentle sloping lawn. All the colors from grass to sky were enhanced and brighter-looking thanks to the recent rain.

Keller nodded. “All their power was concentrated here. If you were an elemental, at some point in your life you would definitely visit. Maybe just to see it. Maybe to meet with the elemental King or Queen.”

“I’ve never seen anything so beautiful,” I said, running my hand along the wall. The room was painted in every shade of blue, red, brown, and green.

“How do you know so much?” I asked him, still looking around in awe.

“I like to know where we came from. It helps understand where we are now,” said Keller.

He cleared his throat, “Anyway. The quicker you dust over there the quicker we can all get to Dash.” He headed towards a glass case at the opposite end of the room. I was forced to move from my spot by the door and follow him in. The glass case was filled with ancient-looking artifacts, from scepters to something as seemingly simple as rocks.

Keller pulled out another key, this one tiny and silver. He fitted it into the lock on the front of the case, and as he did so he quickly said words under his breath in a language I’d never heard before. Around his fingers was a quick spark of blue.

The glass doors swung open.

Keller handed me a rag. “Be careful,” he said. “When you’re done just come back into the front hall.”

I looked at the rag in my hand. Normally I wasn’t a big fan of dusting; well, of cleaning in general. I liked stuff to be clean, I just wasn’t good at making it that way. But somehow the prospect of cleaning this case wasn’t so bad.

“Where are you going?” I asked Keller.

“To clean the upstairs,” he said. “It won’t get finished today, but there’s always next week. And the week after that. Luckily, I have lots of help.”

Once he had left I examined the glass case. The objects were evenly spaced, but they would have to be moved if I was going to dust around them.

I gently started to pick up every object and dust around it. I used my thumb and my index finger to pick each one up and move it over just enough so that I could also dust under it.

Once that was finished, I dusted the object itself. I was working my way through the case when I came upon an elemental ring. It looked to be made of twisted white gold, with blue and white jewels running along the edge.

When my hand touched the metal, sparks flew from underneath my fingertips. The jewels on the tiny ring blazed to life. I hadn’t noticed how dull the blues and the white had been before I touched them, but now they glowed brightly out of the dark, illuminating everything nearby, humming with power.

Without thinking, I reached out and touched the ring again. This time, not just that ring, but every other object in the case, came to life in a triumphant song. The scepter lit up, showing off a rainbow of color. The rock came to life, but it wasn’t just a rock anymore. It was mass of crystals, with reds and blues embedded in its depths.

I yanked my hand away. I had no idea what I had just done, but it couldn’t be good. I stared at the crystals in the case. All I wanted was for all of them to just stop shining. If I got caught messing with elemental stuff I’d be kicked out of Public for sure. I checked over my shoulder, but there was no sign of Keller, so I made a move to close the case and get out of the room as fast as I could.

But before I could even get the case closed, the mirror lying on its back in the center of the case came to life, and I was horrified to see an image forming in what had been, a breath before, clear glass.

All I wanted to do was run away, out of the ballroom, but I couldn’t. If I left the case open, anything could happen. I had to stay. Steeling myself, I took one step closer, my eyes locked on the mirror. I could feel sweat forming on my forehead. I clenched my hands together to keep them from shaking.

Rising out of the mirror was a thin curl of mist. As it cleared I could easily see the image that had formed there. It was of paranormals, standing in a circle on open grass. There were four of them, clasping hands together. All around them were other paranormals, screaming in fear.

At first I couldn’t see what they were afraid of. But when I squinted, I saw hellhounds coming at breakneck speed out of nowhere. My whole body shuddered as I saw what was following closely behind: demons. Hundreds and hundreds of demons, hopelessly outmatching the paranormals huddled on the grass.

I gasped as one demon swept in, picking up a young-looking paranormal and flying off into the night. The sounds of screams and the smell of wet dog and fear were pungent in the air around me. The young paranormal who had just been carried off by the demon reappeared, falling through the sky. He hit the ground with a wet thud and lay still.

“Do something!” I cried to the paranormals in the circle. They were trying frantically to perform a spell, but it was clear that it wasn’t working. Paranormals had started to turn; vampires bared their teeth, and pixies hopped into action. Humans turned into werewolves and fallen angels spread their wings and took flight.

It didn’t matter. There were too many demons.

But the paranormals were clearly determined to stand there and fight. They were going to hold their ground, and I could see what the result would be: death.

Tears were running down my cheeks as I started to sob. Suddenly, the four figures in the middle gave off a burst of pure power. I gasped as beams of light struck out at the attackers. Blackness turned to sunlight and hellhounds gave howls of pain. The knots in my stomach eased.

But I couldn’t tell yet if it would be enough. The battle wasn’t over.

Just as the demons and hellhounds came on in a fresh attack, the mist that had covered the mirror reappeared. Floating lazily forward, it covered the glass, obscuring any view.

I darted forward, trying to push the vapor away. I desperately wanted to know what had happened. I wanted the paranormals to keep fighting. But once the mist cleared, the images were gone. The luster of the mirror started to fade.

For a long time I simply stood there. I didn’t even bother to wipe the tears from my face, and soon they dried in streaks. At last, when I felt like my breathing was under control and all of the artifacts in the case had gone back to their dull colors, I gently shut the glass. Slowly the colors faded out of the jewels, leaving them looking dark and dusty once again.

Without a doubt I had seen a battle between the paranormals and the demons. What I didn’t know was if it was real. Maybe the mirror only showed our fears, or maybe it showed the past. Maybe it was the battle that had killed the elementals, but I wasn’t sure if any elementals had been fighting. I wondered who the hooded figures were and I wondered where the fight had taken place. Most of all I wondered why I had been the one to see it.

I hoped that Lisabelle and Sip wouldn’t notice how upset I was. When I was out of the ballroom I stopped to scrub my face, taking away all traces of the panic I had just felt.

At first I had thought that the jewels lighting up was strange, but that paled in comparison to the mirror. Not that I knew anything about elemental magic, but could the mirror really have lighted up for anyone who touched it? Was I special? I pushed the thought from my mind.

I briefly wondered if Keller had known that the jewels and the mirror would do what they had done, if he’d sent me in there to clean the case as some sort of joke. I walked slowly through the dorm, trying to collect myself, but it wasn’t easy. What I had seen had felt real, as real as the white t-shirt I was wearing, as the mist outside. If it had already happened, then there was nothing I could do. But what if it hadn’t? What if that mirror showed the future? It was not a future I ever wanted to happen.

“Thanks for doing that,” he said. “They really needed to be dusted and I knew you’d take good care of everything.”

When I didn’t answer he peered at me more closely. “What’s wrong?” he asked. “It looks like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“No,” I replied. “Still just a little tired, I guess.”

He nodded. His concern evaporated like the mist from the mirror. “Don’t worry. Dash will fix that.”

“Yeah,” I said, as Lisabelle and Sip joined us. I wasn’t about to tell any of them what I had done. That was not the way I was supposed to prove that I had magic, and if the President, or worse Professor Zervos, found out I’d used it on elemental artifacts I’d be finished.

Quietly I helped Keller gather all the cleaning supplies and leave the dorm. I was so preoccupied with my own thoughts that I didn’t notice how closely he watched me.

“Come on,” Sip finally said, skipping ahead of us. “It’s Dash time.”

Chapter Twelve

I’d been so preoccupied in Astra Dorm – doing yet another thing that would probably get me expelled – that I hadn’t noticed that the mist had turned to rain while we were inside. I zipped my jacket all the way up to my chin and took the umbrella from Sip. You didn’t get to use umbrellas while you were playing Dash. Sip groaned as the rain splashed down on her head. It would definitely dampen her spiky blond hair.

As the four of us headed towards the field, we joined with lots of other students; the whole school watched the Dash competitions. Far ahead of us I could see Camilla and Cale walking arm in arm, Camilla’s pixie friends surrounding them. Kia was talking, waving her hands madly. I looked for Lough but didn’t see him anywhere.

The Dash field was on the far side of campus. To get there we had to walk down a long hill. As the field came into view I let out a gasp. Lisabelle and Sip both grinned. Since they’d both grown up in the paranormal world they had known about Dash for years, but everything was new to me, including this insane-looking game.

The field had been transformed. Instead of just an empty space that looked like an oversized football field, I saw magical walls of fire, bright blue mazes, massive brown structures, and huge white balls singing through the air with nothing holding them up. If one of those bright white balls were to strike a student, the best-case scenario would be that the student ended up in the Infirmary, almost, but not quite, dead. Everywhere in front of me students were milling around. Lots of students were signing in and lining up – preparing to Dash.

Bleachers were set up along the sideline for spectators. In front of the seats was a clear glass wall. I saw students who were already sitting on the bleachers holding up their rings and pointing. To my complete shock the glass rippled, then magnified activities on the field. So, instead of having to squint through the rain to try and see participants Dashing, you could look through the glass and see the field as if it was right in front of your face.

“Wow,” I said.

“Yeah,” said Lisabelle, sighing in appreciation. “The joys of magic.”

“You’re just saying that because you’re a mage,” Sip accused. She was still half-heartedly trying to cover her hair by pulling up her jacket, but she was failing miserably.

“I can’t help it if we’re one of the more useful types of paranormals,” Lisabelle sniffed.

Sip just rolled her eyes at me.

“I should find Lough,” I said. “He’s probably already here.” Lough was unfailingly on time. It was borderline annoying, because if I was even two minutes late I felt guilty.

“Cheer really loudly,” said Lisabelle. “And whatever you do don’t cheer for the vampires.”

Lisabelle and Sip raced off to join the rest of the contestants from Airlee, waving goodbye to Keller and me as they went. I waited for Keller to leave and join Aurum Dorm, but instead he kept walking silently next to me.

Finally, sick of the suspense, I said, “What?”

Keller smiled. “You’re a prickly thing when people want to help you, aren’t you?”

“I’m not prickling.”

“Anyway,” he said, “wish me luck. See you Monday, for more time spent enriching your mind!” With a nod he headed towards the other students from Aurum Dorm. I watched until I saw him greeted with cheers and hugs, then I looked away.

“Hey, Charlotte,” said Lough, coming up to me with what looked like a lollipop in his hand. “They’re selling them over there,” he said, seeing my eyes on the lollipop. He pointed to a tent set up along one side, adding, “In case you want one.”

“Thanks,” I said, “Maybe later. Why aren’t you down there?”

Lough shook his head. “I’d suck at it.”

I looked Lough up and down. He wasn’t exactly what you’d call athletic. Not that that’s all that was needed; Dash was unpredictable and definitely magical. But it didn’t hurt if you could run fast.

“Stuff’s pretty crazy, right?” he asked, pointing to the field.

I nodded.

The vampires looked dominating. Wearing all black, they lined up in front of blood red obstacles. Their rings glittered like rubies in the dull light. The fallen angels looked almost as intimidating as the vampires, dressed in dark silver; their obstacles looked strong and imposing. The pixies were a little different. Their obstacles were an array of bright colors, from pinks and purples to yellows and oranges.

“Why are there only a couple of pixie girls competing?” I asked Lough.

“Because they aren’t very strong,” he said. “They’re ridiculously quick, but they’re so small they have a hard time when it comes to lifting, so some of the more advanced pixie girls compete, because they can use their magic to pick stuff up, but the Starters can’t. Plus, most pixie girls are stuck up and would rather not risk breaking a nail.” Lough directed a glare Kia and Camilla’s way.

Camilla was on the sidelines, dressed head-to-toe in the same colors as the obstacles, and holding a sign that read, “Let’s go, Volans Dorm!”

“Let’s find a seat,” I said to Lough. “As far away from them as possible.” He saw my own glare towards the pixies and laughed.

Lough led us to the top of the bleachers, where we had a clear view of everything. He showed me how to use the big screen in front of us. It was like turning on a TV and making the picture as big as I wanted, only this was with real people. There was no rewind, only win or go home.

“So, the fastest dorm wins?” I asked after I’d played with the glass for a solid ten minutes while Lough looked bored.

“Yeah,” said Lough, “and the vampires have won it the last three years in a row. The elementals used to win it, but obviously not since they all died. The fallen angels come in second, and the pixies are normally third.”

“Airlee is that bad?” I asked. I could feel the tip of my nose starting to get cold. It always turned red when I was outside in the winter.

Lough shrugged. “They’re mages and werewolves, not necessarily the fastest, strongest paranormals.”

I looked at the line of Airlee students. Lisabelle and Sip were both near the middle. The two werewolves were in front. The students expected to be slower would go first, while the fastest would go at the end, so Sip and Lisabelle being in the middle was actually pretty good. Normally the older, more advanced students were at the end.

The fallen angel line was different. Even though he was only a sophomore, Keller was so good that he was at the end of the line. He would be the last angel to compete, their last chance to win.

Boom.

“It’s started,” Lough yelled, jumping out of his seat.

The first Dashers were racing into the obstacle course. I got caught up in the screams of the other students and started yelling wildly for Airlee.

Before I knew it Sip was pelting forward. I watched in awe as she ducked and spun. The white balls that were hanging in mid-air came dangerously close to clobbering her in the head, right before a giant black board came up off the ground and tried to whack her across the back. This game was violent and dangerous. I could now see that students who participated were risking their physical and magical health, but oh, the glory if they won!

As fire came cascading towards her, she jumped into the air. I watched in awe as she flew over the fire pit, landing easily on the other side.

“She’s fast,” I said to Lough.

“She’s amazing,” he answered, breathless. His eyes never left the small blond figure whirling through the air in flashes of light.

“Yeah, Sip,” I yelled, waving my arms wildly. “Beat the vampires!”

Several vampires around me turned to glare, baring white fangs. Tale was running the maze and they were cheering wildly for him. I stuck my tongue out at them. I didn’t like the vampires.

“Do you enjoy responding like a third grader?” asked one, silkily turning around. Cascading down to her waist was hair so dark it had an almost bluish tint; it contrasted sharply with her pale skin and her smile. It was the girl who had stopped Keller the first night. Sip had said something important about her, but I couldn’t remember what it was.

“I like to stay on my opponent’s level,” I offered.

She snarled and started to get up, but her two companions grabbed her and stopped her.

“Don’t you ever speak to me that way again,” she hissed, but she sat back down as she said it.

“Nice going,” said Lough. “Piss off the vampire princess. You just can’t help yourself, can you?”

“That’s the princess?” I hissed. Oops.

“Yes,” said Lough. “And she’s known for being hard to anger, but of course you managed it within seconds. Normally that’s Lisabelle’s territory.”

I grinned at Lough. “Sorry.”

Now, Lisabelle was racing into the obstacle course. The students in the stands got quieter, not wanting to cheer, or offend, a darkness mage. Lisabelle was good, borderline exceptional – she mostly used her magic to batter the obstacle course into submission. Just how she treated her friends, I thought wryly. She got through to the end easily.

“Yay, Lisabelle,” I yelled as loudly as I could. I thought I saw a faint smile cross her face as she walked to the back of the line, where everyone in our dorm who had already competed was sitting down.

“They should have put her further back in line,” I said to Lough. I had to shout because the noise had picked up again.

“Yeah, they were probably afraid to,” he answered, grinning. “They wouldn’t want to offend her either.” His nose was turning red from the rain and cold and his mop of brown hair hung limply over his head, but he didn’t seem to care. His eyes were fixed on the race, watching each competitor dart into the obstacle course.

“They’re too far ahead,” said Lough. “It’s a race for second now.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“The vampires only have three people left to go,” he explained. “The fallen angels and the pixies both have five.”

And then I saw it. The next pixie to go was Cale. His red hair was damp from the rain and he pushed it off his forehead as he ran forward. Being towards the back of the line was a great honor for him. It meant that he was one of the best. Somehow I wasn’t surprised.

I watched as he moved easily through the obstacles, dodging here and jumping there. My breath caught when he got to the part where you had to navigate through swinging black swords sparkling like they were on fire, but even that he did with ease.

“The pixies are gaining!” cried Lough after Cale blasted through the finish line. I could see Camilla up front in total hysterics.

I looked at the fallen angels. They were close to beating the pixies, but they’d need a miracle. I wondered if Keller was that good.

The vampires were already done, but since no one liked the vampires the students from the other three dorms were still creating a deafening noise.

Keller entered the course. My breath knotted painfully in my throat; I was too transfixed even to cheer. He moved fast. A lot of the other guys had been quick and strong, but at some points along the way they had stumbled and missed a step. Not Keller. He was impossibly smooth, unbelievably quick, and breathtakingly agile. In short, he’d turned the tide. If I were being honest, Cale had nothing on him. Now, everyone in the arena was cheering for him. He was gaining on the last pixie, the senior Kevin, but Kevin was almost to the end. If he got there before Keller, the pixies would beat the fallen angels; they’d be in second place for Dash.

The last part of the course was an obstacle course. Inside it were countless false leads and traps. Keller moved into it when Kevin was almost out, but just before Kevin had found his way out, a gush of smoke popped up in front of him. Disoriented, he took a wrong turn.

Keller got to the part where there was smoke, but he blew right through it. Without hesitation he was out of the course. Keller crossed the finish line first.

Instantly a chant of “Keller, Keller” broke out. The vampires looked pissed, the pixies even worse. All of the Airlee students were cheering for Aurum. Even though our team hadn’t finished – we still had three people to go through the course – we were glad to see the fallen angels defeat the pixies.

Other Aurum Dorm kids surrounded Keller. He was hoisted into the air and a fresh wave of cheering broke out. In the midst of it all one of the vampires called out, “They didn’t even win!” Everyone ignored him.

I looked to where the professors sat in a covered box. Professor Zervos looked furious, which was becoming a familiar look for him. The President, whose expression never changed, might have looked pleased.

Even as I sat there watching Aurum Dorm celebrate, a bad feeling washed over me. At first I just ignored it. When a chill ran down my spine, making me shiver, I looked around, but no one else seemed to notice the sudden coldness. I wondered, if the lights had been on, whether they would have flickered. I wondered if I could feel the bleacher floor if it were to tremble.

“Hey, I’m cold,” I said. “I think I’ll go congratulate Lisabelle and Sip.”

“Alright,” said Lough. “I’ll catch up with you.”

I nodded and started to move through the crowd. I saw Camilla and her friends Tania and Kia making their way to where Cale was standing. He had a towel wrapped around his shoulders and a scowl wrapped around his face. I wasn’t sure why I was so pleased that the pixies had lost to the fallen angels. I thought it was just because of Camilla being evil and had nothing to do with Keller, but of course the best lies are the ones you tell yourself.

Sip and Lisabelle were standing together, still at the end of the obstacle course.

“What did you think?” asked Sip excitedly, coming up to me.

“You were great,” I said. “And that leaping? The crowd loved it!”

“Thanks,” said Sip, a faint blush spreading across her cheeks.

“We all looked ridiculous,” said Lisabelle.

“What do you mean?” asked Sip. “You did it too.”

“Yeah, my sisters told me I had to try it. Now I have and I’m glad it’s over.”

“You mean you aren’t going to do it next month?” asked Sip.

“Monkeys will be ice skating in hell before I do that again,” said Lisabelle, stalking off.

“She’s happy,” I said.

Sip grinned at me.

“Let’s get dinner,” I said.

“I need to shower first. I’ll meet you there,” she said. We started walking back towards our dorm together. Dash had gone on so long that the light had started to fade.

We were just reaching the door of Airlee when something in the distance caught my eye. I turned my head quickly to look. Far away, past the field and the lake Lisabelle and Sip had taken me to look at, was the tree line. Silhouetted against the woods was a large dark figure. It was a big black dog, its red eyes burning into me.

I started to cry out, to tell Sip to look, but the next time I blinked the dog had vanished.

Chapter Thirteen

After that first Saturday of cleaning at Astra and watching Dash, my days took on a pattern. Weekdays were spent going to class and studying. Weekends were spent cleaning and watching Dash. The one big rule on campus was no alcohol. Paranormals who drank tended to do strange and dangerous things, and the professors forbade it even to students who were twenty-one. Between my studying and my tutoring, I didn’t have much time for fun anyway.

After I’d been at Public a week I got an e-mail from Ricky. It simply said: Dear Charlotte, thanks so much for writing. I really appreciate being kept up with everything you’re doing. It all sounds fascinating. Ricky.

After that, every Saturday or Sunday I would sit down to write him an e-mail. Hearing from him was always one of the highlights of my week.

The other issue I had was that Camilla and her pixie friends were everywhere I turned. Sometimes I would feel eyes on me, and when I’d look up Camilla would be glaring at me. Whenever her friends had the chance, they blocked my path. If I walked by, they’d stick their feet out to try and trip me. One time I was walking past Professor Zervos in the library and Kia, Camilla’s right hand crony, stuck her foot out and I went flying. I was sure Professor Zervos saw, but he just turned away.

And I could forget about hanging out with Cale. If I so much as looked in his direction every pixie around would surround him, blocking him from my view. There was no way I’d get to talk to him. When I had first seen him I had been excited that I would already know someone at Public, but as it turned out it would have been better if I hadn’t known him at all. The pixies might have disliked me even if I hadn’t known Cale for years and hung out with him the first week I was there, but they might not have hated me the way they did. Still, it was too late now.

One time Camilla spilled her juice in the dining hall and ordered me to clean it up. She said I had to because I was the Probationer. Even Cale, who was sitting with her, looked a little uncomfortable that time.

“What she’s doing isn’t right,” said Sip one night in the library.

“No, it isn’t,” Lisabelle agreed. “You should deal with her, Charlotte.”

“I still haven’t done any magic,” I pointed out. There had now been three weeks of school. All the other Starters were in the classes particular to their paranormal power. I went to the class for mages, but only because the professors didn’t know what else to do with me. I didn’t miss home, but I missed Ricky. E-mail just wasn’t the same. I had known normal college would be very different from high school, less class time, more freedom, but magic college was something else entirely.

To make matters worse, there was Keller. Every day I had a tutoring session with him. Instead of becoming a friend, like I had hoped he would, he was all about studying. He never said anything extra; he just pelted with me questions about the history of paranormals. Besides, every time I saw him on campus he was surrounded by girls. Ever since he’d done so well at Dash, everyone wanted to talk to him and hang out with him. A girl actually came up and told me I was lucky to spend time with him every day.

And I couldn’t even avoid him on the weekends. I saw him every Saturday for cleaning, because Lisabelle, Sip, and I were still fulfilling our punishment.

“Hey,” said Lisabelle to Keller as we walked up to Astra on the first Saturday in October. Even though it was sunny out, the day was chilly.

“How’s it going?” asked Keller, smiling. He was leaning against the wall of Astra Dorm, but when he saw us coming he pushed off with his shoulders and walked toward us.

“Great,” said Sip. “I passed my werewolf test yesterday. They said I was the best werewolf this year.”

“Hey, I’m the best darkness mage,” Lisabelle added.

“Aren’t you the only darkness mage?” asked Keller.

“Don’t cloud my glory with facts,” she said. To me she murmured, “He’s not dumb. The cute ones usually are.”

“Lisabelle,” Sip chided, “that’s not nice.”

“If anyone ever spreads the rumor that I’m nice, I’ll hit them,” said Lisabelle.

“That’s a great way to handle conflict,” Sip told her.

I was quiet. I was happy my friends had done well on their tests, but I couldn’t help but be upset about my own. Since I couldn’t do magic, I had failed. The result had been a chiding from the professor and a repetition of, “I just have to tell the President about this,” in front of the entire class.

“Sorry, Charlotte,” said Lisabelle, looking over at me.

“It’s fine,” I said. “You shouldn’t feel bad about doing well.”

“Oh, I don’t,” she said, grinning.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Keller. “When the time comes you’ll blow them all away.” The time had already come and gone and I hadn’t, but I didn’t say anything.

We headed into the house. There was no Dash this weekend, so we were going to spend most of the day cleaning. Keller was still assigning where people cleaned. Normally he worked with all of us, but today he sent Sip and Lisabelle to the ballroom. I breathed a sigh of relief. Part of me wanted to go back there, but another part was afraid to. I wasn’t sure if I was more afraid of the artifacts lighting up again when I touched them or of their remaining dark.

“You and I are going to the attic,” he said to me.

“What?” I asked. “Why?”

“Because it needs to be cleaned and I said so.”

“Now you’ve done it,” Lisabelle whispered to me.

“Done what?” I asked.

“Offended him,” she answered. “You should be nicer.”

“Are you seriously trying to give me lessons in good manners?” I asked.

Lisabelle beamed at me. “Just shows you how bad you’ve gotten.” And she walked off. I hated how she always knew the exact right thing to say.

I followed Keller up the stairs. I think it was only five floors, but it felt like hundreds, and after the first couple of flights I stopped counting. I was careful to watch my feet and not his back. The attic was dark and dusty and completely filled with boxes. Somewhere under the boxes I thought I saw beds, but it was hard to tell.

“What is this place?” I asked.

“Dorm for the Starters. We need to sweep the floor,” he said.

“It would help if we could see it,” I said.

In reply he handed me a broom. “Sweep what you can see.”

“Can’t we look in the boxes?”

“Definitely not,” he said. He started to move boxes around while I started to sweep. Instantly a large dust cloud came wafting up into my face and I coughed. My jeans and long-sleeved t-shirt were going to be covered in dirt by the time we were done. I had started doing laundry on Sundays, because I always had to wash my clothes from cleaning Astra on Saturday.

“Something wrong?” Keller asked.

“Nope,” I said. I would not complain to him.

“Right. I guess that scowl painted on your face is a happy one,” he said.

I glared at his back.

“You could help me more,” I said. We both knew I wasn’t talking about the sweeping. My anger had been building for the past month, and having Sip done with her Starter test was the last straw.

“How could I do more than I am?” asked Keller quietly, still moving stuff around.

“You’re amazing. You should be showing me magic.” It was out of my mouth before I could stop it.

“You think I’m amazing?” Keller asked. His voice was still neutral.

My face burned. “You know what I mean.”

“No,” said Keller. He had stopped what he was doing and crossed his arms over his chest while he looked at me. “Why don’t you explain it to me? Slowly and in detail, then I might get it.”

“Forget it,” I muttered, and turned back to my broom.

We continued to clean for the rest of the morning. I couldn’t understand why I had come out and said he was amazing. And I couldn’t understand why my eyes always flicked in his direction.

After a while I asked, “Is everyone in your family a fallen angel?” I didn’t expect him to answer. It surprised me when he did.

“Yeah,” said Keller. “When both your parents are, there’s no chance that your kids won’t be.”

“Oh,” I said. “Do you have lots of siblings?”

“Three,” he answered. “I’m the oldest.”

“What’s that like?”

“It’s great, but tough,” he said. “You’re always the first one to do things, or try to do them, and your parents have to decide how they feel about that. I’m supposed to set a good example, and I’m not always sure if I am.”

“So, are your parents hard on you?”

Keller’s interest in answering questions only went so far. “What is this,” he asked, “twenty questions?”

“Sorry.”

“You like having all the information and not giving any out.”

“That’s not true,” I protested. But even as I said it, I realized that Keller was right. I asked questions so that I could avoid getting asked questions. Normally it worked, too. Nothing I usually did worked with Keller, though. “You know more about me than most people.”

Keller didn’t respond to that.

“Can you help me lift this box?” he asked. It was long, and it looked like it might fall apart at any minute.

I dropped the broom and went to grab the other end of the box. What neither of us anticipated was that the bottom had rotted out. As we lifted it the box collapsed, sending us both sprawling on the floor in a shower of papers and journals.

I was about to fall very hard on my shoulder when something strong caught hold of me. Keller was so fast he had managed to catch himself, and me, before either of us hit the floor.

“Are you alright?” he asked. I could see that he was a little breathless, and a slight flush was creeping up his cheeks.

“I’m great,” I said. Realizing that my face was only inches away from his, I pulled away a little. My heart was beating so loudly I was sure he could hear it. He instantly let go of me.

Once he had helped me to my feet I straightened my clothes, then looked at the mess we had just made.

“We were supposed to be cleaning,” Keller muttered. “Not making it dirtier.”

I knelt down to help him pick up the papers. I needed to distract myself from thinking about how I had gone breathless when he touched me.

“What is this stuff?” I asked. Some of the papers were ruined from years of sitting in the attic, but others were perfectly clear.

Keller picked one up and examined it. “I think it’s for Starter elementals,” he said. “All their materials were stuck up here after they stopped being used.”

“Seriously?” I said. I didn’t know why, but I felt a rush of excitement at the idea that all the information for beginner elementals was in my hand.

“Why are you so excited?” asked Keller, frowning.

“I don’t know,” I said. I had no idea why this piece of paper felt like gold in my hands.

“Why were the elementals important?” Keller asked me in his best tutor’s voice.

“For fighting demons, to start,” I said. “We aren’t as strong without all five arms of the wheel. We still have fallen angels, pixies, vampires, and Airlee, but Airlee is getting weaker. Look at Lough. There used to be ten or twenty dream givers at school, and now there’s just Lough and Bailey.

“Without the elementals, our defenses are even weaker,” I continued. “What happens when we lose more?”

Realizing I had just made a speech, I took a deep breath. Without a word Keller nodded. When I heard Lisabelle call my name from downstairs, I must have jumped three feet in the air.

Keller raised his eyebrows at me. “No one’s caught you doing anything bad,” he pointed out. “Yet.”

I rolled my eyes at him.

“What, Lisabelle?” I yelled down.

Suddenly, Keller grabbed my arm. It didn’t hurt, but it came close. “You will show them,” he said. The intensity in his eyes made me keep looking at him. “I know you will.”

I stared at him.

Lisabelle’s voice broke my concentration.

“There’s a runner here that says the President wants to see you,” she yelled.

Keller’s words had given me a high, but suddenly I felt like I was tumbling off a cliff. My heart plummeted. What I had been dreading had come true. The President had called me to her office. She could only want one thing.

I raced away, leaving Keller alone in the Astra attic.

Chapter Fourteen

I thought I was finished for sure, but to my surprise, I left the President’s office with only a small tongue-lashing.

When I just stared back at her in shock after she told me I needed to try harder to perform magic, she ordered me to close my mouth. “I said I’d give you until the end of the semester, and I’m sticking to that,” she said. “Close your mouth. Use Keller. He will help you.”

After that I couldn’t leave her office fast enough; I didn’t want to give her an opportunity to change her mind. Besides, I had a lot to do. I had lost the whole day to cleaning and coming to the President’s office. I had even missed dinner, so now I was tired and hungry.

At least the walk back through campus was quiet. There were few students out, and I had only the rustle of the wind for company. I glanced down at my Airlee ring; I so badly wanted to see it light up with magic, but as usual there was nothing.

I never saw the punch coming.

Camilla appeared out of nowhere. Her face was a mask of fury. “HOW DARE YOU?” she screamed at me. “You stupid bitch!”

I was literally knocked backward. There was a blossoming pain radiating out from my cheek.

I was too disoriented to understand why Camilla was yelling at me. I tried to get away from her and her shrieking, but her four cronies were surrounding me. I had nowhere to go, and I was alone and at the mercy of the pixies.

I put my hand to my face, hoping that the throbbing would stop. I could feel my cheek starting to smart.

I knew Camilla wanted me to be afraid of her. Maybe I should have been, but I decided not to show it. “What’s up, Camilla? Mad you don’t know how to smack someone properly?” I asked. Someday I really should learn to keep my mouth shut. But not now, and not with Camilla.

“Arrgghh,” she screamed as she launched herself at me. I put my hand up to protect myself, but one of her friends grabbed her.

“You can’t hurt her,” Kia cried. “You’ll get in trouble.”

I wondered what Kia called punching me in the face if not hurting me.

“She STOLE him!” Camilla sobbed. “That’s what she’d been trying to do all along, and she did it.”

I hoped that Kia kept holding on, because Camilla looked like she was ready to kill me.

“What are you talking about?” I asked. The pain in my face had subsided into a dull throb, and I lowered my hand more as a way to defend myself against another attack than because my face had stopped hurting.

“You know what I’m talking about! I’m talking about Cale!” Camilla yelled.

“What about Cale?” I asked. “I don’t know anything. Shockingly enough, I have better things to do than constantly worry about your love life, but it doesn’t sound like it’s going well.” I couldn’t help it. She’d just smacked me.

“How dare you?” she snarled, coming eye to eye with me.

“How dare you?” I retorted. “You’re lucky I’m on probation, because otherwise you’d be sorry.”

“Ha ha, Probationer, what’s a mage with no magic going to do?” Camilla asked, laughing in my face. “The President is only keeping you around because she feels sorry for you. Because of your mother.”

“I’m always going to defend myself from a bully like you,” I told her. “And if you ever mention my mother again I’ll kill you where you stand.” That was probably an idle threat, since Camilla could do real magic while all I could do was make sparks that smoked a little, but it sounded good and Camilla seemed cowed.

She had stopped screaming, but her eyes still looked crazy. She came nose to nose with me and said, “You need to learn your place and stay there, Probationer. You are a defect. You are a mage that can’t even do simple spells. You are nothing. In short, you are below wherever I am and you always will be.”

I lost it. It was too much. I had almost just had a good day – yes, I guess I call not getting expelled a good day. Then Camilla had come along and ruined it.

I threw myself at her. She was so surprised she gave a little squeal. I had forgotten how fast pixies were, though. I was cursed to go to a school where the meaning of “paranormal” doubled for “shocking speed and strength,” and they all seemed to have that but me. Well, me and maybe Lough.

I didn’t know what I was going to accomplish, because I wasn’t a big fighter, but I didn’t even get the chance to decide, because Camilla’s cronies grabbed me by the arms and held me back.

“Why did Cale break up with me?” Camilla asked me when I stopped struggling.

Shock must have shown on my face, because she said, “Oh please. I know you knew.”

“I didn’t,” I told her. I bit my tongue to keep from saying that I thought he had made the right decision.

“I don’t believe you,” she said. “He said he wanted to see other people, and I see how he looks at you. He looks at you like he’s a helpless puppy.”

I was pretty sure he hadn’t looked at me like that, but Camilla was clearly not in a mood to be contradicted.

“Let her go,” said Camilla. “Obviously she’s just going to be the kind of girl that steals other people’s boyfriends.”

Her friends let me go, but she had crossed a line with that comment. I couldn’t help myself. I said, “No guy gets stolen that doesn’t want to be.”

The next thing I felt was a thwack when the spell Camilla flung at me impacted my chest.

Then there was nothing but darkness.

For the second time in a month I woke up in the Infirmary. Only this time Sip wasn’t sitting on my bed to greet me. Instead it was Professor Zervos.

I wished I could just melt back into the pillows, but it was too late.

He had noticed that I was awake, his black eyes meeting my gray ones.

“Thank you for gracing me with your presence,” he said. His voice was silky and rich.

“Any time,” I said. I could barely see straight my head hurt so much.

“What happened?” he asked.

“Honestly, it’s all a bit hazy,” I told him, which was true.

“Who did this to you?”

“Who did what to me?” I asked.

“Don’t be impertinent, Probationer,” he said. “I know it’s your natural state, but please try to fight against it.”

“Sorry,” I said.

“Now, a spell was performed on you, and since you have no magic of your own you were unable to defend yourself. So what happened?”

He didn’t know who had attacked me. Was I going to tell him?

“I don’t know,” I told him, trying to look innocent. That wasn’t my natural state either.

“Are you trying to tell me that a member of this campus attacked you unprovoked, and you not only didn’t see who it was, but you do not even have a guess?”

“Yes?” I said.

“Charlotte Rollins, you are a terrible liar,” he informed me.

I keep hearing that.

I bit my lower lip. “You know if I tell you it will just happen again,” I said quietly. “You aren’t going to expel them, and they will be mad because they got caught.”

“It’s not their fault you don’t have magic,” said Professor Zeros. “If you did you would have been able to defend yourself.”

“So that I would be the one who got in trouble even though they started it?” I asked, sitting up with a wince. My head felt like it weighed two tons on my shoulders.

Professor Zervos smiled without parting his lips. “I would try to point out the obvious facts to the President: you are trouble and you should leave. And she would likely ignore me.”

“Why are you here, anyway?” I asked. I knew I was speaking disrespectfully to a professor, but he had been nothing but disrespectful to me since the day I arrived.

“I am here because I am the one who found your crumpled and beat up form on the grass outside,” he said, his black eyes still focused on my face.

“Oh.”

“Don’t look so surprised,” he said drily. “I wasn’t going to leave you outside alone and injured. I want you expelled, not dead.”

I was embarrassed that he had known what I was thinking.

“Thanks for the clarification,” I murmured.

Professor Zervos stood up. “Sip is waiting outside. So is Lisabelle Verlans, although why that girl is here is beyond me. She is not your roommate. And she rivals you for trouble-causing.”

He moved to leave, but as he opened the door he paused.

“A word of advice, Charlotte Rollins,” he said quietly. “A bully only wins if you play her game. Play yours.” And with that he was gone.

For a long time I stared at the closed door, not understanding. That had sounded oddly like helpful information, but Professor Zervos hated me. He hated everyone who wasn’t a fallen angel, a vampire, or a pixie, which meant all the Airlee students. He seemed to hate me in particular because I was at a school for paranormals without showing any paranormal abilities. I was actually starting to understand his point on that one.

I lay down and closed my eyes. I don’t know how long I lay there resting before I heard the door open.

“Sip, don’t get pissed. I didn’t even do anything,” I said.

“I’m sure you didn’t,” said a familiar male voice with an ever-present undertone of sarcasm.

I gasped and sat up. “Keller,” I said. “Ouch.” My head protested my sudden movement and I was forced to lie back down.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, coming to sit on the edge of my bed.

“I’m super,” I told him.

“What happened?” he asked. He reached out and touched the bruise on my cheek with his fingertips. “That’s a big bruise.” There wasn’t a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

His touch felt warm and safe all at once. Despite the blankets covering my legs I shivered.

Breathe, breathe, I told myself.

“It hurts,” I told him. It was all I could think to say because my head throbbed so badly that all I wanted to do was crawl under the covers and fall asleep. But I didn’t want Keller to leave. And I didn’t want him to see me like everyone else did as the weak Probationer.

With a pang I realized how I must look. I had bruises on my face and arms. I was sure there was dirt in my hair. I probably smelled bad. And Keller was inches away from me.

I forgot about my hair when I realized that Keller’s hand was still on my cheek.

At that moment, he realized it too and let it drop.

“Who did it?” he asked quietly.

“No one,” I told him.

“It’s pixie magic,” he said thoughtfully. “I know only one pixie who would attack you.”

“So why did you bother asking if you already knew?” I said.

“I wanted to see if you would tell me the truth,” he said. “You wouldn’t.”

“It’s nothing,” I repeated.

“You have to learn how to defend yourself,” he said. He moved back on the bed a bit, giving me some much needed space. Having him so close made it hard for me to concentrate.

“Good idea,” I told him.

The door burst open.

“What did you think you were doing walking around at night alone?” Lisabelle demanded as she stormed in.

“Nice to see you, too,” I told her. “I’m fine, by the way. My head only hurts a little. But oddly enough, it’s getting more painful by the second.”

“I am not giving you a headache and I know you’re fine,” said Lisabelle. “That’s why I’m here and not kicking the shit out of Camilla for what she did to you.”

“I’ll handle it,” I said. “I don’t need people to protect me.”

“Actually, it seems like you do,” said Sip, stepping around Lisabelle into the room. Her purple eyes were bright with concern.

Lisabelle, apparently having had enough of yelling at me, turned her wrath on Keller, “And you,” she said. “Are you always around?”

“Lisabelle, you’re such a sweetheart,” he told her.

For the first time all day I laughed and laughed.

Chapter Fifteen

My good mood evaporated quickly with the realization that I was running out of time. The President was being unnecessarily kind, and at any moment she could change her mind and send me home. I was there by her good graces, but as long as I wasn’t performing magic, as long as my ring sat there as a dead weight on my finger, and as long as I wasn’t earning my keep as a member of Airlee, I was in serious danger of losing everything I wanted. I wondered if any of these credits were transferable to normal colleges.

I had surprised myself by liking Public. I had wanted to be there to honor my mother, to make her proud, but it had never occurred to me that I would come to love the place. Yes, my friends were a little odd: a mage of darkness feared by most of the campus, and a chirpy werewolf, not to mention Lough. But they had become my family. It was nothing like the college experience I had expected, but maybe that wasn’t so bad.

It reminded me of something Ricky in his infinite wisdom had said to me: Sometimes life doesn’t go as planned. And sometimes that’s okay.

I knew Ricky was talking about my mother, but really he could have been talking about anything.

As we got deeper into classes, the topics got more serious. Professor Zervos was determined to teach us as much as he could about demons, and I wondered if it had something to do with the conversation Sip, Lisabelle, and I had overheard that first week, about the demons getting stronger and attacking Public. I wondered just how close they were.

“All students must understand that there are several different types of darkness magic, but that the worst is from demons,” Zervos barked out at the start of one class. “What are the demon classifications?” he continued, gazing around the room.

As usual, Camilla’s hand shot up. I hadn’t even looked at her since the night she had cornered me. I knew that if I did my hatred would be clear on my face.

“Demons of Speed, Demons of Burning, Demons of Knight, and Demons of Pain,” she said smugly.

“And do the hellhounds follow any demon or just one type in particular?” asked Professor Zervos.

“They follow all of them,” Camilla explained. “The Demons of Speed are the weakest, while the Demons of Knight are the strongest. There are also the fewest of them, but since they are so powerful they are still able to maintain control over the other classes and over the hellhounds.”

“Very good,” said Professor Zervos, his black eyes scanning the room. “I hope all of you will take note of Camilla’s excellent explanation.”

“Has a demon ever been seen on campus?” asked Kevin, the senior pixie.

“Have they?” Zervos barked out, black eyes snapping as he waited for someone to dare to answer.

Finally Keller did. He didn’t look scared of Professor Zervos; I had never seen him look scared of anyone. “Only a couple of times,” he said. “It was at the height of the Demon Wars. They killed everyone they saw.”

Professor Zervos didn’t take the conversation any further, but it left us all with something to think about.

Since September had slipped into October it had grown colder. It was harder and harder to spend warm moments outside. Even so, on the next Saturday, the first time I didn’t have Airlee cleaning duties, I still trudged out to watch my friends compete in Dash.

Everyone was rooting against the vampires and their best player Tale, or, as the rest of campus liked to call them, the Sore Winners. They had gotten that nickname after years of going undefeated and still managing to be offended when students rooted for the underdog, which was every dorm that wasn’t Cruor.

I stepped outside Airlee wearing a light jacket, jeans, and a colorful scarf. Sip had left early so she could get to the field and warm up. Lough and I had agreed to meet in the place where we’d sat last time. I was excited.

“Hey,” said Lough as I joined him.

“Hi yourself,” I answered, stepping over benches until I could sit next to him. He moved over to make room and handed me one of the two steaming mugs of liquid he was holding.

“Here,” he said, “it will warm you up. You already look cold.”

I grinned at him. “Thanks.” I took the offered liquid and sipped carefully.

“Umm yum,” I said as the hot chocolate went cascading down the back of my throat.

“Anything happened yet?” I asked, looking at the field. All four dorms were running around doing what I could only assume were the paranormal idea of warm-ups.

Lough shook his head. “Camilla got kicked out. That’s about it.”

“She what?” I said, almost choking on my drink.

Lough smirked. “Yup. She tried to beat up Katie Bells because she was talking to Cale.”

“Idiot,” I muttered.

“Yup,” said Lough. “Camilla shouldn’t have worried. No one dates outside of the dorm. Why would Cale bother when he could have any pixie he wanted?

“There’s really no cross-dating?” I asked. “Is it against the law or something?”

Lough snorted. “No, worse. It’s viewed as morally reprehensible. Ever since the Demon Wars there’s been no association between different paranormal types. They’re all afraid and they’re all blaming each other. I don’t know what would happen to one of us if we tried it,” he said, pointing abstractly to Airlee, “but it would be nasty.”

I thought about that. It meant that Cale could only date pixies and Keller could only date fallen angels. I don’t know why, but that thought made me a little sad.

“What about you?” I asked. “You ever going to ask Lisabelle out? She’s in Airlee, so you could.”

Lough spit a mouthful of hot chocolate all over the grass in front of us.

“What?” he asked, wiping his mouth. “Where’d you ever get a crazy idea like that?”

“Crazy, is it?” I asked.

He just stared at me.

“Okay,” I said. “Sip said she thought you liked Lisabelle.”

“Shit,” said Lough. “How’d she know?”

“She always knows stuff like that,” I said. “I don’t know how.”

The President stepped up to the side of the field and raised her hands. Black fire sprang into the air, reaching higher and higher.

“LET THE GAMES BEGIN,” she yelled.

Now that I had spent a month learning about magic, I knew how hard it was to control two large flames at once.

“The President is powerful,” I said to Lough.

He snorted. “She’s one of the most powerful mages of her generation.”

BOOM.

I probably shouldn’t have brought up Lisabelle. She’d made it pretty clear that she thought that in the grand scheme of things men were a minor inconvenience, one that she only tolerated out of the goodness of her heart. When Sip pointed out that she wasn’t sure if Lisabelle had a heart, Lisabelle just laughed.

Lisabelle viewed men more as disposable objects than as romantic interests, but Lough got all red-faced and stuttered whenever she walked into the room. I was pretty sure she hadn’t even noticed. At least she hadn’t noticed that he got sputtery because of her. It was sad. She had no way to know that he was actually quite articulate when she wasn’t around.

We watched Dash for the whole morning. The vampires won again, but so did Keller. He was becoming the hero of the school. His time was the fastest of anyone, including the vampires’ best, Tale. I cheered with the rest of them, but now so many girls were cheering for Keller that there was hardly any point to my adding my voice to the crowd. I learned that the individual wins were more important than the team wins, kind of like in tennis, so everyone was happy that Keller’s time beat Tale’s. It was the one place where different paranormals united, mostly in their hatred of the vampires.

I left the Dash field quickly so that I could get us good seats for dinner. Lough went to congratulate Lisabelle and Sip.

By the time they joined me in the dining hall I had already picked a table toward the front of the room and started in on my dinner of vegetable soup, fruit salad, and pizza.

“Nice job,” I said through a mouthful of fruit salad.

“Thank you for congratulating us on not completely sucking,” said Lisabelle drily as she started to eat.

“You didn’t suck,” I protested.

“The vampires still won,” said Sip, falling into her seat dejectedly and propping her head on her fist.

“They always win,” said Lough, sitting down with his own tray piled high with food. “The point is that you went out there and tried.”

Lisabelle rolled her eyes. “When a demon is trying to kill you that won’t be good enough,” she said. “You aren’t going to be satisfied with, ‘Well, at least I tried to stay alive. Good for me!’”

“Why would a demon try to kill me?” asked Lough.

Lisabelle leaned closer. “They want us all dead,” she hissed, her eyes like bright balls of fire. “Don’t you get that?”

“Get what?” asked Keller, walking past our table. He had three fallen angel girls with him.

“Nothing,” said Lisabelle. “We missed you today.”

“You guys have to get in trouble for something else so you can come back and help,” he said, smiling.

“Charlotte, can you help me next Saturday anyway? There’s a lot more to be done in the attic,” he said. “We can practice while we’re there.”

I blushed. I hated it when he mentioned that he was tutoring me in front of people. Maybe he just liked to point out that he was doing a good deed helping the Probationer. Even worse, I wasn’t even learning anything, because the magic still wasn’t coming. “I guess,” I said.

“What else do you have to do on a Saturday morning?” asked Lisabelle. I tried to kick her under the table but she avoided me deftly.

Once Keller was gone Sip said, “He’s so nice. For a fallen angel.” That started an argument about the benefits of being a werewolf versus a fallen angel. I half listened to my friends, but I didn’t join in. Seeing Keller had reminded me of all the elemental papers he had found, and I sat there wondering why he had been so secretive about them and why he wanted to look at them so badly.

Since my friends were deep in conversation, I left the dining hall alone. It was still early and I thought I’d have plenty of time to get some studying done.

“You heading out?” asked Keller, appearing at my elbow.

“Yeah,” I said, already turning red.

“Mind if I walk you?” he asked, although he already was.

“Don’t you have a lot of girls to escort home?” I muttered as we headed out into the cold air. “I’m fine by myself.”

Keller shrugged. “I know you are.”

I had nothing to say to that.

“Have you been looking at those papers?” I asked while he zipped up his jacket.

“Yeah,” he said. “They’re really interesting.”

“What do they say?” I asked. I wondered if they said anything about the artifacts in the Astra ballroom.

“Do the elementals interest you?” he asked.

I glared at the ground. “No. In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m not an elemental. I’m not even a mage at this point. I guess I just like history.”

He raised his eyebrows.

“You’re a fallen angel,” I pointed out. “What do you care about the elementals?”

He shrugged. “I guess I just like history too.”

Snap. One second the two of us were standing on the stone sidewalk surrounded by nothing but the cold October air, and the next second a red blaze appeared in front of us. I gasped and staggered backward. Somehow the red blaze seemed to have eyes, and it most definitely spit fire. The air around us now shimmered with an unbearable heat as the sparks coming off the demon scorched my skin.

A Demon of Burning had just materialized on campus.

I gave a cry of pain. My whole body felt like it was being engulfed in flames. Somewhere in the distance I heard a low, dark laugh, but there was nothing I could do. I wanted to fight back. I wanted to try to use magic, but my arms were pinned against my sides, immobile in the face of the fire. If I stood there much longer I would disintegrate. In some vague part of my brain I wondered what a demon was doing here on campus, since demons weren’t even supposed to be able to enter the grounds, let alone wander around terrorizing students.

But I wasn’t alone. Next to me, Keller had transformed. His quick thinking, honed on the fields of Dash, probably saved both our lives. I had only seen a couple of Starter fallen angels when their wings were spread. They were delicate, like thin pieces of see-through fabric, with a glitter dusting over them. When I asked Sip why they didn’t look like real wings she said that it was because the fallen angels here weren’t trained yet.

Keller’s wings were nothing like that. I’d seen him use them on the Dash field a couple of times, but that had been at a distance. Up close they were dark, almost black. They looked strong, powerful, and deadly. There was no glitter anywhere.

In response to Keller’s transformation the demon let out a scream. I fell to my knees, my hands over my ears. My eyes locked on the red ball of fire in front of me.

Keller didn’t look bothered in the least by the demon’s noise. Instead he charged. The demon, taken by surprise, swerved out of the way, then came back at me. Keller leapt in front of it, barely blocking its path. Uncovering one of my ears, I reached down and grabbed a fistful of dirt. Without thinking I flung it at the demon.

My dirt distracted the demon long enough for Keller to be able to raise his hand, silver power gathering in his palm. He was going to challenge the demon.

The next moment, furry bodies surrounded me. My shock was so great that at first I didn’t even register that a group of werewolves had heard the fight and leapt to our defense. They came running across the dark lawn, tumbling out of dorm rooms and scattering from the dining hall. Now they stood, an animal mass between the demon and me. I wondered at the camaraderie of my classmates.

Coming close behind them was the scariest sight I ever hoped to see: A mass of vampires floating over the dewy grass, gathering black power around them.

Before I could get to my feet we were surrounded by professors, led by Professor Zervos. I found it odd that he was there so quickly, but I guess I shouldn’t have. As it was explained to me later, all the professors on campus instantly sensed a demon presence and immediately reacted to it. They were embarrassed that mere students had gotten there first and were also angry that now the entire campus would know that Public’s defenses were pathetic against the only threat that could hurt paranormals.

I heard one professor murmur, “On the grounds! Actually on the grounds! This is a disaster.” But I was whisked away before I could hear anything else.

What happened after that was a blur. I was taken to the Infirmary, which was made difficult because the werewolves, vampires, and Keller refused to leave my side.

Finally, the professors just gave up and let some of them come. I spent the whole way there trying to convince them that I was fine. A little shaken up, more frustrated than ever that I had no powers, but still fine. I definitely didn’t need to be carried. No one listened.

Once we were in the Infirmary, Keller left with a couple of professors. Since no one was injured I assumed they wanted a recounting of what had happened, and of course they would get it from the star of Dash and not the degenerate defect Probationer, me.

Soon, one of the nurses came to tell me I was fine. I asked if anyone wanted to talk to me and she gave me a stern look and said no. She added that I was spending too much time in the Infirmary and that she didn’t want to see me back there for at least a week. I agreed with her.

But before I could get out of there and finally go back to my dorm room, Keller appeared. He had returned to being human, and his wings were nowhere in sight. He smiled at me, but his face was white.

“How are you doing?” he asked as we left the Infirmary together. I didn’t even protest the escort. I was relieved that he was okay.

“Fine,” I answered. My legs still felt a little wobbly, but I was angrier at my reaction to the demon than I was afraid. “How are you?”

“Good,” he said.

“Right,” I said. I chewed my lower lip. “Thanks.”

“For what?” he asked.

“For saving my life,” I said. I could see Airlee in the distance. Keller must have special permission to be out after hours, because he shouldn’t have been walking me that far.

“You could have handled yourself,” he said.

“How?” I demanded. I was at the point where I didn’t feel like I could do anything right. And my legs still felt like rubber.

He came to a dead stop and looked me in the eye. I forced myself to keep eye contact with him. It was dark and our faces were very close together. My body had started to tingle with the nearness.

“What did the professors say?” I asked, hoping to distract him.

He reached out, as if he was going to brush a strand of hair off my cheek, but stopped midway. He slid his hand over the back of his neck like that’s what he had meant to do all along.

“We need to spend more time together,” he said. I felt my heart lift. “The President wants you to be better trained.” My heart plummeted.

“Alright, fine,” I said.

“The professors didn’t like that you were defenseless tonight. That’s what they thought, anyway.”

A cold fear tingled through me. If the professors thought that I couldn’t handle myself, the President might get rid of me even before the end of the semester.

“What was that demon doing on campus?” I asked.

Keller shook his head. He didn’t know, but I could see from the hard set of his jaw and his pursed lips that he didn’t like it.

“Get some rest,” he said. “You don’t want to be tired for the October formal this weekend.”

And with that he left me. I stood there for a long time staring after him. It was such a complete turn in topics. Public’s October formal was that weekend and I had totally forgotten. As if I didn’t have enough problems. Now I had to find an outfit and not get killed by demons. College was definitely not what I had expected.

Chapter Sixteen

Sip was asleep when I got to my room. I was relieved because I had a lot to think about, and I knew that if Sip were awake, she would want an explanation of where I’d been all night. I couldn’t ignore that demons had appeared inside Public grounds. None of the professors had said anything to me about it, but I knew it was bad. In one of Professor Zervos’s lectures, he had explained how Public had strong protective spells around it, put there by the combined five powers. If the demons were breaking through those, we were all in trouble. The question was, how were they doing it? And why had the demon gone after two students? I wanted answers. I just wasn’t sure how to get them.

The next morning I woke up to Sip shaking my shoulder. “Where were you last night?” she asked, sitting on the edge of my bed, just like she had in the Infirmary on my first day at Public. Her hair was tousled from sleep, and she still wore her nightgown.

I pushed myself into a sitting position and told her everything that had happened the night before. She gasped and covered her mouth, but she let me finish without interrupting. When I got to the part about Keller teasing me because of the October formal, she slapped her hand to her forehead. “I totally forgot to remind you,” she said.

“People have been mentioning it for weeks,” I said. “I’d just forgotten about it with everything else that’s been going on.”

To my dismay Sip loved the idea of my spending even more time studying with Keller. “He’s the best,” she said. “You really couldn’t ask for someone better.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s at the top of his class,” said Sip, as if it was obvious. I hadn’t known that, but since he was so good at Dash it didn’t surprise me.

“I wish you could be my tutor,” I told her.

Sip laughed. “Yeah, but I don’t know enough. Keller’s a sophomore. I know he’ll help.”

Now that I had seen a demon on campus, it felt as if everything had changed. But it hadn’t. My morning classes went by as usual. None of my professors had been among the ones who had found me the night before, and no one gave any sign that they knew that anything out of the ordinary had happened.

There was one class, though, that wasn’t anything like the way it had been. Once I got there I kicked myself for not anticipating the changes. A History of Hellhounds and Demons was completely transformed.

Many of the other students in the class were eyeing Professor Zervos with a mixture of wariness and worry. Usually when I came into class he was behind his desk, reading a paper or book, but not today. Instead, he was pacing around the room, moving furniture out of the way and barking orders at a couple of students who had had the misfortune of being asked to help him.

Sometimes I forgot that Zervos was a vampire. Not today. His fangs were out. His skin was pale. He looked up and his bloodshot eyes locked on mine, then he went back to madly stamping around the room. I went to stand next to Lisabelle. My nerves were humming. She was against the wall, next to one of the windows, by herself. Keller hadn’t gotten there yet. He and his friends, Nate and Marcus, usually showed up right before class was about to start, or right after it had started. Not that he ever got in trouble for it.

“Who lit a fire under his ass?” asked Lisabelle.

“Don’t sugar coat it or anything,” said Lough, who had come to stand next to her. Lough had gotten over some of his fear of Lisabelle, even if he still shook a little whenever she addressed him directly.

Lisabelle glared at him. “Zervos is acting crazy, and he was crazy before, so this is bad,” she informed him. “Actually,” she said, idly twirling her wand, “this is going to be great!”

“Look, he’s even taking everything off the walls,” said Lough. All of the maps and weapons and scrolls that had hung around the room were being removed. Some, professor Zervos placed carefully on top of his desk. Others he simply flung behind him.

One of the students helping Zervos was Evan Drapper, the vampire Starter from our first night. As I watched, he fumbled a map of the eastern vampiric provinces from the fourteenth century, and it went clattering to the floor.

Everything in the room came to a halt as we waited to see Professor Zervos explode at Evan’s clumsiness. It was a vivid reminder of the morning he had thrown Lough into a wall for asking a question. To our great shock, Professor Zervos simply looked at Evan and said, “Well, what are you waiting for? Pick it up and keep working!” He continued to charge around the room.

Just before the bell rang Keller and his friends came sauntering in. I gave him a hard look, but he looked just the same as he always did, tousled black hair framing clear blue eyes. He tilted his head toward Zervos and raised his eyebrows. I just shrugged.

I forgot all about Keller when Professor Zervos swept dramatically into the center of the room.

“Form a circle around me,” he ordered as he swept his black cloak more tightly around his body and glared at us.

“Now,” he said. “I was advised against doing this, but I believe that circumstances call for it.” He paused, looking around at all of us as if he wanted us to realize the gravity of the situation. “You are already aware that the demons are a danger, but now they are getting stronger.”

No one said a word, so Professor Zervos continued. “What worries me, and what worries other professors, is that none of you are learning practical ways to defend yourselves should you come across a demon.”

His eyes flicked to Keller, who was standing between Nate and Marcus, leaning his shoulder against the wall. I couldn’t read Keller’s expression.

“Which is why,” said Professor Zervos, “from this moment forward that is what this class seeks to teach you.”

At Professor Zervos’s words a murmur went up around the room. I looked over at Lisabelle, standing motionless next to me, and saw that her face had gone paper white and her nostrils had flared. Possibly for the first time since I’d met her, she looked excited. An image of the demon flashed in my mind, and I wondered how excited she would have been to run into it last night. It should have been her walking with Keller instead of me.

“Quiet,” said Professor Zervos. He hadn’t said it loudly, but sometimes quiet commands are more effective than yelling. Instantly all noise stopped.

“It is unlikely,” he said, “that any of you will run into demons. The school is very well protected.” Is it? “And it is getting more protected by the day.” This time I couldn’t help but think that his eyes had flicked my way. “But,” he continued, “you will not always be at school, and we may not always be this strong.” At that several students protested. For some of them, it seemed that it was still completely out of the realm of possibility to consider a time when the paranormals were in real danger from the demons.

Professor Zervos ignored the interruption. “It is unlikely, but if we are to always expect the unexpected, we must be ready. We must be knowledgeable, and most of all, we must be ready to fight.”

Many of the students were looking at Professor Zervos with the sort of rapt attention usually reserved for the chocolate display case in a candy store.

“This school does an excellent job with the knowledge. We do an excellent job with your minds, teaching you how to think, giving you all the information you could possibly want,” he explained. “But there comes a time when knowledge may not be enough, because knowledge is only part of what you need. The other part, the physical part, is the main tool you will use to fight, be it with your fists” – he balled his hands in front of his face and shook them – “or with magic.” In the blink of an eye he was standing in front of Lough. Lough tried to step back, but he was against the wall.

“Lough,” he said, “strangle your friend Lisabelle.”

I felt like a weight had dropped onto my shoulders.

“Yes, sir,” said Lough, in a colorless tone that sounded nothing like the happy, kind Lough I knew. Lough turned to Lisabelle, who was glaring at Zervos, and reached for her neck.

“Stop it,” I cried, jumping between them. “You can’t do that!”

I had come face to face with my friend, but I hadn’t been prepared for what it would feel like to look into his eyes. They were blank and out of focus. When his eyes met mine I became dizzy and disoriented, staggering a little. I was dismayed when Professor Zervos caught hold of my arm.

“I was not going to let him harm your friend,” he said. “The idea of anything bad happening to Lisabelle is too painful for me to even contemplate.” He fluttered his eyes. I scowled.

“Don’t make me blush,” Lisabelle murmured. The only sign Professor Zervos gave of noticing Lisabelle’s mouthing off was the slight curl of his lip.

He released my arm and I rocked on my feet for a second, then returned to stand next to Lisabelle. I looked at Lough. “Are you going to release him from that spell?” I asked.

“Yes,” said Professor Zervos. With a snap of Zervos’s fingers Lough went staggering backward. He almost fell. His breathing came shallow and hard.

“But I don’t want oatmeal for breakfast,” he cried, clutching his head. He looked around the room, and realizing that he hadn’t just awakened and wasn’t alone in his dorm room, he went bright red. “What just happened?” he asked.

“Professor Zervos attacked you,” said Marcus.

“That’s right,” said Professor Zervos icily. “I attacked a student in front of a classroom full of students, and ordered him to attack someone else, and the only one of you who did anything to protect either of them was the magicless wonder over there, otherwise known as our probationary student Charlotte.”

“If that’s his idea of a compliment I wish he’d keep them to himself,” I whispered to Lisabelle. She smiled a little and nodded.

Professor Zervos shifted back into the middle of the room. “Volunteers?” he asked, looking around at all of us.

When no one moved he repeated, “Volunteers?” Only it sounded like more of a threat than a question.

“What are we volunteering for?” asked Keller. He hadn’t moved from the wall, and though his pose looked relaxed, I knew he wasn’t.

“I’ll tell you exactly what you’re volunteering for, after you’ve volunteered for it,” said Zervos. “But since you so obligingly spoke up, you may be my first volunteer. Charlotte,” he said, looking back toward my group, “so kind of you to be my second.”

Lisabelle sprang forward like an arrow released from a bow. “She didn’t volunteer.”

“Lisabelle, it’s fine,” I muttered, conscious that everyone was watching.

“It’s not fine,” Lisabelle hissed. “You don’t have a handle on your magic yet. Keller will kill you.”

I held my breath. Keller wouldn’t hurt me. I didn’t think.

“Are you going to take her place?” he asked. He reminded me of an attack dog about to pounce.

I grabbed Lisabelle’s arm, trying to keep her back while I went forward. I could do this, and I wanted the chance to try. But Lisabelle shook me off. “I’m doing this,” she said. The look in her eyes stopped me in my tracks. “On the bright side, if I kill him, you won’t have to have him as your tutor anymore.”

She stepped forward into the ring with Keller. Keller’s stance was easy, confident. He didn’t look worried to be facing one of the strongest mages on campus.

Lough put his arm around me and said, “Don’t worry, Charlotte, there’s no oatmeal.”

“Great, Lough, thanks,” I said, but my eyes were fixed on Professor Zervos. I wondered if he had planned this. My friend and my tutor were about to fight.

“This is bad,” I said to Lough, but he was too out of it to understand what I meant. What had just happened to Lough made me worry. If Professor Zervos could do that to him so easily, what could a demon who wanted to kill one of us do? It gave me a new perspective on what had happened the night before and how important it had been for me to be with someone like Keller, who could defend us. It also made me angry. I didn’t want to be some helpless Starter, unsure of her powers. I needed to be able to defend myself, even if I was alone.

Lisabelle faced off against Keller. I didn’t want to watch, but I forced myself to keep my eyes on my friends. Only for a moment did I look at Professor Zervos. What I saw sent waves of cold cascading down my spine.

Professor Zervos’s eyes were bright with anticipation, and his breath came in sharp bursts. This battle excited him. As if a weight had been dropped into my stomach I realized that this was what he had wanted all along. He wanted Lisabelle, the only darkness mage in school, to get into a fight in his class. And who better than the model student of Public to fight with her?

I tried to step into the middle to stop it, but Lough wouldn’t let me.

“There’s nothing you can do now,” he said quietly.

“Now,” said Professor Zervos, “the problem with demons is that they are very fast, hot, and unpredictable.”

“That’s three problems,” muttered Tale, the vampire, but Professor Zervos was no longer listening to his students, he was lost in his own world. “Which means that I want these two” – he pointed to Lisabelle and Keller – “to fight without any rules.”

Gasps went through the watching students. “But he’s a fallen angel,” someone cried. “And a sophomore. He’ll kill her.”

The weight in my stomach made it hard for me to draw breath.

Professor Zervos swept to the side, leaving Lisabelle and Keller alone.

“Begin,” he said.

Chapter Seventeen

Keller transformed. Dark wings expanded from his back, and the shirt covering his chest stretched. His hands became more like coiled wires ready to strike. His blue eyes darkened to near black.

The weight in my stomach settled. I wasn’t sure which one of them would win this. All I hoped was that they would both come out alive, if not unscathed.

Lisabelle moved in one fluid motion to challenge Keller. Every time I saw her magic I was surprised by the power. For a mere Starter, I suspected she was as strong as some of the professors. And far more deadly.

Without warning she lashed out, black fire sprouting from her hands. I thought for sure Keller would be hit, but he was too fast. He dodged around her and she was forced to turn, loosening her hold on the magic for just a second. As soon as she recovered, she threw another burst of power at him.

This time, though, he surprised us all by blocking the burst away from himself with his agile hands and directing Lisabelle’s own power back at her. She ducked and rolled, and a ghost of a smile played across her face. There weren’t many students on campus who could keep up with her, but Keller was one.

She was about to attack again, and Keller was about to do who knows what vicious thing, when the door to the classroom blew apart.

Students cried out as dust and debris showered everywhere. Professor Zervos, who had been standing closest to the door, was knocked back against the opposite wall, where he ended up tangled amongst the plush purple drapes in a daze.

As several professors shoved through the doorway with Professor Lambros in the lead, I crawled, gasping and coughing in the haze, to Lisabelle. She was motionless on the floor. Standing in the middle of the room, she had taken the brunt of the blast. As I reached her she sat up, clutching her head. The dull black power that had hummed around her as she fought Keller was gone. In its place was a sallow whiteness. Lisabelle looked drained.

Professor Lambros’s eyes swept the room until they landed on her. Somehow I knew that’s what they had come for: to take Lisabelle. I had a sickening feeling in my stomach about what would happen next.

“Professor Zervos?” said Professor Lambros. Her mouth was a thin line. There was obviously another side to Professor Lambros besides the smiling one she’d always presented to me. And it wasn’t a nice one.

“What?” he croaked from the floor.

“What in all the Five Powers is going on here?” She marched over to glare down at Lisabelle, who glared right back.

“I wouldn’t advise that right now, young lady,” said Professor Korba, coming through the destroyed door after Professor Lambros.

He went to attend to Keller, who had transformed back into a human. I’ll have to ask him how he keeps his clothes intact when he’s fighting, I mused, then blushed at the thought.

Keller looked shaken but undamaged. He glared at Zervos.

“I want you,” said Professor Lambros, pointing at Zervos, “and you,” she grabbed Lisabelle, and pointed at Keller, “to come with me. Now.”

Without another word she turned on her heel and marched her captives toward the door. “Professor Korba,” she said to the venerable old teacher, “would you be willing to take over Professor Zervos’s class for today since he is…indisposed?”

Professor Korba nodded and stepped forward. Normally, I’d be excited to get rid of Zervos. But since Keller and Lisabelle were in trouble, even getting rid of Zervos didn’t make me happy.

“Let’s get this cleaned up,” said Korba. “Once the desks are back in place I’d like to hear exactly what happened.”

I thought the class would never end. Students took turns telling Korba the story. Every so often he would interrupt with a question, but then he would quickly encourage the student to finish, and go back to just listening.

Finally, he stood up. “Next class meets at Airlee Dorm,” he said.

A murmur went up around the students. You never went in a dorm that wasn’t your own, just as you did not socialize with the paranormals in other dorms. Showing paranormals around dorms that weren’t their own was unheard of.

Lough and I exchanged looks, but we helped clean up the classroom. Once Korba dismissed us, all I wanted to do was find Sip and tell her what had happened, but I still had a second half’s worth of classes to get through. By the end of the day I was so angry I slammed my way out of my last classroom of the day; since History of Hellhounds and Demons there had been no sign of Lisabelle and Keller.

I was expecting to have to look for Sip when I got to the dining hall, but by dinnertime the news of what had happened in Zervos’s class had spread through the entire school. I didn’t have a chance to look for Sip because she was standing outside the Tower waiting for me. She saw me and came running, ignoring the stares of our classmates. “What happened?” she asked breathlessly.

I filled her in, but I couldn’t really tell her anything that she hadn’t already heard. I wanted to wait until we were alone to tell her my suspicion that Professor Zervos had set Lisabelle up. I couldn’t figure out why he would do it, but I also couldn’t help but suspect it.

“There’s something you aren’t telling me,” Sip hissed as we stood in line. I looked around. Students had stopped openly staring at us, but I could tell they were uneasy. Everyone had heard what had happened in class.

“I’ll tell you later,” I whispered back.

All through dinner I felt like I was five and my mother was watching over me to make sure I ate everything. Sip finished her food as fast as she could and glared at me the whole time. When we were finished I thought she’d want to go back to the dorm, but she shook her head. “Lisabelle’s not there. I checked before dinner, and if they’d let her go she would have come to eat with us,” she reasoned. She was talking it through as we walked away from the dining hall.

“So, where are we going?” I asked.

“Library,” she said.

“Hey, wait up,” said Lough, rushing out of the dining hall after us. “Mind if I tag along?” He pushed his glasses higher up on his nose as he said it, a characteristic gesture of his.

“Come on,” I said, “tell Sip what happened to you.”

When Lough had finished the story, Sip asked wonderingly, “He put you in a trance?” Her eyes were lit with a mixture of anger and curiosity.

“It was crazy,” he said. “It was like I knew I was moving and I knew someone was talking to me, but I was stuck in a big tub of molasses. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t really do anything. I just had to do what the voice said.”

“Yeah, well, did that voice sound like a crazy vampire professor?” I asked angrily. “He’s been after Lisabelle since school started.”

“It doesn’t make sense,” Sip mused. “Why would they allow a darkness mage here if they didn’t trust her? I thought we were past all that.”

“That’s easy,” said Lough. “It’s the demon attacks.”

Sip looked at me. She could see I looked worried. “Wait, attacks? As in more than one?”

Lough looked uncomfortable. “We’ve all been hearing about how the demons are getting stronger, right? Well, there have been other attacks. More than one on campus, but since the demon attacked staff and not students, they didn’t bother telling us.”

I could see my own fear reflected in Sip’s white face.

“You said that’s what the President was talking about when you overheard her. Besides, it’s not just happening on campus. It’s been happening to paranormals everywhere since the beginning of the summer,” he explained.

We were now almost to the library, and I could see the lights through the glass. It was another marvel of modern architecture, except that I was pretty sure magic was involved, because the slant of the glass walls and the perfection of the metal spirals that held them up could not exist in a world where only normal physics applied.

“Why weren’t we told?” Sip asked, incredulous.

“Because we’re just students. Besides,” said Lough, “I don’t think anyone knows exactly what’s going on.”

“Has anyone been killed?” asked Sip quietly.

“One old lady, but they don’t know if it was the demons or a heart attack,” said Lough. He pulled the door open for us and we filed into the entryway of the library. We were forced to be quiet as we walked past Mrs. Pelper, the librarian, and made our way to the top floor, where students rarely bothered to go.

As we climbed the stairs I wondered something. How did Lough know all of this?

When I asked him, his response was easy. “It’s my older sister, she works for the Paranormal Council of Power,” he explained, “and she tells me everything. I’m the mature one in our relationship,” he boasted. He sounded like Ricky.

“Obviously,” said Sip.

Lough protested, and Sip and I both laughed. The laughter sounded loud in the stairwell, which was dark and quiet. Most of the students were either still at dinner or going to bed.

“Why are the demons attacking more?”

Lough shrugged. “Rumor is they are looking for something. I don’t know what, though.”

The top floor of the library had lots of long study tables surrounded by rows and rows of old books. The carpet was a dark brown, making the room even darker. Along the walls were individual study stalls made entirely of a cool metal, and small windows, which right now were black squares.

“So, what aren’t you telling me?” asked Sip.

“I think Professor Zervos was trying to get Lisabelle in trouble,” I told them.

“But how does that have anything to do with the demon attacks?” Sip asked.

Laugh’s brow creased. “It has to do with the demon attacks because the only way a demon could get onto campus was if someone already on campus let it in….”

Sip’s mouth fell open. “Zervos thinks Lisabelle is helping the demons?” she squealed. “That’s insane.”

Lough shrugged. “There’s no other explanation. Or so they think.”

I heard a scraping noise behind me and turned. Apparently the library wasn’t as empty as we’d thought; there, standing in front of us, were Camilla and Cale. I couldn’t help but hate Camilla, but today she looked like she’d just been crying.

“Hey,” said Cale as the two of them walked past us.

“Hi,” said Sip, trying not to look at Camilla.

Camilla, who had no interest in talking to us, flipped her hair over her shoulder and marched to the door. Cale lingered. He gave one look toward his ex-girlfriend’s back, then said, “Are you going to the dance this weekend? They are better than the ones we had back home.” He was looking at me.

Why was everyone asking me about the stupid dance?

“I think so,” I told him. “Those dances were a joke.”

Cale grinned. “Yup.”

“Yes, she is going,” Sip piped in firmly. I glared at her.

“I guess I’ll see you there then,” he said, and wandered toward the door that Camilla had just stormed through.

“He likes you,” said Lough knowingly.

“We are old friends. And that’s all. Can we get back to the point?” I asked. “We have to find out what’s going on. How are the demons getting on campus, and why is Lisabelle being framed for it?”

“We don’t know she’s being framed,” said Sip. “We’ve known there were problems with demons for a while.”

“Yeah, but we didn’t know how serious,” I reminded her. “I just got attacked by one. They’re after something.”

“I bet I know what it is,” said Lough, scratching the side of his face.

Sip and I both stared at him in amazement.

“Well, aren’t you just a fountain of knowledge tonight?” Sip said. Lough grinned.

“What is it?” I prompted when he didn’t continue.

“I think they’re after the elemental,” he said. “Hang on.” He jumped out of his chair and disappeared into a stack of books.

Sip raised her eyebrows at me. “Do you know what he’s talking about?” she asked.

“Nope,” I said. “I still want to know why Zervos is framing Lisabelle. And there are no elementals, so whatever Zervos did to him must really have addled his brains.”

“We don’t know that anyone is framing her,” Sip protested again. I rolled my eyes.

“It has to be Zervos. He wanted her to compete today. Why? Because the professors can sense when darkness magic is being performed on campus, just like they sense demons. He wanted it to look like she was attacking us.”

“But there was a room full of witnesses to say she wasn’t,” Sip countered.

I chewed my lower lip. “But there has to be an explanation.”

Lough emerged from the stacks looking triumphant. He carried an old leather-bound book, the top of which was completely covered with dust. When he plunked it down in front of us the dust went flying everywhere.

“Nice one,” said Sip.

“Sorry,” said Lough, poring over page after page of some writing I couldn’t read.

“What are you looking for?”

“The Power of Five,” he said.

“The one where a member of each paranormal type has to use their power to make it strong?” I asked. I’d been hearing about it all year, and about how the powers had weakened after the last elemental was killed, which reminded me….

“How did the last elemental die?” I asked. “Does it say that in there?”

“No,” said Lough. “Only very important people know that. And none of us qualifies as a very important person.”

“The demons must have targeted whoever it was, though,” I mused. “Why? Why not pixies? Or vampires?”

“That’s easy,” Sip answered. “There were never very many elementals. And since they did all sorts of crazy things with their magic, they tended to die at a higher rate.”

“Charming,” said Lough.

“Anyway,” said Sip, glaring at the interruption, “the best way for demons to break the paranormals’ power is to break The Power of Five. Killing the elementals did that easily.”

I didn’t like that at all.

“Look at this!” cried Lough. He was pointing to a paragraph. I leaned over the yellowed page and squinted at the ornate writing.

“The lighting in here isn’t very good,” Sip commented.

Lough snorted. “You could put that stuff under flood lights and still not be able to read it.”

“True,” said Sip. “Nothing gets past you!”

Lough grinned.

“Read it,” I urged, still staring at the page.

Lough read: “The Power of Five: Requires a vampire, a pixie, a werewolf, an elemental, and an Airlee mage to combine the ultimate powers. This magic has only been invoked a handful of times, each time when paranormals were fighting demons and hellhounds. The latter are particularly difficult to fight against, because as animals they are affected differently by the magic of the Power of Five. However, the werewolf powers combined with the other four defuse even hellhound magic. Each time the Power of Five was invoked, the demons were successfully driven back. The demons have tried, unsuccessfully, to break of the Power of Five.”

“Unsuccessfully, until now,” added Lough.

“What do you mean?” Sip asked. She’d sat back in her chair to listen, but now she was leaning forward eagerly. The dim light cast shadows over her pale features.

“Well, the elementals are gone, because of demons. The Power of Four isn’t anywhere near as strong as the Power of Five.”

“How does any of this apply to Lisabelle?”

“The demons are trying to break onto campus to find whatever they are looking for. Probably to further help them destroy the paranormals’ combined power. Lisabelle is in trouble because they think she’s the one who let the demons onto the grounds,” said Lough.

My stomach twisted.

“They don’t think it’s Zervos?” I asked. I felt sure that it was. I felt it in my bones. It had to be Zervos. He was the one letting a demon onto the campus. He was evil. There were too many coincidences. There was the night he found us outside the President’s office, and the way he had been so conveniently around when I was attacked. It only made sense that he was a spy for the demons.

“It’s Lisabelle,” said Lough. “They think the demon spy is Lisabelle.”

Chapter Eighteen

Sip and I tried to stay up until Lisabelle came home, but by two o’clock we had reached the conclusion that she wasn’t coming home that night. I had images of her locked under the dining hall in a dungeon that smelled of dirt and dead rats. That the Tower was so modern there probably wasn’t a dungeon under it, but I wasn’t going to let rational thinking get in the way of my imagination, which had Lisabelle chained to the wall and not given water for days. I shuddered every time I thought about it.

There was no sign of her the next day. I saw Keller but he avoided me, and he missed our usual training session. I wanted to ask him what had happened after he’d been taken away, but the one time I got close he was with a group of his friends and turned his back on me.

With Professor Zervos still absent, we met Professor Korba at Airlee. It was odd heading back to my own dorm to go to class, but Professor Korba was waiting for us outside, as promised. Once everyone arrived he led us inside. Keller stayed as far away from me as possible, and since Camilla was doing the same thing they ended up close to each other. I felt hot anger when they started to chat and Camilla giggled, but I wasn’t sure why.

We wandered through the floors. Airlee was the newest of the dorms and had the least interesting artifacts in it. The only thing it had going for it was that because it was the newest dorm, it had the newest furnishings, including large screen TVs in every common room. If I hadn’t already lived there all semester I might have been impressed. Because Airlee was so new, the walls weren’t filled with massive glass cases full of priceless magical artifacts like they were in Astra.

“The Airlee Dorm is truly the most important,” said Professor Korba. He was droning on as we walked through halls I’d seen every day since I’d been at Public. I kept trying to catch Keller’s eye, but he was studiously looking anywhere and everywhere else.

“Because it promotes collaboration between different paranormal species,” Korba continued. “Why is that good?”

Lough, as usual, raised his hand.

Professor Korba nodded to him and Lough said, “Because otherwise you end up like the pixies? Stuck up and friendless?”

Professor Korba frowned as everyone in the class burst into laughter. Camilla’s face reddened with rage. “Jokes are all very well and good, Dream Giver, but perhaps there are more concrete reasons.”

“Because we have to protect ourselves against the demons and that means sticking together,” he said.

“Very good,” said Professor Korba. “Now, since you are one, maybe you would like to give us a demonstration of the skills of dream givers.”

I didn’t know much about dream givers. They barely sounded real to me, maybe because I didn’t consider dreams themselves to be “real.” I had only seen Lough perform once, at the Demonstration on our first night, and he hadn’t done much of anything, just sort of closed his eyes. The professors had nodded, so they must have been impressed, unlike how they felt about me.

“Yeah, Lough,” Sip encouraged. “Let’s see what you can do! Just stay calm!”

Lough blushed. “I’m about as calm as a hailstorm,” he mumbled.

Coughing and shaking his head, Lough closed his eyes. All the rest of the students gathered in a circle around him. All eyes were fixed on his face.

Out of nowhere I heard a wail. It was a woman’s voice. Somehow it was familiar, but I hadn’t heard it in a long time. I looked around frantically, but I didn’t see anyone around. My vision was blurred, as if I’d just had water thrown in my eyes.

I could sense that other students were upset, but I wasn’t really sure how. I could feel Sip next to me, trembling. The woman’s voice came again. This time I shuddered. With a start, I realized who it was.

The voice was my mother’s, and she was screaming for someone to stop hurting her. She was in pain. “No!” I screamed. “Stop it! You’re hurting her.” When I yelled, my mother’s scream and my blurry vision vanished. I was glaring at Lough. So was everyone else in the class.

Professor Korba had a thoughtful expression on his wise old face. Lough’s round cheeks were red with embarrassment. My eye’s locked with Keller’s. He didn’t look away.

“I’m sorry,” Lough stammered out. “I didn’t realize I could do that. I was just trying to….”

“You were trying to what?” Sip snapped. “Frighten us all to death?” Some of the other students nodded.

“I didn’t realize I could do that!” Lough protested. “I’ve never done it to people before. Well, if you don’t count middle school, but middle school sucked. Universally. Everyone hates middle school.”

“Shut up,” Sip snapped.

“Sip,” said Professor Korba sternly. “Lough is a Starter, and although he is a very powerful Starter, we cannot expect him to have ironclad control on his magic just yet.” He spoke quietly and reassuringly. Other students start to calm down, but I couldn’t seem to. My shoulders were tense, and I could feel a throbbing at my temple. I was very, very angry.

Without meaning to I said, “How did you put my mother’s voice into my head?” My eyes were locked on his.

“I, what?” he asked. “I just asked for a memory. I just wanted to have you all dream a memory. I didn’t mean for it to be bad.”

But judging from everyone’s face, all the waking dreams had been bad.

“We have to work on your control, is all,” said Professor Korba. “Just imagine how formidable you will be when you can choose to anger all of your classmates by forcing them to relive their worst memories. Come along.”

And with that he swept out of Airlee Dorm. The rest of us followed. No one looked at Lough.

I dropped back to walk next to Sip. “Are you alright?” I asked.

Sip nodded. “I’m fine. He didn’t mean to do it. How are you? You heard your mother?”

I grimaced. I didn’t want to talk about it, but this was Sip, my first friend at Public. “I don’t know what he shoved into my head. It’s not something I remember as actually happening.”

Sip nodded. “It probably didn’t,” she said reassuringly. But I wasn’t so sure.

“How did Lough not know he could do that?” I asked as we headed to our next class.

“He’s just starting. He’s still probably developing and learning and trying to get his range. A lot of us with magic go through that. It’s not like vampire or werewolves. True, vampires have magic they can develop, but if you’re a vamp you’re a vamp, you know?”

“Oh sure,” I said almost laughing at the way Sip always managed to say something as if it should be obvious.

My laugh stopped as Camilla trailed past us. She had time for one venomous glare before she disappeared down the sidewalk. There was no sign of Keller.

By the end of the day all I wanted to do was go back to my room.

Sip slammed into the room a minute after I got there. “How can everyone act like everything is fine?” she demanded.

I shrugged. “They can do what they want. They’re in charge. It’s the powerful and the powerless. What are we going to do?” I plopped down on my bed. Sip was in such a rage that she threw her books.

Breathing hard, she came to a stop in front of me.

“We go to the President,” she said. “Tell her it wasn’t Lisabelle’s fault.”

“Don’t you think Keller already told her that?” I asked. I refused to think that Zervos had said anything in Lisabelle’s favor. He would throw his own mother under the bus if it served his purposes.

“I don’t know what Keller would say,” said Sip. “I can’t read him.”

No one can, I thought.

There was a soft tap on the door. Sip flew to open it, and on the other side stood Lisabelle, looking a little pale but otherwise defiant. She swept into the room and sat on the bed while the two of us gaped at her.

“You’re here,” said Sip, still holding the door open.

“Excellent observational abilities,” said Lisabelle. She looked calm for someone who had basically been arrested in class for performing an exercise that the Professor of the class had told her to perform.

“Well,” said Sip, “stop wasting my time and spit it out. What happened?”

“They kept me in lockdown in the President’s office,” Lisabelle explained. Her hands were clenched into fists. “They thought I was the one helping the demons get onto campus.”

“Why did they think it was you?” Sip asked.

“Because apparently there’s no way demons can get onto campus unless a powerful darkness mage helps them. I’m the only darkness mage, and the only other ones with darkness magic are the vampires.”

“Oh,” said Sip.

Lisabelle nodded soberly.

“Wait,” said Sip, “that means a paranormal is helping the demons?”

“Yeah,” said Lisabelle. “A paranormal at Public. I heard the President talking. The demons are after something, but no one is sure what. Ever since school started, they’ve been a lot worse. Apparently there have been constant attacks on paranormals.”

“Why weren’t we told?” asked Sip. She folded her arms over her chest and glared.

“They thought we were safe here,” said Lisabelle quietly. “They wanted to figure it out on their own before they created a total panic.”

Sip couldn’t argue with that. If the Paranormal Council of Power (which most of the professors at Public were on) made an announcement that the demons were getting stronger and going after paranormals more frequently, it would wreak havoc.

“But Lisabelle, are you alright?”

“Yeah,” said Lisabelle, smiling. “They have to be a lot scarier than a bunch of yelling professors to scare me.”

Sip shook her head. “That attitude is going to get you into trouble one of these days.”

Lisabelle glared. “I already get in trouble and I don’t even do anything.”

Sip reached toward her friend. “Lisabelle, I’m sorry….”

“Yeah, you’re sorry,” said Lisabelle. “I got locked up for doing what my professor ordered and what did he get? A week’s paid vacation. The President said he was being overzealous and sent him away.” For the first time since I’d met Lisabelle she looked scared. She was hiding hid it well, but tears were forming in the corners of her dark eyes.

I slung my arm around her shoulders. She took a deep, steadying breath. “I’m fine,” she said. “They really weren’t that bad. It’s just not fair.”

“If they’re going to have you here, they should treat you equally,” said Sip.

“They should, but they don’t have to. They can do whatever they want,” said Lisabelle. “There aren’t enough darkness mages to protect me from being mistreated.”

“Well,” I said, “then we have to do something.”

Sip rolled her eyes. “You’ve been saying that, but what can we do?” she asked. “We’re just Starters.”

“We have to figure out how the demons are getting in. We have to know who’s behind it and why,” I said. “And we have to protect ourselves.”

“You want to protect the vampires?” Lisabelle asked. “I didn’t know you cared.”

I grinned. “Okay, well maybe the vampires can fend for themselves.”

Sip started to laugh, but just then there was another soft knock on the door. “Who is that?” asked Sip, staring at the door. We weren’t friends with any of the other Airlee girls, and technically no one else was allowed on the floor.

“I’ll get it,” I said, and opened the door to find Lough standing outside it.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“We have to talk,” he said, and pushed his way into the room.

He didn’t seem at all surprised to see Lisabelle. “Are you alright?” he asked. She nodded and repeated for him what she had already told us. Lough sat quietly and listened, but when she finished he said, “We have to do something. We can’t just let the demons run around campus killing us off until they find what they’re looking for.”

“We agree,” I said.

“So, what are we going to do about it?” he asked, settling in for a long night.

We didn’t get to bed until almost dawn. We all agreed that we had to protect Lisabelle, and that the only way to do that was to find out who was letting the demons in. If we didn’t, Lisabelle would be expelled, or worse, and the demons would still be attacking. The safety of the school and maybe the whole paranormal world was at stake.

“We can’t tell anyone what we’re doing,” Sip pointed out once we had made our plans, “because we don’t know who the culprit is.”

“Oh no,” moaned Sip after Lough left. The three of us looked at her. “What? What’s wrong?”

“Our outfits for the dance,” she said. “We didn’t get them ready.”

Lisabelle stared at her. “It’s just a stupid dance. I’m not even going.”

“Lisabelle Verlans, darkness mage, we are all going,” said Sip, putting her hands on her hips. “Now everyone go to bed.”

Lisabelle and I exchanged grins. “She’s bossy when she’s tired,” I said.

Lisabelle rolled her eyes. “She’s bossy all the time.”

I curled up in bed, glad we finally had a plan. We had to protect Lisabelle, and we had to protect Public. I might not be able to do magic yet, but there were other things I could do to help. And I hoped the magic was only a matter of time. Of all people, Keller seemed to think so as well. He always had confidence in me. His actions said so as much as his words. Besides, there was no way I was going to go crawling back to my stepdad. I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. I fell asleep with those comforting thoughts running through my mind.

Chapter Nineteen

I was beginning to think that Public did everything well. The next day had flown by. Sip insisted we all get ready together, and given everything that had happened, it was a nice distraction to spend time picking out clothes and making sure I looked alright. I ended up slipping on a black miniskirt and a sequined top I borrowed from Sip. Checking myself out in the mirror, I saw that I didn’t look anything like my normal self. This was the first time all semester that I was stepping out in something other than jeans.

“Your legs look hot,” said Sip, who was wearing a green dress that highlighted her purple eyes.

“You look good yourself,” I said, and gave her a smile.

When Lisabelle, Sip, and I walked into the dining hall to get some dinner before the dance, Lough said, grinning, “Lisabelle you’re wearing black. Nice to see you in something new and different.”

Lisabelle’s glare would have frozen fire.

Sip tugged at her dress. “This is so uncomfortable,” she said. “Where’s Mike?”

Mike was Sip’s date. He was a junior Airlee and a werewolf, and their families had known each other forever. He was the one who had gotten into a fight with the vampires my first night at Public. Sip was the only one of us that had a date, although I’m sure Lough would have gone with Lisabelle if he had thought she would agree. Unfortunately for Lough, it had taken everything we had to get her to go at all. There was no way she would have gone with a date.

When Mike came in, he walked right over to Sip and extended his arm. “Want to join me tonight, or shall I join you?” he asked. He sat with a group of his friends further away from the professors. “Do you guys mind?” she asked, absently smoothing her hand over her dress.

“No, not at all,” I said. Lisabelle just glared until I elbowed her.

“No, that’s fine,” said Lisabelle. Once Sip was gone we got our food and sat down with Lough.

“So, Cale doesn’t have a date,” said Lough, looking pointedly toward the table where Cale was sitting with some other pixie guys. I could see Camilla a couple of tables away. Her lips were puckered like she was sucking on a lemon.

The food was extra delicious that night. There was pasta and pies, cakes and cookies, cheeses and casseroles; everything you could want was laid out on the long serving table. While we ate, Lough and I did everything we could to distract Lisabelle from the ordeal she had gone through over the past few days. She even laughed once. Granted, it was when Lough accidentally spilled apple pie on his lap, but he might have done it on purpose just to see her smile, because he looked ridiculously happy for an hour after that.

“So, are you going to save a dance for me tonight, Lisabelle?” Lough asked. He tried to act nonchalant about it, but I could tell that just asking the question made him nervous. Lisabelle raised her eyebrows at him over the rim of her glass.

“Sure, we can dance the day my hair becomes orange,” she said. I glared at her.

“You have to dance with someone,” I pointed out. It wasn’t much of an argument, but it was all I could think of.

“Do I?” she asked. “No one wants to dance with the darkness mage. I’m going to look after you and Sip, because you can’t even DO magic and Sip’s too damn nice, and then I’m going home.”

“Oh, poor you,” I said. I was sick of her pity party, and I was tired of being reminded that I was attending a school for mages and I couldn’t do actual magic. I leaned in until I was glaring right into her eyes. The girl needed a reality check.

“You will dance with Lough tonight. Or else.” It sounded a lot scarier in my head, but it was worth it to see the look of surprise on Lisabelle’s face.

She grinned. “Sure thing, boss.” She gave a salute and then got up and walked away.

I sat back in my chair. Lough was pushing his food around his plate.

“It’s not hockey,” I said. “You’re supposed to eat that.”

Lough looked up and gave a half-hearted smile. “She doesn’t even know I’m alive, does she?” he asked.

“Sure she does,” I said. “She knows you’re alive, because she just turned you down flat.”

The dance was held in a massive tent set up on the Dash field. It was made of some kind of see-through fabric, giving students a perfect view of the night sky, without the cold air. Floods of students were streaming toward it along a path illuminated by massive lights erected just for this occasion.

No one had really bothered to dress up, except, of course, for the pixies. The vampires stood off to one side. The vampire princess, Lanca, who I’d almost gotten into a fight with at Dash, was surrounded by admirers. Tale was on her right arm, fitting as the hero of Dash. Her eyes briefly flicked to me, then returned to the throng around her.

“Keller’s over there,” said Lough, pointing across the room. He was dancing with some fallen angel girl I’d seen him with a few times, a junior and one of the best Dashers at school. I hated the way her blond hair swung around her shoulders, and how she giggled whenever Keller said anything. I wanted to go up and tell her that we both knew Keller wasn’t that funny and to stop trying so hard, but something held me back.

Sip was already there, dancing with Mike. Her eyes were bright and she was laughing.

“Where’d Lisabelle get to?” I asked. She was nowhere to be seen. Looking around for her, I realized something else: she wasn’t the only one missing. I didn’t see any professors.

Surely, I thought, they must be somewhere; there’s no way they’d leave the entire school outside at night unsupervised. Just as I was thinking that something must be wrong, Professor Korba arrived. “Good evening, Airlee Starters,” he said.

“Hey, Professor Korba,” said Lough waving. “How’s it going?”

“Oh, fine,” said the Professor, smiling his watery smile. “None of the other professors are here yet, I see. Ah, well, some of us do enjoy giving all you young ones just enough rope to hang yourselves with.” He smiled at his own joke, then continued, “Don’t get too crazy, though,” he advised. “Tomorrow we have another dorm visit. Cruor, the vampires.” With that he wandered off.

“What’d he mean about hanging?” Lough asked me nervously, looking bewildered.

“He meant that students are going to get in trouble tonight,” I told him. “Come on.” I grabbed his arm and propelled him with me. If we were going to be at the dance we might as well enjoy the best part of it: the food.

“What do you think Cruor will be like?” I asked as we got in line for the Chocolate Fountain. All the paranormal types might be very different from each other, have different powers, and even different diet restrictions, but there was one thing we could all agree on: chocolate was wonderful.

“I think it will be dark and scary,” said Lough. “I’ve only ever heard stuff about it, though, I’ve never been in there, of course. This is the first time they’re trying the whole integration program. No other students have been in any of the dorms except their own.”

“So, no one knows what it looks like?” I asked.

“Nope,” said Lough, piling his plate high with strawberries for dipping. “Except the vampires.”

“What do you think they thought of Airlee?” I asked.

“We thought it was too bright,” said Lanca. She’d moved up silently, like she was the mist I knew she could turn into. I jumped. “Tale said everyone was too friendly.”

Lough and I just gaped at her.

“Aww, do I scare you?” she asked. “I don’t bite…things that would taste like cleaning solution.”

“Ouch,” said Lough. “That almost hurt our feelings.”

She glared at him. “Stay out of this, Dream Giver. At least until you can control those powers of yours.” She flipped her long black hair over one moonlit pale shoulder and smiled. Lough blushed.

One of the guys who always trailed after her, tired of her divided attention, said something just then, and Lanca was forced to turn away. I turned to Lough and rolled my eyes.

“Hi,” said Lisabelle, coming up next to us in line.

“Where’d you go off to?” I asked, covering all my strawberries with chocolate.

“Nowhere,” said Lisabelle. Her cheeks were a little flushed.

“You should stay out in the open,” Lough cautioned. “Not in a corner making out with someone.”

“Why?” asked Lisabelle, refusing his offer of a chocolate-covered strawberry. “If I want to make out with someone it’s my own business.”

“Because otherwise they might think you’re summoning demons or something,” Lough growled. The three of us left the line and went to find an open spot along the wall with a good view of the dance floor. I was glad to get away from the vampires, and I still hadn’t seen any sign of Cale or Camilla. She was probably coming fashionably late, I thought sourly.

“Do you see any demons?” Lisabelle asked.

“No,” said Lough, “but we wouldn’t until they were actually here.” Lisabelle just ignored him.

“Hey, Charlotte,” said Cale, appearing at my elbow out of nowhere. He looked good. He usually looked good, but tonight he looked better than good. His red hair was its usual tousled self, and he wore jeans and a blue t-shirt I’d never seen him in before. Even better, Camilla was nowhere to be seen.

“You look great,” he said. I blushed and mumbled something about how he looked good too. Lisabelle smirked. I had wanted to be friends with Cale, but Camilla had made that hard. Now I didn’t know where to look.

“Want to dance?” he asked. I hadn’t been this close to him in a while; he smelled faintly of spices.

“What about Camilla?” I blurted out. Last I’d heard he had dumped her, but that was weeks ago.

Cale didn’t look fazed. “She doesn’t own me,” he said.

“Alright,” I said, eyeing the dance floor. Sip was still out there with Mike. Pixies, vampires, and fallen angels danced around them. Since they were known for their coordination and grace, I’d easily be the worst dancer on the floor. Still, hesitating only for a second, I took Cale’s offered hand and let him lead me onto the floor.

It wasn’t the sort of perfect dance I’d always imagined in my daydreams of special nights. We were in a tent, not a grand room like the one in Astra Dorm. The music was loud and blasting, and I didn’t want to think about what some of the students were busy doing in the dark corners along the wall.

I didn’t care about any of that, though. Cale was there. An old friend, someone I knew from home and who had always been kind to me. It also didn’t hurt that he was really cute and, as long as Camilla wasn’t around, we’d have a great time.

After the first dance ended Cale asked me if I wanted to dance another, and then another. My good mood increased with each dance. It was only dampened at one point in the evening, when I looked up and saw Keller watching us. Tension radiated throughout his body. The blond girl who’d been hanging off his arm most of the night was talking to him, but he didn’t look like he was listening. Seconds later he led her out of the tent and I misstepped and crashed into Cale.

While I got my balance back I felt a pair of furious brown eyes locked on me. Camilla was standing a few feet away, surrounded by her friends.

At the first sign of my faltering, she swooped in.

“Cale,” she asked, her voice too high and too fast, “can I speak to you?”

Cale paused. “Can’t it wait, Camilla?” he asked.

“No,” she said. “Outside.”

“After the dance,” he told her. She looked on the verge of tears as she went back to her friends.

We continued to dance, but the spell had been broken. I knew Camilla would never let us have another dance together, and Cale looked upset. I was so preoccupied with Camilla and keeping track of where my feet were that I didn’t see Kia swoop up next to us. She was dancing with a pixie and looked like she was totally engrossed in what he was saying.

As they passed us, she let out a shrill laugh, and I realized that she’d used the opportunity to stick her foot out, right where my feet were about to go. As if in slow motion, I tipped sideways. This wouldn’t have been so bad, except that Cale and I had been dancing very close to the Chocolate Fountain, and I landed right in it.

I had never wondered what it was like to take a bath in warm chocolate, and I never would again. Unfortunately, the fountain was unstable, and when I hit it, the whole thing toppled over with me. My elbow hit the ground with a bang, and I swallowed a mouthful of chocolate.

I struggled to sit up. Before I reached a ninety-degree angle Camilla was on top of me. Her hands were like icy white sparks alight with pixie dust. They dug painfully into my shoulders.

“Get off her,” I heard several voices yell, but I was too distracted by the crazy pixie trying to kill me to notice that anyone was speaking. I tried to use magic, but, familiarly, not even the most basic spells would come. I gasped for air. Black spots were forming in my field of vision. My hands were locked around her hands that were locked around my throat.

I felt her yank away from me, and then the small amount of weight disappeared from my stomach.

Cale had pulled her off me, but she continued to scream and wail, reaching for me. If I hadn’t been the one on the floor covered in hardening chocolate I would have thought it was funny. Camilla, in a gorgeous white dress now covered in chocolate, just kept yelling.

I found my balance and staggered to my feet. Before she knew what was coming, I had launched myself at her.

At the moment I slammed into her and the hapless Cale, a voice as cold as steel said, “What is this?”

The President walked into the light, her gray hair glinting. I saw other professors flanking her, but I was too dazed to take a good look at them. Camilla shoved me off, and I slipped and landed on the floor again.

Camilla instantly calmed down. Apparently her anger disappeared when confronted with the head of Public. Cale waited a second, then let her go.

“It was an accident,” said Camilla, brushing a strand of chocolaty blond hair out of her face. “She tripped and then I slipped on the chocolate. She was clumsy enough to knock it over and I fell.”

“Which led you to have a screaming fit?” asked the President curiously.

Camilla had the grace to blush. “I was just sad about my dress.” She fanned the white fabric out around her. The jewels stuck into it winked in the light. If Camilla ever wanted to be an actress, she could have the starring role.

“Camilla Van Rothson, you are from one of the oldest and most powerful pixie families,” the President said, walking slowly toward Camilla, her eyes glued to Camilla’s and her hands clasped behind her back. “You have no right to embarrass your family, yourself, or this excellent institution by acting in such a disgraceful manner.”

“But what about her?” Camilla whined, pointing at me. I was trying to get some of the chocolate out of my hair. My legs were covered in brown smears.

“That’s what we expect from Airlee students,” Professor Zervos cut in, materializing out of the crowd. Apparently he was back from his vacation. For once I was happy he had spoken, because I had no idea what to say.

I realized that I had to get out of there, fast, or my hatred of him might show. I tried to stand, but it was useless in the slippery muck. Without so much as a word, Keller came forward, reached down, and grabbed me under the arms. I heard the squelch of chocolate between his hands and my body as he pulled me to my feet. His blue eyes met my gray ones and for the briefest of seconds I forgot that my face was smeared with chocolate. Then I breathed again.

“I could do that too if I were a fallen angel,” I muttered.

“You’re welcome,” he said, still holding me. I told myself that it was for my own balance, which turned out to be true, because when he tried to lead me out of the ever-spreading puddle, I slipped again. He caught me easily and we kept going.

“Ms. Rollins,” the President called after me.

Keller and I stopped. “I expect you in my office tomorrow to discuss this,” she informed me. I only nodded. I should have expected as much.

“If there was an award for the student who visits the President most frequently, you would win it,” Keller said softly into my ear. “You should be more careful.”

I shivered, but the chocolate was warm on my body.

Sip, Lisabelle, and Lough surrounded us, leading me out of the tent. Just as we got to the door, someone blew past us heading in the opposite direction. I recognized him as one of the cooks. He was young and friendly, but he wasn’t a paranormal. He skidded around, his head snapping from left to right.

“Where’s the President?” he screamed. “Where is she?”

The President stepped forward. Everyone else in the tent was too shocked to react. The young man collapsed in a heap on the floor. His breath was coming fast and shallow as he stared up at the President.

“I saw….” he gasped, unable to go on. The President didn’t move. Professor Zervos was about to step forward, but the President stopped him with a shake of her head.

“Spit it out,” said the President. It was the first time I’d ever seen her lose her temper.

“Hellhound,” said the boy. “On the grounds.” He collapsed. And with that, chaos erupted.

Chapter Twenty

Just as Lisabelle and I were about to dash back into the madness that had become the homecoming tent, Sip grabbed us and propelled us quickly away. Her small, purple-painted nails dug painfully into my arm.

“We are going back to the dorm,” she announced. “I will not have either of my friends get detention, expelled, or set on fire by a hellhound tonight.” All five feet of her stomped away, not releasing either of our arms. “Bye, Keller,” she yelled over her shoulder, without looking back.

“Bossy thing, isn’t she?” Lisabelle asked, glaring at the tiny blond head that was leading us away. At least we weren’t alone. Lough was still with us, and we were surrounded by other students. “Besides,” said Lisabelle, “Charlotte here needs to wash before that chocolate hardens and everyone starts trying to lick her.”

“Very funny,” I murmured.

“Move along, move along,” said Professor Lambros from right behind us. She was staring around at all the students; her pixie ring was shining into the night like a flashlight. “Students are to return to their dorms and to stay there until further notice,” she announced, even though that’s where all the students were headed anyway. “We are on lockdown. That means you go nowhere. You got that? Nowhere, without a professor present.” No one argued with her.

When the four of us reached Airlee, we separated. There was nothing to do at that point but go to sleep and hope for news in the morning. Besides, I had to get up bright and early to go see the President, yet again, and learn my punishment. I wondered why Keller had come back to the tent after he’d left with the blond, then helped me without saying a word. He must be so disappointed in me. Not only couldn’t I do magic, but I had embarrassed myself in front of the entire school. Again. I fell asleep fuming.

The next morning when I padded out of the dark room, Sip was still snoring. Downstairs was the Professor of Medieval Magic, whose name I couldn’t remember. He told me I had permission to go to breakfast and then to see the President, provided I stayed on the biggest paths. “Just during the day,” he informed me. “No one will be able to wander around after dark.” That meant that the second part of our classes would have to be closely chaperoned, because they all took place after the sun went down.

Outside, the campus seemed different. Now that I knew it wasn’t safe and that what I’d seen on my last night at home, a hellhound, had been walking around on campus the night before, a dark shadow fell over my experience at Public.

After breakfast I headed toward the President’s office. I still thought it was in an odd place, at one end of campus looking out over the elementals’ pond. Since it was still early morning and we were on lockdown, there was no one on the paths as I made my way over the grounds.

The morning was cold and wet, with a hint of winter. The colors, from the tree leaves to the sky, were rich and deep as they can only be in the fall.

I was early for my appointment, so I decided to sit by the pond and wait. I tried not to go too far off the path, but I wanted to be near the water. I figured no hellhound would be hanging out in front of the President’s office anyway, and I had a lot to think over.

Ever since I’d arrived at Public I’d been struggling; I knew that. I was supposed to be a mage, but I couldn’t do magic. Sometimes I wondered if that went back to my mother and what had happened to her. There was magic somewhere in me, there had to be. I just had to figure out how to draw it out. The President had been kind enough to give me the chance to try. She believed in me, like my stepdad never would.

Glaring, I picked up a nearby rock and threw it into the water. All I wanted to do was perform the magic I was supposed to be capable of. Every other Starter was. My ring was the only one that hadn’t lit up with power yet. Sometimes it felt heavy on my finger.

The pond rippled. A fish – or something, I thought with an ominous shiver – must be swimming underneath the surface. Or a breeze too slight for my skin to feel. There was always wind in the fall. I threw another rock, then another.

I was about to throw my fourth stone when I realized that the water was rippling on its own. The smooth surface writhed. Scrambling, I tried to push myself away from the edge, but it was too late. The water was now churning into the air in great gulps, as if a blanket had been thrown over a giant who was now coming awake.

I tried to make my legs move, but they seemed rooted to the ground. I looked around frantically to see if there was anyone in sight who could help, but just as I understood that I was as alone as could be, and just as suddenly as the water had come alive, it subsided. Slowly, in one great, everlasting swirl, it calmed down. But now there was something different there that hadn’t been there a moment before.

In the middle of the pond was my mother.

At least, it looked like my mother. The image was more transparent than a real person could possibly be; it looked like if I ran up and hugged it my arms would go straight through. But it was definitely my mother. Since I’d never met my dad, or even seen a picture of him, I wasn’t sure which side of the family my brown hair came from, but my eyes were definitely from my mom, and so was my height. Or lack of it.

I stood up, unsure of what else to do. I wanted to be ready to run, or fight, I wasn’t sure which. Without speaking, the specter of my mother came toward me. I should have been frightened, but I wasn’t. Instead, everything else around me simply fell away. The morning had been cold, but I forgot about that. I forgot that I was supposed to meet the President, and I forgot that she was probably going to blame the whole chocolate fountain incident on me, because it couldn’t possibly be crazy Camilla’s fault.

“Hi, Mom,” I said. It sounded so natural. It had been the most natural thing in the world for me to say for years. I wished with all my heart that I still had a reason to say it. My steady voice surprised me.

The figure smiled, but didn’t speak. Nervous, I shifted my weight, rubbing my hands on my legs until the friction hurt.

“What do you want?” I asked. I knew this wasn’t my mother, but I didn’t know what it was.

“Someone you trust cannot be trusted. I want you to look in the right place. Most of all, Charlotte, you must stay safe. You of all people. Must. Stay. Safe.”

My mother – was it my mother? or was it some kind of she-devil? – was very close to me now. Her gray eyes were a mirror of my own searching ones. I had a million questions tumbling through my mind, and this was the moment when I could ask her all the questions I’d wished I could ask her since she died, like how could she marry that jerk in the first place, and worse, how could she leave me with him when she died. It all came tumbling through me. I wanted to know why she’d never shown me how to use the magic. I wanted to know why she’d refused to talk about it all those years. I had a right to know. I was a mage too, and I’d been dragged off to the paranormal school with no warning and no preparation. And last of all, or was it first of all, I wanted to know what she meant by what she’d just said.

I was just trying to decide which to ask first when the figure started to fade. Fast.

“Wait,” I gasped, reaching out my hands to the wispy figure. “Wait.”

But that was all I had the chance to say. She had come in a huge wave of water, but she was going quietly, evaporating into the morning air as if she had never been anything but a little fog to begin with. I gasped as I saw the last bit of her, the last bit of my mother, disappear into nothingness.

I tried to remember what she had said. Looking down I realized that I was clutching my ring. But it was still dull, not lighted by magic.

“Ms. Rollins, are you coming or not?” the familiar voice of the President demanded behind me.

I jumped. In the shock of seeing the water figure appear and my desperation to have my questions answered (of which I’d gotten none), I had completely forgotten what I was doing there in the first place.

“Now is not a time to dawdle, Ms. Rollins,” said the President, not unkindly.

I’d been standing in front of the water, rubbing my ring. The President must have thought I looked like a lunatic.

“You shouldn’t be outside by yourself anyway,” she chided as I made my way toward her. My legs didn’t want to move. I felt like I hadn’t walked in years, but I had to put one foot in front of the other. Time had stopped for the few seconds I had gotten to be with her again, but now reality was returning. I had to force myself to go back to existing in the ordinary world, from which she was long gone.

The President stepped out of my way to let me into her building. We made our way through the rooms until we reached the door of her office at the back. I was moving slowly; I spent too much time here. The Infirmary was one thing, I was a teenager at school, and it made sense that I’d go there sometimes. But the President’s office implied that I was getting in trouble. And now that I had a chance to look up into the President’s face, I realized that this time I was in fact in trouble. A lot of it.

Before I could sit down she said, “You purposefully started a fight with Camilla.”

I didn’t say anything. I knew there was nothing I could say in my own defense; I would just have to take my punishment. I had decided a long time ago that I wasn’t going to let Camilla push me around, just because I hadn’t learned magic yet and just because I was friends with Cale. She did not have the right to harass me.

“Ms. Rollins, I have given you every latitude. I have allowed you to remain here for an entire semester, no matter the cost to my personal reputation, on the assumption, no, that’s not right, with the certainty that you would work hard. I asked the very best student at Public to assist you.”

I thought that might be going a bit too far, but she was pacing around her office wringing her hands. “I found a tutor for you, and I have it on good authority that he has worked with you faithfully. And you repay me by attacking a student at the school dance, unprovoked.”

I was unprovoked like a bear whose children are in danger is unprovoked, I thought bitterly. But the President continued. “Not just any student, but Camilla Van Rothson, whose father happens to be a prominent donor to this institution. Is this how you repay my kindness? We are in the middle of demon attacks, and all you can think about is yourself.”

I tried to protest, but she cut me off. “I therefore have your punishment,” she said, glaring at me from behind her desk. “And again, as you have been all semester, you are fortunate that I am not expelling you. Attacking other students on school grounds, or truly anywhere, is disgusting behavior of the first order. I will not tolerate it. Just imagine what damage you could have done if you could actually do magic!” She sat down in a great whoosh of her robes.

The President was really on a roll this morning.

She was giving me the weirdest look, like I was supposed to say something, but I didn’t know what. Finally I said, “You were going to punish me….”

“Don’t be a smartass,” she ordered, sitting back in her chair. “I believe that you cleaned Astra for a few Saturdays,” she said. My heart sank. I felt like I’d been cleaning it since I got here. It was the cleanest dorm on campus. “You are to continue to do so until further notice. Keller, of course, will be there to assist you.”

I wondered why she was always throwing me together with Keller. I didn’t understand his behavior toward me; most of the time he was cool and indifferent, but every so often it seemed like he might actually like me. That had all probably changed after what had happened last night. I was snapped out of my thoughts by the sound of the President’s voice.

“Why are you still here?” she asked.

As I was leaving I passed Professor Anania. She barely acknowledged me as she rushed into the office. Just before the door slammed shut I heard her exclaim, “There’s no sign.”

Once I was outside again, the air felt less stuffy and I could breathe easier. Since my anger had been about to boil over, it was good that she had dismissed me when she did. She might actually kick me out of Public if I lost my temper with her, and I still didn’t want that.

It was late morning now and I figured my friends were probably at breakfast, so I wandered that way. I couldn’t bring myself to look at the calm pond. My mother’s appearance there only a little while ago already felt like a dream. Most of all, Charlotte, you must stay safe. You of all people. Must. Stay. Safe.

Professor Anania had reminded me that there was a hellhound somewhere, and since apparently no professors had seen it and forced it to leave, there was a good chance it was still lurking on the grounds.

The breakfast attendant just shook his head at me and said, “You keep eating each meal twice, pretty soon that ring isn’t going to fit on your finger.” To my own surprise I found myself wishing he was right.

I spotted Lisabelle and Sip, sitting by themselves in the corner with their heads bent together.

“What is it?” I asked, reaching the table. Now that I was closer I could see that they looked worried.

Lisabelle looked up at me. She wasn’t worried. She was angry. “The President wants to see me again,” she said. “They think I know where the hellhound is.”

My stomach tightened. My own morning was forgotten in fear for Lisabelle. “Why?” I asked.

“Because I’m a darkness mage. Because no one remembers seeing me last night until I pulled you out of the tent,” she answered bitterly.

“But you were there,” I protested. “Weren’t you?” With a twinge of fear I realized that I hadn’t actually seen her. I’d been so preoccupied with fighting the pixies that I wasn’t sure.

“Yeah,” said Lisabelle. “I wouldn’t miss watching you make a fool out of yourself for anything.”

“She had to stand up for herself,” said the ever-practical Sip. “She can’t let Camilla push her around.”

“Fine,” said Lisabelle. “Whatever. I have to go.” She pushed away from the table and picked up her tray.

“Don’t do anything rash,” Sip advised.

Lisabelle glared at her. “I haven’t done anything at all. And all the while they keep blaming me because there are hellhounds still loose on the grounds.” She stormed off.

“How long do you think she’ll be gone this time?” Sip asked, looking after her. She pursed her lips.

I shook my head. “I have no idea.”

Once Lisabelle was out of sight, Sip turned to me and said, “What did the President want with you?”

I told Sip what had happened, but left out the part about my mother. Somehow that was private. And since that ghostly figure had told me that someone close to me couldn’t be trusted, it seemed safer not to tell anyone, although I was pretty sure about who she was referring to: Zervos.

“What now?” Sip asked.

I shrugged. Everything felt like it was spinning out of control and going wrong, but I felt powerless to stop it.

“Now we study for mid-semester exams,” I guess.

Sip dropped her fork with a clatter. “Oh no! I had almost forgotten about those!”

Chapter Twenty-One

The next week went by in a blur. It didn’t take long for Lisabelle to come back from her talk with the President. All year I had thought that she had a temper and was quick to anger, but that was before I saw her that Sunday afternoon. Now I realized that up until then she had been remarkably calm – for Lisabelle.

When she walked into Sip’s and my room she was livid. She’d been put on dorm arrest. The only time she could leave Airlee was to go to class, and then she would have to be escorted by a professor or the President herself. When Lisabelle had demanded to see the proof of her involvement with the demons and therefore a justification for why she was being treated like a prisoner, the President had just laughed.

After the dance the paranormals were even colder to each other. In some classed they silently competed to see who could answer the questions first. In other classes all students refused to answer any of the questions in a bid to get each other in trouble. The professors would eventually get fed up and start yelling. At lunch there was jostling and at times downright violence. One werewolf got a black eye from a vampire, and a pixie’s bag of magical dust went mysteriously missing.

My relationship with the pixies had gone from bad to worse. They now hated me with an unbridled passion that they made no attempt to hide. I couldn’t walk past one of them in the halls without being attacked. They tripped me, used pixie magic to disorient me, or just screamed at me. The one time a pack of them caught me alone I ended up with a split lip.

After that, Lisabelle and Sip took to walking on either side of me. I was lucky. Everyone, except maybe Keller, was afraid of Lisabelle. If the pixies saw that she was with me they would veer off in a different direction. If Lisabelle noticed, she would usually send a tendril of black magic snaking after them. “It’s the little pleasures in life,” she would sigh.

When I wasn’t with Lisabelle I was usually with Keller. The next week we had mid-term exams, and since I could hardly afford to fail, he had decided that he would tutor me every day. Twice. We would meet once before breakfast, and once again after dinner. He had decided to focus on the first half of my studies, the non-magical half, in an effort to make sure that my overall grades were good enough that they couldn’t expel me.

Exams meant that all week the whole campus was tired. Even Dash was canceled because all the exams were scheduled for Friday and Saturday. The professors were giving us Monday off, which meant that we had a long weekend, but we couldn’t take advantage of it, because of the exams. The campus was subdued. Between the fear of the hellhound and the late nights spent cramming, no one was getting much sleep. The only benefit was that the pixies were too tired to spend much time tormenting me.

Finally, on Wednesday night, I had had enough studying.

“This is stupid,” I said, pushing my Intro to Para Studies textbook away. Keller pushed it back toward me.

“You need to work harder,” he informed me. “And not complain.”

He sat back in his chair and eyed me. The first floor of the library was filled with students, but since that was the floor where talking was allowed, no one looked up to silence him. Despite all our time together, he had been cool toward me since the dance. I always insisted we meet in a public place. I don’t know why, but meeting in one of our dorm rooms felt too intimate. He had suggested meeting at Astra, the elemental dorm, but I’d realized from Saturdays spent cleaning there that the place made me uncomfortable and somehow sad.

On top of everything else I hadn’t been sleeping, and I thought Keller could tell. Lisabelle now slept on the floor in our room. We wanted to give her an alibi in case there was another hellhound attack, but it meant that one of us always had to be awake. One night, when I was particularly tired, Keller touched my shoulder after we finished studying. “Be careful, Charlotte,” he said quietly into my ear. Then he walked away.

I had put my hand up to my shoulder where he touched me before I realized how silly I must look. Sometimes Keller would touch me and I would hardly notice. Other times he would touch me and I had a hard time not rubbing the spot where his hand had been.

Lisabelle, Sip, and I still hadn’t figured out who had let the demon in or why it was there. Lough had heard rumors that the demons thought there was one last elemental and would stop at nothing to find him or her, but that didn’t explain the demon’s presence at Public. There were definitely no elementals at Public.

Lisabelle, though, was a powerful darkness mage, and we were sure that the demons would like to get her on their side.

The worst part about midterms was that we still had class. Walking into Professor Korba’s class the day after Keller’s warning, I almost screamed when he said that we were visiting not only Cruor, the vampire dorm, but also Volans, the pixie dorm.

“Since Professor Zervos has returned, we can no longer visit dorms during his class period. So, I have made room for it in my schedule.”

Lough’s hand shot into the air. “But we don’t have the same students in this class.”

Professor Korba raised fine eyebrows. “Yes, Lough. It’s a good thing you pointed that out. Otherwise we accomplished professors, with decades of experience under our robes, might have missed that fact.”

A dull red color spread across Lough’s face.

“Professor Korba made a joke!” Lisabelle murmured to me. “I didn’t know he had it in him.”

First, Cruor. I knew that since it was called blood dorm, it was going to be gruesome. Add to that the fact that the vampires were fearsome and violent, and I would have preferred to stay miles away. But Professor Korba was having none of our protests.

Luckily, since this was a first-session class, all the vampires were still in their coffins. Even though the vampires didn’t hate me like the pixies did, I still thought it would be better not to get on their bad side, and since it seemed like all I needed to do to get on someone’s bad side was show up, I felt lucky they were all still under the sun.

Cruor was the only dorm that could be seen from the Tower. I liked to think it was so that the professors could keep a close eye on what was going on there. Since the vampires were in their prime at night they had a lot of time on campus when the rest of us were sleeping.

And it wasn’t just the vampires themselves who were formidable. They also kept dangerous pets. Their strix were fast and unforgiving. Commonly known as owls, they were bred to inflict maximum damage. Their cages were kept in a barn-like building at one end of Cruor, and if you passed there at night you could hear them cooing and rattling around. I always walked faster after that. Most students did absolutely everything they could to avoid passing Cruor at night.

The dorm itself was a miniature castle made of black glass, complete with a drawbridge, moat, and walls of black stone. The drawbridge, which the professors insisted always stay down, hung over black, limp water. Dead fish floated on the surface. Several students gagged and were forced to cover their noses as we passed. Inside, the courtyard wasn’t much better, and that was because the courtyard was a graveyard. I gulped. Cruor wouldn’t have made it onto any college tours, that’s for sure.

Lough raised his hand as we walked.

“Yes, Lough,” said Professor Korba, walking along with his back to everyone. “Yes, those are real gravestones.”

Lough lowered his hand.

Lisabelle, who had been first in line, fell back to walk next to me. Putting her lips close to my ear she whispered, “This is a powerful place. Demons would live here happily.”

“That’s great,” I told her. “Thank you for sharing.”

I knew Lisabelle was conflicted about her life at Public. Her parents were steadfast supporters of paranormals, but a lot of darkness mages couldn’t say the same. They were already on the demons’ side. I knew Lisabelle felt that pull, and being treated like a leper since she arrived probably wasn’t helping.

“When are you going to take your Starter test?” I whispered back to her, realizing that she was the only other Starter who hadn’t taken it. Well, she and Lough.

Lisabelle gave me a pitying look. I hated that look. “I actually took it before I got here,” she told me. “My parents spent a lot of time training me, since they knew no darkness mages were professors here. I just got it out of the way before I came to campus.”

Lisabelle said that like it was no big deal. I knew that to every other paranormal it wasn’t, but being reminded of it filled me with jealousy. I didn’t have much time to dwell on my frustrations, though. We were entering Cruor.

Cruor wasn’t exactly what I’d been expecting, mostly because I’d been expecting blood soaking the walls and dead bodies hanging from the ceilings. In reality, the only signs of death were the gravestones. I tried not to think about how those people had died.

As I walked through the glass front door I was still feeling cold, so I rubbed my arms for warmth, but I still felt chilly. The room beyond was massive. Unlike Astra, where you entered an ornately decorated hallway, in Cruor you entered a living room. Everything in the room was black except for the sofas and chairs, which were red. There was also a massive red rug in front of an empty fireplace. The room smelled slightly of something tangy. I hoped it wasn’t blood. On the walls were black frames, but no pictures.

“Lovely,” said Lough, coughing. Professor Korba swept around to face us. He was shorter than everyone else there, even Sip, but he commanded attention when he wanted it.

“This is Cruor,” he told us. “It was the second of the paranormal dorms built on this campus. We have discussed vampire powers, their ability to shift into mist, command strix, and drink blood. We have also discussed that they can protect themselves from sunlight for short periods of time, which allows them to attend classes here. It is, in fact, the first thing a vampire learns. Can anyone tell me anything else about them?”

“They are one of the five powers. They are a key part in counteracting demon magic, because vampires share some of the same darkness powers,” offered Lisabelle.

“Exactly. Fallen angels are all white, bright magic. Alone, they could never defeat demons. But with the combined strength of the other paranormals, the demons can be defeated.”

“I hear Keller did a pretty good job against the one that attacked Charlotte,” said Lauren Bells.

Professor Korba nodded. “Keller is talented and the demon was alone. It is kind of you to reference the accomplishments of another paranormal.”

We continued to explore the dorm. Disturbing didn’t even begin to describe it. The halls were painted black. At first I’d been relieved that there wasn’t any blood spattered on them; somehow I thought that was an improvement from the bodies I’d been imagining. But I soon realized that my first impression was wrong. Around every dark corner a creak or a whistle made me jump. I was positive that some of the older vampires, or worse, Professor Zervos, were just waiting to come out after us.

Finally, it was time to move on to Volans. After that, Professor Korba explained, at some point we’d have to find time to visit Aurum, the fallen angel dorm.

I could see the relief on one face after another as we returned to sunlight. Professor Korba, ignoring our worried looks, led us to Volans.

I had never even seen Volans, because it was set off in a glade of trees all its own. The pixie dorm turned out to be nothing like Cruor. Instead of black walls rising into the sky, the stones were light and almost shining. There wasn’t a moat, just a shimmering lake. No matter how hard I looked, there were no dead fish in it. The pixies were too stuck up to have dead fish floating in their lake.

Inside the dorm, the walls were painted a tasteful yellow and the floors were a blistering white marble, which matched the all-white furniture. I had thought that the pixies were stuck up before, but here was proof.

We didn’t stay long in Volans, because they were home and glared at us as we passed. Professor Korba, a pixie himself, acted like he didn’t notice, but he still took us out quickly.

“Very well, students,” he said once we were walking back to our classroom. “Why did we go through that fun little exercise? Any ideas?”

“You have a twisted sense of humor?” Katie Bells offered. Professor Korba just waited.

I raised my hand.

“Yes, Charlotte?” Professor Korba asked, eyeing me over the heads of other students.

“We have to be able to understand each other,” I told him.

“Yes, yes. Expand on that,” he suggested.

“Well,” I said, “if we are to fight the demons it’s pretty clear we have to do it together. We’ve all been fine as long as the demons didn’t have much strength, but now they’re getting stronger. As you just said, we can’t fight them off on our own. We have to fight them off together.”

“Very good, Charlotte. We will make a paranormal of you yet,” said Professor Korba, nodding his head. “This school has too much in-fighting. You are all students here and should all get along. The fact that one student is a vampire and another a fallen angel does not give one the right to fight or bully the other. Dash goes some way in the right direction by bringing competition out in a healthy way, but we must do more. This,” he waved his hand behind us, back to where Volans was now hidden in the trees, “is more. Remember. And think before you fight.”

“Now,” he continued. “I believe you all have studying to do before exams start.” He fluttered off, leaving us all staring after him.

It was now cold outside and time for dinner. Sip, Lisabelle, Lough, and I headed to the dining hall. Right after dinner I was supposed to meet Keller again, this time on the Dash field, where I was actually supposed to practice magic. I had informed Keller that he’d be safest if he brought armor with him.

Keller found me in the dining hall just as I finished eating. He had a sixth sense for the best times to swoop in and make me practice my magic; this time he showed up just as I had shoveled a particularly large bite of broccoli into my mouth. My face turned a bright red as I tried to chew. Lisabelle snorted into her milk.

The two of us walked toward the Dash field in the vanishing light. It was like a large vacuum in the sky had come and sucked away all the sun’s rays. This walk with Keller reminded me of the first weekend we’d walked over to Dash together, before I knew what it was, before I knew how much fun I was missing. Remembering that time, I glanced sideways at Keller. You could tell he was well-muscled, but I wouldn’t expect him to be the best Dasher at school; it was Cale who looked more like a Dasher. But I had to shove thoughts of Cale out of my mind. I was pretty sure he was going to go back to Camilla, which was going to ruin our friendship anyway.

“Did you bring protection?” I asked, then blushed furiously.

For a second I thought I saw Keller’s mouth twitch, but all he said was, “I won’t let you hurt me. Or yourself.”

“You say that now,” I informed him, “but you aren’t all-powerful.”

“No,” he acknowledged, “but I can defend myself from an out-of-control mage.” He hadn’t called me a Probationer.

“You hope,” I muttered.

We spent the next two hours practicing. When it got too dark, Keller was forced to create a bobbing globe of light. What I learned quickly was that I still had no control over my magic. I had the uncomfortable feeling that Keller was studying me, although I wasn’t sure why. He spent most of the time with his dark eyebrows furled over his blue eyes. At different points he would give me directions or suggestions, the main one of which was to point my magic toward the trees and away from the school, and him.

It didn’t matter where I pointed it, though. No matter where I tried to send it, the magic didn’t come.

Tired and angry, I pointed my ring at the ground and ordered it to strike. I don’t know what I expected, but a searing burst of blue fire lancing out of my hand was not it. I gasped, staring down at the scorched ground in front of me. Keller came racing over, breathless. “What was that?” he demanded. “You killed the grass!”

“Blue fire comes out of my hand and you’re mad about the grass?” I demanded. I knew I was being hostile, but I was too upset not to be. The bobbing globe cast half of Keller’s face in shadow, but I could still tell he was looking at me.

Then, instead of just looking, he came toward me. He was a foot away, then he wasn’t even that. The whole time, he never broke eye contact. When he was close enough, his long fingertips closed gently around my hand. He looked down to examine my knuckles.

“Are you alright?” he asked, his head bent over my arm.

“Yes.”

“There’s something very strange about your magic, Charlotte Rollins.” He brushed his fingers over my ring. Our eyes met again. His eyes and my magic were both blue. I wasn’t breathing. Then he released my hand.

He spent a long time staring at the hole in the Earth I’d just made. He waved his hand and fixed it. I looked at him, startled. He shrugged. He was still standing close to me. “Can’t have your craziness getting in the way of Dash, can we?”

“I’m not crazy,” I retorted. “Or if I am, it’s in no way you’ve ever seen.”

Keller raised his eyebrows, and I blushed again.

“Come on,” said Keller turning away abruptly. “We have exams in the morning.”

“Is what I just did a mage thing?” I asked. “Is it an Airlee thing?”

Keller’s eyebrows came together. He sighed and said, “No, that’s not the dorm that was known for that sort of thing.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

I didn’t have time to think about what Keller had said; the morning of the exams came all too soon. I was confident in most of my subjects, even the class with Professor Zervos. What worried me was Professor Anania’s class, where I was actually expected to perform magic. I knew that could be my downfall, because despite what had happened with Keller the night before, I couldn’t perform magic on command. It was a relief to know that it was inside me somewhere, lurking, but the problem was bringing it out. I couldn’t do that, and that’s exactly what Professor Anania expected me to do. Meanwhile, I was more afraid than ever of what had happened with the artifacts that first Saturday morning in Astra. It seemed more and more likely, as time passed and I reflected on what I could and couldn’t do, that there was something really wrong with me.

Since the exam schedule was not the same as our regular class schedule, I had to check when each test was. All I hoped was that Professor Anania’s exam wasn’t the last on the schedule, because I wanted to get it out of the way. But of course, it was. Saturday afternoon the Airlee students were expected on the Dash field to perform what we’d learned in magic class. Even worse, since Dash wasn’t happening that Saturday, and since a lot of students didn’t have an exam time for that afternoon, there was likely to be a crowd watching us perform.

“How awful,” said Sip. “I don’t think other students were allowed to watch in years past.”

“They’re getting more sadistic,” I commented drily.

“My respect for them increases daily,” said Lisabelle. We were in our room on Friday night, studying. I was in a chair while Lisabelle and Sip were sprawled on the beds.

“They are not,” Sip protested. “Maybe they’re just learning exactly what they need to teach us.”

“How to Withstand Public Humiliation 101,” Lisabelle joked, flipping through the pages of a book without really looking at it.

Tired of pretending to read the book, Lisabelle reached for the last cookie at the same time as Sip. Both grabbed it.

“Lisabelle, let’s just compromise,” said Sip when Lisabelle wouldn’t let the cookie go. “We can each eat half.”

“But then neither of us gets what she wants,” Lisabelle pointed out. “It’d be best if you just gave in and let me win. Then at least one of us is happy.”

The next day was bright and sunny, but even the sun couldn’t warm my mood. I was sure that when I tried to perform magic, the clouds would gather and there would be a rainstorm. A perfect day to forecast my doom.

At this point I just hoped that I wouldn’t embarrass myself. I didn’t want to embarrass Keller either, since he was the only person on campus who believed in me. But his friends probably wouldn’t blame him if I failed, they would just say it hadn’t been his fault he was stuck tutoring the Probationer. And he never mentioned what had happened at the dance.

All I hoped was that he’d have the decency not to show up to watch me. That would make me extra nervous, and I didn’t need the extra pressure. In fact, I told myself, probably no one was going to show up. Why would they? Starters were at the bottom of the social ladder, so why should anyone care how we did on the exams?

When I reached the Dash field, the spectacle took my breath away along with my forlorn hopes. The seats were full. Admittedly not like they were for Dash, with students standing, sitting on each other’s laps, and sitting in the grass, but they were definitely crowded. A lot of students had come out to watch the Starters perform. My heart sank.

Even if I could repeat what I had done the day before, which I seriously doubted, it wouldn’t be nearly as impressive as anything Lisabelle, Sip, or the other Starters had planned.

I didn’t dare look for Keller in the crowd, but I knew he was there. Worse, professors, and the President herself, were also there. I remembered that the President was a powerful mage, though I’d only seen her perform that one time at the start of Dash. She didn’t look like she was about to perform magic, though. Instead, she was sitting with a group of professors in the front row, just watching. Professor Anania stalked back and forth across the field. Periodically her hand would swipe out and she’d shove her glasses higher onto her nose again.

Every bone in my body told me to run, and to run as long and hard and as fast and far away as I could. I shouldn’t be here. I couldn’t do this. There was no way. Wasn’t there a calculus exam I should be taking somewhere? Only Lisabelle slipping her arm around my shoulder kept me walking forward. Even with that reassurance, I found it hard to breathe.

“Good afternoon,” announced Professor Anania as we joined the assembled Starters. “Today marks the end of midterms. Most of you have already passed the Starter test, and for you this should be pretty simple. For the rest of you….” she merely shrugged, as if she couldn’t care less what happened to us. “Today is an important exam, perhaps the only other chance you will have to exhibit your skills before your final chance to pass the Starter test.”

I remembered the President telling me that I had until the end of the first semester to get a handle on my magic, because that was the deadline for taking the Starter test. At the time, in all my ignorance, I had been sure I would get a handle on my magic. Well, that hadn’t happened. I was still failing, in spectacular fashion. I sighed. Today was going to be yet another hopeless humiliation, just with more witnesses than usual.

“Line up,” Professor Anania yelled. In the rush of students to get in line, I found myself pushed to the back. The more time I could put between myself and an exam I was sure to fail, the better. It was an odd feeling for me. In my old life I had been confident, but at Public, this uncertainty had shaken my confidence to the core.

I took comfort in knowing that I had passed every other exam. I wasn’t perfect, that was up to Sip, but I wasn’t a failure either. My professors knew that I was trying, even though what I was trying most at, what should have been easiest for me, the magic, wouldn’t come.

I watched my fellow Starters perform as one by one they went through the steps of their powers. Lough was first, and though I didn’t understand what he was doing, Professor Anania looked impressed.

Next, Evan, the blond vampire, stepped forward. He raised his arm as his fangs came out. He must have been wearing the special concoction that allowed him to be out for a short period in daylight, because he looked extra pale.

Suddenly a strix came flying through the air. I had no idea how Evan had done that, since strixes were normally only out at night. But the flying creature came and landed comfortably on Evan’s arm, and all the vampires in the audience clapped.

Lisabelle performed flawlessly, as usual. Also as usual, she scared everyone present. She puffed a massive cloud of darkness, allowing it to get bigger and bigger until Professor Anania was forced to tell her to stop. There was only a smattering of claps.

Finally it was my turn. By that time I had forgotten that I was supposed to participate in the performance, instead of just sitting back and watching, and I wished I could tell Professor Anania that I preferred watching. But instead, summoning what courage I had left, I stepped forward.

Everything I had been working for the past two months had come down to this moment. All that time with Keller, all the taunts I’d endured from the pixies, it all came down to now. If I couldn’t perform now, then I would go home. There was no other option, because I didn’t think I could live with the shame any more. I would just have to tell the President that she was wrong about me. I would be sad to leave my friends, and I was worried about Lisabelle and what the paranormals would do to her if they kept thinking that she was a traitor. But Sip would keep me up to date, I was sure. Or at least, I hoped she would.

I took a deep breath and walked into the middle of the field. The silence was broken only once, when someone – probably a pixie – called out, “It’s a waste of time, send the Probationer home now.” I don’t know what happened, but the person shut up after that.

I concentrated, just like I’d been taught, focusing on finding my magic inside. I could feel it there, cool, strong, ready. I called to it, and with amazement I felt it start to rise. I refused to get excited; I refused to stop concentrating on the power surging upward. I knew what I wanted to do with it. As a mage I could create illusions, conjure what wasn’t there, defend against attack. I would have been happy with the simplest illusion, but the magic raced through me until it started to pour out and I felt my control slip.

Pain split my head as my magic exploded upwards. I had no control over it; the power controlled itself. I tried to direct it, I tried at least to keep it away from the stands filled with people, but it had a mind of its own.

Fortunately, the magic shot straight downward, into the ground. Just like the night before, I managed to force it downward, even though I couldn’t seem to make it do anything else. I felt the ground shift in front of me, groaning from the strain of power flooding into it.

My body went limp. Why, I wondered, was it so hard to perform spells? Then I remembered that I wasn’t even managing to perform a spell, but I was still bone tired. Opening my eyes was a struggle; all I could see when I tried was a blinding light. My eyes started to close again, drooping with tiredness. The power was slowing down. It had stopped racing out of me and instead was retreating. I felt my knees buckle and tried to catch myself, but it was too late. My legs had turned to mush, and I fell to the ground. I didn’t even have the energy to listen to the crowd, cheering wildly.

Slowly I came awake. The familiar eyes of Tabby, the nurse, looked down on me with silent disdain.

“I thought I told you not to come back here,” she said. Her lips puckered as if I’d somehow personally offended her. I tried to sit up, but she pushed me back down. “I don’t think so. You’ve had a large shock, and used a terrible lot of your magic. Now you require rest.” I tried to nod, but I barely even had the energy for that.

“What happened?” I croaked. I wasn’t in pain. My limbs felt like they had been pummeled, but I didn’t remember being in a fight. I could feel the familiar white Infirmary blankets coming up to my chin, but I didn’t even have the strength to lift my arm and push them back down.

“You fainted, that’s what. Used almost all of your magic,” Tabby scoffed. “I haven’t figured out why, though. There’s something off about your magic. You weren’t even doing anything hard.”

“Maybe I’m just not very good.”

Tabby said, “It’s a distinct possibility.”

I tried to nod, but found myself having to fight off sleep instead.

“Did I pass?” I asked. My head felt fuzzy, like it was wrapped in a warm blanket.

“Oh, you passed,” said Tabby. I think I heard a bit of pride in her voice. “No one has ever passed with such drama before. I could hear the cheering from here.”

I smiled at that. I hadn’t realized anyone would cheer for me, let alone bleachers full of students. I’m sure the pixies didn’t, but maybe the rest of them did. If Camilla wasn’t there, Cale might even have cheered for me. I couldn’t wait to see my friends and hear what they had to say about it.

“I’m just relieved the exams are over,” I told her.

Tabby pointed out that every Starter felt that way.

“If only it counted for my Starter test,” I said sadly.

“When the time comes you’ll pass it,” said Tabby.

“How do you know?”

“Because you do what you have to,” was all she said. I started to ask another question, but she shushed me. “You may not pass in the way you think, but you’ll pass.”

I didn’t need to be told twice to go to sleep. My body was already insisting on it. With my last thought I wondered if Keller had really been there after all, and if he was one of the ones cheering.

Note to self, walking home alone at night is not a good idea. I knew this before I did it, but I really knew it by the end of that night. The problem was that I had no choice. I knew my friends would have come to get me from the Infirmary, but we were still on lockdown from the hellhound sighting.

As I stepped outside I released my hair from its ponytail and let it fall around my shoulders. It was the best chance I had of keeping my ears warm. I remembered when Keller had walked me back to my dorm a few weeks before and we’d run into a demon. I hadn’t been able to fight it on my own.

I walked faster. Airlee wasn’t far away.

I was a little tired, but whatever nurse Tabby had done to me, my limbs were feeling better. My legs felt stronger and less like Jell-O.

Soon I was almost running. Unfortunately, it wasn’t fast enough. Instead of demons or pixies materializing out of the darkness to attack me, it was a more menacing sight: vampires.

And I was alone, too far away from Airlee or any other help. I thought about turning and running back to the Infirmary, but I would never make it. Instead, I planted my feet and waited.

Strictly speaking, they were the only ones who were supposed to be walking the paths this late at night; this was their time. None of the other students dared to wonder what the vampires did when they had the campus to themselves. At one point I had wanted to ask Professor Lambros, but Sip had turned pale and insisted I promise not to. I had, because Sip had looked so scared.

Floating toward me was Lanca, the senior vampire princess. Her hair was so dark it blended with the night around her, in stark contrast to her pale arms. She wasn’t wearing a coat. She wasn’t shivering. I had thought she looked menacing at the best of times, but now she looked downright dangerous. I tried to take a breath, but the cold hurt my throat. Her glittering black eyes caught mine and held. I stopped trying to breathe. A smile spread slowly across her thin lips.

“Good evening, Charlotte,” she said, stepping toward me. “I was wondering when we would catch you alone.”

We?

Out of the shadows stepped Tale, Lanca’s constant larger shadow, and several other vampires I recognized for the simple fact that none of them were Starters – meaning they were all already trained in magic and brutality, just in case they had come to Public without those charming qualities.

I tried to take a step back, but I should have known better. Of course the vampires were behind me as well. They swirled around me, their black clothing contrasting with their pale features. I wasn’t sure where the vampires landed on hating other paranormals. They were unfriendly at the best of times.

“Evening Lanca,” I said. “Nice night for a stroll.”

She threw her head back and laughed. “You are too forward, Charlotte. Until now it may have served you well, but until now it wasn’t so critical that you be careful,” she informed me. I had no idea what she was talking about.

I felt like I was getting a lecture from a professor, not talking to a fellow student.

“How did you know I would be out here alone?” I asked. “Why are you all out here?” Whenever I am scared out of my wits – like right then – I tend to do the worst thing possible: I go on the offensive. This was one of those times.

“We’re here to look after you,” she said. I couldn’t look away from those glittering eyes. “Don’t you know?” she asked softly. “Don’t you even suspect?”

“Lanca,” I started, but changed my tone when one of the male vampires surrounding me growled. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“We realize that,” she said. “Look, Charlotte, you are new to the paranormal social scene, but it’s clear you aren’t stupid. So, let me be clear. You’ve seen that the paranormals don’t get along,” she said, and smiled. It only made her look more threatening, and more beautiful. “We,” she inclined her head to include the other vampires, “understand this. The demons destroyed any trust we could have in each other.” She paused. With every sentence she seemed to be considering each word more carefully.

“But the vampires aren’t as hostile to the other paranormals as you might think.” She was looking at me like she wanted me to understand, but I still didn’t.

She sighed. “We are better with subtlety. We are out here to protect you. When the time comes we will stand with you. All the vampires will. You should know.”

At first I wanted to laugh. I didn’t realize that vampires had a sense of humor, but judging from Lanca’s face, she wasn’t kidding. “What do I need protection from, and why are you the one doing it? And, stand to do what?” The only thing I could think of was protecting Lisabelle, but I couldn’t believe that the vampires would care about a wronged darkness mage.

Lanca nodded, as if I was finally getting it. “It is not a what it’s a who, and we are doing it because the vampires care about the Power of Five.”

Maybe she does mean Lisabelle.

“Professor Zervos doesn’t care about it,” I shot back. I knew I shouldn’t have said it, since Professor Zervos was a vampire, but to give Lanca credit, she remained calm.

“Professor Zervos is a vampire, and yes he does care about it,” she told me. “That is not who I mean.”

Worry shot through me like a million little bullets. “You think it’s Lisabelle too?” I demanded. “Really, I would have expected better of you. It’s NOT Lisabelle. And if you think it is, why would you help me protect her? Both darkness mages and vampires have darkness magic. They could just as easily be accusing the vampires of letting in the hellhound as Lisabelle.”

Lanca nodded. “Now we’re getting somewhere,” she told me.

“It’s not Lisabelle,” I said again.

Lanca nodded. “I know that and you know that, but you have to think about why no one else knows that. Why aren’t the vampires the ones being accused?” she asked quietly.

“Because Professor Zervos wouldn’t cast suspicion on his own kind?” I asked. “Because somehow they think it has to be a darkness mage and there’s only one on campus?”

Lanca almost smiled at me. “Stubbornness is not always a virtue,” she told me. “It is not Professor Zervos.”

She glanced over her shoulder. “I have to go. You shouldn’t walk around alone.”

She started to drift away, the other vampires following her.

“Lanca?” I called.

She turned.

“Do you really think that the hellhound is after me?” I asked.

She didn’t answer, just kept floating away. I wanted her to reassure me that she didn’t think the traitor was Lisabelle, but that could only leave Zervos, and she didn’t agree with that either. If it was neither of them, then who could it be? For the briefest flash I hoped it was Camilla. That would give me a good excuse to fight her.

I watched Lanca fade into the darkness. She disappeared seamlessly like she was more dark than light. I guessed maybe she was.

After I passed my mid-terms, life improved. I still couldn’t do real magic, but I felt less worried that I was going to get kicked out of school. Pixies still harassed me, but not as much. There were no demon sightings and the professors removed the school from lockdown. Keller and I continued to study together. He was polite but distant. I always wanted to draw more out of him than I got and would leave our meetings feeling frustrated. I was surprised when November turned into December and the last weeks of the semester approached. I was working hard. I just hoped it would be hard enough. After Lanca’s warning, she went back to pretending I wasn’t there most of the time. I started to wonder if I had dreamed it all.

The quiet time of comfort would not last.

It was late one night a week before finals when Sip came to get me from the library.

“How’s it going?” she asked when she found me. I was bent over a book, trying to decipher a pixie code Korba had given us.

I pushed the book away from me. “If I’d passed my Starter test I would say that I couldn’t wait for this semester to be over.”

Sip patted my forearm. She knew how conflicted I was. I had run out of time.

“Lisabelle’s waiting for us at Airlee,” she said. “She wants to play games or something. Lough’s in.”

“Alright,” I said. I was too tired to finish the cipher anyway. I gave Sip a hard look. She was paler than normal.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“There was another attack,” said Sip, running a hand through her spiky blond hair. “Someone else saw the hellhound.”

“What happened? Where’s Lisabelle?” I demanded. I’d been holed up in the library all night, but now that I looked around I saw how quiet it was. There were no other students in sight.

“I think Lisabelle just wanted to stay in the dorm after we heard about the attack. She doesn’t want to get in trouble again.”

“That makes sense,” I said, “since the professors treat her like she’s already guilty.”

We were outside now, walking through the freezing night air. It hadn’t snowed it, but it was only a matter of time.

“Who saw the hound?” I asked.

“Some Starter walking alone. I guess a lot of pixies and vampires saw it and didn’t do anything. They hate Airlees that much, I guess, so it’s bad. I think they’re going to put us on lockdown again. The girl was too distraught to talk, but once she does I feel like the professors are going to freak out.”

“Did they call Lisabelle into the office again?” I asked. The professors had decided that it would be easier to blame Lisabelle for everything instead of finding who was behind letting the hellhound onto campus, and I couldn’t think of any reason why this time might be different.

We could see Airlee now, twinkling away in the night. Everything looked peaceful. Not just like a hellhound was running loose on campus and someone had betrayed the paranormals. We rounded a corner and were about to walk inside when I saw something moving on the lawn. My gut twisted.

Sip let out a scream.

Lisabelle was on the lawn, kneeling next to a motionless form. Sip and I ran closer and Lisabelle looked up at us. I couldn’t read her eyes, but I saw what was on her hands. Her hands, all the way up her arms, were covered in blood. With a sickening feeling I looked down.

The form she was knelling next to was a human being. A crumpled human being, with blood seeping out from under him. Lisabelle had killed a student.

Chapter Twenty-Three

“What did you do?” Sip cried. “Lisabelle, are you alright?”

Lisabelle looked up, her eyes glassy, her lips trembling. Finally, she stuttered, “I didn’t. I didn’t do anything!”

While Sip stood there dumbfounded, I knelt next to the motionless form. “Who is it?” I asked. “Should I get help?”

“He’s dead,” Lisabelle wailed. “Are you an idiot? HE’S DEAD.” I leaned over the body, trying to see his face. Though he was covered in dark blood, I could see who it was: Bailey, the other dream giver. Lough was now a Dream Giver Association of one.

“What happened to him?” Sip breathed, kneeling down beside me. There were tears in her eyes and her hands trembled. “Poor Bailey. His poor family. How will we ever tell Lough?”

“What happened to him?” I asked, echoing Sip and glancing at Lisabelle. But she was in no condition to answer me. Her breath was coming fast and shallow, and she looked ready to collapse. She was distraught, but something told me we didn’t have much time, so I pushed.

“Lisabelle?” I said, trying to get her attention. At first she just continued to stare down at our dead friend. I said her name again, louder, and finally she looked at me.

“You have to tell me what happened,” I insisted. “Now, before anyone else gets here.” Sip’s attention was focused on Bailey, but at my words she looked up in alarm.

Lisabelle coughed. She looked away as she remembered something that wasn’t right in front of her. “I was in my room, reading. Just relaxing. Waiting for you and Sip to get back. I heard someone calling my name, so I looked out the window. I thought I saw something….” she paused and grimaced. “I thought it was you two playing a joke on me. So, I came outside….”

Guilt tore through me. “You came outside because of us?”

There wasn’t anything else to say. All three of us knew what was coming. Lisabelle was covered in his blood.

“Then what happened?” I asked. My voice trembled, but I was trying to keep my emotions under control. I had to stay in calm until I finished talking to Lisabelle, because I had a feeling we weren’t going to have another chance to talk for a long time.

“I came outside and he staggered past me,” said Lisabelle. Tears started rolling down her cheeks. She swiped one away, leaving a bloody smear.

“He was already hurt?” I asked. I couldn’t see what wound had killed Bailey. Just the blood.

“Of course he was already hurt!” she cried. “Then he just staggered and fell. Into my arms. I held him while he died. He let out an awful sort of gurgle, then stopped moving.” Lisabelle was no longer trying to keep the tears from coming.

“Did you see anything else?” I asked.

“No,” said Lisabelle, “NO.”

She screamed. Not because of the story she was trying to tell us, but because just at that moment a green magical fire slammed into her.

The professors had arrived. Lisabelle was pinned to the ground with fire that burned into her skin. She struggled, but she couldn’t move. I turned and looked over my shoulder. My gut felt like someone was stabbing a knife into it.

“Sip, Charlotte, get away from him,” said the President. Her eyes were black pinpoints as she marched toward us. Professor Zervos and two other professors flanked her.

Slowly, hands raised, Sip and I backed away. My heart was pounding. I couldn’t take my eyes off Lisabelle struggling against the fire holding her down. Suddenly, she sprang upright, screaming as the bonds cut deeper.

“I didn’t do it,” she yelled to me. “You listen. I didn’t do it.”

“Sorry,” said the President. Her eyes pitiless. “But the evidence is overwhelming.”

“She told you she didn’t do it,” I said, pushing forward. “Leave her alone. There’s no proof. There never has been.”

The President turned icy eyes on me. “There is blood on her hands. Literally. We have a student dead. This school has operated for hundreds of years, and this is the first time that a student has been murdered on our grounds.”

“All you’re worried about is finding someone to blame,” I yelled. “You aren’t worried about the truth.” Before I was done speaking Professor Zervos came toward me and yanked me away from the President. I looked frantically at Sip. She agreed with me, but there was nothing she could say. Lisabelle couldn’t speak. The green fire was choking her.

“You have to believe me,” I told the President, pleading. “You have to!”

Professor Zervos tightened his grip. I whimpered. I was as trapped as Lisabelle.

“Where is nurse Tabby?” asked the President. She was no longer looking at me, or indeed at Sip or Lisabelle. It was like we weren’t really there. Not worth her attention.

“She’s coming,” said one of the other professors. “Is he dead?” The adults ignored everything that Sip and I tried to say after that.

“Charlotte and Sip must both be tired from preparing for finals,” said the President. “They don’t know what they are saying and they need rest. Get them out of here,” she ordered Zervos. “Before they make a scene.”

“I won’t leave Lisabelle,” I cried, struggling out of the chokehold Professor Zervos had me in. “You can’t make me.”

“I won’t either,” said Sip, pushing forward to stand next to me.

But of course we were forced to leave. Professor Zervos was a professor, and a full-grown man, and he was stronger than either of us. We had no chance against him and we both knew it. With one last desperate look back at the immovably bound Lisabelle, we were herded away. My last glimpse of my friend was of her being led off by the President, still in green chains of fire.

“Go to your room,” ordered Professor Zervos once he had shoved us inside.

I spun around to argue, but Zervos was already gone. The door slammed behind him. Then silence.

Sip was shaking. She raced to the window, but we both knew that the windows didn’t overlook that part of the front yard. Besides, the professors were cleaning everything up. We continued to stand in the hall anyway, staring at nothing. I was too shocked to move, and Sip was no better off.

Bailey was dead. The hellhound had murdered one of our own students, and it was still on the loose. The knife in my stomach twisted.

“Charlotte, you’re here, wonderful,” Lough cried. He came bounding into the room. I turned to him, numb.

He saw our pale faces and halted. “What’s wrong?” he asked. “I’m really looking forward to playing games tonight. You okay?”

Tears started streaming down Sip’s face. “Oh, Lough. It’s so awful,” she said, collapsing into his arms. He caught her, but his face showed his bewilderment.

“What is it?” he begged. “Tell me what happened!”

Once I said it I couldn’t take it back. I did not want to watch his face crumple. “Lisabelle’s been arrested.”

Lough made a move as if to run. Sip was still in his arms. He paused and looked down at her blond head. Pain etched in amongst the laugh lines of his face.

I took a steadying breath. I had only told him half of it. The first half hadn’t killed him, but the second half might. “Because she was found near Bailey’s body. He was murdered.”

All color drained from Lough’s face. Not releasing Sip, he sank to the floor, the picture of someone too devastated to cry. “Bailey’s dead?” he croaked. “Are you sure? He might just be sleeping. This is no time for jokes, Charlotte. A lot’s been going on the past couple of weeks.”

I nodded. “I know,” I said. “Lough, I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah, so am I,” said Sip. She pushed herself away from Lough but didn’t try to get up off the floor. She was shaking so badly her legs didn’t look like they would support her.

“I have to see for myself,” he said. He started to get up.

“No, Lough,” I said.

He slipped. And fell. He did not rise again.

“Lough,” I said softly. “I’m sorry.” I knelt on the floor on front of my friends. Slowly, I wrapped my arms around Lough. At my first touch he started, like he was coming out of a trance, but he let me hug him. Sip wrapped her arms around both of us.

“Sip,” Lough said, his voice muffled in my shoulder. “Your crying is getting my shirt wet.”

“Get used to it,” said Sip.

“That’s something Lisabelle would say,” he said. He pulled away and sat back. “Tell me what happened.”

His jaw jutted out and his eyes were hard. He kept an arm around Sip, but his focus was on me. I told him everything.

“Did Lisabelle do it?”

“No,” I said firmly.

“She didn’t,” Sip agreed.

“I saw her a half hour before,” Sip said, snuffling. “There’s no way she did it.”

“Poor Bailey,” Lough said, and his head dropped into his hands. “Poor, poor Bailey.”

Regret and sadness mingled with exhaustion, but I couldn’t think about it now. I looked out the window. In the distance I could see the professors retreating.

“We have to save Lisabelle,” I said, trying to believe we could.

“Well, duh,” said Sip.

“Yeah,” said Lough. “Thank you, queen of the obvious.” He gave a thin smile.

“There’s nothing we can do tonight. We won’t do Lisabelle any favors by being exhausted,” said Sip. Lough nodded numbly.

Sip stood up. “Let’s get some sleep. We have a lot to do in the morning.”

“What do you think they’re going to do with Bailey’s body?” Lough asked. He stood up as well. Slowly, like an old man.

“I think they’re going to call his family, and they’re going to have to make an announcement tomorrow at breakfast,” said Sip.

I wondered if some of the other dorms would clap. The pixies’ hatred of me had spread to the other members of Airlee too; none of them would shed a tear for Bailey. The relationships among the paranormals had deteriorated to such an extent that no one outside of Airlee would care what had happened to him.

In bed, I was too tired to cry. One thing I knew to be true: this had to stop. I was going to find that hellhound, and whoever let him onto Public’s campus. Magic or no, and I was going to make them pay.

Sip and I trudged to breakfast the next morning with Lough beside us. His eyes were bloodshot in a way that I would have expected after a night of hard partying. Sip was quiet and pale. Her lips formed one thin white line.

I stared hard at the spot where Bailey’s body had been. Part of me wondered if it had all been a bad dream. Someday Lough would be good enough with his magic to create living dreams like that, and if there were a really powerful dream giver on campus, maybe they had sent the awful nightmare where one of my friends was dead and another of my friends was blamed.

But Lisabelle’s absence confirmed the horrible truth: Bailey was dead, and Lisabelle was gone. She would never be a student at Public again. There was a good chance they wouldn’t even let her live. A lump formed in my throat.

I had imagined blood-soaked grass, but of course it wasn’t. There were no signs that a body had lain there the night before and that one life had been lost and another ruined.

As we walked in to breakfast, none of the other students acted like anything was wrong. They didn’t know. The pixies were nasty as usual, but it seemed so irrelevant now. I tried to ignore their foolish barbs and their attempts to trip me. Kia came up behind me and stuck her foot out, but she wasn’t subtle enough, and I saw her extended green ankle in time. It was the second time she had tried to trip me this semester. The first time she had succeeded and I had ended up with more Astra work. This time, the spark of fury inside me became an inferno. I flipped my empty tray in my hand. My grip was solid. I checked my stance. Like I was swinging a baseball bat, I brought my other hand up and pivoted. The tray slammed into Kia’s face. It was no longer a time to be passive.

Kia screamed. As blood squirted from her nose in bubbly spurts, Camilla came towards me, yelling. I flipped my tray again, ready for a second swing, and she came to a dead halt. Without ever taking her eyes off me, she went to help her friend. The dining hall had gone silent. Lough was staring at me like he had never seen anything like it before.

“You just reminded me of Lisabelle,” he said. “It was awesome.”

Defiantly I picked up a new tray, and as I did so my eyes met Keller’s. He looked worried. I couldn’t imagine why; he knew I had taken a lot of abuse from the pixies. Maybe he would have thought better of me if I hadn’t snapped, or maybe not. But what was done was done, and I was glad of it.

Once I was seated between Lough and Sip I tried to get a look at the professors, but none of them were there. I was about to take the first bite of my eggs when someone slid into a seat next to me. It was Keller. The tip of his elbow touched the tip of mine.

“What happened?” he asked.

“What makes you think something happened?” I asked as I savaged my eggs. He eyed the mush for a second, then said, “You don’t usually start the morning by taking batting practice at someone’s face.”

“That’s a baseball term,” said Lough to Sip.

She glared at him. He took a big bite of toast.

I leaned closer; I didn’t want to be overheard. “Lisabelle was arrested last night. Another hellhound attack.”

Keller didn’t react. “Are you alright?”

Why was he asking if I was alright when Lisabelle was the one who had been arrested? I told him, “I don’t think I am.” But before he could ask anything else, the professors, led by the President, swept in. Until that point I had liked the President. She had treated me with respect, if not kindness, which was a lot better than Professor Zervos had ever done. But now I looked at her differently. Last night she had led Lisabelle away in chains. I would never forgive her for that.

She didn’t bother to sit down. Instead, she walked straight to the podium. I was flooded with memories of my first night, when everything was bright with possibility and the idea of my friend being arrested would have seemed laughable. Ruthlessly I pushed the memories away. I had to concentrate.

The President rested her hands on the podium. The room fell silent. She’d never addressed the students at breakfast before.

“Good morning,” she said. I thought she trembled a little. Good. Serves her right.

“We have some distressing news. First, I would like to make clear that everyone here is safe. We are doing our very best to protect students. The perpetrator has been captured.”

Murmurs rippled around me.

I looked at the rows of professors as she talked. One was missing: Zervos. I wondered where he was now. I hoped he wasn’t with Lisabelle.

“Last night, a hellhound attacked a student at the direction of another student. It pains me beyond measure that we were betrayed by one of our own.” Her shaking hand adjusted the collar around her neck. “With great sadness, I must announce that the dream giver Bailey was killed.” She paused as murmurs subsided into disbelief. A couple of students cried out. The vampires were stone-faced, so were the fallen angels. The pixies didn’t have any expression on their faces at all.

I was aware of Keller’s weight at my side like the sun blazing next to me. He covered his mouth with his fist. He glanced at me, but I couldn’t read his expression.

The President continued. “The guilty student was caught not long after the dreadful and vicious attack. I believe that the threat has been neutralized. Therefore, students no longer need to worry.”

Students, from vampires to werewolves, were looking around the room. Several called out, “Who was it?”

The President, with a deep sigh, said, “It is no surprise that the guilty student was Lisabelle Verlans. We regret that fellow students were put in a position where we allowed a dangerous killer in your midst. We regret that you were tainted with her presence. Of course, letters will be sent home to your parents with our sincerest apologies.”

Now the students were really talking. The pixies looked smug. Everyone believed the President. They all thought Lisabelle was guilty.

“This is the last time a darkness mage will be allowed within these walls,” said the President. “I take full responsibility. It was a mistake.”

“Serves her right,” called one of the pixies. “She should never have been here in the first place. None of the Airlee students should be here.”

That set off an explosion of noise. Lough stood up and started yelling. Sip forced him back into his chair.

“Now, now,” said the President. “Enough.”

Kevin, the senior pixie, stood up. “But why would Lisabelle attack someone from her own dorm?” I was so grateful I could have kissed him. Maybe they will listen to him, I thought.

“We believe,” said the President, “that Lisabelle did not view herself as loyal to any dorm. Every student was at risk. We do not know why Bailey was targeted, but perhaps he found out something he shouldn’t have.”

That was the last straw for me. If Bailey had found out something, it hadn’t been about Lisabelle.

I pushed my chair back and stood up. Into the silence I said, “Lisabelle is innocent. She’s been falsely accused.”

Everyone in the hall stared at me. Then a pixie started to laugh.

“She’s a darkness mage,” the girl scoffed. “They cannot be trusted. Most of them are already on the side of the demons. And now we know why Lisabelle hated all of us. And you befriended that thing.”

I was so angry I couldn’t think straight. Here was someone acting like Lisabelle was some conniving, evil mage, instead of a person, while the true villain was still at large and no one wanted to do anything about it. I was about to shoot a reply back when Keller stood up. The pixie shut up instantly. Challenging a probationer was one thing, challenging Keller was another. He took hold of my arm and propelled me away. I fought him; I didn’t want to go. I had to defend Lisabelle. But he was stronger than I was.

“Come on,” he said in a low voice, “or do you want everyone in the school thinking you are a threat too?”

That shut me up. What did Keller mean? Did he believe me that it wasn’t Lisabelle? I allowed him to take me out of the hall. I didn’t look back. He led me towards the door.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed? For once in your life act cowed,” he whispered furiously. “At the moment it is more important for your enemies to think you are scared than for you to defend your friend.”

At the door we passed Professor Zervos, who went frantically by us without seeming to see us at all. Keller and I both stopped to stare at him. Once inside the hall he skidded to a stop. His robes were flapping and untied and his hair was sticking out at odd angles.

“President,” he cried, “she’s gone. Lisabelle Verlans has escaped.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Cries erupted around the room. The President, looking stricken, waved her hands for order. “Allow me to confer for a moment with my colleagues,” she ordered. Professor Zervos darted to her.

I yanked out of Keller’s grasp.

Turning back towards the room the President said, “Classes are canceled, and the school is on lockdown until this mad woman is caught. I realize that you are all young adults, but we still must consider your safety, and with Lisabelle Verlans on the loose no one is safe.”

At that Lough got up and stormed out. Keller grabbed my arm again and hauled me out the door. His fingers felt like steel rods biting into my skin.

The fact that everything had been going well for the past month made it even harder than it might have been otherwise to accept what was happening. I’d been looking forward to the end of the semester. The change in weather, as it started to get colder, didn’t bother me. I had been working hard with Keller, and even though I hadn’t produced the kind of magic had I managed at midterms, I had been improving. Keller had started to seem slightly withdrawn, and that had been worrying me, but I had told myself that it was just stress from finals and from Dash.

The finals at Dash were for individuals, and Keller was one of them. He would be competing against Tale and Cale for the trophy. Lisabelle was supposed to be the fourth finalist, but given that she had been arrested, a senior mage named Nancy, who had been fifth in the individual standings, would compete in her place. Everyone would be there to watch.

Keller deposited me at Airlee and ordered me to stay there. I informed him that he had no right to tell me what to do, but he ignored me. After he left I examined my arm; bruises were already starting to form where his fingers had dug into my flesh.

A knock on the door startled me out of my anger. I yanked it open to find Cale standing there, hands shoved into his pockets, red hair flopping over his forehead.

“Hey Charlotte,” he said. “Can I have a word?”

My heart thumped in my chest. “Okay.” In an instant I made a mental checklist of anything visible in my room that might be embarrassing. Sip liked everything clean, so there wasn’t much. Relieved, I invited him to sit.

“How’s it going?” he asked.

“Fine.” It wasn’t, of course, but what was I supposed to say?

He cleared his throat. “Sorry about Lisabelle.”

“Me too.”

He fiddled with papers on the desk, neatening a pile that was already neat.

“Charlotte,” he said. “I like you. A lot. Always have.”

Why, given that Camilla hardly let us spend time together.

“And, well, I was hoping we could be...something...at the dance, but....”

If I breathed he might go poof. What was he talking about?

“But you’re a mage,” he said. He wasn’t looking at me. “I just thought I should explain why....”

I was sick of this. Maybe a little part of me had liked Cale and I hadn’t admitted it to myself, but Camilla had always been there. And after what had happened to Lisabelle the night before, I had a hard time caring in the slightest about what he was saying. And besides worrying about Lisabelle, I was having a hard time keeping my mind from drifting to Keller.

“Why what?”

“You’re in Airlee,” he said.

“That’s your problem?” I demanded.

“Charlotte, you can’t date someone in another dorm,” Cale said. “People would be so mad.”

“Cale, that’s just a stupid idea people have. The demons tried to drive a wedge between paranormals during the wars and we let them.”

Cale sighed. “I just wanted to come here and I explain why I treated you the way I did and why...I’m back with Camilla.”

Ah, there it was. I expected myself to feel some sadness, but I didn’t. I just felt a little sorry for him. He had just assumed I was interested in him, too, which I never really had been. Not seriously, anyhow. It would have been nice to have a friend from home, but at this point it was long beyond mattering.

“Thanks for that, Cale,” I said. “Really appreciate it.” I got up and opened the door for him. He looked at me incredulously.

“Are you mad?”

“No,” I said. “I just have bigger things to worry about.”

For the rest of that week Sip, Lough, and I spent every free moment trying to figure out what could have happened to Lisabelle, where she might be, and if she would come back. I didn’t even bother telling them about Cale. He had loomed large for me at the beginning of the semester, but I had found my own group of friends. After what had happened at the dance, I couldn’t really look at him the same way again. I hadn’t seen Keller since that day at breakfast.

“If Lisabelle ran away, where would she go?” Sip demanded late Thursday night.

“I don’t know,” said Lough for the millionth time. “But why would she run away?” The three of us were sitting in our common room.

After Lisabelle had escaped, the library had been closed during the evening. The only other place we saw Lough besides class was at meals, but we were afraid to talk there. Professors now walked us back and forth from class, in case the dangerous fugitive Lisabelle jumped out of the bushes and attacked us. Even the students who believed she was guilty thought it was silly.

Around us we heard whispers of what Lisabelle must have done. Professors condemned her. Part of me understood it, the President had decided she was guilty after all, but another part of me, the larger part that had spent all semester with Lisabelle, never would. If she had wanted to be on the side of the demons she would never have bothered coming to Public. A nasty part of me pointed out that her goal all along might have been to infiltrate Public and do what no demon could, but I pushed that thought away.

As the three of us sat in Airlee, Mike, Sip’s date to the homecoming dance, came in.

“Did you hear?” he asked us.

“Hear what?” asked Sip, blushing slightly. She had developed a huge crush on Mike. He was oblivious to it.

“The President called an Assembly for first thing tomorrow morning.”

“What’s an Assembly?” I asked.

Mike shrugged. “It’s just that she’s going to talk to us at breakfast again, only she’s letting us know ahead of time.”

Wonderful, I thought. What other bile could she spew about Lisabelle?

It turned out that the Assembly wasn’t about Lisabelle. All week the professors had seemed distracted. Lesson plans had been confused; sometimes whole lessons had been forgotten. We’d all just chalked it up to end of the semester stress, coupled with the catastrophic event of having a student die on campus.

Of course, Bailey’s funeral wasn’t held on campus, but concerned parents had been calling in all week, and professors had had to deal with that and with the at least some students’ grief at losing one of their own. Once Lisabelle had disappeared, the pressure on the school had increased, because many parents believed that their children were still in danger.

All through breakfast I had a feeling of anticipation. Students wanted to know what the President was going to say. There had even been whispers that the school would be closed once the semester was over, at least until Lisabelle was caught.

“Good morning, students,” said the President from the top of the podium. “I’m sure you are all wondering why I wanted to address you again this morning.” She cleared her throat. I thought it was just for dramatic affect. I disliked her even more.

“I first want to commend all of you for your excellent handling of the events of the past week. I am in awe of your strength and fortitude.”

“What crap,” Sip muttered to me, glaring.

I tried not to smirk.

“I have some news that may surprise some of you, but I must say, it’s the best news we’ve had in a long time,” she continued.

“You speared the darkness mage and she’s dead?” someone called from the crowd. I was sure it came from a pixie table.

The President ignored the speaker. “There is believed to be an elemental in hiding from the demons,” she announced.

The change in the room was instant. It was like an electric current shooting through the hall.

Camilla, sitting next to Cale, stood up and said, “Really?” I was shocked by the raw hope in her eyes. “Really?” She repeated, then sat down heavily, as if her legs couldn’t support her anymore. The air in the room tightened as everyone waited for the President to answer Camilla’s question. I looked around at different faces. My stomach twisted. I saw hope. I had heard the stories of a last elemental and shrugged them off. I hadn’t known how important it was to other paranormals.

The President beamed. “Yes, it’s true. The Power of Five might once again be reunited and thrive,” she said, her voice rising in triumph. “We will push the demons back yet.” Slowly, and then with growing speed, students around the room started to cheer. Some jumped to their feet and suddenly everyone was standing and clapping. Several professors even had tears in their eyes. I stood up with the rest and clapped, while the President continued to stand at the podium.

When everyone had quieted down The President continued. “It is the most wonderful news. I know many of you have heard whispers about it these last few weeks, but we couldn’t make a formal announcement until it was confirmed. In the past month our sensors have been sensing elemental magic. We have some idea where it’s coming from, but not a clear one yet. We must find this elemental before the demons do. We have it on very good authority that the elemental is young. The logical thing to do is to go and retrieve him or her.”

Several students called out questions. The President raised her hands. “I cannot tell you everything you want to know. We are not sure why the elemental has remained hidden all this time. Possibly it is for safety, but we will find out if we get there before the demons. Public remains the safest place for paranormals. Therefore....” She was forced to pause, then to raise her voice as students began to talk again. Many were proposing going with her and helping in the search.

“The Professors are the trained fighters here. Yes, this semester, more than in previous years, you students have been working on improving your fighting skills, but you are still no match against demons. I, along with the professors, are planning on leading an expedition to find the elemental.”

Cries rang out and Evan Drapper, the Starter vampire said, “But it’s the Dash championships this weekend.”

“Oh, who cares,” said Camilla. “Dash doesn’t matter if we can get the Power of Five back and not live in fear anymore.” It made me hate her a tiny bit less.

“Shut up,” demanded the vampire. Students started to rise again, ready to fight, but the President ordered calm.

“We leave this afternoon,” she continued. “We have canceled classes for today, as there will not be any professors here to teach them. The only professors on campus will be Professor Zervos and Professor Korba,” she said. “They will do their best with Dash tomorrow, and depending on how long we are gone, they will administer final exams, including to all you students on probation. We wish this weren’t necessary, but every moment lost is a moment that allows the demons to get closer to our elemental.”

I wanted to point out that there was only one student on probation, but I kept my mouth shut. Something was wrong here. I just couldn’t wrap my mind around what.

Without another word the President swept off the podium. I glanced at Cale. Camilla was cooing in his ear. I rolled my eyes, then started searching for Keller. It wasn’t hard to find him; he was sitting in his usual place with Nate and Marcus, stony-faced.

“Good luck to the competitors tomorrow,” she said, nodding toward Cale, Keller, and Tale. Without another word, she and the rest of the Professors swept out of the room.

“Wow,” said Sip. “Can you believe it? All those rumors all semester turn out to be true? It’s amazing.”

“Is it really that big of a deal?” asked Lough. “We’ve been holding our own.” He was torn between relief that what the President had to say didn’t start with “We captured Lisabelle Verlans,” and disappointment that it hadn’t.

“It is,” Sip insisted. “With the Power of Five there won’t be fighting among the paranormals anymore. Did you see how relieved Camilla was? And she’s the most unpleasant person here.” She gave me a crooked smile. “Without the Power of Five, the paranormals will eventually fall. Now we have a chance.”

“It’s thinking like that that got us in trouble in the first place,” Lough accused. “They should be spending their time looking for Lisabelle.”

“Do you really want them to find Lisabelle?” Sip asked. Lough shrugged. “I bet she could take them.”

“Exactly. Lisabelle can take care of herself,” Sip said.

“Not lately,” Lough muttered.

“What’s wrong?” Sip asked me. I’d been quiet, swirling a drop of water around with my fingertip.

“I don’t know,” I said. “Something.”

“What do you mean ‘what’s wrong?’” asked Lough. “Haven’t you noticed that Bailey was murdered, and Lisabelle was arrested, and now we have finals, and all of our professors are gone? Don’t you think that’s enough to be wrong? And, there’s something else....”

Something in my mind snapped into place, but before I could grab it, Keller appeared at our table. “We have to talk.”

“Now?”

“Yes.”

“Didn’t we just do this?” I asked him. “Are you just going to order me to stay put again?”

“No,” he said.

“Lough, was there something you wanted to say?” I asked as I got up to leave.

Lough was frowning at his tea. “No,” he said. “I have to think about it a little more.”

Right before we left the dining hall Lanca bumped into me. In the confusion I almost fell over. I saw her give Keller a smile and bristled. When I righted myself she was gone. She didn’t even apologize. Vampires were rude. Some things were never going to change.

Outside, the freezing air bored into my cheeks. “Where are we going?”

“My room.”

That might have been the only thing he could have said that would have surprised me so much I shut up. Well, that and his saying that his favorite color was baby pink.

“I should go back to my friends,” I pointed out. He never slowed down, and for some reason I didn’t turn around.

Aurum was closest to Cruor, which was ironic since the fallen angels’ dorm was filled with light and the color of clouds. I had wanted to see it; it was the only dorm that Korba had yet to take us to. But I had never expected to be going there alone with Keller. All the other students were still at breakfast, and if I had to guess, they would be there for a long time, which meant that Keller and I would have the dorm all to ourselves.

“We have to talk privately,” he told me, as if that explained everything.

Into the dorm we went. He tossed his jacket on a peg without stopping. His room was on the top floor, so up we went. It was the sort of room I would expect Keller to live in. Clean and neat. Just the necessities.

“Do you want to sit?” he asked.

I sat in the only chair. He sat on his bed. There was only one of those, too, which meant that Keller was one of the lucky few on campus who had a single room.

“What do you know about your mom and dad?” he asked.

A lead ball dropped into my stomach.

He could see in my face that I didn’t like his question, but he shook his head insistently. “Don’t get offended,” he said. “I need to know. There isn’t much time now.”

I blinked quickly, trying to get my bearings. “I don’t know anything. My mother would never tell me anything about my dad. The only dad I’ve known is my stepdad,” and he hates me, I added silently.

“So, you don’t know anything at all?” he asked.

“No,” I cried in frustration. “It’s none of your business anyway.”

“And what about your mom?” he asked, ignoring my protests.

For anyone else I wouldn’t have answered. It was no one’s business, but this was Keller. He had hardly asked me a non-school related question in weeks, and there was something inside me that knew he wouldn’t do it unless the information was vitally important.

I took a deep breath. “She was part of Airlee. Her name is on the wall of students over there.”

Keller nodded as if that confirmed something for him.

“I want to know what’s going on.”

“Sorry,” he said, relaxing his tone a little. “It’s just….” he paused, looking past me to his desk. He stood up and moved towards me. I watched him come. He reached past me and pulled out a sheaf of papers from a drawer. He stood less than a foot away from me and I didn’t know where to look. Instead of moving away, he offered me the papers. I got a good view of the pale skin on his wrist, the fine dark veins that contained his heartbeat.

He offered the papers a second time.

I took them, aware that our hands were too far away to touch. “Are these the papers we found at Astra?” I asked. The day Keller and I had been in the attic and had come across the boxes of papers and the lessons, I thought Keller had taken some home. Now I knew I was right.

“Yes,” he said.

“Why?”

He bit his lower lip. “I think your dad, and maybe your mom too, were elementals,” he said. His eyes were staring at my face, refusing to look away. He was daring me to argue with him.

I couldn’t help it. It was so absurd I laughed. I laughed until my sides hurt. I laughed so hard tears came to my eyes.

“Yeah, right,” I said. “The demons killed all of the elementals, you said so yourself.” Slowly Keller shook his head. His eyes were still locked on my face. I felt my chest tighten. Was he serious?

“You must be joking.”

“You remember earlier in the semester when we heard that the demons might be acting up because they had heard that there was still one elemental somewhere, and that’s why they’ve been attacking paranormals?”

“What’s your point?” I asked. My hands felt cold and clammy. He couldn’t be right.

“My point is, they were right. The professors running off proves it,” he said.

He was too close to me. I wanted him to move away, to sit back down. I shifted so that I was hunching my shoulder toward him. He took the hint and returned to the edge of his bed.

“The paranormals have no chance without the Power of Five,” he said. “There are spells; there are artifacts that can only be used if the Power of Five is viable. Without the elementals there will never be another Power of Five. Without the elementals the paranormals are vulnerable to attack. That’s why the demons have come after us in such force this summer. If all the elementals aren’t gone.…” He took a deep breath. “If they aren’t gone, we might be able to fight them. For the first time we might be able to fight them and win.”

I felt like there was a pressure on my chest and it grew with every word Keller spoke. “Look,” I told him. “My dad was not an elemental.”

“Who was he?”

I had no idea.

“Wait, do you think he’s the elemental the professors went after?” I wondered if the next thing Keller was going to tell me was that my dad was alive, but it wasn’t.

“No, you said your dad was dead. That’s probably true.”

I normally didn’t let myself think about my dad, let alone talk about him. I swallowed. It hurt my chest. I swallowed again. “My mom told me he died before I was born. He never met me. Come on, Keller,” I pleaded. “There’s too much going on for jokes like this, and this one isn’t even funny. You have Dash tomorrow and I have finals, and if I don’t pull out some magic, I won’t be coming back here next semester.”

Keller scoffed. “Charlotte,” he said, standing up. “Think! You aren’t seeing what’s right in front of your face!”

I jumped to my feet too. “What am I not seeing?” I demanded. “This is insane.”

Keller stepped up to me so fast I rocked back on my heels. He grabbed my arms, bringing us eye to eye. I didn’t want to breathe on him. “What makes sense,” he said, “is that you are the elemental they are looking for.”

He’d already said that and I’d told him he was crazy. I told him again with the tone in which I demanded, “Why?”

“Because,” said Keller, exasperated, “you can do magic, but you can’t do Airlee magic. You can’t use the Airlee ring, and it’s obvious that you aren’t a darkness mage. No one knows who your dad is, and then suddenly this semester we find out that there might still be an elemental alive, because they’ve started to sense magic. Plus, you told me that a hellhound was following you, and you just so happened to be saved by vampires. What are the odds of that?”

I started to protest, but Keller cut me off. “And I saw your face the first time you came into Astra. You looked like you were home. Your magic almost shone. And something happened there that first day, didn’t it?” He raised his eyebrows.

“It doesn’t make sense,” I said again, but my protests were getting weaker.

“Why didn’t the professors know it was me?” I asked. I hoped this, at least, would foil Keller’s theory. There was no way the professors wouldn’t have known I was elemental.

“I think they thought you were at first,” said Keller. “But then when your magic failed, they stopped thinking that or maybe they never thought that. Maybe their saving you from the hellhound was a happy accident.” He didn’t believe that theory himself, though. “You were late to school because they didn’t believe it was you, but the presence of the hellhound convinced them at the last minute that you might be.”

“But let’s say they did think I was the elemental,” I said. “If I am, why can’t I perform magic?”

“Could you in Astra? In the ballroom that Saturday?” he challenged. He had guessed my secret.

I looked down at my lap. “Something happened in that dorm,” I mumbled. Maybe I wouldn’t get in massive trouble if I told someone. Now I knew Keller well enough to know that he wouldn’t turn me over to the President. I told him everything that had happened.

“I’ve looked at that glass case countless times,” said Keller. “There’s an elemental ring in there.”

I looked down at my Airlee ring. It had been useless all semester, dull. No magic had gone through it. Could it really be that simple?

“I can’t,” I whispered.

“Charlotte,” said Keller. “They are looking for you. Maybe as long as you wear the Airlee ring and don’t have the proper Astra support you will be able to hide, but it’s not going to last forever. The hellhounds already know it’s you. The professors will figure it out, but what if the demons find you first?”

“Even if you are right,” I said, “I’m safe here.”

Now the look on Keller’s face actually scared me. “Charlotte,” he said quietly, “all the professors are gone. Don’t you think that’s too convenient? That they all race off to find the elemental? And the elemental is here? And if you are right and it’s not Lisabelle who let in the hellhound, then whoever it was is still...here.”

I worked to get air into my lungs. Was he saying what I thought he was saying?

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that this is a setup and they are coming for you. It’s the most logical explanation under the circumstances.” He was scary calm about it, but Keller was always calm.

“You’re wrong,” I whispered, even though I was no longer sure that he was. “You have to be wrong.” I tried to believe that, but Keller had spent the past few weeks telling me to be careful. He had known the demons were attacking and he had suspected it had something to do with me.

“There are still protections here,” I told him. “Ancient protections. And if the professors don’t know that I’m an elemental, then how could the demons?”

Keller shrugged. “They’ve known since summer,” he said. “It’s not like every student that comes here is first chased by a hellhound. Once you got here they couldn’t get past the protections, but they’ve been trying. Your putting on that ring clouded everything, but it’s only a matter of time.”

“I need to know for sure,” I told him, “before I do anything.”

“Fine,” said Keller, striding forward. “Let’s go.”

“Where?” I asked.

“To Astra,” he said. “And take that thing off.” He pointed to my ring.

I looked down at my ring. I’d been wearing it all semester hoping that it would start to shine, just like Sip’s and everyone else’s in Airlee. I rubbed the dull stone.

“Charlotte,” said Keller, “it’s your best way to find out where Lisabelle is.”

“How?” I demanded.

“Well,” said Keller, “if she’s innocent, it will make you powerful enough to find her, and if she’s not, she will come find you.”

“That’s a really cheerful thought, Keller,” I said. “Thank you. I’m so lucky you’re my tutor.”

It was almost afternoon now and the air around campus felt dead. We didn’t see anyone as we walked. With the campus on lockdown, students weren’t supposed to be out anyway.

“What if Zervos catches us?” I asked.

“I’ll tell him it’s my fault,” said Keller absently. We were close to Astra. Keller was flexing his hands, absently twirling his own bright silver ring.

Before we reached the path leading to Astra, Keller halted and reached out a hand to stop me. “We can’t go in there.”

Astra looked like it always did. Silent and colorful. A ripple moved across my vision. I squinted, trying to get a clearer look. It wasn’t easy to see, but if I looked right at Astra I could see that there was something surrounding the building.

“What is that?” I asked.

“It’s a protective spell,” said Keller grimly. “We aren’t going near that dorm.”

“But what about my ring?”

“You admit that it’s yours?” Keller asked. He sounded a little amused.

“Maybe,” I murmured. Keller laughed softly.

“I don’t want to be an elemental, just so that I have the satisfaction of you being wrong,” I grumbled.

“Yeah, I know. But you’ll have to wait for that.”

“Keller,” I asked, “not that I think so, but well....”

“What?”

“What if you are the one letting the demon in? Maybe I shouldn’t be going off alone with you.”

Keller threw back his head and laughed. “Whoever is letting the demon in has to have darkness magic. Fallen angels don’t. We are pure and good.”

I almost laughed. “But that leaves Lisabelle and the vampires. There are no other darkness mages on campus.” I waited for Keller to say something. When he didn’t, I glanced at him.

Keller’s face had paled. He looked at Astra, then at me.

“Charlotte,” he said, “go back to Airlee. Now. We’ll figure out what to do tomorrow after Dash,” he said. He was breathing hard. “Until then I don’t want you alone. Stay with Sip and Lough at all times. I don’t know what’s going on here, but it could get bad.”

“Keller,” I said, “what did you just figure out?”

Keller shook his head. “Maybe nothing. I have to see. I’ll tell you tomorrow. Charlotte?” he reached out a hand and cupped my face. His skin felt soft against my hot cheek. “If you have a problem, get Lanca. The demons might not even come, but you need to be prepared.”

I nodded. “They are coming. They are definitely coming. For me.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

I wanted to run back to Airlee, but I didn’t; I had too much to think about. I had come up with lots of wild explanations for why I had done magic in Astra that Saturday morning, but none of them were because I was an elemental.

Now, because of Keller, I was sure. I didn’t know how, and I didn’t know why, but I was. While I walked, I stuck my hands in my pockets. My fingertips brushed a piece of paper, which seemed odd, because I never put paper in my pockets. Frowning, I pulled it out. It was a bit of napkin from the dining hall. Written on it was a single sentence, scrawled in black: The demons are coming. – Lanca.

My stomach turned. She must have left it for me to find when she bumped into me, knowing that it was information I’d need. I didn’t have time to wonder at the vampire princess’ methods, I had to talk to my friends. I would have to find out later how Lanca knew I was an elemental and why she hadn’t bothered to tell me.

I started to run.

Sip would be in Airlee; I had to talk to her.

Breathless, I dashed into our dorm. I rushed past Nancy, who was competing in Dash the next day. She was surrounded by a small group of students, including Katie and Lauren Bells. Now I wasn’t sure I would make it to Dash, since I had other things to do that were more important than games. I hurtled up the steps and flung open the door to my room.

Sip sprang to her feet. “Are you okay? Where were you?”

I explained everything. It took a while, and at first, like me with Keller, she couldn’t believe it was true.

“Can you do any magic,” she asked, “without the Airlee ring on?”

I grinned. I had wondered that. There was only one way to find out.

Without a ring, I didn’t have as much focus for my power. I hadn’t performed magic during my Demonstration, true, but that was before I had spent a semester being trained. Now, I was confident and ready.

I took a deep breath and disappeared inside myself, searching for my magic. There it was, a blinking white light flaring inside of me. I had never seen it so strong before. I pulled at it, trying to tease just the littlest bit out. It sprang from my fingertips to dance around my arm, expanding to include my chest, legs, and head. Sip was laughing and clapping.

I was an elemental.

I never wanted to stop. I loved the lights flickering around me, loved that I had control of them, but with a palpable sadness, I forced the magic back inside. There was work to do

I tried to keep my lips from tugging into a grin, but I failed. I had never felt so good.

“Amazing,” Sip breathed. “You’re the elemental. There is an elemental.” She jumped up and wrapped her arms around me.

I nodded. “If I’m an elemental, my father must have been one too” I said. All my life I had thought I was one thing, then I had come to Public, because I had found out I was another. Now, after all the struggling through starting a mage college, I had found out something else again.

“This is bad,” said Sip. “You think the demons are coming here for you? Why?”

I showed her Lanca’s note. I hadn’t mentioned Lanca yet. I wasn’t sure how Sip would take the involvement of the vampire princess.

“And they got the professors away from campus intentionally?” asked Sip eventually.

I shrugged. “I don’t think anyone knows it’s me.”

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard a pounding on the door and Lough burst in.

“What’s going on? Why did you come in here like a demon was chasing you?” He looked over his shoulder. “There isn’t one, right?”

Sip was rocking back and forth, she was so excited. She ended up telling him most of what had happened while I just sat and listened. When she got to the part about my being an elemental he just snorted, until I performed magic that no Airlee mage had ever done. I wanted to enjoy the new sensation of magic flowing freely inside me.

When Sip finished telling the story, Lough grabbed me up in a bear hug. He was laughing. “Awesome,” he whooped. “Awesome.”

“Lough, it means Charlotte is the target of demons. ‘Awesome’ is not really the right word,” said Sip.

“What about Lisabelle?” he asked, ignoring her. “If you’re an elemental, maybe you could use that as leverage to find her.”

“Lough,” Sip started. “She ran away.”

Lough shook his head. “Do you really think she’d run and not tell us?”

“What else would have happened?” I asked. I remembered him at breakfast. He had looked like he had realized something, but I hadn’t had the chance to find out what.

He rubbed his cheeks with both hands. “Zervos was the one who told us she had disappeared, right?” he asked.

Cold trickled through me like pellets of rain in my bloodstream. Zervos had been the last one to see Lisabelle. He was the one who had come to say she was gone. It was so obvious it made me cringe.

“You don’t think Lisabelle got away?” I asked. I was kicking myself. I had just assumed that what Zervos had said was true. But Lough hadn’t. Lough was in love with Lisabelle and would do anything to find her. I knew what he was going to say before he said it. And I was sure he was right.

“Zervos still has Lisabelle. She never got away,” he said. “He must be keeping her somewhere.”

Sip gasped. “You think he would kidnap a student?”

“He murdered one, didn’t he?” I demanded.

“We have to find her,” he said. “We have to find her while everyone is gone.” He got up and started to leave, but I grabbed his arm.

“Tomorrow,” I said. “We go find her while everyone is at the game.”

“I’m going too,” said Sip.

“No,” I said. “You have to be at the game to watch Zervos. He’s still on campus. We have to know where he is.”

“So, you two are going to go into the professors’ building and just say ‘Hey Lisabelle, come on out now?’ Do you know what he probably has guarding her? The hellhound. Why do you want to have all the fun without me?” she asked.

“Maybe she’s in his private rooms?” I suggested.

Lough didn’t think so. His private room was in Cruor, and it wasn’t very big. “I think our best bet is the offices. There are all sorts of rooms there that aren’t used.”

“No, wait,” I said. “She isn’t at the offices.” I chewed my lower lip, thinking. “She’s in Astra.” With my ring. It made sense. I hadn’t been in Astra in weeks. Keller had said he hadn’t either. Once my punishment ended, I stopped going there on Saturday mornings. I missed it, but I hadn’t wanted anyone to think I was going for fun; it would have been too suspicious.

“How do you know?” Lough demanded.

“Because there’s some sort of protection around it,” I said. “I couldn’t get in. And it makes sense if the hellhound is in there. He’ll be ready for any elemental who tries to get in.”

Lough shook his head. “So how do we do it?”

“Lough,” said Sip, incredulous. “It’s a paranormal dorm! You can’t just walk in! And Charlotte thinks there’s a hellhound spell protecting it? You’ll have to think of another way.”

“Look,” said Lough, his jaw jutting out, “Lisabelle is in there. I’m not just going to stand here and hope she makes it out on her own. Yeah, there are hellhounds, crazy professors, and demons, but everything that involves Lisabelle ends in fireworks.”

I almost laughed. “Lisabelle would be proud of you,” I told him.

Lough grinned.

Sip sighed. “I still think it’s crazy,” she said. But as she eyed Lough’s set face and his arms crossed over his chest, she knew this wasn’t an argument she would win.

She took a deep breath. “Will Keller help?”

I shook my head. “He has to compete in Dash. There’s nothing he can do until tomorrow afternoon.”

“We can wait until after Dash, can’t we?” she asked.

Lough said we couldn’t. If we were going to sneak around campus, the best time to do it was when the whole campus was distracted: during Dash. Zervos would be at the field, so there would be no danger of his catching us breaking into Astra. Assuming we could break in at all.

“What if the demons come before the professors get back?” Sip asked. “We can’t fight them off on our own, particularly not if Zervos is helping them.”

“We could ask the other dorms for help,” Lough suggested. “You saw Camilla. She wants there to be an elemental as much as the rest of us do.”

“I don’t think we’re that desperate yet,” said Sip.

“No,” I said, “not Camilla, not the pixies yet, but I think we can talk to Lanca.”

“We can’t fight demons on our own,” said Lough as if he hadn’t heard me “I mean, Lisabelle could and we could try, but we’ll get trampled on.” Then he realized what I had said and gulped. “Wait, what? Lanca? She scares the shit out of me.”

I grinned. “I think she scares the shit out of everyone. And I think she likes it that way.”

Lough shuddered.

“When the demons come, everyone will fight. Until then our job is to figure out how to get Lisabelle,” said Sip.

“Alright,” I said, “I’ll go find Lanca.”

“A vampire? At night?” Lough asked. “Are you crazy?”

“Besides, we are on lockdown, so there’s no way you’ll make it to Cruor,” said Sip, folding her arms over her chest.

I chewed my lower lip. I knew she was right. I glanced out the window and started to smile.

There, sitting on the branch of a tree not far from my window, was a dark owl, his eyes glistening in the night. He stared back at me. I looked back at Sip and smiled. “I have a better idea.”

“I hate it when you get that look in your eye,” Sip muttered. She got up and looked out the window. “Yikes!” she squealed.

I gulped. I knew nothing of the strix except that they were mean. Really mean, but I walked towards the window anyway.

There was cold air slipping over the sill as I slid the window up. “Good evening,” I said to the owl, feeling like a total idiot for hanging out a window at night and talking to an animal like he could understand me.

The owl’s huge gold eyes floated in front of me like globes of light suspended in the air.

“Could you give Lanca a message for me?” I asked.

The strix ruffled his feathers.

“I’m sorry, but could you tell Princess Lanca that the demons are coming? Maybe tomorrow? And that I know what she means now?”

The strix considered me. In future semesters I would have classes that went into detail about paranormal animals. Until then I would just have to hope that strix didn’t expect gifts before they would carry messages. I shifted nervously under its gaze, but after a brief hesitation the owl pushed off. It was much larger with its wings spread than it had looked perched in the tree; I was glad it hadn’t attacked me. I could only hope that it had understood me, and that Lanca would understand me as well.

“You done talking to animals?” Lough asked from inside the room. “Maybe we could get some real stuff done?”

As I tried to sleep, a million thoughts piled through my mind, but chief among them was that I was an elemental. The only elemental. The demons had spent years trying to exterminate them – us – me, and until recently, they had thought they had succeeded. My dad was dead. All that had happened to me this year couldn’t have been a coincidence. Now they were coming after me: to finish what they had started.

And I was relying on a bunch of freshmen and some vampires for help and protection.

I was screwed.

I should have slept more, but as I chased sleep it remained one step ahead of me, so after lying in bed for a couple of hours I got up. Sip, who couldn’t sleep either, kept vigil with me. Now that I was looking for it I felt a badness coming toward me and I wondered how long it would take the demons to penetrate Public’s defenses. Not long if Zervos let them in. When I told Sip what I feared she said, “We can’t think like that.”

There was a gentle knocking on the door, and Lough poked his head in. “Ready?” he asked. “Everyone’s heading down to the field. I don’t know why. Keller has it in the bag.” In the belt of his jeans he carried Lisabelle’s wand, which she had left behind when she’d been arrested. His ring shone.

I looked around my room at all of Sip’s neon stuff and wondered if I would ever see it again. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but I knew we were bracing for an attack. It was a battle we very well might lose.

Sip hugged us both before we left. Lough and I would have to be careful, she insisted. We weren’t supposed to be anywhere but in the dorms or at the Dash field, so we had to stay hidden. We both knew Sip telling us stuff we already knew was her way of calming down. She stood in the doorway of Airlee and watched us go before heading over to the Dash field.

“I’ll let you know if Zervos leaves or if anything else happens,” she promised.

Lough and I were quickly soaked by the hard rain that had started falling before dawn. “Do you think Lanca got your message?” he asked, wiping back his wet blond hair.

“I have no idea,” I said. I didn’t want to tell Lough that even if she had gotten it, she might not understand what it meant. I hoped she did, though. She had to.

“How are we getting into Astra?” I asked.

Lough snorted. “You’re the elemental. It’s the elemental dorm. You figure it out.”

I punched him in the arm and grinned. “Fine,” I said. “I will.”

Even through the rain I still thought Astra was the most beautiful dorm on campus. For a long time the two of us stood just looking at it, hidden in one of the bushes along the path. There was no movement. There was no noise. It looked empty. It didn’t look sinister. And it wasn’t, I reminded myself. It was what was inside that was sinister.

“I can’t see a shield,” said Lough, squinting. “Are you sure we can’t just walk in?”

“It’s there,” I murmured, concentrating. I was sure of that. As an elemental, I should have been able to call to the power inside the dorm. It was there, ahead of me, surging forward, elemental magic. Instead of the white of Airlee or the silver of the fallen angel, it was a soft blue, mixed with a deep burgundy, flowing everywhere I looked. Since the powers had been dormant for so long, they had had a chance to rest and strengthen. Now, at my calling, they rose up.

I blinked. The magic couldn’t reach me. There was something blocking its path that felt like a black wall. Opening my eyes, I could now see the defenses around the dorm. They were a mass of shimmering black. This was advanced magic, definitely not something I’d learned in Intro to Para Studies. But I didn’t have a choice. I would get in – or die trying.

“Wow,” Lough breathed. “I see it now.”

“Where do I go?” I asked the elemental magic. “How do I get in?”

In response, the magic disappeared. I felt its loss immediately. Breathless, I waited. What had I done wrong?

Opening my eyes I looked again. Of course. There it was. A faint blue shimmer flowing underground. I knew how we were going to get in now. Lough and I were going to swim. I grabbed Lough’s rain-soaked arm and propelled him forward.

“Come on,” I said. “Let’s go.” He didn’t protest. He was too busy staring at the black cone of magic that was encasing Astra, keeping everything out, and in.

“What are we doing?” he asked, when he saw that I was taking him around the back of the dorm.

“Looking for a pool, or a stream,” I told him absently. “I think.”

“You realize it’s December, right?” he asked. “We can’t go in the water in December.”

“Why not?” I demanded. I never stopped looking from side to side, up and down, searching for the way in.

“Because it’s cold,” Lough informed me.

“No kidding,” I replied.

Lough stopped. “Are you serious about making us swim?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Okay, then this way,” he said, turning on his heel he walked toward the small hill that sat on one side of Astra. We rounded the side and there, moving with the impact of thousands of tiny raindrops, was a stream. I followed it with my eyes. Lough was right. It led right toward Astra.

“Since some of the elementals were specialists with water it made sense that they would have their own personal underground lake inside their dorm,” said Lough. “A bit spoiled if you ask me.”

“I didn’t,” I told him. He gave me a wet smile and I grabbed his arm again. “Come on. There’s no time to waste. Let’s find Lisabelle.”

At the mention of why he was there, Lough roused. “Yes, let’s.” He beat me to the water, pulling off his jacket.

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” he told me. “And I hope I’m better at holding my breath than I think I am.” He dove in. I followed him.

I barely heard him cry out, “That’s freezing,” before I jumped.

I hit the icy water and couldn’t breathe. I fought to the surface, my body shivering, and looked around for Lough, but he was nowhere to be seen. Taking a deep breath, I plunged under again.

I tried to open my eyes, but the weight of the water made that impossible. Besides, my magic was there to guide me. Lough’s dream giver power blazed ahead of me and I swam toward him. I grabbed him and didn’t let go.

Everything about magic was new. I hadn’t known there was so much I was missing. Now that I could tap into elemental power, I realized that I had only touched the surface of what magic could do. Underwater, where no one could see me, I smiled.

I reached for Lough, my eyes still closed, and pulled him with me. As we moved together I didn’t have to swim. Astra magic was pulling me along, Lough close behind. My hands and head were numb, and I was sure that my lungs would explode if I didn’t get air soon. It was only a small comfort that the water was starting to warm up.

Just as I started to panic, the magic pushed me to the surface. I wanted to resist, because I didn’t know where the water had taken us. What if it pushed my head into a floor and I was knocked out and drowned? But instead, I trusted the magic. It was my magic after all. Elemental magic.

Lough and I surfaced in a cellar. There was a faint light filtering in from somewhere nearby, but my vision was blurred. The pool we were in was small and much warmer than the water outside. I smelled damp earth.

Lough came splashing to the surface, coughing and wheezing.

“Get…me…out…of…this…water. Now,” he sputtered.

“Where are we?” I asked, wiping my eyes.

“We better be in Astra,” said Lough as he hauled himself up. I placed my hands on the edge of the pool. Dirt grated under my fingers. We were still underground. “That worked well, don’t you think?” I asked.

Lough gave me a dirty look as water streamed off his shivering body.

“Come on,” he said. “Let’s find ourselves a hellhound.”

“It might already know we’re here,” I offered. “Plus, you’re having way too much fun with this.”

“It’s a quest,” Lough said. “We’re saving Lisabelle. And you too,” he added as an afterthought.

Men in love. I rolled my eyes.

“Can you do anything about the light?” he asked.

I shook my head, but realized he couldn’t see that. “No. I don’t know how.”

“Elementals don’t have very useful magic,” Lough sniffed. I didn’t see what he did, but a second later a small light was shining near his hand.

I blinked, my eyes adjusting to the light. “Yeah, but dream givers are wonderfully useful.”

“There’s a door over here,” he said, pointing. He was right. Buried in the wall was a wooden door. A circular metal ring was its only handle.

“Think it’s locked?” he asked.

“There’s only one way to find out.” I walked over to the door. Taking a deep breath, I wrapped numb hands around the cool, rusting metal and pulled. Nothing happened. I pulled harder. To my surprise and great relief it swung open soundlessly. Beyond it was darkness.

Lough appeared at my elbow, holding the light. Despite his brave words about finding hellhounds, his hand quivered slightly. The light cast shadows over a dusty wooden staircase.

“You first,” said Lough, sweeping his arm out in front with an elaborate bow.

I raised an eyebrow at him. “Who says chivalry is dead?” I asked.

Lough laughed softly.

I took one careful, deliberate step into the stairwell, Lough close behind me. “They need to teach us some practical magic,” he said.

“Like what?” I whispered back. I didn’t want the hellhound or whatever was in this dorm to hear us coming.

“Like, how to dry your clothes in ten minutes or less.”

When we reached the top of the stairs there was a door identical to the last one we had come through. Again, I held my breath to see if it was locked, and again, it opened without a sound. I took deliberate steps, pausing to listen. Astra was silent.

We came out in the kitchen. The floors and countertops were still pretty clean from when Lisabelle and Sip had been coming to Astra on Saturdays. Everything in the kitchen was white or steel. It was large, large enough to support banquets in Astra’s ballroom. Light filtered in through the cloudy day and the grimy windows.

“Hey, this is nice,” said Lough quietly in my ear. “Good place for a party.” His soggy clothes dripped onto the floor.

“Yeah, Lisabelle would make one hell of a housewife,” I said.

At that I heard a faint banging.

Lough and I exchanged a glance.

“That was coming from the freezer,” he said, pointing. He was right. In the back of the kitchen was a large metal door to a walk-in freezer.

“We have to open it,” I said, hurrying forward. My muscles protested the quick movement; I was still cold and stiff from my winter swim.

“Wonderful,” Lough muttered. “Just once today I would like to be warm.”

The banging was getting louder.

“Don’t you want to think about this?” Lough asked as I reached for the metal handle. He had extinguished the globe of light and was now standing next to me, his hands braced on his hips. “The hellhound could be back there.”

“Lough,” I said, “if you’re right and Lisabelle didn’t run away, but was kidnapped, why would the hellhound be the one locked in a freezer?”

One sharp bang split the silence. Lough lunged for the door. When his hand touched the handle I heard a loud hissing sound, followed by Lough’s cry of pain. He pulled his hands away. Red welts were starting to form across the palm.

“That’s magicked,” he informed me. “Be careful.”

“Thanks for the tip,” I said. I took a deep breath. I gathered my magic around me. It came easily now that I wasn’t wearing the Airlee ring. I nudged it into my hands, hoping it would offer some protection. Holding my breath, I reached out and took the handle.

Nothing happened. I tugged. Nothing. I tugged harder, still nothing. The banging was getting more insistent now.

“Put your magic into it,” Lough urged.

“I thought I was,” I muttered, pulling harder. I shoved my magic into the handle and the lock. With a groan, I started to feel it splinter. I shoved more magic into it.

Before I knew what was happening, the air popped and Lough and I were thrown backward. Gasping, I went crashing into a table while Lough hit the floor. The door was destroyed. Sitting in the freezer, which looked like it hadn’t been turned on in years, was Lisabelle.

Her dark eyes burned with a triumphant light. She tried to speak, but the gag made it sound like she was gurgling. Lough, quicker than I was, got to his hands and knees. He was covered in a thin layer of dirt, but he managed to crawl over to her on all fours. He removed her gag first, then unbound her hands.

“What the hell took you so long?” she demanded, rubbing her wrists to get the circulation back.

Lough gave her a tired grin. “You’re welcome for rescuing you.”

I had gotten to my feet by then. “Lisabelle, where’s the hellhound?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “I haven’t really chatted with the thing. It mostly just breathes smoke, but I don’t think it’s here. I think she took it with her.”

“She?” I said. “Professor Zervos is really a woman?”

“No woman is that ugly,” said Lough.

Lisabelle glared at him.

“Lisabelle Verlans, you have no idea how much I missed you,” said Lough, wrapping his arms around her despite her protests. She rolled her eyes at me.

I let them have their moment. Lough deserved it. But Lisabelle had said her captor was a female, and I had no idea who she meant. Lambros? Anania? One of the other professors I didn’t know?

When Lough showed no signs of letting Lisabelle go, she gently pushed him away.

“Who is it, Lisabelle? Please say it isn’t Lambros….” I had liked Lambros. Plus, she was a pixie. Some of the Volans students might hate me, but pixies weren’t known for conspiring with demons.

“You haven’t guessed?” Lisabelle asked quietly.

Lough and I shook our heads.

“It’s the President,” said Lisabelle. “She’s the one helping the demons.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

No way,” said Lough, jumping up. He toppled a stack of boxes and a cloud of dust puffed into the air, but he ignored it. “That old psycho-bat-boss is helping the demons?”

“That’s not the exact words I’d use, but I agree with Lough,” I said. “Lisabelle, you must be wrong.”

“You think I’m wrong?” she cried. “How could I be wrong? She’s the one who hit me, drugged me, and brought me here. She visits every so often to let me stretch my legs and give me a bit of stale bread. She has that hellhound with her. Crazy eyes. I’m NOT WRONG.”

I tried to let her words sink in. The President had been helping the demons all along.

“Why?” I asked. “Why would she do it?”

“She has darkness magic,” said Lisabelle quietly. “I don’t know how she got it. Maybe she was always a darkness mage, but it turns out I wasn’t the only darkness mage on campus after all.”

My insides churned. “I have to get my ring,” I said.

“You lost your Airlee ring?” Lisabelle asked. She was standing now, with Lough’s help.

“Oh, didn’t we mention that Charlotte here is the elemental that everyone is looking for?” Lough asked.

Lisabelle sat back down, wordless for the first time in her life. Lough explained everything and she listened, the look of shock fading only slowly from her face.

Finally I put a word in, hoping my friends could help me answer a question that had been nagging at me. “If she’s the one helping the demons, why would she want me to stay at Public? Why not just make me leave instead of putting me on probation?”

Lisabelle raised her eyebrows. “Keeping you here makes more sense than kicking you out. If she thought you were the elemental, she’d want you around where she could keep track of you. She had Keller help you so that it looked like she wanted you to learn.”

Lough nodded. “Lisabelle’s right. So let’s stop wasting time and go find your ring, Charlotte.”

“I don’t know where the hellhound is,” said Lisabelle. “I think it patrols.”

“We split up,” I said. “I’m going to the ballroom. You two check the upper floors. Who knows what else the President has hidden in this house.”

Before I left the kitchen, a rushing started to fill my ears. “Ouch,” I said, covering them. Lough and Lisabelle looked as uncomfortable as I felt.

“That hurts,” Lough muttered, covering his ears.

“What is it?” I asked, scrunching my face in pain.

“It’s demons,” said Lisabelle. “They’re coming.”

And they were.

In front of the three of us appeared a small globe of white light – Airlee’s color. It bobbed in the air like the owl’s eyes had bobbed the night before.

“What’s that?” Lisabelle demanded.

“It’s Sip,” said Lough. “We told her to contact us if Zervos was coming.”

“She doesn’t know he isn’t the one helping the demon,” I pointed out.

The globe was getting larger. It was now the size of a grapefruit, and the light started to pulse as one word came out: hurry. The voice was Sip’s, but distorted as it echoed off the walls of the empty white kitchen. As soon as the word was out, the light started to fade. I held my breath until it had completely vanished, then Lough waved his hand over the area where it had been.

“It’s like it was never there. You girls are talented,” he said appreciatively.

“Of course we are,” Lisabelle muttered, sweeping out of the room.

“I think underneath that rough exterior she’s really very sweet,” Lough whispered to me as we walked out of the room.

“You keep telling yourself that,” I whispered back. The truth was, I didn’t know if sweet was the right word for Lisabelle, but I knew she had a good heart.

We split up. I only paused for a breath to watch Lisabelle and Lough creep up the stairs. Then, steeling myself, I moved cautiously towards the ballroom. The only sounds I could hear were my own footsteps; I couldn’t even hear Lisabelle and Lough moving upstairs. But I still had to be careful. If the hellhound was in Astra, it could be anywhere.

I tried the ballroom doors. They were locked. I tugged on them, but they just creaked – and held.

I looked around for something to use to break in. Keller had used a key, but I didn’t have it. I vaguely wondered how he was doing at Dash. Everyone was probably cheering for him except Camilla, who would be cheering for Cale, until he lost. Then she would start cheering for Keller.

I took a firmer grip of the door handle, calling my magic. This time it sprang easily to my fingertips.

I wasn’t prepared for what waited on the other side of the door. About twenty feet in front of me lounged a great black hound, identical to the one that had followed me over the summer. His massive jaws were open as he panted, whether with the warmth of the room or with eagerness to get at me I didn’t stop to wonder. At close range I could see that even his tongue was black.

At the opening of the door he sprang to his feet, snarling. His red eyes glowed as they locked on me.

I staggered backwards as the muscles in the hellhound’s shoulders bunched and its body coiled. Then, remembering what would happen if I failed here, I gathered my wits and what courage I had left and stepped forward, flinging the door closed behind me. The hellhound and I were alone in the ballroom, and it was ready to attack.

“You’re in the way,” I told it. Last night I had talked to a strix as if it could understand me, now I was trying to reason with a hellhound. Surely I was losing it. The hound just walked toward me, head lowered a little, red eyes never leaving my face.

“So, you should just move,” I suggested. He deserved fair warning. I was getting my ring, one way or another.

He snarled.

I shifted my feet, preparing to fight.

The black hound sprang forward, closing the distance between us in massive bounds. When he was fifteen feet away, I bent my knees. Anyone who had seen me in that moment wouldn’t have known if I was preparing for a magic fight or to play defense in a basketball game, but I didn’t care. I felt better bracing myself for the oncoming attack.

When the hound was ten feet away I sent a burst of power towards it, but without my ring I couldn’t control the power well and it bounced in front of the hellhound without touching him.

He slowed, but now he was only five feet away. I tried again. I missed again.

He snarled and lunged. I dove sideways, avoiding his snapping jaws by inches. He came again, and this time he hit me on my right side. The great body felt hot against my leg, like it burned with an inside fire. I covered my head with my arm, trying to call my magic. I didn’t know if I would have time before the beast bit a chunk out of my body.

Just then the hound gave a short howl of pain, and I peeked around my arm to see black fire coursing around it, attacking. The fire wasn’t coming from me.

I looked at the doorway and there was Lisabelle, leaning on the door jamb, concentrating.

“You should have let me deal with him to begin with,” she called. “I owe him this.”

“If I had known he was here, I would happily have left him to you,” I called back.

“Well, you clearly can’t function properly without me,” she retorted. “You should remember that next time. I have no idea how you’ve survived the last week.”

My ring.

I scrambled to my feet. The hellhound had all he could handle from Lisabelle. I raced to the case. I touched it and it sprang open for me. The artifacts were already blazing, and there, in the center of it all, was my ring.

The silver metal around the multicolored stone was already etched with designs, which meant that it had belonged to someone else. But I didn’t have time to wonder who.

I slipped it on and instantly felt my power focused, increased. Not just mine now, but that of generations of elementals who were coming together, concentrating my power and enhancing it. I felt like I was floating. This is for my family, I thought. My dad, the other elementals, whatever happened to them. I’m going to find out. And I’m going to finish this.

The hellhound was now on his side, wrapped in black fire. “We have to find the President,” I said, looking back at my friends. Lough was standing behind Lisabelle. Once he had given her the wand, there was nothing more he could do.

“We know where the President is,” said Lough. His breathing was hard, and his hands trembled a little. “Sip called again. Demons are attacking students at Dash.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Into the rain-soaked Astra yard we ran. Lough and I had barely dried off before we were drenched again. “You couldn’t have saved me on a sunny day?” Lisabelle asked. Lough laughed and his breath came out as a gray puff. “I vote we only go on quests in the summer from now on.”

Lisabelle, Lough, and I raced for the Dash field, but it was slow going. Lough and I were cold; Lisabelle was weak from being tied up for days. We supported her on either side until she started swearing at us that she wasn’t dead. We let her walk on her own after that.

My mind was racing. We knew that the demons were already battling the other students, and I just hoped that Sip was okay and that Lanca had had a chance to prepare some of them. I wondered how long we could last.

If there was any comfort in the situation, it was that at least now I would be able to fight alongside everyone else. I no longer needed to be protected. If anything, the demons would need protection from me.

“Are you alright?” Lisabelle asked, sweeping wet strands of her dark hair out of her face.

“Yes,” I said.

Lisabelle smiled. “You look determined, but we could always get them to tear Public to pieces. I’m not that fond of the place.”

I grinned. “But then we couldn’t hang out. Once the President is gone Public will get better.”

“Yeah,” said Lough. “Zervos will probably be put in charge.”

I shuddered. Even if Zervos wasn’t in league with the demons, I still didn’t like him. Putting him in charge of Public would be like hiring someone to teach your kids who had a history of torturing puppies.

Lough looked unhappy. Lisabelle asked him what was wrong. He said, “Charlotte might be elemental, but she hasn’t trained as one. What happens if we can’t reunite the Power of Five?”

“We’ll be able to,” I said. “If we can get everyone together, we will. At least we have to try. We have to fight. We can’t just let the demons overrun Public. I don’t care if you don’t like it.”

Lisabelle smiled. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

A boom, like a cannon going off right next to my ear, split the air.

“What was that?” Lough asked. He held tighter to Lisabelle, and to my surprise she didn’t make him let her go.

“Battle,” said Lisabelle, looking toward the Dash field.

We were almost there. The campus was deserted; everyone was at Dash, which at this point meant that everyone was fighting off demons – or being killed. The rain was making it hard to see far ahead, but as I squinted to get a better look, I thought I saw fire.

When we reached the top of the hill that overlooked Dash, Lough gave a cry. My stomach felt like potatoes being mashed. The Dash field was in shambles. There were fiery red or black shapes everywhere: demons and hellhounds and even a few black shapes that looked like they were wearing armor, the Demons of Knight. The most powerful demons had overrun Public, and they were all battling students. The bleachers were overturned, some nothing more than twisted metal. The glass magnifiers that had made watching Dash feel so real were nothing more than broken shards of glass, as if a rock had been thrown through a glass window.

I looked for faces I knew, but the battle was such a roiling mass of bodies I couldn’t make anyone out. I couldn’t even find Sip’s shock of blond hair, and a stab of fear hit my heart. What if she was injured? What if she was worse? Then I pushed the thought away. Sip was too good to get killed by a demon.

I didn’t see the President anywhere, but even if she was still out “searching” for the elemental, she would join the battle soon. She must know that Lisabelle was free and I had the ring.

Without a word the three of us pelted down the hill. The students weren’t being beaten back; they were all standing to fight. Most had formed rings, facing outward to protect their backs. Werewolves were with pixies, vampires with mages. Fallen angels and pixies had taken to the air to fight demons coming from above. They were all fighting together.

I kept searching for familiar faces as I ran. Keller and Cale would have been on the field competing, so where were they now?

“There’s Keller,” Lough yelled at my side, as if reading my mind. He was pointing toward the far end of the Dash field where students lined up before they started to compete, and where Keller was now fighting hellhounds. I could only see his back, but he wore the silver colors of Aurum. He had transformed again, with his strong, dark wings jutting out of his back. He jumped and dived and made the hellhounds look slow in comparison.

“I never thought I would say this,” Lisabelle said to me, “but you need to find Zervos.”

I tore my eyes away from Keller. I knew she was right. If he was still alive, he would know what to do. “And Charlotte,” said Lisabelle just before we reached the base of the hill that slopped into the Dash field, “whatever you do, don’t use your magic.”

I hadn’t thought of that. If I used my magic it would be easy for the demons to tell that I was the elemental, and they would converge on me. I had to find Zervos before I was forced to fight.

I skidded to a halt. A hellhound watched us. His demon master was busy fighting a group of pixies and werewolves, but the hellhound’s eyes were fixed on me.

“I’ll distract it,” said Lough, striding forward. “You two get to Zervos.”

“Lough,” I said. “That’s a demon of speed. They are as they sound: fast.”

Lough shook his head. “I have a few tricks of my own. Go.”

Lisabelle’s hand shot out and she grabbed Lough’s arm. “Be careful,” she warned. He nodded and marched toward the hound.

“He’s kind of cute when he’s angry,” said Lisabelle thoughtfully.

I rolled my eyes. “Lisabelle,” I said, “this is no time for you to catch on.”

“What?” she asked.

“Zervos is over there,” I said, finally picking him out of the chaos. He didn’t look so good. He had a bloody slash down his arm, and he was fighting three demons, trying to hold a position in front of something lying in the mud. The rain was lessening and I could see that it was a human form. Sickness washed over me. It reminded me of the night Bailey had been murdered.

Zervos was protecting the body of Nancy, the Airlee student who had competed in Lisabelle’s place for the Dash finals. She was face down and her right hand had been hacked off.

Lisabelle sent a gust of wind, tinged with fire, to slam into the closest demon, who happened to be a Demon of Knight. His black armor didn’t do him any good against Lisabelle’s attack, and he went flying backward. Two other demons turned to see where the fresh assault was coming from, and charged. Lisabelle twitched her wand and the wind changed course, slamming into each of them in turn. She was blasting us a path to Zervos.

Meanwhile, more demons and hellhounds were turning towards the fresh attack. Lisabelle continued to use her magic as they came on in waves, but one hellhound, smarter than the others, didn’t attack her from the front or side, he tried to came around her back, where I was. Unfortunately, he was so intent on Lisabelle that he never saw me. Forgetting Lisabelle’s caution not to use my magic, I grabbed a fistful of it. The hellhound was about to spring on Lisabelle’s back when I sent a blast of ice water slamming into its head. The cold water hissed when it hit his hot body. The hellhound dropped.

But he hadn’t been alone. I tried to pull up a shield against the second hellhound, but I wasn’t familiar with my magic and I was too slow. The hound sprung.

Mid-air another animal – a small werewolf – slammed it from the side. When the werewolf hit the burning body of the hellhound, she let out a whimper but held her ground. We kept moving, but I had used my magic. I had basically lit a torch, stood in the middle of a silent room, and yelled “I’m the elemental. Come get me.”

And they were. Demons and hellhounds were battling towards me, and more were converging on Lisabelle. I moved to stand alongside her, using my magic to batter the demons. I didn’t have time to see if Sip was alright. We had to keep going.

We were close to Zervos now. He saw us coming, and leaving Nancy’s body he fought towards us. He darted forward, fangs out, and latched onto one of the demons attacking us. The demon, a thin black mass, gave a loud shriek, clawing at Zervos. But it was no use. The Public professor held on until the demon crumpled, with bloody scratches all down his left arm. While Zervos attacked a second demon, Lisabelle went after a third, a Demon of Fire like the one that had attacked Keller and me. It was having trouble with all the rain; there was a constant hissing as water met fire.

“Why mess with a good idea?” Lisabelle called to me over her shoulder. She called more water to dump on top of the fire demon.

The hissing and crackling fire that made up its body dimmed and sputtered.

I looked up to find that Zervos was fighting his way to my side. He was bloodied and his ankle was hanging at such a funny angle that I tried not to look at it. But his black eyes were still bright. While Lisabelle kept on fighting the demons, Zervos limped over to me.

“That ring suits you better, does it?” he demanded, pointing at my Astra ring.

I nodded. “It was the only one I could find.”

“It was the old Queen’s,” said Zervos. “She would want it to be used for this.”

I could only nod.

“We have to stop the demons before they overrun this place,” said Zervos. He looked at Lisabelle, doggedly fighting them off.

“Was it the President?” he asked in an undertone.

“Yes.”

Professor Zervos closed his eyes briefly. “Get Keller, Cale, Lisabelle, and Lanca,” he ordered. “That should do it.”

Everywhere there was battle. It had taken Lisabelle ten minutes to get us to Zervos, and he hadn’t been very far away. I had yet to see Cale or Lanca. There was no way I could find them without getting killed – or worse – by a demon. Students were fighting and dying everywhere.

Zervos saw the look on my face and placed his bloody left hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry,” he said. “Lanca prepared everyone as best she could. She will make a great leader one day.”

I nodded, but I didn’t feel like sending the Strix to Lanca with my warning had been enough, not if students were still dying.

“How do I get them?”

Zervos gave a thin smile and reached a finger toward my ring. It sparked at his touch. He moved his hand away, his smile widening.

Shaking off my frustration and fear, I tried to block out the battle around me. Now I touched my ring myself, and power blazed. It was a comforting hum through my body.

As if from a distance I saw Zervos nod his approval. Just that morning I wouldn’t have listened to him if he had told me a piano was about to fall on my head, and now I was putting the fate of the paranormal world in his hands. I just hoped I was right.

I thought of the people Zervos had told me to call: Lisabelle, who was always ready for a fight; Cale, who was loyal to Camilla; Lanca and her dark confidence; and Keller, who was brilliant, reliable, good at Dash, quiet, observant.... Okay, I had to stop now. Demons were attacking.

I continued to think of the four of them until a hand gripped my shoulder. It was Cale. He had a long scratch down one side of his face, but otherwise he looked unharmed. Keller and Lanca stood behind him. Lisabelle was still blocking demons, but Zervos had gone to help her. She would be with us soon.

Lanca looked fine, but her eyes had gone a disturbing shade of red. I didn’t know that happened to vampires and I definitely didn’t want to know why. Lisabelle joined us.

“It’s about time,” said Lanca.

“Hey,” said Lisabelle. “I’m supposed to be the sarcastic one of the bunch.”

Lanca smiled. “There is room enough for both of us. In fact, there is room enough for five.” Her smile was without humor as she watched the demons come.

We clasped hands. Just as we did, the demons converged on us, sensing my power. All other fighting stopped as the demons dropped weapons and stopped throwing fire. They were barreling toward us.

Zervos went down. Now demons had a clear path to us, converging from all sides.

“Now,” cried Lanca. The five of us joined hands. Keller was on one side of me, Lisabelle on the other. Keller’s hand was calloused and warm. I held it tighter. When the five of us clasped hands, power surged. This whole time I had worried that we were missing something. We couldn’t afford to get to this point and then fail. It was a relief to see our rings blaze, to feel power coursing through my body, to know that the five of us were enough.

“Now,” I cried.

Lanca was the one directing our combined power. Keller was right behind her. All they needed was my type of power, but any elemental would have done. The five powers screamed together, rushing into one ball of fiery magic. Lisabelle’s was black, but also white, for Airlee. It mixed with Keller’s silver, Cale’s green, and my blue. Lanca’s magic was a deep maroon, a pooling of black and red. It wrapped around the rest of our magics, cradling them.

The hellhounds weren’t smart enough to stop. The first hellhounds that came towards us leapt, hitting our wall of magic. They incinerated.

The demons slowed. Through our wall of power I could see the Demons of Knight hesitating. Two Demons of Speed darted forward. They thought they were faster than our magic. They thought they were faster than Keller’s reflexes. They were wrong.

In all of our concentration on the demons, one hellhound got through. I heard Cale cry out as the demon tore into his arm. He had some protection because he was still wearing his Dash uniform, but I could see blood seeping through his clothing.

“Don’t let go,” Lisabelle yelled. Cale looked at her, pain filling his eyes.

Cale tried to hang on. For a moment he did, but the hellhound was too strong. With one last scream Cale was yanked out of the circle and the Power of Five vanished.

Our rings dulled. With the sudden loss of the wonderful magic my head throbbed. Lanca, Keller, and Lisabelle didn’t look like they were in much better shape. Lisabelle looked like she was about to be sick. Keller dropped his hands to his knees, his head bowed. Only Lanca kept her eyes on the battle. Her back was ramrod straight as she stared down the demons. We were surrounded.

“Back up,” Lanca cried, glaring at the demons.

I looked for Cale, but he was gone. There was only a bloody streak on the grass where he had been. I could feel the heat from a Demon of Burning on the side of my face. I saw shadows flicker in Keller’s eyes.

“Give us the elemental,” said a Demon of Knight. He came through the crowd, his armor clanking. I hadn’t known demons could speak. He was pointing a black sword at my heart.

Lanca was about to say something, but I stepped forward.

“I’ll die first,” I told him.

The demon laughed. It sounded like wind whipping through an empty fireplace, filled with hollowness, old smoke, and ashes.

“You’ll die anyway.” I could feel the pressure of his words. We couldn’t give the demons this kind of time. They were gathering their own darkness magic.

Then something small and green sped past my face, moving so fast it almost knocked. me back. Professor Korba materialized in front of us, and he wasn’t alone. He was making way for someone, giving her enough time to get to us.

Then Camilla appeared behind him. Keller and Lisabelle saw her instantly, and the three of them joined hands.

“Lanca,” I yelled. She was still beating up on hellhounds. At the sound of her name she spun around and her eyes landed on Camilla. For the second time this afternoon, representatives of Cruor, Aurum, Astra, Volans, and Airlee joined hands.

“Wow,” Camilla breathed. Her eyes never left my face.

Now we had the strength to drive the oncoming demons back. I never thought I would see the day that a Public professor would dive behind a bunch of students for safety, but that’s what Korba did when the five of us joined hands.

The oncoming demons never had a chance. Our power lanced out, lashing into them. My eyes were closed in concentration, but I heard popping around me as demons were vaporized. I opened my eyes to see them being driven back. Some were disappearing. Others were being chase away by students. I felt Keller give my hand a squeeze. I smiled.

“You can stop now,” I heard Lanca’s voice say. I looked at the vampire princess. She was still standing in the circle, holding hands with Keller and Camilla. There were still demons on the field, but they were no longer attacking. Many looked battered, some were dead.

“We did it,” said Camilla in awe. “I never thought we’d be the ones to do it.”

“If the professors hadn’t deserted us we might not have had to be,” said Lisabelle.

I stepped forward, letting go of my friends’ hands. Something still felt wrong.

“We still have something to do,” I said, looking around. Students were everywhere, helping other students. Many were trying to get the injured out of the rain. I wondered where nurse Tabby was, but I didn’t want to think about the injured or the dead just yet.

I saw Lough coming toward us. His arm was hanging limp at his side and there was a cut on his mouth, but he was alive. I ran to him. “What happened?” I asked, reaching him.

He spat out a mouthful of water. “You should see the other guy.”

He looked over my right shoulder, seeing something far away on the hill. “You going to deal with that?” he asked, pointing with his good arm. I turned around. There, standing on the hill, was what I had forgotten.

The President. She was dressed in black, and her steel grey hair was flowing down around her. Now that I saw her, she looked crazy. I wondered if she always had and I had just missed it. I had just thought of her as an authority figure, not as something flesh and blood that could lose her mind. Flanking her were two hellhounds. Drool and spit were coming out of their mouths. Someone, probably a few professors if any were still alive, would probably find it interesting that the President had the loyalty of hellhounds just like demons did.

When my eyes locked with hers, the hellhounds charged. Before I could race forward, my friends came from both sides of me, running up the hill to meet the hellhounds. I heard the clash of battle as hellhound met student. I was getting tired of my friends protecting me from every danger, but they weren’t. They took care of the hellhounds, but they left the President for me.

I looked for Zervos, but he was crumpled on the ground. He would be no help in a fight against such a powerful mage.

Coming down the hill toward me, she looked taller than she was. I tried not to let it scare me. Her grayish-brown power gathered around her hands and arms. There wasn’t a magical type that had grayish brown power; the color meant that her magic was sick. The sight of it was more horrifying than confronting a hellhound. I now knew what the figure of my mother had meant in the pond that morning outside the President’ office. Someone very close to me couldn’t be trusted. The President herself.

Without warning she sent power skidding toward me. I dived out of the way, rolling as I hit the ground.

“Don’t fight this, Charlotte,” she called. Her voice was high pitched and screechy. “All the other elementals fought it. Look what happened to them.”

Anger washed over me like the rain. I pushed myself to my knees. “How dare you talk about them?” I demanded.

She threw her head back and laughed. “I spent years killing them. It was so easy. You elementals never knew how to stand together. Just like the other paranormals don’t now. It makes it so easy. Nineteen years ago we thought we had gotten them all, your dad being the last. We had no idea he had gotten some woman pregnant. If your mother hadn’t been a mage we would have known about you long ago, but your mother was smart. As far as anyone in Airlee can be, that is.”

Anger coursed through me. The rage was hot and comforting. This woman, and the other demons, had murdered my father. All my life I had wondered about him, and about why my mother would never say anything. Now I knew. Now there was someone who could pay.

“And my mother?” I asked. I had a sick feeling that my father wasn’t the only parent they had killed.

The President smiled. It was an adult smiling indulgently to a silly child. “Your mother came out in the open. She shouldn’t have. But, she wouldn’t give you up. We did try. By then we suspected she might have had a child.”

Breathing hard through my nose, I pointed my ring at the President. Instead of aiming my ring right for her, though, which she could have probably avoided, I aimed it at the ground. Power surged through me. It blasted into the earth, ripping a giant hole in front of her. She staggered. I sent another burst of power flying at her. She flipped backwards, covered in debris.

“You failed,” I said through gritted teeth. “You didn’t get all the elementals.”

“An error we will now correct,” she spat out. We were no more than ten feet apart, and even though her voice was just a low growl, I heard her.

She pushed herself to her feet. She looked like a specter from a bad dream. Bursts of magic came flying at me, faster and faster. Some sang past my face, while others melted into the ground and rose up to attack me. I had no more time to think about the elementals she had helped kill, including my family. I had to concentrate on staying alive.

Movement behind the President caught my eyes. Figures, all dressed in black, were lining the top of the hill. The professors had arrived. Finally.

The President caught the direction of my gaze. She looked over her shoulder and swore. Just as she made a move to disappear, the professors of Public sent a combined spell thundering right at her. There was a blinding flash, a rushing filled my ears, then there was nothing at all.

We had won. For now, we had beaten the demons. Public was safe.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

It turned out that Tabby hadn’t come to our aid because she was dead. A hellhound had killed her first, so she wouldn’t be able to help the wounded and they would be forced to die slow deaths. Lambros, who had returned to fight off the demons, was now acting President.

She sent for nurses from other schools, but some students still died. Tale had died defending Lanca, throwing himself in front of an oncoming demon and paying the price for it. Camilla was in a coma, but she would be fine. I found myself relieved. I knew how much Cale cared about her, even if I still didn’t understand why.

Sip was also fine. She was mad that she had missed the Power of Five, but as Cale had told her, that’s what happens when you challenge a couple of fully grown hellhounds. He was fine, but would need time to recover. Sip was one of the ones in the worst condition. If she hadn’t shifted to werewolf form mid-fight she would have been dead. As it was, a nurse couldn’t get to her fast enough, so a couple of professors decided to take her to a paranormal hospital. Lisabelle and I wanted to go with her, but of course they were still wary of Lisabelle. I soon found out that they weren’t going to let me go anywhere. As an elemental I was as good as a personification of gold, but far more valuable.

Professor Lambros had taken me aside that very night to lecture me on how important it was that I stay safe. I didn’t really listen to her. I was too tired and too happy that the demons had been beaten, Lisabelle was back, and there would be no more hellhounds roaming around Public. But I paid attention when the said to me, before heading back to the many duties that awaited her, “You mother would be proud.” That meant more to me than anything else that had happened.

Nancy died a few days after The Battle at Public, as students were starting to call it. Classes, including finals, were canceled. Unsurprisingly, Professor Lambros decreed that fighting demons was a very good measure of skill and that everyone got a pass on final examinations, including Starter tests. Students were allowed to leave any time they wanted, but most chose to stay. Many were still dazed or upset. Everyone knew a student who had died. We all realized, without talking about it, that a lot of changes were coming.

No longer could we just stand off and not help each other. The demons might never have gotten so close, and the President might never have been able to do what she did, if students had been getting along from the beginning. Now, when I walked into the dining hall and a pixie was ahead of me, he or she held the door instead of slamming it in my face.

Lisabelle showed few signs of the trauma she had experienced. Once she had received a full pardon from the school, she was back to her normal sarcastic self. But she did have scars. She wasn’t as quick to argue, and I often saw her lost in thought as she looked at her hand, where a demon had cut her.

I didn’t have plans for the Christmas break. Sip invited me home, and since I knew I wouldn’t be welcome in my stepdad’s house, I accepted her invitation. I had sent Ricky an e-mail full of fatalistic hints and predictions just before Lough and I went into Astra. Ricky had sent me a panicked e-mail back telling me that I was not allowed to do anything stupid without him there to supervise. I was forced to send him an e-mail apologizing and reassuring him. I told him I would visit over Christmas.

The night before break, as Sip and I were packing to go, there was a knock on our door. The new President had told me that by rights I should be living in the elemental dorm, but I hadn’t moved yet. I had told her I would have to think about that. It was a really big place to have to myself.

“Come in,” I called.

The door swung open and a dark head peaked around the frame. “Hey,” said Keller. He stepped into the room. “How are you?” He was wearing jeans and a dark hoodie that made his blue eyes stand out even more. As usual, I wasn’t sure where to look. Nervousness snaked up my spine and through my shoulders.

“Good,” I said, inviting him in with a wave of my hand.

Sip, who was totally unaffected by Keller, was trying to close her suitcase. Keller went and helped her. Grinning, she excused herself despite the glare I gave her.

“So, you don’t need a tutor anymore,” he said. His hands were in his pockets. He looked at ease in my room, like he belonged there. But Keller was always at ease.

“Nope,” I said, folding my arms over my chest. “Thanks to my tutor.”

Keller smiled. He asked me about my Christmas plans and I told him I was visiting Sip’s family.

“I’m surprised they’re letting you leave campus. You’re a valuable asset now.”

I shook my head. “They can’t really make an argument for how safe Public is.”

Keller nodded absently. He was fidgeting with a piece of paper on Sip’s desk.

“Did you want something?” I asked, then winced. Why couldn’t I just be friendly, like a normal eighteen-year-old girl?

Keller’s eyes fixed on me. “I wanted to see how you were doing,” he explained. “And I wanted to tell you that it would be nice if….”

I waited for him to finish.

“We could be friends.”

“Is that the only reason you came?” I asked. I had to admit it. I didn’t want to be friends with Keller. That’s not what I wanted at all. He had believed in me, even when no one else did. I now knew that he had stayed away from me not because he wanted to, but because that’s what was expected of a fallen angel. I gave up any pretense of packing and just stood there and looked at him. Slowly, Keller pushed himself away from the desk and walked towards me. He was two feet away. Now he was one. Now we breathed the exact same air.

“Hi,” he said quietly. I glanced up into his eyes. That was a mistake. They were bright with his smile. I looked down again, but I smiled too.

I cleared my throat. My hands were getting sweaty, and I tried to subtly rub them off on my jeans.

“Charlotte?” his voice was still so soft, “you know how paranormals don’t date outside their houses?”

I didn’t actually dare to say anything, so I just nodded.

“Demons infiltrated us more easily because we were divided. That’s not good. We shouldn’t be divided.”

I looked into his smiling blue eyes again.

“I couldn’t agree more,” I said. He stepped forward, cupping my face in his hands. I could feel muscles even in his fingers as his thumbs skimmed softly along my cheekbones. Slowly, he kissed me. His lips, which I had stared at all semester, were softer than I expected.

I slid my arms around the hard line of his waist. My hands met at his back and I pulled him closer.

After we finished kissing, I couldn’t help but think that the President had helped bring this about. Paranormals had been a community divided, but no more. Without the battle, Keller and I would never have been able to, did he say date? Now we could try it. Now, the world was full of all kinds of new possibilities.

I spent a few days at Sip’s before I went to visit my brother. Her family was happy to have me. Luckily, they spent most of their time in human form. She had eight brothers. “Don’t ask,” was all she said, rolling her eyes. “Pure misery, but I get away with everything.” She gave a mischievous cackle.

The day before I was supposed to return to Public for second semester, I went to see Ricky. I was going to spend the night at a friend’s house, but I had promised him I would come. And I missed him.

He was waiting for me at the train station, virtually hopping up and down.

He dashed towards me and flung his arms around my waist. I smiled. Sometimes I forgot he was only ten. This was a nice reminder.

“How are you?” he demanded. His face looked fuller, and his cheeks were rosy from cold.

“I’m great,” I told him, grinning.

He squinted up at me. “You look different somehow.” He frowned.

“Not worse, I hope,” I said, pretending to play with my hair.

Ricky’s eyebrows shot into the air. “What do you need to look good for?” he demanded. “Boys?”

“Ricky,” I whined. “I’ll tell you a secret. We don’t dress for guys. We dress for each other.”

Ricky snorted. “Girls are complicated.”

“Ricky?” I asked, grinning broadly. “Do you have something to tell me?” I was teasing him, but I couldn’t help it.

“No,” he muttered. “Come on,” he said, grabbing my hand. “I want hot chocolate.”

“Who’s buying you that?” I demanded.

“You are, duh,” he said. “You’re my older sister and you left me alone over Thanksgiving. You’re supposed to give me things.”

“Thanks for explaining to me how that works,” I said. But I let him pull me along.

“How’s college?” he asked, while we walked.

I shook my head. “Unexpected.”

“A lot of work?”

“Yeah, you could say that.”

“I’m sure it will get easier,” he said.

“Maybe.” My mind flashed back to the President. I wasn’t sure if she was dead. I hoped she was.

“So, no boys, right?”

I blushed.

“Oh, no,” said Ricky, throwing his hands in the air. “This is terrible.”

I grinned, putting my arm around his shoulders. “Come on,” I said. “Let’s go get some hot chocolate.”

Ricky grinned. “It’s nice to have you here.”

I smiled back. “It’s nice to be here. At least until tomorrow.”

“Are you looking forward to going back to college?”

Was I? I hadn’t really thought about it like there was a choice.

“Yes,” I said in an undertone. My smiled broadened. “I am.”

*****

My blog: http://maddyedwards.blogspot.com/

My goodreads page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5288585.Maddy_Edwards