“I’m sure, but no, I don’t think Gedi should be my permanent superhero name. Maybe we should give that one to Elana. She can be the Fire Goddess.”
I laughed. “I’d guess if she were going to take on a fire name, she’d go with a goddess.”
Kaden kissed me like he did when he was teasing or messing with me. “You’re probably right.”
By spring, we’d all fallen back into the routine of school. Unlike regular universities, ours didn’t get a spring break. Instead, we had frequent breaks built into our schedule. In the second semester of freshman year, the different societies representing the four powers began inviting students to long weekends where they were groomed to join their society.
Often, like Kaylee and Kyle’s telekinetic society, students were groomed to work in fields that enabled them to put those skills to the best use.
Kayden tended to go to the Water tribe with Dr. Fagan on these long weekends. I, however, was forced to go on tedious events with the Terrestrial society. So, that meant I was stuck with witches, were-animals, and anything considered magic.
I had so little in common with them, I would swear I often felt like the third wheel I’d been in high school. Even though they were only three-day weekends, I missed my little tribe of Kyle, Kaylee, and Kaden.
The only consolation was I could constantly zap power away from annoying assholes in the group. For some reason, Terrestrials seemed to have an overabundance of bullies. Now that I knew how to siphon off their powers and absorb them, I could zap without fear or concern—much to the dismay of several assholes I tended to get stuck with on every society weekend.
The best part was coming back to Kaden. I didn’t know whether absence made the heart fonder or not. I was already about as fond of Kaden as I could be.
After months of him staying every night with me, we finally moved in together. There was no need for him to have a room to himself, especially in the hall where they’d put him. It was in one of the oldest buildings and smelled like feet and gym lockers.
Here he was with Kyle, Kaylee, and me. His friends. Well, maybe more accurately, his family.
On the spring equinox, a time when Terrestrial powers were supposedly at their most powerful, although I couldn’t tell the difference, all Terrestrials were brought in to organize the equinox celebration.
We’d all just settled in to get assignments when Dr. Aynesworth, who was the head of the school’s Terrestrial group since he had the terrestrial gift of healing, came into the auditorium and asked us to settle down for a moment. He looked harried, like he’d just heard the worst news.
I immediately worried it had something to do with Kaden. I’d only ever seen that expression on Dr. Aynesworth’s face when he was dealing with him.
“I have a grave announcement. Dr. Grace Bisbee, former Dean of Students, has gone rogue.”
The entire room erupted noisily. I didn’t react, though. Instead, something about the information settled heavily in my stomach. Dr. Bisbee was theformerdean of students because of what she’d done to me. Would it mean she’d retaliate against me? Surely not with Kaden keeping watch.
Dr. Aynesworth put his hand up to get our attention again. “She disappeared several days ago, but her coworkers said she was making plans to return here to our school. If any of you have been in touch with Dr. Bisbee, you must let us know. I don’t need to tell you how powerful she is. If she is no longer a friend of this school, everyone here could be at risk.”
The noise erupted again after that announcement, and Dr. Aynesworth stepped out of the room. I needed to talk to the twins and Kaden. If she’d gone rogue and had a vendetta, I was almost sure I was on top of her list of students to come after. If given another chance, I was sure she’d succeed in killing me.
I left the assembly without volunteering to help. I might be a Terrestrial, but in name only. I never felt like I fit in with them and decorating the auditorium for an event wasn’t for me. In fact, it seemed more like torture than fun.
I still didn’t understand. Everyone else in the Terrestrial group—be it those who called themselves fairies to those who could walk through walls—loved these events. Why did I hate being with them so much?
I shook the questions from my mind, convinced I had bigger fish to fry, as my mom always said when dealing with a conundrum.
When I entered the dorm, Kaden was sitting in the lounge with the twins, watching a soccer tournament. “Hey, guys, can you pause that a minute? I just got some, well, not great news.”
Kaden took the remote and paused the game, then all three turned their attention to me. “So, Dr. Aynesworth just told the Terrestrial’s party planning group that Dr. Bisbee has gone rogue. He thinks she’s headed here.”
“Wait, Dr. Scarypants is coming here?”
I almost chuckled at Kyle’s description of Dr. Bisbee. If it hadn’t been such a serious situation, I would’ve. Instead, I nodded. “We need a plan of action, ’cause I’m guessing if she’s coming, it’ll be me she’s after.”
The group stared at me for a long while before Kaylee shrugged. “Kaden will protect you.” She reached across her brother to take the remote from Kaden’s hand.
“Not necessarily. What if she does her mind-meld thing on him? Remember the lightning bolt?” I asked.
Kaylee shook her head. “That was before Kaden got control of his powers. I doubt she could handle holding that tiger by the tail,” she said, pointing at Kaden.
She turned the game back on and ignored me. “Kaylee, really?” I asked, frustrated.
Kaden got up, and, taking my hand, led me back to our room. “Don’t worry too much about it—Kaylee’s right. I’m not the same as I was when she manipulated me back in the fall. Hell, neither are you. You stood up to her when you hadn’t learned how to control your powers and lived to tell about it. Now, you could disable her easily enough.”
