《Misfit Monsters (Pack of Outcasts #1)》 Chapter 1

Periwinkle Today will be a good day. Today, I won¡¯t kill anyone. As I slink through the shadows, invisible to the mortal beings on the city street around me, I repeat my mantra. It will be true. I know it will be. I¡¯ll take it easy. Stick to low-key situations. Nothing that could turn traumatic, nothing that would overwhelm me. There¡¯s no reason for anything to go wrong. I¡¯ve totally got this. I won¡¯t think about the hunger prickling through my body even in its shadowy state. The ache has been burning for days now. I had to come. Beyond the patches of shadow I flit through, the sun beams down over the strolling humans. Its warmth stirs enough contentment in many of the people it touches for the emotion to touch me too, but only in the wispiest way that matches my current form. For a proper feeding, I need to shift into my physical body. Childish laughter carries from the next street over. I taste the edge of that joy, bright and shimmery like fizzy lemonade. The ache sears deeper, and I pause to make sure I¡¯m totally in control. No rushing, no leaping before I look. Weaving between the shops and restaurants, I come to the edge of a small park. A patch of trees stands on one side and a playground on the other. A couple of kids are heaving themselves as high as possible on the swings. A toddler giggles nervously as he careens down the slide to his waiting mother. Two girls dangle upside down on the monkey bars. Playgrounds work well. Happy but not to an extreme. A good, simple meal. The cluster of trees gives me a convenient place to emerge from the shadows. I solidify in the air dressed in a basic daisy print sundress, flats, and my favorite track jacket¡ªwith rainbow stripes around the chest, because we¡¯ve all got to have some fun in our lives. The hood materializes already pulled up over my long, vibrantly turquoise hair, which I can¡¯t change and tends to draw attention I¡¯d rather not have. Especially if it starts glowing. The fresh spring air floods my newly formed lungs, delightfully sweet with the perfume from the white-and-pink flowers blooming on a tree at the edge of the playground. My mind supplies the name from somewhere in my memories: magnolia. The sweetest flavor drifting around me is the exhilaration and amusement of the children romping around the playground. I amble closer and stop near the magnolia tree. Emotions emanate off the playing mortals and sink into my skin. With each whoosh of the swings and clamber up the climbing equipment, I absorb more in little spurts. This boy¡¯s daring eagerness tastes like a sip of spiced hot cocoa. That girl¡¯s dizzy hilarity could be a mouthful of pulled taffy. The edges of my hunger start to smooth out. The deeper burn remains, but it¡¯ll just take some time. These little wisps can¡¯t fill the well that quickly. Once I know I¡¯ve got my balance, I can come more often. I won¡¯t wait until I¡¯m on the verge of starving. It¡¯ll be wonderful. A little girl wanders over to the other side of the magnolia tree. She gazes up at the luminous flowers with wide eyes and stretches her hand, but the nearest one is far above her head. A glimmer of hope lights in my chest. I can do something nice for her. I can makeher happy. One more bit of joy to make amends for the thousands I¡¯ve hurt. I dare to step a little closer and smile. ¡°I can get one for you.¡± It¡¯s been weeks since I last used my voice, but the words slide off my tongue with typical bubbly cheer. Even as the girl¡¯s eyes widen even more, she grins. ¡°Yes, please!¡± The human-ish body I can take on has many appealing things about it, from the unique hair to the multitude of soft curves, but it isn¡¯t especially tall. I have to rise up on tiptoe to reach a flower. As my fingers close around the base, a tiny but sharp pain jabs through my ankles and feet like the prickling of needles. I snap off the flower and drop back down, suppressing a wince. Mortal bodies can heal, and shadowkind wearing human form can recover from plenty of things regular humans can¡¯t. But some wounds can never be completely erased. I bend forward and hold out the flower. ¡°Here you go.¡± The girl plucks it from my fingers with a gasp of delight that melts in my mouth like a gumdrop. She darts away to show off her prize to a slightly bigger boy who might be her brother. Warmth tingles over my scalp. I tug my hood a little lower to make sure the glow of happiness isn¡¯t seeping out. On the far side of the park, beyond a low wrought-iron fence, a procession of vivid colors catches my eyes. Various people are leaving cars to walk up to a large stone building. Most of the women are wearing swishy dresses, the men in collared shirts and suit jackets. They give off a cocktail of excitement and anticipation that tingles against my skin from even this far away. I consider the building for a moment. Arched windows, tall towers, those intersecting lines carved into the stone¡ªoh. It¡¯s a church. People are coming for a wedding. My heart skips a beat, and I tense against my own excitement. Weddings bring big emotions. Delicious, giddying, fill-me-up-in-one-gulp emotions, but that means it¡¯s so much easier to overindulge. I¡¯ll only walk over to the fence. Not go inside, not even enter the church yard. Just absorb the edges of the celebration from a distance. Pleased with the compromise, I stroll around the playground. The wafting festive energy draws me in. I stop by the fence like I promised myself I would and rest my hands on top of it. I¡¯m still only absorbing impressions of the largest emotions, the way you can stand outside a bakery and imagine the pastries filling your belly from the scents trickling out, but it¡¯s plenty all the same. The burn of my hunger dwindles. After another five minutes here, it¡¯ll be nothing but a smolder. Five more, and I¡¯ll be completely sated. The stream of wedding-goers trickles to a halt. It must be almost time for the ceremony to begin. Even without being able to see inside the building, the celebratory atmosphere flavors the air. Then a small wooden door in the side of the church opens, and a woman in a poofy white dress steps out onto the narrow lawn. Her pale hair swirls around her head in a fancy arrangement of overlapping loops, and gold jewelry gleams around her neck and in her earlobes. Thick makeup emphasizes her eyes and lips. It¡¯s obvious to anyone who has eyes that she¡¯s the bride, but her arrival outside the church is so unexpected that I stare at her for a few thumps of my pulse before the realization sinks in. What¡¯s she doing out here? How are all the people inside going to continue reveling in the impending marriage if she isn¡¯t with them doing, you know, the getting married part? A current of more concentrated emotion washes over me with her so close by¡ªand apparently feeling so strongly. Without trying, I can pick up on a sour tang of doubt and a bitter knot of guilt alongside the delicate wisps of excitement. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. My own appreciation for the festivities dampens. What does it matter if all those people inside are happy if half of the couple they¡¯re supposed to be celebrating isn¡¯t? She is still a little eager. What¡¯s made her so confused? Despite my previous resolve, I can¡¯t help walking along the fence until I¡¯m directly across from her, just a few feet away. "Are you all right?¡± I ask. The bride was so lost in her head that she startles at my voice. She spins to face me with a rustle of her massive skirts. A starker blush stains her cheeks beneath the powdered version. Embarrassment, tart as cheap wine. She knits her brow. ¡°Are you one of Ted¡¯s cousins?¡± I shake my head. ¡°I¡¯m not a guest. I just saw you, and you looked like maybe you need someone to talk to.¡± The bride droops. ¡°I¡ªI don¡¯t know. Maybe I do need to talk.¡± She presses her hand to her forehead. ¡°My thoughts keep going in circles. I thought I wanted this, but¡­ we haven¡¯t been together for that long. Only a little more than a year. Everything¡¯s felt so right, and I didn¡¯t want to wait, but the past few days, I can¡¯t help wondering if I¡¯m being crazy. Who jumps into marriage like that?¡± My knowledge of the finer details of human relationships comes mostly from fictional ones on TV, but that¡¯s enough to give me context. ¡°You¡¯re afraid you¡¯re rushing in too fast. You might not know him well enough yet.¡± Her hands clasp in front of her. ¡°People don¡¯t normally do this. There¡¯s obviously a reason why.¡± Through the uneasiness and shame, the quivers of excitement still reach me. I taste the edge of a richer sweetness like a honeyed glaze on a roast. ¡°He didn¡¯t doanything to make you feel that way, did he? He makes you happy.¡± A smile lights up her face, and she lifts her gaze to meet mine again. ¡°Oh, yes,¡± she says, and there it is in her voice, in her sparkling eyes¡ªthe whole roast and a heap of buttery mashed potatoes and caramelized squash besides. ¡°When I¡¯m with him, I feel like I can do anything. And he¡¯ll be right there, cheering me on.¡± She lets out a choked sort of laugh. ¡°Even if I went in there right now and said I wanted to wait, he¡¯d just hug me and reassure me that we¡¯ll sort everything out.¡± My breath catches in my throat. I haven¡¯t gotten to bask in this most potent and bountiful of sensations very often. It¡¯s filled in every bit of empty space inside me, soothed every trace of hunger. I can repay her for that. Do a much bigger kindness than picking a flower. I reach across the fence to pat her arm. ¡°You love him. It¡¯s obvious. And you know he loves you. That¡¯s bigger than anything you¡¯re afraid of.¡± It¡¯s strange that they¡¯re the ones feeling the feelings, but quite often humans need to be told what¡¯s inside them before they can totally recognize it. A brilliant smile crosses the bride¡¯s reddened lips as a flood of relieved joy courses off of her. She grasps my hand for just a second. ¡°You¡¯re right. The worries seem so silly when I think about them clearly. Thank you.¡± She turns and hurries back into the church, nothing but elation radiating off her now. The marriage will go on. She¡¯ll unite herself with this special partner who brightens her life. And I helped send her on that path. A rush of my own happiness swells inside me. Too quickly, too vast. I only have an instant to register that fact with a jolt of panic, to push myself away from the church fence, before the hurricane of joy bursts out of not just my hair but all of me in an explosion of light. I crumple in on myself, hugging my knees, willing the blinding glow back under my skin. But it¡¯s blazing too wildly for me to grasp hold. Frantic voices yell. Tires screech. Sparks of panic nip at me. A metallic crunch reverberates through the air, and the impact of the people hurt by my power stabs right down the center of my body. An acidic spurt of agony, a searing flare of anguish. A crackling of pain before a life snuffs out. A sob hitches out of me. I dig my fingers into the grass. The moment the light starts to contract back into me, I dive into the first sliver of shadow I can reach. I didn¡¯t mean to¡ª I tried so hard¡ª I shouldn¡¯t have come over to the church at all. I should have known it¡¯d be too risky. Why didn¡¯t I walk away when I saw the bride? But she looked so lost¡­ I grimace at myself and ripple around in the shadows, cringing as the aftereffects of my outburst keep hitting me. More injuries to make up for. More hurt to balance out. I¡¯ll find a way. There has to be a way. For now¡ª A sudden force blasts straight through the shadows to slam into me. I reel through the patches of darkness, abruptly dizzied. Before I can get my bearings, another surge of the unexpected energy smacks me. This time it digs in, as if it¡¯s clutching fingers around my mind. The force wriggles through my thoughts, and I have a sense of some kind of presence at the other end of it, as if I¡¯m a fish snagged on a lure. The lure yanks at me. It¡¯s so snagged in my head that I can¡¯t do anything except follow. I stumble through the shadows as if dragged, a silent wail building inside me. Oh, no. No, no, no. It¡¯s been more than a year since I felt this before, but I know the sensation. It¡¯s one of them, the mortals with magic. A sorcerer is reeling me in. Not just me. As I hurtle forward with increasing speed, my essence brushes up against other beings in the shadows alongside me. We¡¯ve all been caught up, more like we¡¯re in a vast net than on separate lines. The one before, he couldn¡¯t command a crowd all at once from a distance like this. Unless he¡¯s gotten stronger? Or this is someone even worse. An impression of words hum through my presence. Come. Come to me. I don¡¯t want to. I try to squirm and flail, but my essence won¡¯t respond. It just flows on toward the call. I¡¯m trying so hard to fight it that I barely notice my surroundings until my forward momentum slows. I extend my awareness to the world beyond the shadows cautiously. Along with the other shadowkind creatures who¡¯ve been hauled by the sorcerer¡¯s power, I¡¯m dipping under a rusty fence that surrounds a large, mostly empty lot. Weeds sprout up amid the cracks in the pavement. The nearest building has a face of crumbling brick and cracked windows. Five figures wait for us by a van in the middle of the lot. Three of them are human; two are higher shadowkind like me, though in their human guises. Those two and two of the humans stand poised around a gray metal box as tall as their waists. An icy shiver passes through my essence. I know a cage when I see one. The last of the humans is the one reeling me in with his magic. He loosens his hold just slightly when I¡¯m about ten feet away, his dark gaze sweeping over the lot as if he can see us even in the shadows. He¡¯s definitely not the other sorcerer I¡¯ve known. This man is a lot younger¡ªmaybe mid-twenties, as well as I can judge mortal ages. But I don¡¯t sense any lack of experience. His power shows not only in the invisible force still clamped around me but the set of his chiseled jaw and the muscles filling out his broad shoulders. He twitches his head to flick away a strand of wavy black hair that¡¯s drifted into his eyes. Then he intones a command in a low murmur I can¡¯t make out. The force rams into me again¡ªand wrenches me right out of the shadows into my true physical form. My body shimmers with a passing gust of wind, nothing but pure light from the vague shapes of feet to my glowing blob of a head. All around me, the other shadowkind pop out of the darkness too: mostly lesser creatures with their oddly animalistic bodies but a few scattered higher beings as well. The sorcerer looks only at me. He points his finger. His voice comes out steady and hard. ¡°That¡¯s the one. Take her in.¡± Chapter 2

Periwinkle When the door to my cage finally opens, at first I don¡¯t quite believe it. I¡¯ve been squashed in here for what must have been multiple days, lifted and jostled more times than I can count. And I¡¯m a very good counter. I know better than to try to leap straight toward possible freedom. If someone¡¯s mean enough to put you in a cage, they¡¯ll probably be just as mean when you¡¯re out of it. So I stay contracted in my shadowy form amid the searing lights that burned away every hint of darkness within the metal box. Beyond the door, there¡¯s a sliver of shadow along the base of the cage. The urge to dive into it tingles through me. Off beyond the blazing lights, someone intones a several syllables in a language that seeps right into my essence. Come out and show your human-like form, the sounds say as they radiate through me. Then stay until you¡¯re dismissed. I can¡¯t resist any more than I could have ignored the call that brought me to this cage in the first place. I waver through the doorway and solidify into the figure that comes naturally to me, complete with my daisy-print dress and rainbow-striped hoodie. My hands form stuffed in my pockets. I blink and peer around the plain room with its blue-gray walls and bright florescent panels on the ceiling, my body tensed defensively. I can¡¯t imagine anyone is ever happy in this place. Within the dour walls, the only furniture is a big kidney-shaped table made from stainless steel and seven matching chairs set around the outer curve. I don¡¯t think the seats even have padding. This place really could use better interior decorating. Cushions for comfort. Maybe a rug? Art on the walls to liven things up. Proving my point: the emotions drifting over me from the beings studying me from where they sit in the six occupied chairs. The two strongest vibes in the room are curdled-milk apprehension and stale-bread boredom. Not a meal I could even subsist on. My cage opened up to a spot in front of the inner curve of the table. As the six pairs of eyes around it study me, I peer at the seated figures in turn. The first face my gaze lands on makes me flinch. It¡¯s the sorcerer who dragged me into that cage in the first place¡ªobviously he¡¯s the one who called me out as well. His eyes, a deeper brown than his cedarwood skin, hold mine steadily from beneath the fall of his wavy black hair. His elbows brace against the tabletop, his broad shoulders rigid. But despite his stern appearance, a pang of his guilt hits me like a shot of lemon juice. The other sorcerer I¡¯ve known never felt guilty about anything. At least, not around me. Looking at him still makes me nervous, and nervous is not an enjoyable feeling. I yank my gaze onward. Next to the young sorcerer sits a shadowkind similarly shaped to myself¡ªfemale, youthful, short and curvy¡ªwith a head of blond curls and dimples in her cheeks. Some of the apprehension is trickling off her, but she¡¯s smiling widely. I¡¯m not close enough to be able to tell whether she¡¯s feeling happier than her most prominent emotions suggest or the smile is a lie. Not knowing makes my skin itch. Her other neighbor is a tall, wiry woman with a few silver streaks running through her sleek black bob. Like the sorcerer, she¡¯s human. No smile from her¡ªher lips press in a flat line. The other three members of my audience are shadowkind. The first pushes her long dark blue hair back over her slim shoulders with a melodic sigh, but her gaze stays intent on me. The big, muscular man next to her gives me a feral impression¡ªI think he must be an animal shifter of some sort. His thick fingers rest against the tabletop in a curved position as if mimicking claws, but he¡¯s more disinterested than concerned. Most of the boredom emanates from the last figure: a sleekly elegant man in an old-fashioned suit whose skin is so pale it might be translucent. I suspect that if I stare hard enough, I might see his skull through it. He leans back in his chair, folding his arms loosely over his chest. I¡¯m not picking up any outright murderous intentions so far. But they did kidnap me and lock me up for days. Why would shadowkind do that do another being like them? Why are they working with a sorcerer? Is there any way I can put them at ease so they¡¯ll look more kindly on me? I push my mouth into a smile. ¡°It¡¯s not very nice to shove someone in a cage, but I¡¯m sure it was just a misunderstanding. What are we all doing here?¡± The wiry human woman¡¯s lips press even flatter at my question. The shadowkind woman with the bright curls lets out an equally bright tinkle of a laugh. With a vaguely annoyed expression, the woman with the long blue hair leans forward. Even tartly formal, her voice sounds as melodic as her sigh did. ¡°Unknown shadowkind, you¡¯ve been brought in for our assessment because you¡¯ve been causing inappropriate disruptions in the mortal realm.¡± She motions toward the sorcerer. ¡°What exactly did this one do again?¡± The sorcerer sits up straighter. ¡°We believe she¡¯s responsible for multiple incidents in Ithaca in the past year. A few times, they were bright waves of light that blinded human citizens for long enough to caused car accidents, falls, and other damaging consequences. At least once, there was also a temporary flood of darkness with similar results.¡± A chill washes over me. How long have these strange people been paying attention to me? ¡°I didn¡¯t do any of it on purpose,¡± I blurt out. ¡°I never wanted to hurt anyone, I promise.¡± The pale man¡¯s eyebrows arch. His tone is as indifferent as his emotions. ¡°Well, that gets the question of whether she¡¯s the true culprit out of the way.¡± The blond woman beams at me. ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell us how it happened? Oh, no, better¡ªlet¡¯s start with the basics. What¡¯s your name? What kind of being are you?¡± A genuine warmth seeps through her words as if they¡¯ve been spread with melted butter. I like her. I don¡¯t think she wants to shove me back in the cage. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. With that reassurance, my answering smile comes easier. ¡°My name¡¯s Periwinkle¡ªbut usually I tell people Peri, because it¡¯s shorter and sounds less strange to humans. I don¡¯t know if what I am has a name.¡± The muscular man drums his fingers on the table with an impatient air. ¡°What do you do? Other than blind mortals.¡± The hint of a snarl in those last few words has me wincing. ¡°I¡ªI absorb emotions. I kind of¡­ eat them.¡± I jerk my gaze back to the buttery woman. ¡°Eating them doesn¡¯t hurt people. They don¡¯t even notice. But I need to come here to get properly nourished. Humans have so many more feelings, and so much bigger, than shadowkind usually do, and I can only totally absorb them when I¡¯m in physical form.¡± The wiry woman gives me a skeptical look. ¡°And yet you¡¯ve managed to harm quite a few people just in one year.¡± A shamed blush heats my cheeks. ¡°Those¡­ those were accidents. I haven¡¯t had a lot of practice at this.¡± Not at keeping control over my own reactions rather than having someone else drive them. I wrench my thoughts away from those chilling memories. ¡°If I get full of too much emotion all at once, it bursts out of me. Bright if they were happy emotions, dark if not so much. I don¡¯t know how to stop it from happening. But I¡¯ve been working on it. I think I¡¯m getting closer to finding out the right balance¡ªso I¡¯m not hungry but I don¡¯t get overwhelmed.¡± The blue-haired woman¡¯s gaze rakes up and down me. ¡°And that¡¯s all you want? Just to eat some emotions?¡± I recover my smile. ¡°And make people happy. Spread the good emotions around.¡± Bring a little joy into mortal lives one by one until I can count more of those than the lives I¡¯ve wounded. I don¡¯t think these beings will be very happy if I mention the crimes of my more distant part, so I keep those to myself and gaze hopefully at them. A whiff of relief reaches me from at least one of them, crisp and lightly sweet. The muscular man lets out a snort. The blonde shoots a quick glare at him before returning her attention to me. ¡°If we could teach you how to control your power better before you go back around humans, would you want that?¡± They want to¡­ help me? I hesitate, having trouble wrapping my mind around that idea in combination with the sorcery and the cage. ¡°Teach me how?¡± The wiry woman takes over. ¡°It¡¯s like this: we run a school for shadowkind who are having trouble integrating into the mortal realm. Sometimes beings who could use our guidance are unaware of us.¡± ¡°Which is totally not their fault!¡± the blonde pipes up. The wiry woman narrows her eyes at her companion, but with an accompanying waft of ginger-snap affection that I absorb in one gulp. She isn¡¯t all dourness. She turns back to me. ¡°We can offer you a choice: either you commit to working through our program here at the Quinn Moody Academy for the Shadowkind until we judge that it¡¯s safe for you to mingle with humans again, or we banish you to the shadow realm. Jonah and Shanty can combine their powers to compel you to avoid any rifts for a long time.¡± She motions to the sorcerer and the blue-haired woman, who I guess has some kind of shadowy persuasive skill. I don¡¯t even need to think to make that choice. But before I can speak, the pale man makes a disgruntled sound. ¡°Hold on a moment. Are we sure we should be giving her a choice at all? It sounds as if she¡¯s caused quite a lot of harm already with these unpredictable powers of hers.¡± A lump fills my throat. One death, seven major injuries, and twenty-three minor wounds just in the most recent incident. I told you I¡¯m a good counter. The muscular guy rumbles low in his chest. ¡°We¡¯ve never had a being like her here before. I¡¯ve never seen this specific power before. It could be too unruly. She might disrupt the students too.¡± Icy panic sweeps through my veins. Are they going to banish me to the shadow realm without a chance to fix the mess I made? Leave me floating in that dreary realm where I¡¯ll dwindle to the thinnest possible shadow of myself? I fumble for my words. ¡°I won¡¯t. I¡¯ll do whatever you ask me to do. I want to be better! I want to make everything better. Please. I¡¯ll starve if I can¡¯t leave the shadows.¡± All at once, I notice the eyebrows rising on most of the faces around the table. I didn¡¯t pull my hood up¡ªmy turquoise hair is emanating a desperate pea-green glow. ¡°Well, that¡¯s certainly something,¡± the being named Shanty says in a dry tone. Mr. Muscles pushes to his feet with a growl. ¡°What are you doing? Are you trying to blast us with light? How dare¡ª¡± ¡°No!¡± I clasp my hands in front of me. ¡°That happens even when I¡¯m feeling something a little strongly. No one¡¯s ever gotten hurt from just that glow. But I can¡¯t help it. Unless¡­ maybe you could teach me how to turn it off too?¡± It¡¯d definitely be handy not to have to worry about my hair blinking on like a nightlight with every shift of my own emotions. The blonde sweeps her hand in my direction. ¡°Listen to her! She¡¯s already committed, and she¡¯ll obviously work hard to avoid getting banished. We don¡¯t see that kind of dedication often. Or are you afraid you can¡¯t handle a little unruliness, Gnash?¡± She aims the last teasing jab at the muscular man, who glowers at her. Shanty nods slowly. ¡°Rollick founded the Academy on the principle that every shadowkind deserves the opportunity to enjoy the mortal realm if they¡¯re willing to co-exist with its natural inhabitants. He would say to give her a trial period.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not here to say it, though, is he?¡± the pale man says tartly. The wiry woman glances around the table. ¡°He hasn¡¯t made his convictions a secret. Shanty¡¯s right.¡± ¡°I agree,¡± the sorcerer says. My gaze flicks to him¡ªJonah, the human woman said his name is. This is the first time he¡¯s spoken since the questioning began. He doesn¡¯t look at me, only his colleagues. Whatever he¡¯s feeling about his declaration, his emotions are too conflicted for more than the thinnest wisps to waver across the room to me: a cluttered mix of sour, bitter, and a softly sweet tang. The blonde lifts her head with a triumphant air. ¡°There you go. It¡¯s four to two even without Rollick¡¯s vote.¡± She winks at me. ¡°Assuming from what you¡¯ve said that you do what to give the school a go.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± I say, with all the enthusiasm I can summon, the fearful glow fading from my head. ¡°Yes, please.¡± Gnash growls but gives a flippant gesture of acceptance. The pale man inclines his head. ¡°So be it. Jonah?¡± The sorcerer stands up. His deep brown eyes are fixed on me now. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he says quietly. Then a few more syllables of sorcerous compulsion roll off his tongue and wind around my being. As the command to remain within the school¡¯s walls sinks into my mind, I can only stare back at him. What was he apologizing for? And why does the emotion coursing off him now carry a stodgy porridge flavor of sadness? Chapter 3

Periwinkle ¡°I think you¡¯ll like it here,¡± Pearl says with a swish of her blond curls as she leads me through the pale blue halls of one of the school buildings. ¡°There are so many interesting students with different stories. Lots of emotions flowing. You won¡¯t be hungry!¡± The most upbeat of my interrogators volunteered to show me to my dorm and introduced herself as a succubus. I¡¯ve never met one of those before that I know of, but I think it means she feeds on very specific types of mortal energies. I peer around me at the various doorways and the light streaming through their frosted glass windows. ¡°And there¡¯ll be classes that will teach me how to keep control of my power?¡± ¡°Yep! And all sorts of other support to help you out there among mortals.¡± Pearl pats my arm. ¡°Just follow the rules, and you¡¯ll be fine.¡± The rules. I look down at the badge attached to my dress, the metal crest Shanty pinned there right before I left the interrogation room. You start at level one, she told me, tapping the number imprinted at the top of the crest. Then she touched a triangle underneath it. You¡¯re in the reform division, for beings who¡¯ve been actively struggling with their behavior. The weekly schedule for each level and division is posted in each dorm area. We expect you to attend all your assigned classes. Show commitment and perform well, and you¡¯ll graduate to the next level. There¡¯s something I forgot to ask at the time. I glance over at Pearl. ¡°How many levels are there?¡± How much graduating do I need to do before I can be sure it¡¯s safe for me to leave? ¡°Five!¡± Pearl replies brightly. ¡°And level five is really just some final finessing. Once you make it even to three, you¡¯re well on your way.¡± A couple of other symbols mark the sides of the badge. One is a swirling line, the other a starburst with six points. I tap them. ¡°What do these mean?¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Pearl giggles, but the cheerful vibe beaming off her like buttered popcorn dampens a little. ¡°That¡¯s to help the staff and other students know what precautions to take. The left side indicates how cooperative or defiant you are. The swirl means we¡¯re not sure yet. The right side tells people how dangerous you might be. The star means you¡¯ve harmed mortals. They can have up to ten points.¡± I stare down at the imprint for a few more seconds, my stomach lurching. If the school¡¯s overseers knew how much more damage I¡¯ve caused beyond the recent incidents they talked about, would they have marked me with all ten? Pearl chatters merrily onward. ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal here since almost everyone is shadowkind anyway. You want to watch your step a little around anyone who¡¯s got a ring around their star. That means they¡¯ve hurt shadowkind too.¡± At least I can say I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever done that. When I look up again, we¡¯re passing several beings standing in small clusters in the halls. Their gazes slide over me with traces of curiosity, but no one speaks. I smile at them. Most avert their eyes to go back to talking to their companions. Well, they don¡¯t know me yet. I¡¯ll show how cooperative and helpful I can be. I¡¯ll learn everything I need to so I can undo the damage I caused before. We head up a flight of stairs. After a few steps, a jolt of pain quivers up from my ankles through my calves. I suppress my wince, but Pearl catches on to my discomfort anyway. She pauses. ¡°Are you all right?¡± I nod quickly. ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal. My legs are just a little¡­ weak. Sometimes I get wobbly when I¡¯m in this form for a while.¡± The succubus¡¯s mouth slants with a hint of a frown. ¡°It is policy that students stay human-like as much as possible for practice. But if you need to take little breaks in the shadows here and there to look after yourself, that¡¯s totally okay.¡± Will the other board members think that¡¯s me being defiant, though? I give her my brightest smile. ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be all right. It doesn¡¯t bother me that much.¡± Not anywhere near as much as the memories of how my legs got that way, which I¡¯ll keep shoved way, way down in the back of my mind. Pearl doesn¡¯t look totally convinced, but she accepts my answer and climbs on up the stairs. ¡°If you need guidance any time, you can always look for me or the other board members¡­ Well, maybe Al wouldn¡¯t be the best bet¡ªI don¡¯t know if it¡¯s a vampire thing, but he acts like emotions are cooties he might catch.¡± She rolls her eyes. Al¡ªvampire¡ªthe pale man at the table? The new name reminds me of another one I never got to attach to a being. ¡°What about Rollick? You were talking about him¡ªwho¡¯s he?¡± Pearl¡¯s expression turns wistful. ¡°He¡¯s the one who came up with the idea for this school and got it off the ground. Really he¡¯s the big boss¡ªall the final calls go through him. But he¡¯s had some other important stuff to deal with, always very busy, so he hasn¡¯t been around all that much the past few months.¡± As we reach the top of the stairs, she taps her own badge: a simpler one than mine, bronze instead of tin, with a single symbol like a church spire. ¡°Really you can turn to any of the staff¡ªwe¡¯ve all got badges like this. It¡¯s better for all of us if you have everything you need to thrive.¡± On the second floor, late-afternoon sunlight beams through a series of skylights set in the angled ceiling. The illumination buoys my hopes. Getting dragged into this school might be the best thing that could have happened to me. If I¡¯d known it existed, I¡¯d have come looking for them instead of the other way around. We take a right, and Pearl motions to an arched doorway just a few steps ahead. ¡°That¡¯s your dorm area.¡± She peeks at her phone. ¡°It looks like you¡¯ve been assigned to room 5. The schedule will be posted just inside the dorm. Since the day¡¯s almost over, you can get started with that tomorrow. Take some time to get to know your dormmates and settle in.¡± She flashes me one of her sunny smiles and sashays back the way we came. I study the door for a moment, summoning all the optimism I can. With my lips stretched into a smile of my own, I reach to open it. As I step into the wider hall on the other side, my breath catches in my throat. It feels more crowded than the other school areas we passed through, with several doors spaced close together down both walls while sofas and armchairs are spread out down the middle of the hall with an occasional side table in between. All sorts of beings lounge on and around the furnishings. Many of them look over to see who the new arrival is. My gaze flits from face to face as a flurry of understated emotions tickles me from across the distance¡ªintrigue and irritation and anticipation, swirled together in a salty stew. My attention stalls on a group of students off to one side of the hall. Several beings have gathered around a tall, slim man who¡¯s propped against the wall in a cavalier pose. I¡¯d imagine many people¡¯s eyes would be drawn to him. He¡¯s handsome in a particularly striking way, with blond hair so light it¡¯s almost silver, sharp features that could have been carved out of ivory, and startlingly dark blue eyes gleaming amid all that paleness. Even leaning nonchalantly, he gives off an impression of cool authority. Not only that, he has some interesting magic going on. Despite his dispassionate expression, a figurine that looks like a castle tower is forming over his hand with an icy gleam. He¡¯s conjuring it out of the air while the beings around him exclaim with much more enthusiasm that he¡¯s showing. And that¡¯s what¡¯s caught my attention more than his looks or his chilly power: the undercurrent of emotion drifting off him. For all his apparent cool and the friends around him, frustration bubbles beneath his surface like a bitter curry. One of his companions cuts off my view of him, stepping toward me with a graceful but haughty air. She¡¯s nearly as tall as him and equally gorgeous, her snow-white skin contrasting with her fall of smooth black hair. ¡°We have a new rogue,¡± she says in a smooth, crystalline voice that fits her looks perfectly. Her gaze flicks to my badge. ¡°And a threat to humankind as well. What did you do to get yourself tossed in here?¡± I resist the urge to dive under the nearest sofa. ¡°I, um, it was an accident.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Another shadowkind woman, shorter but similarly svelte, sidles up beside the haughty one. Her tone is teasing but with a sneering edge. ¡°That¡¯s what they all say.¡± The first woman taps her friend with her elbow. ¡°We can be welcoming.¡± She holds out her hand to me, displaying elegantly sculpted fingernails. ¡°My name is Gloss. I sometimes drop in on the reform division for the¡­ invigorating company.¡± She tosses a grin over her shoulder toward the icily handsome man, and I notice her badge, pinned to the bodice of her sleek burgundy dress. It has a circle etched on it beneath the number 4 rather than a triangle like mine. Not part of the reform division. Does that mean she¡¯s a student who came voluntarily? I give her hand a tentative shake and smile wider in an attempt to make up for my hesitation. ¡°I¡¯m Periwinkle. But you can call me Peri. I didn¡¯t mean to end up here, but now that I have, I¡¯m happy I¡¯ll have the chance to learn.¡± I catch a few muffled giggles and snorts, cotton candy fluffs of amusement. But everyone who¡¯s here made the choice one way or another, didn¡¯t they? They must all have thought it was a good idea. ¡°So sweet,¡± Gloss says mildly. Another woman steps around her to peer at me. ¡°She doesn¡¯t seem like she could possibly warrant a six-pointed star, huh?¡± ¡°Well, we all hide things, don¡¯t we, Tansy?¡± The look Gloss gives her seems a bit pointed too, but she gives off so little emotion it¡¯s hard for me to tell. She offers me a reserved smile. ¡°What room did they give you?¡± ¡°Five!¡± I announce, relieved to find that piece of information stuck in my head. ¡°Hmm.¡± Gloss taps a finger to her lips. ¡°I think there might have been some informal shuffling. Rush, why don¡¯t you check whether room five is actually free and which one has an opening if not?¡± The shorter, sneering woman jerks to attention and darts off down the hall to make her inquiries. The other shadowkind following our conversation watch Gloss avidly but with a prickle of anxiety. They want to make sure they don¡¯t disappoint her. I can understand how she might have earned some loyalty, considering she¡¯s the only one who¡¯s done much to welcome me since I arrived at the dorm. And it isn¡¯t even her dorm! ¡°Where¡¯s your room?¡± I ask her out of honest curiosity. Gloss gives a light laugh and flicks her fingers vaguely toward the wall. ¡°Oh, the voluntary students stay in the Citrine building. Reforms aren¡¯t allowed into other dorms until they¡¯re at least level 4. Some of my friends are very bad at playing nice.¡± She tsks her tongue playfully and glances back at the other women and the icy man. But for all her effortless confidence, a trickle of doubt seeps off of her¡ªa tart splash of insecurity only I can taste. She¡¯s been kind enough to me that my mouth moves without thinking. I want to reassure her¡ªI want to do something kind for her too. ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry,¡± I say. ¡°They really do care about what you think.¡± Her attention snaps back to me. ¡°What?¡± I fumble under the sudden intensity of her stare. ¡°I just mean, you¡¯ve already impressed them. They want to listen to you. So you don¡¯t need to worry.¡± For a split-second, Gloss¡¯s eyes narrow. A jolt of fury hits me right in the throat, searing like charred peppers. Then it¡¯s gone. She takes a step back with another crisp laugh, and my sense of her inner state dwindles to nothing. ¡°It sounds like the only one here who¡¯s worried is you.¡± She turns to Rush, who¡¯s just hurried back to join her. The other woman touches her arm. ¡°Mica moved into room five. But there¡¯s a bed in¡ª¡± ¡°In room twelve.¡± Gloss¡¯s eyes glint at me as if nothing went wrong, but several of the beings around her stiffen. ¡°Twelve,¡± Tansy hisses. ¡°Are you sure¡ª¡± Gloss clasps her slender hands together. ¡°I think room twelve would be perfect for Periwinkle. Exactly the atmosphere she needs. Unless anyone else wanted to claim that spot.¡± The hall has gone silent, broken by a brief chuckle from the icy man. The tower he was conjuring flits apart into a puff of snowflakes. ¡°Brilliant as always, Gloss.¡± Gloss¡¯s face lights up, and she gestures for me to move on. ¡°You won¡¯t have any trouble finding it. They¡¯re all in order.¡± My chest feels oddly tight. I bob my head in a gesture of gratitude I¡¯m not sure I should mean. ¡°Thank you.¡± As I weave between my watching dormmates down the hall, no one speaks other than a few murmurs. A hum has come into the air that¡¯s all edgy anticipation. What are they waiting for? What do they think is going to happen? The room labeled twelve is right at the end of the hall on the left side. When I turn the handle, it opens easily. I guess there isn¡¯t much need for locks when we can all slip through the shadows beneath the doors if we like. I push it open and step inside. At first, the room appears empty. At least, of other people. Two twin-sized beds with simple wooden bedframes stand at opposite ends, with small coordinating dressers next to them and even smaller desks with rolling chairs just beyond their footboards. The walls are the same light blue as everywhere else I¡¯ve seen in this building, and a square rug in a darker shade covers most of the floor between the beds. I¡¯m not alone, though. My senses quiver with the awareness of another being nearby, merged with the shadows around the lefthand bed. A being that¡¯s radiating outrage. Before I can even turn toward the impression, he materializes out of the shadows. A huge man looming nearly as high as the ceiling, ropey muscles bulging across his limbs and chest, a tan face that might have been stunning otherwise set in a fierce expression. Thick brown hair that gleams like buffed bronze bristles from the top of his head. His badge shows a number one like mine¡­ and a ten-pointed star with a ring around it that Pearl says means he¡¯s hurt shadowkind as wel las mortals. He growls more than speaks. ¡°What are you doing in here?¡± I hold up my hands appeasingly and step back toward the other bed. My heart is pounding. ¡°I¡ªthey told me this is the room I should be in. With a free bed.¡± I can hear my voice going squeaky. A smattering of light touches the walls as my hair lights up with a flare of fear. The immense man bares his teeth. ¡°This is my room. I don¡¯t share. Get out!¡± My pulse outright lurches. I step backward, on the verge of fleeing, when a giggle reaches my ears from beyond the door. My dormmates¡ªand specifically Gloss¡ªsent me into this situation on purpose. They knew the room¡¯s current inhabitant would react this way. They¡¯re waiting for me to scurry back out so they can laugh at me for failing. My legs balk at the thought of playing the horrible game they made up. If I do what they want¡­ what will they try to make me do next? In my hesitation, the man lets out a snarl. ¡°Can¡¯t you hear? Get the fuck away!¡± With the words, another waft of emotion washes over me. Not rage this time, but fear that¡¯s not mine, as suffocatingly sour as a flood of cheap whiskey. This being¡­ is afraid of me? That can¡¯t be right, but I know what I¡¯m tasting. I don¡¯t like the idea of abandoning a being in some kind of distress any more than I want to submit myself to my other dormmates¡¯ judgment. I back up another step, but this time toward the bed. Sitting down on the mattress, I keep my hands raised and my voice soft. ¡°I promise I¡¯ll keep my distance. I¡¯m not going to bother you at all. I just need a place where I can sleep.¡± I¡¯m prepared for the man to lunge at me, and I¡¯m not totally sure what I¡¯d do then. But he stays where he is, confusion trickling through the unpalatable mix of anger and fear. ¡°You¡¯d better stay away from me,¡± he warns, and vanishes back into the shadows. I swallow hard and lower my hands to rest on the bedspread. My pulse keeps hammering away, but a knot of resolve solidifies in my gut. These are the circumstances I¡¯ve been given. I made Gloss upset¡ªshe thought I deserved this. She doesn¡¯t know how much I can endure. I won¡¯t let her or any of the others shake me. I¡¯m lucky to be here at all, so I¡¯ll just have to make the best of it. After all, I¡¯ve lived through way worse before. Chapter 4

Raze My new, incredibly unwelcome roommate appears to have fallen asleep. How is that even possible? All I have to do is walk through the school halls in physical form, and the other students scatter in my wake. Even the instructors tense up when they meet my eyes. But I outright demanded she get out, with all the brutality I could put into my stance and voice, and she just¡­ sat down on the other bed and proceeded to ignore me. It doesn¡¯t make sense. I thought it had to be an act. She¡¯d break down eventually in shivers or tears and take off the way I expected. Instead, she¡¯s lain down on the mattress, pulled the blanket up, and taken a nap. She really is asleep. My predator instincts pick up the shallow rhythm of her breaths, the slowed thump of her heart. Somehow, even with me lurking in the shadows, she relaxed enough to drift off. Maybe she was really tired? There¡¯s no way of knowing what she was doing before the administrators caught her or how long it took them to decide she could stay. Not that she seems particularly dangerous. I didn¡¯t get close enough to tell for sure, but she looks so short her head would barely reach halfway up my chest. Even under the blanket, the slopes of her shoulders, breasts, belly, and hips give the impression to total softness. I have the bizarre urge to go over and lean my head into the dip of her waist to see if she¡¯d make as comforting a pillow as I can¡¯t help imagining. Why is she in the reform division at all? What harm could this bit of fluff with occasionally glowing hair possibly have done? I hold steady in the shadows around my bed for several more minutes, as if the answers might present themselves to me out of thin air. Finally, the itch of curiosity overcomes my distaste for mingling with my dormmates any more than I have to. I slink along the edge of the room to the slash of shadow beneath the door. There¡¯s no need to go right out into the hall and announce myself. Whatever frivolous or awkward conversations they¡¯re having I can take in just fine from here. If they knew I was listening, they¡¯d probably shut up anyway. As usual, the other beings are giving the entire area around my room a wide berth. Maybe wider than usual, as if they¡¯re still expecting the newcomer to come bolting out at any moment. They obviously didn¡¯t get a very good read on her when she arrived. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The largest group is gathered around Hail, as usual. The callous winter fae seems to cast some kind of witchery over almost everyone around him, even though as far as I can tell he¡¯s about as warm and friendly as a blizzard. He even looks like a fucking icicle, frost-pale from head to toe except those dark blue eyes. Something about his chill draws other beings in, though, especially the female ones. A cluster of seven is hanging around him now, chattering with each other and shooting him coy glances through their eyelashes that he seems totally unaffected by. At the moment, they¡¯re yattering on about some class at a level beyond my own. Mostly about Hail¡¯s apparently impressive handling of that class. I shift restlessly in the shadow. Then a couple of the women glance toward my room. One of them elbows Gloss, the fancy interloper who for some reason is always coming around to our dorms even though she doesn¡¯t belong here. ¡°What do you think happened to the newbie?¡± the first woman asks. Another titters with tinkling laughter. ¡°I¡¯m surprised the door even closed before she was scampering back out here again.¡± Gloss shrugs as if the subject doesn¡¯t matter much to her. Her tone is equally careless, but her expression is cold. ¡°Maybe Raze has already eviscerated her. If he hasn¡¯t yet, I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be lizard kibble soon.¡± Even in the shadows, I have the sense of my hackles going up and my lips drawing back from my basilisk fangs. But my anger at her mocking words prickles with a deeper rush of shame. Of course that¡¯s what they think of me. I do ¡°eviscerate¡± people, don¡¯t I? I¡¯m fucking poison, and everyone knows it. So now apparently they think they can use me in a tool in their mindless jostling for dominance, as if anyone should give a shit who rules this ridiculous school. The whole point of this place is for us to leave it. As unlikely as it seems to be that I ever will. A fourth woman makes a scoffing sound. ¡°Did she really think she was going to get away with it, swanning in here acting all sweet and then taking a jab at you of all people?¡± Gloss offers a slight, sharp smile. ¡°If she hasn¡¯t learned her lesson quickly, she¡¯s even more of an imbecile than she seemed. We¡¯ll just have to teach her what her place is as often as she needs it.¡± Hail dips his pale head to her. ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure as always to watch you work.¡± She slips her hand around his elbow. ¡°The dorm has gotten tiresome for today, don¡¯t you think? Why don¡¯t we see what you¡¯ll be enjoying for dinner, and maybe I¡¯ll join you for that too.¡± As the clot of them saunters out of the dorm, I pull back into my room. My essence simmers with uneasy heat. My attention slides to the small, curvy form tucked into the other bed. I can¡¯t tell whether the fact that the newcomer stayed despite my threats was a show of strength or idiocy. Either way, it¡¯s hard to imagine her having insulted Gloss on purpose. She was nothing but respectful in her approach to me. A gentle sort of respect that feels strangely different from the panicked variety I¡¯m used to. I¡¯ve seen how Gloss operates. She might not have fangs of her own, but she makes sure her targets are eaten alive one way or another. This bit of fluff doesn¡¯t stand a chance. I don¡¯t want her in my room. But if she¡¯s going to insist on staying for now, I can at least do my best to stop anyone from hurting her. Staying in the shadows, I stretch out along the edge of the rug. A barrier between the door and her. But still keeping a careful distance from her myself. Because while she might not have figured it out yet, no matter how vicious Gloss gets, the being in this school most likely to hurt her is me. Chapter 5

Periwinkle Approaching the school cafeteria gives me a strange sensation. Two totally separate streams of impressions waft out to meet me¡ªa jumble of mild but cluttered emotions in various flavors and a flood of savory, spicy, and sweet scents drifting off actual food. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever encountered so many beings in combination with so much cuisine in the same place before. My head is spinning before I¡¯ve even stepped through the broad doorway into the vast room. Taking the space in, I halt in my tracks and then jerk myself to the side so I¡¯m out of the way of the other students arriving. I have to keep my cool and make good impressions. Just because my first dorm experience seemed to piss more people off than not doesn¡¯t mean school life has to continue that way. Making fellow shadowkind happier would be great practice for when I¡¯m out among humans again, especially since I can¡¯t hurt beings like me. And the staff might be watching. They should see I¡¯m putting in an effort to fit in and learn. The last thing I want is them changing their minds about letting me stay here. I restrain a shudder at the thought of the shadow realm¡¯s dreary gloom. No one feels much of anything there, and how could you blame them? I study the cafeteria¡¯s layout carefully. The schedule said that today¡¯s breakfast theme was ¡°casual hangout.¡± The tables spread out through the room can seat anywhere from four to ten beings¡ªno tablecloths, just paper plates and plastic cutlery set out for people to grab. The students already eating are swiping morsels off platters of sausages, boiled eggs, pancakes, toast, cut fruit laid on each table and dropping them onto their plates. Some of the sweet scent carries from bottles of maple syrup, enticing enough that I lick my lips. The students who are already eating have dropped into the chairs chosen apparently by their personal whims, chattering away with each other. As I continue hesitating, debating which group I should join, a slim woman with deep brown skin slips past me. She pulls her wavy black hair back from her shoulders in a nervous gesture, revealing violet scales gleaming on her forearms, and then tugs the sleeves of her dress down to cover the lingering shadowkind feature. We all have one bit of our monstrous selves that we can¡¯t conceal in human form, mine being my oddly colored hair. Her obvious uncertainty draws my attention with a twinge of sympathy. She meanders over to one of the larger tables, pauses, and then reaches for a plate. The beefy guy next to her bumps his elbow into her arm. He turns with a huff and wrinkles his nose at the sight of her. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s the drip.¡± The woman cringes and slinks away, her head low. I frown and march over to join her. ¡°Hey,¡± I say, nudging her gently as I come up beside her. ¡°I¡¯m new here, so I don¡¯t really know what I¡¯m doing. Maybe we can find a table together?¡± Both the woman¡¯s face and the emotions trickling off her brighten. She turns to face me, and my gaze catches on her badge¡ªlevel 1, reform division, compliant, no harm done to mortals or shadowkind. Why would anyone be mean to her? She glances around and points to a small table near the wall that no one has grabbed yet. ¡°We can take an empty one if there¡¯s at least two of us. Since it¡¯s supposed to be a ¡®hang-out,¡¯ the staff want to see us being friendly. Every meal has a different theme like the different ways mortals eat. You¡¯ll get used to them.¡± I beam at her. ¡°I¡¯m glad I have someone to explain the rules. I¡¯m Peri. Have you been at the school long?¡± She rubs her face with a flicker of embarrassment. ¡°Several months. I sometimes have¡­ unfortunate reactions. Anyway, I¡¯m Fen. It¡¯s nice to meet you! Let¡¯s get some pancakes.¡± I feel like I¡¯ve already passed whatever test this meal was supposed to conduct. I¡¯m getting to heap fluffy pancakes on my plate and drizzle them with butter and syrup, I¡¯ve made a friend and cheered her up, and nobody has died. Wins all around! I might not need physical food to sustain myself, but that doesn¡¯t mean it isn¡¯t tasty. I dig into my heap of bready, syrupy goodness while peering around the cafeteria at all the other beings. I recognize a few faces from my dorm, but my growly roommate, who hasn¡¯t spoken to me since our first standoff, isn¡¯t among them. Across the room, another guy jumps right on top of one of the tables. Vibrantly red hair flares above his golden-brown face, and his wide grin reveals canines narrowed into sharp little fangs. As the dishes rattle around him, he lets out a whoop and springs into a handstand. ¡°I bet I can eat more eggs upside down than any of you!¡± The students around him either laugh or shake their heads. The fanged guy bounds around on his hands with impressive nimbleness, his legs wheeling in the air. Fen lets out a soft laugh. ¡°That¡¯s Mirage. He¡¯s always goofing around. He might startle you sometimes, but he isn¡¯t mean about it.¡± She says that like lots of other students would be. I guess I¡¯ve already encountered a little of that meanness. A woman with a bronze staff badge has materialized out of the shadows. She folds her arms over her chest and gives the fanged guy¡ªwho¡¯s still upside down on the table¡ªa stern look. ¡°Mirage, you know mealtime is for eating, not acrobatics.¡± He cocks his head at her, his vivid hair standing on end with his pose. His voice is a lively tenor. ¡°Are you telling me humans never have a little fun with their friends?¡± She lifts an eyebrow. ¡°Not like that, not in the middle of breakfast. Get down, now.¡± Mirage pushes himself onto one hand and whirls himself around. For the space of a breath, four more identical figures spin on the table around him. I blink, my jaw dropping, and then the extra Mirages vanish. The real one leaps onto the floor on his feet and gives the staff woman a jaunty salute. He¡¯s too far away for me to taste any emotions seeping out of him. But even though he¡¯s still grinning, I can¡¯t help thinking there¡¯s something a little tight in his expression. ¡°He can multiply himself?¡± I say to Fen. ¡°He can make you see pretty much whatever he wants. He¡¯s a fox shifter¡ªthey¡¯re usually good with illusions.¡± Fen¡¯s smile stretches wider. ¡°You should have seen, the other day in the gym he¡ª¡± The blare of a horn cuts off her story. All around the room, the other students snap to attention, many of them peering down at themselves and fiddling with their clothes. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Fen tugs the cuffs of her sleeves, though they¡¯re already resting at her wrists. She glances at me and knits her brow. ¡°I guess you don¡¯t really have to worry. Your hair is your holdover feature, right? But a human could dye it that shade.¡± ¡°I usually keep it covered anyway. When I¡¯m around humans.¡± I tug up the hood of my jacket. ¡°Why, are they bringing humans in here?¡± My pulse skips with sudden anxiety. I thought I was going to learn more about how to control my powers before I faced more vulnerable mortals. Fen simply snorts in amusement. ¡°Oh, no, definitely not. That was an adapt check. It goes off a few times a day, totally random to keep us on our toes. When you hear the horn, you make sure you¡¯d fit in as a human as quickly as possible. Stops us from getting lazy if there are parts we need to remember to keep hidden.¡± She glances down at her arms. ¡°It¡¯s too bad,¡± I tell her. ¡°Your scales are pretty.¡± Her skin is too dark for a blush to show, but her pleased awkwardness tastes like cinnamon toast. She fidgets with her sleeves. ¡°Thank you. I wish they weren¡¯t so low down on my arms so they were easier to cover, though.¡± ¡°Maybe someday scales will become a new human fashion trend, and then you won¡¯t have to.¡± Fen giggles. ¡°I don¡¯t know about that, but it does seem like with mortals, anything is possible.¡± A gurgle of pouring liquid draws my attention. A guy a couple of tables over is pouring himself a glass of orange juice from a pitcher. Our table is tragically devoid of pitchers. I spring up, grabbing my plastic cup. ¡°They forgot to put drinks on this table. We can borrow some from another one, right? Sharing is a friendly thing to do.¡± Fen pushes to her feet too, her dark green eyes glinting. ¡°I¡¯d think so. I am kind of thirsty.¡± I set off, but I¡¯ve only made it a few steps when an elegant, pale-skinned figure sweeps by in front of me with a swish of sleek black hair. ¡°Excuse me.¡± I lurch to get out of her way and set down my foot at an angle that sends a needle of pain lancing up through my ankle. With a stumble, I bump into the nearest chair. As I grasp the top to catch my balance, Gloss glowers down at me with her nose lifted disdainfully. ¡°It looks like the newbie is as clumsy on her feet as she is when she¡¯s talking.¡± The cluster of other students who apparently follow her everywhere tinkle with laughter. Half the cafeteria seems to be craning their necks to see what¡¯s going on. My face flushes¡ªand a tingle creeps over my scalp into my hair. Gloss covers her mouth with a guffaw she somehow manages to make sound dainty. ¡°Oh, look, she¡¯s just glowing with embarrassment. That peachy shine really isn¡¯t a good color on you.¡± I yank my hood back up over my luminescent hair, which is definitely not something any human has, and dip my head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I almost bumped into you.¡± ¡°You should watch where you¡¯re going a little better,¡± Gloss says with a benevolent air, as if she¡¯s doing me a favor by not dropkicking me for my transgression. The glow of my embarrassment is already dwindling, the tingling fading away, but her gaze flicks to my companion. Her crimson lips curl condescendingly. ¡°You poor things¡ªit¡¯s the hopeless leading the hopeless. Impressive that you¡¯ve found each other so quickly.¡± I glance back at Fen, who appears to have shrunk in on her already slight frame. ¡°We were just getting some juice,¡± she says in a small voice. ¡°Oh? I would have thought you had more than enough liquid in you already, Drip.¡± One of Gloss¡¯s friend¡¯s speaks up in a sneering voice. ¡°The way she piddles, she should be in puppy school, not here.¡± Gloss tsks her tongue. ¡°Look, there she goes again.¡± The patter of falling water reaches my ears. It¡¯s coming from the hand that¡¯s dropped to Fen¡¯s side as she hugs her other arm across her waist. Droplets of murky water dribble off her fingers and plop onto the white-tiled floor. The nearest students wince and move away. Their reaction only makes the dripping thicken into a steady trickle. Fen squeezes her hand into a fist, but she can¡¯t contain the water leaking off of her. It must be something to do with her powers. This is what she was saying she can¡¯t control. Gloss provoked her on purpose. The shame radiating off Fen now chokes me with its vinegar sourness. She was perfectly happy a moment ago. She shouldn¡¯t have to feel like this. I take a step closer to Gloss, steady on my feet now, and stare up into her gleaming amber eyes. ¡°It¡¯s just a little water. Better than spewing out insults. I¡¯m proud to be her friend.¡± Gloss rolls her eyes. ¡°We¡¯ll see how far that pride gets you, I suppose.¡± She motions to her cluster of followers, and they all sashay off. ¡°Here.¡± I take Fen¡¯s cup from her and hustle to the table where I fill them both up with juice. When I return, she¡¯s left behind the little puddle of marshy water on the floor and retreated to her seat. I sit down next to her and set down her cup. ¡°I don¡¯t understand why people say things like that. You didn¡¯t do anything wrong.¡± Why does it make anyone happy to see other beings hurt? How can they not feel guilty for every jab they land, especially when they do it on purpose? Fen takes a sip of her juice and lifts her shoulders in a weak shrug. ¡°It¡¯s okay. The staff encourage us to hassle each other as long as there¡¯s no real harm done. It tests our tolerance, gives us practice at holding in our powers even when we¡¯re annoyed or upset.¡± She grimaces. ¡°Like you just saw, I usually fail that test.¡± I let out a dismissive huff. ¡°We¡¯ll figure it out. I¡¯m here because I have trouble keeping my powers in too. We can work on our control together.¡± Finally, a glimmer of pleased relief seeps through Fen¡¯s gloom like a dab of strawberry jam. She smiles at me. ¡°You think so?¡± ¡°Absolutely. Everyone knows it¡¯s easier to tackle problems when you¡¯re not alone.¡± A streak of red at the corner of my vision catches my attention. Mirage is just loping over to the cafeteria door, pausing to swipe a sausage off another student¡¯s plate to their indignant yelp. Resolve bubbles up inside me. I can find out what¡¯s going on inside him too. But as I get to my feet, a bell chimes, light but emphatic enough to reverberate through the room. Fen stands up and squares her shoulders. ¡°Time to get to class and do some more tackling.¡± Chapter 6

Periwinkle The first class of the day for level one and two reform students is called Geography & Culture. Fen perks up as she leads me to the room, knowing how to navigate the interlocking hallways better than I do. ¡°I wonder what place we¡¯ll be hearing about today! I think if I can ever really integrate, I¡¯d want to see a whole bunch of them.¡± Her enthusiasm lifts my own spirits. I¡¯m looking forward to the class until we walk through the doorway into a large room with several rows of tables¡­ and I find myself staring at the sorcerer who compelled me into my latest cage. My muscles tense so swiftly I nearly trip over my feet. Jonah glances over from where he¡¯s standing by a whiteboard at the front of the room. He¡¯s smiling, white teeth bright against his cedar-brown skin, but when his deep brown eyes meet mine, his friendly expression falters. I get a whiff of sour-stale discomfort that makes me wish I could gulp more of the maple syrup we left back in the cafeteria. Fen tugs my wrist. ¡°We should sit in the front. Then we get the best view of the pictures.¡± I let her drag me over to the table that¡¯s front and center, recovering my equilibrium as I do. It shouldn¡¯t be a surprise that the sorcerer has other roles at the school. Hopefully there aren¡¯t so many shadowkind going around upending mortal lives that he¡¯d need to make a full-time career out of dragging them in. When I dare another glance at Jonah, his smile has come back, though it¡¯s a little cautious. He dips his head in greeting with a sway of his wavy black hair. ¡°It looks like you¡¯re already making friends. That¡¯s good to see. Fen will do a good job of helping you get your footing.¡± His tone stays steady and professional, but my new friend beams at the compliment anyway. ¡°I definitely will,¡± she promises, and motions for me to sit next to her. It only occurs to me after I¡¯ve followed her lead that sitting up here means I¡¯m as close as possible to the sorcerer in our midst. I breath slow and deep to even out my emotions. The last thing I need is my hair shining my anxiety for all to see. There¡¯s nothing to be afraid of anyway, is there? Jonah didn¡¯t know who I was or that I didn¡¯t mean to hurt anyone when he used his magic on me. I¡¯m glad I¡¯ve ended up at the school. I should be grateful he stepped in, really. It¡¯s just hard not to remember the strands of sorcery digging into my essence every time I look at him. And that memory stirs up echoes of so many other times¡­ So I do my best not to look at him at all. As the other students file in, I check out our classmates instead. The icy man with the unnervingly dark blue eyes who Gloss was hanging around in my dorm enters and drapes his lanky frame into a chair halfway back at the edge of the room. When he catches me looking at him, he gives me a smile so cold it feels more like a knife-stab. Thankfully Gloss won¡¯t be joining us, since she isn¡¯t even reform. I do spot a few of her other companions from breakfast¡ªthey all sit near the chilly guy, like they¡¯re forming a barricade around him from the rest of the room. To my delight, Mirage bounds through the doorway, grinning with a flash of his fangs. He vaults over one of the tables to land on the chair feet-first, spin around, and then drop into the seat. Applause kicks in like the laugh track in a TV sitcom. Jonah gives him a stern look. ¡°Let¡¯s keep the illusions to a minimum today, Mirage.¡± ¡°Just giving myself the recognition I¡¯m sure I deserve,¡± the fox shifter replies cheerfully. A few dozen more beings drift in and take their seats until almost all the chairs are taken. When a particularly looming frame passes through the doorway, my heart skips a beat, but it isn¡¯t my roommate. Shouldn¡¯t he have this class too? He was level one like me. Is he all right? I didn¡¯t see him at breakfast either. He was off at his end of the room ignoring me when I got up, still keeping to the shadows. Which is obviously better than biting my head off, but surely he¡¯s supposed to come out at some point? As I consider asking Fen, Jonah clears his throat. I yank my gaze to the front of the room and notice a shadowkind woman has arrived to stand next to him, wearing one of the staff badges. Well, that solves one problem. I¡¯ll just look at her instead of him and still be perfectly attentive. Jonah taps the whiteboard, which must have some kind of computer display built in, because its surface flickers and forms what looks like a digital photo album. ¡°Today, we¡¯re going to be talking about Berlin. That¡¯s the capital city of the country of Germany, in the continent of Europe.¡± He brings up a map of the entire mortal realm to show exactly where the city lies. It takes my breath away seeing how big the world humans move around in is. I guess the shadow realm might be equally large, but it¡¯s so vague and dark that it¡¯s not as though any one part is particularly different from another. Jonah goes on, showing a few more photos as he talks. ¡°If you like an urban atmosphere, Berlin is one of the best cities to blend in among humans. It has a strong presence of alternative culture with a wide variety of unique fashion and personal styling. Many shadowkind features won¡¯t raise any eyebrows¡ªpeople will assume they¡¯re body modifications.¡± The photos he flips through show young people with ink coloring their skin and hair all the colors of the rainbow. Metal glints from every place I knew you could insert piercings and a few more besides. I wind a lock of my own hair around my finger. No one would see the turquoise shade as strange in that kind of crowd. At least, unless it starts glowing. At a light drumming of fingers on a tabletop, I peek over my shoulder. The icy man¡¯s lips have curved with amusement. ¡°I¡¯ve heard they have clubs where you can be very free with your desires, for those who might want to indulge,¡± he says languidly. His cool voice gives away no suggestion that he has a personal interest, but he aims a suggestive look at one of the female students sitting near him, and she flushes with a flirty giggle. Jonah¡¯s expression stays mild, but wasabi-bitter irritation wafts off of him. ¡°That¡¯s a topic better addressed in your Personal Relationships class, Hail.¡± If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The icy man¡ªHail?¡ªleans farther back in his seat with a blas¨¦ attitude, but I pick up a lick of satisfaction like a dab of whipped cream. ¡°It seems like a rather key feature of the place to me.¡± His remark provokes another giggle from his neighbor. A slight edge creeps into Jonah¡¯s tone. ¡°When you¡¯re teaching the subject, you can make that call.¡± He cuts off the conversation by turning toward the woman who joined him. ¡°Our guest instructor, Crinkle, has spent the past few decades living among the mortals in Berlin. She¡¯ll be able to fill in details I can¡¯t and give you the direct shadowkind perspective on life in the city.¡± Jonah and Crinkle go back and forth discussing the benefits of the city, the potential problems most likely to arise, and which types of supernatural inclinations it can best accommodate. Throughout the presentation, the sorcerer encourages us to think about whether we could see ourselves fitting into this place. ¡°It might seem far off for some of you,¡± he says. ¡°But brief real-world practicums start at level two, and by level three we want you to be seriously considering and trying out locations where you might settle down for your first year.¡± A lot of the aspects of the city he mentions sound lovely, but I have another voice in my head, going back years. Gracie¡¯s soft laugh and awed tones as she told me about the city on the lake where she wanted to go as soon as she was old enough to leave home¡ªthe music festivals there, restaurants with every kind of food you could imagine, so many parks and trees¡­ She drew pictures in my head with her words. I haven¡¯t seen her since that last night¡ªsince the night when I escaped¡ª I¡¯ll find her again. I already know where I¡¯m going when I¡¯m ready to leave this school. If there¡¯s anyone I owe a heap of joy to, it¡¯s her. The talk shifts to questions from the students. After the first few, the brawny woman behind me raises her hand. ¡°Isn¡¯t there a higher chance of having a bad interaction with a mortal if you¡¯re living in a city? I mean, with so many of them around?¡± ¡°Being surrounded by a lot of people can actually make you safer,¡± Jonah says. ¡°If someone takes an issue with you, you can slip away, and the chances of running into them again are a lot less than if you were in, say, a small town.¡± The woman lets out a jovial chuckle. ¡°Right, of course. And it¡¯s not like any of them would stand a chance against us if push came to shove anyway.¡± Her posture is all bravado, but a current of lemony terror touches my tongue. I turn in my seat to give her a reassuring smile. ¡°You don¡¯t need to be scared of humans. Most of them aren¡¯t bad at all.¡± The woman stares at me and then pulls her lips back in a snarl. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be scared of any puny mortal.¡± Her tablemate extends claws from her fingertips and flexes them at me with a menacing scowl. ¡°A runt like you should think before you speak.¡± I¡¯ve obviously messed up again. And even if she¡¯s trying to look and sound ominous, all I can taste from the second woman is more fear. She doesn¡¯t have any starburst points on her badge¡ªshe¡¯s never hurt any shadowkind before. Her implied threat is all defensive. I try to make my smile even kinder in apology. ¡°I only wanted to make her feel better. Neither of you need to be afraid of me, I promise.¡± The second woman growls and shoves to her feet. ¡°What are you trying to say?¡± I open and close my mouth, my thoughts turning into babble that won¡¯t help anyone coming out of my mouth. I thought I¡¯d said exactly what I meant. What is she confused about? Why is she acting angry? Jonah lifts his voice, calm but firm. ¡°Sit down, Vim. I¡¯m sure Peri didn¡¯t mean anything by it.¡± I did, though. I meant to comfort them. Apparently I handled it all wrong. A faint scoff carries from Hail¡¯s seat. ¡°The newbie¡¯s going to have to fight her own battles sometime,¡± the icy man remarks. ¡°From the looks of her, they¡¯ll at least be short.¡± Jonah folds his arms over his chest. ¡°If we could get back on topic, please¡ª¡± The chime of the bell interrupts. Everyone pushes back their chairs. As soon as I can tell we¡¯re meant to leave, I hustle to the door. Fen rushes after me and touches my arm. ¡°It¡¯s okay. Don¡¯t worry about any of them. We¡¯ve got an hour before the next class. Do you want me to show you the courtyard? It¡¯s really nice.¡± I don¡¯t want to upset her too, but I¡¯m not sure I can give off the cheer I¡¯d want to either. I manage a smile, aiming for sunny. ¡°I think I just want to rest in my room for a bit, but I¡¯d love to see it later.¡± Despite my best efforts, Fen deflates a little. ¡°Oh. All right.¡± I hurry through the halls to the dorm area, my stomach twisting into knots. She didn¡¯t realize that it¡¯s not the other students I¡¯m worried about. It¡¯s me. Why do things go wrong when I¡¯m trying to do something good? Why can¡¯t I fit in properly even here where I¡¯m surrounded by beings who are supposed to be just like me? It¡¯s okay. There¡¯ll be more classes. Not everyone hates me. I¡¯m still figuring things out. It¡¯ll get better. It has to. When I reach the dorm, I walk straight to my room and step inside. I¡¯ll just take the next hour to sort myself out on my own, and then I¡¯ll be ready to face whatever¡¯s next. Except I¡¯m not alone. The instant I walk into the small space, I pick up on my roommate¡¯s stormy energy from the shadows. I turn toward the spot where I can tell he¡¯s lurking. The question tumbles out before I can think better of it. ¡°Why weren¡¯t you at class?¡± If he spoke from the shadows, I¡¯d still hear him, if in a distant, blurry kind of way. Instead, he ripples out into his full, immense form, glaring down at me with his ropey muscles tensed. ¡°Some of us have to go to different classes. Because there are more important things to worry about." He points at his badge--the ten-pointed star, the circle around it. ¡°Oh,¡± I mumble. ¡°I just wondered.¡± He grunts and vanishes again. I sink onto my bed and draw my knees to my chest to hug them. I seem to be pissing people off left and right, and one of them is a shadowkind so fearsome he needs special classes to make sure he doesn¡¯t hurt the rest of us. I close my eyes. All I can do is keep going, keep doing my best. Because it¡¯s either that or starve. Chapter 7

Hail I close my eyes to the sun, letting it wash over my skin. The glare filters through my eyelids with a ruddy glow. My cheeks feel as if they¡¯re baking. The mortal realm is such a bizarre place. So many aspects of it waver on the line between pleasure and pain. My essence responds best to the cold rather than heat. If I stand here a few minutes longer, like I sometimes do on the desert plain outside the school, every inch of my skin will start to prickle with the impression of burning. But then, why shouldn¡¯t I burn? My instructor on this test clears her throat to get my attention. I open my eyes to the sprawling green of the city park, scattered with looming trees and dotted with mortal figures strolling or lounging on picnic blankets. A trace of acid creeps up my throat. I resist the urge to curl my lip in disgust. If I¡¯m ever going to establish myself in this realm the way I want to, I have to be able to at least tolerate humanity. ¡°Shall we keep walking?¡± Shanty says pointedly. It isn¡¯t much of a test if I don¡¯t have to come near anyone. We both know the main reason I¡¯ve failed these trial outings again and again. I shrug as if unconcerned and start forward along the paved pathway. When I lift a potato chip from the bag of BBQ flavor I bought¡ªwithout doing the slightest bit of harm to the shopkeeper, I should note¡ªI keep a close eye on the sleeve of my thin linen shirt to ensure the tight cuff doesn¡¯t ride down. Who knows what the humans would make of the blue veins that wind across my milky forearms all the way to my elbows? They stand out as starkly as if they were painted on. I pop the chip into my mouth and allow myself a small smile at the crackling flavor that spreads across my tongue. I¡¯ll give humans credit for one thing¡ªthey do know how to make good use of spicing. Nothing in the shadow realm ever offered this delicious kick, like a shock to my system. I suppose we do need to keep them around, if only for that reason. I catch a couple of glances from the human women strolling past me, coyly through lowered eyelashes, one with a slight flush to her cheeks. It seems my smile has drawn a familiar sort of attention. It¡¯s become obvious even in my very short sojourns away from school that mortals find my humanesque form just as appealing as many of my fellow shadowkind do. Not an opening I¡¯m inclined to pursue with these sort of beings, but worth of a wider smirk. As I amble onward, Shanty drifts back behind me, giving me plenty of room as if I''m out for a walk on my own. But I know she''s tracking my every move. I tune out my awareness of her presence, drawing breath after breath of fresh air into my lungs. Snacking on another chip. If you ignore the humans draping themselves all over it, the park has plenty to recommend about it. The warm breeze carries the sweet scents of spring growth that are always tainted by dust around the school grounds. Plenty of other, less irritating mortal creatures abound, from the squirrel scampering across the path to the birds chirping out their songs on the tree branches. This place is much closer to where I''m meant to be¡ªwhere my shadowkind essence craves to be¡ªthan the nearly barren, hard-packed earth of the New Mexico desert, that''s for certain. A child leaps after the squirrel with a high-pitched giggle. Watching the poor animal dart away in a panic, I grit my teeth but keep walking. I simply have to make it from one end of the park to the other. It''s large as city parks go, but I should be able to cross the length of it in twenty minutes or less. A dog races past me with a tennis ball clutched in its jaws. It drops it at the foot of an elderly woman and bows down in a pose of appeasement that it really should be ashamed of. She doesn''t smile at it, doesn''t even look at it, too busy blathering on the phone pressed to her ear. A little farther on, near a cluster of picnic tables, a group gets up from their meal in the midst of raucous chatter. They saunter away, leaving plastic wrappers and soda cans nestled in the grass around the table. Do they not even see? No, the problem is that they don''t care. But that¡¯s not my problem. My only problem is finishing this test and getting out of here. None of them need to matter. I follow a bend in the path past a parking lot about half full of noxious human vehicles. The row of shops beyond the far edge of the patch of wilderness comes into view beyond the last of the trees. Almost at the end. My goal is no more than a minute or two away. Even as I think that, a sharp bang reverberates through the air. I jerk to a halt as I register what it was: a car door slamming. Raised voices burst out alongside it. "What the fuck do you think you''re doing?" "You cut me off, you prick!" My nerves scatter, and my pulse hitches to a frantic pace. Images flit through my head: red splashed on white, humans bellowing, a lance of pain¡ª I stiffen my body to stop it from trembling, terror and humiliation over my panicked reaction jolting through me in tandem. My jaw clenches. But before I can catch it, a spurt of my chilling power shoots out of me. I glance over in time to see the two men in the parking lot skidding on the slick ice that formed out of nowhere beneath their feet. One topples and smacks his knee hard enough that I hear the impact from where I''m standing. He groans in pain. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. In an instant, Shanty is at my shoulder. "Hail," she hisses in frustration, and yanks me off the path, away from the lot. My pulse is already slowing, but the tang of adrenaline lingers, turning my thoughts and my tongue sour. "It was only a little ice. No one had any reason to think it had to do with me." The siren glares at me as we come to a stop in a more isolated grove of trees. "No one had any reason to expect sudden ice in the middle of May. And you hurt that man. He wasn''t even near you." I open my mouth and close it again. I don''t have any real defense. There were other men who did more than hurt. There were others where I didn''t do enough. All I was doing is putting the vermin in their place. Saying that will only frustrate her more. My hand tightens around the near-empty chip bag. I try aiming one of my charming grins at Shanty¡ªthe type that sets of giggles among half the female shadowkind in my dorm and a couple of the men too. ¡°I was almost there. Can¡¯t you find the goodness in your heart to give me a few points for that?¡± She sighs and folds her arms over her chest. ¡°It¡¯s not a point system. It¡¯s pass/fail. And that was a definite failure.¡± I cock my head, flexing my muscles subtly beneath my button-up tee. ¡°You really are something to look at when you¡¯re annoyed. I could make it up to you.¡± She sputters a laugh. ¡°Are you trying to seduce me now? You¡¯re really something, Hail, and I don¡¯t mean that in a good way. You''re never going to make it even to level three if you can''t control yourself on a half hour''s outing. I''ve got to knock you back down to level one now. If you aren''t even going to try, you might as well go on back to the shadow realm. The Academy¡¯s spots are for shadowkind who actually want to change." A different sort of chill sweeps through me with a rush of denial. No. This is where I''m meant to be, with the trees and the grass and the open sky. To go back to the suffocating darkness, alone... "I am trying," I say with forced evenness. "My powers lashed out in an automatic reaction. I didn''t decide to throw ice at them." "Well, then I guess you''d better keep working on those knee-jerk impulses in class, huh? Come on, let''s get you back to school." # When I walk through the arched front entrance of the reform building, Gloss is standing just inside the front hall, eyeing the bonus assignments posted on the bulletin board as if she''d ever actually consider taking them on. They aren''t even for voluntary students like her. She''s waiting for me, of course. She¡¯s very good at not letting on, flicking her sleek black hair over her shoulder and then lifting her eyebrows slightly as if she didn¡¯t expect to see me coming in. But her interest in me, whatever it¡¯s worth, has been obvious enough. And she deeply wants me to move up in the levels so she can finally show me off over on her side of the school whenever I feel like wandering over there. I won¡¯t be allowed to cross between buildings until I¡¯m at least level three. My gaze travels over her svelte body. It¡¯s appealing enough, and I think she¡¯d let me take her to bed if I offered the invitation now. But she¡¯s intense enough when we haven¡¯t exchanged more than a few flirty touches. Easier to play around with the beings who don¡¯t want anything more from me than that. I¡¯m not sure I have any interest in playing a significant role in her life. I¡¯ve seen the excitement shimmer in her eyes when she¡¯s just come back from a stint in the human world, where she always seems to be hobnobbing with some elite group. She wants to blend in. I want to build something just for shadowkind, a part of this realm that humans can¡¯t touch. There¡¯s not much overlap between our dreams. Still, shame pricks at the back of my neck when her gaze drops to my badge and she takes in the 1 marked on the new one. To give the snow demon credit, she hides her brief flicker of disappointment with a cool to match my own and tsks her tongue teasingly. ¡°You just don¡¯t know how to play nice, do you, Hail?¡± I could say something about how she likes me better when I¡¯m being bad, but today¡¯s expedition hasn¡¯t left me with much of a stomach for further flirtation. I stride past her. ¡°I never learn my lessons well enough, apparently.¡± I keep my tone flippant, and Gloss laughs as if that was a fantastic joke, although it isn¡¯t really one at all. When I head deeper into the school, she sidles after me. ¡°You could burn off some frustration on the morphball court. Make sure you keep that top spot.¡± I wave her off, letting an edge creep into my voice. ¡°I¡¯ve had enough games for today. Feel free to find someone else to play with.¡± After that brush-off, Gloss doesn¡¯t follow me. She¡¯s got far too much dignity for that. I stalk the rest of the way to the dorm, letting a wintry chill course out of my body. Reminding everyone who passes me that I¡¯m the most powerful fae here at the Academy, and they¡¯d better respect that. Fucking school and their ridiculous tests. I could have done ten times worse to those humans, and they¡¯d still have deserved it. I¡¯m not going to let them get the better of me. I¡¯m sure as shit not going to let the administration chase me back to the shadow realm. I¡¯ll ace every class and shoot right back to level 2, and then I¡¯ll waltz around the human world pretending they don¡¯t even exist, even if I have to numb my entire brain to manage it. It shouldn¡¯t be that hard. I just haven¡¯t been trying quite hard enough. That¡¯s all. No big deal. I push into the dorm, and my gaze lands on the only other being currently in the common room: the short-and-curvy, teal-haired new arrival who thinks she can wield her perkiness like a weapon. Periwinkle. Such a ridiculous name. She¡¯s standing at the far end of the hall by the kitchen area, clinking a spoon in a glass. She glances over at the squeak of the door, and one of those absurdly sunny smiles darts across her face. ¡°Oh, hi! It¡¯s Hail, right? I was just making iced tea. Do you want some?¡± Is that supposed to be some kind of jab about my powers? Does she think if she sucks up to me, I¡¯ll get Gloss off her back? I stare down my nose at her and pitch my voice to be both languid and cold enough to burn. ¡°If you want to drink stuff that tastes like sugared piss, it¡¯s all yours.¡± Most shadowkind would wince at the caustic words. The wimpiest of them would scuttle away. Periwinkle the whatever-the-fuck-she-is just keeps smiling at me like I complimented her taste in beverages. ¡°Just let me know if you change your mind!¡± I scoff and stride into my room, yanking the door shut behind me. Does the dimwit not have two braincells to rub together? How can she not find me even a little bit intimidating? There¡¯s definitely something wrong with that one. Chapter 8

Periwinkle When I walk into the workout room where the self-defense classes are held, my heart sinks twice. First when I see the burly, ruddy haired shadowkind who tried to have me banished to the shadow realm when I first arrived standing at the front of the room as our teacher. Second when my gaze slides over to see Gloss standing with arms folded over her chest by the far wall. What¡¯s she doing in this class? It¡¯s supposed to be for reform students. ¡°Wonderful,¡± Fen mumbles next to me. I summon all the good spirits I can for her benefit. What kind of a friend will I be if I drag her down rather than cheering her up? ¡°Maybe we¡¯ll learn something to fend her off,¡± I murmur, and consider it a win when I get a giggle. As more students arrive, it gets harder to keep up my optimistic attitude. Mirage bounds into the room with a flip followed by a somersault, but the next couple of beings who pass through the doorway are the brawny woman and her clawed friend, Vim, who got angry with me in the Mortal Geography class. The moment they notice me, their eyes narrow, as if they¡¯re psychically debating with each other how to best demolish me into kibble. A few of Gloss¡¯s reform student friends sashay in next, giving her a wave¡ªand our teacher coy looks through their lowered eyelashes. Lust laces the air like overripe plums. One of them drops her voice to a sultry tone. ¡°How are you today, Gnash?¡± If she¡¯s trying to flirt, he doesn¡¯t appear to be interested. ¡°Looking forward to finally getting this class started, Tansy,¡± he says gruffly, scowling at the doorway. A few more students trickle in, including a couple who go to stand by Gloss. There are five beings now who I haven¡¯t seen in my past reform classes. It¡¯s a smaller class than usual, the schedule calling for only level 1s and dividing us up into four different rooms. Why would they bring in extra beings on top of that? Fen must pick up on my confusion. She tips her head closer to mine. ¡°For the self-defense classes, the teachers ask trusted higher-level students to help with the hands on exercises. Unfortunately, we don¡¯t get any choice in who those students are.¡± Gloss glances our way at that exact moment. Fen clamps her mouth shut even though I can¡¯t see how the other woman could have heard her. Gnash claps his hands together, punctuating the sound with a slight growl. All twenty or so pairs of eyes in the room snap to our teacher. He prowls from one side of the room to the other. Fen mentioned to me that he¡¯s a tiger shifter, and the powerful feline influence comes through in his gait even in human form. ¡°Today, we¡¯re going to focus on hunters,¡± he says. ¡°Out of the three types of mortals who approach shadowkind with malicious intent, some would say they¡¯re our biggest concern. Their strategies for incapacitating shadowkind can be just as debilitating as human sorcery, but many of them are looking not just to capture us but to outright destroy us.¡± A shiver races over my skin. The one rare upside to the shadow realm is that while I could starve there to the point of being the thinnest shade of myself, I¡¯d never actually die. But in the mortal realm, we¡¯re all mortal too. Mirage springs forward with a burst of his fox ears from his head and a sharp-toothed grin. ¡°To end us they have a great thirst, but there¡¯s nothing to fear if we smash them first.¡± My lips twitch at the singsong rhyme, but Gnash simply glowers at the shifter. ¡°Less smashing, more avoiding attention. Put your ears away.¡± Mirage chuckles and compiles with a nimble backflip. I¡¯d imagine it¡¯d be hard for any hunters to catch him. Gnash¡¯s peeved expression doesn¡¯t change. He stalks over to the five higher level students and hands out batons with streamers of yellow fabric. I think gymnasts¡ªthose humans who tumble around a lot like Mirage does¡ªuse those. And hunters? The tiger shifter gives all of us an ominous look. ¡°One of the hunters¡¯ primary weapons are like whips but with streams of concentrated light. If the light hits you, it¡¯ll damage your essence¡ªtemporarily disabling you if they get in a good blow. So if you encounter a human wielding one of those, you dodge as well as you can until you have a chance to make a run for it.¡± He motions the higher-level students forward. ¡°Gather in groups of three. Take turns avoiding the whip. The fewer times our student helpers manage to make contact, the higher your grade will be.¡± Fen and I hurry over to join a skinny, pointy-chinned male shadowkind who¡¯s moved to the far corner of the room, away from Gloss. That doesn¡¯t stop the haughty woman¡¯s gaze from following us with a disdainful sniff. ¡°I¡¯ll go first,¡± I volunteer. It¡¯s just a ribbon¡ªno big deal. The skinny guy lashes it toward me. A sheen on the fabric gleams beneath the overhead lights as if it really is glowing. I jump to one side and then scramble to the other, my feet skidding on the exercise mats that cover the floor. Despite my best efforts, the ribbon catches me by my elbow. After I¡¯ve wriggled free, the student helper speaks up in a bored tone. ¡°Maybe sure you keep track of all your limbs. Don¡¯t just think about your core.¡± I bob my head. I thought I was doing that, but I¡¯ll give it a better shot. I start tucking my arms closer to my body, but the next time he flicks the ribbon against my calf. Taking a deep breath, I prepare myself for another round. It¡¯s all right. I¡¯m only just getting started. I¡¯ve never practiced this before. As I dodge another sweep of the ribbon, a twinge of pain jolts up through my ankles. I bite back a yelp and stumble¡ªand feel the ribbon snagging on my wrist. In the next group over, Vim snorts. ¡°Looks like someone¡¯s klutzy with her mouth and her feet. I bet you¡¯d be scared of humans if you ran into one with a weapon like that.¡± Embarrassment washes through me. I know it¡¯s flickered in my hair before I can balance my emotions, because her eyebrows leap up. Tansy has joined her and her brawny friend. She tsks her tongue mockingly. ¡°Poor thing. You¡¯ve upset her.¡± I paste a determined smile on my face. ¡°I¡¯m all right. I¡¯m sure we can all learn how to survive.¡± The brawny woman frowns as if she¡¯s taking that comment as an insult too. I whirl back toward my student helper before she can grumble at me. After several more dodges, a couple more flares of pain, and a few more snags of the whip, I welcome the chance to step aside and give Fen her turn. As she begins the dance of dodging, my gaze slides over the other students. Yellow ribbons are swishing through the air all around the room. Gnash walks between them, pausing to watch one group. The woman next to him immediately pops her hip to the side and juts her chest out a little farther. The one who¡¯s scrambling to steer clear of the ribbon catches sight of him and leaps up rather than to the side¡ªmaybe because that makes her skirt swish upward with a glimpse of her panties. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. He gives her a couple of tips, and she beams at him with a flirty tilt of her head. More whiffs of that ripened fruit flavor reach me. Apparently the tiger shifter teacher has a lot of fans, whether because of his muscular power or because he¡¯s one of the school¡¯s highest authority teachers. When he moves on to the next group, I see one of the men there start preening rather than paying attention to the exercise. With her lithe frame and flexibility, Fen has managed to evade all but one smack of the ribbon. When Gnash prowls over to watch her, a look that¡¯s pure nerves flashes across her face. She hops to the side, ducks, jerks backward, and nearly trips over her own feet. She might have been able to recover, except in her anxiety, a dribble of water seeps down her arm. Her sneakers slip on the sudden puddle, and she tumbles into the mat face-first with the ribbon slapped across her back. A kick of tabasco-sharp embarrassment hits me a moment after the impact. One of Gloss¡¯s friends titters. Her voice carries across the room at an undertone, pretending she doesn¡¯t mean to be heard. ¡°There Drip goes piddling again.¡± I clench my hands against a spurt of anger, but our teacher ignores the comment. He waits until Fen has gotten back to her feet, a wet patch on the skirt of her dress clinging to her leg. ¡°You¡¯ve got to get a grip on that wishy-washy talent,¡± he says, and stalks off without another word. I touch her arm. ¡°You were doing really good for most of the exercise.¡± Fen nods with a jerk, but shame still reddens her neck. Once everyone¡¯s had their practice, the student helpers rejoin Gnash to report on everyone¡¯s scores. The tiger shifter notes down the numbers and then unzips a duffle bag by his feet. ¡°For the second weapon we¡¯ll study today, I¡¯ve brought the real thing to show you. You won¡¯t want to get too close.¡± Using two bronze rods, he lifts a mess of shimmering gray strands out of the bag. As the glinting object unfurls in front of us, my heart stutters so fast I lose my breath. A chill floods my entire body. It¡¯s a net. Like the one¡ªthe one that caught me¡ª Tansy¡¯s barely muffled guffaw brings me back to the present. She¡¯s staring at me. ¡°She¡¯s a wimp after all. Terrified just looking at the thing.¡± My scalp is tingling¡ªI raise my hands to my head, and an orangey-yellow glow wavers across my forearms. A few of the other students snicker. After swallowing hard, I breathe as slowly and evenly as I can. The glow of fear fades alongside the tension whirling inside me. ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Periwinkle?¡± Gloss asks in a crystal-smooth voice. ¡°You can¡¯t let yourself get that worked up over a little silver and iron, or they¡¯ll catch you without even throwing the net right on you.¡± A little silver and iron. As if those aren¡¯t the two substances most toxic to shadowkind. I give myself a little shake. Even though my hair has stopped glowing, I can¡¯t totally shed the lingering wisps of terror. ¡°Not so tough now,¡± the brawny woman jeers. Do they think this is a joke? They have no idea what can happen to you if one of those nets wraps around you. ¡°We need to watch out for those things¡ªand learn how to escape them,¡± I say, as emphatically as I can. ¡°You should all listen to the lesson instead of trying to hook up with the teacher.¡± As soon as the words leave my mouth, I know I¡¯ve made another blunder. A mix of anger and humiliation wafts toward me from all around the room, like over-salted vindaloo curry. Gloss glances toward Gnash. ¡°Since this one is so sure of herself after all, maybe she should be the first to get a close look at the net.¡± Every particle of my body recoils, but the tiger shifter beckons me forward. The presence of the noxious metals nips at my skin the closer I get. As I walk up to the gleaming mass, my ankles throb. I wobble, and Tansy barks a laugh. ¡°Look how shaky she is after all her big talk.¡± Her friend sneers. ¡°There goes her hair again, like she¡¯s pissing herself with light.¡± My shame curdles alongside my distress. My teeth jar against each other, my jaw aching. I stop a couple of steps from the net and hold myself rigidly still. More snickers bounce through the room. My stomach churns. I don¡¯t like this feeling. It¡¯s too much like the worst times¡ªI can¡¯t let myself dwell on it¡ªcan¡¯t let myself get too upset. Can¡¯t admit to the man who wanted me kicked out that I might not be able to handle this lesson. Just breathe. Settle my emotions. Let them go. No one¡¯s actually going to hurt me here. Gnash¡¯s growly voice penetrates my attempt at meditation. ¡°Once you¡¯re trapped in one of these nets, you¡¯re stuck. If you see one, even feel this amount of silver and iron, you hightail it in the opposite direction as fast as you can. If humans throw one at you, throw yourself as low as you can and dash or roll at top speed. We¡¯ll practice with regular rope nets.¡± He nods for me to step back. As I retreat, my legs sway again. The brawny woman strides past me, stomping her heel very purposefully on my toes. ¡°Now who¡¯s the wimp?¡± I never insulted her. I only wanted to help everyone. But all I feel are the glares and the smirks. The muttered snark aimed my way. My pulse pounds in my head. Gnash is just putting the metal net away when the peal of the bell signals the end of the class period. ¡°We¡¯ll do the practice nets next session,¡± he announces as we head for the door, and my nerves scatter all over again. To feel those bindings pressing against my skin¡ªthe coarse texture, the interlocking pattern¡ª I hurry down the hall as fast as I can go, not thinking even of Fen. A mocking call reverberates after me: ¡°I don¡¯t know if you can run fast enough, weakling.¡± I dig my fingernails right into my palms. I just have to get away. Somewhere quiet and alone, where I can simmer down. A door up ahead shows only darkness through the small window. The label above the frame calls it the Media Room. With a renewed burst of speed and a jab of pain through my lower legs, I push inside. I stagger to a halt at the edge of a big dark room. The only light emanates from display screens behind glass booths along the edges of the space. But a handful of beings are sprawled across sofas opposite the door, watching an image start to play on a larger projector screen. ¡°Mortals all over the country have been watching this show for the last ten years,¡± one of the shadowkind tells the others in an eager voice. Then the bouncy tune of a sitcom opening theme fills the air. The sound jolts me back more than a year to the dim room that held cages blazing with light, to the small TV always buzzing and jangling off to the side. His favorite show. Every day, that song. No matter what he was doing to us¡ª The horror rolls over me, too suffocating for me to shove it away. A whimper spills from my lips. I hurtle back into the hall, throw myself forward, and stumble into a chemical-smelling space that looks like a supply closet¡ª And the thick, dark agony I¡¯ve tried to tamp down roars out of me. It sears through everything around me as forcefully as the joyful glow did the other day at the wedding. Terror and anguish and fury blare together into an onslaught of misery. Through the flood, I feel a yelp and a rasp of pain. A shudder and a sharp sting as if my darkness has sliced right through someone¡¯s essence. I¡¯m hurting them. I didn¡¯t mean to. I¡¯m sorry, so sorry. I don¡¯t know how to stop it. Chapter 9

Jonah As I step into the staff meeting room, Peri ducks her head where she¡¯s standing in the middle of the space. Her short, curvy frame tenses just slightly, the way it always does when she sees me. She¡¯s afraid of me. To be fair, pretty much every shadowkind at the school either fears me or resents me¡ªor both. As soon as they find out my unique purpose here, as soon as they realize I¡¯m one of the few humans with powers to rival their own, there¡¯s a shift in the way they look at me. Something hardens in their eyes, whether stiffening like steel or going distant and glassy. With Peri, though, it¡¯s worse than most. Her fright isn¡¯t based on mere hearsay¡ªshe¡¯s experienced the snare of my sorcery firsthand. And she hasn¡¯t switched to being angry about the assault on her mind. It¡¯s like she¡¯s bracing herself, trying to shore up courage in case I do it again. Unfortunately, today she has good reason to be scared, just not of me. Out of the six people who¡¯ll be deciding her fate, I¡¯m probably the least of a threat. As I take my spot at the administrative table, Albumin slips in. The vampire positions himself at the end of the table, and the meeting can begin. When Shanty clears her throat, I can¡¯t stop my gaze from darting to the empty seat at her other side. The place where Rollick would sit if he¡¯d joined us. The demon who founded this school should have a say in matters are serious as this. He¡¯s been away much longer than usual this time. Pearl is his closest associate here, or at least the one least afraid of badgering him when she wants answers, and all she¡¯s been able to say is that he has ¡°personal matters¡± to attend to. I hope Quinn, the human woman he¡¯s devoted to, is all right. If it wasn¡¯t for her¡ªwell, for both of them, but mostly her¡ªI¡¯d have died at age three. Of course, I can¡¯t say for sure that Rollick would have decided in Peri¡¯s favor if he were here. Every expression around the table is solemn, even Pearl¡¯s, despite the succubus¡¯s usual bright energy. Shanty fixes her grim stare on Peri. ¡°Periwinkle, do you know why you stand here before us?¡± Peri¡¯s head bobs a little lower in a slight nod. A soft glow wavers through her turquoise hair: flickers of a sickly yellow that matches her anxious stance and a deep maroon that might be shame. Her voice comes out quiet and strained. ¡°I hurt people. Other shadowkind. I¡¯m so sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to¡ªI tried not to.¡± Toni speaks up in her usual crisp tone. ¡°You don¡¯t deny it, then? That the wave of shadow energy that swept through the school came from you?¡± Peri¡¯s mouth twists. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want to lie. That¡¯s how it happens. If I get too happy, light bursts out of me. If I¡¯m upset¡­¡± Darkness. We around the admin table exchange glances. None of us has ever seen a power quite like what Peri displayed this morning. Shadowkind are at home in the darkness. It¡¯s where they can escape. But something about the shadows that exploded out of this innocent-looking being scraped against the essence of those who were closest by. One of the students described it as feeling like sandpaper wrenching over his skin, another as a deep searing as if the darkness had burned her. And it was over in a matter of seconds. How much permanent damage could Peri do if her power didn¡¯t fade that quickly? ¡°You were upset,¡± Pearl repeats in a softer voice than her wife¡¯s. ¡°Can you tell us exactly what happened to bring you to that point?¡± Peri stares down at her hands, which she¡¯s twisted in front of her. ¡°It was really just a lot of little things. I was in self-defense class and had trouble with the exercises. Some of my classmates poked fun at me, and others were annoyed. I saw one of those hunter nets, and it reminded me¡ª¡± Her words hitch to a stop. My throat constricts at the anguish that¡¯s clear on her face. ¡°It reminded you of what?¡± I can¡¯t help prompting. Her arms come up to hug herself. ¡°I was caught in one before. It doesn¡¯t matter how. Obviously I got away. It shouldn¡¯t bother me. I tried to stay calm.¡± Toni frowns at Gnash. ¡°You were teaching the class. You didn¡¯t notice that she was getting agitated?¡± The tiger shifter scowls back at her. ¡°The students always hassle each other some. You know that¡¯s part of the training. I didn¡¯t see anything that looked like reason for concern.¡± ¡°And yet here we are,¡± Albumin says in a dry, detached tone. As Gnash aims his scowl at the vampire, Shanty taps the tabletop. ¡°But her power didn¡¯t burst out in class. It happened a minute or two after dismissal, didn¡¯t it?¡± Peri shoots her a tight little smile. ¡°I tried to get away from the things that were bothering me so I could calm down. It¡ªit didn¡¯t work well enough.¡± Al tsks his tongue. ¡°Here only a few days and already terrorizing her fellow students.¡± Peri¡¯s head droops even lower. My reply tumbles out of me. ¡°She has only been here a few days. She¡¯s barely had a chance to learn how to control her powers. And we didn¡¯t realize they could harm shadowkind, or we¡¯d have been taking more precautions to begin with. That¡¯s partly on us.¡± ¡°We have to consider the safety of all the students,¡± Toni says. Pearl makes a dismissive sound. ¡°Everyone was fine with a little time to recover. No permanent damage done.¡± ¡°This time,¡± Gnash growls. Peri¡¯s shoulders hunch, and my throat constricts. I remember her coming into my classroom a couple of days ago, smiling with Fen, so pretty in her contentment that it was hard to drag my gaze away. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. It isn¡¯t fair that she should look so despondent now. ¡°She cares about her fellow students,¡± I say. ¡°I¡¯ve seen her doing her best to support them. She¡¯s already formed a positive relationship with Fen.¡± Gnash lets out a faint snort. I know he doesn¡¯t think very highly of the naiad, but he doesn¡¯t argue with me. Shanty studies Peri intently. ¡°Would you be willing to attend daily tutoring sessions to see if we can get your errant energies under control quickly?¡± Peri¡¯s head jerks up, her blue eyes lighting eagerly. ¡°Yes, of course. I¡¯d like that more than anything. If I didn¡¯t have to worry anymore¡­ I promise, I don¡¯t want to hurt anyone.¡± I believe her right down to the core of my being. I don¡¯t know how anyone at the table can doubt her sincerity. But then, a sincere monster can still be a monster, whether they like it or not. Gnash still looks disgruntled. ¡°We¡¯ll need to discuss the situation more amongst ourselves. If you stay, it¡¯d be with a severe warning. No more outbursts like this.¡± Peri nods frantically. ¡°I understand.¡± Shanty motions to the door in the far wall. ¡°Please return to the waiting chamber while we finish our discussion.¡± Peri hurries away, with a slight wobble traveling up one leg that sets me on the alert. Was she injured? She keeps going without incident, so maybe it was just an effect of her nerves. It was clear from the first time she stood before us how much she hates the idea of being banished to the shadow realm. It¡¯s hard for me to imagine her bright presence consigned to the endless darkness my shadowkind mentors have described. The moment the door has closed behind her, Gnash turns toward me. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be soft on her just because you feel guilty about dragging her here with your magic.¡± I wince inwardly, willing down the flush that wants to creep into my cheeks. ¡°That¡¯s not why I was defending her. You can see that she means well. She isn¡¯t trying to be a threat.¡± Toni rubs her temple. ¡°In some ways, that could be worse. If she can be this destructive even when she¡¯s trying her hardest not to be¡­¡± It¡¯s a little horrifying to think what Peri could do if she wanted to hurt someone. I can admit that. Pearl swats her wife¡¯s arm gently. ¡°We have to give her a real chance to master her powers. Lots of beings can¡¯t figure it out on their own.¡± ¡°But lots can¡¯t smother a whole hallway in burning darkness in an instant,¡± Shanty mutters. She turns to Gnash. ¡°What were your impressions of her in class?¡± ¡°She was clumsy, but she gave it a good effort,¡± Gnash admits. ¡°More than some of them that¡¯s been here longer and should know to take the lessons seriously. And she showed some spirit when those other students were hassling her. If it wasn¡¯t for the explosion of shadows, I¡¯d say she might have some promise.¡± I give him a pointed look. ¡°She still does. It¡¯s obvious she hasn¡¯t interacted with other shadowkind very much before. She¡¯s still finding her footing, but she¡¯s very committed.¡± Shanty squares her shoulders. ¡°All right. I think we should give her another chance, taking far greater precautions. And of course her badge will need to be updated so her classmates have the warning. We didn¡¯t start this school to abandon the difficult cases at the first stumble. Any significant arguments?¡± Albumin sighs but doesn¡¯t say anything. Toni dips her head in acceptance. ¡°Good.¡± Shanty brushes her hands together. ¡°Meeting adjourned. I¡¯ll let her know the verdict¡ªand start her first one-on-one session right now. I may as well handle those personally.¡± I head out of the meeting room with tension still coursing through my body. It seems like as good an excuse as any to head to the exercise room for a workout. I change into my tee and shorts quickly, stretch, and decide to start with the rowing machine. It¡¯s an easy way to spread the burn through most of my body all at once, and the rhythmic back and forth is weirdly relaxing at the same time. It¡¯s also one of the least social options, which can be a plus in my position. I keep a casual attitude walking through the exercise room, but I¡¯m starkly aware of the glances that twitch my way¡ªand then avert, sometimes with a sidle farther away from me. The various shadowkind students and even the staff who come by to work out their physical bodies spend plenty of time chatting with each other. But I¡¯m not only one of the rare humans in the mix¡ªI¡¯m one of the few we have classes to warn our students against. My sorcery doesn¡¯t call attention to itself when I¡¯m not tapping into it. I¡¯d have to purposefully aim it at any being here to affect them. I could if I wanted to, though, and that¡¯s all they need to know. I settle into the rhythm of the machine and gradually pick up speed until the ache I was waiting for prickles through my muscles. Most shadowkind come by at least slightly superhuman strength automatically. If for some reason one of my missions outside of school comes down to a physical fight rather than one of magic, I want some chance of holding my own. The whir of the machine fills my head. I¡¯m heading into minute twenty-three when someone drops a weight into the rack a little too abruptly. The clatter jolts through my nerves. A memory flashes behind my eyes: a shadowkind creature crashing through a window and landing on the floor with a clacking of its vicious claws. I flinch, and the handle slips from my fingers. It smacks into the head of the machine. Forcing myself to inhale and exhale slowly, I slide over to retrieve the handle. Did anyone notice my odd lapse? A surreptitious glance around suggests not. I swallow thickly and try to lose myself in the rush again, but my mind can¡¯t quite detach. Maybe it isn¡¯t just the shadowkind¡¯s instinctive reactions to my sorcery that set me apart. Maybe my past means I¡¯m putting up barriers I¡¯m not even aware of. It¡¯s been a long time since a horde of very literal monsters slaughtered my birth family and kidnapped me. It was only a brief fragment of my life that they keep me captive before Quinn and Rollick came to my rescue. I barely think about it anymore. That doesn¡¯t mean the dreams have stopped, though. I grit my teeth and push myself even faster. When I came to the school, I told myself the students would adjust to my presence. That we¡¯d all find a way to accept and even welcome each other. After all, I grew up surrounded by shadowkind. I know plenty of them aren¡¯t like the brutal fiends that destroyed my first home. Somehow, six years into my tenure here, the harmony I imagined still hasn¡¯t materialized. At what point do I accept that it never will? Finally, when my shirt is sticking to my back with sweat, I peel myself off the rowing machine. As I debate whether to move on to weights or the treadmill next, one of the shadowkind support staff slips out of the shadows a few steps away from me. She offers me a crooked smile. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to interrupt, Jonah. Rollick¡¯s contacted us¡ªhe¡¯s sending on a being who¡¯s been disruptive at one of his clubs. You should be there to oversee the transfer in case there¡¯s any major resistance.¡± And here I am, back in the role of jailer all over again. That¡¯s what I signed up for. That¡¯s the one thing I can do that¡¯s actually necessary around here, that no one else can do. So I force a smile in return. ¡°Let me take a quick shower and change, and I¡¯ll meet the retrieval team at the car.¡± Chapter 10

Periwinkle As we walk down the hall toward the gym, I cock my head, trying to wrap my mind around all the rules Fen just explained to me. ¡°So there are five hoops, but you only want to put the ball in them when they¡¯re lit up. And you¡¯re supposed to use your powers to move the ball.¡± Fen nods. ¡°If you can. Obviously not everyone has powers that would work for that. The most important rule is that you can only affect the ball, no tripping up the other players. And if you break the ball, that¡¯s not good either. It¡¯s another way to practice our control.¡± Control that I¡¯m still feeling pretty shaky about, especially now that the school administration is watching me extra closely. I rub my forehead. ¡°And everyone has to play this morphball game?¡± Fen shoots me a sympathetic smile. ¡°It¡¯s kind of the main pastime around here, at least for beings who are into the sporty stuff. If you can hold a top five position for a month, you get special rewards. Mostly Coach Brandish lets the enthusiastic students play and swaps out a few of the rest of us from class to class so we¡¯re getting a little practice. But she always wants to see what the new students can do, so she¡¯ll definitely put you on.¡± I give myself a little shake, dispelling my trepidation. It¡¯s just a game¡ªa game specifically designed for shadowkind. It could be a lot of fun. Although¡­ ¡°I don¡¯t think making my hair glow is going to help propel the ball.¡± ¡°That¡¯s okay. The best I can ever do is maybe push a splash of water at it at the right time, and mostly I miss.¡± Fen ducks her head with obvious embarrassment. ¡°I¡¯ll cheer you on from the bleachers!¡± If I can¡¯t do much with the game, I guess that¡¯s what I¡¯ll end up doing during most future morphball gym days too. That¡¯s okay. I definitely know how to cheer. I¡¯ve been in the smaller workout rooms before, but not the full gymnasium. As we step through the door, my eyes widen trying to take in the immense space. The walls must reach up the full two stories of the building, the white ceiling crisscrossed with metal girders and lighting fixtures high above us. Tiers of benches rise on either side, with room to seat at least a hundred students. On each of the other two walls, five hoops protrude from panes that I¡¯ve gathered from Fen will beam light at random intervals. They form the approximate shape of a cross, three in a vertical column and one on either side of it, but the side ones can apparently travel up and down as well as glowing. A large screen mounted near the stands shows a list of five students with their photos¡ªthe current morphball rankings. Most of them I recognize only vaguely, but Hail¡¯s coolly handsome face gazes out from the second spot. That must be one more reason so many of our fellow students fawn over him. A stout woman with slim tusks protruding from her jaw marches over to us. Fen bobs her head with a squeak of a voice. ¡°Hi, Coach Brandish.¡± From what I¡¯ve heard, the main gym instructor is a troll. Big, strong, and fierce. I draw myself up to my not particularly considerable full height and offer her a determined smile. ¡°Hi!¡± She looks me over and speaks in a curt voice. ¡°So you¡¯re the new one. You play on the red side today. Fen, you can stick to the bleachers.¡± ¡°Thank you, Couch Brandish!¡± My friend gives my arm an encouraging squeeze and darts off. The coach ushers me over to the far end of the court where four other players are waiting, wearing varying shades of red. She runs through the rules Fen has already told me, but I figure all I¡¯m really going to be doing here is making sure I don¡¯t get in anyone else¡¯s way. ¡°You¡¯ll want to change that outfit,¡± she adds. I glance down at my typical flowered dress and track jacket. Not standard gym attire, no. Closing my eyes, I blink in and out of the shadows, re-emerging in terry cloth shorts and a crimson tee to match my team. They don¡¯t look particularly happy to have me joining them. One of them, a friend of Gloss¡¯s I think, wrinkles her nose as she looks at me. The other side of the court doesn¡¯t look any friendlier. It appears we¡¯re going up against Hail along with the player ranked number four today. The chilly, elegant man watches the teams coming together with an air of bored assurance, but Number Four prowls across the polished floor, flexing his bulging muscles. ¡°We¡¯re going to destroy all of you!¡± The being standing next to Hail looks up from her examination of her fingernails and shoots the fae man a sideways glance. ¡°The newbie won¡¯t be any trouble, that¡¯s for sure.¡± Hail simply smiles a cold, sharp smile that sends a shiver through me. He¡¯s too far away for me to pick up on any of his emotions, but he doesn¡¯t look as if he minds the idea of a little destruction. Coach Brandish claps her hands. ¡°All right, we need one more for each team. Let¡¯s see, Verve, it¡¯s been a while since I saw you push yourself¡ªyou go over to the blue team. And for red¡ª¡± A tall form that¡¯s all sinewy muscle leaps to his feet partway up the bleachers, his voice coming out in a familiar growl. ¡°I¡¯ll play.¡± The chatter around him falls silent other than a couple of gasps. Even the coach looks taken aback. My antisocial roommate scowls, tension rippling through his sculpted limbs. His buffed-bronze hair drifts forward to shadow his dark eyes. Coach Brandish finds her voice. ¡°You do have an exemption, Raze. Playing isn¡¯t necessary for your evaluation.¡± The huge being¡¯s gaze flicks over the court. Does it stop on me just for an instant? You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Does he think he needs to demonstrate how fearsome he is so I¡¯ll finally let him have the room back to himself again? ¡°I¡¯m in the mood for a little competition,¡± he mutters. ¡°I¡¯ll play fair¡­ and everyone else had better do that too.¡± His next glower is aimed very pointedly at the blue side of the court. Hail scoops up the spongy white ball we¡¯ll be playing with and casually spins it on his finger as if it¡¯s part of his body. ¡°We don¡¯t need to break rules to win.¡± A brief whoop rises up in appreciation of his comment, but for the most part our audience remains unnervingly quiet. My skin prickles. What do they think Raze is going to do? Coach Brandish appears to trust him at least enough to give him a chance. She motions for him to join us on the court. His ropey limbs flicker briefly as he swaps the black Henley he was wearing for a bright red tee. The coach holds out her hands, and Hail tosses her the ball with an effortless throw. Cradling it in one arm, she raises her whistle to her lips. ¡°First side to twenty-five points or whoever¡¯s ahead at the bell wins. We start now.¡± She blows the whistle and launches the ball into the air in the middle of the court. Immediately, there¡¯s so much movement around me that it dizzies me. Three of the panels behind the blue team¡¯s hoops flare white. My teammates surge forward to snatch at the ball. The blue team rushes in too, with a gleaming shard of ice materializing in the air and knocking the sphere straight into Hail¡¯s waiting hands. The fae man grins and springs across the court, gliding most of the distance on more ice he¡¯s conjured beneath his feet. As the red team converges on him, he whips the ball over our heads to Number Four, who¡¯s charged over at the other side. Three of our nets have lit up too. The beefy shadowkind hurls the ball toward the one at the top of the column with a warble of supernatural force. The net swishes with the goal. A digital scoreboard next to the list of top players gleams to life. Apparently that basket earned the blue team three points. Frustration wafts off my teammates with pickley sourness. ¡°Don¡¯t let them run right by you,¡± one of them snaps at me. ¡°Can you do anything useful?¡± I suppress a wince, and the ball is in the air again. This time, Gloss¡¯s friend manages to snatch it out of the air with a thrum of energy. She darts toward the far end of the court, and I pelt after her in case I can assist. Number Four barges into her way, and I leap into his. But the jump sends a jab of pain through my ankles. I stumble and end up sprawled on my belly. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be so hard to keep track of your feet when you¡¯re that close to the ground,¡± someone taunts. I shove myself upright to sneers aimed my way¡ªand Hail¡¯s icy stare for the instant before he¡¯s swiveling back toward the ball. Gloss¡¯s friend passed it to one of our other teammates, but Hail closes in on her, sending out a blast of wind to snatch at the ball. The chill ripples over me even where I¡¯m hustling behind them. The woman squeaks and flings the ball toward the nearest red shirt, which happens to be on Raze. My massive roommate grabs it, the white sphere tiny in his sinewy hands, and launches it at one of the glowing nets. Which stops glowing a splitsecond before the ball smacks into it. Gloss¡¯s friend mutters a curse under her breath and shoulders past me with a purposeful bump. ¡°Maybe you should just stay on the floor.¡± A low snarl carries from Raze¡¯s direction, with a sizzle of jalepeno-hot anger. It didn¡¯t sound like my roommate was that avid a player, but he must be pissed off at my performance too. The game goes back and forth several more times, with four more goals for the blue team and only two for ours. They¡¯re up to twenty points, and I¡¯m panting and sweating through my T-shirt, thinking I¡¯d rather play with the hunter kind of nets than keep up all this dashing back and forth. My feet are throbbing with stings of pain that resonate up through my calves. Just this one game. Next time I can sit on the benches with Fen, who¡¯s cheering my name every time I manage to race from one end of the court to the other without tripping over my own feet. The smallest member of the blue team snags the ball. He bounds across the wooden floor with far longer strides than his slim frame should be capable of, propelled by his supernatural talents. I scamper after him, but of course Raze gets there first. He shoves in front of the other player just as the smaller guy springs higher into the air. The airy man was already hurling the ball toward one of the nets with a crackle of power. Electricity sparks all around the white sphere and smacks into Raze¡¯s face. My roommate staggers sideways with a howl of pain that¡¯s echoed by a surge of searing emotion only I can feel. A gasp of sympathy jolts from my throat. The ball bounces off the rim of the net. The guy who threw it¡ªand, strangely, all the other nearby players¡ªscramble backward, away from both the ball and our injured classmate. I¡¯d wonder what¡¯s wrong with them, but I¡¯m already well aware that compassion doesn¡¯t come naturally to most of these shadowkind. I hurry over to Raze¡¯s side. ¡°Are you all right? Do you need someone with healing powers?¡± The looming man is still clutching his face, shadowy essence leaking from splits in his flesh. He blinks, and just for an instant behind his splayed fingers, I catch a glimpse of eyes that aren¡¯t the green I saw before but pure, depthless black. He jerks his head away. ¡°Leave me alone!¡± With a tremble of the air, he vanishes into the shadows. My hands drop to my sides. I look around, wondering if Coach Brandish will intervene¡ªeither to get him help or chide him for shedding his physical form¡ªand realize everyone is staring at me. Both the other players and our audience on the bleachers. They all look vaguely stricken, as if I¡¯ve done something horrifying like puke up worms on their shoes or sprouting pus-seeping boils. I check my arms just to make sure there aren¡¯t any seeping boils there that I somehow didn¡¯t notice, and Coach Brandish finally hustles into the middle of the court. ¡°All right, it¡¯s almost time for the bell. Let¡¯s call the game now. Zing, I¡¯m docking two points for that foul.¡± My gaze slides back to the spot where Raze disappeared. I can¡¯t sense him nearby anymore. It¡¯ll be easier for him to heal in the shadows. But doesn¡¯t anyone care that he was wounded? Chapter 11

Periwinkle Shanty sighs and leans back in her chair. She¡¯s keeping her expression neutral, but frustration emanates from her like cheddar sharp enough to bite. ¡°We won¡¯t be able to work on getting your powers under control if you can¡¯t bring them out to practice,¡± she points out, reasonably enough. I offer an apologetic smile and look around the small room the siren brought me to for our second one-on-one session. There¡¯s nothing between the beige walls except a few chairs and a narrow desk, which my tutor and I are sitting on opposite sides of. Apparently the walls contain some kind of shielding against shadowkind power¡ªif I have an outburst, it shouldn¡¯t blast the rest of the school. I don¡¯t need to be worried. But even thinking about provoking the kinds of emotions that¡¯ve made me blaze with light or darkness in the past makes my body tense up. I have so many awful associations with those moments. So many echoes of the pain I¡¯ve caused. The truth is, I¡¯m not sure how to purposefully bring out even the smaller effects of my outward powers. Remembering times when I felt happy or upset doesn¡¯t stir up my inner state the way experiencing the cause in the moment did. Shanty points me toward the mirror hanging on one of the side walls. ¡°Take yourself back to the classroom when you saw the hunter¡¯s net. That¡¯s what¡¯s had the biggest emotional effect on you since you arrived here. Watch yourself for any visible reaction, and if you start to see one, focus on whatever sparked it until you¡¯ve got a steady glow going.¡± I nod and push to my feet. My reflection stares back at me, uncertain but determined. My hair is its typical vibrant but not luminous turquoise. Watching the blue-green strands for any trace of a glow, I picture the shiny net that Gnash displayed to our class. Dredge up the taunting comments my classmates made, the stings of pain that lingered in my feet. Something deep inside me balks, but I ignore the resistance. I imagine those silver-and-iron strands smacking around me, burning my skin and pinning my limbs¡ª A faint flicker travels over my head: a yellowish glimmer of fear. My pulse thumps with a jolt of triumph. And my pleased response to my success squashes any terror I managed to tap into. The glow blinks away as if it was never there. When I glance over at Shanty, I can¡¯t tell if she even noticed it. She¡¯s still studying me with a slight frown, twisting a strand of her dark blue hair around her finger. I take a deep breath. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m really trying. It just doesn¡¯t seem to work well with only memories. I don¡¯t think it ever has in the past either.¡± The siren hums to herself. ¡°All right. Our time is almost up, but we can try incorporating some immediate stimuli for you to respond to in the moment next time. Maybe videos of frightening things, or I can find ways of startling you. Is there anything you find particularly disturbing that I could work in?¡± I guess it¡¯s easier to unsettle someone than to delight them. My mind trips back to the sitcom theme song that pushed me over the edge the other day, and all my innards seem to clench up. No. That would be too much, too dangerous, and also too bizarre. How could I explain why it bothers me without getting into my whole horrible history? If the school administrators knew what I did and how much harm I caused before I came here, they¡¯d banish me for sure. I shrug, trying to sound helpful. ¡°Just the usual things? Scary creatures, people getting hurt¡­¡± The one who caged me before used to hurt me to shock those emotions out of me¡­ I don¡¯t want to go back to that kind of scenario either. Shanty motions toward the door. ¡°You can go. I¡¯ll give it some thought, and we¡¯ll see if we can make some more progress tomorrow.¡± So much to look forward to. But if it means I have better control in the end, it¡¯ll be worth it. I keep that optimistic thought in mind as I open the door, only for my heart to skip a beat when I see Jonah standing in the hall outside. My startled reaction must show on my face, because the sorcerer immediately steps back with a bashful dip of his head. ¡°Sorry. I was just coming by¡ªI wondered how your sessions with Shanty have been going¡ªI didn¡¯t mean to interrupt anything.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all right,¡± the siren calls from behind me. ¡°Periwinkle was just leaving.¡± I let the door drift closed behind me, resisting the urge to hug myself. Why is Jonah keeping an eye on me? He defended me during the meeting¡ªis he worried he made the wrong decision in arguing that I should stay? The words tumble out of me in my nervousness. ¡°It¡¯s only been a couple of sessions. I haven¡¯t made much progress yet. But we¡¯re going to try some new approaches next time.¡± Jonah holds up his hands, offering a small, crooked smile as if in apology. ¡°You don¡¯t need to justify anything to me. I know it can take a while to get a handle on supernatural powers.¡± I cock my head. ¡°Why were you worrying about how I¡¯m doing, then?¡± Jonah rakes his hand through his thick black hair, looking twice as awkward as before. I find myself wanting him to smile properly¡ªwide and relaxed, so it shines through his whole face. He would look even more handsome like that. Okay, I probably shouldn''t be thinking of the teachers here, let alone the ruling staff, let alone a sorcerer that way. But it''s true. "I wasn''t worried," he says. "Not that you were making trouble or anything. It was more that I wanted to be sure you''re okay." I blink at him. "Why wouldn''t I be?" I got to stay here at the school, to keep trying... What else could I have asked for? Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Jonah appears to grapple with his words for a moment before he answers. "You aren''t like most of the students I have to compel here, Peri. It seems obvious that you''d have come to the school of your own accord if you''d known it was an option. You''re always trying to help everyone you can... I know it must have felt awful when I pushed my sorcery on you. I''m sorry about that. I wish I never needed to use it at all." "Oh." Anything else I might have said snags in my throat. His guilt over the situation and his concern about me waft off him like an over-salted stew, not totally palatable but oddly hearty at the same time. It never occurred to me that a sorcerer might regret using their powers. That any of them would care how their talent affected the shadowkind they manipulated. But then, Jonah''s not at all like the other sorcerer I''ve actually known. He''s done everything he can to help me too. That knowledge propels my voice from my throat. "Thank you¡ªfor speaking up for me. For saying that I should stay. I do appreciate it a lot. I''m sure everything will go much better once I¡¯m totally used to this place." Jonah''s shoulders come down, and a relaxed smile almost like I imagined touches his lips. He really is enjoyable to look at. "I''m sure it will too. I know some of the other students can be harsh, but¡ªwell, just stick with the ones you can make friends with like Fen and don''t let the others get under your skin." I nod emphatically. "I''m not. They''re just... scared, and angry, about a lot of things that mostly have nothing to do with me." His smile softens. "I''d bet that''s true about an awful lot of people. Peri¡ªabout the net and whatever you experienced with the hunters¡ª" My stance stiffens automatically, which Jonah must notice. He cuts himself off and shakes his head. "I don''t want to bring back bad memories. But it sounds like you have a lot of those. If you need to talk to someone¡ªI grew up with beings who''d been through a bunch of trauma at the hands of humans. Sometimes they come by the school. I could arrange a visit sooner." My mind has stuck on one of the first things he mentioned. "You grew up with shadowkind?" A short laugh escapes him. "It''s not obvious? Yeah, I was basically raised by a few of them who had a little family together. My birth parents¡ªwell, I lost them when I was really little. The beings who ended up adopting me wanted to make sure I didn''t grow up seeing the shadowkind the same way most sorcerers do. You could say it worked out." It must have. My impressions of him re-order themselves to fit this new information, and suddenly it''s hard to find anything about him frightening at all. He only used his magic on me to bring me a place where I could get help. He''s never hurt me. He obviously doesn''t want to. A smile of my own curves my lips, brighter than anything I managed with Shanty. "I think so. I guess... I could talk to you too, couldn¡¯t I? If I thought I needed to. Since you know a lot about shadowkind who¡¯ve been through¡­ difficult situations. And you¡¯re right here.¡± Jonah pauses for long enough that I start to think I¡¯ve said something wrong. Then he beams back at me with a wash of happiness that¡¯s all plum-sweet. ¡°I am. And that would be totally okay, if you feel comfortable with it. I¡¯d always be happy to talk.¡± A tingle sweeps through my body that has nothing to do with any emotions I¡¯m picking up from him. I¡¯m not sure what to make of it, but I¡¯m abruptly self-conscious that my hair is going to start glowing in some embarrassing color. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s something about my reaction or nothing to do with me at all, but a hint of deeper color touches Jonah¡¯s cheeks. I catch a whiff of something even sweeter and richer before he steps back. ¡°Anyway, I should let you get to your other classes. I¡¯ll see you later, Peri.¡± I watch him stride off with a strange feeling bubbling in my chest. Is there something wrong with me that I wish I could see more of him right now? Just sit with him and ask all about how he grew up, what his powers mean to him, everything? Maybe not. Maybe that would be okay. Another time. When I¡¯m more sure of my own emotional control. I head back toward my dorm with a spring in my step that wasn¡¯t there before. As I turn the corner of the hall, a trio of beings who were chatting with each other outside a classroom stop and look in my direction. If we¡¯ve had classes together, I don¡¯t recognize any of them well enough to remember their names, but one of the women nudges her friends with her elbow. ¡°Look, it¡¯s that know-it-all newbie.¡± The other two women giggle, one with a hiss of her overlong tongue. ¡°Got any tips for us, smartie pants?¡± I let their mocking tone slide off me, thinking about what I said to Jonah. They don¡¯t really know me. It¡¯s not me they¡¯re actually put off by. ¡°I¡¯m not trying to bother anyone,¡± I tell them. ¡°I¡¯m sorry if I upset you.¡± Even my apology sets off a flare of irritation in the women. The first one sneers at me. ¡°We¡¯re not upset. We just think a piece of fluff like you should figure out your place before you start spouting off at the rest of us.¡± The second woman giggles again. ¡°She is a fluff ball. I saw her in self-defence class shaking like a dandelion in a breeze.¡± The third chimes in. ¡°Telling us not to be scared of the assholes out there when she¡¯s terrified of all of us.¡± My stomach twists. ¡°I¡¯m not afraid of you.¡± ¡°No?¡± the first woman says. Before the sound has finished leaving her lips, the second woman lunges forward. Her face transforms into a grotesque visage, all wrinkled purple-black skin, searing scarlet eyes, and vicious fangs she snaps inches from my face. With a shocked squeak, I stumble backward. The demon reverts back to her humanesque form a moment later, she and her friends bursting into laughter. The third points at my hair. ¡°She¡¯s freaked out now. Like a living mood ring.¡± A prickle runs through my scalp. It¡¯s glowing. All thought of my harassers flees my mind. I spin on my heel and dash back to the room where I had my control training session. ¡°Shanty!¡± I say breathlessly as I burst into the room, but the chair behind the desk is empty. She¡¯s already gone. Disappointment shudders through me, and then my gaze latches on to the mirror. I hustle over just in time to see the yellowish sheen dwindling in my hair. Can I make it brighter again? I close my eyes and recall the jolt of panic when the demonic woman sprang at me, but when I look again, the glow has faded completely away. I peer at my reflection for several more beats of my heart, resolve building inside me. This time it didn¡¯t work, but it was a start. It doesn¡¯t matter what the other students think of me. If people hassle me or embarrass me, that¡¯s a chance to practice. I just have to keep turning my problems into something good. Chapter 12

Mirage As I prance nimbly along the back of the wooden bench, my claws dig into the wood to steady my shrunken body. The sleek, furred form that¡¯s my more natural state in the mortal realm moves through the world so much more swiftly than my larger, human-like presence. I can leap and whirl and pounce in an instant. I spring down onto the patio stones of the school building¡¯s inner courtyard, spin around just for the sake of feeling the air ripple over my thick fur¡ªand prick my ears at the sound of a cleared throat I can already tell is aimed at me. A voice confirms my suspicion a moment later. ¡°Mirage, you know students are supposed to maintain an appropriate mortal appearance as much as possible for practice.¡± I snort as much as my snout allows and shift into human-ish form so I can answer. Toni is facing me, her arms crossed over her chest and her foot tapping against the ground¡ªa typical pose for the school administrator who hassles me the most. She¡¯s tall for a human woman, putting her almost perfectly eye to eye with my average male height. I cock my head and grin wide enough to show my fangs that linger even in this body. ¡°Foxes are mortal creatures.¡± Up goes her eyebrow. ¡°Not with five tails, they aren¡¯t.¡± I spread my hands in a gesture of innocence. ¡°I can¡¯t help it if my animal form comes with extraordinary features.¡± ¡°You can help whether you take it on.¡± She frowns at me. ¡°Your teachers have reported that you¡¯re still making partial shifts at random times. You know that isn¡¯t acceptable either. Do you not want to make your education here work?¡± Do I want to be banished to the mindless dull of the shadow realm instead, she means. I give my head a vigorous shake. ¡°I¡¯ll do better. All foxiness will stay inside. Scout¡¯s honor and never a bother!¡± I give her an enthusiastic salute, but her frown doesn¡¯t budge. ¡°You¡¯re getting low on chances, Mirage. If it really matters to you, you¡¯ll follow the rules.¡± Rules are the dullest thing of all, I think but don¡¯t say. I¡¯m meant to challenge them, to break people out of their drudgery, invigorate their lives. But I suppose I can do more of that without indulging in my fox self, as much as I enjoy it. After Toni has stalked off, I try out a few spins on two legs rather than four. This body is decently spry too, after all. I flip over the bench with a grasp of its top, whip around while balancing on one hand, and slink over behind another bench where two beings are deep in conversation. They look much too serious. I can help with that. A smile crosses my lips. I crouch low behind the bench, gathering myself. Then I bound up over the back, right between the two of them, tumbling into a somersault on the other side. The two beings jerk apart with a yelp. I give them a wave, and they break into a burst of laughter. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s just Mirage.¡± Pleased, I saunter on through the courtyard. At the far end, two other shadowkind are perched across from each other at one of the small tables. A gameboard sits between them, black and white pieces like little figures marching across the pattern of squares. They¡¯re focused so intently on it they don¡¯t even notice that I¡¯ve strolled nearby. A glimmer of mischievous inspiration passes through me. I wiggle my fingers at my side. The board seems to stretch and curve as if it¡¯s forming a mountain in the middle. The players freeze, gaping at their morphing toy. With another wiggle, I make the wooden surface appear to undulate like waves. Then I splay my fingers apart, compelling the space between the beings and the table to expand as if they¡¯re being pushed away from it. ¡°What the fuck?¡± one of them shouts. The other¡¯s jaw looks like it¡¯s about to fall right off. Suppressing a chuckle, I close my hand, dismissing my magic. All at once, the gameboard looks like a regular board again, exactly where it should be. As the players start to peer around them, probably wondering who was responsible for the prank, I turn my back and pretend to be fascinated by the flowers sprouting along the edge of the patio stones. A soft but bright voice speaks from just a couple of feet away. ¡°Why do you do things like that?¡± My head snaps up, a grin springing into place automatically. The shadowkind woman with the turquoise hair that sometimes glows is peering at me, her head tilted the side as if she¡¯s curious rather than annoyed. She has a pretty face. An intriguing body with lots of slopes and valleys to explore. A tingling in my own body tells me there are certain special games it might be enjoyable to play with her. ¡°Do what things?¡± I ask, even though I can guess what she means. It¡¯s more entertaining to make people explain themselves. She motions toward the table. ¡°Surprising people. Startling them. You seem to do that a lot, but kind of randomly. I just wondered.¡± A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. I let my grin widen. ¡°It¡¯s fun. Gotta get all we can before we¡¯re shoved in a van!¡± Human language allows almost as much play as human bodies. The way words bounce together when they sound similar always gives me a quiver of giddiness. I have the urge to pop my fox ears out to add to the amusement¡ªand see if I can startle this being¡ªbut I haven¡¯t totally forgotten Toni¡¯s warning. She might be watching me closely right now after she just talked to me. Maybe I can get away with that tomorrow. The new shadowkind woman is watching me closely too. Her own smile has tightened a little around the edges. Almost as if she¡¯s getting sad. ¡°You don¡¯t seem like you¡¯re totally having fun,¡± she says. ¡°There¡¯s something else¡­ Did someone hurt you? Do you need help?¡± It¡¯s my turn to freeze in shock, my heart lurching. What does she mean¡ªhow could she¡ª? Oh. She shows emotions, and she must pick up on them too. The way she¡¯s talked to our classmates¡ªyes, I should have seen it. What does she think she¡¯s seeing in me? For a second, it''s as if I can feel her peering under my skin, into a jumble of images that rise up at her attention. Stark lights and gleaming bars, burning metal, squeals and whimpers¡ª I cast off the fragments with a twitch of my limbs and a buoyant laugh. I am having fun. As long as I keep moving, nothing can catch up with me. Why is she trying to trip me up, get me stuck? I lift a shoulder in a partial shrug, my voice turning sharper than I intended. "I''m thinking you should keep busy minding your own business. Sorry if you don''t like a little play when it could make your day." Her pretty face falls in a way that sends a twinge of regret through me¡ªanother emotion I don''t want gnawing at me. "I didn''t mean I don''t like it,¡± she says. ¡°You''re really good at brightening up class. I was just¡ª" I turn on my heel and amble away from her as if I can''t even hear her speaking, adding a brief swish of a tail for good measure before I whisk it out of sight again. Guilt pricks at me, but I already told her to back off. I can¡¯t change that now. It isn''t as if I owe her anything. I meander around the courtyard again, flashing grins and showing little peeks at my ears through my hair when I think I can get away with it. The smiles and giggles I get in return should erase any uneasiness, but restlessness winds through my chest, propelling me onward, farther, faster. That''s all right. I know where to go when I''m feeling that way¡ªand it''ll also take me away from the shadowkind being who prodded me more than I liked. I leave the courtyard and lope through the halls to the gym. This late in the afternoon, no classes are using it, but it''s too early for the recreational morphball games my classmates sometimes set up. Perfect. With a little shake, I transform my jeans and loose collared shirt into a tee and running shorts. Then I launch myself along the track formed by the lines painted on the varnished floor. You wouldn''t think it''d be all that satisfying, running in literal circles around a big room. Before I came to the Academy, sometimes I''d work out this energy by racing through the streets of whatever city or town I¡¯d found myself in, dodging mortals who''d flinch out of the way. But the combination of exertion and predictability is strangely satisfying. I can slow down or¡ªmore often¡ªpush myself faster, and nothing will stand in my way. For several minutes, I simply circle around the track, each iteration a little faster, a little more burn in my legs. The sensation will disappear as soon as I slip into the shadows next, but it''s exhilarating while it lasts. On my next circuit, another student pokes his head into the room. He looks so big and dopey that I chuckle to myself. He walks over to examine the large metal crate that holds the sports balls, the rubbery spheres visible between the interlocking slats. A picture sparks in my mind, bringing a sly smile to my lips. As I come around the next bend, I curl my fingers¡ªand stretch the latch holding the crate closed so it pops free. The front of the crate swings open, balls tumbling out over the unsuspecting shadowkind. They bonk him in the head and chest and roll around his feet. I expect him to simply sway and then laugh like I''ve just started to. But apparently he''s not all that steady in his human body. He staggers to one side and then the other amid the bouncing balls before tripping right over. He falls backward with a smack of his head against the floor and an accompanying cry of pain. Coach Brandish materializes out of the shadows with a fierce look on her face. "Mirage! Why would you attack Cliff?" I hesitate as she rushes over to help him to his feet. "I didn''t mean to hurt him. It was just a little trick." "A trick that did hurt him." She lets out a huff, glancing back over her shoulder at me. "I''m getting tired of your pranks. This is going to be reported to the administration, and they won''t be happy about it." Her threatening tone raises my hackles. I shed the discomfort with a chiding click of my tongue. "Our great leaders shouldn''t be hating." Her expression only hardens. She points toward the doorway. ¡°Go to your dorm bedroom. Now.¡± When I waver, she takes a step toward me, an eerie sheen lighting in her eyes. ¡°I said go. You can take yourself there or I¡¯ll have Jonah compel you.¡± A shiver ripples down my spine at the memory of the sorcerer¡¯s magic acting on me in the past. With a hasty nod, I duck into the hall. At least I can get a little more of a run in. I jog toward my dorm, seeing if I can outpace the sinking sensation in my gut. Chapter 13

Periwinkle As we leave our Mortal Culture class, Fen gives a little shudder. ¡°I don¡¯t know how humans can listen to music like that and enjoy it. It gives me a headache.¡± I laugh, a little of the rhythm still resonating through my bones. ¡°It did have a good beat. I guess you¡¯re not much of a dancer?¡± She giggles in return. ¡°That¡¯s fair to say.¡± ¡°Maybe you just haven¡¯t found the right music yet. There¡¯s lots that¡¯s more floaty and less thumpy.¡± Fen makes a skeptical sound. ¡°We¡¯ll see. I¡¯ll be happy if I can master walking without ending up dripping.¡± At the junction of the halls, I swerve toward the cafeteria, but my friend touches my arm to halt me. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡ªI almost forgot. I¡¯ve got to go over to the voluntary student building for a meeting with my study buddy.¡± I blink at her. ¡°Study buddy?¡± Her smile turns sheepish. ¡°That¡¯s just what the teachers like to call it. After you¡¯ve been at the school a little while and they¡¯ve gotten to know your strengths and weaknesses, they¡¯ll pair you with another being who¡¯s farther along in their studies as a sort of mentorship thing. You¡¯ll probably get assigned one in a few weeks.¡± The thought perks me up. I haven¡¯t really hit it off with anyone except Fen since I arrived at the Academy. It¡¯d be nice to have at least one other shadowkind I could turn to, especially one who¡¯s been through more of the rehabilitation process already. I lean in to give her a quick hug. ¡°That¡¯s all right. Have fun!¡± Fen brightens so much at the friendly gesture that I walk the rest of the way to the cafeteria feeling as if I¡¯ve just earned top marks. I¡¯m glad I can say there¡¯s someone at the school I¡¯ve brought a little happiness to. I just have to keep working on how to spread that happiness farther. It¡¯s hard when most of the students seem to interpret every gesture in the most negative possible way, but I¡¯ll figure it out. I enter the cafeteria buoyed by my upbeat resolve and stall in my tracks just inside the door. The large room is decked out in much fancier trappings than I¡¯ve seen before. Stark white tablecloths with a silky sheen cover the round tables, laid with crystal wine glasses and equally silky napkins folded into the shape of flowers. Subdued instrumental music flows through the space. As I watch, a being dressed in a formal black suit brings a plate to one of the already seated students. This is obviously one of the types of human meals the teachers want us to practice. But I have no idea what the rules are for anything this elaborate¡ªand it feels like there must be a lot of rules. At a huff and a waft of sour exasperation from behind me, I turn my head. One of my dormmates, a slim female shadowkind who¡¯s among Gloss¡¯s friends, glides over and catches my elbow. ¡°You don¡¯t have a clue, do you? Come on, you¡¯d better stick with me or we¡¯ll all be humiliated by association.¡± My skin prickles at the insult, but it sounds like she¡¯s actually going to give me a little guidance. I follow her to her table, where a few other woman including Gloss are already sitting. Seeing Gloss, my legs balk. But her friend is dipping her head in answer to the elegant shadowkind¡¯s piercing glance. ¡°I thought we could make sure she isn¡¯t too much of an embarrassment.¡± I¡¯m not sure what to make of the emphasis she puts on that last word. Is she really that concerned that the teachers will think badly of my dormmates if I mess up? Only faint emotions emanate off her, but what¡¯s I catch is crisp and sharp-edged like cheddar crisps. A small smile curves Gloss¡¯s lips, and she nods her head in acceptance. ¡°Good thinking, Fleet.¡± As I seat myself, her cool gaze lingers on me as if she¡¯s already finding me wanting. The only emotion I taste from her is the faintest whiff of resigned satisfaction, like champagne on the verge of going flat. ¡°I certainly didn¡¯t come here to watch shadowkind act like boars,¡± she says evenly. ¡°I assume you¡¯ve never eaten at an upscale restaurant before?¡± I shake my head, wondering if I¡¯m increasing her general irritation with me by staying. But who else in the cafeteria would care about me sitting there cluelessly? At least she and her friends seem willing to advise me, even if it¡¯s out of distaste. Gloss rests her slender hand against her pointed chin as if contemplating the situation. ¡°First, of course, you¡¯ll need to order. It¡¯s important that you catch the waiter¡¯s attention with the right utensil. Pick up the larger fork and wave it high in the air in a circular motion.¡± Gamely, I select the larger of the two forks at my place setting¡ªwhy would we need both?¡ªand swivel it in the air over my head. Gloss¡¯s instructions appear to work, because another being in a suit trots over with a twitch of his face before I¡¯ve made more than a few rotations. He draws himself up stiffly. ¡°Would you like the filet mignon or the linguine al limon, madam?¡± I don¡¯t know what either of those things taste like. In my momentary hesitation, another of Gloss¡¯s friends jumps in. ¡°You should get the linguine. The rest of us will have the filet mignon, but it¡¯d be too much for you to handle, I think.¡± The other women around the table nod, so I do too, with a smile at the being playing waiter. As he hurries off, Fleet motions to the bottle of wine that most of the others have poured from. ¡°Are you going to have something to drink? You need to stand up and bow to your glass before you pour, or it¡¯ll look like you don¡¯t appreciate the fine foods we¡¯ve been provided with.¡± I¡¯ve never liked the bitter tang of alcohol before, but it seems as if sampling it is an important part of the customs. I stand and dip low over my glass before I fill it halfway. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Giggles carry from a couple of the nearby tables. It sounds as if people can still have fun despite all the strict rules. Hopefully the food will taste good. ¡°Oh!¡± another of the women pipes up. ¡°We forgot to tell her how to handle the napkin. You need to pull it carefully all over your hair to show that you haven¡¯t brought anything unsavory on you to the table before you set it on your lap.¡± Humans seem to spend a lot of time worrying about what¡¯s on top of their heads. I run the soft cloth over the top of my hair and along the teal waves that course down my back and shoulders. Just as I¡¯m spreading the square of fabric on my lap, three waiters arrive with two plates each. They set them in front of each of us¡ªmine a heap of long, flat noodles with in a pale sauce flecked with shreds of cheese, the others with thick rounds of meat and a cluster of glazed vegetables. The woman who suggested my order flicks her fork toward my plate. ¡°The linguine is simple. You raise one end of a noodle to your mouth and suck the rest in as quickly as possible. The louder you are about it, the more it shows you¡¯re enjoying the food. We have to fiddle around with knives and try to carve our steaks properly.¡± She shakes her head as if this will be a tricky process. My dish certainly sounds easier. I poke at the noodles with my fork to find an end, spear it, and raise it to my lips. With a deep slurp, I suction it into my mouth. It tastes delicious, a little sour but also creamy. As I chew, a vibe of merriment colors the air, more fruit punch than wine. Gloss and her friends grin at each other as they pop delicate morsels of meat into their mouths. I offer a smile of my own and snag a second noodle. I¡¯ve just finished sucking it between my lips when a full-bodied laugh breaks out at the table next to ours. I glance over, curious to find out what the joke might be¡­ and realize all the beings sitting there are watching me, some of them chuckling, others covering their mouths as if horrified. As I stare back at them, bewildered, more guffaws break out all across the cafeteria. Shadowkind at seats all around us are pointing my way and vibrating with hilarity they can¡¯t suppress. My lips part in shock, and giggles burst out of Fleet. She claps her hand over her mouth, but when my head whips around, all the other women except Gloss appear to be fighting similar bouts of amusement. Gloss merely arches her eyebrows at me with the same cool little smile she gave me when I first arrived at the table. ¡°Thank you so much for that fantastic demonstration of ridiculousness.¡± Embarrassment scorches my cheeks. A renewed wave of snickers tells me my hair must have light up with the emotion, but I¡¯m already too ashamed to care. Ashamed and hurt. I thought¡ªthey acted like they were going to help me, however begrudgingly. They tricked me, used their knowledge against me. Just like¡ª A flare of a queasier emotion brings me to my feet. I shove away from the table and power-walk to the cafeteria door. It doesn¡¯t matter if I¡¯m messing up my fine dining practice even more. I need to get away from the taunts and hostility faster this time and simmer down before I come to a boil. A louder barrage of laughter chases me out the door, but I ignore it. My feet fly all the way down the hall, around one bend and then another. I breathe in and out as steadily as I can with alongside the rhythm of my steps. If I can just get to my bedroom¡­ There definitely won¡¯t be anything that¡¯ll stir up more emotions in there. Even after I tried to help him on the morphball court yesterday, my roommate has stuck to pretending I¡¯m not around unless I force the issue. To my relief, the dorm¡¯s common hallway is empty. Of course. Everyone else is still at lunch. I should be completely alone. With a quiver of hope, I shove open the door to my bedroom¡ªand freeze. The sight and smells smack into me simultaneously. Brownish-red smears slash across the walls, the covers on the beds. The air stinks like rotting meat. Lumps of something that looks unnervingly meaty lie strewn across the floor. A few deep gouges rake across both of the mattresses, ripping through the blankets amid the carnage. The little bit of lunch I ate lurches up my throat. I clamp my mouth shut against a groan and scramble backward. My shoulders slam into the door that swung shut in my stupor. The image blurs, flashes of memory assaulting me. Torn limbs. Spurting blood. Splintered wood. Shredded fabric. The shrieks and the groans, and the pain¡ªoh, the pain, lancing through me again and again with every wound¡ª With a force so intense the air ripples, Raze snaps out of the shadows. My body tenses instinctively, but before the question of whether he had anything to do with this has time to fully form in my mind, his shocked expression knocks it out of me. He jerks toward me, his lips drawing back from his gleaming teeth. ¡°What¡¯s this supposed to be? Why would you do it?¡± His tone is so accusing that I flinch. I open my mouth to protest that I didn¡¯t, it¡¯s nothing to do with me, but all that comes out is a whimper. I didn¡¯t do this, but I did other things. So many other things. Oh, no. I¡¯m never going to fix them all. As the wave of hopeless guilt sweeps over me, Raze snarls and lunges back into the shadows. I grope toward the bed, but there¡¯s no security in those savaged, stained sheets. It¡¯s coming back. It¡¯s going to happen again, even though I got away. This is what I do. I jack-knife over with a cry, and the horror blasts out of me. Searing darkness. Vicious misery. Figures crumple and voices squeal, and all I can do is clutch my knees against the sensation of losing all grip on myself. Clutch my knees and count. One, two, three, four, five, six¡­ And on. And on. So many more hurts added to the tally in my head. Chapter 14

Periwinkle I don¡¯t resent the cage-like room. If anything, I¡¯m grateful for it. As long as I¡¯m in here, alone and pinned by the piercing lights that reflect off the shiny surfaces surrounding me, I can¡¯t harm anyone. Now and then, the instinctive impulse grips me to put a positive spin on what¡¯s happened. To come up with cheerful words of reassurance that everything will work out in the end. But the words don¡¯t come to me. The Academy¡¯s administration already forgave me once, and I screwed up even worse just a couple of days later. Maybe I¡¯m not safe for the human world, no matter what I do. Maybe I came into existence with powers too erratic to be controlled, or maybe my time¡­ before I came here broke something that can¡¯t be fixed. I¡¯m not sure how long I¡¯ve waited before a voice crackles from a speaker mounted somewhere I can¡¯t see. The intoned syllables carry a current of sorcery that winds through my being. Follow me to the meeting room. Don¡¯t make any moves except walking where I lead. As the commands take hold, a door opens in front of me. A hand beckons. Squinting against the stinging light, I hurry toward the gentler glow outside. It¡¯s only after I step into the hall that I recognize Jonah as my escort, though I probably should have guessed that from the magical orders. He motions for me to follow him down the narrow, pale gray corridor, his expression tight. I keep pace, my stomach knotting at the thought that he¡¯s angry with me. But just before he pushes open the door at the end of the hall, he glances over at me. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about this. It¡¯s a mandatory safety precaution. I know you wouldn¡¯t want to hurt anyone.¡± I swallow thickly, with a bittersweet pang of relief that someone believes that even if I haven¡¯t done a good job of following my principles. ¡°I understand.¡± We step out into the dwindling daylight of the late afternoon. The building where I was held is a squat tan cube set a little farther apart from the two much larger stucco buildings that hold the two divisions of the Academy side by side. After crossing the hard-packed earth, the dry desert air prickling in my nose, we go in through the back entrance of the sprawling reform building. It¡¯s only a short trek down that hallway to a familiar meeting room with its kidney-shaped table. The other five administrators are already poised behind the table, their faces as grim as Jonah¡¯s or worse. Even Pearl, who¡¯s generally seemed to look on the bright side, has furrows in her forehead and frown creases at the corners of her mouth. A vibe of disappointment and uneasiness wafts through the air from all around me, sour as curdled milk. Jonah leaves me in the center of the room to take his spot at the end of the table. All six pairs of eyes study me. Gnash speaks first, his voice a low growl. ¡°You were already on thin ice, and now this. You¡¯ve barely been at the Academy for a week, and you¡¯ve hurt several students.¡± I feel the need to defend myself a little. ¡°I¡¯ve been trying my best. There¡¯ve just¡­ been a lot of incidents that provoked emotions I didn¡¯t want to feel.¡± Jonah raps his hand against the tabletop. ¡°We have to take into account the behavior of the other students toward Peri. You all saw the state they left her room in. We¡¯ve heard what happened at lunch.¡± Toni shakes her head with a swish of her dark bob. ¡°Embarrassment and vandalism aren¡¯t the same as an outright physical attack. And the students Periwinkle hurt weren¡¯t even the ones who harassed her.¡± Shanty¡¯s mouth twists into a slanted line. ¡°And when you¡¯re out among humans, you need to be prepared to face situations that upset you just as badly. Mortals can be cruel and selfish. Lashing out puts all our survival in danger.¡± My head droops. ¡°I don¡¯t want to.¡± ¡°That¡¯s part of the problem,¡± Pearl says softly. ¡°Your powers are out of control¡ªour control and yours. If you¡¯re not getting a better grip on them even when you¡¯d really like to¡­ I¡¯m not sure what we can teach you.¡± I suspect the outcome of this meeting is already decided, but I can¡¯t help making a last-ditch attempt. ¡°I¡¯ll keep practicing¡ªmore one-on-one sessions¡ªI¡¯ll stay out there in the confinement building as long as you want so I can¡¯t hurt anyone.¡± Al speaks up in his flat tone. ¡°You can hardly practice if there¡¯s no one around to provoke you. How would we know that we wouldn¡¯t see the exact same result as soon as you returned to regular classes?¡± I don¡¯t know how to answer that. Gnash sweeps his broad hands across the table and stands up. The tiger shifter glowers at me for a moment before beginning. ¡°In light of all recent events and observations of your failures to control your powers, the only choice we can make for the security of the school and the shadowkind community in general is¡ª¡± The whoosh of the door opening cuts him off. A languidly commanding voice rings out from the doorway. ¡°You started without me.¡± I stare at the shadowkind man who strolls inside, but that must be okay, because all of the administrators are staring at him too. He isn¡¯t especially impressive to look at, with polished features that are handsome enough but a body that¡¯s not quite as tall or bulky as Gnash¡¯s. All the same, my skin quivers with the aura of power that emanates off him. Whatever kind of being he is, he¡¯s definitely not one I¡¯d want to tangle with. The new arrival has just reached the chair in the middle of the table when Shanty finds her voice. ¡°Rollick. I didn¡¯t realize you¡¯d decided to join us.¡± So this is the mysterious founder of the school Pearl mentioned to me, the one who must have wanted to give all shadowkind a chance to learn how to adapt to the mortal world. I peer at him more closely, as if his tawny hair and gleaming teeth will give me a clue about how he¡¯s going to handle my case. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. I can¡¯t catch any emotions trickling off him at all. Either he¡¯s very good at moderating his internal reactions or he¡¯s very calm about what¡¯s going on. He sinks into his chair in a casual pose and folds his hands in front of his stomach. His dispassionate gaze takes in all of his colleagues. ¡°I had an inspiration but wanted to make sure everything was in order before I proposed it. And I spoke to the other involved parties first. I assumed the one in confinement was the least urgent.¡± His attention slides to me with a hint of what might be¡­ amusement? Does he find something about my imprisonment and potential banishment funny? Gnash clears his throat. ¡°I¡¯m not sure there¡¯s anything more to discuss here. This being admits she can¡¯t control her powers. She¡¯s inflicted wounds on several students. It would be a threat to all her classmates to keep her here, so we have to move to banishment.¡± I knew that was where he was going before Rollick interrupted him, but my heart lurches at hearing the word out loud anyway. Another protest rises in my throat, but I clamp my mouth shut, afraid that whatever bursts out might harm my cause more than help it. ¡°Hmm.¡± Rollick continues studying my face, directing his answer at me. ¡°From what I¡¯ve gathered from my staff¡¯s reports, you would prefer not to harm anyone, and you¡¯ve expressed ample dedication to getting a grip on your powers to ensure that. Is that right¡ªPeri, isn¡¯t it?¡± The fact that he uses my preferred nickname sets me slightly more at ease. I lift my chin, trying to demonstrate my dedication as well as I can just standing here. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s absolutely right.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re also very concerned about staying out of the shadow realm.¡± I dip my head in a swift nod. ¡°Yes, um, sir. I¡ªI wouldn¡¯t mind going back for a little while, but I don¡¯t seem to absorb emotions all that well there, and there aren¡¯t many to absorb¡­ I can¡¯t get enough nourishment without coming to the mortal realm.¡± ¡°It sounds to me as though you have a particularly strong motivation, then. Excellent.¡± Rollick looks around at his colleagues again. ¡°In that case, I have a unique proposition to make.¡± Pearl cocks her head with an arch of her eyebrow. ¡°What are you up to now, Your Demon-ness?¡± Rollick¡¯s lips twitch with a smile at her irreverent tone. Okay, he might wield enough power that he could disintegrate me with a snap of his fingers, but I don¡¯t think he¡¯s all that bad. He leans farther back in his chair. ¡°We¡¯ve had some reports of strange shadowkind activity up north. Lesser beings acting in unusually destructive ways, creatures appearing that don¡¯t fit any we¡¯ve seen before¡­ The few associates I¡¯ve already sent to investigate have failed to return¡ªor in one case, returned so injured I hesitate to send him again.¡± Toni frowns. ¡°You¡¯ve mentioned this before. How does it relate to Peri¡¯s situation?¡± Rollick¡¯s smile grows. ¡°We have a few beings here at the school with highly effective powers but whose behavior has become erratic enough that they pose a threat to the other students. As an alternative to banishment, I suggest that they might benefit from some hands-on learning. They will go to the area of the strange occurrences as a team, determine the cause, and if possible, eliminate the problem. If they succeed, then we have proof that they can corral their impulses when the stakes are high enough.¡± And if we fail, we¡­ disappear? Or possibly even die? A chill trickles through my body, but my resolve firms at the same time. How would that be any worse than being imprisoned in the shadow realm, left to starve and fade? At least this way, I still have a chance at making things right. ¡°I¡¯ll do it,¡± I pipe up before anyone needs to ask. ¡°I¡¯ll take up whatever mission you want me to if it means I might still get to stay here in the mortal realm.¡± Rollick outright beams at me. ¡°Excellent. Your three classmates felt the same way. Then we can get started almost immediately.¡± Al appears to have paled beyond the norm of even his usually near-translucent skin. ¡°You¡¯re going to send a group of unpredictable, destructive shadowkind off on their own¡ª¡± ¡°To deal with an unpredictable, destructive problem,¡± Rollick says. ¡°It seems fitting. I have other concerns that prevent me from delving in for a sustained period myself.¡± He swivels toward the right end of the table. ¡°And they won¡¯t be alone. Jonah, I¡¯d like you to accompany this ¡®team¡¯ as their commanding officer, so to speak.¡± Jonah¡¯s mouth opens and closes again before he finds his voice. ¡°Me?¡± Rollick¡¯s tone turns droll. ¡°Who better? In a case like this, your sorcery could prove invaluable, both for tackling the unknown threat¡­ and keeping our wayward students in line as need be. Unless you don¡¯t feel you¡¯re up to the task.¡± Jonah looks a bit queasy, with a pang of defiance that hits me like a spicy dumpling. But he sits up straighter in his chair, his jaw setting. ¡°If that¡¯s how I can best help you and the school, of course I can handle it. Who are the other three students?¡± Rollick gets up and saunters back to the door. ¡°Three troublemakers who¡¯ve been on the verge of banishment for longer than anyone else¡ªand who¡¯ve been making a particular nuisance of themselves lately. I think all of you should make an interesting squad.¡± He twists the knob and calls into the hallway. ¡°You can come in now. Talk amongst your team while I consult with my colleagues on the final details.¡± As the three figures stalk through the doorway, my heart drops¡ªand then plummets even farther. First is Mirage, with a flash of his sharp fangs through his grin like he¡¯s thinking of snapping at me again. Even when he comes to a stop a few paces from me, he keeps shifting his weight as if he can¡¯t stay still. He¡¯s followed by Raze, who I last saw accusing me of defiling our dorm room. The big shadowkind stares at me and then jerks his gaze away, his sinewy shoulders hunching in an aggressive stance. Last to enter, with nonchalant strides as if the mission we¡¯re about to be sent on means nothing to him, is Hail. The chill that seems to follow the winter fae man thickens when he sets eyes on me. His lips draw back in a sneer. ¡°You¡¯re sending the pipsqueak with us? This is a joke.¡± ¡°No one¡¯s laughing,¡± Rollick says smoothly. ¡°You can figure out how to work together¡ªand and how to work with your own powers without them going haywire¡ªor you can take a one-way trip to the shadow realm. If you¡¯ve changed your mind, feel free to say so now.¡± The men remain stubbornly silent. My hands clench at my sides, but I keep my mouth shut too. I can fulfill this mission. I can prove I¡¯ll do more good than harm. As long as I survive both the unknown threat ahead of us and the shadowkind on my team. Chapter 15

Periwinkle The silence in the administration room lingers, as if Rollick is waiting out the rest of us to see who¡¯ll break it first. I¡¯m not ashamed to pipe up in the hopes of diverting us from the uncomfortable tension. ¡°So, where exactly are we going, and how are we getting there?¡± The demon offers me a small smile that suggests he isn¡¯t bothered by me getting on with the mission. ¡°Very good questions. I should give you all a thorough debriefing before you leave.¡± ¡°Debriefing with plenty of grief-ing,¡± Mirage says in his singsong voice. There¡¯s a swish as his tail appears and promptly vanishes again. Toni narrows her eyes at the fox shifter. ¡°You need to keep all those inhuman appendages under wraps more than ever when you¡¯re away from the school.¡± He offers her a jerky salute and a grin that shows his fangs, as if he¡¯s trying to be playful but can¡¯t quite pull off his usual irreverence. ¡°And if I mess up again, I¡¯m really in a mess. Message received loud and clear.¡± How exactly did he mess up in the first place? Is it only because of his antics and revealing pieces of his shadowkind self? I haven¡¯t seen Mirage get into any significant trouble here at the school, but then, he¡¯d probably say the same about me. Hail scoffs and folds his arms over his chest. The winter fae is putting on an expression of cool boredom, but the uneasiness wafting off him tastes bitter as wasabi. ¡°This whole group is a mess. If you want me to prove something, let me do it myself. I don¡¯t need all these duds dragging me down.¡± Raze lets out a growl, tension rippling through his ropy muscles. ¡°If we¡¯re here because we¡¯re duds, I think that means you are too, pretty boy.¡± They¡¯re all agitated, upset¡ªwell, so was I just a moment ago. I can¡¯t even say I¡¯ve totally recovered. But I can try to get us all on the right path. I hold up my hands, glancing from one of them to another with a bright if cautious smile. ¡°Hey, we¡¯re not duds, any of us, or Rollick wouldn¡¯t think we could handle this problem at all. It¡¯s incredibly generous that he¡¯s giving us another chance instead of banishing us. We¡¯ll go find those weirdo shadowkind, figure out what¡¯s up with them, and mission accomplished, no worries.¡± To my relief, Raze¡¯s fierce expression softens. Maybe he¡¯s not still pissed off at me for the gore-splattered room thing. Hail snorts and shakes his head, but he doesn¡¯t argue. And despite his dismissive attitude, the bitter flavor of his emotions turns milder. Mirage shivers and then cracks his knuckles. ¡°Weirdo shadowkind. Takes some to know some, huh?¡± His chuckle still sounds a bit tight, but more honestly amused than before. Satisfied, I turn back to the table to find all the administrators looking at¡­ me. I¡¯m not sure how to read some of their expressions, but Gnash is definitely suspicious, Pearl pleased, and Rollick has a gleam in his eyes I¡¯d call sly if that made much sense. Albumen simply looks bemused. ¡°Well, Rollick, your choices might not be quite as inexplicable as they first appeared.¡± ¡°Thank you so much for the vote of confidence, Al,¡± Rollick replies dryly. He claps his hands for our full attention. ¡°You¡¯ll each be supplied with a phone within the hour, at which point you¡¯ll head out. I can pull all the details I have into a comprehensive report in that time and send that to your devices. The unfortunate fact is that we don¡¯t have a tremendous number of details at this point, which is why we¡¯re sending you on this mission at all.¡± Raze frowns. ¡°You said the other beings who¡¯ve gone to investigate didn¡¯t come back or returned injured. If we run into¡­ any kind of trouble where we¡¯re going, will there be anyone nearby we can reach out to for help?¡± The demon¡¯s eyebrows arch. ¡°I¡¯d imagine you¡¯re more than a match for anything you might find out there if it comes to a physical fight, especially with your comrades for backup. The sightings have come from a fairly desolate area of northeastern Canada, where relatively few beings of both the shadow and the human kind make their home. Jonah will have contact information for a few associates of mine in nearby cities, but they wouldn¡¯t be able to provide immediate support.¡± If the problem is happening out in the wilderness, it¡¯s no wonder information is scarce. There could be all kinds of things going on up there that no one¡¯s witnessed at all. A shiver of my own passes through me, but I keep my chin high. We do have a combination of many impressive powers. I¡¯m sure of that even from the little bit I¡¯ve seen from the men around me. I don¡¯t know how much I can help, but I¡¯ll at least be able to pick up on the internal state of any humans or shadowkind we encounter. And if the communities are small and quiet, there shouldn¡¯t be too many highly charged emotional situations we could run into that might set me off. Not like if we had to explore a big city. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. There¡¯ll also be a lot fewer people around that I could hurt if I do have an outburst. Which maybe the staff in front of me were taking into consideration. ¡°I¡¯m sure we can look after ourselves well enough to at least observe what¡¯s going on up there,¡± Jonah says. His voice stays calm, but I taste an undercurrent of anxiety with a metallic tang like the rarest of meat. He¡¯s not even shadowkind, and he¡¯s getting stuck watching over four of us who¡¯ve done enough harm in whatever way to be at risk of getting kicked out of the school. I guess he can work his sorcery on us if any of us gets too unruly, but from what I¡¯ve seen of him so far, I don¡¯t think he¡¯d look forward to having to enforce order with his magic. That¡¯s why Rollick is sending him, though. He¡¯s the only one here who could control us if we¡¯re acting out¡ªin a way other than by tackling us with physical force. And I¡¯m not sure anyone in the room other than probably Rollick could face off with Raze unscathed. I don¡¯t even know what all of these men¡¯s powers are. Rollick nods at the younger man¡¯s comment. ¡°I¡¯ll arrange a large camper van for you¡ªnothing that¡¯ll stick out in the area, but with enough space that you can use it as a base of operations without needing to rely on outside accommodations. It¡¯ll be stocked with plenty of food and any other supplies you might need. The more you can steer clear of the human settlements up there, the better.¡± Hail grimaces. ¡°So you¡¯re sending us off into the middle of nowhere to do next to nothing. Is this really a test or just another type of banishment? Or a punishment, having to deal with them?¡± He flicks his fingers toward the rest of us. Raze lets out a low snarl. ¡°What about us having to deal with you?¡± Mirage laughs and whips himself around in a graceful twirl. ¡°The games are already beginning.¡± Shanty pushes to her feet with a scrape of her chair legs loud enough that all three of the men go still and silent. She eyes each of them with a stern expression. ¡°I¡¯m only going to remind you once. Rollick is making you a very generous offer, but it¡¯s limited to this one chance. You¡¯re going to have to figure out how to work together rather than tearing each other¡¯s heads off, or you¡¯ll all be banished.¡± I swallow thickly. I¡¯d like to vote for heads staying on. Rollick motions toward us in a careless gesture that I suspect is deceptive. ¡°I¡¯m going to arrange your vehicle and that briefing. You four had better stay in here and practice your ¡®getting along¡¯.¡± As he saunters out, another being appears at the doorway. She murmurs to Pearl, who leans over to confer quietly with her colleagues. Shanty is the one who turns to me. ¡°You have a friend who¡¯s noticed your absence and asked permission to say her good-byes. Would you like to see her and reassure her that you¡¯re not banished from this plane of existence just yet?¡± My heart leaps with a pang of affection. ¡°Fen?¡± A hint of a smile touches the siren¡¯s lips. She inclines her head, and a broader smile springs to mine. ¡°Yes, please and thank you.¡± As she motions me over to the doorway, Hail lets out a haughty sigh that I ignore. He¡¯s probably just stung that none of his fan club has rushed over to beg for mercy on his behalf. Do Raze and Mirage have any friends? I¡¯ve never seen Raze talk to¡­ anyone, really, unless he has to for class. People like to laugh at Mirage¡¯s antics, but I¡¯m not sure I¡¯ve seen him having an actual conversation either. It¡¯s kind of sad. Maybe it¡¯s not really my fault that I haven¡¯t figured out how to talk to them properly. Shanty stays with me in the hall, as if she thinks she has to guard against me making an escape attempt or something. I¡¯m not sure where I¡¯d go even if I wanted to run for it. Within a matter of minutes, Fen comes hustling down the hall. Her face brightens when she sees me. I open my arms, and she accepts the hug, even though she has to lean over me a little with our height difference. When she steps back, her fingers are dripping a puddle onto the floor. ¡°I was so worried when I heard they put you in isolation,¡± she says. I raise my hands reassuringly before she needs to go on. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m not being banished. I just¡ªI¡¯m doing like an extra credit project to hopefully hone my self-control so I¡¯ll be able to fit in better when I get back.¡± That seems like a reasonable way of framing the mission. I glance at Shanty and she gives me a shrug of casual approval. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s great!¡± Fen beams at me. ¡°I¡¯ll miss you, but it won¡¯t be so bad if I know you¡¯ll be back.¡± I give her arm another squeeze. ¡°Don¡¯t let the harsher beings get you down. I¡¯ll see you soon.¡± I hope. Chapter 16

Raze In the shadows in the back of the camper van, I barely notice the movements of the vehicle. From the way the rest of my ¡°team¡± rocks where they¡¯re sitting in physical form on the padded seats, the road must be bumpy, but my patch of darkness maintains a peaceful stillness. Which is good, because I can¡¯t say there¡¯s anything peaceful inside me. How the fuck did I let myself get roped into this insane mission? Because it was either that or banishment. Because as much as I hate the damage I¡¯ve done in the mortal realm, I can¡¯t subsist on shadows. Some sadistic quirk of shadowkind nature makes some of us reliant on what only this side of the world can provide. My basilisk stomach craves raw meat. Grocery store cuts serve well enough, as much as my instincts appreciate a hunt. I could survive perfectly well here without harming a single living creature. Assuming I learn how to avoid letting my anger get the better of me. To stop it from seeping from my eyes and skin even when I have no intention of lashing out. What excuse to the others have for being on the verge of banishment? I peer at the figures on the seats. Hail¡¯s expression is a picture of perfect cool. Ice crystals dance above his outstretched hand¡ªhe¡¯s looking out the window rather than at the fragments as they consolidate into a sculpture of a miniature tree. Show off. I think the fae man likes hurting people. He never looks away when Gloss and the other female shadowkind who follow at his heels cut our fellow students down a peg. He didn¡¯t hesitate to insult Periwinkle the second he saw her in the administration room. If he dislikes so much about this place, why does it matter to him to stay? Does he really think he can manage to graduate if he¡¯s treating mortal beings like even worse garbage than he does the shadowkind he doesn¡¯t respect? He agreed to the deal for some reason, even though it involves working with three of those shadowkind. I don¡¯t get the impression he respects our sorcerer babysitter much either. At the front where he¡¯s driving, Jonah switches on the radio. Mirage was already swaying even when the van doesn¡¯t, but he smiles now, adding a bounce of his slender leg and a click of claws that glint from his fingertips for brief instants before he retracts them again. I¡¯ve never known what to make of the fox shifter. Can he really not help behaving so erratically? Does he enjoy flouting the rules? He seems happy when people laugh at his bizarre behavior, but it¡¯s obviously gotten him into a lot of trouble as well. As I watch, he starts drumming his palms against the seat while tapping one foot. Hail cuts a glance across the van, his eyes narrowed. ¡°Can¡¯t you sit still?¡± Mirage grins wider. ¡°Where¡¯s the fun in that?¡± The fae man lets out a huff and turns farther toward the window as if he wants to pretend he¡¯s not even on the same vehicle as us. Periwinkle has kept quiet for most of the ride so far, I think through sheer force of will. She brightens a little at Mirage¡¯s seated dance, in a way that twists me up for reasons I can¡¯t explain. ¡°I like the music too,¡± she tells him. ¡°Anything with a good beat makes it easier to keep your spirits up.¡± Mirage hums vaguely, closing his eyes as his head veers back and forth with the rhythm. ¡°Sounds like we¡¯re going to need our spirits ever so high up when we get up north. A puzzle to puzzle out.¡± She swipes her hand through the waves of her turquoise hair, still smiling but looking at bit awkward, as if she¡¯s not sure how to reply. I wouldn¡¯t know either. Looking at her reminds me of the other aspects of the mortal realm I¡¯d miss. I don¡¯t need beautiful sights to survive, but there¡¯s something kind of amazing about taking in stunning landscapes and artful creations that don¡¯t exist in our home world. Seeing all the things that still exist undamaged, no matter what mistakes I¡¯ve made. And Periwinkle¡¯s human-like form is definitely pretty. All those vibrant colors that match the warmth I¡¯ve seen her try to offer our fellow shadowkind so many times. I wonder what her actual shadowkind form looks like. As if she senses my attention on her, her gaze veers toward the slanting shadow I¡¯m lurking in. A hint of tension grips her posture. Then she vanishes, leaping into the shadows herself. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. My heart sinks. She felt like I was staring¡ªI must have made her uncomfortable. But then a ripple of distinctive bright energy moves toward me through the darkness gathered along the edges of the van. Somehow even merged with the shadows, this being gives off the sensation of light. She comes to a stop near enough for me to have a concrete sense of where she is but not so close that our energies brush up against each other. Her soft voice sounds clearer when we¡¯re on the same plane. ¡°Hi. Um. Is it okay if I talk to you? If you wanted to be left alone, I won¡¯t bother you.¡± The fact that she¡¯s being so careful about my feelings twists me up even more, and this time the sensation is definitely guilt. ¡°You¡¯re not bothering me.¡± ¡°Oh, good.¡± I get the impression of her smiling, even though she¡¯s totally ephemeral at the moment. ¡°I wanted to say how sorry I am for how this all turned out. I promise you I didn¡¯t vandalize our room¡ªI never would have messed up anything that didn¡¯t belong to me¡­ or anything that did belong to me, really¡ª¡± ¡°I know,¡± I break in, unable to keep the gruffness from my voice in my shame. ¡°I heard the beings who did it laughing about the ¡®prank¡¯ a few minutes after I left. I¡¯m sorry I yelled at you like that. I shouldn¡¯t have assumed.¡± When has my unexpected roommate done anything out of malice? How could I really have thought she¡¯d try to get me kicked out? Periwinkle¡¯s voice softens even more. ¡°No one¡¯s been very nice to you at the school, have they? You haven¡¯t had an easy time.¡± My shame burns deeper with a flare of guilt and horror. ¡°I haven¡¯t always given everyone else an easy time. I don¡¯t blame them for keeping their distance.¡± I¡¯m not sure I¡¯d really blame her if she had wanted to provoke me so I¡¯d break the rules and have to leave. Even if it would have felt like a betrayal. But even now, when she could have taken my statement as an excuse to draw back, she eases closer to me in the shadow. A gentler warmth spreads through my essence like it might have if she¡¯d taken my hand. ¡°You don¡¯t like it, though. Keeping that distance. It feels awful when you don¡¯t want to hurt anyone but sometimes you end up doing it without even meaning to, doesn¡¯t it?¡± How can she sound as if she knows how it feels firsthand? I¡¯m not even sure what she¡¯s doing here with the bunch of us delinquents. Is it just because some of the other students have taken offense to things she¡¯s said? Maybe Gloss complained, and most of the administration decided to side with her. The truth tumbles out of me before I can think better of it. ¡°I don¡¯t want to hurt you too.¡± Periwinkle simply remains next to me, emanating her natural warmth. ¡°I don¡¯t think you will. Maybe we can even help each other figure things out.¡± I¡¯m not prepared for the rush of hope that hits me with those words. For how much I want them to be true. For how much it matters to me that she¡¯d even suggest it. I shouldn¡¯t be surprised, though, should I? Not after she stayed in our dorm room even after I tried to intimidate her out. Not when she ran to me to check for injuries when I got smacked by that burst of electrical power during the morphball game. She¡¯s making this offer to me, not to Hail or Mirage. She came into the shadows to clear the air between us and confirm I didn¡¯t see her as an enemy. Is it possible she¡¯s actually right that we could help each other? A week ago, I¡¯d have grunted and said something about how we were better off looking after ourselves. But her warmth has melted enough of my defenses that I find myself saying, ¡°I¡¯d like that.¡± ¡°Good!¡± Periwinkle whirls around as if in delight and then pops back into the physical plane, standing in the middle of the van. She looks down at her typical flowered dress and track jacket and cocks her head. ¡°If we¡¯re secret agents setting off to track down villainous shadowkind, we¡¯re going to need to be tough. I don¡¯t think this outfit totally fits.¡± In a blink, she flits in and out of the shadows, reappearing in a new set of clothing she¡¯s imagined onto her short, curvy figure. Tight jeans with a couple of rips cling to her rounded hips. She¡¯s swapped the blue jacket with its rainbow stripe for a black leather one. She hasn¡¯t completely abandoned her usual color scheme, though. A single neon-pink flower beams from the chest of her otherwise black tee. Periwinkle strikes a pose like a TV police officer cornering a bad guy. Hail rolls his eyes in apparent disdain. Mirage lets out a bark of a laugh. I simply peer up at her, fond amusement tingling through my being like the warmth of her presence did moments ago. A chillier jab follows it, piercing through my center as if I¡¯ve been run through by one of Hail¡¯s ice sculptures. This woman might be the sweetest being I¡¯ve ever known. She¡¯s the farthest thing from tough I can imagine. All the rebellious clothes in the world won¡¯t be enough to protect her from whatever dangers we¡¯re hurtling off to face. I can only hope I will be. Chapter 17

Periwinkle I hop out the back of the van and spread my arms in the crisply cool air. It rushes into my lungs in a deep gulp. This isn¡¯t the kind of environment I¡¯m drawn to. I can¡¯t see any buildings or people in any direction, only the winding road with tall trees on either side. There are no emotions to absorb except for the currently subdued feelings of the men I¡¯m working with. But there¡¯s something refreshing about the solitude that I¡¯m not sure I¡¯ve ever appreciated before. No need to worry about how I¡¯ll be affected by my surroundings. I can take in more of what makes the mortal world special with no pressure at all. The men have spread out along the sides of the road in what¡¯s becoming our typical approach to each stop. There¡¯s not much I can help with at this point other than confirming that I¡¯m not picking up concerning emotional energy nearby, but they¡¯re checking for any sign of the strange beings we¡¯re looking for in their own ways. Well, I guess it¡¯s mostly Raze doing the looking. Out of the shadows, he prowls along the treeline with his lips parted, inhaling every scent that drifts on the breeze. A forked tongue darts past his lips. Apparently basilisks¡ªwhich as far as I¡¯ve determined are really big lizards?¡ªhave a good sense of smell. So do foxes, but it¡¯s hard to tell how seriously Mirage is taking our mission. He took the stop as an excuse to completely shift into his shadowkind form and now is bounding between the tree trunks with whirls and flips, swishing his five busy tails. Raze shoots a frown Mirage¡¯s way, but I don¡¯t mind seeing the fox shifter cavort around. When we¡¯re cooped up in the van for a long stretch, he starts giving off a vibe of painful restlessness with a flavor that makes me think of cheek-puckeringly sour grapefruit. I¡¯m sure if he notices something strange out here, he¡¯ll let us know. I have no idea if Hail¡¯s fae powers would help him pick up on any unusual shadowkind nearby, but he¡¯s ambling along the edge of the forest too, in the opposite direction from Raze. He stops and tips his pale face to the beaming sun, and something in his expression softens from its usual icy sharpness just for a second. I catch a trace of butterscotch pudding awe from him that brings a smile to my lips. ¡°It¡¯s gorgeous out here, isn¡¯t it?¡± I say. Hail¡¯s eyes snap to me, his features hardening all over again with a spurt of a much pricklier emotion that I barely taste before it¡¯s gone. ¡°Of course you¡¯d be thinking about the view. Still can¡¯t see why we got stuck with a cream puff.¡± I would protest that cream puffs are delicious and delightful, and also shaped very differently than I am even if some parts of me are on the round side, but just then Haze lets out a grunt of apprehension. Jonah, who stayed by the van, takes a step closer. ¡°What?¡± The massive, sinewy man turns his head where he¡¯s standing about thirty feet down the road, the wind rippling over his bronze hair. He opens his mouth a little wider, his tongue flicking farther over his lips. His stance tenses. ¡°Some kind of creature passed this way¡ªnot like anything I¡¯ve smelled before. There¡¯s something about the scent that just¡­ doesn¡¯t seem totally right.¡± Hail snorts as he saunters back to join us. ¡°Not totally right. I¡¯m sure that description will have Rollick applauding our work.¡± Jonah shoots him a glower of warning before turning back to Raze. ¡°Can you follow the trail?¡± The basilisk shifter stalks farther along the shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s faint, but I think whatever it came from started following the road here. It¡¯s a little stronger when I walk this way.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s see if we can catch up.¡± Jonah motions the rest of us into the van. ¡°Raze, you sit up front with the window open. Let me know if I start driving too fast for you to pick up the scent.¡± I scramble into the back and nab the spot on the bench closest to the driver¡¯s seat. A rumble spreads through the cushions when Jonah starts the engine. As he drives, Raze tips his head out the open window like an incredibly over-sized Doberman. His eyes narrow against the rushing air, but he seems to be able to track the scent through it. ¡°It¡¯s still getting stronger,¡± he informs Jonah. When we reach a crossroad, we stop so Raze can quickly survey the area. He strides around the intersecting roads with a purposeful intensity it¡¯s hard not to watch, his muscles flexing beneath his tan skin. Within a matter of seconds, he points to the left. ¡°That way.¡± We¡¯ve only been zooming along in that direction for another minute or two when a shriek shatters the quiet of the wilderness. My heart lurches. Jonah mutters a curse and presses his foot to the gas. The van roars forward. We all sit braced, staring out the windshield, even Hail looking concerned for once. As we come up on a small cluster of buildings off to the side of the country road, a couple of frightened shouts carry from deeper in the settlement. Jonah jerks the wheel so we careen onto the even narrower side road. Outside a squat brick building at the edge of the village, several humans have scattered around a table laid with a checkered cloth and several plates of food. They were having a picnic. How awful to have such an enjoyable moment interrupted. Now they¡¯re backing away from a dark shape I only catch a glimpse of amid the nearby shrubs. Jonah brings the van to a rasping halt on the gravel shoulder and leaps out, but Raze has thrown open the passenger door even faster. He lunges past the panicked people toward the creature in the shrubs. I dash after him, my pulse skittering with the memory of him falling during the morphball game. He was okay then, but we don¡¯t even know what this creature can do. It or something like it hurt other beings Rollick thought could handle the threat. As I run past the humans, my new leather jacket flapping at my sides, their fear washes over me like a deluge of pickle juice. Then a more potent wallop smacks me from up ahead. From where the unknown being is crashing through the bushes. ¡°Stop!¡± The cry bursts out of me before I even think about it, but Raze listens. He skids to a halt just a couple of strides short of the shrubs, his claws already extended from his fingertips. I hold out my hands in a calming gesture both for him and the being shuddering a few feet away. ¡°It doesn¡¯t want to attack anyone. It¡¯s not feeling aggressive, only scared.¡± I hear the other men come to a halt a short distance behind me. ¡°Mirage,¡± Jonah says. ¡°You can alter perceptions¡ªcan you make these people forget they saw this thing¡ªand us?¡± Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Faster than a fox fleeing a hound!¡± Mirage replies cheerfully. I focus all my attention on the strange creature in the bushes. I can only make out some tufts of fur, the edge of what might be a wing, the lash of what I assume is a tail. It¡¯s not all that large, only the size of a poodle, but the humans wouldn¡¯t have known what to make of it. I keep my voice as gentle and soothing as I can. ¡°Hey there. We won¡¯t hurt you. We just want to find out what¡¯s going on. We¡¯ll make sure those people don¡¯t yell at you anymore.¡± Thankfully, whatever Mirage is doing allows me to keep my promise. No more yelps or hollers split the air. Door hinges squeak¡ªI think he¡¯s persuaded the humans to go into the building. The sour-rot flavor of terror starts to recede. ¡°Very good,¡± I murmur. ¡°We¡¯re going to come around the bushes so we can see you better. I promise we¡¯ll give you lots of space.¡± Hail scoffs under his breath. ¡°This is ridiculous.¡± ¡°Let her try,¡± Jonah says, quiet but firm. I move first, backing up a few steps and then easing through a gap between two of the decorative bushes. The shadowkind creature gives off a brief quiver of renewed anxiety, but it stays huddled next to its temporary shelter rather than bolting. I¡¯ve never seen a being like that before, but then, lesser creatures seem to come in a very wide range of appearances. This one gives me the impression of a bedraggled cat that¡¯s ballooned to twice its ideal size, with crooked ears, a single seemingly useless leathery wing, and not just a tail but two other slim appendages whipping back and forth from its belly. The men follow me, hanging even farther back. The creature starts to cringe away, and they freeze. I hold out a hand toward it beseechingly. ¡°You¡¯re safe. We¡¯re only going to look at you. See, we¡¯re staying all the way over here.¡± Its relaxes slightly. Mirage lets out a low chuckle. ¡°Beating the beast with sweetness.¡± At the edge of my vision, Jonah sends a smile my way. ¡°Thank you, Peri. You¡¯re doing great.¡± Hail takes on a bored tone. ¡°What the fuck is that thing?¡± The moment he¡¯s asked, the answer changes¡ªbecause the creature does. All at once, its legs shoot up, its chest expanding, the wing vanishing into its side and a ring of spines jutting out in its place. A shiver of surprise runs through me. ¡°I didn¡¯t think lesser beings could change their forms.¡± Jonah¡¯s brow has furrowed. ¡°They normally can¡¯t. I¡¯ve never seen one do something like that before.¡± Raze¡¯s voice comes out uncertain even in its gruffness. ¡°Neither have I. It¡¯s definitely what I smelled before¡ªand its scent just changed too.¡± Even Hail sounds a bit taken aback despite his attempted nonchalance. ¡°It hardly looks dangerous, in any case.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know that this is the cause of the problems,¡± Jonah says. ¡°There could be something much bigger going on. It¡¯s strange that it would have approached those people in physical form too, if it wasn¡¯t trying to hunt them, which it doesn¡¯t seem to be. I¡¯m going to ask it to show us the rift it came through.¡± I¡¯m confused about how he thinks asking is going to work until he opens his mouth again and a string of sorcerous syllables tumble off his tongue. The hairs on the back of my neck rise even though the command isn¡¯t aimed at me. But this is one of the reasons Rollick sent Jonah with us. There isn¡¯t any other way we could convince the creature to lead us to the place where it passed into this realm. The creature gives its body a dog-like shake¡ªand sprouts a couple of tusks from its now wrinkly jowls in the same motion. It turns away from the village and trots off toward the trees. We follow much closer now that it¡¯s being compelled, just a few feet behind it. The creature¡¯s emotions have settled down enough that I only get vague impressions from it now¡ªa little discomfort mingling with a flicker of relief to be heading someplace familiar. The sorcery doesn¡¯t appear to have bothered it very much. It sets off through the woods in a straight line, I suppose going directly toward the rift without worrying about the ease of travel. There¡¯s no way we could follow it in the van. Hail sucks a breath through his teeth where he¡¯s tramping along beside me. ¡°This rift had better not be a hundred miles away.¡± Raze scowls. ¡°We didn¡¯t drive very far after I caught the scent. It could be close nearby.¡± ¡°Or we could roam all across the world,¡± Mirage puts in with a laugh. Jonah¡¯s tone goes dry. ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯re embarking on quite that long a¡ª¡± It happens in a split-second. One instant, the creature is loping along like it already was, seemingly free of distress. The next, a vicious fury hurtles out of it like a charred but bloody steak thrown in my face. ¡°Watch out!¡± I yelp in the same moment as the creature whips around, its body blasting outward into a mass of clawed limbs and horned tentacles, most of which are slicing through the air toward¡ª Hail flings out his hand, and a wallop of frigid air courses off him. The cold front slams into the creature and knocks it right off its feet, its dark gray flesh turned blue, its skin and scales frosting over. It topples over with a solid thunk, limbs rigid, as if it¡¯s now a statue. He froze it solid. The fae man stares at the results of his hasty reaction. Somehow his alabaster skin looks even paler to me, with a sickly cast to his face. ¡°I¡ªI wasn¡¯t trying to kill it.¡± He¡¯s too startled to suppress the waft of fetid gruel horror that rolls off him. Not only was he not trying, it bothers him a lot that he did this. Hail might be a jerk most of the time, but a twinge of sympathy quivers through me all the same. I give him a grateful smile. ¡°You protected us. It was going to hurt us, and you made sure it didn¡¯t. You moved so fast¡ªit was amazing.¡± His striking dark blue gaze veers toward me. For a second, he only stares. Then his jaw tightens. He makes a harsher scoffing sound than before. ¡°As long as teacher boy doesn¡¯t dock points off our assignment for going overboard, I suppose it¡¯s all right.¡± I can tell he¡¯s simply squashing the uneasiness, not recovered from it. Jonah swipes his hand through his rumpled hair, peering at the creature in its enlarged, especially monstrous form. ¡°That¡­ is not something I want to run into unprepared again. Peri¡¯s right, Hail. You did what was necessary in the moment. I should have made my command clearer so it had no room to delay or turn on us.¡± Raze¡¯s expression has shadowed. ¡°It didn¡¯t seem like it would attack.¡± I shake my head. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t have, before. It just¡­ changed. A lot, all at once.¡± All of us stand there in a moment of unsettled silence. Mirage breaks it with a flip through the air to the frozen beast¡¯s side and a flash of his foxy ears. He points off through the trees, fragments of sunlight glowing off his golden-brown face. ¡°At least we know where our journey should take us next. Hurray for a sense of direction!¡± Chapter 18

Jonah I can¡¯t say I¡¯ve ever been much of a fan of camping. My enjoyment drops considerably when I¡¯m also having to wrangle a team of belligerent shadowkind. As I lean against the side of the van, heating my canned pasta over the kerosene stove and missing the much more appealing dinner everyone¡¯s no doubt having back at the school, Raze comes striding out of the woods by the short lane where we parked. He¡¯s empty-handed, his tan skin unmarked, but there¡¯s a feral quality to his gaze even with the green contacts covering his supernaturally dark irises. Hail apparently picks up on even more of his vibe than I do. The lanky fae man pushes himself off the birch he¡¯s been leaning against and makes a face. ¡°You stink of death. If you have to go off and hunt, can¡¯t you clean yourself up properly afterward?¡± The basilisk shifter glowers at him, his words coming out in a growl. ¡°I have to eat, unlike some.¡± Mirage springs between them, leaping and diving between the shadows with flashes of one or another of his bushy fox tails. ¡°Track them down. Pounce so hard. They don¡¯t stand a chance!¡± As he continues his pantomime of the imagined hunt, both of the other shadowkind men take a step back. Hail rolls his eyes. ¡°You¡¯re just insane.¡± ¡°Nothing wrong with a little madness,¡± Mirage says cheerfully, and rolls to sprawl on his back with his arms folded behind his head. The fae man returns his attention to Raze. ¡°Isn¡¯t there a stream or something you could douse yourself in? It¡¯s not as if you bother with baths much anyway. If dipping into the shadows isn¡¯t enough to clean you off, maybe mortal substances will.¡± I suspect he¡¯s making up his entire complaint. Even if fae noses are stronger than human ones, there shouldn¡¯t be any trace left of any kind of physical material after Raze moves through the shadows. From what I know of the basilisk, that¡¯s the first thing he¡¯d have done after tearing into his prey. Restraining a sigh, I open my mouth to tell him to back off. ¡°Hail, we have¡ª¡± Raze beats me to the punch, bristling with annoyance. ¡°If you¡¯re so concerned about killing, you shouldn¡¯t have frozen that creature we were following today.¡± The twitch of Hail¡¯s expression confirms how much the accidental murder bothers him. His lips draw back in a sharp sneer. ¡°At least I¡¯m not a savage, rending beasts limb from limb. How you ever think you¡¯re going to integrate with humans when you¡¯re exactly the monster they think shadowkind are¡ª¡± I scramble to my feet. ¡°Men. Enough, all of you. It¡¯s been a long day, and we¡¯re doing what we each need to get by.¡± Hail rounds on me. ¡°Oh, fabulous advice from our intrepid leader. What have you contributed to this mission so far? Where¡¯s the expert guidance we were supposed to be receiving?¡± I¡¯d like to take some guidance and shove it up the arrogant prick¡¯s ass, but that definitely isn¡¯t what Rollick sent me along for. ¡°I¡¯m offering you some right now. Simmer down, or the mission isn¡¯t going to get anywhere.¡± Raze shoots me a wounded look. ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to hurt him. He shouldn¡¯t be lashing out at people if he can¡¯t take a little criticism.¡± You can criticize him all you want when we¡¯re not in the middle of the woods trying to track down the source of the craziest shadowkind I¡¯ve ever seen, I want to say, but I can only imagine how Hail would react to me seeming to take the other guy¡¯s side. Mirage simply kicks his legs in the air and laughs with delight, as if we¡¯re putting on a show for his entertainment. I hold out my hands placatingly, cursing Rollick for giving me this assignment¡ªand myself for not having a better idea how to handle these clashing personalities after all my years at the school. The demon expected more from me than this. ¡°I¡¯m not accusing anyone of anything,¡± I say as evenly as I can manage. ¡°I¡¯d just like to see tempers reined in rather than unleashed. You don¡¯t have to sing ¡®Kumbaya,¡¯ but you need to at least tolerate each other¡¯s presence.¡± Peri emerges from the back of the van where she was experimenting with the convertible seats, seeing exactly how they expand into beds. She sets her hands on her hips, which are accentuated even more by the tight jeans and fitted leather jacket she¡¯s traded her usual more girly outfits for. ¡°Hail was protecting us,¡± she tells Raze in a softly insistent voice. ¡°That¡¯s what matters the most.¡± She aims her gaze at Hail next. ¡°And if you don¡¯t like how someone smells after they¡¯re making sure they don¡¯t starve, you could just give them a little more space.¡± She walks over to Mirage and peers down at him. ¡°And it¡¯s not really fun for anyone when you laugh at people who are upset. In case you didn¡¯t know.¡± Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Despite her gentle approach, the men all look a bit stunned. But at least it shuts them up. Peri has some kind of magic to her, even if most of her fellow students haven¡¯t recognized that yet. In the abrupt quiet, I motion toward the van. ¡°I¡¯m the only one who needs to sleep, so I¡¯m taking one of the two beds. I think you should all give yourself some distance wherever you go in the shadows overnight. Hail, stick to the east side of the road. Raze, stick to the west.¡± Hail¡¯s lip curls. ¡°You trust us not to abandon you, captain?¡± I ignore his sneering tone. ¡°I trust that you know I can call you back in like I did the first time if it comes to that. And if you run, that¡¯s an automatic fail on the mission. If you wanted to get banished, you could have saved us the trouble and told Rollick that back at school.¡± The fae man grimaces, but he knows I¡¯m right on all counts. At least, I hope he does. He stalks off around the other side of the van. Raze frowns and then vanishes into the shadows amid the trees. Mirage peers at me with his ever-present mischief glinting in his eyes. ¡°What about me? Where do I fit in?¡± I can¡¯t stop my voice from coming out dry. ¡°I guess you could hang out on top of the van? I get the feeling you¡¯d like having a wider view.¡± Mirage laughs and jumps up, transforming into fox shape as he does. He bounds from the ground to the hood and up onto the roof with a patter of his paws. I inhale slowly, hoping none of them could tell how rattled I was. Hoping my precaution will be enough to prevent any further squabbling in the middle of the night. I¡¯ve been driving most of the day. I could use my rest if I want to avoid guiding us straight into a ditch tomorrow. As I lift the little pot off the miniature stove, Peri hunkers down next to me. She considers my meal as I stir it. I think I catch a slight wrinkling of her nose that she quickly hides. ¡°Is that good?¡± I guffaw. ¡°Not really. But it¡¯s easy, and it¡¯ll hit the spot. We¡¯re not out here for the fine dining.¡± Well, I¡¯m not, anyway. Raze might very well enjoy getting to hunt down his raw meat rather than relying on grocery store cuts. And who knows what kind of satisfaction Peri¡¯s been getting from the miasma of emotions that¡¯ve been flowing between our group. She sits back on her hands, gazing off into the darkness of the woods while I gulp down my pasta. I can¡¯t stop my gaze from being drawn to her. It¡¯s not just the appeal of her pretty face and her softly curvy figure, though both of those are plenty appealing. There¡¯s a looseness to her stance that I haven¡¯t seen before, as if she¡¯s released some tension I hadn¡¯t realized was gripping her. She¡¯s been trapped from the moment I dragged her into that cage with my sorcery, hasn¡¯t she? Even at the school, as much as she¡¯s clearly wanted to learn to control her powers, she was hemmed in by both the hostility of her classmates and the walls she wasn¡¯t allowed to walk beyond. I¡¯m sorry that she was forced onto this precarious mission, but I¡¯m glad she got a little escape from those restrictions. Maybe the experience will make it easier for her to adapt to the rules once we go back. Assuming we find out what Rollick wants to know without the entire team falling apart. Peri looks over at me and gives me one of her sunny smiles. My heart skips a beat despite my best intentions. It¡¯s hard to comprehend that a being made of shadows could contain so much light. So much it can overflow to the point of burning. Right now, the glow she gives off is only metaphorical, in the warmth of her expression and her voice. ¡°You know, a lot of people boss everyone else around to make themselves feel good. Powerful. Superior, I guess. But you really do it because you want the rest of us to be happier and safer. I think that¡¯ll make the difference, even if they don¡¯t always want to listen.¡± My voice locks in my throat. I shouldn¡¯t be surprised¡ªof course she can pick up on my emotions just as well as anyone else¡¯s. And I¡¯ve seen her try to reassure people in their insecurities time and time again. But I¡¯m not sure I¡¯ve ever felt quite as seen as right now, with those bright blue eyes shining back at me. There are other emotions I feel around her that every professional ethic says I have to keep under wraps. So when she reaches over to grasp my hand in a gesture of solidarity, I force myself to let go as soon as I¡¯ve given her fingers a quick squeeze in return to show I appreciate her kindness. The warmth of her touch seeps over my skin, kindling a deeper heat I don¡¯t want to acknowledge. ¡°Thank you,¡± I say, keeping my voice totally calm. ¡°I hope you¡¯re right.¡± ¡°I know it¡¯s made a difference to me.¡± She gets to her feet and glances toward the van again. ¡°If the guys are sticking to the shadows, I¡¯ll try one of those beds. I want to see what sleeping in a room on wheels is like.¡± I let out a casual chuckle. ¡°It¡¯s all yours.¡± But as she walks back to the van, I can¡¯t help wondering how much sleep I¡¯ll be able to get after all, with her lying right there across from me all night. Chapter 19

Periwinkle My eyes twitch open with a strange quiver of sensation. A mishmash of clashing flavors wriggles through my nerves. I sit up cautiously, peering through the darkness. Faint moonlight seeps through the camper van¡¯s windows, highlighting Jonah¡¯s sleeping form tucked under his blanket. The sight of his dark hair lying rumpled against the small pillow brings a twinge of affection into my chest that¡¯s not totally familiar. I have the urge to reach over and smooth it back from his face. But I don¡¯t want to wake him up, and another splash of contrasting emotion hits me at the same time. Definitely not from him¡ªit¡¯s hitting me from too much of a distance, and his face doesn¡¯t show any sign of stress¡ªand we¡¯re alone in the van. None of our shadowkind companions have snuck in to shelter in the shadows. Have Raze and Hail gotten into another argument? I¡¯m not sure how much I can intervene, but talking them down this evening seemed to help at least a little. To avoid disturbing Jonah, I ease into the shadows to slip through the minute gap at the edge of the doorframe and re-materialized on the dirt track outside. The cool night air wisps against my skin. Crickets chirp in the thicker darkness of the woods. I can¡¯t pick up any signs of trouble with my other senses. Only another faint spurt that¡¯s too muddled to decipher. I¡¯m not picking up any hostility in the impressions, at least. I don¡¯t think I need to be afraid. But I¡¯ve never sensed anything quite like this before. Watching for any visible danger, I venture into the forest in the direction the pulses of emotion are emanating from. I can walk a little closer, get a better idea what¡¯s going on, and if I think I need backup, I¡¯ll call for the others then. It turns out I don¡¯t need to, though. I¡¯ve taken less than ten steps before a lean figure topped with bright red hair emerges from the shadows next to me. Mirage cocks his head, gazing down at me. He keeps his voice hushed, though his usual lively energy still ripples through it. ¡°Where are you off to, our little rainbow?¡± A trace of a blush touches my cheeks at the reference to my glowing hair and the various embarrassing emotions it¡¯s put on display. ¡°I¡¯m getting some unusual feelings from something¡ªor more than one thing¡ªout this way. I thought I¡¯d take a closer look.¡± He clicks his tongue, mock-chiding. ¡°All by yourself.¡± I shrug. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to bother the rest of you if I didn¡¯t need to. You could go back to the van.¡± A grin stretches across Mirage¡¯s face. ¡°Exploring is much more interesting. If there¡¯s trouble, I can outfox it for you.¡± Another pang of affection fills me, even though the fox shifter has been irritable with me before. ¡°You really don¡¯t need to, but if you want to come along, I¡¯m always happy to have company.¡± ¡°It¡¯s settled, then. Mirage and Periwinkle, back in a twinkle.¡± He winks at me with a brief swish of his five tails before they vanish back into his human-esque body. The rhyme comes with a brief flicker of satisfaction like fresh cherry pie. I smile at him. ¡°You like playing with words a lot, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I like playing with all the things. Why not have fun wherever you can?¡± He hops over a fallen log with a swift flip before landing. Then he stops, maybe realizing I can¡¯t leap over quite so nimbly, and offers his hand to help me clamber over. The grasp of his hand is unexpectedly steady. I kind of wish I didn¡¯t have to let go of it. I peer through the trees, continuing more cautiously as I wait for another of those strange sensations. For maybe a minute, nothing comes, and I start to think it¡¯s gone and we should go back. Then another flare jitters through my nerves, seeming closer by. I point up ahead. ¡°Still this way.¡± As he walks on beside me with a typical spring in his step, Mirage peers at me. ¡°You¡¯re not worried about what it could be?¡± I consider the question. ¡°A little. But not very much. It doesn¡¯t feel bad, only¡­ confused.¡± ¡°Confused people¡ªand beings¡ªcan do bad things.¡± ¡°But sometimes they do good things too. Or they need help so that they can. If we ignore them, we¡¯d never find out.¡± He lapses into a short silence. ¡°You like to unravel mysteries!¡± He sounds so delighted with his revelation that I hate to correct him. ¡°Sort of. I just¡­ like to understand everyone. There are so many different feelings, and they don¡¯t always make sense. And when I start sorting them out, a lot of the time that seems to make the other being happier too.¡± I hesitate before glancing up at him. The words come out tentatively. ¡°Like¡­ you always look like you¡¯re having fun on the outside. Like you¡¯re happy. But sometimes I can tell you¡¯re actually sad or even scared. There¡¯s nothing wrong with that, you know. You might be happier if you let the other feelings out properly too.¡± Mirage tenses with a flash of his fangs. ¡°I don¡¯t need any help. It¡¯s all playing around.¡± His voice is sharp, but the flare of emotion that prickles over my skin is more anxious than angry. Braced to give him more space, I dip my head apologetically. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m realizing that a lot of beings don¡¯t like it when I talk about how they feel. I really just¡­ It¡¯s all okay with me. I don¡¯t need you to be happy. If it¡¯s easier for you focusing on that, I wouldn¡¯t bother you about it.¡± Mirage opens his mouth and closes it again. An expression of consternation crosses his face. He gives his body a little shake, his fox ears shimmering into being through his ruddy hair. ¡°I don¡¯t want to take about it,¡± he says. I give him a sympathetic smile. ¡°I don¡¯t know your reasons, but there are things I don¡¯t like talking about either. I guess I have to remember that more when it comes to everyone else.¡± The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. His gaze darts to me, something shifting behind his bright brown gaze. ¡°You aren¡¯t trouble, Rainbow. The trouble¡¯s in here.¡± He touches the side of his head and then the front of his chest. ¡°I like how you are. When you¡¯re not asking about those things. You want everyone to be happy.¡± A spark of joy lights in my chest. ¡°Yes. Yes, I do.¡± ¡°Your powers made problems, but never on purpose.¡± ¡°I wish the only thing I ever did was make people happy.¡± Mirage hums. ¡°Sometimes playing makes problems too, even though it should all be fun. I don¡¯t¡­¡± He halts with another waft of discomfort, sharp as a kumquat. ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± I say softly. ¡°Whatever¡¯s happened, I¡¯m sorry it happened to you. But you don¡¯t have to tell me.¡± He doesn¡¯t say anything. He does reach out and clasp my hand. Warmth blooms over my skin from where our palms touch, and my smile turns a bit giddy. Then I feel the topsy-turvy emotions in a sudden jolt from just up ahead. I drop my voice to a whisper. ¡°I think we¡¯ve almost found¡­ whatever it is.¡± We creep along even more carefully, Mirage lifting his feet in an exaggerated pantomime and grinning at me. The trees thin around a small clearing, and I catch a glimpse of a hunched form between the trunks. I stop where I have a full view, studying the creature. It stands on tall legs like a giraffe¡¯s but twice as spindly, spikes jutting across its back and a thick tongue lolling from its crooked beak. It raises that beak toward the leaves of the nearest tree but can¡¯t seem to bite any off. A shudder of frustration runs through it, followed by another punch of tangled emotion. As I try to pick apart the scrambled impressions, the creature¡¯s entire body spasms. Its legs jerk to twice their previous height; its beak juts farther into a pointed, furred snout. My breath catches in my throat. ¡°It¡¯s another of those odd changing shadowkind.¡± I spoke at a murmur, but the creature¡¯s new form must come with keener ears. Its head snaps toward me. With a thin shriek, it bolts toward the trees on the other side of the clearing and dives into the shadows. Mirage springs forward. ¡°I¡¯ll catch it!¡± He flickers into fox form and then out of the physical world entirely in the space of a blink. I hustle after both him and the creature, but my physical legs are already tiring from the walk. When I push them to a run, twinges of pain reverberate from my ankles. Wincing, I slip into the swath of darkness along the edge of the clearing. But even when I throw myself forward as quickly as I can, I can¡¯t feel any other beings in front of me. They¡¯ve already outpaced me. I don¡¯t even know if they continued in the same direction or veered off somewhere. I stop, surrounded by unfamiliar trees and bushes. The chill of the breeze penetrates the shadows. With a shiver, I return to physical form. At least my awareness of the mortal world is clearer when I can use my senses fully. I can¡¯t see or hear or smell any trace of my companion or the creature we were tracking, though. If Mirage caught the beast, he¡¯d call for me to join him, wouldn¡¯t he? Turning around, I recognize none of my surroundings. I¡¯m not sure which direction I came from. Every stretch of trees and underbrush looks the same. How do I get back to the van from here? I should have laid down a path like that fairy tale with the two children. Shiny stones, not bread crumbles¡ªbread crumbs are only good for the birds. I walk a little ways in the direction I think will take me back to the clearing where we spotted the creature, but the trees never open up. I¡¯ve only gotten myself more lost. My arms come up to hug myself. It was important to find that creature. It might help us figure out what¡¯s going on, where the beings like it are coming from. But only if we can return to the others and tell them. What will Jonah think if he wakes up and I¡¯m still gone? Will Raze be angry? With Hail call me useless? I hug myself tighter and peer around me again. I should be calm and strong, but the yellowish glow that¡¯s tinting the nearby trunks tells me my hair is glowing with my growing fears. If Mirage hasn¡¯t caught the creature by now, I¡¯m not sure he will. He really shouldn¡¯t be following it on his own anyway, not after the last one attacked us out of the blue. Assuming he didn¡¯t simply abandon me. No. I don¡¯t believe that. I can still feel the comforting pressure of his hand around mine. I lift my voice to carry. ¡°Mirage? Mirage, where are you? I can¡¯t keep up. Mirage!¡± For several beats of my heart, there¡¯s no answer, no sign anything¡¯s heard me. Then a foxy head pops from between two bushes. Mirage transforms into human-esque as he bounds out. He grasps the sides of my arms. ¡°Are you all right?¡± He looks so concerned that my pulse flutters. I want to lean into him, but I¡¯m afraid he¡¯ll pull back rather than gathering me in an embrace. Instead, I duck my head. ¡°I was too slow, and I don¡¯t know where I am now. I¡¯m sorry.¡± Mirage snorts. ¡°Nothing to be sorry about. That shifty being was too quick for me too. Finding its trail was already hard before I heard you calling. Maybe Raze can tomorrow.¡± I exhale in relief that he isn¡¯t upset with me, at least. ¡°As long as we can find our way back to them.¡± He turns me so we¡¯re facing in the same direction, sliding one hand to tuck around my elbow. ¡°My nose is good enough to follow our trail. I¡¯ll get us back before anyone wails!¡± He pauses. ¡°If you¡¯ll count on me for that too.¡± I beam at him. ¡°Of course. Thank you¡ªfor coming, and for leading the way.¡± As Mirage smiles back at me, a wash of emotion streams off him like nothing I¡¯ve sensed from the fox shifter before, sweet and warm but poignant, like pork belly drizzled with salted caramel. For once, I know I¡¯ve done something right, even if I¡¯m not entirely sure what it was. Chapter 20

Periwinkle The next time Jonah pulls the van onto the shoulder, the sky is starting to darken with the end of our second day on the road. As we wait for Raze to arrive, I peer out across the rocky landscape with its cover of evergreens. We¡¯ve been winding through the back roads in this sparsely populated part of the world all day, periodically checking in with our best tracker. Raze has gamely followed the scent of the creature Mirage and I stumbled on last night on an erratic path through the wilderness, and we¡¯ve stuck as close to him as we can within the van. It takes several minutes for him to emerge from the shadows. He gives his broad shoulders a shake, his impressive muscles rippling across his sinewy arms. ¡°It just kept going to the northeast. I¡¯ve passed a few other scents that have a similar quality, but they¡¯re even older, so faint I¡¯m not sure I could keep track of them very far.¡± Jonah sighs and peers at the sky. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how much point there is in even continuing to follow this one. It might be roaming at random.¡± ¡°An excellent pep talk from the man in charge,¡± Hail drawls with an edge in his voice. I jump in. ¡°It was worth trying, at least. We didn¡¯t have any other leads. But Jonah, you must need to rest now after so much driving.¡± His fatigue trickles off of him like a thin, salty soup. Jonah shoots me a grateful smile. ¡°I¡¯m doing all right, but I¡¯m not sure how much longer I can keep it up. I think it¡¯s best if we find a place to park and camp out for the night, start tomorrow fresh.¡± Mirage spins around and launches himself into a tight flip against the wall of the van. ¡°Time to get out of this tin can!¡± ¡°Let me just see where a good spot would be. We don¡¯t want local police deciding we¡¯re suspicious and interfering.¡± Jonah consults his map and drives the van a little farther until we reach an overgrown lane that leads to a rusty gate. It doesn¡¯t look as if anyone¡¯s opened that gate in years. The padlock securing the chain is so rusted it might snap if I poked it. I thought the basilisk shifter was loping alongside us, preferring that over squeezing back into the vehicle, but there¡¯s no sign of him. I glance around, my forehead furrowing. ¡°What happened to Raze?¡± As he hops out the back of the van, Hail¡¯s voice takes on a disdainful note. ¡°He¡¯s probably off tearing the mortal wildlife into bloody pieces.¡± Right. Raze needs to feed to keep up his energy just like I do¡ªand he can¡¯t count on absorbing the nutrition he needs simply by hanging around beings with emotions. I grab the camping stove and help Jonah set it up on a mostly clear patch of gravel. By the time he¡¯s cooked his canned dinner and eaten most of it, Raze still hasn¡¯t returned. Remembering the reception he got last night after his hunt, I don¡¯t think I can blame him if he¡¯d rather stay away. But the thought that he thinks we¡¯d be more cruel than welcoming sends a pang of sadness through me. ¡°I¡¯m going to make sure Raze is okay,¡± I announce to the others. Hail snorts, which for once I can understand, since the idea of me protecting the much larger, much stronger shadowkind is pretty ridiculous¡ªif we were only talking about physical defense. Jonah simply nods. ¡°Just stay on the alert for other beings. We don¡¯t know when we might cross paths with another one that turns aggressive on a dime.¡± I can¡¯t follow scents the way Raze and Mirage can, but my emotional awareness has always been more sensitive when I get to know another being and their patterns better. I meander off the path and up a low slope dotted with lumps of granite, and as I leave the van behind, an impression I know is Raze creeps into my mind. He¡¯s sated and feeling both satisfied and a little ashamed of that. My heart hurts more, recognizing his conflicted emotions. I pick up my pace, hurrying through the brush as quickly as my short and unpredictably wobbly legs will take me. I can tell Raze has heard be coming before I see him. One crunch of a twig underfoot sets off a pepper-sharp twang of alarm that fades just as quickly. He can probably smell that it¡¯s me. I hope my shadowkind scent is at least a little pleasing. It would really suck if he¡¯s smelling dead fish or [something else unpleasant] whenever I¡¯m around. I¡¯ve only made it a short distance farther before the basilisk shifter comes to me. He marches between the trees with a purposeful stride and stops when we¡¯re in view of each other. His voice still has a hint of a growl, but it¡¯s mostly confused. ¡°What are you doing, Periwinkle?¡± I smile at him. ¡°Looking for you. It didn¡¯t seem fair that after all the work you¡¯ve done on your own the whole day, you¡¯d have to spend the entire night alone too.¡± His expression stays puzzled, his stance tensed. ¡°I¡¯m fine on my own. I prefer it.¡± I tip my head to the side. I¡¯m picking up frustration and defiance but also a whiff of longing. Definitely nothing that feels happy. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s true,¡± I say softly. ¡°At least not completely. I don¡¯t have to even talk if you don¡¯t want me to. I¡¯d be happy just sitting with you and seeing if that¡¯s better than sticking to yourself.¡± Raze scowls, but something softens in his dark eyes at the same time. ¡°Well, come on then, glowbug.¡± Despite his grumpy voice, something lights up inside me at the nickname. It sounds more fond than dismissive. As if he likes the fact that I glow, just like Mirage suggested he appreciates my rainbow of colors, whether I intend them or not. The basilisk shifter tramps across the slope the way he came, and I hustle along behind him. He glances back to check on me just as a spike of pain radiates up one ankle. I stumble, and Raze is there unexpectedly fast, grasping my elbow to steady me. He peers at me with a sudden solemnness. ¡°You¡¯re not clumsy. You¡¯ve been injured.¡± Maybe it makes sense that a being with keen predator instincts would pick up on the distinction. An uneasy flush spreads over my skin. I force another smile. ¡°It was a long time ago. It doesn¡¯t matter anymore.¡± I don¡¯t want to dredge up those awful memories by talking about it. Raze¡¯s thumb skims over my arm in a gentle arc. He echoes what I said to him just minutes ago: ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s true.¡± My throat tightens up. He¡¯s the only one who¡¯s ever noticed that much or at least who¡¯s bothered to show concern. ¡°I had a bad run-in with a cruel human,¡± I say, avoiding mentioning how long that ¡°run-in¡± lasted. ¡°He hurt me, and some of the wounds left lingering effects. But it doesn¡¯t bother me unless I¡¯m on my feet a lot or pushing myself hard.¡± This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Raze¡¯s lips draw back from his teeth, which extend into the razor sharp edges that come with his basilisk form. ¡°What man? Where is he now?¡± I can only answer honestly. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯d rather not even think about him. All right?¡± Raze expels a growl followed by a long, slow breath. Then, before I have time to realize what he¡¯s about to do, he scoops me up into his arms as if I weigh no more than a feather pillow. Tucking me against his broad chest, he strides onward. The feel of his sculpted muscles against my side and the heat of him encompassing me send all sorts of tingles through my body. Not the effect I¡¯d imagine he intended to provoke. A flare of need sparks between my legs. I haven¡¯t thought about that kind of closeness, about having it myself, in years. The few times I dabbled with other shadowkind in the past, it was enjoyable enough but never half as amazing as humans seem to think, for all they seek those moments. I didn¡¯t really know those beings, though. Just a quick romp with someone who caught my eye and had the same impulse. How much better might it be with someone I¡¯ve come to care for? Who cared about me? I shouldn¡¯t let my mind wander in that direction. Raze is only stopping me from slowing him down, not propositioning me. ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± I protest. ¡°I don¡¯t mind walking.¡± He lets out a decisive huff. ¡°I mind.¡± Something inside me wilts. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m slow. I¡ª¡± Raze stops and gazes down at me, his mouth gone taut. ¡°No. I mind you hurting when you¡¯re only trying to help me.¡± Oh. I stare back at him for a thump of my heart. He starts walking again, and I let myself relax in his careful embrace. He doesn¡¯t go much farther, just to a small clearing where a ridge of protruding rock sticks out like a bench. Raze lowers me gingerly onto one end and then sits down at the other, a few feet away. As if he assumes I wouldn¡¯t want him any closer than that. He might have good predatory instincts, but his attraction radar is way off. Or maybe he has picked up on my reactions and he¡¯s trying to discourage me because he doesn¡¯t see me that way? I push those muddled thoughts out of my head and focus on the man sitting next to me. I wanted to come with him for his benefit, not my own. I promised him he didn¡¯t have to talk to me, so I cross my legs on top of the ridge and simply peer off through the forest in the thickening dusk. The crickets are out again, chirping away like birds of the night, and a half-full moon has risen to cast its silvery light over us. The breeze licks through my hair, cool but not uncomfortably cold. Raze speaks without warning, his voice low and a little hoarse. ¡°You¡¯re always so¡­ nice to me.¡± I glance over at him with another twinge through my heart. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I be nice to you?¡± He¡¯s looking at the ground rather than me, his mouth twisted in a grimace. ¡°I wasn¡¯t very kind to you when you first came into the dorm. I tried to scare you off.¡± I hesitate before deciding I might as well try for more honesty. ¡°I could tell you weren¡¯t actually angry at me. You were more worried. Maybe a little scared yourself? I don¡¯t know why, but I could tell you didn¡¯t mean any harm.¡± A choked sound lurches out of him. ¡°I never mean any harm. It just¡­ It happens. You don¡¯t know how many people I¡¯ve hurt, how many beings¡­ If I don¡¯t stay totally in control, my powers can spill right out of me.¡± My stomach knots. ¡°I know how that feels.¡± Raze shakes his head. ¡°It can¡¯t be the same. I¡¯m a basilisk. I put on contacts to act as shields, but if I get upset, my true eyes can sear right through them¡ªand kill anything I look at. Poison seeps right out of my skin. Everything I see, everything I touch¡­¡± He glares down at his hands. ¡°I didn¡¯t want anything like that to happen to you. I want it even less now that I know how sweet you are.¡± He called me sweet. My pulse flutters despite the grimness of the rest of his words. I scoot a little closer on the ridge. ¡°You¡¯ve never hurt me at all. I¡¯m not afraid of you.¡± ¡°You should be, though. Everyone else is. Everyone knows what can happen if they¡¯re in the wrong place at the wrong time.¡± I dare to push myself closer and set my hand on his arm. He twitches at the contact but doesn¡¯t fully pull away. ¡°You carried me,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Nothing bad happened.¡± ¡°I made sure I was totally calm. I can tell there¡¯s nothing around that would startle me. And it was only for a few minutes. It was better than leaving you in pain.¡± I trace the bulging of his muscles, unable to resist my fascination with his powerful body. A quiver of emotion that¡¯s hot and heady like pecan pie straight out of the oven races through my veins from Raze at my touch. It¡¯s definitely not that he isn¡¯t interested. He¡¯s still trying to protect me, but mostly from himself. I tip my head to gaze up at him. ¡°What if you could do more than prevent pain? What if I¡¯d like you to hold me like that¡­ just because it feels good?¡± A strangled sort of groan escapes him. Raze gapes down at me as if he can¡¯t believe what I just said, but a starker rush of desire washes over me from him. I take the chance and bob up on my knees so I can press my lips to his. Raze¡¯s chest hitches, and then he¡¯s clutching me to him, his fingers twining with my hair, his mouth scorching as it devours mine. Every inch of my body blazes with a glow I can only feel, not see. Some of it tingles from my scalp into my hair. After a moment, a pinkish haze seeps through my closed eyelids. Raze will be able to see it too. Know how happy he¡¯s making me. How much I want this. No shame prickles through me with that knowledge. All I can do is keep kissing him with all the eagerness I have in me, my pulse skipping giddily. This incredible man, so compassionate and selfless beneath his ominous power. He¡¯s been so very lonely. I can taste it on his breath. But I light him up too. I¡¯ve proven that not everyone will see him and want to run away. Raze¡¯s lips crash against mine once more. The kiss has barely begun before he wrenches himself away from me. His chest heaves with rough breaths. I tense up, but he holds up his hand before I can really start to worry. ¡°It¡¯s not you. That was¡ªThat was¡ª I wanted it. More than I should have. But if I get caught up, I can¡¯t make sure you stay safe.¡± I swallow hard. We still have a long way to go. ¡°All right,¡± I say. ¡°Will you come back to the van with me? I think everyone will want to see you¡¯re okay. And you can keep me safe while I sleep too.¡± Raze¡¯s eyes widen. He dips his head, but I can still feel his reluctance. ¡°I¡¯ll do that. For you.¡± Chapter 21

Hail The fragments of ice spin above my palm in a controlled whirl. I focus on them rather than the rumble of the van, my ¡°teammates¡± sitting in it around me, and the forested hills looming outside the windows. In my head, I sort through the possibilities of the forms I might create. If we were back at the school, I¡¯d generally pick something that provided an obvious challenge, a feat of visible intricacy that would have my audience gasping in awe. But I don¡¯t give a fuck about impressing the screw-up fox, the pipsqueak, or the prick at the wheel. So I settle on something just for myself. Still a challenge, but one you wouldn¡¯t realize unless you picked apart the internal structure¡ªone that¡¯ll keep my mind occupied and away from all the thoughts niggling at the edges of my attention. At a nudge of my will, the particles spiral closer together. Bit by bit, they meld into a larger pieces of the structure. The sculpture trembles with a bump of the van over a pothole, but my concentration prevents it from breaking apart. More and more frozen crystals condense into the larger whole. When it¡¯s finished, the final creation looks like not much more than a lump on my hand¡ªa mountain crag dotted with ripples of forest and a snowy cap, with a waterfall tumbling to a pool at the base. Only I know that behind that waterfall lies a network of caves full of all sorts of beings bustling around, sharing meals, playing music, or simply lying sprawled in relaxation. A short, curvy figure slides over to the seat next to me. The cream puff peers at my creation and then smiles at me. ¡°Your sculptures always look so real. Is that a place you¡¯ve actually been?¡± Only in distant daydreams. I curl my fingers and disintegrate the sculpted ice into a sprinkling of snow. ¡°I don¡¯t need to have seen something to conjure it up. Some of us have an imagination.¡± I¡¯ve kept my tone archly disdainful, but Periwinkle¡¯s smile doesn¡¯t budge. ¡°You must have a very good one. Can you stop them from melting, or do they always only last a little while?¡± I think of the immense ice structures that fill my dorm room, turning it into an enclave of hopes still out of reach. ¡°They last as long as I want them to. My powers aren¡¯t so shaky.¡± If she picks up on the intended jab at her own pathetic glow, she gives no sign. ¡°You could make a whole collection of them, then. Put on a show like humans do¡ªin a gallery! I bet all kinds of beings, shadowkind and mortal, would like to look at what you can do.¡± The earnest admiration in her voice and the picture she¡¯s drawn of me gathering all those beings together wash over me like a warm breeze. For a second, the chilly words I¡¯d like to say melt in my chest. I have the absurd urge to keep listening to her. What the fuck is wrong with me? What¡¯s wrong with her that she¡¯s showering me with her supposed kindness when I¡¯ve given her nothing but cold shoulders and disdain? Does none of it faze her at all? My confusion wakes up my temper with a sharper edge. ¡°Put on a performance for mortals? What kind of idiot would want to do that? Other than you, obviously.¡± Peri doesn¡¯t so much as flinch, but the lean figure sitting on the other side of the van snaps his head around. The fox shifter¡¯s lips draw back from his fangs. ¡°It takes one to know one,¡± he says in a singsong voice like a mortal child¡¯s taunt, but his bright eyes glitter with an unexpected warning. Since when is he the pipsqueak¡¯s bodyguard? I narrow my eyes at Mirage. ¡°Spoken like another idiot.¡± His grin turns fiercer. ¡°We can battle it out for the top spot. How many tails do you have?¡± Before I can decide how I¡¯m even supposed to answer that, Peri holds out her hands. ¡°Hey. No one¡¯s an idiot here. We¡¯re just figuring out how to be a team.¡± She meets my gaze. ¡°I¡¯m sorry if I was too pushy.¡± How is it that my irritation simmers down with just that one sentence? The softness of her apology leaves me as speechless as when she told me how amazing I was for freezing the strange shadowkind beast that tried to attack us. I grit my teeth. It doesn¡¯t make sense that she has any kind of effect on me. Especially when I can¡¯t seem to affect her at all. Mirage lets out a little huff, but he leans back in his seat as if mollified. I consider tossing another barb at him to show I¡¯m not so easily tamed, but right then the van sways with a turn onto the shoulder. Up front, our sorcerer babysitter rolls down the window and leans out. ¡°Have you found something?¡± I turn toward the window closest to me. The callous carnivore who¡¯s acting as our tracker has materialized on the side of the road. Raze nods, his tan face tense with urgency. ¡°I caught another trail. It smells like there are a few of those odd creatures together. They traveled alongside the road for a little while but then veered away into the deeper wilderness. You¡¯ll only be getting farther away if you keep driving.¡± Jonah grimaces, but he cuts the engine. ¡°We¡¯d better continue on foot, then. If we can catch up with them or find out where they were going, we¡¯ll need all our skills.¡± Will we? Does the sorcerer expect me to lock them in ice like I did the first one? I don¡¯t think that poor beast deserved it. It wasn¡¯t acting remotely aggressive until its sudden turnabout. Something else is going on with these shadowkind. Rollick told us to investigate, not to slaughter them. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Do I really think I can protect them from that lug of a basilisk shifter if he decides to tear into them like his dinner? Jonah swivels in his seat to peer back at us. ¡°All right, everyone out. We¡¯re going for a hike.¡± I pull my lips back in a sneer. Fragile mortal boy who can only stand alongside us because of his foul magic. Any of us, even the pipsqueak, could crush him if we moved fast enough that he couldn¡¯t get one of those sorcerous commands out. But he thinks he should get to order us around. ¡°Of course, oh fearless leader,¡± I say with all the sarcasm I can bring to the words. Jonah frowns at me. His reply comes out flat. ¡°Then get going, Hail. The important thing is finding these beings, if you want to be finished with this mission sooner rather than later.¡± It¡¯s particularly annoying that he has a point. I keep my sneer in place and wait for Peri and Mirage to step out the back doors before I deign to follow, but I don¡¯t put up any more argument. At least the fresh, piney breeze outside revitalizes me after the comparative stuffiness of the van. We set off between the trees, Raze leading the way with his basilisk tongue periodically flicking from his hulking otherwise humanesque form. A couple of squirrels chitter from a tree branch overhead, and a sparrow flutters past us, but there¡¯s no sign of humans nearby. Just untamed wilderness, all that guileless life completely free. The best of the mortal realm laid out before us. Only the knowledge of the confrontation that might lie ahead of us stops me from enjoying it. We tramp across several shallow inclines and dips, the brush tugging at our legs, before the ground slopes more steeply upward. Rough knobs of rock protrude from the soil amid the trees and shrubs. The effort of climbing sends a prickling sensation through the muscles in my legs that I haven¡¯t experienced often before. Physical bodies have so many unexpected quirks. We¡¯re about halfway up the hillside when Raze leans forward and inhales more deeply. ¡°The smell is thickening quickly. I think they might be¡ª¡± Before he can finish the sentence, a dozen dark shapes hurtle over the crest of the hill, racing toward us. The shadowkind creatures lunge into our midst, jagged teeth snapping here, bladed claws slashing there. They leap and thrash so wildly I can¡¯t make out more than glimpses of fur and feathers and scales. I stumble backward and manage to knock aside one creature¡¯s snapping jaws with a swift thrust of my arm. Raze roars and throws himself at the densest cluster of them, shifting into his immense lizard-like form as he does. His maw closes around one beast¡¯s neck with a crack of its spine and a gush of smoky essence. His pitch-black eyes sear into another being so viciously it squeals and spasms. I dodge a third creature, this one the size of a wolf but covered in coarse hide like a rhino. It throws itself at me sideways, spines jutting from its skin, and all I can do to keep myself from getting impaled is hurl a blast of ice at it. Even through the jolt of fear, I don¡¯t want to kill it. None of this makes sense. Why would these beings suddenly group together to attempt to slaughter us? But in the chaos of the moment, the bolt of frigid energy hits the creature not just in the legs as I intended but in its lower torso too. It keels over, eyes glazing. I¡¯ve stopped its heart. Guilt clogs my throat. I take another step back, my gaze darting over the scene of the battle. Raze is just tearing into another of the beasts, one as large as a tiger. Jonah is shouting out words in his sorcerous language that sets my skin creeping. I can¡¯t see that any of the shadowkind in the onslaught are responding to his commands. What provoked this rage? We have to be missing something. The atmosphere of the forest resonates through me. I¡¯m a creature of the wilderness myself. I focus all my senses on the rampaging beasts, seeking any sign of what¡¯s driving them, some threat they might be reacting to. What I see leaves me colder than before. There¡¯s just¡­ nothing. I can¡¯t pick up any actual fury in the creatures¡¯ furious violence. No impression of instincts kicking in, no signals of panic or protective agitation. All of my own instincts around wild places and the balance maintained within them tell me this is a totally mindless frenzy. To my right, Mirage springs in front of Peri to pounce on a ferret-sized beast that hurled itself at her. Raze rips open yet another being among the several smoking bodies already littering the hillside. The remaining few creatures seem to recognize that the tables have completely turned, though I still don¡¯t catch any signs of distress. They simply wheel in tandem and bolt up the hill the way they came. Raze goes still over the corpse he just savaged and shifts back into humanlike form, his chest heaving. Jonah glances around at the rest of us, his face grayed. ¡°Is everyone all right? Any injuries?¡± ¡°A few scratches,¡± Raze rumbles. ¡°Nothing that won¡¯t heal quickly.¡± My bewilderment comes out in rancor. ¡°We¡¯re all fine. But what the fuck happened there? Aren¡¯t you supposed to be wielding your power to harness the demented beasts, sorcerer boy?¡± Jonah cuts his gaze toward me with a twist of his mouth that prods the guilt still wound in my chest. He isn¡¯t happy with the results of this battle either, even if we ¡°won.¡± He drags in a rough breath before answering. ¡°I tried. My sorcery wouldn¡¯t catch hold with any of them.¡± Peri¡¯s forehead furrows. ¡°Is it because they¡¯re the strange kind of shadowkind? But you were able to control that one we came across before.¡± ¡°I was.¡± Jonah¡¯s expression darkens. ¡°The only cases I¡¯ve ever come across in the past where sorcery wasn¡¯t effective¡­ it was because another sorcerer had already imposed their control. It takes a lot more power to break someone else¡¯s command than to place your own.¡± Ah. So we can blame more humans for at least part of this mess? What a stunning surprise. Mirage has bounded up the slope and is peering over the crest. ¡°They ran east. Should we follow them?¡± Jonah¡¯s revelation and everything I know about the patterns of the natural world collide into a knot of certainty at the base of my throat. ¡°No. If we want to get to the source of the problem, we need to follow their trail backward and find out where they came from.¡± And which malicious mortal pointed them in our direction. Chapter 22

Periwinkle Night is falling through the forest around us. The trees have turned to silhouettes, the sky to slate-gray. The only thing that stops me from constantly stumbling on the uneven ground is my awareness of the shadows cloaking it. Jonah aims the beam of the penlight attached to his keys at the terrain just ahead of him, needing the extra guidance. Mirage and Hail have long since merged with the shadows, and Raze only flickers out occasionally to give us glimpses of the trail to follow, but the sorcerer has to rely on his two legs. So I¡¯ve been doing the same as much as I can. It doesn¡¯t seem fair to leave him tramping onward as if he¡¯s alone. Unfortunately, the pangs shooting up my legs from my sensitive feet and ankles are sharpening by the minute. We¡¯ve been on the trail of that violent pack of shadowkind for hours. The pain stirs memories I don¡¯t want to be thinking about right now¡ªnoxious metals pressed against or into my skin, muttered words in the strange language that weaves right into my mind. Jonah said the beasts that attacked us were probably under the control of another sorcerer. I can¡¯t see how that human could be anything but malicious if they¡¯re forcing shadowkind creatures to rampage through the forest. Sorcerers are dangerous. Sorcerers push and cut and hurt¡­ I breathe as slowly and deeply as I can and stay quiet, hoping Jonah willw take my silence for fatigue. I don¡¯t want to talk about the other emotions roiling inside me. Of course, I don¡¯t always get a say about what shows. As we pass through a small clearing, Jonah veers closer to me. ¡°Are you picking up on any impressions that worry you?¡± My gaze darts to him. ¡°No. Why would you think so?¡± He dips his head at an apologetic angle. ¡°I¡¯ve just noticed¡ªyour hair¡¯s been flickering here and there with a bit of that glow it gets when you¡¯re feeling something strongly. Kind of an orange-y color that looks uneasy to me. But maybe I¡¯m misinterpreting.¡± He¡¯s not, but I don¡¯t want to tell him that. I also don¡¯t want to lie. I grapple with the problem for a few seconds before deciding to take a page from Mirage¡¯s book and turn it into a joke. ¡°It¡¯s great being a walking mood ring. Always showing what¡¯s going on in there whether I want to or not. It¡¯s pretty spooky being out here when it¡¯s getting dark, don¡¯t you think?¡± I haven¡¯t exactly deceived him, but he can assume the atmosphere is what¡¯s unsettled me. Jonah lets out a rough chuckle. ¡°You can say that again. Maybe we should head back¡­ but we might not find a lead this good again.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the only one of us who needs sleep,¡± I remind him. ¡°It really should be up to you.¡± He smiles tightly. ¡°I can keep going for now. Rollick is counting on us.¡± I¡¯m not paying enough attention, and my next step brings my foot into a dip at a bad angle. The searing ache that lances up my calf has me biting my lip against a gasp. My nerves jitter, and this time I catch the flare of orange glower from my hair before I calm myself. As much as I hate to abandon Jonah, awfully soon I won¡¯t be able to hide my discomfort. ¡°My physical body is getting kind of tired,¡± I say as an excuse. ¡°I¡¯m going to slip into the shadows for a little while to give it a break.¡± And to rest my throbbing legs. Jonah nods without any sign of distress. But then, he¡¯d never make me feel guilty over something like that, and he¡¯s good at keeping his own emotions simmered down. Maybe I should ask him to give me some lessons alongside Shanty¡¯s¡­ if we ever get back to the academy. I hop into the nearest patch of darkness and ripple onward with all bodily sensations dispelled. In the shadows, I¡¯m more clearly aware of Raze following the trail ahead of us, Mirage bouncing here and there among the trees to my left, Hail¡¯s presence flowing along at a more measured rhythm farther to my right. At least he hasn¡¯t taken off completely like the fae man has sometimes acted like he wants to. The sky is completely black when Raze pops out of the shadows and stays corporeal. He speaks in a hushed voice. ¡°I think we¡¯ve found something.¡± I leap onward to the darkness to his side and find myself at the edge of a larger clearing. Reaching the clearing at the same time, Jonah points his light where Raze has indicated. A log cabin stands against the trees at the far end of the clearing. It¡¯s a squat structure, only one story tall and maybe twenty feet across. A smaller wooden shed stands beside it. Moss creeps across both buildings¡¯ walls and roofs, and no light glints through the single dingy window. As I pull myself back into human-like form, Jonah peers at it, braced as if for an attack. The other men materialize around us. ¡°I smell a human¡¯s presence as well as shadowkind,¡± Raze says. ¡°Just one. Male. But not very fresh. No one¡¯s here right now¡ªprobably not for hours.¡± Jonah frowns at the main structure. ¡°It looks like a hunting cabin. The kind of place you¡¯d trek out to on brief trips, not expect to stay in for more than a few days. Did the shadowkind creatures hang around here very long or just pass by?¡± Raze stalks around the edges of the clearing, his reptilian tongue flicking over his lips. I gaze down at the ground and notice the imprint of a boot sole in the dirt. Not too long but wide. Like the person who made it was as short and stout as that cabin. An image of a man who fit that description wavers up from the depths of my mind, and I close my eyes. My pulse stutters in my veins with a fresh prickle of pain through my ankles. It¡¯s okay. Raze just said that no one¡¯s here. And whoever was here, it obviously couldn¡¯t have been that man. Raze returns with a grim expression. ¡°As far as I can tell, most of the shadowkind creatures that were here recently came from different directions. The faintest trails are scattered. The most recent trail is all of them together, heading in the direction where they ran into us.¡± Hail¡¯s voice is flat and cold. ¡°So the sorcerer gathered them here and then sent them off on a hunt.¡± Jonah grimaces. ¡°It appears that way. Let¡¯s take a closer look and see what we can find.¡± As we walk closer to the cabin, his light glints off tiny shapes amid the scruffy grass. Mirage leaps in before I have a chance to look at them more closely. ¡°Stars on the ground to match the sky!¡± An instant later, he recoils with a wince. ¡°Stars that burn¡ªwe¡¯d better learn. They¡¯re silver and iron.¡± I halt, peering down at the trampled earth. Little ringlets of pale gray metal shine amid the grass¡ªfew enough of them that I can barely pick up on their repelling quality from here. My forehead furrows. ¡°They look almost like¡­¡± My voice trails off with an icy smack that hits me in the gut. Hail finishes for me. ¡°Links from one of those hunter nets.¡± I can¡¯t restrain my shiver. My heart is suddenly pounding twice as fast. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Why wouldn¡¯t this sorcerer use the same tricks to subdue shadowkind? From what Gnash said, all kinds of human hunters rely on those tools. Even the academy¡¯s staff turn to the metals shadowkind find noxious when they need to contain us. But the prickling sensation has spread all over my skin. Echoes of interlocking links searing into my limbs and face¡­ I swallow thickly and try to drag in a steadying breath, but the air flows shakily into my lungs. My stomach has balled into one big knot. My legs stiffen under me. ¡°I¡¯m going to stay out here. Keep watch. I¡¯ll shout if I see anything.¡± Jonah shoots me a concerned look, but I manage to smile at him. When Raze hesitates as if to stand guard over me, our ringleader beckons to him. ¡°Come on. We might need that sense of smell of yours to help us investigate.¡± All four of the men push into the cabin. I take a couple of steps back from the scattered links and reach for the exercises Shanty started to teach me. If I can just smooth my breathing out¡­ Picture somewhere calming. The park in that city¡ª A crackle amid the underbrush makes my pulse lurch. He could be coming, storming back here to capture us all. We have to¡ª I clench my hands against the blare of panic. No. What¡¯s happening here has nothing to do with my past. I need to get a grip on myself, calm down, and actually help with this mission. The thought has only just passed through my head when Mirage bursts out of the cabin clutching a few metal objects in his arms. ¡°Look what we found!¡± They don¡¯t gleam as brightly in the dim moonlight as the bits of netting did in Jonah¡¯s penlight beam, but I can make out their shapes well enough. A tarnished, scuffed medal, a small trophy cup with a dent in the side, and a figurine that I think is an award, the head knocked right off. Panic floods my mind all over again. All I can see is the display case in that basement room, all the memorabilia the one who caged me kept of his ¡°defeated enemies.¡± A wail careens from my mouth. He¡¯s found me again¡ªhe¡¯s going to trap me and haul me away and¡ª The horror explodes out of me in a wave of darkness thicker than any part of the night. Mirage yelps, and there¡¯s a shout from somewhere behind him. Distress and pain, reverberating into me from all of them¡ª A few firm words cut through the cacophony in my head. I jerk the agonized energy pouring out of me back inside, reigning it in by some means I didn¡¯t know I had. Then I¡¯m standing there, trembling and panting, staring at Jonah¡ªwho just gave me a sorcerous command to stop. I only get a glimpse of his fraught expression where he¡¯s standing in the cabin doorway before he¡¯s spinning toward the other men. ¡°Is everyone okay? If you need to take to the shadows for a bit to recover, we can sort out the rest after.¡± Mirage is lying on the ground just a few steps away from me, the trinkets he was holding strewn on the ground, his arms wrapped around his stomach. Little puffs of essence drift of up over his body, but he inhales raggedly and opens his eyes. ¡°It hit hard, but not too deep,¡± he says. His gaze flicks to me with a knitting of his brow. ¡°So many secrets to keep.¡± Hail is leaning against the cabin¡¯s outer wall, one hand clutching the side of his face, the other tucked under that arm. His pale cheek looks scraped raw, more essence trickling off of him. He simply stares at me, but he¡¯s on his feet, so Jonah must decide he¡¯s not on the verge of keeling over. And Raze¡­ Raze crouches on the ground on the other side of the door. As I watch, he shifts from basilisk to humanoid form. Maybe his scales protected him some, but he obviously didn¡¯t bring them out immediately. A few patches of the bronze skin on his arms give off whisps of essence. Only Jonah looks uninjured. He was the farthest back¡ªhe must have gotten me under control before the worst effects of my outburst got to him. Or maybe my strange power hurts shadowkind faster than it does mortal beings. My throat closes up so tightly it takes several seconds before I can pry it open enough to speak. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry. I didn¡¯t mean¡ªI got scared¡ªthe emotions overwhelmed me.¡± My voice breaks with a hitch. I wrench my gaze to Jonah. ¡°Thank you for interrupting the outburst. When the emotions surge out of me like that, I don¡¯t know how to yank them back on my own.¡± Or if some part of me does, responding to his command, it¡¯s not a conscious part. He offers a tentative smile, but the other three men are all staring at me. Shame tingles through my hair, casting a reddish-orange glow into the air around me. Hail, for all his impenetrable cool, winces. When it''s clear this emission isn''t going to hurt him, he seems to feel he needs to recover his honor with a caustic remark. It ends up sounding more stunned than snarky. "How the fuck does a pipsqueak like you fling out a power like that?" Raze doesn''t say anything, but his jaw works. I can feel how taken aback he is in the salty-bitter torrent of emotion coursing off him. I told him we''d protect each other, and then I hurt him. I take another step back, my eyes filling with tears. The urge grips me to spring into the shadows and flee, as far away from here as I can get. If I move fast, Jonah might not be able to catch me. I could go all the way around the world, never set foot within a thousand miles of the academy again, be ever so careful how I ease in and out of the mortal world. It would be better for them too, wouldn''t it? At my next backward step, Jonah speaks up in a quiet, steady voice. "Peri, it''s going to be okay. You''re not in trouble. You didn''t do that on purpose." I swipe at the first tears that trickle down my cheeks. What does it matter when I injured my supposed team anyway? He keeps talking in the same soothing tone. "Something upset you¡ªit set you off. That might be the key to figuring out what we''re dealing with here. Stay with us, and let''s work it out." If he had any idea¡ªwhat upset me was something from months and years ago, nothing that''s really here. Just a few vague similarities... But what if this sorcerer is similar to my former captor? Is it possible that what I know about that awful man could be useful in finding this one? Mirage has rolled onto his feet. He studies me with his bright eyes, his mouth slanted. "You didn''t mean to hurt us, did you, Rainbow?" A choked sound escapes me. "No. Of course not. I never do." Hail''s eyebrows shoot up to the fringe of his pale hair. "How often have you exploded like that?" More times than I want to admit to. But before I can decide how to answer, Raze''s eyes widen even more. "That was like¡ªright before we were threatened with banishment. You were upset about our dorm room. There was this surge of darkness..." I have to answer the question in his voice. "Yes. That was me. That''s why I''m here." Hail blinks, looking at me as if he''s never seen me before. Jonah breaks into that line of conversation, setting a reassuring hand on my arm. "You can help us finish this mission, Peri. Tell us what bothered you." Deep down, a lot of me still wants to escape all their bewildered gazes and vanish into the woods. But every memory of past pain summons a growing determination to make sure it doesn''t happen again. Isn''t that what I''ve been trying to do all along? How can I say I want to make up for the wounds I''ve dealt before if I don''t do everything possible to stop this new threat now? I consider Jonah''s face, focusing on the emotions simmering beneath his controlled surface. Watching for a lie. "Are you going to tell Rollick that I lost control?" If I''m going to be banished as soon as we go back to the school... I don''t know if it''ll change anything, but I''d at least like to be prepared. Jonah shakes his head. "You didn¡¯t do any significant harm. And now we know that my sorcery can reign in your power, at least if I catch you early on in an outburst. That makes you less of a threat, not more." Is he going to follow me around every day we''re back at school? Actually, that idea gives me a bit of a thrill that I''m not sure he''d appreciate. I rub my hand across my face again and square my shoulders. "Okay. I''m not sure how much I can help, but I''ll try. There are a few things here... They remind me of a sorcerer I knew before." Chapter 23

Mirage Peri isn¡¯t a being who¡¯s meant to look so sad. Even though my body is still prickling, tiny whiffs of essence shedding from my flesh as it knits itself back together¡ªeven though she sent out the blast that scored my skin¡ªthe sight of her drooped head has me bristling on her behalf. Something here reminded her of someone who hurt her. Flickers of the past¡ªblazing lights, glinting metal¡ªdart through my head. My voice sharpens. ¡°What did that sorcerer do? We should string him up, shoot him down.¡± Raze¡¯s growl echoes my mood. ¡°If the mortal who¡¯s responsible for turning those creatures savage is the one who attacked you before¡ª¡± Peri shakes her head quickly with a swish of her teal hair. She lifts her chin, girding her stance even more in the leather jacket and ripped jeans which can¡¯t completely disguise the softness of her body. ¡°Whoever is messing around with the shadowkind up here, it can¡¯t be the same one. He¡ªhe didn¡¯t live anywhere near here. He wouldn¡¯t have gone off somewhere with hardly any other people around.¡± Our own sorcerer gazes at her steadily. ¡°It sounds like you knew him well. And obviously they aren¡¯t good memories. Will you tell us what happened?¡± Peri¡¯s jaw wobbles, and I have the urge to shout out, ¡°Stop!¡± To conjure bright and sparkly images around us that will make her giggle and grin rather than tremble on the verge of tears. I want to understand, but I know how those kinds of memories can scrape at you too. Leave you raw on the inside where no one can see but the stinging never really ends. Before I can finish grappling with the impulse, Peri speaks in a voice gone unusually flat. ¡°He had me caged for a little while. It was very painful and scary. I try not to think about it, because if I get too caught up¡­¡± She motions to us with an apologetic grimace. Hail lets out a huff where he¡¯s now standing stiffly straight by the cabin, his cheek no longer wisping essence. ¡°So you go around blasting burning shadows all over the place? I can¡¯t see why they haven¡¯t banished you already.¡± Raze spins on him. ¡°She¡¯s obviously trying to avoid it.¡± Hail¡¯s voice turns even more disdainful, though his dark gaze lingers on Peri a little more avidly than I like. ¡°Trying and failing plenty.¡± His attention shifts to Jonah. ¡°And none of us were warned what the pipsqueak is capable of.¡± Our sorcerer frowns at him. ¡°I haven¡¯t informed the rest of the team of every harmful thing you¡¯ve ever done. If you want everyone to have a full accounting, I don¡¯t think you¡¯d come out ahead, Hail. So maybe keep the judgments to yourself.¡± The fae man¡¯s mouth tightens, but he does shut up. Peri has deflated again all the same. It¡¯s hard to imagine looking at her now that all that searing power burst from this meek being. But it did. I¡¯ve never felt anything like that from any of the shadowkind I¡¯ve tangled with. There¡¯s so much I don¡¯t really know about her. How much is that because I haven¡¯t actually tried? Because I¡¯ve dodged out of our conversations every time they got at all intense? I let myself be surprised. Peri exhales shakily. ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s wrong with me that I have those outbursts. It doesn¡¯t seem right that our powers should break out of us when we don¡¯t want them to, does it? I want to stop it from happening.¡± She pauses, and a starker sheen of tears forms in her bright eyes. ¡°I want to be part of the team. I want to help track down this sorcerer and make sure he doesn¡¯t do any more awful things. But if the rest of you don¡¯t feel safe with me around anymore¡­ I won¡¯t make you.¡± As she swipes at the moisture, an ache expands through my entire body. If she doesn¡¯t pitch in, Rollick and the other administrators will pitch her out¡ªout of the academy, out of the entire mortal realm. ¡°I want to keep working with you,¡± I say quickly, in as cheerful a voice as I can summon. ¡°You keep us on our toes. I like the excitement!¡± Hail curls his lip at me, but I¡¯m being honest. I could tell Peri was sweet, but her softness made me nervous. How could she be comfortable around a being like me with so much mischief and chaos in my nature? But it turns out she¡¯s got some chaos of her own. Maybe that¡¯s why she¡¯s never seemed rattled, no matter what I¡¯m doing around her. What other powers might she show off next? She might beat this awful sorcerer down all by herself¡ªand I¡¯ll happily watch. Raze nods, stepping closer to Peri with a protective air that makes me want to slip closer too for reasons I can¡¯t explain. It¡¯s not as if I could defend her better than he can with all that muscly strength. She also needs someone to keep her spirits up and a smile on her face, doesn¡¯t she? I can do better at that. The lizard man bares his teeth briefly. ¡°We¡¯ve all made mistakes and had trouble controlling our powers. That¡¯s why we got sent on this mission. You¡¯ve been complaining that Peri isn¡¯t powerful enough¡ªdon¡¯t start complaining that she can do too much.¡± ¡°I¡¯d rather her not be powerful in a way that can wound us,¡± Hail mutters, but without much energy to the words. He considers Peri again. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you can blast people who deserve it when you want to? That might be useful.¡± A shiver runs through Peri¡¯s body that brings back my urge to deflect and distract. Even if she can lash out like that, I don¡¯t think she likes the idea. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to control the power either way,¡± she says quietly. ¡°Not preventing it when it starts to happen on its own or making it happen when it isn¡¯t already. But I¡¯m working on getting there.¡± Hail hums. ¡°We¡¯ll just have to see, then.¡± His tone is arch, but he seems to be accepting her presence, however resigned he¡¯s acting about it. Jonah claps his hands together. ¡°Yes. We¡¯ll see if this team can hold together, but we¡¯d better all do our best to make that happen. Now why don¡¯t we take a closer look at this cabin.¡± His tone gentles when he turns to Peri. ¡°Do you think you¡¯ll be okay to go inside and look around? What was it that you saw that set off your emotions?¡± A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. She drags in a breath and appears to steady herself. ¡°There was a footprint¡ªI thought it looked around the right size to match the sorcerer I knew. But that doesn¡¯t tell us a lot. He was kind of short but wide¡ªa lot of mortals are shaped that way.¡± She points toward the cabin. ¡°And the metal on the ground¡ªlinks from a hunter¡¯s net¡ªhe used those, but so do all the hunters and probably lots of sorcerers too. What really did it¡­¡± Her gaze drops to the scattered objects I carried out of the cabin, their dingy sides glinting faintly where they¡¯ve tumbled to the ground. Peri¡¯s mouth twists. ¡°The medal and the trophy and all that¡­ He had a display case full of those kinds of things. He stole them from¡­ from people he didn¡¯t like and wanted to punish. It reminded me so vividly, when I was already unnerved. I¡¯m sorry.¡± I scoop up the trinkets I found so intriguing and tuck them out of her view. ¡°My fault for being so hasty.¡± Peri shakes her head. ¡°You were excited because you thought you¡¯d found something useful. Maybe you did. Are there any names on those or other information about who owned them?¡± I plop down on the ground and lay out my three bits of loot. The others gather closer to inspect them too. The disc on a ribbon only says, ¡°Valedictorian¡± with no other words. The cup-like one and the little metal statue have wooden bases with a bar of metal attached. The bars look like they used to have some words etched into them, but they¡¯ve been scuffed and scratched up so much it¡¯s impossible to make out more than a few random letters. Jonah glances at Peri. ¡°The sorcerer you knew¡ªdid he damage the mementos he held on to like this?¡± Peri frowns. ¡°No. I mean, most of them were dinged up, but I¡¯m pretty sure they still had the names on them. I think he wanted to remember who each had come from. Where did you find them, Mirage?¡± ¡°The cabin has a trap door going down to a basement. Sneaky sorcerer.¡± I flick out my claws briefly. ¡°They were lying on the floor near a table. Not much else down there.¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t take a very thorough look the first time,¡± Jonah points out. Peri straightens up. ¡°Let¡¯s do that now, then.¡± Hail eyes her. His voice sounds both wary and amused. ¡°Are you sure you can handle that, cream puff?¡± She meets his eyes steadily. ¡°I¡¯m calmed down now. I know we¡¯re not up against the same sorcerer who captured me. If I¡¯m staying with the team, I¡¯m going to do everything I can to get to the bottom of this problem.¡± She marches into the cabin ahead of the rest of us, showing none of the nerves that seemed to hold her back earlier. I bound after her, wondering what she¡¯ll make of the space that seemed mostly drab to me. The main room of the cabin holds a small kitchen area with a wood-burning stove, a sink, and a cooler with a layer of water in the bottom, maybe from melted ice. Next to that is a tiny table with a single chair. The other half of the main room is totally empty. You¡¯d expect to find a bed there. Maybe the sorcerer brings it away when he leaves? The trap door lies open. Peri¡¯s stance tenses, but she heads down the rickety stairs without hesitating. She stops at the bottom, peering around the nearly completely black space with her natural shadowkind awareness of the dark. ¡°The sorcerer I knew kept the beings he trapped in his basement. It makes sense. Easier to keep us out of view if he needed to bring someone who didn¡¯t know into the main house. Easier to set up protections against escaping. But there are no cages or protections down here. Not even nets.¡± Jonah descends after her with the gleam of his artificial light. He didn¡¯t make it down to the basement when I was first inspecting it. He scans the walls, his brow knitting. ¡°There isn¡¯t much of anything down here. It¡¯s like whoever was using the place cleared it out and left.¡± ¡°The sorcerer couldn¡¯t have known we were coming,¡± Hail puts in. ¡°We came straight here after the attack that was obviously meant to kill us.¡± Raze makes a rough sound of frustration. ¡°Maybe he moves around a lot. That¡¯s a better strategy for a predator who doesn¡¯t want to be turned into prey.¡± Peri pokes around the room a little more, a faint bluish glow forming in her hair. It looks as disappointed as her tone. ¡°I can¡¯t see anything that would help us know where he went.¡± Our sorcerer gives her arm a quick pat. ¡°It¡¯s all right. None of us can make any sense of this situation. I¡¯m going to get in touch with Rollick and let him know about this development.¡± Pulling out his phone, he clambers back up the stairs. After he¡¯s typed his first text message onto the screen, he turns to Raze. ¡°Can you follow the human scent you picked up and see where he went when he left here?¡± Raze dips his head and leaps into the shadows on the way out the door. The rest of us return to the clearing in front of it. Peri meanders along the edge of the clearing as if looking for more clues. The determination on her face tugs at me to join her. I extend three of my tails as I do, swirling them in a playful spiral, but she hardly seems to notice, let alone give me the laugh I wanted. She just shoots me a small smile that¡¯s more sad than joyful and continues her search. An uneasy tension ripples through my chest. When she¡¯s talked to me, she¡¯s always tried to understand me or to show that she already does. To make room for whatever ugly feelings I¡¯m holding in that even I don¡¯t want to face. What if she needs the same thing now? To know that she isn¡¯t alone in having a painful past that haunts her? Would it be so terrible to acknowledge a little of my own history if it makes her feel a lot better? My throat constricts, but I push the words past it. ¡°I was trapped by humans once too. Kept in a cell. Hurt. And¡ª¡± No, I don¡¯t want to even think about the rest of it. My tails snap in a tighter whirl behind me. Peri doesn¡¯t seem to need any more than what I¡¯ve said. She stops and focuses on me, her pretty eyes so wide I¡¯d like to dive into them. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. It must have been horrible for you. No wonder you¡¯d rather be having fun and playing around now.¡± Just like that, most of my discomfort melts away. She does understand¡ªwe both have our own kinds of chaos. I want to wrap my arms around her and bury my face in her hair, tumble around in a giddy embrace, but even I can tell this isn¡¯t a good place for that kind of fun. Instead, I simply lean in and give her a quick peck of a kiss on her temple. ¡°You deserve all that goodness too. You¡¯re always helping people. Whatever happened before, it doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Her smile comes back, a little warmer this time, but I get the sense she¡¯s not totally convinced. Which might be fair, because I¡¯m not either, at least when it comes to me. Before I can decide what else to say, Raze¡¯s voice carries from where he¡¯s reappeared back on the other side of the cabin. ¡°I followed the sorcerer as far as I could.¡± Peri and I hustle around the building to rejoin the others, just as the lizard man points off to the east. ¡°About a mile from here, there¡¯s a road and a spot where a large vehicle was obviously parked recently. His trail ended there. He must have driven away. I can¡¯t tell which direction to keep following.¡± He grimaces, but Jonah doesn¡¯t harp on the failure. Our sorcerer holds up his phone. ¡°I¡¯ll take pictures of the cabin in case there¡¯s something we didn¡¯t realize the significance of. Then Rollick wants us back at the school so we can give him our full report¡ªand see what he thinks we should do next.¡± Chapter 24

Periwinkle When Jonah wraps up his account of our mission so far, the beings around the arcing table study the rest of us. I can¡¯t call most of their gazes friendly, though Pearl is smiling in her usual encouraging way and Rollick simply looks thoughtful. The demon who arranged our mission rubs his chin. ¡°It seems your collaboration has kept you all in one piece and revealed more information than any of my past investigations have turned up. I¡¯ll call that a win. Why don¡¯t you return to classes for a couple of days before you head north again? Take a breather from each other.¡± Gnash startles and jerks his head around. ¡°Rollick¡ªdo you really think¡ª¡± The school¡¯s founder cuts him off with a mild look that nonetheless makes the hairs on the back of my arms stand up. There¡¯s no missing the aura of power the demon can wield. ¡°Why shouldn¡¯t they have a quick break and continue their education?¡± he asks. ¡°If you have specific concerns about their performance, you¡¯ve gotten plenty of time to question them.¡± As the tiger shifter and his colleagues have already, throughout Jonah¡¯s report. I swallow thickly, afraid that somehow they¡¯ve figured out that I had a full outburst even though we avoided mentioning that one element of our quest. It¡¯s Toni who speaks up, in a more even tone than Gnash¡¯s. ¡°They were on the verge of banishment because of their misuse of their powers. They haven¡¯t proven that those are under control now, even if they¡¯ve survived the last few days without killing each other.¡± Hail makes a sour face as if he thinks he should get top marks for refraining from murder, but Rollick hums to himself. ¡°A fair point. But we have an obvious solution. Jonah, you said you were able to help Peri keep her response under control with your sorcery. It isn¡¯t a long-term solution, but perhaps you could give a sorcerous command to each of our delinquents to ensure they don¡¯t do anything harmful with their talents over the next forty-eight hours?¡± Even though I know Jonah wouldn¡¯t do anything to harm us, my pulse hitches at the thought of more sorcery wriggling into my brain. My posture stiffens, but I don¡¯t protest. As much as I dislike the feeling of being compelled, it¡¯s much better than knowing I¡¯ve hurt people who didn¡¯t deserve it. Jonah hesitates before answering. ¡°We could try. I¡¯ll have to give the exact command some thought to make sure it works properly, and I¡¯d probably have to repeat the commands tomorrow to make sure they hold.¡± He glances at the rest of us. ¡°As long as my team will accept that?¡± Mirage pipes up first with a shrug and a flash of his fangs in a grin. ¡°Better than being stuffed in a cage!¡± Raze grunts and nods in agreement, though he¡¯s scowling. Hail lets out a long-suffering sigh and possibly a slight eye roll, but I can tell from the tart prickle of emotion wafting off him that he¡¯s more uneasy than resigned. ¡°Whatever you feel you need to do before we continue this charade.¡± All the gazes at the table shift to me, and I realize I haven¡¯t said anything yet. I push my mouth into a smile. ¡°Of course. It¡¯ll be easier for me to concentrate if I know my powers shouldn¡¯t be able to go haywire.¡± Rollick claps his hands. ¡°It¡¯s settled. Jonah, do your thinking. The five of you can remain here until you¡¯re prepared for your return. Resume your normal class schedule, and give the events of your mission some thought in case any additional insight occurs to you. I¡¯ll see you off again in two days.¡± # A couple of hours later, with a new sorcerous command buzzing around my brain that instructs me not to emit any supernatural energy beyond my body, I head into the cafeteria for lunch and immediately encounter two slim arms flinging around me. ¡°You¡¯re back!¡± Fen hugs me tightly and steps back as quickly as she leapt in. ¡°I didn¡¯t even realize. Are you okay? Is the special mission over?¡± We¡¯re not supposed to talk about our investigations in any detail so we don¡¯t worry the other shadowkind, but I can answer vaguely. ¡°Not yet. We did find out a few things, but not everything Rollick wants to know. How have you been doing here?¡± Fen urges me to a temporary counter at one end of the room, where various other lunch-goers are lining up to request their food. The bright colors and plasticky furnishings that¡¯ve been brought out remind me of the fast food restaurants I¡¯ve flitted through a few times in the human world. The greasy, salty smell hanging in the air matches that atmosphere. My friend peers at the list of meal options hanging over the counter and then turns back to me with a smile. ¡°It hasn¡¯t been as fun without you to talk to, but I¡¯ve been all right. I made it through a whole day without dribbling any water at all.¡± A chilly voice speaks up in an arch tone from just behind us. ¡°Such an accomplishment. The drip managed not to piddle.¡± Fen cringes. As if on cue, a few droplets patter off her fingers onto the floor. I turn around to face Gloss and her friends as she breaks into tinkling laughter. No emotions drift off her at all¡ªit means nothing to her to deal out this casual cruelty. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. I know the elegant being won''t care about my opinions on her attitude, so I aim for peace. "Why don''t we all focus on getting our food. That''s what we''re supposed to be in this room for, right?" At my hopeful smile, Gloss''s friends snicker. She shakes her head disdainfully. "Yes, I can see why you''d want to avoid anyone paying attention to you. What on earth are you wearing now? You look like a reject from a human gang." My skin prickles with self-consciousness. I hadn''t even thought about my change in clothing¡ªI''m wearing the leather jacket and ripped jeans that I switched to while on the mission. It seems pointless to swap them for my old dress and track jacket combo now that Gloss has already seen me. That''ll only make her feel like she was right. I don''t know what to say, so I''m about to turn around and ignore her when another cool voice carries from a little farther away. "Maybe you should give the cream puff a little credit, Gloss. She''s trying to broaden her horizons rather than sticking to the same old, same old." My gaze snaps to Hail''s dark eyes where the lean, pale fae has ambled over behind Gloss''s pack in line. His mouth is set in a slanted smile; I can''t tell whether he was mocking her or me. Maybe both? Whatever the case, Gloss obviously takes it as a personal criticism. Her jaw tightens, but she manages to smile at him. "I suppose even hopeless cases should get a point for trying." That seems to be the end of it. I turn back toward the counter. Fen raises an eyebrow at me but doesn''t remark on Hail''s intervention in front of his usual fan club. When we get to the beings who are serving lunch, I ask for a barbeque chicken burger and fries. The spicy scent that wafts from the tray I''m handed makes me grin. Fen and I head toward the other tables. A few feet from the nearest one, the floor turns abruptly slippery beneath my shoes. My feet skid and swerve. My ankles twinge, and the tray wobbles in my hands. My fizzy drink goes tumbling onto the floor. Fen snatches my shoulder and helps me catch my balance before I lose my food as well. The dark liquid splashes out of the cup and streaks across the floor. One of the school staff materializes from the shadows with a wrinkling of his nose. "Fine, I''ll clean it up. Go on." Gloss, just striding by with her own food, tsks her tongue. "Such a klutz." My hair flickers with a ruddy glow of both anger and embarrassment. I think she has icy powers like Hail does. He''s still in line, not even looking our way. That was her punishment for him defending me. I will down my irritation and take a seat. The burger tastes just as delicious as it smelled. For several minutes, I listen to Fen fill me in on the latest drama she''s seen and heard around the school and put our bully out of my mind. As we''re leaving the cafeteria, Fen brightens. "Oh, there was a book I wanted to show you when you got back¡ªsome amazing pictures from other parts of the mortal world. We''ll probably be sitting on the sidelines for the morphball game today. I''ll run and get it from my room. Meet you at the gym?" "Sounds good!" I set off with a spring in my step. I only make it around one turn in the hall before Gloss catches up with me, on her own now. I don''t know how she moves so fast with those mincing steps. She whirls on me with a flash of her amber eyes, her voice pitched low and outright frigid. "I don''t know what charms you tried to work on Hail during this trip Rollick sent you on, but he''d never be remotely interested in a pathetic thing like you. If he''s been the slightest bit nice, it''s only because he had no one else better to pay attention to." Her words cut straight through to the center of me. I wasn''t looking to get any particular attention from Hail, but I still want to curl up in a ball against her hostility. "Nothing happened," I say. "I didn''t try to do anything with him." She makes a scoffing sound. "You''ve been trying your strange cluelessly sweet act from the second you stepped in here. But I know it''s only because you''re the weakest out of all of us. I doubt you''ll even come back the next time you get sent out there, and no one will miss you, not even the drip." She glides off without a backward glance, leaving me stunned and aching-hearted in the middle of the hall. The anguish tremors through my nerves. My muscles clench up instinctively. Even if I can''t blare out any harmful magic with Jonah''s sorcery on me, I don''t want to test the limits of his command. I don''t want my emotions to get to that point. I close my eyes and see the glitter of silver and iron chain links on the ground, the gleam of battered trophies through glass. My next breath comes shaky, but a strange sense of calm settles over me, dampening the rising emotions. I might not be able to prove much, but I know I''m not weak. I survived a man much crueler than Gloss could imagine. How is anything she''s thrown at me anywhere near as bad as what I''ve already faced and overcome? I''ll be okay. I''ll be okay. The mantra carries me the rest of the way to the gym. I beam at Fen when she hustles in with her book and starts pointing out places she''d like us to visit together in the pages. But all the while my stomach stays knotted with the knowledge that some people in this place are always going to hate me, no matter what I do. And I don''t even understand why. Chapter 25

Periwinkle I follow the short walkway to the plain, boxy structure set back from the two main school buildings like a barn might be. It¡¯s about the size of a barn too. The dry desert wind sweeps over me, and my skin prickles as if I¡¯m doing something wrong. This is the first time I¡¯ve left the academy¡¯s reform building on my own. But it¡¯s not as if I can get into any trouble when there¡¯s no one else outside, just a long stretch of dusty earth dotted with wizened shrubs and craggy reddish mountains rising in the distance. The door hinges squeak as I slip inside. When I peer up at the far wall, which stretches up two storeys to the building¡¯s high ceiling, Jonah has already paused where he¡¯s clinging to handholds about two thirds of the way up. Shanty told me it¡¯s a rock-climbing wall, although no part of it looks like actual rocks. The brightly colored holds jutting out in their variety of shapes do have a certain appeal. It seems a little silly to me that anyone practices climbing rock faces here in a big artificial box when there are actual mountains within sight, but I guess it saves a couple of hours¡¯ driving. And I¡¯m glad Jonah isn¡¯t a couple of hours from the school right now. ¡°Peri,¡± he calls down as I walk over to the padded mats laid out at the base of the climbing wall. ¡°I thought I was going to see you in about an hour. Is something wrong?¡± Before I can answer, he¡¯s already clambering down. He took off his shirt for this exercise, and a sheen of sweat gleams off his warm brown skin. His muscles flex with his movements in a way I can¡¯t help appreciating with a flicker of heat deep inside me. When he¡¯s close enough to the ground that I don¡¯t have to yell, I clasp my hands together in front of me. ¡°Shanty said you¡¯d be out here and that it was okay for me to come. I wanted to see you before we were all going to meet up for you to use your sorcery¡ªto talk to you about something privately. I¡¯m sorry I interrupted.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all right.¡± Jonah¡¯s feet hit the ground. He reaches for a small towel to blot the perspiration on his face and chest. I don¡¯t sense any emotion from him other than a faint flicker of self-consciousness, as salty as his sweat probably is. Okay, I probably shouldn¡¯t be imagining tasting it off his skin. In any case, he honestly doesn¡¯t seem to be upset. He peers at me from beneath the black waves of his hair, concern turning his eyes even darker. ¡°What did you want to see me about?¡± A flare of my own self-consciousness washes over me, even though this conversation was my idea. I look down at my hands. ¡°I thought you might be the best person to talk to about this since you¡¯ve had a lot of experience with mortal beings and shadowkind¡­ and you¡¯ve always been nice to me, so you won¡¯t laugh¡­ Why is anyone cruel to anyone else? I¡¯ve seen it from humans and from shadowkind now. It doesn¡¯t make sense to me. They don¡¯t even usually feel good while they¡¯re doing it, not the way real happiness tastes.¡± Jonah blinks at me, looking at a loss. Maybe it¡¯s too big a question for anyone. But he doesn¡¯t laugh, and I think the other administrators might have. Hail and Mirage definitely would have¡ªthough Mirage wouldn¡¯t have meant it in a malicious way¡ªand Raze might think I was criticizing him for whatever he¡¯s done wrong before. Fen wouldn¡¯t have any answers. So the sorcerer who¡¯s always been kind to me is my only chance at figuring it out. The uncomfortable uncertainty has been gnawing at me since Gloss¡¯s cutting insults yesterday. Jonah delays his response by turning to put on his shirt, which is a bit of a shame, because I was enjoying the view of his sculpted torso. It¡¯s still very nice to look at with the fabric overtop, but not quite as vividly so. I decide it¡¯s better not to mention those thoughts to him. When he faces me again, slinging his hands in his pockets, his mouth has gone crooked. ¡°That¡¯s a tough one, Peri. I don¡¯t know how much thought shadowkind usually give that subject, but human beings have been grappling with it for hundreds¡ªprobably thousands of years.¡± I grimace. ¡°So, no one knows?¡± Jonah shrugs. ¡°I don¡¯t think you can know exactly, because everyone has different reasons. But in my experience, cruelty is mostly about feeling in control. Some people don¡¯t know how to feel the better kinds of happiness, but they can figure out how to make someone who¡¯s not them feel worse. So they settle for that smaller satisfaction, knowing that at least they¡¯re not the worst off.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± I know from the soft tingle of my hair that it¡¯s shimmering my sadness at the idea. ¡°That¡¯s awful. For everyone.¡± A hint of a smile, soft and sweet, touches Jonah¡¯s lips. ¡°You just want everyone to be as happy as possible, don¡¯t you?¡± I spread my arms. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I? If everyone lived that way, then maybe no one would be so sour they want to spread their unpleasant feelings around.¡± ¡°Life is pretty complicated. For mortals, because of all the pressures and responsibilities that go into navigating our society. For shadowkind, because you weren¡¯t made to be part of this world and the approach that feels normal to a lot of you clashes with what¡¯s acceptable here. Sometimes things just can¡¯t help but be tangled up.¡± Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. I study him, focusing on his face now. ¡°It¡¯s been tangled for you, hasn¡¯t it? Because you¡¯ve lived around shadowkind so much, but you are human. How did you start feeling like you fit in at the school? Or with the shadowkind who raised you?¡± Maybe what worked for him will help me make peace with all the beings like Gloss and her friends who¡¯d rather snipe at me than leave me alone. Jonah¡¯s smile fades. ¡°To be totally honest, I can¡¯t say I feel like I fit in even now. Here, at least. It¡¯s a tricky balance, leading classes and using my sorcery to rein the shadowkind who need it in without being seen as sort of an enemy.¡± A twinge of guilt ripples through my gut with the knowledge that I saw him that way at first. ¡°Then how do you stay happy while you¡¯re working?¡± ¡°Well, I do have a few beings on staff I know understand me, and students here and there who appreciate what I¡¯m doing. And I take a lot of strength from the good memories from my past.¡± He motions to the climbing wall. ¡°Back home, growing up with my shadowkind ¡®family,¡¯ I was always climbing trees in the forest around the house. This is the closest I can get to that feeling here.¡± I gaze up at the wall with its handholds, wondering how it would feel to haul my curvier and much shorter body up that expanse. Jonah¡¯s voice softens. ¡°You¡¯ve already helped even in the short time you¡¯ve been at the academy, Peri. I know some of the other students have been hard on you, but you have to know that doesn¡¯t mean you¡¯ve done anything wrong. I can see how much you¡¯re trying, and I admire how hard you work at looking out for everyone around you. You¡¯ve kept up a positive attitude through so much. It means a lot to me that you even trusted me enough to bring this up after the horrible experience you had with that other sorcerer.¡± His reassurance lights a joyful glow inside me. I think it might be glinting out of my hair too in cheerful yellow, but I don¡¯t mind him seeing that. ¡°You¡¯ve looked out for me a lot too,¡± I say. ¡°I know you¡¯re not at all like that man. You want us to be as good as we can be, just like I do.¡± When Jonah¡¯s smile comes back, it sets off an even brighter flare of warmth all the way through my body. ¡°I do want that. And I¡¯d really like to see you find a place in this world where you can be at peace and not have to worry about your powers going wild.¡± This conversation makes me feel as if I could. What do Gloss or Hail or any of them matter? As long as I keep my goals in mind, I have to find a way to reach them, right? I shake off the quiver of doubt in that last question and turn toward the wall, coasting on my momentary elation. ¡°I want to try climbing. It looked exciting, being all the way up there.¡± I¡¯m already reaching for the nearest handholds above my head before Jonah can respond. As I place my feet against a couple of lower holds, he makes a restrained sound of warning. ¡°The wall¡¯s for everyone, but it can be a little tricky to keep your balance if you¡¯re not used to this kind of climbing. Take it slow, and watch out for any shifts in the holds. Some of the ones higher up are loose so they¡¯ll rotate for an extra challenge.¡± ¡°I¡¯m good!¡± I keep clambering onward, my spirits rising with each short distance I heft myself up. At first I move more slowly, keeping in mind Jonah¡¯s cautions. But the climb is easier than I expected. I push myself a little faster, delighting in the extra thrill of the effort radiating through my muscles. ¡°Peri¡­¡± Jonah says in a worried tone, and at the same moment, the handhold I¡¯ve just grasped whirls in my fingers. My hand slips off. My balance wobbles, and I tumble right off the wall. For a second all I¡¯m aware of is the air whooshing through my hair and the lurch of my pulse. A yelp breaks from my throat. Then my body is smacking into a pair of muscular arms that reached out to catch me. I look up sheepishly and find myself gazing into Jonah¡¯s eyes with less than a foot between us. ¡°Thank you. And sorry. I got too confident. And I should have just jumped into the shadows when I fell.¡± Jonah exhales shakily and offers me a bemused grin. He¡¯s so close that his gorgeous face makes my pulse skip again even though I¡¯m perfectly secure now. ¡°I can imagine it¡¯s hard to think logically when you¡¯re in freefall. I¡¯m glad I could jump in there in time.¡± My hand rises to his cheek as if of its own accord, following the chiseled angles of his cheekbone down to his jaw. ¡°You look after me lots of different ways.¡± Something shifts in Jonah¡¯s expression, with a waft of emotion that¡¯s as tantilizingly sweet and heady as a rich chocolate cake. It sparks a pang between my legs. His head dips closer to mine, and for a second I think he¡¯s going to bring our lips together in an embrace as delicious as the one I shared with Raze. I might have closed the last short distance if Jonah didn¡¯t tense a second later. He sets me carefully but swiftly down on the mat and backs up a couple of steps. His face has flushed, but he¡¯s managed to rein in most of that mouth-watering emotion. ¡°I should get back to the school. I¡¯ll see you there in a half hour to reiterate everyone¡¯s commands.¡± He strides out of the building before I can say another word. I stare after him, my own emotions scattered. Was he upset? Why? I¡¯m just hurrying after Jonah when a massive, sinewy figure emerges from the shadows by the door. Raze peers at me and then turns his head in the direction Jonah went, his muscular frame emanating aggression. ¡°What does he think he¡¯s doing with you?¡± Chapter 26

Raze Peri halts in her tracks at my growled words. When I glance at her, her eyes have widened. A chill washes through the animosity stewing inside me. Did I sound like I want to hurt her? I don¡¯t even want to hurt Jonah. Not really. Only a little bit, nothing fatal. Peri¡¯s voice is unusually tentative, but not as frightened as I feared. ¡°We were only talking. He didn¡¯t do anything to me. You don¡¯t have to worry¡ªhe¡¯s always been kind.¡± I can¡¯t hold back another growl. My nerves are too on-edge, adrenaline still churning through my veins from the hunt I¡¯m on my way back from. The lingering flavor of raw flesh in my mouth, more a memory than anything concrete after making part of the journey through the shadows, brings out all my most savage impulses. I should have been going straight back to the school to cool down, but a cry I recognized as Peri¡¯s caught my ears when I was passing the building. I had to dash over. And when I peered through the shadows around the doorway¡ª ¡°He was holding you. He looked like he wanted to do a lot more than talk.¡± My hackles rise, remembering the enraptured expression on the sorcerer¡¯s face. As if he was seconds away from pushing her up against the wall and rutting into her. If he hadn¡¯t let go of her¡­ Another trickle of cold cuts through my anger. What would I have done? Unleashed the murderous power of my basilisk sight on one of our teachers? There¡¯d have been no more reprieve for me then. Peri is still studying me. Now she simply looks puzzled. ¡°I slipped and he caught me so I didn¡¯t get hurt. Would it be a problem if he wanted something more?¡± A flood of shame overwhelms every other emotion. I still can¡¯t trust myself. All it takes is one bad moment¡ª I spin around. ¡°No. It doesn¡¯t matter. I shouldn¡¯t have said anything.¡± As I leap into the shadows, Peri calls out my name. Ignoring her, I hurtle toward the academy¡¯s reform building. The trouble is, there isn¡¯t anywhere for me to go except my dorm bedroom. Which is also Peri¡¯s bedroom. I don¡¯t feel safe around any other beings right now. But naturally my glowy roommate isn¡¯t willing to let the conversation end there. I crouch in the darkness next to my bed, balling my shadowly presence as tight as I can and willing the niggling nips of anger away. It¡¯s only a few minutes before Peri walks in. She can sense exactly where I am. She turns toward me with her hands on her ample hips, her head cocked to one side. The set of her mouth is determined, but her voice comes out soft. ¡°Something¡¯s bothering you, and it has to do with me. I think we should talk about it until we work it out. Otherwise it¡¯ll just keep upsetting you.¡± Is there any chance she¡¯ll give up if I simply don¡¯t respond? I could laugh at that idea. Maybe I should slink out of the school, where she can¡¯t find me and I won¡¯t run into anyone else either. If the staff realize I¡¯ve been roaming for longer than the time they allot for my hunting sessions, I could get in trouble over that, but¡ª Peri takes a step closer. ¡°Please, Raze. I don¡¯t want you to be upset with me.¡± Her plea cuts straight through my resistance. My entire being shudders at the thought that she believes she caused any of my distress. I can¡¯t run off and leave her feeling guilty over something that¡¯s not at all her fault, can I? Reluctantly, I push myself back into physical form. I solidify my body into a sitting position on the edge of the bed, my hands clenched on my lap. ¡°I¡¯m not upset with you.¡± Peri¡¯s brow knits. ¡°What are you upset about, then? I told you, Jonah was only helping me. Whatever else could happen with him, I know he wouldn¡¯t put me in danger.¡± Even after that night in the forest, she doesn¡¯t see. I grope for the right words to explain it, but eloquence has never been my strong point. I can¡¯t help sounding gruff. ¡°I don¡¯t want anything else to happen with him. I want you.¡± Understanding dawns on Peri¡¯s pretty face. ¡°You¡¯re jealous.¡± I grimace, but there really is no more accurate word. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°But¡­ You said you didn¡¯t think we should even be kissing any more.¡± A different sort of shame prickles over me. I look down at my hands. ¡°I didn¡¯t say it wasn¡¯t selfish. You are in danger when you¡¯re around me. But I still¡­ If you¡¯re going to be with anyone¡­ I wish it could be me.¡± There¡¯s a pause, and then Peri sinks down onto the edge of the mattress next to me. Close enough to rest her hand on my arm. My entire body jolts with the awareness of her presence and the electric desire it stirs inside me. I don¡¯t dare look at her. ¡°It could be you,¡± she says, her tone nothing but gentle. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m in that much danger.¡± My fists squeeze even tighter. ¡°You don¡¯t know. I thought it would be fine before¡ªthat I would never¡ª But I was wrong. There¡¯s too much poison in me.¡± Peri strokes her thumb up and down my arm. ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell me what happened before, and then I can decide.¡± A lump clogs my throat, but at the same time, a refusal seems selfish. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Why shouldn¡¯t she know? If I tell her, she might recoil in horror¡ªand that would be a good thing, wouldn¡¯t it? She¡¯ll realize what I¡¯m capable of and leave me alone so I don¡¯t have to worry about doing her any harm. I close my eyes. ¡°For a little while, I was living among humans some of the time. I liked being around people, hearing them talk, seeing the things they¡¯d do. What they could make. There was this woman who¡¯d come to the lake at the edge of town to paint, and I¡¯d watch her, and we started talking to each other¡­ I wanted to be with her all the time.¡± Peri¡¯s stroking thumb stills. Is she at all jealous? I don¡¯t know if I¡¯d want that or not. I force myself to go on, the image of Caroline¡¯s dark hair and pale eyes swimming up from the back of my mind. ¡°One night when we were together, we came back to her house and saw someone had broken in. They¡¯d smashed one of her windows, thrown her things around, stolen stuff. I got so angry that they¡¯d ruined her home, that I hadn¡¯t been able to protect her, that my powers surged up before I could stop them. She was holding my hand¡ªmy poison shot right into her through my skin. It only took a second, and she collapsed. She was dead.¡± ¡°Raze.¡± Peri¡¯s voice shakes. Then, instead of pulling away like anyone sensible would after hearing my story, she pushes herself up on her knees and wraps her arms right around me. Her chin tucks over my shoulder, her bare cheek against my neck, with no fear of what might seep out of me now. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry. That must have been awful.¡± ¡°I was awful,¡± I mutter. ¡°I lost my head. I ran around the neighborhood and murdered at least a dozen more people with my sight and my touch thinking one of them must have been the thief, just wanting to punish someone¡ªbut it was my fault. I¡¯m lucky the staff here even gave me a chance to reform instead of banishing me right away.¡± ¡°They must have been able to tell that¡¯s not who you are. You had a bad reaction in a horrible situation. Anyone would have gotten overwhelmed.¡± ¡°Most beings wouldn¡¯t have killed all those people because of it.¡± ¡°You wouldn¡¯t again.¡± Peri touches my face and turns it toward her so I have to meet her gaze. Her bright blue eyes shimmer with so much compassion my gut aches. ¡°That was the first time it ever happened, right? You probably never cared about anyone the way you did about her¡ªyou didn¡¯t know you¡¯d be set off like that. You¡¯ve never gone on another rampage, have you?¡± My mouth twists. ¡°Only because I¡¯m so careful. I¡¯ve hurt a few of the other beings here accidentally when my temper got away from me.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve obviously been getting good at holding on to it. Hail was picking on you a lot during the mission, and you didn¡¯t hurt him. You didn¡¯t hurt Jonah even though you were upset just now.¡± ¡°I still could. Part of me wanted to.¡± ¡°Then it shows even more control that you didn¡¯t, not even a little.¡± Peri cups my cheek, the tenderness of her touch tingling through my skin. ¡°I think you¡¯ve been doing amazing after an accident that you never would have wanted to happen. And you couldn¡¯t hurt me as badly or as quickly as you did her, could you? I¡¯m shadowkind, not mortal.¡± ¡°I could still hurt you a lot¡ªand if I couldn¡¯t stop it in time¡ª¡± ¡°I¡¯m not scared,¡± she says quietly, and leans in to brush her lips against my cheek. My pulse stutters. For a second, I sit there frozen. I want her so badly, with a fire that sears from my heart to my groin. She knows how much damage I¡¯ve done to people I care about, and she still wants me. How can I push her away, right into the arms of whoever else will welcome her? If I refuse her, she should find someone else who¡¯ll adore her the way she deserves. But it should be me. It should be me. I have to show her how much I mean that. I swivel toward her, scooping her up and claiming her mouth like I did the other night. Her hum of approval urges me on. She tastes and smells so sweet¡ªshe feels so soft in my arms. The joyful thrill of holding her close vibrates through my being. Caroline never knew what I really was, the beast that lurks inside me. Peri knows every piece of me and offers her affection in spite of it. She deserves all the adoration in the world. Every kindness, every pleasure. Maybe I can be careful but still have her. I settle her on my lap without breaking the kiss. Peri slips one hand around my neck while the other teases into my hair. The brush of her fingertips sets off sparks through my scalp. Now that I¡¯ve let loose my desire, I want everything. I kiss her again and again, absorbing every eager noise she makes, and then trail my lips along her jaw, down her neck, over her shoulder. Her shaky breaths and the squirm of her ass against my groin have my cock aching. With one arm looped around her waist, I bring my other hand to her breast. The swell of it through the fabric of her shirt fits perfectly in my large palm. I stroke my fingers over it and earn myself a whimper. Peri dapples kisses along my neck, swaying into my caresses. When I tug at her jacket, she doesn¡¯t hesitate to help me peel it off and toss it aside. Her gaze locks with mine as I ease my fingers under the hem of her shirt. A hazy pink glow beams off her hair, turning ruddier when I flick my thumb over her hardened nipple. Peri bites her lip, which makes me want to kiss her again. Her eyelids flutter lower. Then she sets her hand on my wrist, stopping me but stroking the skin to stop the gesture from feeling like a total rejection. ¡°Raze,¡± she murmurs, so breathless my cock turns twice as hard, ¡°if we¡¯re doing this¡­ does that mean you expect me to only be with you from now on?¡± I hesitate, a fresh chill dousing some of my hunger. ¡°Do you want to be with someone else?¡± Her smile is so brilliantly fond it melts away the momentary ice. ¡°I¡¯m very happy doing this with you. I just¡ªI never thought before about needing to put restrictions on having fun like this. But I guess humans do. And what we¡¯re doing¡­ it feels like more than just having fun. I don¡¯t want to hurt you. So I thought I should make sure what I¡¯m agreeing to.¡± I open my mouth and close it again. I want to tell her yes, that she¡¯s mine and mine alone for the rest of all time. If I made the demand, I think she¡¯d smile again and say that¡¯s perfectly fine. But not because that¡¯s what she wants. Only to avoid hurting me. Because this beautiful being always puts everyone else¡¯s feelings ahead of her own. If I¡¯m being honest with myself, she was looking at Jonah with nearly as avidly as he was looking at her. Maybe there are others who¡¯ve caught her eye. She¡¯d give every other possible lover up if I asked her to, without even thinking about what would make her happiest. How can it be fair for me to ask? The internal battle tangles me up inside. I bow my face close to Peri¡¯s, breathing in her sweet scent, soaking in the warmth of her. ¡°You always want everyone to be happy,¡± I say finally. ¡°I couldn¡¯t say I really care about you if I tried to cut you off from being happy too. If you find that you¡¯d want to get close with someone else, it doesn¡¯t seem right for me to say you¡¯re not allowed. But if that happens, would you tell me before you do anything? So I know and I¡¯m not surprised? I might need to take some space for myself, but I don¡¯t want to get startled and lash out.¡± Peri¡¯s face has fallen. ¡°If it would make you upset, I don¡¯t need to¡ª¡± I cut her off with a kiss, as tender as I¡¯m capable of. ¡°It¡¯s not about whether you need it. You shouldn¡¯t put your happiness over mine. That would make me upset¡ªknowing you¡¯re holding yourself back from everything you¡¯d want¡­ I would never put you in a cage.¡± Chapter 27

Periwinkle I would never put you in a cage. Raze¡¯s words sweep through me, sparking little glimmers of delight. How could he think he¡¯d be bad for me when he understands me that well, cares that much about making me feel safe and cherished? I run my fingers along his powerful jaw, reveling in the strength that emanates all through the body I¡¯m pressed against. ¡°Right here, right now, I only want you.¡± His mouth crashes into mine with a needy rumble that sets all of me alight. It might be more than just my hair glowing now, but I don¡¯t feel any self-consciousness about it. I¡¯m his glowbug. He likes me just as I am. A tremor ripples through my nerves at the brightness expanding all through me, but with each kiss and each caress, my anxiety fades. This doesn¡¯t feel like the manic happiness that¡¯s burst out of me before in a chaotic blaze of light. The affection we¡¯re sharing and the pleasure it provokes stay mostly wrapped close around my heart. Something softer and more contained, focused just on the two of us. It''s more selfish kind of joy than when I¡¯m lighting happiness in strangers solely to do them good, but that doesn¡¯t make it wrong. I yank at Raze¡¯s T-shirt, and he pulls it off. The sight of all the sinewy sculpted expanse beneath makes me even giddier. I trace my fingers over his muscles, grinning at his groan. He dips his head again to chart a teasing path along my neck, with the gentlest graze of his teeth and little flicks of his tongue. His voice comes out in a husky murmur that sends a fresh jolt of desire straight between my legs. ¡°I¡¯m going to make you feel so good, Glowbug. We¡¯ll take it slow so there¡¯s no pain at all.¡± He pauses, nuzzling my shoulder. ¡°You¡¯ve done this before?¡± There¡¯s no accusation or jealousy in that question. I comb my fingers through his tempting hair and give him another kiss. ¡°Yes. A few times. But this is already better than anything before. I didn¡¯t really know them. I¡¯ve never¡­ I¡¯ve never gotten to really feel close to anyone in all the different ways you can. I was always moving around and exploring too much, and then¡­¡± The thought of the basement and the cages cuts off my voice. Raze growls as if he can scare those memories into submission and captures my mouth even more tenderly than before. We peel off my shirt together, and it occurs to me that I can shed my jeans as quickly as thinking it. When I blink into the shadows and back again in an instant, returning fully nude, Raze gives an awed chuckle. He slides his hand up my thigh. As he strokes his fingers tentatively over the aching spot between my legs, a moan shudders out of me. I yank his mouth back to mine. It does feel so good¡ªeven better when I know how much this moment matters to him. When it matters to me beyond this brief pleasure too. I want to do this with Raze over and over again. I want to cuddle next to him in the courtyard and talk about what we¡¯re learning in our classes and join him on his hunts to taste the thrill of his own feeding. It¡¯s true that he isn¡¯t the only one I¡¯ve started to get close to in the ways that run deeper than colliding bodies. I¡¯ve never had a friend like Fen before. I¡¯ve never started to recognize the patterns of joy and pain in another being the way I do now with Jonah and Mirage and even Hail, a little bit. I¡¯ve stumbled into a new dimension of happiness and connection that I was only aware existed from depictions in TV shows and fleeting observations of humans that didn¡¯t totally make sense. All because I got dragged here to this school. Even with all the rules and the beings who¡¯ve picked on me, this place is the opposite of the cage. It¡¯s given me more than I¡¯ve given up. And now I get to experience a bodily bliss I didn¡¯t even know was possible. Raze slips a finger right inside me, and the pulse of pleasure has my head sagging backward. My grip on his shoulders tightens, and he gives another approving rumble. It feels so good, but I crave even more. His eagerness washes over me like sparkling lemonade and peach pie. I reach down his massive body to rub the bulge behind the pants he hasn¡¯t yet chucked off. Raze¡¯s groan reverberates into me with a carnal need as rich as toffee pudding. He eases another finger inside me. Each pulse of them deeper inside me sends another rush of pleasure up from my core. ¡°I don¡¯t know if you¡¯re ready yet,¡± he mutters. I yank at the waist of his pants. ¡°I am. So ready. Please.¡± I¡¯m going to crumble apart from wanting so much. With a ragged breath, Raze kicks off his pants. He eases the head of his erection against me, and I shiver in delight. I lift my legs instinctively, and he slides right into the place where I¡¯m so slick with my own need. Another groan tumbles from Raze¡¯s lips. They seek out mine with kiss after wild kiss as our bodies rock to meet each other. With each thrust, he surges deeper into me, until I¡¯m as full as I¡¯ve ever been, so full I can¡¯t imagine ever feeling empty again. This is how it should always be. I don¡¯t have to meld with anyone else unless it¡¯s just as sweet and caring as this. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. I hold him close and buck with him until the pleasure radiates through every particle of my being. Until it peaks and crashes over me in a deluge that leaves me crying out and clutching him hard. Until Raze bows over me with a cry of his own and then nestles me tight in his arms like he¡¯ll never let go of me. Maybe nothing else matters. Maybe this means everything can be all right. # The giddiness of my time with Raze carries me through two afternoon classes, but by the end of a physical training session under Gnash¡¯s scowling instruction, my feet and ankles twinge with every step. I don¡¯t want to complain to Fen, so I walk slowly down the hall with a sigh to suggest I¡¯m just tired. Which is also true. ¡°We¡¯ve got an hour before dinner,¡± she says, bouncing on her feet with an energy I don¡¯t normally see from her. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the media room. I want to see if they¡¯ve got that movie we talked about in Mortal Culture Appreciation.¡± The thought of walking into the dim room where the TV screen set off my awful memories makes my gut knot. I take a deep breath. At least I¡¯ll be able to sit and rest my legs. And I have Jonah¡¯s sorcery wrapped through my mind to hold back the worst of my powers, hopefully. It would probably be good to face that spot and prove that it doesn¡¯t have to bother me. I smile at her. ¡°Sounds like a plan!¡± Unfortunately, when we get to the media room, a few other beings already have a different movie playing on the large screen. The roar of a car chase brings Fen and me over to the sofa. One of the shadowkind sitting there motions for us to join them, and we end up sitting leaned against the sofa, watching as humans chase each other what seems like all the way around the world. With each passing minute, the frenetic thud of my heart smooths out. I am okay. It was just an unlucky coincidence that I stumbled in here when the worst possible thing I could see was playing, after I was already upset. I surreptitiously massage my ankles, hoping the lingering pain will have vanished by the time we have to go to dinner. I feel a little steadier when we get up after the ending credits. Fen shakes her head with a giggle. ¡°Humans do like to imagine getting very mad at each other, don¡¯t they? I guess it gives them an excuse to drive fast and see lots of different places.¡± I have to laugh too. ¡°It seems that way. I think some of them get mad a lot for real, but it¡¯s much less exciting the regular way. Maybe they like thinking they might get an adventure out of it sometime.¡± When we walk into the cafeteria, Fen claps her hands. ¡°Oooh, we¡¯re doing a buffet tonight. They always make those around themes. I wonder what region the food¡¯s from this time.¡± Where the fast food counter was set up yesterday, there¡¯s now a long serving table set with a dozen dishes covered by plastic lids to hold in the heat. Fen directs me to pick up a plate at one end, and we move from dish to dish with the line of fellow students, serving ourselves with massive spoons. Fen puts a heap of yellow rice mixed with bits of chicken on her plate. ¡°I think this is Indian. So many spices. Sometimes it makes my eyes water, but that¡¯s better than my fingers dripping.¡± I follow her lead, taking a little over everything. The savory scents swirling in the air make my mouth water. There¡¯s a thick green curry with chunks of fried cheese, a mix of golden cauliflower and potatoes, goat meat in a brownish sauce and chicken in one that¡¯s more orange. Then Fen lifts the next lid, and the waft of spicy smell lurches through my stomach. The dish beneath is filled with chicken legs and thighs that shine vivid red. Like the pieces the man would carry around in tinfoil wrapping; like the stain that¡¯d coat his fingers and blaze on his tongue when he¡¯d indulged in his favorite takeout. The peppery smell would drift through the room the whole night. Would waft off his breath when he¡¯d lean close to the cage to poke at me¡ª My hands have gone wobbly. My laden plate slips through my fingers and smashes on the floor. Fen jerks around. ¡°Peri?¡± ¡°What the fuck are you doing?¡± the shadowkind behind me mutters. My stomach is churning now. I wrench my gaze away from the familiar dish, but the images of the past keep ricocheting through my head with the smell filling my lungs. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m sorry.¡± I bend down to gather the pieces of the broken plate. A sharper pang shoots up from my feet. My breath hitches, and I have to close my eyes for a second to squeeze back the tears. Is it always going to be like this? I can be having the most wonderful day ever, and one little wrong thing smacks me totally off course. How can I even predict everything that¡¯ll throw me back into the memories I¡¯ve spent so long running away from? ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Fen is saying, racing over with another plate to help me collect the mess. ¡°We can clean it up so fast.¡± But it¡¯s not okay. No one else freaked out because of a totally normal dish of food. I smile and thank her and carry my ruined meal over to the trash can as if it isn¡¯t any big deal. But the whole time a knife of doubt is digging into the center of me. What if I¡¯m broken, as permanently as that plate? What if I can never totally get better? If that¡¯s true, how can I be sure I won¡¯t drag everyone who cares about me and the team I¡¯m supposed to be helping down with me? Chapter 28

Periwinkle It¡¯s weirdly both comforting and unsettling to be back in the van as it bumps along the roads from the private landing strip where we flew in on Rollick¡¯s private jet to the even further reaches of northern Canada. The vehicle is familiar now, with its textured padded benches and the steady rumble of the engine. I appreciate the wild beauty of the view outside, mostly forest and rocky hills. We¡¯ve left Gloss and almost all of the other students who¡¯ve ever mocked me far behind. And Raze has decided to stay in physical form for most of this trip, sitting next to me with his arm alternately linked with mine or tucked around my waist, wafting fond devotion like French toast drizzled with just the right amount of syrup. But even wrapped in his obvious affection, an uneasy buzz courses through my nerves. We don¡¯t know what we¡¯ll find on our second expedition. There¡¯s an aggressive sorcerer somewhere up here doing unpleasant things to the local shadowkind, and we have no idea how he¡¯ll react if we finally track him down. At least I have a little protection wriggling around in my brain. Jonah couldn¡¯t expend the energy to keep all our potentially harmful powers under control once we left the school, since he needs the strength to try to sway the strange creatures we¡¯ve encountered too. As Rollick remarked when the subject came up, that would defeat the purpose of testing us with this mission anyway. Our sorcerer was able to give us each a basic command not to listen to any other sorcery. ¡°It might not hold if he hits you hard with his own orders,¡± Jonah warned us, ¡°but it¡¯ll hopefully buy you time to get away if you need to.¡± I can¡¯t actually feel the sorcery he spoke to me anymore, but knowing it¡¯s there is like a cozy cardigan keeping me warm. Jonah calls to us from the driver¡¯s seat. ¡°We¡¯re coming up on the first town Rollick suggested now. Peri and Hail, make sure you¡¯re ready to interact with the locals.¡± Raze frowns, but it was hard for him to argue when Jonah pointed out earlier that he and Mirage would have a harder time blending in. Probably partly because none of us really trust Mirage not to whip out his ears or tails in view of humans. I look down at my leather jacket, close my eyes, and flicker in and out of the shadows in a blink. My new attire includes a cloth hood on the jacket that I pull up over my vibrant hair in case it starts to glow. Hail sighs as if this is all too much work for him. He adjusts the sleeves of his collared shirt to ensure they cover the stark blue veins that stand out against his pale skin. A few minutes later, Jonah pulls the van over by a small clearing with a couple of picnic tables, neither currently occupied. He twists in his seat. ¡°The three of us will walk into town. Raze and Mirage, you can roam around and stretch your legs, but steer clear of any humans for now, all right?¡± Mirage springs into a handstand and then flips back into his feet with a flash of a grin. ¡°Lots of space for the human race.¡± Hail rolls his eyes, but he gets out of the van without complaint. Raze hesitates and leans in to give me a quick kiss. ¡°Be careful out there.¡± I squeeze his arm reassuringly. ¡°We don¡¯t know if we¡¯ll find anything at all. But if there¡¯s any trouble, I¡¯ll shout loud enough that you can hear!¡± When we clamber out, Hail¡¯s dark gaze is fixed on me with unusual intensity. He jerks it away when I notice and strides toward the road. ¡°The town is this way?¡± I glance over at Jonah for his answer and find that he¡¯s also watching me and Raze together, with a tightness to his mouth I can¡¯t read and a quiver of emotion that passes by me too quickly for me to really taste it. A prickle of self-consciousness makes me duck my head. Is it really so odd that Raze would care about me? I guess they¡¯re not used to seeing him even touch any of the other shadowkind, let alone kiss them. Of course they¡¯re a little surprised. Jonah jerks his attention to Hail with a nod. ¡°Yes, it¡¯ll be just over the bridge. There¡¯s a convenience store and a caf¨¦ I thought we could stop in to grab some lunch¡ªwe want to talk with the locals casually, but do your best to find out if they¡¯ve seen any unusual people coming through or if there¡¯ve been any animal attacks lately.¡± Hail ends up hanging back to let our sorcerer take the lead. The fae man slips his hands into the pockets of his slacks in a casual pose, but the set of his shoulders as he walks looks a little tense to me. I catch a whiff of tartly metallic anxiety off him. I push my shorter legs faster to keep pace with him. ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be fine. You¡¯re good at talking to people. Everyone at the school always wants to hang out with you.¡± Hail¡¯s head ticks toward me with a scattered burst of emotion he quickly reins in. ¡°I didn¡¯t ask for your advice,¡± he says, but his tone is more stiff than cutting. And he doesn¡¯t call me ¡°pipsqueak,¡± which I¡¯ll take as progress. The town we¡¯ve stopped at is another small one, with several shops and a few common buildings surrounded by a cluster of a few dozen homes. Nothing about it looks particularly remarkable to me. Rollick took all the information from our report and mapped it out with whatever details he¡¯s discerned from his past investigations to mark this area of the province as the likely center of the strange activity. There are only a few human settlements with in it. If no one here can give us any hints about where to go next, we¡¯ve got a lot of combing of the wilderness ahead of us. In the convenience store, Jonah immediately ambles over to the counter with a friendly smile and strikes up a conversation with the cashier by asking for directions. As he veers from that subject into a comment about how few other tourists we¡¯ve run into up here, I scan the shelves for any new snacks I might want to try and notice a teenager in a bright, off-the-shoulder sweater and dark jeans poking around at the back. She takes a magazine off a rack and flips through it with a dissatisfied expression. I stroll over to join her. ¡°Hi! Any good articles in there?¡± It seemed like a decent opening, but the girl¡¯s eyes dart to me and narrow. She shoves the magazine back into the rack. ¡°I dunno.¡± Her scowl contradicts the trickle of emotion flowing off her¡ªall fishy insecurity and chalky determination. I grope for a good thing to say that might cater to those feelings. ¡°I love your shirt! It looks great on you.¡± To my delight, her posture straightens up, a hint of a smile she tries to suppress crossing her lips. Pride washes away her uncertainties. ¡°Thanks. You just passing through?¡± I motion toward the shelves. ¡°We¡¯re stopping to get some snacks. It seems like a pretty quiet town. Do you have to worry much about wild animals with so much forest all around?¡± Her laugh is a bit scoffing, but it gets me an answer. ¡°We don¡¯t. They don¡¯t bug people usually. But my neighbor stupidly lets her cats go roaming around, and one of them got snapped up by a coyote or something last week.¡± Or something. She doesn¡¯t know for sure what did it. She turns away from me, so clearly she isn¡¯t interested in continuing the conversation, but I file the tidbit of information I got away in case it¡¯s important.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it I pick out a couple of candy bars, and Jonah rings those up along with some spicy chips that Hail brings over. As we head out and across the street, Jonah slings the bag over his elbow. ¡°It doesn¡¯t sound as if anyone¡¯s passed through here who¡¯s drawn people¡¯s attention.¡± ¡°The shadowkind creatures might have,¡± I say, and tell him about the poor cat. Hail shrugs. ¡°It could have been just a coyote. Humans should take better care of the animals they claim they¡¯re going to look after.¡± For all his posturing, I taste genuine frustration in his comment. He doesn¡¯t like that an innocent animal was killed¡ªthe same way it bothered him to kill the shadowkind creatures that attacked us. I touch his arm tentatively. ¡°You¡¯re right. They should.¡± Hail¡¯s gaze flicks to me with a flex of his jaw, and then we¡¯re walking into the caf¨¦. He shifts his attention to the patrons sitting at the few small tables that fill most of the room. We end up seated at a table right between a couple of local families. In the space of a quick lunch, we find out that they haven¡¯t seen any notable tourists either¡ªbut someone else in town had their dog go missing from their yard a couple of days ago. ¡°Hopefully it wasn¡¯t gotten by the same thing that tore up those wild rabbits in Mr. Johnson¡¯s field,¡± one of the kids pipes up before his mother shushes her. Jonah and I exchange a knowing glance. Some kind of creatures have been on the hunt around here lately¡ªand more so than the town is used to, it seems. We return to the van to find Raze prowling around it and Mirage perched on the roof. The fox shifter leaps down with a flare of at least two tails. ¡°What did the intrepid explorers discover?¡± he asks. Jonah opens the driver¡¯s door. ¡°It sounds like the shadowkind creatures might have been clashing with animals in and around town, but we still don¡¯t know where they¡¯re coming from. We¡¯d better go on to the next town and see if we can find out more there.¡± # By the time we reach our next destination, the sun is starting to set. This settlement looks even smaller than the last one, just a spiral of scattered buildings surrounded by craggy hills with scruffy trees. But a building at the edge of the town has a big parking lot packed with at least twenty cars. Artificial light beams through the hazy windows, and a mix of laughter and music spills out when a new arrival steps inside. The sign says it¡¯s the Blueberry Sunshine Restaurant and Bar. Jonah pulls the van into the parking lot. ¡°This looks like the best place to get started chatting up the locals.¡± He pauses and looks back at the rest of us sitting on the benches. Even Mirage has drooped a little with the long day of travel. Jonah offers a faint smile. ¡°Do you think you all can behave yourselves for enough time to grab dinner and have a little conversation?¡± The fox shifter springs up with typical buoyant energy and gives our team leader a jaunty salute. ¡°Eager and ready to follow orders! I¡¯ll fox out all their secrets.¡± He manages to grin without revealing the points of his fangs. Raze¡¯s thumb strokes over my wrist, and he draws his massive form up straighter. ¡°I¡¯d like to help.¡± Hail casts a skeptical glance toward the basilisk shifter. ¡°And to keep an eye on the cream puff.¡± I feel Raze start to bristle next to me¡ªbut then he wills down his temper with a huff of an exhalation. ¡°Yes, that too. If you can¡¯t rile me up, then I think I¡¯m safe for now.¡± The corner of Jonah¡¯s mouth kicks higher upward, but somehow his smile looks more strained now. ¡°It¡¯s settled, then. Let¡¯s go in.¡± We tramp into a restaurant big enough to hold everyone from this town twice over¡ªbut maybe people come from farms and other places nearby. At least two thirds of the tables are taken, and several figures sit along the varnished wooden bar counter. The locals must immediately clock us as newcomers. Several heads turn toward us and watch with open curiosity as we wait for the hostess to seat us. She places us at a long table at one side of the room. Our waitress glides over a moment later. ¡°Glad you could make it up here,¡± she says cheerfully. ¡°Let me go over the specials¡­¡± By the time I¡¯ve ordered myself a burger and fries, Hail has turned on the charm. Maybe he feels he needs to prove himself after Jonah and I dug up all the info in the last town. ¡°I hear it can be pretty dangerous living out here in the wilds,¡± he says, cocking his head. ¡°You must be very brave.¡± Something about his smooth tone niggles at me, I think because I know he¡¯s faking it. But when he aims his cool smile at the waitress, she giggles. She shakes her head as she jots down Mirage¡¯s order of nachos. ¡°Oh, not much happens out here. I like it because of how peaceful it is. Hanging out at the Blueberry Sunshine is usually the most excitement of my week.¡± Hail slides his graceful fingers over his napkin in a way that¡¯s weirdly provocative. ¡°We were hearing about pets going missing and wild bunnies hunted down. I suppose the predators know well enough to leave humans alone.¡± The way he says human has a slightly terse cadence to it, but the waitress doesn¡¯t seem to notice. ¡°You know, if people are careful enough, even the animals should be fine. You just have to know how to live in harmony with the elements.¡± Jonah eases into the conversation in a mild voice. ¡°You must hear a lot of stories, working in here¡ªabout all sorts of things. We¡¯re actually collecting tales of local legends. Ghosts, bigfoot, all that kind of thing. Does Pilverton have any fables like that? Older ones or recent stories that¡¯ve caught hold?¡± The waitress taps her pen against her lips. ¡°Hmm. I¡¯ll have to give that some thought. Let me get your order in, and maybe I¡¯ll have something for you when I come back with the food.¡± She walks away emitting nothing but a subtle sense of satisfaction, but a smack of avid interest hits me from a different direction, as crisp as the french fries I¡¯m looking forward to eating. I peer around and notice a man at the table behind me. He¡¯s sitting with a couple of other men around the same age, but he¡¯s watching us while the other two are laughing over some joke. The impression of interest is coming from him. I aim a bright smile at him. ¡°You look like you might have a story. If you do, we¡¯d love to hear it.¡± Surprise flickers across his face, and his friends turn toward us too. ¡°What¡¯s up, Henry?¡± one of them asks, elbowing him. ¡°Got bored of our company?¡± ¡°They told Marcy they¡¯re collecting strange stories.¡± Henry chuckles and runs his hand over his hair sheepishly. ¡°I don¡¯t really go in for that stuff. I was just thinking they should talk to Ted McGaffery.¡± The other friend¡¯s eyebrows shoot up. ¡°He¡¯s just crazy.¡± Mirage leans toward them with a glint in his eyes. ¡°Crazy stories are good too. What does Ted McGaffery talk about?¡± The three men exchange a glance. Henry shakes his head. ¡°I¡¯m mostly kidding. It¡¯s ridiculous. He¡¯s an old-timer, usually keeps to himself on his property a couple of hours from here, out in the middle of nowhere. Regular hermit. But he comes by the bar every now and then. A few days ago, he was waving his hands around with the wildest claims.¡± My own curiosity wriggles up inside me. ¡°What claims?¡± Henry pauses. ¡°He said his house got attacked by monsters.¡± Chapter 29

Hail No matter how much I try to focus on the jangly mortal music, the varied human figures around the restaurant, or the interplay of the artificial light across the posters framed on the walls, my gaze keeps sliding back to the short, curvy woman in the hooded leather jacket. It doesn¡¯t make sense. If all I¡¯m doing is evaluating objective human-esque visual appeal, there¡¯s at least one face in the crowd more striking than hers. The hood is covering her vibrant hair. She isn¡¯t doing anything except perching on a bar stool to gab with one of the locals. But maybe it also does make sense. I still find it hard to wrap my head around the idea that Periwinkle¡¯s diminutive hourglass frame held enough power to sear my skin raw in the time it takes to blink. Watching her beam at her conversational companion, I can¡¯t help thinking that there¡¯s a glow to her even when her hair is out of view. The cream puff has some kind of energy to her beyond anything I¡¯ve encountered before, crammed into a deceptively innocuous package. Of course that fact would gnaw at me. It¡¯s not even the only power she possesses. As little as I care about the feelings of the humans we¡¯re surrounded by, I¡¯d have to be an idiot not to notice how the older woman Peri¡¯s talking to has lit up after just a couple of minutes of chatter. Peri pats the woman¡¯s hand, so familiar you¡¯d think they¡¯ve been friends for years. ¡°It sounds like you¡¯re doing your best. The way you describe them, I can tell how much they matter to you. You shouldn¡¯t let anyone tell you not to do your best.¡± I have no idea what she¡¯s going on about, but clearly her new friend does. The woman smiles even wider. For fuck¡¯s sake, are those joyful tears shimmering in her eyes before she blinks them away? ¡°I¡¯m so glad you stopped in here tonight,¡± she says. ¡°Are you sure you have to leave town right away?¡± Peri laughs in a sweetly apologetic tone. ¡°We¡¯ve got some work to take care of. But maybe we¡¯ll be able to come by again on our way home!¡± I don¡¯t give a shit about the happiness of any of these humans. If they¡¯ve made themselves miserable, it¡¯s almost always their own fault. So why can¡¯t I stop watching Peri work her weird magic? What is this stupid tug inside me as if I¡¯d want to go over and bask in her brightness up close? I yank my attention away and find myself looking at Raze, who¡¯s sitting at a table with our fearless leader and a few regular restaurant-goers. His eyes flick toward Peri more often than they¡¯re fixed on his supposed companions. The big lug has gotten somewhere with her. Not just ultra-protective mode, but that kiss¡­ The image pops up from my memory with a twinge I don¡¯t like at all. How the fuck would a brute like him know how to handle any woman, let alone one as soft as Peri? Why would she look so pleased about it? My jaw clenches. No matter what I do, I end up thinking about her. After all this time being forced into her presence, she¡¯s gotten under my skin. How many other powers does she have that we don¡¯t even know about? Maybe she¡¯s some strange variation of succubus? I want to unwrap her and understand exactly what she is. How she works. What would fascinate her the same way she¡¯s hooked my attention. Maybe if I got as close to her as Raze seems to have, all these questions would stop nagging at me. I¡¯d see she¡¯s just another being, with the same desires and weaknesses as any other, just different trappings than I¡¯m used to. Then she wouldn¡¯t have this hold on me. The idea steadies me. I manage to polish off my chili fries with their kick of spice while only stealing a few glances toward the cream puff. Before I have to decide whether to start implementing my plan right here, Jonah gets up from the table. Peri turns immediately as if attuned to his movements. She always notices things so quickly. I¡¯m going to have to be careful to convey exactly the right attitude. The sorcerer in our midst motions us toward the door. ¡°We¡¯d better get some rest.¡± He¡¯d better get some rest, he means. All I have to do is slip into the shadows for a matter of minutes, and any fatigue this human body has taken on will have melted away. We all have to keep up our sham of mortality, though. We head out of the restaurant, Peri and Mirage waving goodbye to the locals they chatted with. I force a small smile so I can¡¯t be accused to looking outright unfriendly and sabotaging our mission. Jonah waits until we¡¯re in the van before commenting on everything we¡¯ve learned. ¡°I think we should head up to that hermit¡¯s property first thing in the morning. Find out exactly what kind of monsters he¡¯s been seeing.¡± Peri nods eagerly. ¡°That¡¯s our best lead.¡± As Jonah drives a little farther outside of town so we can settle in for the night without raising questions from the locals, she sinks back on the bench as if getting cozy. Raze rests his large hand on her knee with a possessive air that rankles me. He didn¡¯t eat anything at the restaurant, only drank some soda. They don¡¯t serve the kind of bloody meals he needs. Which means he¡¯ll have to go off on a hunt once we¡¯ve found our spot for the night. As expected, the moment our sorcerer pulls off onto an overgrown lane and parks, the lizard man murmurs something to Peri and lunges off into the shadows. Mirage bounds out after him. While Jonah gets out his sleeping bag, I aim the warmest smile I can summon at Peri. ¡°We¡¯ve been stuck in one box or another almost all day. Want to take a walk with me?¡± Jonah shoots me a wary glance, but I ignore him. All that matters is the brightening of Peri¡¯s face in response. How do her eyes sparkle so vividly? She springs off the bench to join me. ¡°That sounds perfect. Thank you for inviting me.¡±This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. My senses aren¡¯t as honed as the basilisk¡¯s, but I can pick up on the traces of our companions¡¯ presence well enough to set off in a different direction from both the carnivore and the ridiculous fox. It¡¯s a pleasant enough patch of forest. Pines and birch trees loom tall around us. A light breeze rustles through their leaves. The terrain is lumpy with uneven earth and protruding granite, but that only makes it feel wilder. Untampered with by human expectations. I breathe in the cool night air, perfectly fresh without a single taint of humanity, and let it ripple through my nerves. It¡¯s easier to shed my qualms and focus on my goal with the natural world all around me. And that¡¯s especially important when the cream puff insists on being so attuned to my mood. She aims a softer smile at me, her hood pulled back now so her teal hair tumbles over her shoulders. ¡°You really like being out in nature, don¡¯t you? I guess you don¡¯t get much chance to enjoy it back at the school.¡± I think about the arid desert around the academy, the hot sun baking my skin to the point of pain. ¡°The environment there has some things to recommend about it¡­ but I¡¯m most at home in greener places.¡± Something about my being resonates with the woods, as if I was made for this kind of environment even though I came into existence in another realm on the other side of a shadowy rift. Peri inhales deeply with a satisfied sound. ¡°It is nice being out somewhere so peaceful¡­ I need to be around people some of the time, but all the emotions can get a little overwhelming.¡± I wouldn¡¯t have thought she could appreciate the stillness the way I do. But possibly she¡¯s only saying that to cozy up to me the way she seems to with everyone. That¡¯s fine. Right now, I¡¯m aiming to cozy up to her too. A particularly steep jut of the forest floor gives me the excuse to take Peri¡¯s hand and help her up. Once we¡¯ve clambered onto flatter ground, I keep my fingers wrapped around hers. My thumb traces patterns across the soft skin on the back of her hand. The rest of her must be even softer. I need to get on with finding that out so I can set aside this absurd attraction. Peri sets up the perfect opening before I need to. ¡°Thank you for trying to get Gloss to stop bothering me back at the school. I know sometimes I¡¯ve bothered you too¡ªI never meant to. I hope we can keep getting along better.¡± I stop and turn toward her, tugging her hand so she faces me at the same time. ¡°I hadn¡¯t really taken the time to get to know you,¡± I say, picking the words I think will hit the mark best. ¡°There¡¯s a lot more to you than I realized. It¡¯s hard not to appreciate that once I¡¯ve noticed.¡± When I skim my fingers along the line of arcing line of her jaw, Peri¡¯s eyelids dip. A ruddy light wavers through her hair that matches the hunger stirring inside me. Good. My usual skills work just as well on her as almost every other being. I lean down and brush my lips against hers. Peri kisses me back, resting her free hand against my chest as if to steady herself. As her fingers curl into my shirt, the warmth of the kiss and her touch spread through my usual chill faster than I expected. A pang of need shoots straight to my dick. She shouldn¡¯t have that effect on me. I shouldn¡¯t want her this much. Just get it over with. Get through it and prove that she¡¯s nothing more than all the other eager women who¡¯ve thrown themselves at me. There¡¯ll be nothing intriguing about her then. Deepening the kiss, I nudge her back against one of the trees. A quiver runs through Peri¡¯s body where we¡¯re pressed together. She eases her head away from mine. Her voice comes out breathless. ¡°Wait. Where do you want to go with this?¡± I can show her without any words. I trace her side, from the slope of her breast to the curve of her hips, and the gasp that slips out of her has me hard in an instant. That¡¯s right. Just like this. Always so fucking simple. I dip my head to kiss her neck. Her honey-sweet scent floods my lungs, her skin so temptingly tender against my lips. All that power she stores in this marshmallow of a body, and she still gives herself over to me so easily. It¡¯s only a fluke. The effects she can provoke¡ªall of them¡ªare totally meaningless. Accidental stumbling. She doesn¡¯t really see anything. She doesn¡¯t know me. How could a being like her have any idea¡ª Peri¡¯s hand tightens where she¡¯s clutching my shirt. All at once, she¡¯s pushing me backward, stepping to the side at the same time to put a little more distance between us. I blink down at her, frustration and unfulfilled desire swelling up inside me in tandem. What the fuck is she doing? Those crystal-clear eyes peer into mine. ¡°I can¡¯t do this without talking to Raze first. But I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea anyway. You¡¯re not really happy about it.¡± A sharper jab of irritation trickles into my voice. ¡°Of course I¡¯m happy. I wouldn¡¯t kiss you if I didn¡¯t want to.¡± Her brow knits as she studies my face. I have the sudden, shameful urge to leap off into the shadows so she can¡¯t see me at all. ¡°Maybe,¡± she says, so gently it sets my teeth on edge. ¡°But it¡¯s also making you upset. What¡¯s the matter? Are you nervous about running into more of those strange shadowkind tomorrow?¡± How can she be veering off onto that random subject when I was working over her body less than a minute ago? I step closer to her again. ¡°I wasn¡¯t looking to talk.¡± But when I dip my head and reach for her face to draw her mouth back to mine, she jerks farther away. A deeper crease forms between Peri¡¯s eyebrows. ¡°Something¡¯s wrong. It¡¯s okay if you don¡¯t want to tell me about it, but I can¡¯t just ignore it.¡± A twisted mass of anger and helplessness knots in my chest. ¡°Well, forgive me for wanting to fuck you,¡± I snap, and stride off without looking back. My heart is thudding too quickly, my limbs still flushed from the feel of her against them. Where did I screw up? How could she shrug off what I was offering like it was nothing? And why do I feel so awful at the thought that I might have just lost any chance I could have had at taking another shot? Chapter 30

Periwinkle I get the feeling we¡¯re heading into trouble before Jonah has even parked on the gravel drive that should belong to Ted McGaffery. There¡¯s nothing I can really put my finger on. Across the yard, the two-storey house looms quiet and still. The yellow clapboard siding has turned into a dingy beige most places, but I can¡¯t imagine it¡¯s easy to find house painters all the way up here. No artificial light glimmers in any of the windows, which isn¡¯t surprising when it¡¯s late morning, if overcast. The gray clouds smothering the sky only add to the ominous mood. When I step out of the van, a damp breeze licks over my skin. I pull up my hood both to conceal my hair and to ward off the chill. The house stands in a cleared patch of forest about ten times as big as the house¡¯s base. A rocky hillside rises up beyond the back end of the garden. Tall pines surround us on all other sides. A pick-up truck is parked farther down the drive by a shed not quite large enough to serve as a garage. If Ted is the only person who lives here, that should be his vehicle and mean he¡¯s home, unless he has more than one car. Jonah walks tentatively toward the house. ¡°Mr. McGaffery?¡± he calls out. ¡°We¡¯ve just come up from Pilverton.¡± His voice rings through the hush of the wilderness. If the house¡¯s owner is around, he should have been able to hear our engine several minutes before we reached the house, crawling along that narrow, bumpy lane. No one comes to the door or any of the windows. As Hail makes an impatient sound, Jonah strides toward the porch, presumably to try knocking. He¡¯s still a few paces away from the stairs when a stronger gust of wind washes over us¡ªand the front door swings open with a squeal of its hinges. I nearly jump out of my skin, feeling without seeing the flash of panicked glow that shoots through my hair. Raze springs to my side in an instant. Mirage lets out an uneasy hum. Jonah has frozen in his tracks. ¡°Mr. McGaffery?¡± he tries again. No one has appeared on the threshold. It looks like the door was unlocked and opened by the wind. But if the house¡¯s owner is home, why isn¡¯t he answering? If he isn¡¯t here, then where¡¯s he gone? Jonah walks the rest of the way to the door and leans his head inside. He calls out a few more times to no response before turning back to us. ¡°I don¡¯t feel right tramping around in there when we don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on. We could start by looking around outside, and maybe he¡¯ll come back.¡± ¡°Seek and you shall find!¡± Mirage declares brightly, and springs off to inspect the shed. Hail aims a cool glance at me and Raze before heading toward the trees. ¡°I¡¯ll see if I notice anything unusual in the woods.¡± I watch him go, unable to pick up on more than a trace of indecipherable emotion from him. A wobble runs through my pulse. The fae man tried to be sweet with me last night¡ªto get closer with me than I¡¯d ever have thought he¡¯d want to. There was something thrilling about having him let down his guard and reach out to me. But he didn¡¯t totally want to. I don¡¯t understand why he¡¯d touch me or kiss me if it unsettled him, even if he kind of liked it too. And he got angry when I tried to talk to him about it, which means it¡¯s probably bothering him even more than I could tell. I shake off those thoughts and nudge Raze toward the other side of the house from the shed. ¡°Let¡¯s see what¡¯s around back.¡± Whatever¡¯s going on with Hail, he couldn¡¯t have made it more obvious that he doesn¡¯t want me meddling. If I¡¯ve learned anything from my time at the school so far, it¡¯s that trying to soothe people¡¯s emotions when they don¡¯t even want to admit they¡¯re having them only makes the situation worse. If he ever decides he wants to open up properly, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m hard to find. As we approach the side of the house, my skin starts creeping. Scratch marks mottle the siding there, some thin and shallow, but others deep gouges. Raze frowned. ¡°It looks like something attacked the house.¡± He marches ahead of me and sniffs the area with a flick of his basilisk tongue. The shake of his head gives away his disappointment. ¡°It was too long ago for any significant scent to linger. At least a few days.¡± I swallow thickly. ¡°Maybe the creatures didn¡¯t come back after he told the people in town about it.¡± But where is Ted McGaffery himself? I venture on into the backyard. A chicken coop stands next to a fenced area where the birds must have been allowed to wander around, but there¡¯s nothing except scattered feathers on the grass now. When I get closer, splotches of dark red stand out against the scuffed earth. I hesitate. ¡°I think whatever came through here, they ate his chickens.¡± Raze comes up beside me with a hint of a snarl. He motions to the patchy lawn around the chicken coop. ¡°They tore up the yard too.¡± More clawed spots show against the soil between the patches of grass. I can¡¯t restrain a shiver. Mirage and Jonah come around the other side of the house to join us. I point out the signs we¡¯ve noticed to both of them. Jonah¡¯s eyes darken. ¡°We don¡¯t know for sure it was shadowkind creatures.¡± Mirage cocks his head. ¡°Are there any mortal creatures that would try to tear down a house?¡± Our team leader grimaces. ¡°Not that I can think of.¡± Hail steps out from between the trees, his handsome face unusually grim. ¡°Some of the tree trunks near here have been battered with claws and maybe spikes. It doesn¡¯t look natural¡ªin the mortal sense¡ªto me.¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Jonah exhales in a rush. ¡°We have to be careful, considering how the creatures came at us the last time we encountered them. Raze, can you do a wider circuit through the woods and see if you pick up some fresh scent? Shout if you get any indication at all that shadowkind might be nearby. The rest of us will take a quick look inside the house.¡± Raze is the only one he trusts to be able to defend himself fairly well if there¡¯s a sudden attack. I can¡¯t argue with his judgment, as much as I hate seeing the man I¡¯ve come to care about so much lope off into the woods. My heart gives a little squeeze, but I follow the others into the unlocked house. We wipe our shoes on the doormat and pad carefully through the rooms. Ted keeps his home fairly tidy¡ªa book is lying out on the living room coffee table and a mug sits by the sink, but just about everything else is in its place. Upstairs, his bed is made and his clothes hang neatly in the closet. I rub my arms against my rising apprehension. ¡°It doesn¡¯t look like there was any kind of struggle in here.¡± Hail scowls. ¡°A human wouldn¡¯t live off on his own like this just to spend all his time in his house. He must go out regularly. Maybe he¡¯s simply taking a hike.¡± But all kinds of things could happen to a human strolling around in the forest, even if there weren¡¯t disturbed shadowkind creatures roving around. Raze¡¯s gruff voice carries through the bedroom wall. ¡°Team! I¡¯ve got something.¡± He doesn¡¯t sound worried, but I hustle down the stairs and out into the yard as quickly as my twinging feet will take me. Another holler brings us tramping through the woods to the east of the house. Raze backtracks until he comes into our view and waves for us to follow him. ¡°I caught one fresher trail. Something passed by here earlier this morning, I think¡ªanother one of those strange shadowkind scents.¡± He pauses. ¡°Should we see where it went or where it came from?¡± ¡°Where it came from,¡± Jonah says immediately. ¡°That¡¯s what matters the most. And that¡¯s the trail that¡¯ll fade sooner. If it doesn¡¯t get us anywhere, we can try going the other way.¡± I smile more to try to raise everyone¡¯s spirits than because I feel particularly upbeat. ¡°That makes sense to me!¡± As we set off through the forest with Raze at the lead, we quickly lapse into silence. The basilisk shifter sets as swift a pace as Jonah can keep up with on his mortal legs, and pretty soon I need to slip into the shadows to make sure I can keep up too. Mirage is still bounding over the underbrush in the physical world, but Hail has shifted into his most ephemeral form too. I can sense him through the darkness, his presence like a slightly brittle chill. Despite my earlier resolve, I veer closer to him. I don¡¯t like the way our conversation ended last night. ¡°I know you might not want to talk to me right now,¡± I say as I dart forward alongside him. ¡°But I¡¯m sorry if I upset you even more last night.¡± Hail¡¯s response travels through the shadows in a mutter. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± I don¡¯t think he means he¡¯s actually fine, but I do have plenty of other things to worry about. Like whether we¡¯ll encounter more beasts that¡¯ve been commanded to attack us while we wander through the woods. Like what the sorcerer who commanded them is up to now. As we keep pace behind Raze while he weaves through the forest, the sun reaches its peak and then begins descending to the west. Jonah swipes at the sweat on the back of his neck. I re-materialize to keep him company for a little longer and dip back into the shadows when my ankles are throbbing. Finally, the basilisk shifter draws to a halt. He stares at something farther ahead of us, his stance going rigid. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ I¡¯ve never seen one like that before.¡± I flit forward through the shadows. Before I¡¯ve quite reached him, a current of energy tremors through my being. That feels almost like¡ª I pull myself into physical form and find myself staring at the most formidable rift I¡¯ve ever seen. It¡¯s true that I haven¡¯t seen a whole lot of the portals that connect the shadow realm with the mortal world. I¡¯ve only returned to my native habitat a few times since I first stumbled through into this one and realized how the emotions of the beings here invigorate me. But all of the rifts I¡¯ve passed through before were easy to miss if you weren¡¯t specifically looking for a one. The hum of shadowy energy normally blends into the general thrum of mortal life. There¡¯d be nothing really to see unless you squinted just the right way to make out the blurring of the terrain it stood in front of. And they¡¯ve all been up off the ground, not really accessible except through the shadows. This one¡­ With just a few more steps, the sense of the other world beyond it prickles right through my skin. The vast maw of haziness stretches up above the tree tops around it¡ªbut it also gapes all the way down to the forest floor. It¡¯s several times bigger than any of the rifts I¡¯ve encountered before. You could toss Ted McGaffery¡¯s entire house in there without it scraping the edges. I peer at the trees around us as if they might offer some explanation. My gaze catches on a bit of thread snagged on a twig a few feet away from me. The olive-green color makes my pulse hitch with a flash of memory¡ªthe suit jacket my former captor liked to wear, the same color of fabric stretching across his wide shoulders. I inhale the cool forest air, willfully slow, and peer closer. When I consider the details, this thread looks like a bit of yarn from a sweater, nothing that would have come from a jacket like that. I can¡¯t keep jumping at scraps that mean nothing. Jonah is still studying the portal in front of us. He lets out a low whistle. ¡°Now that¡¯s a rift. How could the shadowkind community not already know about this one?¡± ¡°Maybe it¡¯s new?¡± I suggest, but that idea seems absurd considering how huge it is. A shudder ripples through Mirage¡¯s lean form. His fox ears pop from between the strands of his bright red hair. ¡°It feels too big. Like it¡¯s¡­ pushy.¡± Hail inclines his head in a slight nod, his dark gaze fixed on the rift. ¡°All the ones I¡¯ve come across in the past give off a neutral impression. This one makes my hackles go up.¡± I hug myself. ¡°What do we¡ª¡± Before I can finish my question, a shadowy figure tumbles out of the rift. It transforms into a physical body as it hits the ground just in front of the portal: a creature standing a little taller than my waist, with four bowed legs, a squashed face, and scales that lift into pointed tips. Raze¡¯s nostrils flare. ¡°It smells like the other strange creatures.¡± As if to confirm his remark, the beast spasms. Its legs shrink while its jaw juts several inches longer. Only mild emotions waft off it, like a thin soup. ¡°It¡¯s curious and a little confused, but not hostile right now,¡± I tell the others. Hail¡¯s stance has gone rigid. ¡°For the moment.¡± Jonah¡¯s mouth twists. He looks from the creature to the rift and back again. ¡°I think we¡¯ve discovered where the influx of new, unusual shadowkind are coming from. Now what are we going to do about it?¡± Chapter 31

Jonah My foster mom leans over the map, her eyebrows drawing together with concentration. ¡°And what exactly was funky about this rift?¡± It¡¯s a little strange seeing Sorsha take anything very seriously. The phoenix shifter may be in the running for the position of most powerful shadowkind in existence¡ªpartly because she¡¯s an incredibly rare hybrid, with strengths from both her human and monstrous sides¡ªbut she manages to approach nearly everything the world throws at her with a light-hearted attitude. As a kid, growing up under her watch, her breezy approach gave me a respite from the trauma of having my parents murdered in front of me. Which maybe she understood better than I realized at the time, considering I later found out that she went through a similar tragedy at close to the same age. As an adult, I appreciate how she mixes humor with compassion and determination. It often makes difficult situations a little less intimidating to tackle. But it also means that when even she turns solemn, I know the problem¡¯s a big deal. ¡°I couldn¡¯t sense it the same way the shadowkind on my team could,¡± I admit, peering at the spot we¡¯ve marked on the map at the coordinates where we found the rift. ¡°It was definitely closer to the ground than any I¡¯ve encountered before, so I don¡¯t know if the sensations I could pick up on were because of proximity or something else. But the energy it gave off felt kind of¡­ twitchy, erratic.¡± ¡°Is that how the beings you were working with would describe it too?¡± I nod. ¡°Something like that. Like it was larger, more imposing, and more unsettling than they¡¯d have expected. None of them were willing to step through it to see what would happen, even though they¡¯ve all traveled back and forth between the realms plenty of times before. It unnerved them enough that venturing inside felt like a significant risk.¡± Sorsha hums to herself, tucking a stray lock of bright red hair behind her ear. ¡°I¡¯ve definitely never come across a rift that shadowkind were repelled from. The weird, morphing creatures you said seem to have come out if it¡ªdo you think the rift changed them into something odd, or does it connect to an odd part of the shadow realm that we might be unaware of?¡± I spread my hands in a gesture of helplessness. ¡°I have no idea. Have you heard of either of those things happening before?¡± ¡°No.¡± She sucks her lower lip under her teeth to worry at it and then flashes a smile at me with more of her usual lively spirits. ¡°But the mysteries this world offers us appear to be endless. It¡¯ll be interesting seeing what comes of this one. At least the worst threat you¡¯ve had to deal with is some minor sorcerer.¡± I don¡¯t know how ¡°minor¡± the sorcerer who¡¯s been controlling some of the strange shadowkind creatures is, but it¡¯s true that he hasn¡¯t posed much of an obstacle to our investigations so far. We can¡¯t be sure whether he intended that one aggressive pack to attack us in particular or just anyone their path crossed with. He might not even be aware that anyone¡¯s investigating. We simply got caught in whatever mess he¡¯s making for his own ends. I rub my jaw. ¡°The creatures are some kind of threat too. From the reports we¡¯ve gotten and what we¡¯ve seen, they don¡¯t have the normal shadowkind instincts to be wary of humans and avoid being spotted. Some of that could be due to the sorcerer¡¯s influence, but at least one of them wasn¡¯t under any sorcery at all and still frightening people.¡± Rollick¡¯s voice carries through the doorway ahead of him. ¡°And that¡¯s why we need to get a better understanding of what exactly this unusual rift is about.¡± The demon strides into the small meeting room with his usual assured air¡ªand with Peri hurrying along behind him. At the sight of her vibrant hair and shapely body, my pulse hiccups. I can¡¯t help tensing up in an effort to lock my emotions down. I¡¯ve been grappling with my attraction to her what feels like ages now, but it wasn¡¯t that hard to keep under control even when we were traveling together. I¡¯m one of the teachers here and the closest thing to an authority figure on our small team¡ªshe¡¯s a student and dependent on my evaluation. Pursuing anything more than friendly with her would be wrong. But when she fell into my arms the other day, when I stared into her eyes just inches from mine and her brightly sweet scent flooded my lungs, all my better intentions flew out the window. She makes me feel brighter, from the inside out. Like a light flicks on inside me when she¡¯s around, when she smiles at me, when she makes one of her encouraging remarks. I don¡¯t know how to turn that light off anymore. Worse, an increasingly large part of me doesn¡¯t want to. I¡¯ve met a lot of shadowkind over the years, but never a being like her. Why did it have to be like this, in a position that compromises every shred of my integrity? Rollick doesn¡¯t appear to notice my reaction. He strolls over to the table to join us in studying the map. Sorsha, knowing me much better than he does, raises one eyebrow slightly but doesn¡¯t comment. She turns back to the demon. I keep my gaze away from Peri, figuring I¡¯m less likely to reveal more if I pretend she¡¯s simply not here. Sorsha taps the marked spot on the map. ¡°I¡¯d like to take an up-close look at this thing. It¡¯d be good to bring Snap along and see what he can taste from it with his power too. Omen might be willing to take a leap through it and see what¡¯s on the other side.¡± Her four partners¡ªthe men who acted as my squad of sort-of dads¡ªstopped by the academy with her today to offer guest talks on their specialty subjects. My spirits lift at the thought of having my makeshift family mostly back together for our next road trip. But Rollick is shaking his head. ¡°There¡¯ll be time for that later. This little team has been making good progress, but my colleagues aren¡¯t prepared to let them rejoin the regular school program yet. I¡¯d like to give them more chance to prove themselves.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. He catches my eye. ¡°I have a few instruments I¡¯d like you to bring along on your next trip out there. The readings they take will help us make a more objective assessment of what exactly is different about this rift.¡± I lift my chin, ignoring the knot that¡¯s formed in my gut. I¡¯m going to be in charge again, wrangling the four very different shadowkind who sometimes seem more interested in fighting each other than finishing our mission. We have made it through without killing each other so far, though. Peri deserves a chance to prove herself even if I¡¯m not sure about the others. ¡°Of course,¡± I say. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t take long now that we know exactly where to go.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be sending equipment for trapping one of the strange creatures as well, if you have the opportunity,¡± the demon adds. ¡°But that¡¯s a lower priority at the moment. I¡¯d also like you to test if you can ¡®convince¡¯ the rift to shrink even a small amount with your sorcery. Its size and power concern me.¡± That makes two of us. I swallow past the sudden dryness in my throat. ¡°I¡¯ll give it my best shot. I¡¯ve never tried to use sorcery on a rift before.¡± He claps me on the shoulder. ¡°There¡¯s a first time for everything. You can have the rest of the day to take your leisure¡ªno teaching necessary. I¡¯ll have all you require loaded onto the jet for a departure tomorrow morning.¡± Sorsha folds her arms over her chest. ¡°You really believe in throwing people into the deep end, don¡¯t you, Rollick?¡± He grins at her crookedly. ¡°At least I don¡¯t have any intention of burning the whole world down. But they won¡¯t be lacking backup. I was hoping you and your associates would show off the speeds that RV of yours is capable of and take me on a trip up the same way, so we¡¯ll be nearby if the team needs additional assistance.¡± Knowing he¡¯ll be close by eases most of my nerves and appears to mollify Sorsha too. She swipes her hands together with a satisfied expression. ¡°There¡¯s room in the Everymobile for one more. Or two or three, if your associates¡ª¡± Rollick cuts her off with a raised hand. ¡°We have other matters that are keeping us busy, or I¡¯d have been more involved already. I¡¯m hoping this will be a quick trip as it is.¡± Sorsha laughs as if accepting a challenge. ¡°Omen will make sure of that.¡± Rollick pats Peri on the shoulder. ¡°You wanted to take another look at the map, so go ahead. Then you should get some rest too, shiny one.¡± As he ambles out of the room, my gaze follows him. I want to ask what other business has been keeping him and his colleagues busy, but I don¡¯t think he¡¯d tell me. The demon tends to keep his cards close to the chest. I hope Quinn, the woman he¡¯s committed to alongside three of those colleagues, is all right. Her health has always been shaky. But it¡¯s thanks to her strength that I¡¯m alive at all. Sorsha lopes out after Rollick, and my skin tingles with the awareness that I¡¯m now alone with Peri. I step to the side to put more distance between us, with an easy excuse. ¡°I¡¯ll get out of your way. If you notice anything new that you think might be useful, let the rest of us know.¡± I¡¯m planning on walking out of there as casually as I can, but Peri fixes me with her vivid blue gaze. My legs stall. A worried crease has formed on her forehead. She hesitates before speaking. ¡°Did I do something to upset you?¡± My stomach drops. I haven¡¯t been hiding my internal conflict well enough. ¡°Not at all,¡± I say as firmly as I can. ¡°You¡¯ve been great, Peri. I¡¯m not sure we¡¯d have gotten this far into the mission without you.¡± She only looks more puzzled. ¡°Something¡¯s been making you uncomfortable around me in the past couple of days. You don¡¯t have to talk about it, but if there¡¯s anything I can do to fix what went wrong, I¡¯d want you to tell me.¡± I know she would. Fuck, what do I even say? I grope for an answer. ¡°It really isn¡¯t your fault. I¡¯m just sorting some things out that are mine to deal with.¡± She steps closer, making my pulse skip a beat. Then she touches my forearm as if trying to solidify a connection between us. ¡°You¡¯ve helped me a lot too, you know. The one thing I¡¯m good at is helping people sort through their feelings. If you¡¯d ever want a hand with that.¡± Heat blooms through my arm where she¡¯s touching me. I ease back as gently as I can so I¡¯m out of reach. ¡°Thank you for the offer. This is the kind of thing it¡¯s better that I work out on my own.¡± Peri is watching me even more intently now. She takes another step toward me as if checking for something. The wall stops me from retreating any farther. She lifts her hand to trace her fingers along my jaw, and a zing of desire shoots to my groin. I¡¯m about to yank myself away even knowing it¡¯ll confuse her more when she pulls back instead. Her eyes widen. Her voice comes out even softer than before. ¡°Why does it bother you that you like being close to me? I wouldn¡¯t expect anything from you or¡ª¡± Shit. The cat¡¯s out of the bag now. I interrupt before she can spiral any further into anxiety. ¡°Like I said, it isn¡¯t your fault, Peri. It¡¯s just not¡­ appropriate, when I¡¯m your teacher and evaluating your performance on the mission. We can¡¯t control our feelings, but we can control how we act based on them. And I can¡¯t act on those feelings at all.¡± I¡¯m afraid she might not understand the subtleties of those dynamics, but a ruddy orange sheen ripples over her hair as a blush crosses her cheeks. ¡°Oh. Oh, I didn¡¯t even think about¡ª I¡¯m sorry. I wasn¡¯t trying to be pushy.¡± ¡°I know.¡± I manage a small smile that¡¯s genuine enough. ¡°It¡¯s all right. I¡¯m just being careful to make sure I don¡¯t do anything that wouldn¡¯t be fair. You really don¡¯t have to worry about me. I¡¯ll leave you to the map.¡± I duck out of the room without looking back, hoping that explanation will satisfy her¡­ and regretting how much I¡¯ve already inadvertently revealed. Chapter 32

Periwinkle ¡°Peri!¡± Fen catches me in the dorm common room as everyone¡¯s heading out for breakfast. My friend exudes happiness like a shower of gumdrops. I have to grin back at her. ¡°Did you get good news?¡± ¡°Not exactly.¡± She steps into the hall with an unusual spring in her step. ¡°Last night, I met a new being who just came to the school yesterday. She¡¯s a selkie, so she knows all about watery powers. And she¡¯s really nice. She gave me some tips on keeping mine held in, and I think it might be enough for me to finally get the hang of it! You¡¯ll like her too. She¡¯s in one of the other dorms, but we can sit with her at breakfast.¡± I keep smiling through Fen¡¯s deluge of excitement, but my stomach tightens. She made a new friend yesterday, and they might already have solved her biggest problem? She¡¯s never been overjoyed like this during any time we¡¯ve spent together. Why should she have been? I gave her company and encouragement, but it isn¡¯t as if I ever really helped her, is it? I brightened her day a little, stopped her from feeling lonely, but my presence hasn¡¯t had any more impact than one of those flickering glows that passes over my hair. ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± I tell Fen, and I mean it. If she can stop herself from accidentally conjuring water in awkward situations, the other students won¡¯t have any reason to make fun of her. She¡¯ll be able to move through the levels at the school, transfer over to the voluntary building once she¡¯s graduated from the reform program, make lots more friends¡­ She¡¯s been nothing but kind to me since I arrived here. Of course she deserves to find her footing and her place in the world. It isn¡¯t her fault that my happiness for her is selfishly bittersweet. Fen rubs her hands together eagerly. ¡°She used to live in the sea. I¡¯ve never been to one of those. Have you seen an ocean before?¡± I have vague memories of a big expanse of water almost the same color as my hair, from long before I knew about sorcerers and cages. ¡°I think so. One of the first times I came to the mortal realm.¡± In my distraction, I bump against one of the other beings in the hall. Or maybe she bumps into me, but because it¡¯s Vim, our classmate who¡¯s always trying to puff herself up and look tough, she looks peeved anyway. She rolls her eyes at me and grimaces. ¡°Can¡¯t even walk straight, and you think you have so much amazing advice for the rest of us.¡± As Vim strides off, Fen knocks her elbow playfully against mine. ¡°She just wishes she had as good a friend as you. How soon do you have to leave again? Brine is starting at level 3, but she might be in one of our classes this afternoon anyway.¡± Her compliment combined with the reminder of her much better friend twist up my gut into a heavy lump. I swallow hard and suddenly can¡¯t imagine forcing any food down my throat. The words tumble out before I have a chance to think better of them. ¡°Actually, I can¡¯t even come to breakfast. We¡¯re supposed to leave pretty early this morning¡ªI need to go finish preparing.¡± Fen frowns, but my excuse only dampens her joy a little. ¡°That¡¯s too bad. Well, you can meet Brine the next time you¡¯re back. How much longer do you think Rollick is going to keep you on this mission before he decides you¡¯re safe to go back to regular classes?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Hopefully we¡¯ll be done soon.¡± Although what Rollick is going to decide based on how much I¡¯ve contributed¡ªor not¡ªI have no idea. I grab her hand for a quick squeeze. ¡°We¡¯ll be able to hang out again soon. I¡¯m glad you¡¯ll have Brine to keep you company when while I¡¯m gone.¡± Fen has been a wonderful friend to me. I don¡¯t want to bring her good mood down. Part of controlling my own powers is knowing when to back away from a situation that¡¯s stirring up emotions I¡¯d rather not have, right? I tell myself that, but parting ways with her at a split in the hall still feels like running off with my tail between my legs. How can I be a good friend if I¡¯m getting upset the second she makes a new one? I don¡¯t actually have any final preparations to make. I wander a little aimlessly until I spot one of the sliding glass doors that leads to the inner courtyard up ahead. Most of the reform building¡¯s other students are at breakfast. A couple of beings lounge together on one of the benches, and a few others are sitting cross-legged on the patio stones playing some sort of game with shiny tokens. I veer away from them, off into the garden area at one end of the courtyard. Amid the flowering bushes, I find a clear spot where I can sink down on the firmly packed dirt and lean against the slim trunk of the one small tree. I draw my legs up to my chest, wrap my arms around them, and rest my chin on my knees. An ache I don¡¯t totally understand spreads through my chest. A burn of tears that make even less sense forms behind my eyes. I squeeze my eyelids shut as if I can push them back that way. Everything is fine. Nothing¡¯s wrong. We¡¯ve made progress with our mission. My best friend is closer to moving up in the levels. I¡¯m keeping my emotions in check right now, not letting them overwhelm me or burst out. But I can¡¯t stop myself from seeing Vim¡¯s sneer as she mocked my attempts at advice. Jonah¡¯s uncomfortable expression yesterday when he explained that the way I make him feel is a problem. The anger flashing in Hail¡¯s eyes before he stormed off on me the other night, because I wouldn¡¯t ignore the uneasiness I could tell he was feeling. I open my eyes again, hoping to dismiss those memories, and the bushes in front of me rustle. Before I can do more than tense up, a furry, orange-red face pokes between the leaves with ears perked. The fox cocks its head at the sight of me and then leaps into the gap between the plants next to me. He rolls onto his back with a whirl of his five tails like he¡¯s a helicopter about to take off. With another flip, he flings himself right up into the air, seeming to actually hover for a few seconds.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Then he whips his body around so that he lands cushioned on those same tails with an immensely pleased expression. A giggle breaks through the ache that¡¯s gripping my chest. The animal gives me a very foxy smile and then ripples into Mirage¡¯s human-like form, other than the furred ears above his human ones that he doesn¡¯t bother to retract. He tips his head to the side much like he did as a fox, his eyes glinting with mischief, and speaks in a hush as if afraid of being overheard. ¡°What are you doing hiding away in here, Rainbow? Some new sneaky mission?¡± Another laugh bubbles up, but my tumultuous emotions stew around it. I rub my face. ¡°I just needed a little time alone.¡± Mirage¡¯s smile vanishes. He moves to retreat. ¡°I won¡¯t bother¡ª¡± ¡°No.¡± I catch his sleeve before he can pull out of reach. ¡°I¡¯m glad you found me. Watching you play cheered me up.¡± The fox shifter brightens again, but in a more subdued way than before. His ears flick away within his ruddy hair. He lifts his hand to trail his fingers over my own hair. ¡°Why are you blue, Rainbow?¡± My lips twitch with a hint of amusement at his phrasing, even though the question is serious. ¡°No good reason. I guess I¡¯m trying to figure that out. It feels like¡­ like I know what I want to be doing in the world, but I have no idea how to do it. Nothing I try really works.¡± Mirage hums and eases closer again. He sits down by my side, turned to face me, and keeps fiddling with my hair, twisting a strand into a corkscrew curl. ¡°What do you want to be doing?¡± ¡°Making people feel good,¡± I say automatically. ¡°Happy, safe, excited, proud¡­ All those things.¡± ¡°And what makes you think that you¡¯re not?¡± An awkward flush creeps up my neck. I shrug. ¡°Other than the outbursts where I literally hurt people? I don¡¯t see it happening very much, and I do see people getting annoyed or upset with me.¡± Mirage lets out a soft huff. ¡°You don¡¯t annoy me.¡± I look over at him, meeting his bright brown gaze. ¡°I did sometimes. You seemed irritated the first time I talked to you.¡± The fox shifter opens his mouth and closes it again. He droops his gaze with an abashed expression. ¡°It wasn¡¯t really you bothering me. You were being kind. I¡­ It¡¯s scary feeling that someone is safe to be around, because if they¡¯re safe then there are other things I might want to talk about, but I don¡¯t even want to think about them, and¡ª¡± He cuts himself off, his eyebrows rising as if he¡¯s surprised himself, and then laughs roughly. His smile coming back, he nuzzles my cheek in a way that sets off a sudden flurry of sparks over my skin. ¡°Like that. But now that I¡¯ve been around you more, I think maybe¡­ it will feel good after I get through that part. Better than running away. You let me see that.¡± A lump fills my throat. I don¡¯t know everything that¡¯s haunting this charmingly erratic being, but there¡¯s no mistaking the affection and gratitude in his voice. Is it possible I have helped Fen in ways I haven¡¯t totally seen too? I touch the side of his face, running my thumb over his smooth brown skin, the arch of his high cheekbone. ¡°Mirage¡ª¡± Before I can go on, a larger form pushes through the bushes. ¡°Peri? Are you all right? I¡ª" Raze jars to a halt the second he sets eyes on us. His lips pull back with a low growl, his gaze narrowing in on Mirage. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± I hold up my hand to bring his attention back to me, but the fox shifter has already jerked away from me. He hunches his shoulders in a submissive posture. ¡°Not getting in your way or making a play. Only trying to cheer her up. She seemed to need it.¡± I suck in a breath to add my confirmation, but Raze¡¯s posture relaxes. He crouches down amid the garden, considering Mirage and then me with a twist of his mouth. ¡°I saw you didn¡¯t come to breakfast. Something¡¯s wrong. Who upset you?¡± I manage a wry smile. ¡°Mostly just myself. I feel a little better now.¡± ¡°Because of him.¡± Raze studies Mirage a little longer. ¡°You noticed. It mattered to you enough that you looked after her.¡± The tension has seeped from the fox shifter¡¯s stance too. He dips his head in a nod. His eyes gleam when he glances at me. ¡°She¡¯s got a whole rainbow in her. A being that special needs to be watched out for.¡± His words and his gaze send a flutter through my chest. I don¡¯t know if Raze can tell or if he¡¯s simply going by Mirage¡¯s reaction, but he hesitates and then says, ¡°You care about her a lot. You like her¡­ in a lot of different ways.¡± Mirage¡¯s voice becomes even more tender. ¡°She is very special. It¡¯s very enjoyable to show her that. However I can. As long as it¡¯s welcome.¡± A heated energy tingles through the air. Raze meets my eyes again, careful and maybe a bit curious. ¡°You enjoy being around him too.¡± I reach out to stroke my lover¡¯s jaw. ¡°I do. But it has nothing to do with enjoying you, which you know I do, very much. He really was just reassuring me and cheering me up. If anything else would make you upset¡ª¡± Raze inhales sharply, cutting me off. ¡°I think¡­ I think it shouldn¡¯t. Mirage wouldn¡¯t hurt you.¡± He pauses again as if grappling with something inside himself. A glimmer lights in his eyes that isn¡¯t so different from the fox shifter¡¯s usual sly glint. Raze lifts his chin toward Mirage. ¡°She could feel even better. I want to see how she¡¯d look if you kiss her.¡± Mirage blinks at him. For a second, I think he¡¯s offended by the domineering request. My pulse skitters. Then the fox shifter turns the full force of his grin on me. ¡°Would that make you even happier, Rainbow?¡± My heart thuds even faster, but nothing about the rhythm is fearful now. When I peek at Raze, he¡¯s watching avidly. I wet my lips instinctively. ¡°Yes. I think it would.¡± Mirage scoots toward me and teases his fingers back into my hair. Anticipation shivers giddily through me. He tips forward and catches my mouth with his. The gentle press of Mirage¡¯s lips summons a whole swell of giddiness that wraps around my heart. As I kiss him back, Raze takes a rough breath with a trace of a groan. The basilisk shifter edges closer and rests his hand on my back with a rush of warmth. And the PA system crackles to life with Shanty¡¯s voice reverberating from the speaker. ¡°The students scheduled for this morning¡¯s trip north should report to the admin room now.¡± Chapter 33

Periwinkle Jonah looks from his phone to the trees around us and back again. ¡°It should be right here.¡± Mirage tips his head to one side and then the other before spinning around with a brief swoosh of a couple of fox tails. ¡°No rift, no work to do!¡± Raze adjusts the bag of equipment he has slung over his bulky shoulder and frowns. ¡°It can¡¯t have disappeared, can it? Do rifts move?¡± ¡°They aren¡¯t supposed to.¡± Jonah¡¯s forehead furrows. ¡°But this wasn¡¯t like any other rift we know of, right?¡± An uneasy quiver ripples through my veins. ¡°And the creatures that we think are coming out of it change like no other shadowkind do. Maybe it¡¯s all part of the same energy¡ªalways morphing.¡± Hail folds his arms over his chest. He offers a typically blas¨¦ tone. ¡°If Rollick¡¯s been getting reports of the strange activity up here for months, then the rift mustn¡¯t move very far. Let¡¯s get on with finding the stupid thing.¡± Jonah hesitates and then motions to the rest of us. ¡°We should spread out a little. Pay attention to the atmosphere¡ªif you sense anything like the vibe that rift gave off, shout for the rest of us right away.¡± As we fan out from the coordinates where the portal to the shadowkind realm was before, my skin creeps. Mirage bounds along to my left, the sunlight catching on his bright red hair. I stay where I can still see Raze¡¯s huge, sinewy form between the trees. We haven¡¯t come across any signs of more strange beings around here so far on this trek, but that doesn¡¯t mean we won¡¯t. And I¡¯m not all that confident in my abilities to protect myself. I extend my awareness as far as I can, but I¡¯m built for picking up on emotions, not weird shadow-realm energies. I haven¡¯t noticed anything at all when the fox shifter lets out a startled bark. ¡°What is it?¡± I ask, hustling over. By the time I reach him, Mirage¡¯s emotions have calmed. He points to a crumpled mass of shiny paper on the ground. ¡°I stepped on that. It¡¯s not part of the forest.¡± I bend down and realize the paper is shiny because it¡¯s coated with aluminum foil. The surface is flecked with dirt and grit¡­ as well as dried smears of a dark red substance. My pulse hiccups. I pick it up and give it a sniff. The spicy tang of tandoori fills my nose. I drop the wrapper as if it burned me. Jonah and Raze are just loping over from opposite directions. Raze takes one look at my face and bares his teeth. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± I shake my head quickly. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Just some garbage. Another random coincidence.¡± Lots of people like eating tandoori. We even had it at the school just days ago. There¡¯s no more reason to think this piece of trash is connected to my old captor than our cafeteria meal was. Other than the fact that we know there¡¯s a sorcerer with questionable intentions who¡¯s gathered some of the odd creatures up here. As I rub my arms to will down the goosebumps, Jonah picks up the crumpled wrapper. ¡°We need all the evidence we can get.¡± Mirage springs forward and sniffs the breeze. ¡°The air is a little¡­ wobbly this way.¡± When Jonah has tucked the wrapper into his bag, my nerves settle down. I step forward, ignoring the twinge that¡¯s creeping up my ankles. ¡°Maybe that¡¯s where the rift wandered off to, then.¡± Raze has only taken a few more steps before his tongue flicks over his lips. ¡°I can smell one of those unusual creatures. Not too fresh. The trail¡¯s at least a few hours old.¡± Our leader perks up. ¡°Follow the trail back to where it came from.¡± We tramp on through the woods, all together now. After a couple of minutes, a tingle of energy passes through my flesh. My head jerks up with a hitch of breath. ¡°I think I can feel it¡ªthe rift.¡± Even Hail nods, his pale face more intent than usual. ¡°We¡¯re close.¡± We pick up our pace, twigs crackling and stones rattling under our feet. The energy reverberates more thickly through the air, and my nerves start jittering again. We reach a small glade with a ridge of rock at one side. I can sense the rift, with its slight blurring of the surrounding vegetation, looming right in front of the low cliff that rises from the ground next to us. Jonah taps the coordinates into his phone. ¡°It moved half a mile in a couple of days. I wonder how often it drifts around?¡± Hail grimaces. ¡°Hopefully we¡¯ll be finished with this mission before we have to find out.¡± At Jonah¡¯s gesture, Raze hefts the bag off his shoulder and unzips it. They pull out the metal boxes with their knobs and buttons out of their padded containers, as well as a couple of folded cages that we could open up if a creature comes through. Hail moves closer to watch. I don¡¯t understand how all the devices Rollick sent with us are supposed to operate, but there¡¯s something comforting about the pings and ticking sounds as Jonah holds the first one up to the rift. As if he¡¯s bringing this strange phenomenon back into the realm of things that can be explained and catalogued. It won¡¯t remain an unsettling mystery for much longer. There isn¡¯t much for me to do, since I have no experience with technology. So I wander through the woods near the rift, testing whether I can catch hints of emotion from the forest¡¯s inhabitants. Are any of the odd shadowkind still close enough for me to sense their presence? I taste Jonah¡¯s satisfaction at fulfilling Rollick¡¯s request and Raze¡¯s at helping with the job. Mirage gives off a little delight while chasing sunbeams that dart back and forth with the swaying of the overhead leaves in the wind. Hail has his feelings tightly under wraps, and I don¡¯t want to bother him when I¡¯m still confused by his reactions to me the other night. A little fear reaches me from a few forest animals who don¡¯t know what to make of our presence, but I don¡¯t notice anything that matches the shifting emotions the strange shadowkind gave off. Jonah switches from one device to another. ¡°After we¡¯ve gotten all the readings, we¡¯ll see if you can affect the rift¡¯s energies with your powers, Raze. You¡¯re probably the best choice to give it a try, considering how strong you are¡ªif you¡¯re still all right with making the attempt.¡± Raze dips his head and murmurs an answer I don¡¯t hear, because at the same moment a different sort of energy zings right through my skull.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. My heart lurches. Every inch of my skin chills as if it¡¯s been coated with ice. I know that feeling. Like when Jonah gives us his sorcerous commands, the words jabbing into my will like tiny fish hooks, except this zing has a darker, sharper flavor to it. Like tandoori chicken wrapped in aluminium foil in a dim basement room. As my pulse pounds frantically, I throw my awareness in the direction the energy came from, tasting for other sensations with all my concentration. Only a few whiffs of emotion¡ªmortal, human¡ªreach me. Frustration like meat charred to black. Anger like bursting peppercorns. Greed like a rich vanilla mousse that¡¯s spoiled. I know those feelings too. I¡¯ve tasted those exact flavors. All from the same source. My throat constricts so fast I lose my breath. All those little bits and pieces I¡¯ve stumbled on¡ªthey weren¡¯t just coincidences. The sorcerer messing with this rift is the man I knew, the same one who flung his shimmering net over me, shut me away in a cage, and dug his blades into my body to provoke the anguish he wanted. He¡¯s here. He found these strange shadowkind and decided to turn them into his new slaves. And any second now he¡¯s going to realize that his attempt at latching onto my mind didn¡¯t work, that it bounced off the brief instruction Jonah gave me earlier, and he¡¯s going to hit me even harder. I don¡¯t know for sure that my former captor has stronger magic than Jonah¡¯s¡ªbut he is a lot older. He¡¯s had a lot more time to practice. He commanded an army of shadowkind creatures a couple dozen strong. If he catches hold of me again¡ªif he traps Raze and Mirage and Hail in his power¡ª Horror sears through my veins alongside the blare of panic. As a shudder wracks my body, my vision hazes. The dark emotions roil beneath my skin, heaving to the surface, the command Jonah gave me to control them having faded since yesterday¡¯s iteration. I¡¯m going to hurt them again. All of them, and every animal nearby, and¡ª There¡¯s one specific being I do want to hurt. The idea hits me just as the agony blasts from my body. Darkness surges in every direction. No! I grope for a shred of control, picturing the man¡¯s pock-marked face, focusing on the place the prickle of his sorcery came from. With a grunt that bursts from my throat, I heave all the fear and misery gushing out of me toward only him. The wave roars around me, warbling through the trees. Somewhere farther off, it smacks into a form with a flare of acid-sour pain that echoes back into me. Good. Good. If there¡¯s anyone in this world who doesn¡¯t deserve happiness, it¡¯s him. More of the darkness careens through the woods. I have to stop him. I have to¡ª Jonah¡¯s voice pierces my head in a shouted string of sorcerous syllables. The power rushing out of me contracts in a jolt so abrupt I stumble forward and fall to my knees. The distant pain flickers and dwindles¡ªI think the man who meant to capture us is running away. I sent him fleeing before he could dig his awful sorcery into any of us. A smile crosses my lips, and then footsteps thud through the underbrush around me. ¡°What was that?¡± Disappointment rings through Jonah¡¯s voice and wafts off his presence next to me. ¡°Peri, you seemed fine. If you were getting worked up, you were supposed to warn us.¡± Mirage shuffles over beside him, rubbing a wound on his arm that¡¯s dribbling smoky essence. Guilt clamps around my gut. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to hurt you. There was¡ªI had to¡ª¡± ¡°You had to screw up the whole mission yet again,¡± Hail interrupts in a caustic tone. He holds up one of Rollick¡¯s devices. ¡°All of the tech we brought is going haywire thanks to you, pipsqueak.¡± What? I scramble up, my pulse racing. ¡°I tried to direct it away from you, away from the rift, as quickly as I could. I was throwing it over there¡ªI mustn¡¯t have been fast enough.¡± Raze¡¯s forehead furrows. ¡°You let out that blast of darkness on purpose?¡± Jonah¡¯s mouth twists, and Mirage winces. They don¡¯t understand. If the my former captor tried to control my companions with his sorcery, they didn¡¯t recognize the attempted magic. Of course they didn¡¯t. I¡¯m the only one who knows this sorcerer. I¡¯ve been recognizing him all along and just not wanting to believe it. I don¡¯t even know for sure that he¡¯s gone. ¡°We have to be careful!¡± I blurt out. ¡°He was close¡ªI could feel it. If he tries again¡ª¡± Hail sneers. ¡°You lost your head in more silly paranoia and exploded your crazy energy all over the place. Now we¡¯ve got to go back and get new equipment, start this whole thing over again. What do you think Rollick is going to say when he finds out how his things got broken?¡± A clammier chill sweeps through me. I¡¯ve caused another incident, and this one so much was more destructive than the one before. Destruction we can¡¯t gloss over. Before I can say anything, Jonah rakes his hand through his hair. ¡°We have to give Rollick the whole story. I don¡¯t know, Peri. I¡¯ve tried¡ªbut maybe you need something more to get you stabilized than any of us can offer.¡± ¡°No!¡± Another tremor shakes my body. ¡°Please. I was only trying to help. The sorcerer was trying to catch us like he always does¡ª¡± Raze holds out his hands, a flicker of worry crossing his face and wavering through the air between us. ¡°Just calm down, Peri. We¡¯ll figure it out.¡± They think I¡¯m simply freaking out over nothing again. They¡¯re afraid that I might lose control all over again right now. What can I say that¡¯ll convince them? Is there anything I could say that¡¯ll matter? I finally got a little handle on my powers and pointed them toward the right kind of target, but I still ruined everything we were working on. And when Rollick finds out, even he¡¯s going to want to banish me. A sob breaks from my throat. I cast one last glance over my shoulder, braced to see my sorcerer captor charging at us from between the trees, but I can¡¯t sense him at all now. I can¡¯t protect anyone. I only make things worse. Blinking away tears, I hurl myself into the shadows and dash in the opposite direction as fast as I can go. Chapter 34

Mirage The name breaks from my throat automatically. ¡°Peri!¡± Our rainbow-vivid companion has already rippled away through the shadows. I whirl to leap after her, but Hail stops me with a whip of his hand and a burst of frost that melds my feet to the ground. ¡°Don¡¯t you go running off too,¡± he snaps. ¡°We don¡¯t even know how else she might lash out.¡± Jonah has taken a step in the direction she fled in, but he halts with a firming of his jaw. ¡°If she needs some space, we should probably give it to her.¡± Does he think she¡¯d explode on us again? The memory wavers up of her plaintive voice carrying through the night when I left her behind in the forest before. ¡°She might get lost¡ªnot be able to find her way back.¡± Our sorcerer aims a level look at me. ¡°I¡¯d expect that Peri can look after herself as well as she needs to.¡± I think I hear a thread of uncertainty in his voice. But it also occurs to me that he might not believe it¡¯s a bad thing if she can¡¯t return to us. Coming back means facing the judgment of the school administration. Maybe being banished. Does Peri really deserve that? If she runs away, she might be able to stay free here in the mortal world, feeding on the emotions she needs. I rub the spot on my arm that¡¯s already sealing, just a thin wisp of essence still drifting up from the wound. It only hurt for a moment¡ªshe¡¯d already yanked her brutal energy away from me before Jonah intervened. She really did get control over it. I scowl at Hail. ¡°She wasn¡¯t trying to break anything.¡± ¡°But she did, didn¡¯t she?¡± He turns toward Jonah. ¡°You should have told the administration the whole story in the first place. Let them decide how much of a threat she poses instead of letting her cutesy exterior mess with your head. Now we¡¯ve got a huge mess and nothing to do but go back empty-handed¡ªand we¡¯re the ones who¡¯ll pay, not you, oh great sorcerer.¡± Jonah winces. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure they know none of you did anything wrong. She wasn¡¯t even interacting with any of us when it happened. You were right here with me handling the devices.¡± Razes starts to pace. Uneasiness wafts off his hulking body, potent enough that I can feel it without any special emotion-sensing powers. ¡°She said she was trying to send out her power. Why would she do that? She hates it.¡± Hail scoffs. ¡°She got caught up in one of her delusions about this sorcerer she tangled with before. A shadowkind jumping at shadows. We never should have brought a wimp like her along in the first place.¡± All five of my tails swish out of me with a furious swipe through the air. ¡°She wasn¡¯t weak. Anyone would be bothered by getting captured and mistreated.¡± I should know. Hail aims his glower at me. ¡°What does it matter if she¡¯s too unstable to hold herself together?¡± Jonah drags in a breath. ¡°We don¡¯t know if that¡¯s the case. If she¡¯s getting better at deciding when and where she lets out her destructive impulses, it could actually be a good sign.¡± Hail shakes his head. ¡°Only if we can trust her to aim them in a reasonable direction.¡± My gaze falls on the broken equipment, the data on their displays fragmented into distorted light. The first wave of searing darkness washed over them and me and our other teammates¡ªbehind Peri. She didn¡¯t mean to do that part. After the power had already burst out, she directed it somewhere else. ¡°What if the sorcerer was here?¡± I ask abruptly. ¡°The one she knew before or whichever one¡¯s messed with us up here? You¡¯re just assuming she¡¯s delusional.¡± The fae man grimaces. ¡°Because she¡¯s been set off by ridiculous things every time before.¡± ¡°But before, after her outburst, she knew she¡¯d just gotten scared. This time she was still worried about us.¡± The image of her standing before us, trembling and pale, flits through my mind. ¡°She looked over in the same direction where she sent most of her power, like she was worried about what¡¯s over there.¡± I don¡¯t wait to see if the others will agree. I just wiggle my feet free from the melting frost and lope between the trees in the direction Peri indicated. The bark on some of the trees over this way looks as if it¡¯s been scraped like my arm was. Some of the leaves scattering the ground have shriveled and grayed. My skin creeps, but I hurry onward, lifting my nose to the air to make use of my fox senses. Raze hustles over beside me, his muscles flexing through his brawny body. ¡°We need to know what provoked her that badly.¡± Hail grumbles somewhere behind us with words I can¡¯t make out. The crunch of footsteps through the brush tells me both he and Jonah are following us. All at once, Raze stiffens. He pushes forward through the woods twice as fast as before, his tongue forking into its lizard shape as it flicks over his lips. He comes to a stop at the edge of a small clear spot between the trees and throws out his arms to block me from brushing past him. ¡°Wait!¡± As Hail and Jonah catch up with us, the basilisk shifter tastes the air again and again. His hands ball at his sides. ¡°Someone was here. It¡¯s the same human smell I picked up near the cabin the other day.¡± My pulse skips a beat. I duck down closer to the ground to peer at it. ¡°I see the impression of shoes. The dirt looks stirred up, like he was having trouble on his feet.¡± Jonah inhales sharply. ¡°If Peri¡¯s energy hit him hard, it would have injured him at least a little.¡± When I glance up at Hail, his pale face has gone completely taut. I draw myself up to my full height, nearly meeting his eyes on the same level. ¡°She did notice someone dangerous in the woods. She wasn¡¯t messing things up¡ªshe was protecting us.¡± The winter fae opens his mouth and closes it again. His shoulders start to slump. ¡°How were we supposed to know, after everything before?¡± Raze growls. ¡°Because she¡¯s always trying to help us, every way she can. You kept insulting her before she had a chance to totally explain.¡±Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Jonah is still staring down at the churned up earth. ¡°We need to know where the sorcerer went. She wasn¡¯t sure he¡¯d left completely. If he¡¯s still lurking around¡­¡± His gaze darts across the nearby trees and then comes back to us. ¡°I should give you a stronger command of my own to bolster your defenses, in case he tries to impose control on you.¡± For once, Hail doesn¡¯t argue. He simply lifts his chin. ¡°Go ahead. If I¡¯m going to listen to any sorcerer, better it¡¯s you than some creep.¡± Jonah¡¯s mouth twists, but he speaks his weird sorcerous language to all of us. I shiver at the command wriggling into my skull. But there are worse ways of controlling someone. I know that too. I spin around. ¡°We need to find Peri. She doesn¡¯t have extra protection. The sorcerer might go after her if he thinks she could hurt him again.¡± Raze¡¯s head jerks around. His voice bellows through the trees. ¡°Peri!¡± Jonah touches his arm. ¡°We will get Peri back, but someone needs to follow the sorcerer¡¯s trail while it¡¯s fresh. And probably not alone, in case he causes more trouble than we expect.¡± To my surprise, Hail wipes his hands together and speaks in a more forceful tone than usual. ¡°I played the biggest part in running the cream puff off. I owe her the biggest apology. Come on, fox. Let¡¯s track her down and let the sorcerer and the basilisk hunt the villain.¡± He wouldn¡¯t be my first choice of company, but my preferences feel a lot less important than making sure Peri¡¯s okay¡ªand that she knows we appreciate what she did for us. We set off back toward the rift. It¡¯s easy to find it again when we haven¡¯t strayed that far. The pushy atmosphere it gives off weighs on me even from many bounds away. ¡°Peri!¡± I call out, as loud as my voice will carry. ¡°Please come back!¡± Hail adds his voice to mine, sounding a little hesitant. ¡°Periwinkle! We know you were right!¡± He makes a face at those words. As we stride around the jutting rock face beyond the rift and venture into the shadows Peri darted off through, I peer over at him. ¡°Why are you so mean to her all of the time? Why are you mean to all of us?¡± Hail¡¯s stance tenses. ¡°Why should I be ¡®nice¡¯? What have any of you done for me?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t think it¡¯d make the mission easier for all of us¡ªincluding you¡ªif we¡¯re getting along?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t ask to be here in the first place,¡± Hail mutters. I click my tongue. ¡°But you are and I am and she is. The job is what it is. And whatever you think about the rest of us, she¡¯s been nice to you.¡± I¡¯ve seen it with my own eyes. He can¡¯t deny that Peri has extended her generous gentleness to him just as much as the rest of us. Hail doesn¡¯t try. He¡¯s silent for a few rasping footsteps. Then he sighs. ¡°I don¡¯t see why. It doesn¡¯t make sense. Nothing about her makes sense.¡± I have to laugh. ¡°I think she¡¯s the only being I¡¯ve ever met who really makes sense. The problem is the that rest of us try to make everything so complicated.¡± Even me, for all I try to simplify my life to jokes and games. Maybe because I do that. A pensive expression comes over the fae man¡¯s face, but I like it better than the sneering one he often puts on. ¡°Peri!¡± he hollers again. I pitch my voice even louder. ¡°Come talk to us, Rainbow!¡± Hail cuts his gaze toward me. ¡°Rainbow?¡± His tone is bemused but not disdainful. I let myself grin at him. ¡°It¡¯s more accurate than ¡®cream puff.¡¯¡± But none of that matters when Peri still hasn¡¯t returned. I pause, listening hard, but I can¡¯t hear any signs of her curvy body brushing against the underbrush, can¡¯t smell her sunny-sweet scent or feel the impression of her presence within the shadows. If she kept running after she left, she could be beyond hearing us already. I don¡¯t know how we¡¯ll ever find her. ¡°Rainbow,¡± Hail murmurs to himself with a slight roll of my eyes, and an idea lights in my head. I clap my hands. ¡°Yes! We need a rainbow to call back our Rainbow.¡± My powers tingle through my body. I form the picture I want to create in my head and will the image out into the world. Cascading colors streak across the sky. Their mottled light radiates down between the trees to leave their sheen on the forest floor. The illusion I¡¯ve conjured, a massive splash of rainbow, stretches above us as far as I can propel it toward the hidden horizon. Hail stops, his jaw going slack. ¡°You¡­ Mortals will see it too.¡± I can¡¯t stop concentrating to answer him. Already, the effort of extending my magic that far is turning the pleasant tingle of power into a sharper prickle. Soon the strain will be jabbing at me like little knives. I don¡¯t care. I push the illusion farther, drenching every inch of forest I can with the multi-colored light. Peri needs to see it, needs to know I¡¯m reaching out to her. Here comes the jabbing. I tune out the pain as well as I can, though my fingers twitch. The longer I can maintain this image, the more likely she¡¯ll¡ª ¡°Mirage?¡± The tentative voice breaks through my focus. The rainbow shudders away, and I find myself panting, standing amid the trees with not just Hail but Jonah and Raze by my side. How long was I lost in my conjuring? Long enough that a pale face framed by teal hair is peeking over the top of a bush at me, still a few paces distant, as if she¡¯s waiting to see whether she¡¯ll need to take off again. A smile springs to my lips. ¡°Rainbow! You saw me calling.¡± Peri shifts her weight from one foot to the other, her gaze sliding from me to our companions. She tugs her leather jacket closer around her chest. Hail jumps in before anyone else can. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I was a jerk to you. We saw that the sorcerer really was there by the rift.¡± His apology is brusque, but I¡¯m not sure I¡¯ve ever heard him apologize before at all. Peri blinks at him, apparently stunned. Jonah picks up the thread in his calmer voice. ¡°We¡¯re all sorry we didn¡¯t hear you out the first time. Why did you go straight to attacking him? I¡¯m assuming you had a good reason.¡± Peri¡¯s voice comes out quiet but steady. ¡°He tried to latch on to me with his sorcery. Your command stopped him, but I know he¡¯d try again, stronger. And I recognized the flavor of his magic. It is the man who trapped me before.¡± Her head droops. ¡°I felt so horrible, knowing he was that close¡ªI couldn¡¯t keep the awfulness in. But I could throw it at him so it didn¡¯t hurt anyone who didn¡¯t deserve it.¡± She hesitates, with an apologetic glance at me. ¡°Not too much.¡± Jonah pulls his posture straighter. ¡°We have a lot to talk about, then. If you¡¯re willing to give us another chance to listen, that is.¡± Peri looks at him for a long moment, a pale blue glimmer passing over her hair. Her jaw tightens. ¡°Yes. I think I¡¯d better tell you everything.¡± Chapter 35

Periwinkle Even after I¡¯ve made the declaration that I¡¯ll spill every detail, my insides stay as tangled as a heap of spaghetti. With each breath, my lungs contract. Raze moves first, striding toward me and scooping me off the ground into his muscular arms. As he tucks me close to his broad chest, he turns toward the others. ¡°She¡¯s been through a lot today and expended a lot of energy. And we don¡¯t know how much the sorcerer is monitoring this place. Shouldn¡¯t we wait until we¡¯re back at the van before we talk about anything important?¡± Is he offering to carry me all the way back? He trusts himself enough not to hurt me all that way? The thought lights a warm glow inside me. I am tired¡ªfrom grappling with the power that surged out of me, from my headlong hurtle through the woods, from the hike that brought us here in the first place. My feet are aching with little jabs racing up my calves. But in Raze¡¯s embrace, the tension in me melts enough that I can nestle my head beneath his chin. His hold tightens just a little, as if to reassure me that he¡¯s got me. At the edge of my vision, I see Jonah nod. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to make the trek back anyway. Peri can take the time to rest and decide the best way to tell her story.¡± A rough laugh hitches out of Mirage. ¡°Story time. Gather ¡®round.¡± He comes up next to me and brushes gentle fingers over my shoulder. ¡°You don¡¯t owe us anything, Rainbow.¡± The nickname reminds me of the brilliantly colored illusion that flooded the sky just minutes ago. The beautiful image he created to call me back. Simply because he wanted me here, safe and sound. I half expect Hail to grumble a protest against the fox shifter¡¯s words despite his initial apology. Instead, the fae man shrugs. ¡°We¡¯d better get walking, then. The longer that degenerate sorcerer has to plot his next moves, the harder he¡¯ll be to tackle.¡± He hefts the bag of damaged equipment without complaint. We set off between the trees toward the spot a couple of hours distant where we had to leave the van. For the first few minutes, I¡¯m lulled by the heat of Raze¡¯s body and the rhythm of his steps. His scent, tart but musky, wraps around me. I can¡¯t completely forget the conversation we¡¯re going to need to have soon, though. The commitment I made to revealing all the awful things I¡¯ve been a part of. A lump rises in my throat, but a more urgent concern dislodges it. ¡°You found evidence that the sorcerer was nearby. Did you figure out where he went after I hit him with my power?¡± ¡°It seems clear he was injured,¡± Jonah says evenly. ¡°But not so much that he couldn¡¯t run off¡ªby whatever means. He might have had shadowkind under his control close by to help him.¡± Raze¡¯s rumble of a voice reverberates from his chest into my body. ¡°I followed his trail to a rough dirt road a few miles from the rift. One that wasn¡¯t on any maps, so we wouldn¡¯t have known to use it ourselves. There were fresh tire marks. He must have driven away¡ªas soon as the road connected to a paved one, I couldn¡¯t tell where he went from there.¡± My posture sags with a sigh. ¡°Then we still have no idea where he is or where he¡¯ll turn up next.¡± To my surprise, it¡¯s Hail who speaks the next words of encouragement. ¡°Maybe your story will help us with that, Cream Puff.¡± He says his silly nickname with a lilt that sounds more amused than disdainful this once. I hope that he¡¯s right. And his new friendliness sends a pang of guilt through my gut. Would we have ended up in this much trouble if I¡¯d told them everything from the start? Or at least back when we found the cabin and I had my first outburst? I was so afraid of what they¡¯d think of me, of revealing the awful things I¡¯ve done, that I might have paved the way for even more awful things to happen. If they¡¯d had the full picture from the start, they might have been able to put the pieces together alongside me, faster. They might have been able to support me so I wouldn¡¯t have exploded with anguish yet again. Imagining telling them everything makes my stomach churn, but I know that I have to. I owe it to them after how much they¡¯ve accepted my mistakes. By the time we reach the van, the sunlight is starting to dwindle. The pain has faded from my feet, and only a faint twinge shoots through my ankles when Raze sets me down. As we get into the back of the van and sit on the benches, tension coils around my insides again. But the only emotions I pick up from the men around me are tangy curiosity and concern as comforting as fresh-baked bread. This is my team. We¡¯re more than just fellow students now. We might have argued and chafed against each other, but we¡¯ve accomplished a lot too. I need to do my part. All the same, I find I can¡¯t look anywhere except at my hands, clasped tightly in front of me. ¡°I told you the sorcerer captured me and kept me caged for a little while. It was actually¡­ a pretty long time. I think. It was hard to tell how many days and weeks passed, but it was definitely years altogether.¡±The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Raze lets out a fierce growl. ¡°He¡¯s going to pay for that.¡± I can¡¯t totally appreciate his protectiveness when he doesn¡¯t know the full situation yet. ¡°He didn¡¯t just keep me caged. The mementos he kept¡ªthe people he wanted to hurt¡ªhe figured out about my power, how I could do so much damage if I got upset enough¡­ He made clothes that could protect him from the worst of the effect. He¡¯d bring me to places where he wanted to sabotage people, and then he¡¯d hurt me¡ªsay horrible things and stab my feet until all the awfulness burst out of me¡­¡± Jonah¡¯s voice stays even but quiet. ¡°That isn¡¯t your fault, Peri. He was using you.¡± ¡°But I still did it.¡± Tears well in my eyes. I swipe at them, swallowing hard. ¡°I hurt so many humans. Lots of them people he didn¡¯t even care about, they just happened to be nearby. Hundreds and hundreds¡­ Because I couldn¡¯t stop myself. I couldn¡¯t control my powers. Just like I can¡¯t now. If I couldn¡¯t even manage it then¡­¡± Mirage makes a dismissive sound. ¡°Extreme circumstances mean extreme impact.¡± Hail¡¯s tone is drier but almost soft. ¡°If someone smashes a bowl, you don¡¯t blame the dish for spilling the food.¡± ¡°Still. Still¡­¡± I inhale shakily. ¡°I hated it, and I didn¡¯t want to do it, but some part of me was made to do that kind of harm. I don¡¯t know why. I want so much to make up for it now that I can¡ªto bring more joy than I ever caused pain¡ªbut I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s even possible.¡± Raze slips his arm around me and strokes his hand up and down my arm. ¡°It will be.¡± Mirage cocks his head. When I let myself glance up at the fox shifter, something in his expression sends a wobble through my pulse. He doesn¡¯t normally look so serious. ¡°How did you get away from him?¡± he asks. I cringe away from that memory too. Why is there always so much bad mixed in with the good? But they need to know everything. ¡°The sorcerer had a daughter. That¡¯s now I know a bunch of time passed¡ªshe was really just a kid when he first brought me to his house, and by the time I left, she was a teenager. He didn¡¯t really her much, but she knew about the beings he kept in the basement. She¡¯d come down when he was out and talk to us, bring us extra bits of food¡­ One day she managed to break the power source that kept the blazing lights on us all the time, so we could all run off through the shadows.¡± Jonah smiles. ¡°That was very brave of her, going against her father.¡± I duck my head. ¡°I know. I heard him yelling at her while I was dashing away, and I wanted to help her, but it bothered me so much¡ªI was afraid I¡¯d end up hurting her too. So I just kept running. I have no idea what happened to her, if she¡¯s okay. She used to talk about going to college in that town where you found me. I¡¯ve been watching for her there, hoping I¡¯ll see her. But I never did.¡± Our sorcerer¡¯s voice stays soothing. ¡°You don¡¯t know how long it¡¯s been. She might not even be old enough to go to college yet.¡± ¡°Maybe. But if he¡¯s going around up here now, spending so much time off in the woods¡­ When he was keeping me, he lived where it was a lot hotter than here, more like around the school but rainier too. He¡¯s come a long way. And we haven¡¯t seen any sign that he brought her with him.¡± Hail turns to look at Jonah, unexpectedly deferring to the other man¡¯s authority. ¡°We need to track this prick down, don¡¯t we? We can¡¯t do much about the rift if he¡¯s going to keep meddling¡ªif there¡¯s a chance he¡¯d be able to break any protection you can give us and capture us.¡± ¡°I can agree with that.¡± Jonah¡¯s dark gaze fixes on me. ¡°Peri, I know you don¡¯t like thinking about this sorcerer or that time, but we need to know everything you can remember about who he was, how he behaved¡ªanything that might help us track him down.¡± I square my shoulders. Of course. This is why I spoke up to begin with. ¡°I think I know his name. Sometimes he¡¯d answer his phone when he was in the basement with us, and if he was close enough I could hear the voice on the other end a little. Someone called him ¡®David¡¯ and a couple of other people called him ¡®Mr. Blaser.¡¯¡± Mirage perks up. ¡°David Blaser. We find out what he¡¯s up to, and then we smack him down!¡± One corner of Jonah¡¯s mouth quirks upward. ¡°There might be more than one. David¡¯s a pretty common first name, at least. What else can you tell us about him, Peri?¡± I think back to all those days I spent in the basement and carted around in my former captor¡¯s van. ¡°He collected those trophies and medals and things. He liked to eat tandoori chicken. Like I said before, he was on the shorter side and kind of wide¡ªhe had light brown hair, but it might be going gray now. Dark brown eyes. Oh! I think he went to college at a place called Stanford. He ranted a lot about how stupid he thought other humans were, and sometimes he¡¯d mention things that happened when he was ¡®at¡¯ Stanford.¡± Jonah is tapping notes into his phone. He aims a wider smile at me. ¡°That¡¯s really helpful for narrowing things down. Keep going.¡± I open my mouth and then close it again, my gaze lingering on the device in his hands. ¡°After¡­ after we talk about all this, are we going to meet up with Rollick and Sorsha and the others to tell them what happened?¡± Jonah hesitates. Raze¡¯s hand goes still against my arm. ¡°It wasn¡¯t Peri¡¯s fault that the equipment got damaged. She saved us.¡± ¡°I know.¡± Our sorcerer rubs his hand over his face. His expression goes pensive for several seconds. Then he looks around at all of us. ¡°Are all of you ready to be a real team? To go all in on working together, no sniping at each other or second-guessing? Do you all think you can trust the rest of us that much?¡± A glimmer of hope lights in my heart. ¡°Yes,¡± I say without needing to think about it. It¡¯s Raze¡¯s turn to hesitate, but only for a moment. ¡°I trust that everyone here wants to crush that sorcerer more than anything else.¡± Mirage grins. ¡°I¡¯ll give it my all with all of you.¡± We four shift our attention to Hail. The fae man grimaces, but I can only taste discomfort from him, not anger. ¡°I know I¡¯ve been the least interested in buddying up to anyone,¡± he says. ¡°But you all¡­ have done some pretty useful things.¡± He catches Jonah¡¯s gaze with a slight arch of one eyebrow. ¡°Even you, sorcerer boy. I¡¯d rather take on this asshole with the bunch of you than anyone else.¡± A quiver of anxiety flits out of Jonah, but he sets his jaw defiantly. ¡°Then I say we handle this problem ourselves and prove just how good a team we can be. That¡¯s what Rollick sent us out here to do, after all.¡± Chapter 36

Periwinkle I know it¡¯s only been half an hour since I last asked. I know Jonah would tell us as soon as he heard anything. But after he finishes his dinner of canned stew, I can¡¯t help asking again, ¡°Any news from your friend who knows how to dig up info?¡± Despite my impatient badgering, Jonah lets out a soft laugh. ¡°Not yet, Peri. It could take a while yet. We didn¡¯t have that many details to go by, and this sorcerer is probably covering his tracks pretty well. And Ruse doesn¡¯t know how to search through all the online records himself¡ªhe¡¯s just very good at persuading other people will the skills we need to do what we want.¡± I pace on the other side of the campfire, unable to contain my restlessness. Now that I¡¯ve confessed everything I know, there isn¡¯t really anything for me to do. I have no idea how much use I¡¯ll even be in the coming confrontation¡ªwhether I can help tackle David Blaser, my former captor, without hurting my companions and innocent bystanders in the process. Hail went off into the woods as evening fell, saying he thought the mortal creatures of the forest might be able to convey something useful to him. As a fae, apparently he¡¯s attuned to the natural world in certain ways he¡¯s barely mentioned before. Raze has been prowling around the area beyond our campsite, keeping watch for sorcerer-controlled creatures, although we didn¡¯t run into any on our entire hike back to the van or the drive into decent cellphone range. And Mirage¡­ The fox shifter walks over with his usual jaunty stride and catches my arm, his grasp gentle. ¡°Why don¡¯t we go for a walk, Rainbow? You¡¯re having trouble staying still, and I¡¯ve always got extra energy to burn.¡± I hesitate, not wanting to be out of range if news does come, but Jonah waves us off. ¡°Even if we get word back soon, it¡¯ll take a bunch more planning before we can leave. Just don¡¯t go too far.¡± ¡°We won¡¯t wander right off the edge of the earth,¡± Mirage assures him cheerfully. I let the fox shifter guide me toward the trees that surround this overgrown lookout spot. There isn¡¯t much to see for a view even in the one direction that offers a vista over the landscape. The forested hills around us cast deeper shadows through the deepening night. We¡¯ve only walked for a few minutes when Mirage pauses, his head jerking toward me. His fox ears flick out and swivel back on his head. ¡°Your feet¡ªyou said the sorcerer who tortured you would cut them¡ªsometimes you¡¯ve said they¡¯re bothering you. Do they still hurt when you walk on them?¡± His concern sends a tingle of warmth through my chest even though I don¡¯t like acknowledging the weakness. ¡°Only if I¡¯m walking a lot, or moving around very quickly or in awkward ways. Most of the time it¡¯s fine or so mild I can easily ignore it.¡± The fox shifter hums with a hint of a growl. ¡°I don¡¯t want you to be hurt at all.¡± I shrug. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ the way I am now. Everyone ends up picking up scars of one type or another, right? I¡¯d rather tune out a little pain and enjoy the world in all its wonders than stick to the shadows where the old injuries won¡¯t ever bother me.¡± ¡°I guess that makes sense. But if it means they¡¯ll hurt less, you can put a little weight on me.¡± He eases closer so our shoulders nearly brush and tucks my hand around his elbow. The tingle of warmth turns into a waft of heat. We walk on, taking a winding route between the trees. An owl hoots somewhere in the distance. Mirage speaks up again, this time without stopping or looking at me. ¡°When I was captured, it was different than for you. The people who were holding me wanted to poke and pry at me, taking ¡®samples¡¯ and testing my reactions. Scientists.¡± I shudder, my grip on his arm tightening. ¡°That¡¯s awful. Why would they do that?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. They wanted to understand shadowkind nature better, but not for good reasons. So they could get rid of us, I think.¡± ¡°I hope someone got rid of them instead.¡± Mirage gives a faint chuckle. ¡°Someone must have. One night the building just collapsed and the cells they were keeping us in burst open so we could break free. I¡¯ve never heard of them again since then. The Company of Light, they called themselves.¡± My forehead furrows. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of them either. So maybe they are gone now.¡± ¡°I just¡­¡± Mirage¡¯s voice wavers. He ducks his head. ¡°I don¡¯t like to talk about it. I try to run and think in the opposite direction. But what you said about how the sorcerer used you¡ªit happened to me too. They¡¯d confuse me and mess with my mind to get me to conjure illusions. I ended up helping them lure other shadowkind for them to catch and experiment on.¡± I tug him to a stop and turn to face him. ¡°That¡¯s awful¡ªof them, not you. I know you wouldn¡¯t have wanted to do it.¡± Mirage leans forward and nuzzles my temple. ¡°Not any more than you would have. But that doesn¡¯t make the bad feelings go away, does it? I wanted you to know¡­ in case maybe it¡¯s easier to forgive yourself if you see how easily you can forgive me.¡± ¡°There isn¡¯t anything to forgive you for,¡± I start indignantly, and then realize that¡¯s exactly what he was getting at. ¡°Oh.¡± Mirage chuckles again, more relaxed this time, and dips his head lower so his lips brush my cheek. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t feel bad about anything. Out of all the beings I¡¯ve ever met, mortal and shadowkind, there¡¯s no one else who shines with goodness like you do.¡± A blush flares across my face. ¡°I try. But so many times it doesn¡¯t work out. How can I feel good about having the powers I do if I can¡¯t use them without causing all kinds of problems?¡± Even picking up on emotions has bothered the beings I wanted to help at least as often as it¡¯s encouraged or comforted them. Mirage teases his fingers over my hair. ¡°You¡¯re getting better at controlling them, though. You only gave me a little scrape this afternoon, but you sent that asshole sorcerer running. I bet he¡¯s afraid of you now instead of the other way around.¡± My throat tightens. ¡°Sometimes I still feel like I really am just a pipsqueak.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. As Mirage makes a scoffing sound, another voice rumbles out of the darkness. ¡°You¡¯re much more than that, Glowbug. No one will dare call you a pipsqueak when you finish learning how to wield all that energy you can send out.¡± I glance over to see Raze emerging from the shadows. He must have crossed paths with us on his patrol. His words send a pang through my heart. ¡°I don¡¯t really want to be scaring anyone.¡± He shakes his head fondly. ¡°Of course you don¡¯t. That¡¯s how I know you¡¯ll keep getting better at aiming your power well.¡± Mirage tips his head to the other side to nip the shell of my ear. The spark of pleasure propels a gasp from my lips. The fox shifter grins at me and then Raze. ¡°Maybe she needs a reminder of all the kinds of power she can wield. I know she¡¯s got me under her spell. We were very rudely interrupted this morning¡­¡± A thrum emanates from Raze¡¯s brawny chest, and he steps closer to sling his arm around my waist. ¡°You¡¯re right. She deserves a reward after all of today¡¯s stresses too.¡± He presses a kiss of his own to the crook of my jaw. ¡°There aren¡¯t many beings who can overcome a basilisk, you know.¡± The stroke of Mirage¡¯s hand across my hip and the slide of Raze¡¯s mouth leave me breathless, but I can¡¯t restrain a protest. ¡°I haven¡¯t really overcome you¡ª¡± ¡°Of course you have. My heart beats faster whenever I look at you. My whole body heats up when you¡¯re near. There¡¯s nothing I want to do more than talk with you, protect you, pleasure you¡­¡± My heart is just about jumping out from my ribs hearing him talk that way. I set my hand against his chest and soak in the sensation of his muscles flexing beneath his shirt. ¡°As long as you know that you have the same effect on me. I¡¯m never afraid of you. I like knowing how powerful you are. Can you put all that strength to overcoming my worries?¡± Raze exhales roughly, and then he¡¯s tugging me around to claim my mouth. His fierce kiss sets off a rush of desire that condenses between my legs. Before I can fret that Mirage might feel left out, the fox shifter¡¯s hands settle on my waist. As Raze kisses me again, Mirage strokes his fingers up and down my sides and then around to cup my breasts between us. I whimper into Raze¡¯s mouth, and Mirage pinches my nipples as if in reward, sparking twin pulses of pleasure. He presses a little closer and nibbles his way along the back of my neck. ¡°Mmm. You could melt me into a puddle of jelly with just that brilliant smile.¡± I quiver against Raze, feeling pretty jelly-like myself, and the basilisk shifter grips my hips. In one smooth motion, he shows off the strength I praised earlier by hefting me up against him. For a fleeting moment, our mouths meld even closer together as my pelvis locks against his. The ridge of his erection rubs against my core and draws another, needier whimper from my throat. Then he spins me around against me, so deftly he might as well be an acrobat. Even though I¡¯m hardly slim, he handles me as if I weigh no more than a feather pillow. With my back flush against Raze¡¯s chest, he slides his hands beneath my thighs to support them. He spreads my legs and releases a scorching breath across my jaw. ¡°Why don¡¯t you take off those tough girl clothes so Mirage can worship your power every bit as much as you deserve?¡± Another giddy shiver passes through me. My nerves jump at the brazenness of his request. When I look at Mirage, my uncertainties evaporate. The fox shifter kneels before me, his eyes gleaming so eagerly they might as well be flames. I close my eyes. With a nudge of my essence, I blink away into the shadows and back to Raze¡¯s arms, returning utterly naked. ¡°Such a beautiful rainbow,¡± Mirage says slyly, and buries his face between my legs. A gasp escapes me at the first swipe of his tongue. He delves deeper, his teeth skating over my sensitive flesh, his lips working over my clit. A flood of bliss sweeps through my body until I have to grasp his hair to stop myself from spiraling completely away. My own hair casts a ruddy pink haze into the night. My hips rock toward Mirage¡¯s mouth of their own accord. His approving chuckle reverberates through my core with a pulse of pleasure that has me moaning. Raze groans and massages my thighs. His mouth brands the side of my neck and all across my bare shoulder. ¡°Keep bringing out that gorgeous glow. I love seeing how good we¡¯re making you feel. Show off your power. Tell him exactly what you need, Glowbug.¡± A shaky breath escapes me. Mirage laps across my opening and sucks hard on my clit, and I shudder in Raze¡¯s embrace. The ecstatic sensations are flooding me so swiftly I feel like I¡¯ll break right apart, but in the most delightful possible way. I want even more than that, though. And Mirage will offer it if I ask, won¡¯t he? I tug on his hair. ¡°I want you inside me. I want you coming with me.¡± The fox shifter makes a sound that¡¯s half groan, half growl and surges up to meet me. His clothes waver away with the same trick I used. He catches my mouth and presses into me where I¡¯m braced against Raze, sliding the head of his hard cock over my folds. ¡°Right here, Rainbow?¡± I can only manage an inarticulate noise of approval, but I must get my meaning across. With a ragged sigh, he plunges into me. It isn¡¯t the same kind of immense fullness I experienced with Raze, but his thrust brings just as much heady pleasure. I sway to meet him, urging him on. With every buck of his hips, Mirage pushes deeper. Soon he¡¯s stroking right against the special spot within that seems to hold the source of my physical body¡¯s capacity for bliss. Every time he hits it, I careen farther into a giddy delirium. But I¡¯m not so far gone I forget about my other lover, the stalwart, statuesque being who¡¯s supporting me. My mouth collides with Mirage¡¯s in a wild kiss, and then I tip my head against Raze¡¯s shoulder, groping behind me at the same time. ¡°Want¡­ you¡­ too.¡± The basilisk shifter groans and adjusts his hips to help me find his rigid shaft. Sometime during our interlude, he shed his clothes without my even noticing. I wrap my fingers around his hardness and pump him up and down. At his ragged breath, I increase my grip and my speed. We crash together, a storm of desire and pleasure. I know nothing beyond the press of the two bodies on either side of me and the bliss they¡¯re conjuring all through my own. I shatter apart first, the wave of my climax whiting out my vision. At my cry, Raze jerks against me. Moments after his release splashes across my wrist, Mirage bows his head and surges into me a final few times. For a few moments, we just stand there locked together, breathing hard. Then Mirage lifts his head to place one more lingering kiss on my lips. ¡°There¡¯s no one mightier than you. Every evil sorcerer in this world had better watch out.¡± A laugh tumbles out of me, but it brings a renewed twinge of anxiety in its wake. I might have power over these men who¡¯ve seen the best in me, but how much can I really hope to bring to tomorrow¡¯s fight?