Initiation (9 page)

“Yes, you’re right. It’s out of date, and Jagger said he’s going to start the ball rolling to amend it. However, that procedure apparently takes a while, and it won’t happen in time for this trial.”

“So, it’s basically Faustine’s and my word against theirs?”

“Yes, but don’t worry about that. You’ll have the best representation.”

“Octavia?”

“Yep. She’ll be representing both you and Faustine. There’s no conflict of interest as far as anyone can tell.”

“Who’s representing the other side?”

“We won’t know until we find out who the other side is.”

Duh. Of course. “Okay. Go. We’ll talk about it later. I better get ready.”

I locked the door behind him, which was unusual for me, but I thought it best not to be stupid. I got ready fast, getting into a fresh set of clothes after I had taken a shower. I added a hairband after I blow-dried my hair. Hair accessories were the only non-uniform item allowed, so I had a whole trunkful of them in all colors and materials. I chose a wide red one covered in diamante skulls. I checked myself out in the mirror one final time, and then texted Quinn.

The limo ride into town was short. I enjoyed the view of the mountains as we drove down the winding road, and felt a sense of excitement to be out of the confines of the school campus. We were hardly ever allowed to go into town.

“Cordelia, your mom and I are heading back to Paris after lunch. Frau Schmelder wants to handle things from here.” Dad looked at me with a somber expression.

Mom coughed. “I would actually prefer it if you came home with us. It’s not like you need to be here. It’s just an enrichment year, after all. You’ve learned what you came to learn. Come home and finish your international baccalaureate in Paris. We’ll get you a good tennis coach.”

Not an option. That would be like running away–a sign of cowardice. I’d never be able to command any respect from my peers. I had to stay and deal with it. Plus, I had to take care of Faustine. She’d need me more than ever. I also had to deal with the whole Jagger issue. “Mom, I’m fine. I’m going to stay.”

Mom pursed her lips, but my dad nodded in support.

“I’m happy to hear that,” he said. “You must deal with your problems, not run away from them.”

Mom threw him an icy death glare. He’d be toast when she got him on his own.

The chauffeur pulled up in front of the restaurant, where the chef stood beaming, ready to greet us. We were escorted to our table, where Faustine and her father were already seated.

Her father rose to kiss my mother’s hand. “Lauren, it’s lovely to see you.” He shook hands with my dad. “Please sit.”

We dined in silence, then sat back to enjoy our desserts. I peeked over at Faustine, who shot me a shy smile.

“Did you figure out what happened to you?” I asked.

“Not really. Dad’s working on it.” She looked over at him.

“Actually, I don’t know how I’ll be able to, seeing that Frau Schmelder has asked the parents to leave. She wants to take care of this herself. Faustine, it could be that you have a power you’re not aware of. If so, the Academy will help you try to figure out what it is and also how to control it.”

“It would be totally cool if I could make myself invisible!” Faustine beamed. “Can you, Dad?”

King Sebastian laughed. “Ah! A demon never reveals his powers. I may share them with you alone, some other time.”

“Yes,” my dad agreed.

I realized that he’d never told me what powers he had! Hmm.

Faustine’s dad turned to my parents. “Were you asked to leave? Or do you get to stay longer for Cordelia?”

My dad chuckled. “Nope, we were given our marching orders, as well.”

How reverent everyone was of The Smelt amazed me. Even the nobility. I had always wondered exactly what she was, not having seen her in anything other than human form. But she surely couldn’t be just human. She had to be a paranormal, maybe even a hybrid. No one discussed it, though. I couldn’t bring myself to ask my parents. It was as if the world would blow up if that information were ever revealed. I doubted my parents knew anyway.

“Cordelia, here.” Faustine held up a black Chanel paper shopping bag. “Just a little something to cheer you up.”

Quinn winked at me as I pulled out a black box and opened it. Inside laid the most darling purple flap bag ever. I slid my fingers over it.

“Do you like it?” Faustine asked, busting with excitement. “I wasn’t sure if you’d want the gold or silver hardware, so I got the silver. It goes with your skin tone.”

I stood and went around the table to hug her. “It’s totally awesome! Thank you so much!”

Faustine suddenly looked gloomy.

“What’s up?” I squeezed her shoulders.

“I wasn’t thinking! You won’t even be allowed to keep that at the Academy, will you?”

“Oh, no worries. Mom can take it back home for me. I can’t wait to get to use it. It’s perfect.”

Once Faustine’s dad had dealt with the check, we walked outside into the freezing air.

“Faustine, I wish I could stay longer,” her dad said. “I’m finding it very difficult to leave you here. If I told your mom what happened, she’d insist you come back home. Do you want to go back home?”

“No, Dad. I’ll be fine. Besides, I need to figure out about all this power stuff. Just don’t tell Mom. It’s all over now, anyway.”

“Okay. Until we find out exactly what those shifters were up to, you’ll not only have Cordelia by your side, but Quinn has offered to keep an eye on you as well. Those shifters could have been after you, for all we know. Shifters are virtually unable to plan anything. Their response is mainly instinctive,” her dad added. “It could have been your human blood that set them off. That is something Frau Schmelder will have to investigate.”

 
“Bonfire Academy may not be appropriate for Faustine, Sebastian. You may have to get her private tutors instead,” my dad said.

“Annabel would have preferred that. After having looked into it, however, it seems that Faustine will need resources only available at the school. So, we–or Frau Schmelder–will have to make this work.”

My dad didn’t look overjoyed to hear that. I hoped that he wouldn’t put a stop to me mentoring her. Staying at the Academy would be hard enough for Faustine, especially since she was so young and naïve.

It was my job to keep her safe. Though I had failed miserably at my first attempt, I wasn’t going to let that happen again. No way. “King Sebastian, please don’t worry about Faustine. Now that I know what to expect, I’ll be completely prepared. I won’t let any harm come to her.”

“To be fair, you didn’t the last time either,” Quinn said softly. “You’re the one who got hurt. Not Faustine.”

That was true. Faustine had disappeared into safety. I’d have felt more reassured if I knew how, though. I hated dealing with unknown powers.

My parents and King Sebastian left for the airport in one limo, and Faustine, Quinn, and I took the other one back to school. As soon as we entered the front door of the Academy, we were told to report to Frau Schmelder’s office.

“Sit down.” The Smelt waved us to the sofa. “I have some news for you. We were able to enhance the surveillance videos, and we have reasonably good images of the four shifter boys. The image of the girl, who shifted into the eagle, is still blurry; her body seems to dart about constantly. We slowed the video, studying each individual frame. The darting movements are so quick, but subtle, that they occur within the individual frames, making it impossible to get a clear image. The student council has detained the four boys. They have requested the name of the girl from them, but they refuse to surrender it.”

“They aren’t just going to tell, are they?” Faustine blurted. “Just bring them in here, and ask them yourself. Beat it out of them!”

My mouth fell open in shock. I had to contain my slowly erupting snickers. What was she thinking? Had she been reading McDonald’s
No Good Deed
? What was she going to suggest next? Waterboarding?

Frau Schmelder glared, then her lips twitched, and she burst out laughing. “I can’t just bring people into my office and beat confessions out of them. I’m not saying that it doesn’t happen, but I am certainly never involved in such practices. We have rules, and we obey them. And we have procedures. In this case, the culprits are handed over to the student council. They will be detained in special rooms, where they can’t escape, until they get a fair trial.”

“How long will that take?” Faustine seemed a bit petulant. Those pre-pubescent hormones were raging.

“Not long. Their parents have been summoned and will arrive in the morning. They’ll need to choose representation from the council’s list of students. I’m hoping we’ll be ready to start the next day. I’m going to have Jagger explain the procedure in detail, so you are prepared. And both you and Cordelia need to talk to Octavia, who is representing you.”

“How come the shifters get to choose who represents them, and we don’t?” Faustine folded her arms. I was obviously going to have to talk to her about her temper.

“You’re free to choose whomever you want, Faustine,” Frau Schmelder explained patiently. “Jagger asked Octavia on Cordelia’s behalf, and she’s happy to represent you as well. But, like I said, you may go with someone else if you wish.”

I had to butt in. “Faustine, Octavia is really good. We’re lucky to have her on our side. Jagger did us a huge favor.”

“Yep, I agree,” Quinn added.

“Oh, okay. It’s fine, I guess.”

Frau Schmelder’s expression hardened. “You are dismissed. Jagger will see you in his office in an hour.” She stepped over to her desk and sat down, staring intently at her computer screen.

We silently made our way out of her office and back to my room.

“I’m going to get us some food. Be back soon,” Quinn announced as I unlocked my door.

I kissed him briefly before he left. He was such a great boyfriend. I was a lucky girl.

Faustine skipped over to my bed and plunked herself down on it. “I don’t like The Smelt!”

I grinned.
Like
was not a word that came to mind when I thought of Frau Schmelder, either. “I kinda know what you mean. She is… cold.”

“No kidding! Bet she doesn’t have any kids! What is she, anyway?”

The forbidden question. I was just glad she hadn’t asked Frau Smelt. “I don’t know.” I shrugged the question off nonchalantly, hoping she’d drop it. But, of course, she didn’t.

“What do you mean? You’ve been here for like two years, right?”

I nodded.

“Then how can you not know? Does Quinn know?”

“I’m guessing not, though we’ve never talked about it.”

Her eyes widened as though I were stark raving bonkers.

“Look, Faustine. It’s just one of those things that seem to be off limits to hypothesize about at this school. No one talks about it. But of course, I have wondered about it.”

“Well, I’ll just ask Frau Smelt myself the next time I talk to her.”

“Probably best not to, but I can’t stop you.”

“Nope, you can’t.”