Seph said that Boreas had power of the North Winds and possessed ice magic. After he was banished, he set up residence on Earth in Ice Mountain, located in Hampshire, West Virginia. Boreas was also the father of ice phoenixes. Zeus had killed the entire race of the ice birds when he exiled Boreas. I didn’t know why and Seph didn’t talk much about the phoenixes and I’ve never cared to know. Now I wish I knew the whole story.
“What did the bastard want?” Karn asked.
“His daughter was sent to the Wicked Reform School.” Caleb paused as if trying to gather his thoughts to find the words to explain.
“So.” I crossed my arms and sat back into the chair. “Not our problem.”
“That’s what I told him.” Caleb worked his jaw and started tapping a pen to his desk. I studied him, noting how he didn’t want to take this job but while at the same time I felt his need to. His internal debate was practically projected at me. Karn would also sense Caleb’s mixed emotions.
Lifting his gaze to Karn and I again, Caleb frowned. “His daughter is also the daughter of the leader of the largest phoenix clan on Earth.”
My whole body tensed. “She’s a hybrid?”
“She can’t be allowed to exist. Being a mixed ice and fire phoenix will make her just as powerful as the gods. They’ll destroy her.” Karn stood and began to pace.
Caleb nodded. “Boreas said no one knows. That Ember hides her ice magic.”
This whole situation had “fucked up” written all over it. “What did she do to be sent to the reform school?”
“She killed a harpy princess, but Boreas says she was set up. The harpy knew Ember had a temper she didn’t try to control. Please, from what I was able to dig up, the two females had been fighting with each other since they hit their teens. But I believe there is a lot more to the story than Boreas is telling me.”
“This is fucked up,” Karn said and stopped pacing. “What does Boreas want us to do? Break her out?”
I shook my head. “Not happening.”
Caleb locked gazes with me again. The silver ring around his pupils moved, swirling and mixing with his violet irises. “Boreas wants us to make sure Ember graduates reform school. He has a strong belief that someone wants her dead, but he doesn’t know who.”
“That doesn’t mean the killer followed her to the school.”
Karn stopped pacing and said, “It doesn’t mean they didn’t. What better way to kill someone without suspicion falling on you than to make sure she isn’t reformed?”
Studying my twin, I thought about his words. Most importantly what he didn’t say. Just then Caleb pulled out a manila folder from his desk drawer and opened it. The first thing I saw was a picture of a redheaded female. Ember. There were several photos in the folder but the top one was taken of her with another male and she was laughing. Her curly red hair cascaded over her shoulders. Every part of my body tensed. Desire flooded me, making me harder than I’d ever been.
Mate? I sent the one-word question telepathically to my twin.
Karn lifted his gaze to me and gave a short nod.
Well, fuck.
Then Caleb said, “You see why I can’t walk away from this one?”
“She’s yours too.” I didn’t phrase it like a question because I was certain what his answer would be. When he nodded, confirming my guess, I said, “So, I guess we’re going to reform school.”
“You two will be leaving as soon as the enforcers get here. You’re charged with using magic for ill purposes and trying to kill the mage leader.” Caleb smirked.
I raised a brow. “Your father is okay with us trying to kill him?”
Laughing, Caleb rose from his chair and walked around the desk. “It was his idea. I’ll be teaching Environmental Magic because Dad doesn’t want Mom anywhere around this. Even though she’s a scholar and a powerful mage, she hates using magic defensively. Plus Dad is overprotective of his mate.”
I snorted. Alpha males, no matter what breed, were overprotective of their mates to point they would kill for the smallest offensives. “What about you?”
Caleb shrugged. “He doesn’t like me going in either, but he trained me to one day replace him as leader of the mages. And before you ask why I’m not going in as a student, I have more leeway as a faculty member and will have access to files to build my case.”
“Case?” Karn asked, shooting me a confused look.
“I need to build a case as a B plan. I don’t trust that this will be simply going in and having Ember’s back. Someone will try to take her down before she has a chance to be reformed.” Caleb paused and glanced at the door.
I sensed the enforcers as well. So I sent Seph a telepathic message telling her we were going undercover at the reform school so she wouldn’t have Hades send out the hellhounds to search for us when we didn’t visit her in the next few months.
The enforcers knocked and Caleb paused before going to the door. “Do you need to let your aunt and uncle know?”
“Already notified Seph. Not specifics but enough that she won’t worry too much.” I stood and moved closer to the door. Karn stopped next to me.
“This should be fun.” My twin chuckled at my words.
Caleb rolled his eyes. “I’ll see you two in class tomorrow morning.” Then he opened the door.
The enforcers took one look at us and snarled. When I walked closer to them, they jerked to a defensive stance. I chuckled and held out my hands with my wrists together. Reform school was going to be fun.
4
Ember
Five minutes into my first period class which happened to be Calculus, a bubbly and way too damn cheerful voice rang over the PA system. “Ayla.”
Our teacher, who introduced herself as Ms. Powell moments ago, rolled her eyes and let out a growl. “Yes, Natalia.”
“Oh, hi.” She giggled. “How are you today?”
Ms. Powell shook her head and muttered something too low for me to hear from the back of the class. “What do you want?”
A rumble of a male voice sounded over the PA, muffled. Then Natalia laughed. “Oh, right! Can you send Ember Bailey to the Dean’s office?”
I straightened in my chair and met Lucent’s gaze. What did I do now? Ugh. When I stood, so did Lucent. Placing a hand on his chest, I whispered. “I got this. If I don’t make it back before the end of class, grab my stuff.”
As soon as I got to the door, a male golem appeared almost out of nowhere. He motioned me to follow him. “Dean Aero is waiting.”
Since my class was in the main campus building, it didn’t take long to make our way through the halls to the office. When we entered, I was greeted by a pretty blonde golem. She was typing at a computer until she saw me, then her eyes widened. “I love your hair! It’s so bright and curly and long.”
Involuntarily, I twisted a few of my red corkscrew curls in my fingers. My hair was the color of fire, sometimes. Most the time it looked almost orange. Everyone loved it. I didn’t so much. I told Lucent I was going to color it once and he told me he’d kill me just so I could rise from the ashes with my natural, orange-red curls.