Chapter Thirteen

After shifting class, I had to find yet another classroom, and then lunch and then another room. Classrooms were on several floors and at all ends of the building, and my map was not as helpful as it could have been. I did find the stairs, and they even had a sign over them recommending using them when traveling only one or two floors for good health. Shifters in general seemed to be in pretty great shape. Of course, I'd only really seen Father's guards and staff and the people at this school, so maybe that wasn't always the case.

It was all a blur, trying to find everywhere, and I actually missed lunch entirely when I could not find the dining hall. Fortunately, I had a leftover muffin from breakfast in my book bag because after shifting, I was always extra hungry and probably would not have managed at all without those few crumbly bites. Water-bottle filling stations were on every floor, and in my tablet box had come a large stainless travel mug engraved with not only the academy logo but my name. I'd seen other students with these but assumed they bought them in the student store or something.

Was it weird that I was more excited about this cup with the logo and my name than almost anything else? It said I belonged. Someone went to the trouble to put my name on a cup so that I could refill it on my way to class and be refreshed. Not because I was different or better than everyone, as my father had tried to insist, but because I was equal.

It felt good.

After realizing I wouldn't have time to eat lunch even if I found the dining hall, I decided to use the leftover minutes to find my next class. It was all so different than my education in the past. Angie did the best she could, but she had a limited amount of schooling and didn't teach me much more than reading and writing and basic math. But she did share everything she knew about my heritage, which was more than Father did. He just said he was the original and I was his heir.

As I found my way to the classroom, I tried not to think too hard about Father's scent being present from the roof. He wasn't in the building—I was certain about that. Maybe there were others who were similar. I hadn't been close to a whole lot of other men, so in theory, it could be the case. But it wasn't. Father might be a narcissistic jerk in many ways, but something told me he was unique. Well, he'd told me. But I still believed it. And I also believed that at some point, he would be here to claim me back.

He would show up at the office and tell them he was here to collect his property. Because he'd treated me like that, hadn't he? Like something that belonged to him. And who would turn down the original shifter when he showed up to retrieve what he owned. On that day, at that moment, the life that had just begun would end.

I sank down to sit against the wall as the realization overwhelmed me. Angie might have helped me run, but how could I dream of escaping from someone all-powerful? All-knowing? Every time I stepped out of line, he knew, and I could never figure out how. Sure, he had guards everywhere, but some of what he found out they could not have possibly seen.

Maybe I should not try to settle down here or anywhere. If I only kept on the move, I might be able to stay a step or two ahead of him and…and…what? Live all alone? I'd been here such a short time and already connected with my sisters and got a tablet and had a date set up to have dinner with the guys…

Oh. My. Gods. It wasn't a date, was it? With all three of them?

Other students began to arrive, and I pushed myself up to stand but waited while they all entered the classroom, not wanting to end up sitting in anyone else's seat and upset the system. I noticed in the other classes that everyone seemed to gravitate right to a spot and sit down. I'd learned to take my time and saunter in then settle in whatever was open. At first, I'd assumed the back would always be the spot, but in some of my classes, I'd found the empties in the front row. And in one, the instructor had a seating chart and told me where to go.

All the years I spent planning to get away, and then once I got off the mountain, I somehow thought that part of my life was over. As if Father who I knew traveled all over the world would not find me. Had I endangered the people who had been kind to me? If he didn't have anything to do with my sisters, did he even know they existed?

"Hey, you're that new girl, right?" A slender girl with long curls in a silvery green came up beside where I lurked just inside the doorway. "Are you going to sit down?"

"Yes, sorry."

"For what?" She flashed me an impish grin. "Want to sit with me? I can fill you in on all the weirdos who pretend to love math."

"I'm not that great at math," I confided. "I was kind of hoping I wouldn't have to take it, but they said everyone does."

"Truth. I'm Abigail."

"Cleo. And I'd love to sit with you and hear about the weirdos."

Maybe my father would show up tomorrow and my dream would end. I would just have to get the most out of this experience while it lasted.