Chapter Three

The first week of teacher trainings weren’t nearly as excruciating as I expected. I remained buzzed by the arrangements Milo made, and the afterglow of Tranquil Orbits left me fuzzy, but I was unwilling to release the fleeting sensation. Whether my telepathy still needed to adjust after three days of silence or I’d actually gained more control over the growing fluctuations, my magic stayed mostly grounded here at the academy for the first day of classes. Even the extension of my branch that sought Milo above all else in the city had simmered. His image became a spotty portrait in the corner of my eyes, his voice a hollow echo, and his thoughts static pulses, each of which I could make sense of with a bit of focus. But today was about the kids, not Milo.

Enchanter Evergreen’s chipper morning mind did flood my emotions with more excitement than intended, though. I shook it off, keeping my expression dower and preparing for the onslaught of student minds that’d bustle through Gemini Academy’s hallways any minute.

“ Why do you look so happy? ” Chanelle strolled toward my classroom, where I stood propped against the wall, reading a tablet. “ I can see disdain in your eyes, yet no scorn, no bitter twist in your frown, no contemptuous huff to my ‘oh so intrusive’ thoughts bursting whatever bubble you’re floating on. You look positively effervescent. Well, for you, sourpuss. ”

“ Shut up, ” I thought at Chanelle, which was a massive mistake.

She practically levitated with delight that I’d linked my thoughts to hers and immediately went to work, hammering as many surface thoughts in my direction as humanly fucking possible. I caught a dozen half-stories about her summer vacation zipping around each other like railroad tracks colliding into other stories and leading to a bombardment of images from her synced mind before I managed to quell the bulk of her surface thoughts.

Ignoring her proved challenging, but I returned to rereading my homeroom covens’ profiles after their ranks had been finalized based on their first-year scores.

“Christ.” I sighed, unable to quell Chanelle’s thoughts. “I didn’t ask.”

“There’s that scorn.”

The ringing of the bell drowned out whatever witty addition Chanelle had as a follow-up and thankfully sent her swaying back down the hallway to wrangle her homeroom coven.

“ I can’t believe summer’s finally over. ” Caleb’s thoughts spiked above everyone else, making him easy to pinpoint in the cluster of chaotic teens wading into the building. “ It was nice having more flexibility around my work schedule, but I didn’t get anything done. Still can’t figure out how to utilize that perfected root casting. Maybe it was just a fluke which is gonna set me back. Everything I researched says things get intensive during the second year, and I’ve got to make sure I keep up. ”

I buried his bursting thoughts, cycling over a hundred checklists. While slacking off was a go-to for most students during the summer, I shouldn’t be surprised Caleb spent the duration training, working, studying, and tutoring—all while believing he hadn’t invested enough time in any to consider himself successful. That wasn’t the most shocking thing about Caleb, though.

He’d shot up at least a half foot since the last time I’d seen him. His academy blazer was snug around his chest and shoulders as he started filling it out. This wasn’t the scrawny, frantic teen who’d walked into Gemini last year, completely unaware his life was in peril by some unforeseeable future. No. He’d started growing into himself, feeling more comfortable in his root magics, which he continued training. The weighted blocks he used hovered behind him, enchantment sigils glowing to signify his focus on all four in tandem. Confidence radiated off him in equal waves of calm, collective energy. I bet a bit of that pride came from the massive jump in his ranking.

Sure, one hundred remained far from the top, but out of six hundred second-year students, that said a lot about his place here at Gemini. Not to mention, he’d entered the Spring Showcase, barely squeaking by at one-sixty. Between his high placement at the showcase, the training progress monitored by his Cast-8-Watch, and his stellar exam scores, it was no wonder he’d soared past so many other students.

“Good morning, Mr. Frost.” Caleb smiled and tightened his hands around the straps of his book bag.

“Morning.” Because there was never anything good about being awake this early.

“How was your—”

“ Too many fucking people. ” Kenzo’s familiar rage sliced through everyone else’s thoughts and Caleb’s words. “ Who just stands in a hallway carrying on a conversation? Move, assholes! ”

I fought back a snarl in response to the collision of his wrath pounding against my head like a damn drum.

“Eh,” Caleb muttered. “ Guess the summer didn’t melt away any of Mr. Frost’s attitude. Too bad. ”

Did he just use my name as a pun? I glared.

“ Shoot. Did he hear that? ” Caleb gulped. “ Did you hear that? ”

“Find your seat, Mr. Huxley.”

“Yes, sir.” Caleb scrambled into the classroom, not quite so confidently and reminiscent of his first-year self.

Kenzo stormed through the hallway, brushing past people thinking profanities so loudly it buried their disdain for the rude way he shoulder-bumped them out of his path. Honestly, I was grateful he didn’t fling anyone into the air with his telekinesis since the idea crossed his mind more than once by the time he reached my classroom.

Not much had changed about Kenzo since the last time I’d seen him, from his appearance and his threatening posture all the way to angry musings over expectations he had going into his second year. Well, one thing had changed. He’d added dark crimson streaks to his jet-black hair.

Flashes of his summer exploded along his surface thoughts, carrying images of his rigorous workout routine, wisps he’d banished, and precision casting he’d done with his root magics and hex branch. My muscles held a phantom ache for the strain Kenzo put on his body in order to push past his limits. Like Caleb, he’d also spent the bulk of his summer training, determined to increase his skills beyond anyone at the academy. No. Anyone he came across.

Maybe Milo had a point. Perhaps I underestimated my students, daring to compare them to those I’d taught over the years like they sat in some one-size-fits-all mold. With more than a decade of education under my belt, I should know better than that.

“ Why the hell are you staring at me? ”

I cracked my neck, quelling the desire to punch Kenzo—knowing full well that came from his palpable fury colliding with my mind, spreading the rage he kept in check…mostly.

“Hey, hey!” Gael weaved through the hallway, carefully avoiding others so his spikes didn’t accidentally jab anyone else. “I turned for half a second, and you vanished.”

Kenzo clamped his jaw, recalling Gael’s five-minute hellos to everyone he walked by, which clearly indicated Kenzo hadn’t vanished but gotten bored of the small talk from students he didn’t bother naming in his thoughts.

Gael had grown over the summer, too, now standing taller than me at 5’11 and actually probably taller than Milo at 6’2 with a broader build as well. His muscle definition caught nearly every student’s attention since he wore a white tank with the Gemini Academy logo to compensate for the development of his spikes.

They’d remained slender like thick hairs along his forearms and lower legs but easily doubled in the number covering his limbs. It was the massive spikes sprouting from his shoulders, curving inward, that explained the need for a tank. No tees with those two protruding bonelike appendages.

“How was your summer, Mr. Frost?” Gael’s sharklike teeth beamed, and the bright orange of his aura illuminated his pale complexion and the short spikes framing his face. “Hope you did something fun for yourself. You won’t believe what I did over the summer. I had so much…”

Gael’s genuine compassion and delight collided with Kenzo’s anger, creating a soothing vermillion in the air around them. As I composed myself from the swirling orangish reds, Gael rambled about his summer, carefully avoiding topics on how much of it he spent with Kenzo. He didn’t speak aloud, but Kenzo consumed his thoughts. Granted, I couldn’t understand much of the Spanish trailing along the surface of Gael’s mind as he spoke in English, but Kenzo’s name continued popping up between phrases I didn’t grasp, and with the thought of the angry boy’s name came a radiant blossom in Gael’s joyful aura all over again. I blinked a few times, helping the auras in my vision to turn spotty and fade while I quelled my telepathy.

Kenzo grunted, too aggravated to insult Gael and too annoyed to listen any further, so he cut between us into the classroom. It didn’t stop Gael, who continued talking. Nonstop. Christ, had he copied Enchanter Evergreen’s chatty persona along with the spiky blond hairdo?

Thanks to my lack of responses and natural set-in scowl, Gael finally went inside in search of someone more conversational as others from our homeroom shuffled inside the classroom.

Katherine made her way down the hall, literally levitating from the exhilaration buzzing off her and fueling those she chatted up. Her yellow aura glowed, accentuating her light brown complexion and highlighting her short, curled hair that now framed her face.

Despite making it into the second round of the Spring Showcase, excelling in her classes, and acing her exams, Katherine’s ranking had only moved up by one. It crept into the corners of her thoughts. Every time she greeted someone, envious whispers festered at the edges of her happiness for friends. Katherine had hoped for more improvement, yet landing in the top ten didn’t leave much room for growth, something I’d help her come to realize. She’d spent the entire night before memorizing the massive jumps in some of their rankings from first-year to second-year students.

Reaching the top ten and maintaining such a high ranking—not an easy feat. Katherine was a student to watch. Things would get even more competitive at Gemini now that rankings had been shared for all to see. Every second-year student would aim for the top ten since those positions all but guaranteed first-choice internships during their third year.

I needed Katherine to understand her achievements mattered. She had an understanding of subjects equal to Caleb, root precision nearly on par with Kenzo and Tara, and mastery over her branch magic in ways some industry professionals lacked when it came to enchantments. Still, moving into the second year, I’d like to see her shine a little more outside of Caleb’s bubble. Easier said than done, given her mind spun on all things about him, causing her to linger at the doorway, searching for the right words after her trip abroad.

Every other thought in her mind fizzled out once she reached the doorway. She paused, adjusting her grimoire strapped to her hip and plucking at a loose thread on her skirt.

Caleb’s eyes widened; a flurry of thoughts zipped so fast I couldn’t grasp a single tangible word. Not that I wanted to once the whirlwind of auras between Caleb and Katherine swirled. It radiated loudly, bringing their memories to the forefront of the surface, painting the room in vibrant pinks and soft violets. Their lustful pining mixed with fragments of words whispered to each other over the summer, declarations of love, questions on boundaries, and grunting noises from awkward first times.

FUCK. No. Nope. Not allowing my telepathy insight on that one.

I cleared my throat until their thoughts became faint. Summer had made me lazy when it came to blocking unwanted thoughts, and the last thing I wanted in my head was their teenage lust. Katherine stared like a lost doe. I glared, sending her scurrying into the classroom. Caleb shrieked internally, straightening in his desk and pressing his knees close together as if that somehow settled his raging hormones, which became a goddamn beacon of desire shimmering across the classroom.

“Fuck,” I muttered to myself. Oh, how I despised horny teenagers. If my branch didn’t simmer soon, this would be a long school year.

Since my telepathy evolved, I’d found myself latched to Milo’s mind most days to where it’d almost become second nature. Not quite. It still took extreme focus to separate myself from wherever he currently was in the city, prioritizing the here and now. Based on the wind ruffling his hair, I’d wager flying somewhere. That cool breeze was much more inviting than the stale air in my classroom. Still, the auras of other’s emotions springing out so effortlessly knocked me off guard. It didn’t happen with everyone. In fact, I’d only really accounted for this occurring with my homeroom coven since my near-death experience when I latched onto their minds, desperately trying to see the events unfold as they fought off warlocks invading the academy. Something about my magic, my branch, changed that day.

Without wasting another second, I severed my telepathy, channeling telekinesis to rearrange texts in the back of the classroom. It took extra effort since I kept my body still, moving weighty books into whatever random order looked semi-logical. Casting telekinesis with the subtle flex of my muscles ached but suppressed my branch magic.

“I can help with that.” Gael swaggered into the classroom, a mischievous smile on his face where he stuck out his tongue, revealing his new piercing, and flexed biceps, which he internally screamed “ my guns ” about while flashes of lazy beach days played in his mind. Along with images of volleyball and walking the Navy Pier with a dozen different girls.

“Ba-ba-bawk!” King Clucks flapped his wings, perhaps assisting in the chaos or merely advising Gael based on the young witch’s thoughts.

“ I got this, Clucks. ”

Ugh. He waved a hand and sent the books flying from my hold and across the classroom.

Pages fluttered, spines cracked, and students yelped in shock when several textbooks thudded onto desks and the floor before Tara swooped in behind him, gently shifting their trajectory and lessening their impact without the slightest strain or notice.

“Figured you’d want us all prepared to read on day one.” Gael grinned, awed by his awesomeness. “You’re welcome, Mr. Frosty.”

“ His roots really are improving, ” Tara thought. “ Though, they’d probably be better if we actually spent time training together instead of concentrating on my fledgling permit. ”

It turned out Tara had crafted a methodic and manipulative ploy to trick Gael into working on his magics with her without realizing they were working on both their magics. Little did she realize that his slacker ways were five steps ahead of her, finding every opportunity to avoid her plans and enjoy their summer. Apparently, he’d done a good job convincing Tara those ideas were hers, too. Hmm. If professional guild work didn’t pan out for Gael, he might have a place in politics. Lazy. Smooth talking. Vulgar.

Gael’s slacking off should’ve made it easier to tear him down on day one, get him back on track with training, but my breathing hitched from how so many summer festivals, tourist attractions, day trips, and simply living life floated above the ever-present ocean in Tara’s mind. These thoughts made it easier to stand above the waves stirring at the surface. She’d explored more of Chicago this summer, thanks to that goofball and his rooster, than she’d seen in all her years living here. The storm of sorrow remained, yet Gael continued serving as a reliable lifejacket of friendship.

“Badass, right?” Gael wiggled his eyebrows.

“The baddest of badasses.” Tara snickered, then skirted by him to take a seat in the front of the classroom directly at a center desk. Such a subtle yet bold move for her. I nearly smiled, so proud of how far she’d come.

“I see you went ahead and resubmitted your fledgling permit over the summer.” Something I didn’t have to encourage or remind her about. Tara was taking charge of mastering her branches, which was a fantastic sight.

“Yeah, thought it’d be nice to figure out how this branch works,” Tara said, almost smiling. “ The only thing I’ve figured out is it’s not linked to the others, and I can’t find where to draw and channel the casting from. ”

“We’ll get there.”

Tara sighed. “I forgot you did that.”

“Sorry. I’m usually better about it.”

She twisted her lips, making quite the judgy little expression. Especially for Tara. “ Are you, though? ”

The bell rang, and I used that opportunity to pretend I hadn’t caught her last thought while settling my homeroom coven. We didn’t have a moment to spare. Well, maybe a few, but considering I’d made some awesome arrangements thanks in part to Milo, I wanted to utilize the most of our morning before sending them limping off to their classes worn out and regretting goofing off over the summer.

“We’re entering your second year,” I said, drawing their focus. “Which means I need to get every single one of you ready for internships. If you want an internship, you’ll have to impress guilds during the second-year rankings, academic proficiency, Spring Showcase performance next semester, and a slew of other industry factors. That doesn’t give us much time to prepare.”

“Wait.” Gael raised his hand, spikes expanding. I nodded for him to ask. “I thought internships were guaranteed. It’s academy policy, right?”

“Oh, they are.” I tightened my eyes, glaring at each of them. “But do you really want the academy scraping the bottom of the barrel because none of the top-tier guilds expressed an interest in working with you?”

Gael gulped. His mind buzzed faster than normal, thoughts bouncing between Spanish and English with the same frantic concern that boomed from several others in the room. Hell, it wasn’t only my homeroom coven panicking. Nearby teachers had started bursting bubbles the minute class began, and their students worried over their rankings. Admittedly, I counted myself fortunate my homeroom coven currently sat among the top hundred—making my job easier on getting them ready—but guilds rarely showed an interest in anyone below the top fifty.

“We’ll be skipping today’s orientation since you already know Gemini’s expectations, and I’d like to see who here has improved over the summer”—I rested my gaze on Gael and his familiar—“and who’s floundered.”

“ Don’t know why he’s looking at me. ” Gael scrunched his face. “ I spent the entire summer working my magic on the ladies. ”

“Ba-ba-bawk.”

“ It’s a type of magic. Hello, enchanters need to charm their clients. ”

No amount of scowling caught Gael’s attention or stopped his blathering telepathic conversation with his damn rooster.

“ This is such a waste. ” Kenzo huffed, his thoughts cutting above the others. “ At least I could work on my studies during the orientation. Bet Frost’s special lesson is just gonna be another basic ass training. What’d he do last year? Promised demons and delivered wisps. An academy should offer more. I could get this on my— ”

“This won’t be like last year.”

Kenzo’s eyes widened; gray static popped around his brow, dimming his thoughts but not blocking them despite his best hex work.

“We kicked off day one by testing out your root magics, seeing how you faired against wisps while working as a team. But today, you’ll be testing your abilities alongside professional guild witches.”

“Wait, really?” Caleb perked up. “Actual guild witches?”

Katherine raised her hand and proceeded to ask without waiting. “So, we’re going to be working with them? Like wisp training with professionals?”

“No, it’ll probably be fiends this time.” Gael chomped his teeth and grinned at Tara.

She rolled her eyes, biting back laughter. “ We’ve done lots of fiend trainings, though. This has to be something different. ”

“It’s the only way I can assess how much improvement each of you will require in order to hold your own working alongside a professional enchanter next fall.” I rested my eyes on Kenzo’s piercing glare. The room fell silent—bated breath galore—as everyone’s thoughts buzzed at the staring contest of daggers between the two of us. “I assure all of you, though, today’s lesson will make your training last year look like basic training wheels. Honestly, I don’t expect much from any student outside the top ten here at Gemini. Might even be a more successful lesson if I wrangled those top players from a few other homeroom covens.”

“ Finally, something worth my time. ”

Not only did it entice Kenzo, but it lit a fire under the rest of my class, each one determined to make me eat those words. I relished in their confidence, fueling my own. Once the excitement settled, I led them across campus to the auxiliary gym while the other classes went to the auditorium for Headmaster Dower’s orientation.

“ Dorian’s gonna kill me, ” Milo’s mind reached out, which I gladly embraced to settle the onslaught of hundreds of students talking and thinking in tandem. “ This news is gonna ruin his day. Hope the kids react better. ”

My chest swelled. The fuck? What’d Milo mean? Did he just cancel on me through a subtle telepathic thought he perceived I might’ve eavesdropped on? Damn clairvoyants.

“ Milo. ” I reached out telepathically. Gritting my teeth, I tuned out the bombardment of student thoughts. Between their internalized theories and their vocalized chatter, I couldn’t establish a solid link to Milo’s mind at this distance. If Milo canceled, fell through, forgot to arrange the Cerberus Guild request I asked him to do weeks ago—which he said he’d done —then that meant I was dragging my homeroom coven to the auxiliary gym with no actual lesson.

I sighed. Kenzo would have a riot mocking me for talking up such a big game, only to end up improvising whatever bullshit I could string together.

“ Dammit, Milo. Can you hear me or not? ” He knew how important this was to me.

We stepped into the auxiliary gym, everyone casually taking in the layout. Even with news on the first-day lesson, few showed much of a wow reaction to the setup they’d seen a hundred times over, from the glass ceiling allowing sunlight to shine down on the dozen different terrains each setup to provide training in different environments, to the fitness station which Gemini had added new and improved gear to improve proficiency, all the way to the proctoring station which now included an added amenity for students to upload their Cast-8-Watch data. I wanted to test those functions since they were supposed to highlight the terrains most suited to strengthen student casting capabilities, streamlining their growth.

“ You sound super surly, ” Milo thought, finally reaching out to my psychic calls, his mind syncing to mine so close I could practically touch the words floating throughout the auxiliary gym. “ Have I been naughty? Gonna keep me for detention? ”

I frowned. “ You know I hate when you say stuff like that. ”

“ What don’t you hate? ” His smile filled my vision as he flew through the sky.

“ Well, right now, I don’t hate you, assuming you made the arrangements I asked for. ”

“ Of course. I always come through. ”

“ Then why were you worried I’d be pissed? ”

“ Huh? Was I? ” Milo’s mind drifted into song lyrics, hiding something. “ Guess I always expect you to be grouchy about something. Maybe I thought you’d be disappointed starting your first day back without a good dicking. You’ve been so eager for sex, but I’ve been busy with cases. You know me with work. Always on call. Maybe after you’re done for the day, I can give you a nice pound— ”

I scoffed, severing the link and returning my attention to the students. Whatever Milo kept to himself would have to wait. All that mattered right now was this training.

“Go get changed into your fitness gear, then head on over to terrain seven.” I nodded to the far-off rock terrain. Aside from the cliff, this setup remained the most open space in the auxiliary gym, which would force my students to use their wits and magics to handle the combat I had in store for them this morning. “Last one there owes me an essay explaining why they’re falling behind on the first day back.”

“Wait. Seriously?” “ He can’t do that, can he? ”

“You wouldn’t.” “It’s Mr. Frosty, he likes to see us suffer.”

“Cluck cluck.”

“ Time to show off how much my flight’s improved. ”

“ As if any of these losers are even worth racing. ”

“Try to keep up, Kenzo.” “Real funny, porcupine.”

Half of them scrambled toward the locker rooms while Kenzo and Tara took their time. Honestly, they both flew faster than I did, so the head start wouldn’t do the others much good. Gael threw off his tie and blazer, sprinting ahead.

“Don’t just leave your uniform on the ground,” I shouted.

“No time.” Gael flung off his shirt. “Can’t be last.”

Seriously? I needed a cigarette. “I’m not picking up after you, and if you think—”

“Course not.” Gael squeezed past Caleb into the locker room, leaving his rooster to retrieve his discarded uniform.

“Ba-ba-bawk.” The rooster carried the tie in his beak and telekinetically lifted the blazer and shirt, smoothing out the wrinkles with precise control. Damn, that bird had better skills than I did.

After changing into their fitness gear, the bulk of my students flew out of the locker room toward the rock terrain, leaving only a few who preferred using their branches to run faster than their levitation and telekinesis could carry them. Of course, Gael and King Clucks were among those racing ahead, still avoiding all things flight-related. I’d have to put an end to that this year. With so much on my mind their first year, I let Gael’s aversion to flying slip through the cracks, but he’d never land a successful gig as an enchanter if he didn’t master the skill. I couldn’t think of one enchanter who didn’t utilize their roots with expert proficiency. Whether his rooster envied the skies or Gael had a secret fear of heights, I’d resolve it this year.

“Whoa, is that…”

“No way!”

“These are…”

“They work with Enchanter Evergreen all the time.”

One by one, they reached the terrain where two Cerberus guild witches awaited their arrival.

“ He brought acolytes, seriously? What a waste. ” Kenzo tsked. “ Frost underdelivers yet again. What’s an acolyte gonna teach me this moron can’t? ”

I frowned, resisting a smile, which was pretty easy considering the internalized rant Kenzo had about wanting a real lesson. “They’re not here to train with you.”

Katherine clutched her grimoire. “But you said—”

“These are some of the highest-ranked acolytes in the state,” I interjected, “so they’ll make for the best opponents to test out your readiness for this industry.”

“Wait, we’re casting against them?” Gael’s spikes shrank.

“I want to see how each of you fair against professional guild witches. It’ll let me know how much work we’ve got to put in to have you ready for your third year.”

Gael smiled, expanding the spikes along his forearms and calves. “Hell yeah! We got this.”

I liked the confidence; it’d make deflating their egos easier. Getting their asses handed to them by a guild witch would give them a taste of the stakes in this industry, which they definitely needed. Nonetheless, I was eager to see the fight each of them put up because not one student wavered when I revealed the news. In fact, their thoughts teemed with excitement, curiosity, and strategy. But there were three that rose above the others, three I silently rooted for even if they didn’t stand a chance against these acolytes.

“ If I use everything I know about my branches, I can do this. ”

“ I’m gonna destroy these so-called best-in-the-state acolytes. ”

“ Time for everyone to see how much precision I’ve added to my roots. ”