Chapter 12

I woke up feeling much better. The ugly cry I'd had with Tobias last night had really shed the weight of mourning I'd been carrying, and everything about the current morning felt lighter, brighter. My arms were less shaky, my legs felt springy, and the pain that had been gnawing at my guts was now replaced by a gentle, energizing buzz.

I hopped out of bed and tapped on my tablet to look at my schedule. Surprisingly, today's classes looked like a typical day at school: Math, Chemistry, English. Everything aside from my first class, which was Mastery—whatever that was—and my last class, Defense.

I was actually looking forward to attending my basic classes. I hoped they would offer a vital sense of normalcy that my life had been lacking recently. The idea of Defense did not give me that same comfort. PE had always been my least favorite subject, and Defense sounded like PE tenfold.

Although I definitely understood the need for it, especially after what happened to Mom, I had no physical prowess whatsoever. I realized that was the point of the class—to improve my physical abilities—but still, it did not appeal to me at all.

After getting dressed and grabbing my laptop bag, I made my way down to the dining hall, happy to know that I wouldn't have to play musical chairs to eat because, whether he liked it or not, Tobias was my new dining partner.

I filled my tray and easily spotted the large dragon shifter sitting at a table with two other boys.

I claimed the empty seat next to him. His eyes almost bugged out of his head, and I thought I noticed his face turn a shade of pink.

"Good morning," I greeted him and his friends, whose mouths fell open as they looked at me. "I know, I know, new mermaid and all, big shocker." I decided to break the ice by diving right into it.

"Uh, sorry, do we know you?" one of Tobias's friends asked, shaking his blond head as if he had long hair.

"Brett," the other friend hissed under his breath.

Tobias gave a sidelong glance at the boy—who must be Brett—but didn't say anything. I still hadn't quite figured him out, but I chose to interpret his silence as acceptance.

"Tobias and I know each other," I answered Brett's question, pretending not to notice its rude intent. "We ran into each other last night and had a good talk. I thought it might be fun to get to know his friends." I offered a friendly smile.

Brett and the other boy slowly turned their heads in Tobias's direction simultaneously, and it became pretty clear that Tobias hadn't mentioned our little late-night encounter.

Tobias looked at me for a moment, chewing on his bottom lip as if internally debating something, then said, "Uh, yeah, I ran into her here last night after the meeting with my father. She's cool."

Even though his tone sounded reluctant, my chest swelled at his verbal stamp of approval.

Brett looked back at me with a wide smile. "Is it true that you had no idea you were a mermaid until you came here?"

He was leaning forward, beaming at me like I was some kind of tabloid celebrity. Definitely better than treating me like a pariah.

I shrugged, feigning nonchalance. "Yep. I'm a shifter newbie in every way."

"Whoa, that's so weird," Brett said. "I've never met a mermaid who wasn't… well, an elitist snob from birth. Have you tried transforming yet? What was it like?"

"Brett, give the girl a break," the other friend chastised, holding his fork aloft over his plate. Then he looked at me. "Sorry, Brett has no filter. I'm Niko."

I laughed. "It's okay, I don't mind. I've heard that my fellow mermaids can be quite… delightful. I can promise you guys I'm nothing like them."

"Glad to hear it. Tobias found a keeper." He winked at Tobias, who just rolled his eyes and turned away.

"What are we talking about?" a chipper female voice asked just before a pretty redhead sat on the other side of Brett.

"Oh, hey, Ashlyn." Brett gave her a wave. "Just getting to know the new, new girl."

I cocked my head at that strange description, and Ashlyn's friendly smile grew wider as she took me in.

"Omigod, thank you!" She reached out to put a hand on mine in a gesture of solidarity. "I was getting so tired of being the new girl. You'd think a stray phoenix showing up would be old news fast, but I'm still the hot topic after three months."

"That's because you keep setting fires," Tobias deadpanned without looking up from the scrambled eggs he was pushing through ketchup on his plate with his fork.

"Accidentally," she corrected indignantly, shooting a glare at him. Then she smiled back at me. "But now that you're here, everyone's forgotten all about little ol' me."

"Until you start another fire," Brett interjected with a smirk.

She slapped him on the shoulder. "Will you shut up!"

I couldn't help but snicker at their friendly teasing, and honestly, hearing that another new student got the same treatment I was receiving was somehow comforting.

Ashlyn looked back at me. "Anyway, I know how hard it is to be the new girl, so I'd love to be your friend. These guys have been my only friends since I got here, and they only got roped in because our dads are friends."

Her high energy and non-discerning nature drew me in instantly, and I smiled. "Thanks. I could definitely use all the friends I can get."

The breakfast turned out not to be such a fiasco. Brett spent most of the time asking me random personal questions about my pre-mermaid life, and Tobias and Niko argued about mermaid politics, which was all very educational—I guessed that much of my time spent with Tobias would be.

He was like a handsome computer, always calculating, always spouting facts, and at least making it look as though he had no emotions. But there was something about him I liked, despite all the warning signs—especially the giant "Not Interested" label on his forehead whenever he looked my way.

And Ashlyn and I briefly bonded over our similar histories. Her father had been out of the picture her whole life, just a faceless name on a birthday card once a year. She had thought she was human just like me, raised by a human mom. When it came out a few months ago that she inherited her dad's phoenix after all, he came back into her life and brought her here.

She was just as new to this world as me and just as spurned by her peers. I couldn't be more grateful that I met her, for both our sakes.

"Since you know what it's like to be new to all this, could you help me understand a little bit about the different types of shifters?" I asked her while the boys were distracted. "There's so many, and I have no idea really what's unique to any of them. Do they all have the same powers? Is it just their form that's different?"

She nodded in understanding, her eyes lighting up as if she were excited to be the knowledgeable one for a change. "Okay, so, let me give you a quick breakdown of each shifter type and what their special abilities are:

"Phoenixes"—she put a hand on her chest—"can manifest and manipulate fire, as the boys so graciously shared with you already." She rolled her eyes. "Dragons are the same. We really only differ in what our shifted forms are.

"Mermaids"—she gestured toward me—"can manipulate water. Some of them can also be seers, like they get visions and stuff. And I've heard of special mermaids that can also be sirens, but I don't really know what they do, you know?"

I nodded vaguely, also having no clue.

"Then you have all the different weres," she continued. "Hounds turn into wolves and have the sharpest smell sense of the shifters, to the point where some can even tell what emotion you're feeling by what you smell like."

"It's called empathic," Tobias cut in, and I turned to look at him. "Very well-trained hounds can become empathic."

"Right," Ashlyn conferred. "And then there are moas, who turn into big cats—like mountain lions and stuff—and, oh, what's their special power again?" She pursed her lips in thought.

"Maos have ultra-sensitive hearing," Tobias informed, his expression looking a little annoyed, like she should already know all of this. "At top skill, some maos can even become telepathic."

"That's hearing people's thoughts, right?" Ashlyn asked. "Or is that moving objects with your mind?"

He sighed and rolled his eyes before looking sideways at her. "Hearing thoughts. Moving objects is called telekineses."

"Oh, that's right!" Ashlyn said with a snap of her fingers.

I looked at Tobias for my next question. Of course, he knew everything about the different shifters. I should've asked him instead, but Ashlyn was so much friendlier.

"What about Caesar? What can gryphons do?"

Tobias seemed less irritated by my question than he was correcting Ashlyn. "They can manipulate the weather. Mostly just wind, but I've heard that Caesar is powerful enough to create storms."

"Really?" Ashlyn asked him, surprise widening her eyes. "That's awesome!"

"Kitsunes can manipulate electricity, which is why they make up our tech team. Nagas have paralytic venom that kills vampires, and they can learn to hypnotize people with their eyes. And harpies have the ability to manipulate light waves to either inflict physical damage or heal wounds." Tobias said all of this in a bored-sounding drone.

I realized my forehead was scrunched upward after listening to him, so I purposely smoothed it. "Wow, they all sound so cool. I still have a hard time believing all this is real, even after seeing it with my own eyes."

Ashlyn put a hand on top of mine where it rested on the table. "I know, it's definitely a mind fuck. But you get used to all the weirdness of it after a week or two. Getting a handle on your powers is a different story."

She frowned and looked down at her plate. She'd been here for a month and hadn't learned to control her powers. I felt bad for her, especially since I knew the struggle. I had a strong feeling I'd be in the same boat as her.

***

After breakfast, I went to the mermaid training room for my first class, Mastery. As I walked, I tried to guess what the class would entail. I'd never heard of anything like it at any other school. If it was in the mermaid training room, it obviously had something to do specifically with being a mermaid but not shifting.

When I entered the training room, students were just emerging from the locker rooms in their swim tops and getting ready to get in the pool. I followed their example and went to the locker room to get into my own top, then returned to the training room to see what the next hour had in store.

Celeste was at the opposite corner of the room, talking to a small group of students, and I figured I'd just wait for instructions.

I sat at the edge of the pool and, with a thrill in my belly, dipped my feet in the water. Just as last time, a prickling itch swallowed the surface of the skin on my legs, and I watched with rapt attention as the smooth flesh was gradually replaced by glistening pink scales.

I had been too disoriented yesterday to get a good view, but now I could clearly witness my ankles and shins webbing together and stretching out into a tail that still astounded and excited me.

Hell, I could happily sit here all day and splash my tail in the water. Nothing was more comfortable than the feeling of water surrounding me. The coolness on my arms, washing over my tail, it was like discovering the underside of a pillow.

I was tempted to dive in completely, but I wanted to be alert for when the class started—and skip the not-as-pleasant emergence of the gills on my neck. That had been my least favorite part. I knew I'd have to get used to it eventually, but for now, I was enjoying this leisure moment.

A good ten minutes passed, and Celeste still hadn't officially started the class. Many of the students were just playing in the pool. Had I missed something? I watched the other mermaids swimming, flipping, or just floating in groups and gossiping.

Then, something caught the corner of my eye, and I looked to the far left edge of the pool. One of the male students was waving his hands above the water, and impossibly, a stream of water rose upward and made a somewhat sloppy arc before splashing back to the surface.

My mouth dropped open, and I blinked hard several times. Did I really just see that?

"Quite a trick, huh?" a male voice said behind me.

I looked over my shoulder to see a rather attractive guy standing behind me. For a moment, I lost myself in appreciation for his boy-band good looks. He had sandy brown hair that looked as though it had taken him all morning to get it to feather out so perfectly and beach-blue eyes that seemed to harbor some hidden hunger within their depths.

Thanks to the skin-tight swim top, I could see each sculpted muscle of his defined chest and abs. Damn, were all shifter guys just created hot?

He gave me a crooked smile, then dove head-first into the pool, his form flawless. I watched his legs morph into a handsome dark blue tail as his body cut like a knife through the water. He spun around, and his head surfaced a foot or so in front of me. He swam closer and rested his bent elbow on the edge of the pool.

"So, you're the new mermaid nobody will shut up about," he said with a laugh. "I'm Kendall." He extended a wet hand.

I reached out and accepted it, hating that my cheeks were burning so much. "Yep, I guess that's me."

I looked back to the student who had manipulated the water. "How did he do that?" I tipped my chin in that direction.

Kendall nodded. "I know you're new to all this, so I'll break it down for you. All shifters have secondary abilities—powers, if you will—aside from just transforming. Mermaids can control water in whatever form they find it. That's the main purpose of this class, teaching young shifters like us how to master this power."

I nodded in understanding.

"Buuut, most of us mermaids have been playing with water since before we could talk, so the majority spend this class as a free period," he explained.

"Ah. So, are you a water manipulation expert?" I asked, a mild attempt at flirting. This guy was seriously gorgeous, and so far, the only mer who would give me the time of day.

"I guess you could say that. And I have other things to study in this class, which is why you won't find me lounging about like the rest of them."

"Oh? What is there to master aside from fancy irrigation skills?" I teased.

He chuckled. "I'm a seer."

My brows shot up. I knew that Celeste was a seer and that the ability was rare, even among mermaids. Now that I thought about it, Kendall had been one of the students Celeste had been talking to on the other side of the room.

"At the beginning of each class, Celeste gives the small handful of us who have the affinity for future sight a brief lesson, helping to guide us through fine-tuning our visions," Kendall said.

I leaned forward as I perched on the edge of the pool. "So, you can see the future like Celeste? I mean, do you get visions of new shifters when they're turned or come of age?"

"Haha, no. I'm nowhere near as good as Celeste." He shook his head. "Celeste can target her sight to just about anything or anyone she wants. That's how she made her fortune, playing the stock market. You know she's the one who financed the school, right?"

"Oh yeah. I think they mentioned that in history yesterday," I said. I imagined a psychic could use future-sight to make millions. Celeste was craftier than I realized.

"The only things I can see are random events specific to me," Kendall said. "I can't target my visions—not yet, anyway. And the frustrating thing is, I can't see the causes, only the outcomes, so I can't figure out how to prevent what I see."

A shadow fell over his face for a brief instant, and I wondered if there was something unpleasant he had foreseen that he wished to stop. If only I had that ability. I might have been able to see the vampire attack coming. I might have been able to save my mom.

"Good morning, Arya." Celeste's voice jolted me out of my thoughts, and I turned to see that the mer teacher was walking toward us. "I apologize for not tending to you sooner, but my upperclassmen needed some briefing. I see you've met Kendall. He's one of the school's finest apprentice seers."

Celeste beamed at him as she settled to sit beside me, not bothering to hide her favoritism toward him. "He might even have my job one day." She winked at him, and his brows furrowed with a flicker of nervousness.

"I'd better get back to practicing," Kendall said. "It was nice to meet you, Arya." And then he dove into the water and swam away.

It was very nice to meet you, too, I thought as his tail whipped in my direction and he zipped through the water. A gorgeous mer-guy who was actually nice? Pinch me, I must be dreaming.

"I know this is all very new to you, so let me explain what we study in this class," Celeste began.

"Oh, Kendall told me a little bit. He said that mermaids have the power to control water, and..." I gulped as I realized I was going to have to figure out how to do that.

Oh, crap. I'd been so busy ogling him that I hadn't connected those particular dots.

Celeste nodded at my unspoken dilemma. "It's all right. No one expects you to shape water into a sea dragon on your first try. There's no pressure here. We'll just take it slow and awaken your awareness of your connection to the water. Once you find it, everything else will follow."

"Okay," I said with uncertainty, hoping that it would be as simple as Celeste let on.

She claimed that there were no expectations of me, but I could sense that just about everyone was expecting something from me, Caesar most of all. I just had no idea what that was.

***

"So, uh, what do you know about Kendall?" I asked Ashlyn at lunch, trying to be casual.

Tobias hadn't come to sit with us yet, and I wanted to get this topic out of the way before he came back. I didn't exactly want Tobias hearing me ask about a different guy.

"You mean Ken Doll?" she replied with a snicker. "He's your typical pretty boy jock. If this school had sports, he'd probably be the quarterback of the football team."

"Don't let Tobias hear you say that," Brett commented, flickering his gaze to the buffet line where Tobias was currently debating over lunch options.

I laughed, stashing that comment in my box of things to ask about later. "I know mermaids don't have the best reputation for being, well, human, but is he decent?"

He had been nice to me, but I wanted to get the scoop on him, if there was one. And though Ashlyn was almost as new here as me, it wasn't like I had anyone else to ask.

She shrugged. "I'll put it this way—he's not the worst of them. But he did date the worst of them."

"What?" I asked.

"Yeah, he and Letti have this on-again-off-again thing going on. As I'm sure you're aware, that girl is a real piece of work."

The butterflies that had been bouncing around in my stomach fell dead to the floor. If Kendall could date a girl like that, maybe he wasn't the guy I started to hope he was.

"Well, that sucks." I sighed.

"Why, you got the hots for him over Tobias?" She offered a wry grin and nudged me with her elbow. She lowered her voice when she added, "Come on, I see the way you look at him."

I snorted and rolled my eyes, hoping my cheeks weren't as red as they felt. "Tobias is about as interested in me as a cat is with water."

Brett and Niko shared a super brief glance, making me question my assessment.

"Well, it's just as well, seeing as inter-shifter dating is kind of taboo," Niko said, pushing around a noodle with his fork.

"Wait, w-what?" I stammered. "There are rules about dating?"

"Well, not technically," Brett said, tilting his head to the side. "I mean, it's not written anywhere that two different shifters can't get together, but it's just an unspoken rule. Especially with the more elitist breeds like mers and dragons."

"And phoenixes," Niko added with a frown.

"Why?" I asked.

"It's because of the speciesism in the shifter world," Brett said around a mouthful of chicken. "Everyone is so obsessed with purity in bloodlines—well, aside from weres, obviously. But dragons, phoenixes, and mermaids especially have a cultural heritage that dominates who they are. Parents want to be certain of their childrens' heritage, and with two different types, you just never know which side of the coin you're gonna get. You could even end up with a freak who's a mix of both."

"Yikes." Ashlyn grimaced. "As much of an outcast as I already am, I'm really glad I'm just half human and not something else."

I frowned. So much for any sparks I might have had toward Tobias. Maybe that was why he was so cold toward me. Because even if we did have a certain chemistry, nothing could ever happen between us.

The students in the dining hall began to shuffle.

"Which class do you have next?" Ashlyn asked.

I pursed my lips. "Defense."

"Me, too!" she exclaimed excitedly, but her words were deafened by the howl Brett and Niko let out.

I balked at them in confusion.

"Good luck," Brett said. "You're in with Tobias."

I arched an eyebrow, my gut clenching at the way he said that. "Okay, what exactly do we do in that class?"

"It's mostly wrestling and sparring techniques, but every now and then, Caesar pairs us up to fight each other," Ashlyn said, her tone saying she was about as excited about that idea as I was.

"Sometimes, he even has a few students give us a show in the Simulation Room," Brett said with a waggle of his brows.

"Simulation Room?" I asked, intrigued.

Brett gave me a wicked grin. "You're in for a treat the first time you see it. Well, as long as you're not the one who has to test in it."

I gulped. I had no idea what that room could be like, but I knew for certain that I never wanted to have to test in it.