"They'd like to see why," he added.

"Oh." I grinned. "They want me to join them in the tourney."

He shook his head. "You can't partic.i.p.ate in the tourney. You'd give your team an unfair advantage."

"Unfair? They're going against seniors, twenty-five-year-olds who've had years of training."

He shrugged. "The tourney isn't a big deal. This is Kessler's attempt to start a school tradition, but he's going about it the wrong way and it's going to fail."

Why was he such a killjoy all the time? "Who am I sparring with?"

"Me. Come on."

We teleported to the hallway outside the main gym. The buzz of student voices reached me before Master Kenta pushed open the door. Unlike earlier, the bleachers were down and packed with students, teachers, and non-teaching staff. Something about the gathered students and the antic.i.p.ation in the air was vaguely familiar. Bran would know if I'd ever fought in front of an audience. A quick scan told me he wasn't around. I waved to Katia and Lottius.

Master Kenta raised a hand and the room became silent. "This is going to be a short, friendly fight."

Somehow, I doubt it, Bran said, and I searched the audience for him. I found him at the top of the bleachers. He winked.

"Lilith is a gifted fighter and has learned a lot since I started working with her."

Now, that's a joke, Bran piped in. I tried hard not to laugh.

"We will start with hand-to-hand combat before using staffs, then swords," Master Kenta continued.

Of course, he starts with what he's good at, Bran added. What a douche. Heads up, sunshine. You can control solids now. Use it to your advantage.

But I didn't need to prove anything or let Bran's dislike for Master Kenta mess with my head. The fight was intense, but he backed off when he could have taken me down a couple of times. When we switched to staff and swords, I took it easy on him, too. I even warned him before pulling some new moves. The crowd, on the other hand, ate it all up, the silence so thick it was spooky. Even Bran shut up.

When we finished, the applause was deafening. The excited whispers and telepathic communication that followed said they were impressed. Well, not all of them. A few die-hard skeptics still didn't trust me and I could feel a trickle of suspicion, even hatred. I tried not to dwell on haters, but I still noticed. I wiped the sweat of my brow and bowed.

"Just so you know, she was playing nice and let me get away with quite a bit," Master Kenta said, taking me by surprise. "I would say without shame that she, my pupil, has surpa.s.sed me. Anyone want to try and take her on?"

"I'd like to try," a girl said, and waved from the middle of the bleachers.

"Me too," a guy said from the bottom on the bleachers. Oh, one of the haters.

"Same here," another guy added.

Master Kenta frowned and I knew he had been joking when he'd asked the question and hadn't expected the students to volunteer. I knew he was going to turn them down.

Please don't turn them down, I telepathed him.

I already told you- I'm not asking, Master Kenta. It took a lot of guts for them to step up. Shooting them down will only undermine their self-confidence. I want to spar with anyone who volunteers. I didn't look at him the entire time we were having the exchange, but he knew what that meant-if he turned them down, I would go against his wishes. I'll keep it fun.

He nodded, but he wasn't happy. Smiling, he acted the part of a master allowing his prized student to educate lesser-trained recruits, and invited the volunteers to the floor.

I started by fighting individuals, then pairs, and finally several at once. I didn't push too hard, but I didn't toy with them, either. A few seemed more determined than others, but they had good sportsmanship and accepted their losses gracefully, except for the ones who didn't trust me. They were actually better trained than Master Kenta had led me to believe.

"Can you train with us?" a student asked, and the ones surrounding us echoed her.

I glanced at Master Kenta. It's your call.

He nodded, although reluctantly. I grinned and bowed. Thank you.

-19-.

Red lights woke me up. I tried to open my eyes, but it was as though I had lead eyelids. I wasn't alone in my room. Someone was standing over my bed, and a familiar scent teased my nose, but I couldn't place it. My eyes grew heavy. The person mumbled something.

"Father?" I asked.

"Sleep."

Was that Father? The base of my spine itched. "Happy...you...home." I drifted to sleep. What seemed like five minutes later, someone shook me awake. I squinted against the light pouring in through the window.

"You're going to be late if you don't get up, my dear," Lady Nemea said. "I pinged you several times, but you didn't respond."

I stretched and glanced at my watch. I had thirty minutes. The Academy was less than a second away. I turned and pulled the covers over my head.

"Oh, no, my darling child." Lady Nemea pulled the covers down. "You need to get up, unless you want me to carry you to the shower and bathe you like I used to when you were in a coma."

"Ew, no," I mumbled, and covered my face with a pillow, wishing I didn't have to get up. I was so tired and sleepy. I'd gone to bed early, so the fatigue didn't make sense.

"You are the one who insisted on attending the Academy. It starts in exactly twenty-eight minutes, unless you want to have a different set of rules just for you."

I lifted the pillow. "Can I?"

She chuckled. "I'll get your uniform."

Did she have to be so d.a.m.n chipper so early in the morning? I sat up just as she disappeared into my closet. "I don't understand why I'm so tired. I went to sleep early."

"Your energy fluctuates, that's all."

Like that boy Locke and the omni sisters in my energy cla.s.s. Not to forget the criminals in the dungeons. "Is this common among all Specials?"

"Yes, but most learn to control it." Lady Nemea stepped back into my bedroom with a cleaned and pressed uniform.

A memory flitted in and out of my head as I dressed. Father was supposed to come back last night. A quick scan said he wasn't home. "I don't detect my father's energy. Did he come home last night?"

"No, dear."

My stomach hollowed out. "He promised me he'd be home."

"He's perfectly safe, Lilith. If there's a problem, they'll inform us. Knowing him, he probably visited family after family, putting their feelings ahead of his own."

"It takes a fraction of a second to teleport," I griped.

Lady Nemea sighed. "If he's being monitored, that's also how long it would take the Guardians to follow his telegate to the island. Your father will come home when he can, my dear, and worrying about him won't make him do it sooner."

I thought I'd had a dream about my father, but the more I tried to remember it, the hazier it became. Despite what Lady Nemea had said, I couldn't help but worry about him.

Our sparring demonstration was the topic of conversation when I arrived outside the school building. Students stood in groups, enjoying the crisp morning air and basking in the sun. Greetings and smiles followed me, but mingled with curiosity and respect were wariness and suspicion. I imagined I was never this "popular" at a school growing up. No, I was homeschooled, although I wasn't sure how that memory had slipped past my mental block.

Oh, well, I knew I couldn't win them all.

Bran was pushing a mop when I entered the main hallway. Someone must have spilled water around a water fountain. Bet he would have taken care of that effortlessly using his water powers if he was alone. The students hurried past him without seeing him. No one appeared to notice the way he stopped and watched me with a wink and a twinkle in his eye.

My feelings for him were strong and scary and overwhelming, and I didn't know what to do with them. For one insane moment, I allowed myself the luxury of fantasizing about us as a couple, walking up to him and kissing him.

Heat flooded my cheeks when I caught him studying me from underneath a canopy of long black lashes.

I'd dare you to come and kiss me if your guards weren't around, he said.

And I'd definitely not do it. Scandals and princesses didn't go together. Lady Nemea had drilled that into me. A custodian today? Very industrious, I teased.

Don't mock my cover, woman. You have more security. Why?

I don't know. And didn't care.

What's wrong? You're worried about something.

I couldn't tell him I was worried Father hadn't come home last night without coming across as clingy and insecure. It's nothing. Homework.

I felt the familiar brush against my energy, and calmness and warmth surrounded me. I still didn't know how I did that. Bran might know. He was pushing his mop bucket a few feet behind me.

How do I calm myself when I'm scared or worried and my powers surge?

By focusing on those you love, namely me.

I smiled. Right.

I'm serious. If you haven't already guessed, you're pretty crazy about me. You focus on me, and you regain control.

He was so full of himself. Laughing, I turned a corner and almost b.u.mped into Tannin and his friends. Bran whistled as he walked past us without looking back. I wished I could ditch the guys and continue talking to him, but no such luck.

"You have to teach me how you made the floor shift in that move you pulled fighting that senior," Tannin said when I entered math cla.s.s.

"It was like yanking a carpet from under him," his friend said.

I showed them how I channeled my powers, but my mind wasn't really on explaining every move from yesterday. I saw Bran between cla.s.ses and during lunch, but we could only telepath each other. The guards watched my every move; I couldn't sneeze without drawing their attention. If Dad were around, they wouldn't guard me so tightly, like I was the crown jewels.

He returned late at night and left a small gift bag on my dresser. I smiled and tried on the bracelet. That became my routine-finding a gift from whatever city he'd visited by my bedside in the morning, and Bran greeting me the moment I entered school. Sometimes, he was in the hallway with his broom. Other times, he was outside the school with a weed whacker or hedge trimmer. We talked all the time. He was an amazing listener and had a wacky sense of humor. I had to fight to keep a straight face whenever he gave me a rundown on my new friends. His opinions of them were so unflattering.

I didn't bother to search the bleachers during evening physical training to find him. His funny commentaries kept me entertained. A few times, he almost got me in trouble with Master Kenta. As for alone time, we didn't get lucky, which was frustrating. We got close enough for hand brushes, but that was the only contact between us. If Katia noticed our behavior, she didn't comment on it. Lottius, like most people at school, never seemed to notice him.

As the days pa.s.sed, I settled in at the Academy and got to know my cla.s.smates. The omni sisters were Xezbeth and Zagan, but Kewpie and Barbie suited them better. One had curly hair, a round face, and wide brown eyes like a kewpie doll, while the other had straight black hair, a narrow face, and delicate features like a Barbie doll.

Master Yaza took us outside often during energy cla.s.s to practice creating lightning and energy b.a.l.l.s. The students went a little wild, except for the omni sisters. They were so cautious.

Don't be afraid of your powers, I finally told them.

They glanced at me as though they'd recognized my voice. I smiled and waved.

My energy surges, too; it's tied to my emotions. When I'm angry, I pulse, and anyone within a mile gets slammed by my energy.

The surprised expressions on their faces would have been comical if it weren't for the seriousness of our discussion.

Ours, too, Kewpie said.

We have after-school private training to control them, but it hasn't been easy, Barbie said. The teachers here fear our powers. They tell us to try and contain them.

The instructors on Coronis Isle taught us the opposite, Kewpie added. How do you control yours? And you never seem scared.

If only they knew. Lately, my powers had been completely off, which was pretty scary. I focus on those I love and those who love me. Knowing that they love me no matter what happens makes me feel safe and calm. When I'm calm, I'm in control. I smiled as I thought of Bran telling me the same thing.

They looked at each other, then me.

Thanks, Barbie said.

We'll try it, Kewpie added.

Kewpie and Barbie continued to work on controlling their inconsistent energies, and also introduced me to some more Specials. Locke kept to himself and wouldn't link with me or even make eye contact. He was the most powerful of the Specials I'd met so far.

Sometimes, I wished I could hang out with them, but I ate lunch with Daeva, Eisheth, Katia, and Lottius. Skylar and Ravan sometimes joined us, and Tannin and his friends-Ley, Bastiel, and Corson-often took the table next to ours.

"I'm having a party on Sat.u.r.day and you are all invited," Tannin said on Wednesday as we entered the cafeteria. "Except you, Daeva."

She laughed. "Do I look like I want to come to your party, pinhead?"

"You know you're dying to be get up close and personal to all this." He indicated his body.

"I'm throwing one on the same night, at Club LZ. Let's see whose party rocks."

He laughed. "It's on. And FYI, the venue of my party is going to be a secret."

"Way to generate interest," Bastiel said.

"As long as it's not Club LZ," Daeva retorted.

My plans to throw a party went out the window. We got our food, but Daeva and Tannin's flirting-it was obvious they were into each other-followed us. The boys decided to combine tables. They didn't just push the two tables together. They used their Earth abilities to create one giant table. It became our new lunch spot.