Billow (34 page)

Time was running out.

After I finished my afternoon workout, I got in a quick shower at the dorms and headed back to the Training Center.

The Quad bustled with activity. Many students had already returned to ring in the new year with friends. Chevalier recruits and elites came back because they didn't want to go too long without a proper workout.

Academy faculty and chaperones desperately tried to find a way to stop all the partying.

Anyone could've told them it was pointless.

Chloe and Amber waited by the locked steel door at the back of the Training Center.

Amber eyed me. "Why did you ask me here?"

"Jeeves wanted me to bring you."

She wrinkled her nose. "Who's Jeeves?"

"Augustin. The Chief Counsel."

"Why do you call him Jeeves? That's a stupid name."

Dealing with Amber could make someone acquire zen-like calmness. Every interaction was a supreme test of patience.

Teeth clenched. "It's a play on Genevieve. He likes it."

Chloe intervened before she opened her mouth again. "Kendra, what's going on? Why does he want to see us?"

"It's better if he explains."

Nerves jittered. I hoped I was doing the right thing.

The door opened and Jeeves stepped out. "
Sondaleur
. Ms. Moreaux. Ms. Blanchard. This way, please."

We followed him down to the basement of the Training Center. Jeeves' dapper suit looked ridiculously out of place in the concrete of the facility, but he seemed relaxed and at home.

As a former chevalier, he probably knew this place inside out.

He led us through another door into a short tunnel illuminated by flickering lights.

"Construction started during the summer," he explained. "Work was recently completed."

Although I requested Rhian's help with Chloe and Amber, I wasn't sure how she planned to execute it.

I didn't know anything about this space. I'd thought the hammering and drilling was for basic renovations.

If work began during the summer, Rhian ordered it right after Ryder's death.

The tunnel ended in a short hallway with a door on either side. An Academy instructor, Anton, waited with an ondine I didn't know.

Jeeves made a dramatic gesture. "Welcome to the Training Center's new magic and weapon training facility. It's located under the Training Center and extends out beneath the track field."

Anton opened the door on the right and we walked into an indoor firing range. It was the size of a football field. A row of targets neatly lined up with ten shooting booths. Several locked cabinets housed a wide array of guns.

Anton passed out headphones and glasses to protect our eyes and ears. Several handguns were laid out on a table.

"May I?" I pointed to a nine millimeter.

Skepticism shone in Anton's eyes. "You know how to use one?"

"She does," Jeeves answered.

I glanced at him. How did he know that?

Periwinkle eyes twinkled with amusement.

Everyone put on their protective gear. I quickly loaded the gun and entered a shooting booth.

With one fluid motion, I disengaged the safety and cocked it. I concentrated and aimed down the sight to the bull's eye at the center of the target.

Carefully positioning myself, I fired off five rounds in succession.

I clicked the safety back, lowered the gun, and removed my headphones. The others did the same.

"Mom taught me how to shoot when I was six." I squinted at the target. Shit. Only one hit the center. "I was always a lousy shot, though. And she thought knife skills were more important."

I put the gun away and looked up.

Everyone stared.

"You were six?" Amber squeaked.

Sometimes I forgot how abnormal my childhood was.

Uncomfortable, I shrugged. "It was part of our training." I faced Chloe. "And now yours, too."

Cornflower blue eyes filled with confusion. "I don't understand."

I pushed back my nerves and straightened. "Anton will work with you on marksmanship. You don't have a Virtue and you won't be able to fight with a
kouperet
. But you can learn how to shoot."

Rhian told me I shouldn't mention my idea of creating Essence-infused silver bullets. She was still figuring out how to make it work.

But that didn't mean Chloe couldn't get a head start.

"A silver bullet won't kill, but it'll hurt any Aquidae," I continued. "You'll need to develop strength, reflexes, hand-eye coordination —"

"Steadiness and patience," Anton added. "You can't flinch when you aim. No matter the circumstances."

What Anton pointed out was key. Those were the reasons I knew Chloe would be good at it. They were also why shooting was never my strongest skill.

I needed to get up close and personal with an opponent. Shooting placed me at a distance and required far too much patience.

Chloe's mouth hung slightly open. She looked a little dazed.

Jeeves stepped forward. "This is a preliminary program started by the Governor. As of now, you two are the first and only participants."

His expression turned grave. "I cannot stress how important it is to keep this to yourselves. Some of the chevaliers and gardinels know about it. But the Governing Council and the rest of Haverleau does not. We'd like to keep it that way."

Amber's eyes were round, face frozen in shock.

Doubt spread in the pit of my stomach. Maybe I'd made a horrible mistake in bringing her.

Her family was the kind of Redavi dead-set against change. The kind of people who planned a mating to Dylan for money and power.

But Amber took a huge risk in helping Chloe obtain a
kouperet
. She showed a lot of guts and did it to help my aunt.

An aunt who spoke highly of her.

That's what I was taking a chance on.

Determination slowly replaced the shock on her face. She suddenly looked more real. Less haughty.

"I won't tell," she stated clearly.

Her strong response eased some of the doubt. Maybe Miss Redavi had a bit of kick-ass mojo after all.

Jeeves visibly relaxed. "Both of your internships have been reassigned to my office. You'll use that time to come here for training. As far as anyone knows, you work for me."

It was a good plan. He caught my look of admiration and flashed a charming, roguish grin.

Like father, like son
.

A gentle hand touched my arm. "Did you do this?"

I held Chloe's gaze for a moment, then nodded.

This was the only way I knew how to be a friend and I hoped it'd be enough.

Her entire face lit up with an expression I hadn't seen in a very long time. Arms wrapped tight around me.

"Thank you." It was a fierce whisper.

An overwhelming wave of relief washed over me and it took a moment to reply.

"Sure." I pulled away and cleared my throat. "Amber, you'll train in a different way."

The ondine next to Anton came forward. Slim and petite, she looked in her mid-thirties with thick, mahogany hair pulled back in a practical ponytail.

Light blue eyes with flecks of grey focused on Amber. "I'm Patrice Desmarais."

"You're Aunt Patrice. Charisse…" Amber hesitated. "Charisse mentioned you in class," she finished quietly.

The sparkle in her eyes dimmed. "My favorite niece."

And one of the twelve missing children. Pained silence fell for a moment.

Patrice let out a small breath and gave me a polite smile. "Kendra, I believe you know my mother. Nanette."

I nodded. The Desmarais family always supported the Irisavies. Nanette worked with Marcella to pass the change in the Chevalier Charter. And now her daughter was helping with this program.

"Let's head over to the other section."

She led us back to the hallway and opened the door on the left. This room was smaller than the firing range.

A potted plant and a tray of wet concrete rested on a small metal folding table.

Other than that, the entire space was empty.

Amber's face dropped. "This is it?"

I couldn't fault her for being disappointed. You'd think an indoor magic training facility had a bit more juice.

The anti-climactic reaction didn't bother Patrice. "We'll be working on your Transmutation Virtue."

I explained what I'd learned fighting Aquidae and how Virtues could indirectly be used against them.

Amber's brow furrowed. "And my Virtue can do something?"

Patrice nodded. "Augustin. Anton. I need your help for this demonstration."

Both demillirs stepped closer to the table.

Patrice focused on the plant first.

A burst of energy raced around the room. Two branches rapidly extended, growing longer and thicker until they distended to the size of huge jungle vines.

The shoots twisted in powerful whorls, snaking around Jeeves' torso and wrapping him tight. He couldn't move.

I gaped. But Patrice wasn't done yet.

Sweat glistening on her forehead, she directed her attention to the concrete mixture.

Energy pulsed and she moved her hand, guiding the thick mixture to the floor. The grey batter flowed around Anton's shoes and between his ankles.

With another pulse of energy, the concrete expelled its moisture and the air felt significantly wetter.

The mixture instantly hardened.

In less than ten seconds, she'd encased Anton's feet in a block of concrete.

"Damn," I blurted out.

I was never going to look at another plant the same way again.

No, forget that.

I glanced nervously at the walls. I was never looking at concrete the same way again.

With another flick of her wrist, Patrice softened the block by pulling water from the air and returning the moisture. The branches let go of Jeeves and shrunk to their original size.

She wiped off drops of sweat, her face flushed with exertion. "Because Aquidae are so strong, these things won't hold them long. But hopefully long enough for someone to stake them."

"You're teaching me how to do that?" Amazement colored Amber's voice.

"We'll start small and gradually build your strength." Patrice motioned to the plant. "Why don't you try it?"

Amber stepped forward. Brows lowered and fierce concentration settled on her face.

A faint brush of energy came off her.

The plant's leaves jerked. Swelling in spurts like a time-lapse photo, it grew a few inches then stopped.

Patrice's hand caressed the air around the plant.

"That's pretty good." Her expression turned thoughtful. "Interesting. You worked on the azalea bushes in the elementary school."

Amber looked pleased. "It was part of my Virtue training last year."

I frowned. "You can sense whose magic it is?"

"Well, yes." Patrice seemed surprised by the question. "Now that I felt Amber's Virtue, I recognized it as the same signature around those bushes."

"Can you do it with every ondine's magic?"

She shook her head. "I recognize Amber's work because I have the same Virtue. Every ondine has a unique imprint that only belongs to them. If you have the same Virtues and you know someone's signature, you can sense it. Especially when they've used it to alter something."

The answer set my mind in motion. Magic definitely concealed the factory. It was something Aquidae didn't have and couldn't use.

But they'd figured out how to manipulate nix magic. Maybe they were taking the same approach and using someone else's power.

Someone like an ondine.

One after another, the questions piled up.

Jeeves touched my shoulder. "Is everything all right?"

"Um, yeah," I said absentmindedly. "Jeeves, can I have a moment?"

We left the others and headed out to the hallway.

As soon as he shut the door, I spoke. "I need to check something out."

His eyes sharpened. "Does this have to do with the auction?"

My brain was still working it through. "It's a suspicion, but I want to follow up on it. I'll take Ewan with me."

He hesitated. "I trust you'll share whatever you find?"

"Yes." I straightened and met his worried gaze. "I trust you'll take care of Chloe and Amber while I do this?"

He gave a slight, old-fashioned bow. "Of course,
sondaleur
."

 ***

It was the one time I needed Ewan to move with that selkie quickness and he took forever. He strolled across the Quad and met me at the Training Center entrance.

"Come on," I said, impatient.

"Why are you in such a rush?"

"It's New Year's Eve."

"So?"

Ewan spent endless hours discussing battle techniques and could write a detailed manual on how to clean a
kouperet
blade.

But he had absolutely no concept of what happened in the human world.

"So people usually get a little crazy at night. We may need to go into Lyondale after this." We walked toward the parking lot. "I don't want to get stuck in traffic."

He moved faster. Guess even selkie warriors hated traffic.

"Is this about the auction?"

"Sort of."

I didn't want to get into it. Any time we discussed what was happening, he always blamed Ian.

"Why do you have such a problem with Ian? Is it because he's a nix?"

Ewan stiffened. "I don't have a —"

"You didn't believe him when he told us about the trafficking ring," I pointed out. "You thought he hacked into the Academy server when it was really Gilroy."

Ewan sighed and opened the driver's side of a school SUV. He settled behind the wheel and looked at me.

"
Sondaleur
, you've known Ian for a few years and I understand why you want to stand by him. But I can't shake the feeling he's keeping something from us."

There were a few things Ian hadn't immediately disclosed. He didn't tell us about Gilroy from the beginning. If I hadn't brought it up, he probably wouldn't have told us about nix magic, either.

And for the past few days, something did bother me. Something about Ian and the auction. Like an itch at the back of my mind, I couldn't quite put my finger on it.