Page 13 of Phoenix Academy: Madness

My eyes search the darkness of the empty parking lot we're in. I let the blue flames come to my fingertips again, reveling at how easy it is to tap into these new powers of mine, after a lifetime of being a witch. There should be glowing blue eyes in the darkness, or the sound of a low, feral growl. But somehow, though I can feel the incredible nearness of the three predators, my eyes don't pick them out.

I frown at the three men—no, they're boys my age, really. The one who carried me looks bemused, pushing glasses up the bridge of his nose. The second, who has the same brown skin and black braids, raises a brow at me and chuckles. They have the same face—twins, obviously—but only one of them has glasses.

While the third, who has no resemblance to the first two, just scowls at me. The irritation on his face is somewhat lessened by how pale his blonde hair is against freckled cheeks, and the fact that he's the shortest of the three.

"I don't understand," I say slowly, as seconds tick past and no trio of predators leaps out of the shadows to eviscerate us all. "How did I get here? Who are the three of you? Why'd you bring me here? And is that an Indian grocery store?"

A sigh. The boy with the glasses says, "I wish she'd waited to wake upafterwe made it through the gates."

"She's feisty, I'll give her that," his twin says, a slash of a grin on his face. "I've never seen one with so much fire."

"Feisty? Try dangerous." Scowl deepening, the blonde shakes his head at the twins. "We nearly died. I almost got stuckforever.And we're so far behind in our training that Fisk will probably fail us before the semester has even really started."

Rage unfurls inside me, and I feel the blue magic of my madness leak out into the air all around us. "Stop talking about me like I'm not here!" My voice comes out a roar, and I feel flames lick through my hair, the newly shortened ends rising up in the air around me as if they're alive. "Fucking answer my questions, or I'll burn you three to a crisp!"

The trio frown in my direction, the twins taking steps back—and the scowling boy a step forward. In a second, I decide it doesn't matter who they are, or why they brought me here. Strange men have been trying to take me and do what they want with me for my entire life. I can ask questions from their corpses.

I raise my hand, palm out, ready to use my blue flames, feral magic touching the spirits of the street rats and setting their teeth and claws on edge.

Before I can take a step forward, a new voice rings out, and a fire so bright it blinds me surges across the empty parking lot to form a wall between me and the boys.

"I would suggest a little less temper, but I know who I'm speaking to. So instead I'll advise caution." This time, it's a woman's voice, and I feel the heat of bright red flames lick across my skin as the wall of fire draws near. Unlike the funeral pyre, this time I feel like I might burn. "You maythinkyou're the most powerful magical creature here, but you're far from it, newborn. And no one threatens my students—not even the newest recruit."

A woman walks through the wall of red flames, her bright red hair drawn into a bun behind her head, smoothing down the edges of a dark red uniform. She flicks her wrists, and the flames fall, clearing my vision. I barely even realized it, but the heat of the fire was so overwhelming that I dropped my own blue flames, and now when I search inside me for my power, all I find is smoke.

The three boys stand behind the new woman, staring at me, their expressions all different: neutral, smirking, and scowling furiously. It's in this moment, as I find my blue flames gone and only my naturalistic magic left behind, that I realize my mistake.

I sensed the same spirits as before: two black panthers and a wolf. But they aren't animals anymore—really, they never were, which is why they felt so different when my magic touched their spirits and called them to me with the madness that now runs through my veins.

They're shifters. Born from magic lines, just like my sister and me, but strong and fast, with powerful families that keep them safe. While witches have been driven close to extinction across most of the world, our covens driven underground and our magic schooling done in secret, shifters have entire societies. There are even schools that house them and keep them safe, and they have alliances with other supernatural beings and magic users like mages—who scorn witches for our inferior magic.

Needless to say, I've never met a shifter in all my time on the run. Never had one volunteer some of their power or riches to help my family out, or offer me and Lizzy enrollment at their mage-protected schools. There are entire histories of bad blood between witchkind and other supernaturals, but even if there weren't, something about a teenage boy who can turn into a predator on a whim puts my hackles up. Puberty and fangs just don't mix well.

I hope these three have been properly neutered, since apparently they've got their own fire mage to protect them from being beat up by the girl they kidnapped.

"I'll back off if you back off," I tell the woman. "I didn't realize I was dealing with shifters and one of their mage lackeys. Consider me uninterested in going toe to toe." Backing up, I put my hands in front of me, trying to sense the closest body of water. "Thanks for helping me out back there, but I can deal with the rest on my own. There's a hedge witch somewhere who can patch me back up, I'm sure, or a herbalist telling fortunes in a back alley."

"You don't know what you're talking about." The woman's voice is cool, crisp, and commanding. "Witches can't help you with what you're facing now."

I give her a bland smile, trying not to let my hatred of mages and their rules bubble to the surface. "We stick to our own kind, thanks."

"That's what I'm trying to tell you: they're not your kind any longer." I try to take another step back, uninterested in this conversation, when the woman throws a hand up and snaps her fingers, making a spark jump at my heel and driving me forward. "If you'll just follow us, I can explain all of it somewhere away from prying eyes."

"This parking lot is empty," I point out, glancing around into the shadows and letting my senses unfurl. "It's just us and the rats here. Trust me—I would know. I can feel their spirits."

I wait for her face to twist in distaste or horror; mages hate magic that crosses over into the spirit realm, which they consider uncouth. They work strictly with physical spells, drawing power from rules and order, eschewing the chaos of nature. But the woman's face stays placid. She even smiles a little, as if pleased I've agreed to listen to her at all.

"My name is Lana Towers." She pauses for a long moment after saying this, as if waiting for my name, but I keep my mouth shut. "I'm the headmaster of a school for people like you, and if you just follow us past the gates, we can help you control your strange new power—and protect you from people who will now be hunting you."

I snort. "If you're here to protect me, lady, you're a bit late. The Heretic already killed my whole family. Me too, though it didn't stick. And thereareno schools for witches, so nice try."

"But haven't you realized by now that you're not a witch anymore?" Lana takes a step towards me and splays her fingers out in front of her, tiny flames dancing from fingertip to fingertip. "You died, but here you are. With new, different powers. Special powers, if that blue flame I saw is any indication. Witches don't come back to life. Surely you know that, whether you were raised with a coven or as a hedge witch. Every witch is told the legends of Salem. There are others too, like La Voisin. Women who didn't die."

I stiffen at her words. "I've heard the stories, but that changes nothing. Once a witch, always a witch." Licking my lips, I add, "And I can handle myself, by myself. So I'll be going now."

She sighs. Looks at me with pity. And shakes her head.

"I'm sorry, but I just can't allow that. You're a phoenix now—a rare Blue Phoenix, if your flames are any indication. It's too risky to leave you out here."

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