Page 27 of Souls of Steel
She likely wouldn’t appreciate it as much if she realized we might be far more dangerous to her than the rude medic. Pollux hadn’t lied to her when he’d told her we wanted to keep her safe, but I still believed that involved her leaving the academy.
I hoped Brendan had a better plan than the slow method he’d originally settled on, because that one wasn’t working.
Chimera Training
Selene
The day after the fiasco in my very first class, I woke up with a headache, in my bed at the dorm. The last thing I remembered was Pollux carrying me here. Had I fallen asleep? If so, I must’ve missed my other classes from my first day, as well as two meals.
I would’ve been a little more worried about that had I not been too busy eyeing the two men currently seated by my bedside. The space wasn’t exactly generous, but somehow, they fit.
Both Brendan and Knox were bent over a device I couldn’t hope to identify. It looked a little like one of the ancient tablets we’d learned about in school, but it was obviously something different. The symbols on its back glowed with an energy that made my skin crawl and the screen almost seemed alive.
When they saw I was awake, they put the device away and focused on me. “Ms. Renard, good morning,” Brendan greeted me. “How do you feel?”
A part of me wanted to hide and pretend I was fine, but after what had happened the day before, I wasn’t sure that was such a good idea. “I have a bit of a migraine,” I admitted. “Other than that, I’m mostly okay.”
Brendan nodded, not seeming surprised by my confession. “A lot of new tachyon users suffer from such side-effects. Can you tell us what happened? Dr. Bell wasn’t very clear.”
Dr. Bell had been a complete and utter dick. I might not remember everything clearly, but I remembered that much.
“He blamed me for the whole thing, didn’t he?” I clenched my fists and tried very hard not to scream. “It wasn’t my fault. Professor Strange asked me to demonstrate tachyon manipulation. I tried and something went wrong.”
“Demonstrate tachyon manipulation,” Knox repeated. “On your first day.”
His eyes flickered crimson and he took a deep breath. Brendan grabbed his knee and squeezed it. His demeanor remained perfectly calm, as if nothing was wrong.
I couldn’t say I felt the same. Was it my impression or had Knox’s fingernails just turned into claws?
Brendan cleared his throat, drawing my attention away from Knox. “It would appear we all underestimated the disdainful attitude our fellows have toward Terran women. We never thought staff members would try to harm you.”
I didn’t bother telling him that my parents hadn’t been as optimistic. I had hoped the teachers would at least respect their own position and mine, but apparently, that would’ve been too much to ask for.
“This morning, we have Chimera Training,” Brendan continued. “Since we’re all in the same unit, we’ll go together. After that, we’ll make the arrangements to ensure this doesn’t happen again. Now, are you up for some breakfast?”
As if on cue, my stomach rumbled so loudly it reminded me of a chimera’s engine. I would’ve been embarrassed, but the sound seemed to distract Knox from whatever he was thinking. The dangerous glint in his eyes vanished and his lips twisted into a tiny smile. “I guess that’s a yes. Let’s go then. I think August and Pollux have yet to introduce you to the marvels of the Chimera Academy mess hall.”
They hadn’t. The public mess hall had been closed before the school year had started and the day before, I hadn’t gotten the chance to go. I forced a smile, telling myself it couldn’t be worse than my experience in class and with the med bay. “All right. Just give me a moment to change.”
“Of course,” Brendan said, already getting up. “We’ll wait for you outside.”
I rushed through my morning preparations, grimacing at the sight of my untamed, red hair. At this rate, Sphinx would ditch me and I’d end up with Medusa as a chimera.
“I wouldn’t do that, Selene,”Sphinx whispered in my mind.“Besides, Medusa is dormant and has been for centuries. She has no interest in tamers. Not that you’re supposed to know about it.”
I blinked and realized that, indeed, Sphinx had never mentioned Medusa in our conversations and my fellow tamers hadn’t either. Why had that thought popped up in my head?
“You happened to catch a glimpse of Professor Strange’s thoughts yesterday,”Sphinx explained.“You’ll find that every chimera has specific abilities and sometimes, those skills are transferred to tamers.”
Wow. I hadn’t known about that. I thought about the claws I’d seen in Knox earlier and revised my opinion that I’d imagined it.
“Cerberus tamers are always very savage, in more than one way,”Sphinx said cryptically.“But don’t worry. He’ll keep his claws to himself.”
I was more worried about mastering my own skill than the possibility of Knox Alexander deciding to gore me in his sleep. If he wanted to hurt me, he didn’t need claws to do it.
I made a mental note to discreetly approach my fellow Chimera Warriors about it later, maybe tonight. If I hadn’t heard anything about this before, it was probably not widely known information and we wouldn’t be able to discuss it out in the open.
I zipped up my uniform and bound my hair back, like August and Pollux had advised me on my first day here. Once I was ready, I left the room.
