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  The ride was longer on the way back and much more silent than it might have been had Will not been clenching his teeth together to keep from saying something stupid. How could these girls do this? Elle was a bit of a wild child but Jane knew better. Sophie, he knew, was searching for herself, but did she have to be so utterly stupid about it? He would definitely have a talk with her about it in the morning, and he’d make sure she wouldn’t like it.

  After they arrived at the academy, Will took Sophie back in his arms and proceeded to lead the two blondes back to Ignis Hall. Instead of walking through the front, he headed around back where a small door was. Shifting Sophie around in his arms, Will typed the key code to the professor’s back entrance.

  When the door popped open, Will turned to Jane—Elle seemed lost in her own thoughts—and asked, “So what’s the plan?”

  “Elle and I are going to take shifts and make sure she’s okay,” she replied.

  He nodded in approval, but disagreed with Jane’s assessment. “I’ll keep an eye on her tonight,” he said in a way that left no room for argument. “You girls get some sleep—especially you, Jane.”

  Both nodded once they reached the door to their room, leaving Will and Sophie alone.

  Sophie woke to the ringing of an alarm—

  No, not an alarm …

  The pounding was coming from her head.

  Squeezing her eyes shut, afraid if she didn’t the slightest hint of light might swim through, Sophie let out a groan that nowhere near conveyed the pain she was experiencing.

  “Good.”

  The word sounded more like a bark and more than that, familiar. She wanted to open her eyes, but didn’t feel like it was safe yet. The bed she was in was uncomfortable. Since she couldn’t furrow her brow, she pressed her lips together. The sheets on her frame weren’t as thick as the ones she was used to and the texture was scratchy.

  Beyond that, Sophie could do no more. Her head was too consumed with pain, and thinking just made the throbbing increase. Was this what drinking felt like? Pain, headaches, a dry mouth with the disgusting aftertaste of puke? She wanted to forget the way Will felt against her hand, the way her fingers traced the contours of his stomach, the way her own body felt in response to his—

  She let out another groan, burying her face in her hands. Yes, she wanted nothing more than to forget, but somehow she was able to remember every detail, from the temperature of his skin to the sound of his breathing as she did touch him, and yet, she remembered nothing of last night except for tasting a rum and coke and dancing with Elle.

  “I want nothing more than for you to suffer so you’ll learn that drinking is bad, but you look too pathetic. Drink this.”

  That was odd … Jane certainly sounded masculine today, and mean, completely unlike herself. Maybe she didn’t get much sleep last night. How late had they stayed out at Ultra?

  Sophie forced an eye open. When she saw the masculine hand gripping the glass, she suddenly realized that she was not with Jane in their dorm. The other eye snapped open and she saw that she was on a brown couch in a room she had never been in before. And the person holding a glass of what looked like sludge and smelled just as bad was none other than Will.

  She whimpered. Of course. How could this happen to her? It was just a stupid school girl crush, and yet it seemed to get her into more trouble than it might be worth.

  “Drink it,” Will urged in a firm voice.

  Sophie managed to lock eyes with the man and scrunched her nose in disgust. “No way,” she croaked.

  Will rolled his eyes. “Trust me, kid,” he said, and Sophie, hesitant, grabbed the glass. “It’ll help. You should probably hold your nose and just down it, though.”

  It took Sophie a long moment before deciding to do what Will suggested. She did it as quickly as possible and nearly gagged up the chunky cold drink that seemed to slowly make its way down her throat no matter how fast she chugged. She didn’t even have time to snap at him about how disgusting that drink—the term loosely applied—was before Will lashed out at her.

  “Are you out of your mind, Sophie? Hmm? Tell me, because I’d seriously like to know.”

  “What are you talking about?” she snapped, her headache returning much faster than she preferred.

  “Don’t you realize what you’ve done?” His eyes were as golden as they were when he was a wolf. It was hard for her to look away.

  “Yeah, I drank too much, threw up, and now I have a terrible hangover. You’re lecturing me about my behavior even though I’m one hundred percent positive that I’m not the only AckPec student in my situation. You’re not my father, Will. In fact, you’re no one’s father. But even you should know that this is what teenagers do. We make mistakes.” Sophie hadn’t meant to sound so biting but he was treating her like a child. She hadn’t done anything wrong, no one was hurt, and she was safe. She didn’t need this lecture, considering her headache was punishment enough. There was no way Sophie was planning to drink alcohol any time soon.

  Will narrowed his eyes, curling his fingers tightly so they made fists. “Thank God I’m not your father,” he snapped. “I don’t think I’d raise such a selfish daughter. Do you realize the danger you put yourself in?”

  “What are you even talking about?” she asked. She placed the glass on a nearby wooden stand adjacent to the couch and cradled her head with both hands. “I had Elle and Jane with me.”

  “Putting them in danger as well. You’re completely clueless.” He didn’t say it as an insult, rather, that it was a fact which just insulted Sophie more. “You’re a physical, Sophie. Your kind is so rare there’s only one other living physical in this world. Something could have happened to you.”

  “I can take care of myself.” Sophie hadn’t meant to snap, especially since Will wasn’t actually yelling at her anymore. In fact, if anything, he sounded worried for some reason.

  “Really? Because from what I saw, you could barely even walk, let alone stand last night. A panpi could have taken you, even with your strength.” Suddenly, he looked tired, his fingers weaving through his thick brown hair. “Now that I know you’re awake, I’m going back to bed. Don’t puke on my floor. There’s a bathroom just down the hall.” With that, he left.

  Sophie leaned back against the couch, feeling her stomach clench suspiciously. It didn’t have anything to do with her hangover.

  The minute Will left to take his nap, Sophie sprung up, deciding it was best that she leave immediately. It probably wasn’t the smartest thing for her to do since her stomach was still churning, only emphasizing her persistent nausea. After steadying herself and swallowing down any bile that was about to come up, she grabbed her discarded heels Will must have taken off her feet last night and headed to the door. As quietly as she could, she slipped outside and headed to the elevators, managing to find one that didn’t require a key code. She needed to get back to her room, change, and apologize to Jane and Elle.

  God, she was so embarrassed. She had never been so out of control before, so unable to get a good hold of her senses. Television made drinking look so cool and exotic; they totally left out the part where you make the biggest ass of yourself on the planet in front of people you actually cared about. Sophie wanted Jane and Elle to see her as a worthy friend, as someone they could rely on, not someone that needed babysitting. She wanted Will to see her as someone mature and sophisticated, but after last night, he probably saw her the way he saw all students at AckPec: an immature child.

  Her face flushed even more so than before as she stepped out of the elevator. She was so ashamed of herself. The only silver lining out of this entire ordeal was that she had been with two friends she trusted to take care of her and they did.

  Wait a minute— Did she actually trust them? She didn’t remember trusting anyone in her life, really, except her ex-boyfriend and look what she had done to him. Nearly killed him. Maybe this whole thing was a bad idea. Maybe it would be best for everyone if she left the academy and resume
d taking care of herself. She’d be no one’s problem but her own.

  At that moment, two things happened: Sophie reached her room and she realized that the purse that had her key was in Jane’s big bag. She prayed that someone was in there, considering that if no one was, she’d have to hang out in the common area in her dress—a dress that was too short and still reeked of stale alcohol and vomit. She wasn’t sure how Will could stand her, what with his sensitive sense of smell.

  Taking a deep breath, Sophie raised her hand and knocked. She waited.

  And waited.

  And waited.

  Until finally, Jane opened the door.

  “Oh Jane,” Sophie said, stepping inside and wrapping her arms around the blonde girl. Sophie wasn’t sentimental, but for some reason, she was feeling particularly emotional. “I am so glad to see you. I’m so sorry about last night. It will never, ever happen again, I swear.”

  “Um …” Jane awkwardly patted Sophie on the back. “Sophie, it’s fine. It’s fine. We all have our moments, you know. What we need to do now is get you changed and go down for lunch.”

  Sophie sniffled as she pulled back. “But I’m not hungry,” she whimpered.

  “I know you’re not,” Jane said patiently, “but you have to eat something, even if it’s just a piece of bread. At least a piece of bread will sop up the alcohol in your stomach.”

  Sophie nodded. “Okay,” she said, slowly making her way to the closet. “Hey Jane, how do you know so much?”

  Jane smiled a soft smile. “I guess you just kind of learn as you go,” she said.

  Sophie pulled on a loose pair of sweatpants and a black wife beater. Though she was going to eat something, she brushed her teeth anyway, needing to get the taste of vomit out of her mouth. She managed to run a brush through her hair a couple of times before deciding she wanted to get this over with so she could come back to the room and sleep.

  She really wasn’t paying attention as she followed Jane to the Dining Hall. Her thoughts were muddled with haze, her eyes fixed at half-mast. Up until Jane stopped rather abruptly, causing Sophie to run into her back.

  “You okay there?”

  The face was oddly familiar and once Sophie looked up and saw him, she understood why. It was Jason, the star forward of the Ignis soccer team. He was wearing a tight white t-shirt and black, knee-length basketball shorts. On his feet were cleats and knee-length socks, his dirt-blond hair wind-tousled. He looked like he just came from soccer practice, which, in all likelihood, he probably did.

  He looked devastatingly handsome.

  Sophie couldn’t speak just yet, her face being on fire at how embarrassed she was due to her particular outfit being the prime reason as to why. Instead, she merely nodded.

  “Jane,” he said, fixing his brown eyes back onto Jane. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your lovely friend?”

  Jane rolled her eyes. “Jeez Jason, want to take it down a notch with the excessive flattery?” she teased. “Jason, this is Sophie Harper, a Year Six Ignis. Sophie, this is Jason Ryan, Year Six Ignis.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you officially,” he said, his eyes burning into hers. “I’ve heard so much about you that I’m glad to come to the source and have you tell me the truth yourself.”

  Sophie felt disappointment steal her breath away. So the only reason he was interested in her in the first place was because she was a physical? Were boys really this shallow? Would she ever meet a guy peculiar who was actually interested in who she was rather than what she was?

  “Oh really?” she asked, her voice weak.

  “Of course,” he said in a firm voice. “Everyone’s been saying that you are most definitely single, but I wanted a real answer before I will actually allow myself to hope. See, I think you’re too pretty to be single, but that’s just me.”

  Sophie barely heard Jane’s snarky “You have got to be kidding me” comment with the sound of the smile stretching across her face. She knew it was kind of corny and probably a line he used on all girls, but it was exactly the kind of thing she needed to hear right now, especially after the disaster that was last night.

  “N-no,” Sophie said, dropping her head so more of her hair fell in her face. “I’m definitely single. Definitely.”

  She watched as his lips curved into a boyish grin, one that caused a shiver to slide down her spine. Will didn’t have a boyish smile.

  Whoa, whoa, whoa! Will had absolutely nothing to do with Jason just like Jason had nothing to do with Will. And who cared about Will and his smile or lack thereof. After last night, Will probably thought of her as some silly kid who couldn’t hold her liquor, not as a potential … something else. He probably didn’t even mean it when he called her beautiful. He was just being nice, the same way he was nice to all of his students. She was no one special to him.

  But maybe she could be special to Jason.

  At least Jason seemed interested in her.

  “That’s great to hear, Sophie,” he said, the grin still on his face. “I think you just made my day. Well, I gotta hit the showers. I’ll see you later, Jane, and Sophie, I’m definitely looking forward to seeing you again.”

  Once he was gone, Sophie couldn’t stop herself from jumping up and down a few times. Jane still had a sardonic look on her face, but there was a small smile attached to her lips.

  “Looks like someone’s feeling better,” she commented.

  Sophie chose not to reply and instead decided to enjoy the fluttery feeling of having a crush on someone again. Will didn’t count.

  “Come on, Soph,” Jane continued, starting to head toward the Dining Hall. “I don’t care how delicious Jason looks, staring at him doesn’t count as eating. And you, my friend, need to eat.”

  Sophie barely heard her but followed along anyway.

  24

  Once Sophie ate one full piece of bread and drank an entire glass of water, Jane agreed that they could return to their room. Sophie fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, leaving Jane by herself. She was relieved; after running into Jason, she realized she needed to start getting back into practicing for soccer. Jane grabbed her ball from the closet and headed down to the empty field. She would have grabbed a jacket thanks to the cool weather, but she knew she’d be moving around a lot and didn’t actually need one.

  Dropping the ball on the ground, Jane began to ready herself for dribbling the ball. With her right foot, she pulled back the ball and brought it up with the laces so it picked up into the air. Using every body part except her hands and arms, she kept the ball from touching the ground as she began to rehash everything Depogare told her that morning.

  She wouldn’t go so far as to say that she disagreed with his assessment; she was impatient and there were times when she could get a tad bit emotional should the circumstances call for it. She had always been that way—it was part of her nature, and now Depogare wanted her to change it. She knew impatience was a flaw and she was definitely working on it, but she liked that she was impatient.

  Your impatience can get you killed, a voice that sounded suspiciously like Depogare’s reminded her.

  It was hard for her to wrap around the fact that she could get killed simply by being who she was. Jane couldn’t change what she was, and yet it still had the power to kill her. She would be eighteen soon—she couldn’t even imagine dying, especially since the first lesson she learned in History was that peculiars lived forever. There wasn’t enough research to know if they were immortal but they certainly lived a long time. Ethan was a testament to that.

  Why did Depogare care that much anyway? It wasn’t like he was her family or her friend or her boyfriend. The last thought made her cheeks tighten. Yeah, right, Depogare her boyfriend. She laughed. It wasn’t even that he was technically her professor or that he was centuries upon centuries older than she was, but he was cold, brooding, and stoic while she was bubbly, outgoing, and happy. They were complete opposites.

  Although …

  Alt
hough he was probably the smartest man she knew. And he was actually attractive in a dark, dangerous way. In fact, his big, pointed nose actually fit in with his sharp features. And he was tall and looming and had that silky Russian accent, and there were times when she wanted nothing more than to read the mysteries hidden behind those black eyes—

  The ball hit her square on the head, literally knocking all of her thoughts out of her mind. She sighed, shaking her head. This was definitely not good; she should not be thinking these thoughts about Depogare. It was Depogare. Plus, he knew everything about everything and there was no doubt in Jane’s mind that he’d be able to pick up on her complicated feelings … and then see her as some sort of silly girl … and then probably stop all the private training sessions with her.

  Her eyes fixated on the soccer ball. She really needed to stop thinking about him, focus on something else. Soccer season didn’t start until next month or else she’d put all her energy into that. If she focused even more on school, she’d definitely blow a gasket. She needed a distraction. Maybe another guy.

  Perhaps Cillian?

  “Jane?”

  Jane’s head snapped back to see Calvin approaching her. She tilted her head in order to get a better look at the tall, lanky Aqua. He wasn’t all that bad, she realized, especially with those blue eyes and that tiny endearing smile. What was he wearing though? A Super Mario Bros. t-shirt and slacks. Total nerd, but somehow it worked for him.

  Jane blinked. Was she really thinking that Calvin—Calvin—was attractive? First, Depogare, and now him? What was going on with her? She needed a hobby and she needed one fast.

  “Yes?” she drawled. She couldn’t keep the suspicion out of her voice if she tried.

  “Well, it would seem that I was a tad bit inconsiderate during our last meeting and after discussing it with someone, I came here to apologize,” he said, looking pointedly at his feet during every word.