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I noticed Celeste quietly standing at the door, unbeknownst to Kai. I had sent her a message between classes, asking if she could stop by at the end of the day to talk about Arya.

“It’s progress,” Kai said. “I sent the schematics for the system directly to your tablet, so when you get a chance, could you take a look at them? And if you like what you see, maybe use your impeccable gryphon charm to persuade Celeste to approve the finances?”

I stared at the kitsune, waiting for the punchline.

Kai’s serious face grimaced, then cracked into a huge grin as he laughed. “Impeccable—get it, Caesar? Im-peck-able? Because of your beak?”

I just shook my head.

Celeste spoke from the doorway. “Just like you, Kai, your jokes don’t improve with age.”

Kai jumped in surprise, whirling around to face the doorway. There, Celeste was leaning against the frame with folded arms.

“We call that karma, Kai,” I said. “You scared me, and then you got it worse.”

“Celeste!” Kai greeted sweetly. He’d always been taken with her, ever since we’d first met her at Framboise Island. “Er, how much of the conversation did you hear?”

She didn’t move from her position. “That really isn’t the question, is it? The question is: how much money is this tinkering project of yours going to cost?”

Kai pointed a finger in the air. “You can’t put a price tag on kitsune-made inventions, my dear. That’s like trying to figure out how much the sun is worth.”

“Actually, that analogy makes no sense,” Celeste replied, her hands dropping to her sides and striding forward. “But, I’ll work with Caesar to see if your foxy little project is worth it.”

“Wonderful,” Kai said, slightly bowing his head. “That’s all I ask.”

“I have some important matters to discuss with Caesar now, Kai,” Celeste said. “I’m sure you have your hands full.”

Kai nodded. “I’ll be on my way. Thank you both for considering this new project. Once it’s approved, we’ll get right to work.”

My slender friend skimmed past Celeste and out the door.

“He’s a good man,” I said, getting to my feet. “Please, Celeste, take a seat. And thank you for coming to speak with me.”

A few loose strands jumped out from the smooth bun of Celeste’s otherwise perfectly kept red hair. In the eight years I’d known her, she’d hardly aged a day. She eased into one of the chairs that sat before my desk, and I sat back down as well.

Though I knew Celeste’s gifts were specific to glimpsing the future, I did my best to keep my mind blank. I couldn’t have her knowing about the thoughts that had been plaguing me allday and night. I didn’t even want to have them. And who really knew if this talented seer couldn’t read minds as well?

“Your message sounded urgent,” Celeste said, starting the conversation. “Is everything okay?”

I shrugged. “I wouldn’t say it’s urgent, exactly. I just need someone to talk to about some things that have been weighing on my mind.” Or at least, the things thatshouldbe.

Celeste half-smiled. “I’m assuming Kai wasn’t cutting it?”

“Like I said, Kai is a good man, but he’s hardly one I can talk to about serious matters.”

“Understood,” she replied. I knew that, while Celeste and Kai got along, she didn’t care much for the kitsune’s company. “What’s been on your mind, Caesar?”

Looking past Celeste, I saw that the door to my classroom was still open. I navigated to the room controls on my desk tablet and sent the command for the door to shut and lock.

“Today in one of my morning classes, a student had the nerve to ask me why we’ve been searching for a stray mermaid. Arya happened to be in that class, and all eyes went straight to her.”

Celeste nodded expectantly. “Our students are sharp. Where did the conversation go after that?”

“I was able to shift it back to our class topic pretty quickly,” I replied. “But Arya now knows, at the very least, that we were looking for somebody out of the ordinary. She can’t know about the prophecy, not yet.”

The prophecy. I had been present when Celeste received it seven years ago, and I now heard her voice replay that moment in my head.

A siren will emerge as a stray mermaid and bring destruction to Hadrian, leader of the vampires, summoning ultimate peace between shifters and vampires once and for all.