Page 16

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T HE BUS LOOP WAS ON the opposite side of the building from the grand entrance of the school. There were three other potential exits—the gym via the enclosed middle courtyard and the two side exits. I headed for the one that dumped out from the small theater.

The area was empty, save for a handful of lit and drama students vaping and gossiping about the fire they’d seen in the chemistry lab. They mentioned a teacher using a fire extinguisher, and that there had been a fire sprite and a few water sprites who’d assisted as well to contain the fire. I remembered that from my glimpse. And I also remembered Reese’s anxiety about being asked to step in to help. As if Reese hadn’t wanted to use his own sprite powers.

Huh. I wondered why.

“Can we help you?” one of the group said, arms crossed over their torso.

“Oh, hey,” I said. “Have any of you seen Gemma James? Tiny freshman with bubblegum-pink hair?”

They scoffed. “No.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

I left before they asked me any follow-up questions and continued around the side of the building. The large front entrance was next, but there were only a few office staff milling around. Seeing no sign of Gemma, I kept walking. I turned a corner that led me to the back of the cafeteria, where several dumpsters lined the alleyway.

As I approached, I heard an unmistakable voice.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t help you with that,” Gemma said. “It’s not in my purview.”

I picked up my pace. On the other side of the dumpsters, Gemma was standing with her phone clenched in her hand and Dennis looming over her. The hell? Dennis had been in the bus loop with the rest of us. Had this been where he went when he’d stormed away?

“So what? He only uses his powers for the paranormal kids now? Do the Lopez assholes have the monopoly?”

“No.” Gemma stubbornly lifted her chin. “Cam has not allied with a particular faction yet. He’s not even verified.”

Dennis scoffed. “Yeah, right. Look, you little gatekeeper—” He took a step forward, and despite her strong stance and firm tone, Gemma flinched. “I need my future read. And you’re going to help me get it done.”

“Hey!” I yelled.

Dennis rounded on me. His eyes narrowed as he looked over my shoulder. “Where’s your bodyguard?”

“Bodyguard? You watch too many crime dramas, my friend.”

With Gemma forgotten, Dennis moved toward me in a way I could only describe as menacing. “I need to know the basketball game score for tonight. I have to know if we win.” His voice cracked with desperation. His expression switched from one of intimidation to one of downright pleading. I understood pressure, but I also knew that I couldn’t allow a precedent of giving in to the demands of people wanting to use my ability for their own. And while I maybe had an inkling of how the whole psychic thing worked, he didn’t need to know that.

“Uh… so last time was a fluke. I don’t really know how to control glimpsing, and I might not even see the basketball game. I might not see anything, because I’m still not quite sure how to activate my abilities, and—”

Dennis’s jaw tightened, his eyes turning hard, and then he lunged. He grabbed me by the front of my hoodie, his hands twisted in the fabric. He threw me bodily against the wall of the school. The air was knocked out of my lungs as my back smacked against the brick.

“Stop making excuses,” he said while pinning me to the wall like a butterfly under glass, his large hands on my shoulders. “You don’t understand. I need to know.”

I grabbed his wrist to try and ease his grip, thankful that I’d slipped my gloves back on during the evacuation. But this was bad. Being physically assaulted was not at the top of my to-do list for the day. “You know, all I have to do is yell, and my werewolf bodyguard will come running. He has great hearing.” I wasn’t sure if that was true or not, but I was not above bluffing.

Dennis sneered. “And I know that a little bit a silver is all it takes to render a werewolf harmless.”

“Oh? That sounds threatening. But you do also know that I have more than a werewolf in my new group of friends, right?”

Dennis scoffed. “The ghost girl? She’s not an issue. The only other danger is Al, and everyone knows that they’ve abandoned you.”

My stomach twisted with grief. Everyone knew?

“Well, I feel left out.”

I craned my neck, the back of my head scraping along the brick.

Reese stood there, pouting. His eyes glowed a vibrant green. Tendrils of sprite magic crawled beneath his skin, illuminating the muscles of his arms with the colors of verdure and spring. “Did you forget about me?” Reese tapped his chin, and small glimmers of water and foliage flicked from the tip of his finger.

“Are you really his friend?” Dennis sneered. “I thought you only joined their little lunch group for the perks.”

Reese shrugged. “You willing to find out?” He cracked his knuckles. Reese was tall but slight. He was athletic from being on the cross-country team, but he didn’t have near the bulk or heft of Dennis. Even with his powers, I didn’t know if he had a chance in a physical altercation. But I was grateful for his posturing.

“He did fight Javi Lopez in the hallway,” Gemma piped up from where she’d slowly edged to Reese’s side. “I wouldn’t try him.”

“She’s not wrong.” Reese cocked his head. He narrowed his sparkling eyes. “Now, release him.”

“Or what?”

Reese flexed his fingers and thrust his hand toward a small strip of grass in a landscaped bed. It quivered in the breezeless atmosphere, then shot upward, thickening and spilling over the concrete barrier and slithering in thick, vibrant tendrils toward us. Reese’s body glowed with power, a golden-green halo surrounding him.

“Do you really want to fight a sprite?” Reese said through gritted teeth. “Or do you want to let Cam go?”

Dennis released me instantly. I slid down the wall in a heap, landing on my butt.

“Whatever,” Dennis muttered. He gave me one last glare, then turned and walked away.

Once he was gone, I sighed and slumped over, my cheek on my knee. Reese dropped his arm, and the grass and vines shrank back within the confines of the greenery bed, though it remained a little wilder than the manicured space it had been a few moments ago.

“Are you okay, Cam?” Gemma asked, rushing over. “I didn’t mean for that to happen. I was just filming the lab, and when they forced me to evacuate, I came out the side door, and he cornered me. I didn’t know what to say or do, and—”

“You did fine, Gemma,” I said from my place on the ground. “We were worried when we couldn’t find you, so we split up to make sure you were okay.”

Reese offered his hand to me, and I checked to make sure my gloves were firmly on. They were, so I took it, and he helped me to my feet.

“Thanks,” I said, for both the help up and the intervention.

Gemma blinked. “You were worried about me?”

“Well, yeah. It was an actual fire. We all wanted to make sure you were okay.”

I wasn’t prepared for Gemma to launch into my middle. She hugged me, her skinny arms wrapping around me like Reese’s vines and squeezing tight like I was a stress ball or her favorite teddy bear. Her face smacked into my sternum, and if it weren’t for Reese grabbing my upper arm, I would’ve been back on the ground.

“Thank you,” she said.

Then she released me and barreled into Reese as well. She embraced him hard, and he awkwardly patted her back. “Uh…”

“Thank you,” she said again once she’d disengaged from him. She held up a finger. “I am going to the bus loop right now and hugging both Mateo and Kaci too. And then I’m going to edit this video. Once it’s done, I’ll text you, and you will be a verified seer!” She clapped her hands, then waved and ran off, disappearing in flurry of ribbons and rainbows.

“Wow,” Reese said from beside me. “She’s intense.”

“For real.” I pushed my hands into my pockets. “Thanks for that, by the way. I don’t know what would’ve happened if you hadn’t come along.” I massaged my shoulder. “I didn’t think Dennis had it in him to be aggressive. But apparently he can be.”

“Desperate people do desperate things,” Reese said with a shrug.

“Yeah. I guess. So anyway, thanks for threatening him with your powers. That was pretty awesome.”

“That?” Reese said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. “That was toddler-sprite level. I didn’t even tap into my real powers.”

Oh. Well, that was amazing and a little frightening. “Um… I’m sorry to ask, but I don’t know much about sprites. You’re a leaf guy, right? I don’t really know the designations.”

Reese snorted. “?‘Leaf guy’? Seriously?”

“Um… yeah? Is that offensive?”

He laughed, his mouth splitting into a grin. “No, it’s not. And no worries. I get you’re still new to this stuff. But anyway, sprites have a deep and special connection to the goddess of nature. We receive our magic from her, and each of us has a specialty stemming from either one of the elements or from a particular ecosystem. Mine is a little rarer than the others.”

“What is it?”

Reese ducked his head and scratched the back of his neck. “Uh… well… have you ever visited a swamp, Cam?”

I squinted. “Can’t say that I have.”

Reese smirked. “Consider yourself lucky. They’re hot and humid, and they are fragrant in not great ways.”

“Is that what you are? A swamp sprite?”

Reese’s shoulders rose and fell with a sigh. “Yeah. Because of all the potential sprite domains I could have, I was gifted with the great and wonderful powers of a swamp.”

“You didn’t use your specialty powers during that fight.” I furrowed my brow. “I remember water and leaves, but I definitely would’ve remembered a swamp, I think. I don’t know—my brain was pretty addled.”

Reese huffed a laugh. “No, you definitely would have remembered.”

“I mean, swamps are pretty cool ecosystems.”

“Right. They’re damp and gross, and they smell. I try to use my swampiness as little as possible. Because it’s just not pleasant for me or for anyone around me.”

“Okay. Well, still, thanks for threatening to use your powers.” I elbowed Reese in the arm.

“What are friends for?” he said with a grin. “And you’re welcome. Just, next time, warn me about the pop quiz?”

I laughed, the tension easing from my body. “Yeah. I will.”