Page 25 of Misfit Monsters (Pack of Outcasts #1)
Periwinkle
W hen Jonah wraps up his account of our mission so far, the administrative staff study the rest of us. I can’t call most of their gazes friendly, though Pearl is smiling in her usual encouraging way and Rollick simply looks thoughtful.
The demon rubs his chin. “It seems your collaboration has kept you all in one piece and revealed more information than my past investigations turned up. I’ll call that a win. Why don’t you return to classes for a couple of days before you head north again? Take a breather from each other.”
Gnash jerks his head around. “Rollick—do you really think?—”
The school’s founder cuts him off with a mild look that nonetheless makes the hairs on the back of my arms stand up. There’s no missing the demon’s aura of power .
“Why shouldn’t they have a quick break and continue their education?” he asks. “If you have specific concerns about their performance, you’ve gotten plenty of time to question them.”
Throughout Jonah’s report, the tiger shifter and his colleagues have been lobbing questions at us like balls in a batting cage. I swallow thickly, afraid they’ve somehow figured out that I lost control again even though we avoided mentioning that one fact.
It’s Toni who speaks up, in a more even tone than Gnash’s. “They were on the verge of banishment. They haven’t proven that they can mingle with their classmates safely, even if they’ve survived the last few days without killing each other.”
Hail makes a sour face as if he thinks he should get top marks just for refraining from murdering us, but Rollick hums. “A fair point. We have an obvious short-term solution. Jonah, perhaps you could give a sorcerous command to each of our delinquents to ensure they don’t do anything harmful with their powers over the next forty-eight hours? ”
My pulse hitches at the thought of more sorcery wriggling into my brain. I smile to cover my urge to protest.
I’d rather be brainwashed than hurt even more beings.
Jonah hesitates before answering. “I’ll have to give the exact command some thought to make sure it works properly, and I’d probably need to repeat the commands tomorrow to ensure they hold.” He glances at the rest of us. “As long as my team will accept that?”
Mirage pipes up first with an energetic shrug. “Better than being stuffed in a cage!”
Raze grunts and nods in agreement, though he’s scowling.
Hail lets out a long-suffering sigh, but I can tell from the tart prickle of emotion wafting off him that he’s more uneasy than resigned. “Whatever you feel you need to do before we continue this charade.”
All the gazes at the table shift to me.
I push my smile wider. “Of course. It’ll be easier for me to concentrate if I know my powers shouldn’t go haywire.”
Rollick claps his hands. “It’s settled. Once you’ve gotten Jonah’s orders, the five of you can resume your normal class schedule. I’ll see you off again in two days.”
A couple of hours later with a new sorcerous command buzzing around my brain, I head into the cafeteria for lunch and get two slim arms flung around me.
“You’re back!” Fen hugs me tightly and steps back as quickly as she leapt in. “I didn’t even realize. Are you okay? Is the special assignment over?”
We’re not supposed to talk about our investigations in any detail, but I can answer vaguely. “Not yet. We did find out a little, but not everything Rollick wants to know. How have you been doing?”
Fen ushers me to a temporary counter at one end of the room, where various other beings are lining up to request their food. The bright colors and plasticky furnishings remind me of the fast food restaurants I’ve flitted through in the human world. The air smells of greasy, salty goodness.
My friend peers at the list of meal options hanging over the counter and then turns back to me with a smile. “It hasn’t been as fun without you to talk to, but I’ve been all right. I made it through a whole day without dribbling any water at all.”
A chilly voice speaks up from behind us. “ Such an accomplishment. The drip managed not to piddle. ”
Fen cringes. As if on cue, a few droplets patter off her fingers onto the floor.
I turn around to face Gloss and her friends as they break into tinkling laughter. No emotions drift off the elegant being at all—it means nothing to her to deal out casual cruelty.
Gloss won't care about my opinions on her attitude, so I aim for peace. "Why don't we all focus on getting some tasty food? It looks like there’s plenty of it.”
At my hopeful smile, Gloss's friends snicker harder. She shakes her head. "Yes, I can see why you'd want to avoid anyone focusing on you . What on earth are you wearing now? You look like a human gangster reject."
My skin prickles with self-consciousness. I hadn't even thought about my change in clothing—I'm wearing the leather jacket and ripped jeans that I switched to while on the mission.
It seems pointless to swap them for my old dress and track jacket combo now that Gloss has already seen me. That'll only make her feel she was right.
I'm about to turn around and simply ignore her when another cool voice carries from farther down the line.
"You should give the cream puff a little credit, Gloss. She's trying to broaden her horizons rather than sticking to the same old, same old."
My gaze snaps to Hail's dark eyes where the lean, pale fae has ambled over behind Gloss's pack. His mouth is set in a slanted smile; I can't tell whether he was mocking her or me.
Maybe both?
Whatever the case, Gloss obviously takes it as a personal criticism. Her jaw tightens, but she manages to return his smile. "I suppose even hopeless cases should get points for trying. "
I turn back toward the counter. Fen raises an eyebrow at me but doesn't remark on Hail's intervention in front of his usual fan club.
When we get to the servers, I ask for a barbeque chicken burger and fries. The spicy scent that wafts from the tray I'm handed makes me giddy. Fen and I head toward the other tables.
A few feet from the nearest one, the floor turns abruptly slippery beneath my shoes.
My feet skid and swerve with a twinge of my ankles. The tray wobbles in my hands, and my fizzy drink tumbles onto the floor.
Fen snatches my shoulder and helps me catch my balance before I lose my food as well. Dark liquid streaks across the floor from my cup.
One of the school staff materializes from the shadows with a wrinkling of his nose. "I'll clean it up. Go on."
Striding by with her own food, Gloss tsks her tongue. "Such a klutz."
My hair flickers with a ruddy glow of both anger and embarrassment. I think she has wintry powers like Hail does. She was punishing me for what he said.
Maybe Rollick should add logic classes to the curriculum.
I have better things to think about. The burger tastes just as delicious as it smelled. For several minutes, I listen to Fen fill me in on the latest drama she's seen and heard around the school and put our bully out of my mind.
As we're leaving the cafeteria, Fen brightens. "Oh, there’s a book I wanted to show you—it’s got amazing pictures from all over the mortal world. We'll probably be sitting on the sidelines for the morphball game today. I'll run and get it from my room. Meet you at the gym?"
"Sounds good!" I set off with a spring in my step .
I only make it around one turn in the hall before Gloss catches up with me, on her own. I don't know how she moves so fast with those mincing steps.
She whirls on me with a flash of her amber eyes, her voice pitched low and outright frigid.
"I don't know what charms you tried to work on Hail, but he'd never be remotely interested in a wimp like you.
If he's been the slightest bit nice, it's only because he had no one better to pay attention to. "
Her words cut straight through me. I wasn't looking to get any particular attention from Hail, but I still want to curl up in a ball against her hostility.
“I didn’t try to do anything with him,” I say. “If he wants to be with you, go be with him.”
She makes a scoffing sound, her anger only sharpening.
"You've been putting on your cluelessly sweet act from the second you got here.
I know it's only because you're the weakest being here.
I doubt you'll even come back the next time Rollick sends you away, and no one will miss you, not even the drip. "
She glides off without a backward glance.
My muscles clench up instinctively with a tremor of my nerves. Even if Jonah’s sorcery will stop me from blaring out harmful energy, I’d rather not test the limits of his command.
I close my eyes and see the glitter of silver and iron chain links on the ground, the gleam of battered trophies through glass.
My next breath comes shaky, but a strange sense of calm settles over me.
I might not be able to prove much, but I know I'm not weak. I survived a man much crueler than Gloss could imagine.
Compared to that sorcerer, she’s the wimp .
The reminder carries me the rest of the way to the gym. I grin at Fen when she hustles in with her book and “Oooh” over the pictures of places she'd like us to visit together. But all the while my stomach stays knotted.
No matter what I do, some people in this place are always going to hate me, and I don't even understand why.