Genie waited as I took a clean T-shirt and my mom’s fancy leggings from the old-timey wardrobe crammed in beside my bed. As I changed, the scent of the clothes briefly whisked me away to the SDC, the home I couldn’t go back to. Crap, I’m going to have to learn how to do my own laundry… It was just the dose of independent reality that I needed to stop dwelling on the bad. O’Halloran had made his position clear—I still wasn’t welcome back home, as long as I was a perceived risk—but so had my parents and Victoria Jules.
And so had I. I was here to learn and get this curse under my control, and once I’d succeeded in doing that, I could go back to O’Halloran with a diploma in my hand that said to the world, I’m in control. I belong, no matter what I am. Frankly, I couldn’t wait to get started, and figuring out a washing machine couldn’t be any harder than Purging a beast… right?
After throwing on my clothes, I walked a few steps toward the mirror that hung on the opposite wall. I scooped my dark hair into a messy bun, which looked more sleepless-chic than casual-chic. But I wasn’t there to be part of a fashion parade, as my mom would’ve said. I was there to become the best damn hunter I could be.
“What if all these nerves make me Purge?” I checked my reflection. The gray complexion and the dark circles under my eyes definitely told of uneasy dreams. Purging was never far from my mind, and the anticipation grew with every Purgeless day that passed.
“You’re in an Institute full of hunters whose primary purpose is to capture Purge beasts. That’s why we chose it,” she said matter-of-factly. “There’s no safer place for you. Even your mom agreed on that, in the end.”
I faltered, having a momentary crisis of confidence. “What if they never truly accept me, though? If I end up being a liability, they’ll have a hard time viewing me as anything but a… problem.” The word monster had almost come out, but I’d stopped myself. Even if I Purged them, I wasn’t one myself, and a curse couldn’t change that.
“Victoria is gaga over you!” Genie swooped in with a bit of bolstering. “You think she hands out invites like a broken candy machine? She chose you because of your Purge ability. She’s not scared of it, and neither am I. I doubt anyone will be. They might be curious about you, but then the novelty will wear off and you’ll fit right in with everyone else. I feel it in my Atlantean waters, and they’re rarely wrong.”
I chuckled. “You and your waters.”
“Besides, Victoria will have put hunters on standby in case of emergency, and you’ve got your beeper thing.” Genie leaned out the door and pointed down the stone hallway. “There’s a dude at the end of the corridor who’s been loitering there since last night, and there’s only one reason he’d be hanging out in the ladies’ dorms. Actually, there’s two, but I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt. Victoria has all bases covered, so all you need to worry about is—”
“Learning how to hunt and capture properly, so I can turn this curse into a gift.” I finished the sentence for her as I gave myself a stern look in the mirror.
“Exactly.” Genie smiled at me like a proud mother hen.
It was going to be a long, hard process, but I hadn’t come all this way for nothing. This was what I’d wanted—a new start to my independence, where I could make a change. Sure, I hadn’t expected to have to give up the SDC for this, but it had played out that way, so I had to make it worth it. And Genie was right—until I had more knowledge and practical training under my belt, I had the Institute watching my back.
And I had my best friend at my side, going through all of this with me.
It’s definitely a start. I looked back at my reflection and smiled. I had to remember; I’d asked for this. I’d wanted to do more for myself so I wouldn’t have to rely on friends and family—or other hunters, for that matter—to save my ass when I puked up a Purge beast. And I was only going to learn this stuff here.
Victoria knew what she’d gotten herself into when she’d seen me unleash a banshee, and she’d still accepted me. I had to trust her judgment.
And if it’s not enough and I fail, they can always put me in a box… I hadn’t meant to think it, but the dream clung to the back of my mind. It had scared the bejeezus out of me because it had felt so painfully, desperately real, devoid of the usual fluff and trickery. Maybe, all things considered, my mind actually was my own worst enemy; I didn’t need Leviathan to show me my gravest fears because I already had them lined up and ready to go. Despite my determination to ignore it, I had a feeling I wouldn’t be able to shake the dream entirely. Not with my knuckles still sore and bruised, each dull ache a reminder of what I’d experienced.
“We need to get a move on,” Genie said. “Charlotte Basani is leading our tour, and I don’t want to be late!”
I grabbed a notebook and shoved it into a backpack. “Is she one of the instructors?”
“Charlotte?” Genie giggled like a schoolgirl. “No, she’s Shailene Basani’s daughter.”
“Right, got it.” I remembered now—Fay and Shailene were the twin founders of this place, and it stood to reason that one of them would’ve had kids. I slung the backpack over my shoulder and headed for the door. “Kes had us cram so much into our skulls that I think a lot got pushed out right after.”
Genie made an airy, whistling noise. “It was literally in one
