She finally switched her focus to Spencer. “I’ll need to see you both in Dean Carter’s office first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Of course,” he replied.
No, not of course. I had a bad feeling about being summoned to the headmaster’s office. Nothing good had come from me being in that room. Ever. “Why? Did we do something wrong?”
“No, not at all. I’m calling an emergency Council meeting.”
My stomach twisted. There was only one reason she’d call an emergency Council meeting after the emergency faculty meeting. “Please tell me you’re not about to declare me the prophecy again.”
“No.”
That made me feel remotely better… Until she riveted her attention to Spencer.
He looked back and forth between the professor and me. “Me?”
“It’s why I’m here, actually. The attack has prompted the Council to invoke the prophecy once again.”
Not just no, but hell to the no damn way. I wasn’t about to give up my title to the likes of this guy. Did I want to be the prophecy again? No. Did I want to be the target of the dark elementals again? Definitely not. But did I trust Spencer to save our world? That would be a giant hell to the huge no. “Professor, you can’t be serious.”
“Do you have a problem with the Council’s decision?”
“What decision? They aren’t even here.”
“Aren’t they?” Spencer kept a watchful eye on her.
It clicked, and my mouth fell open. “You’re spying for the Council?”
“I’ll see you both in the morning.” With that, she walked away.
“What the hell just happened?” My world unraveled. The Council couldn’t take the prophecy from me and just hand it over to the shiny new coin. I won last year. I beat Alec. That should count for something.
“It seems I’m being declared the next prophecy.”
“No. No way. No.” I couldn’t think of anything else to say. The way she emphasized the word both had me nervous. Why did she need to see us both if the Council planned to give my title to the new shiny coin?
“I don’t think you get a say in it. The Council gets what the Council wants.”
“Not this time.” I grabbed my stuff. I needed to talk to Cressida. She declared the prophecy, not a bunch of old guys in fancy black suits. “I’ll see you in the headmaster’s office.”
10
When Cressida didn’t answer me at her statue, I took to the ruins. Still, she evaded me, which didn’t happen very often and always concerned me when it did. I walked the grounds of the academy, working through what I planned to say in the morning to defend my title.
It made no sense. I never wanted the prophecy in the first place. Why was I so hell-bent on keeping it now?
That question continued to bounce around inside my brain as I walked the perimeter of campus, scanning the wards to confirm they remained intact. After Alec broke through the protective wards last year thanks to his little girlfriend, I wanted to be sure.
“Katy?” Bryan walked up, still dressed in his uniform, the green blazer even buttoned. I hated our school uniforms, but I loved them on the guys. He greeted me with a toe-curling kiss, his soft lips resting against mine even after the kiss ended.
“What’s wrong?” He had a sixth sense when it came to me. I didn’t know if that was due to how well our element bonded when we were together or what. Our connection ignited the passion deep within me. When it broke free—and it always did when we lost control together—my calls were off the chart. Not just my earth call, but all of them.
Or maybe it had nothing to do with our element. Maybe he was just that good at reading me. Clay’s words played back.
Stop looking for things that aren’t there.
“I don’t want to talk about it.” I really did want to talk about it, but was never very good at talking about myself.
“Does this have anything to do with the attack?”
“Yes…and no.”
He frowned. “Talk to me.”
If I told him what Spencer did during lessons, he’d probably teleport out to find him and kick his ass. Considering how easily my handler beat Clay, and with his own primary, I didn’t know how Bryan would fare against him. My earth elemental was strong and amazingly levelheaded in battle, but even that might not be enough to beat Spencer, the man was that powerful, maybe even more powerful than me.
Okay, fine. I sort of understood why the Council wanted to declare him the prophecy. Sort of.
“Professor Layden just dropped a bomb.” I drew in several deep breaths to stop my fire element from surfacing, I was that upset. Bryan took my hand and pushed his control to me. I nodded in thanks. “The Council wants to declare Spencer the next prophecy.”
He tensed in surprise, squeezing my hand. I winced as my cut protested. He loosened his grip. “Sorry. What do you mean, declare him the next prophecy? You’re the prophecy.”
“Apparently not after tomorrow morning. We have to report to Dean Carter’s office first thing. I bet that’s what the emergency faculty meeting was about. They knew about the attack, just not who was there. Now they do, thanks to Spencer telling Professor Layden.”
“Great. I don’t trust that guy to know his ass from a hole in the ground.”
I frowned at the comment, not understanding it. Then again, I didn’t understand most idioms and blamed my mom for always getting them wrong. Yet another wildly awesome trait she passed on to me in addition to having the power to call the elements, before she took off and left me to deal with it all on my own.
Thanks, Mom.
“Come on.” He laced his fingers with mine, pulling me toward the dorms. “Let’s go talk to Leo. Maybe the three of us can put our heads together and come up with a plan. Right now, I just want to find Spencer and bury his ass up to his neck.”
I couldn’t picture
