My mom focused on Rob, taking her time studying him with scrutiny. He didn’t look away and waited for her to finish. She finally pulled her focus from him and rested it back on Leo. Only then did her expression soften. “How long have you been dating my daughter?”
“Uh, the same amount of time we’ve all been dating her?” It came out as a question. He rubbed the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable. Tell me about it.
“Katy?” Syd called out. “Would you mind joining me and Professor Layden in my office?”
Crap. Even outside of school and at an unholy hour, I still got called to the principal’s office. I looked at my mom, at how she smiled warmly at Leo but didn’t so much as acknowledge Clay’s or Rob’s presence. Maybe she had something against fire elementals. “Uh…”
“We’ll be fine.” She looped her arm with Leo’s. “Won’t we?”
Clay and Rob exchanged confused glances. Join the club. I didn’t understand her reaction to them.
“Katy? Please.” Stace held a door open. “It’s this way.”
Reluctantly, I crossed the room and followed Syd into what I assumed to be his office. It was small, sparsely lit, with a large desk scattered with papers, a single chair behind it, and two more chairs on the opposite side.
“Have a seat.” Syd removed his rimless glasses and cleaned them with his shirt. He did that a lot when he was uncomfortable or stalling for time. I didn’t know which fit this situation and didn’t like either option.
“I’ll stand, thanks.” I stayed close by the door in case I needed to rescue Leo from my mom. “Am I in trouble or something?”
“On the contrary. I’d like to ask you to be my intern.”
I jerked my attention to Stace. I was her intern. Could I have two internships? I kind of liked being the TA for her in 3C.
“You’ll still be my TA,” she explained. “This will be in addition to your duties in 3C.”
“What about me training to be the prophecy?” Please, pleeeeez tell me that hell ended when Spencer ran off into the sunset with Alec.
“It’s over. You once again defeated the dark side.”
Hardly. I didn’t die, and they’d escaped before I could kill them. None of that equated to defeating the dark side. “You’re saying I fulfilled the prophecy? Again?”
Two times in less than a year. Go me.
“With you defeating Alec last year, and then both him and Spencer just last night, the Council feels confident the dark elementals will go back into hiding. No more prophecy.”
Until the next dumbass dark elemental tried to kill me. I knew better than to believe the prophecy would never again be invoked. But, for now, I’d take the win. “Great, so now what?”
“With the increase in magically enhanced elementals, we need you as a healer.”
“What’s the big deal about being magically enhanced? They’re not hurting anyone.”
“Like you didn’t hurt anyone when you gave in to the dark element forced into you and nearly killed the quad squad?” Stace gave me a pointed glance, one that had me hanging my head in acknowledgment and guilt. “Spencer magically enhanced you, and look what happened. The element isn’t meant to be inside you. Magically enhancing an elemental’s powers is dangerous. It makes the element unstable as it searches for any means to escape. The fact dark elementals have been inflating the number of new elementals by magically enhancing them through dark magic is very troubling. They can’t guarantee every ME will be on their side.”
She had a point. If even fifty percent went dark, that still left fifty percent fighting for good. The odds weren’t in their favor on this one. “Why would they create all these MEs if they can’t control them?”
“That’s what’s so troubling. We don’t know what their end game is, but we can’t take any chances. The Council believes the MEs could be ticking timebombs strategically placed here at the academy to be detonated simultaneously. A coordinated attack like that could be catastrophic. Until we know for sure, we can’t have them out in the open. We have to protect the students.”
“They are students,” I countered and shook my head. This seemed so wrong. “What are you asking me to do about it?”
“Help me control them,” Syd cut in. “There are a lot of unstable elementals out there. It’s going to take more than me calling light to heal them. I need your help.”
And I needed to have my head examined as I contemplated the idea of becoming a healer, rushing from scene to scene like some elemental EMT.
“So…wait.” I brought up my hand and pushed from the wall. “You want me to be your TA. You also want me to intern with you as a healer. What about school?”
Stace answered. “I’ve agreed to reduce the number of your classes to 3C, Primary, and Arts & Crafts. You’ll have your own room in the house of your choice. Whichever house you choose will also be the primary you’ll attend.”
No. Freakin’. Way. I didn’t have to room with Bitch Barbie anymore? I didn’t have to live in a dorm with a house color so bright it could be seen from space? I drew in a breath to give my answer when my mom’s voice caught my attention. I couldn’t hear what she said, only that Rob raised his voice in response. That didn’t surprise me. My hottie of a hotheaded fire elemental always lost his temper.
“Would you excuse me?” I slipped out of the room.
And right into chaos.
Rob hovered a fireball above his palm. Clay had his hands up, blocking him from firing it. Not at my mom.
At Leo.
“You’re about to lose all that hair, bro.” Rob increased the intensity of the flames.
Leo stood his ground, a rarity when it came to going toe to toe with our group leader. “All I’m
