After moving through the halls until I was lost, I realized Lima hadn’t told us where we could find her, and I had no idea where to start looking. Asking others where the second years slept could be a start, but the last thing I wanted to do was leave a trail of people saying I was asking about her.

  One hallway gave out three steps in, leading down to bridges below, so I doubled back and found an alternative path. Either someone was being silly, or that hallway had been for flying supers, I guessed. More of a direction than a hallway, but still a way to have fun with the students who didn’t know. This whole place was really a mystery, as I was further reminded when a stairwell led to a door that, when opened, led into a smoldering room. Flames licked the walls, and after my initial shock, I was able to make out a circle about the height of a door in the middle of the flames. Sounding the alarm seemed like a logical step here, but as I was about to turn and run, I noticed that the flames weren’t actually burning down the walls or doing any real damage.

  It had to be some sort of doorway for supers who had flame powers or were impervious to fire, maybe. Or possibly an advanced year technique taught to all supers, for all I knew, helping us to pass through flames. I hoped that’s what it was, and that someday I’d get the chance to go through that door.

  Regardless of the lack of damage from the flames, they still created a heavy smoke that I looked forward to leaving behind. So when a door led to the courtyard, I gladly took it and breathed deeply in the clear air.

  I wandered about the campus, wishing I’d been able to sleep through to the next morning and that we could start our classes already. The setting sun created patterns in the clouds overhead that were completely alien to anything I’d ever witnessed back home, on planet or even while off on rogue missions.

  It was strange, being here but knowing I had to wait for the next day before really diving in. Or did I?

  Glancing around, I was struck by the thought that there were numerous second through fourth level ladies here, and that I might be able to get a taste of this place from any of them. As long as they didn’t mind my tail, that is, and would talk to me like a normal super.

  Worst case scenario, the classrooms didn’t seem off-limits, and I was pretty sure I’d seen a library when making my way down here. I headed back, thinking that if I didn’t find someone to chat with, at least I could find a book or two to read.

  Sure enough, halfway back toward the dorm rooms there was a grand archway with a relief of students engrossed in books, and beyond it shelves of dusty tomes, along with several holo-reading stations and tablets.

  I’d never seen so many hard-copy books in my life. In fact, I’d seen at most half a dozen my whole life, probably. There simply wasn’t much need of them among the guilds, and when people wanted books for entertainment, they’d often use their holo readers or old-style tablets. Taking a breath in that room was like taking my first breath—for the first time in my life I knew what books smelled like. Old, worn books that carried dust and the scent of faded leather. It was glorious.

  Instead of bothering with the tech, I went straight for one of the many rows of the real thing and grabbed a couple at random. It wasn’t like I was looking for anything in particular anyway. Finding a seat at one of the many desks that surrounded the library, I took a moment to look up at the painting on the ceiling—another great super battle—and listen to a distant piano playing, likely some part of the student get-together experience. Maybe I would’ve felt more like going and engaging if not for the way they’d looked at me earlier. All of them, staring. It sent a shudder up my back, the thought that maybe these supers weren’t so used to my kind as I had been told growing up.

  Sure, I’d met my share of dickheads, but I’d always thought it was a fringe thing. My sister kept telling me supers out here would be used to it, that someday I’d see, and maybe then I would fit in. So far, that was bullshit.

  My seat was hard and closed in at the back. When you have a tail, not having an open back to a chair can be very annoying, because that meant I had to scoot forward enough to leave room for the tail. The good news was I could wrap it up and use it kind of like a lumbar pillow, so whatever.

  I looked over the first book I’d grabbed and frowned to see that it was about theory related to Oram and how our powers had evolved and might further evolve over time. That was cool and all, but I understood how powers worked and thought the idea that we’d evolve further was bullshit. Humanity had colonized this system long enough ago that any further changes, in my opinion, should’ve happened already.

  Still, I flipped through a few pages, stopping at a point where it pondered the existence of aliens. One of the footnotes brought up an argument related to supers like Laurel (and by proxy, me). I’d heard it several times. The argument was that we were in a grouping, so therefore might have had some sort of alien heritage. Ask me, it was just a way of creating an “us versus them” mentality, trying to paint supers who looked different as the outsiders.

  Fuck this author, I thought as I slid the book away and looked at the other one I’d grabbed. The cover was an image of Hadrian, half his face covered in light and only viewable in silhouette, the other in his old man state. From what I’d heard, he was able to change how he looked, though it wasn’t an actual shifter ability. The man was a true mystery, and it looked like I held in my hands a biography that went into his history, where he’d come from, and more. A keeper, for sure.

  I picked it up and scanned the table of contents, curious about his time in something called the Syndicate Event, as that’s where he’d supposedly really proven himself early on, but something blue moved and caught my eye.

  Laurel was sitting down at the desk two over, her blue hair falling over one exposed shoulder, those enticing turquoise eyes of hers staring at a book that looked like it was about Earth mythology. She had just sat down when she froze, eyes rising to meet mine, and she smiled. I blushed at the fact that I was staring and looked away, then at my book, then back to her.

  She chuckled, tilted her head, and then stared at me, unblinking.

  This was ridiculous. Instead of waiting another moment, I stood and went over to her desk with my Hadrian book.

  “Mind if I join you?” I asked.

  “Please.” She motioned to the other seat, and I took it, facing the stained-glass window that depicted a ship of colonizers landing on a planet.

  As her face was already buried in her book, I opened mine to where I’d been planning to read from, then started skimming information instead about how his planet had been destroyed. Actually, it mentioned that it had happened, but didn’t give the details of how. What a letdown.

  “Ever heard of kitsune?” Laurel asked, opening the book in front of her to an image of a woman who looked somewhat like me, fox ears and all, except for she had nine tails instead of the one.

  I frowned, confused. “No. Why?”

  “You fascinate me,” she replied, as if that somehow explained it. After a moment of staring at me, she added, “You’re so strong, so fast, so… interesting. But you let others control how you feel, instead of being proud of what you are.”

  “Well, I’m not kiss-may.”

  “Kitsune,” she corrected me. “I’m not saying you are, but I thought you’d find this interesting. On Earth, in Japan, the fox was revered. They even created a sort of sacred fox ideal, believing that they had a holiness. You only have the one tail, sure, but that was normal for the first bit of their lives, gaining more tails as they grew more powerful.”

  “Honestly, more tails sound like a pain in my ass.” I pondered the expression as it related to more tails, then laughed. “Seriously though, your point?”

  “Stop being down on yourself. If someone else has a problem with who you are, think about the way you would’ve been practically worshipped on Earth—or at least, that’s what it sounds like.”

  “Nobody would worship me.”

  “I would,” she replied, and then grinned.

  I blinked, confused. With the way her eyes were, I couldn’t tell where she was looking exactly, but had the distinct feeling she was looking at my lips, then my cleavage. Holy shit, this girl was coming onto me!

  It took me another moment to even consider what I should do there, but finally picked up my book and said, “Excuse me,” then made for the exit.

  Why was I walking away like that? I had no idea. But what I did know was that I’d suddenly imagined her head between my legs, tongue bringing me to new levels of bliss, and it felt… confusing. Not wrong. Just confusing.

  Stupid me, the alarm went off the moment I walked through the arched doorway. I stood there horrified as two teachers approached, treating me like a child and explaining that I needed to check out the book. Students watched me, the new girl, the fox girl. A glance back showed Laurel at the end of one of the rows of books, holding that myth book in front of her chest, watching me with her amused grin.

  Oh, Oram! The hint of a smile at her mouth drew my gaze to her lips, and everything the teachers were saying turned to a dull throbbing as I imagined those lips against mine, tasting her tongue, moving down to her neck.

  Shit, I had to get out of there. I dropped the book and ran.

  11

  Laurel found me in my room, face buried in my pillow, as night fell outside. I looked up to see the last hints of pink glinting off of her cheeks, reflecting from the purple marble outside. Dammit, it made her even more stunning.

  “I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable,” she said, standing in the doorway.

  What kind of response was I supposed to come up to for that? For a moment I sat, staring at her, then shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know why I’m freaking out.”

  “Because you’re a prude.”

  “What?”

  Laurel laughed, then folded her hands in front of her, grinning. “You haven’t allowed your mind to consider such things—you’re either inexperienced, a prude… or not into me.”

  “I…”

  “The last one is not it.”

  “How do you keep doing that?” I snapped. “Like you’re reading my mind.”

  “Not your mind, your emotions. If you’re lying, I know it. Sometimes I can sense more than that, sometimes not.”

  “And right now you’re sensing that I want to what, exactly?”

  She pursed her lips, glancing back. “Maybe I should leave.”

  “No, I want to know. What exactly is it you think I want to do with you?”

  When she hesitated again, I stood, marched over to her and grabbed her by the back of her head, pulling her into a kiss. Shit, I didn’t know what I was doing, but I held my mouth slightly apart and felt her lips press firmly against mine. As I melted into the way her arms wrapped around me, she took the lead and her tongue teased me, brushing against mine gently before pulling back.

  “Something like… that?” I asked, meaning it to sound like a challenge, like I’d just proven her wrong. Everything about the situation indicated that I had failed in my intention.

  “Something like that,” she repeated the words to me, and then I was very conscious of her hand moving along my back, sending a chill up my spine. She stared into my eyes, shrugged, and took a step back. “But more than that, at least right now… wouldn’t be good for us.”

  “Why not?” I snapped petulantly, not really knowing I was doing it until the words were out.

  “I didn’t come here to get anything from you, to seduce you. Where I’m from, we’re very open with such matters. Man, woman, it doesn’t matter. In fact, it strengthens our bond, makes us all friendlier, much more… amiable.”

  “Amiable?” I laughed, breathing heavily. Taking a step toward her, I placed one hand on her waist, the other tracing a line from her belly up to her chest, then ran my hand over to her breast… where it stopped, awkwardly.

  “Hmm,” she said, glancing down at the hand.

  “What the fuck am I doing?” I asked myself, taking a step back. “Your powers aren’t making me do this, or something?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know what’s happening, but… knowing you, we should take it slow. No regrets for you tomorrow. I just came here to make sure we’re still good. Are—are we good?”

  I took another breath, feeling the heat in my lower abdomen, tingling farther south. Pushing those thoughts from my mind, I nodded.

  “Good,” she stepped forward, bit her lower lip, and then leaned in and gave me a peck on the cheek. “You’re hot as Oram, don’t ever doubt that. And kind-hearted to boot. Win-win, in my book.”

  With that she spun and was out of there. For some reason my eyes trailed her perfectly curved ass, moving back and forth with a dainty sexuality that I had to admit was alluring.

  Men and women, she’d said. Okay, maybe… maybe I could be okay with that. I was definitely into men, but there was something about the feminine touch. And it was interesting, kissing her. Like she’d said with her people, where it was more about an extra level of intimacy somewhere between friendship and something more. Or at least, that’s how I interpreted it, because that fit what I was feeling right now. Like this could bring us closer together, so why not?

  Once she was definitely gone, I took a step back to my bed and collapsed, arms splayed. I don’t know how many times I replayed that kiss in my head before the door opened and in came Ice, grinning.

  “It’s on,” she said.

  “What?” I sat up, figuring she’d somehow heard about the kiss and was here to mock me for it.

  “Your sister. Day one and already we have confirmation.”

  I shot up, standing next to her in an instant. “What do you mean? Spit it out!”

  “Three days. We’re meeting someone who says he was with her, he knows where she went.”

  “Why in three days?”

  Ice frowned. “Because it’s not tonight, I don’t fucking know. Point is, we have a lead.”

  “And waiting all three fucking days is going to be hell.” I turned back, leaning on the wall in desperation.

  The laugh from Ice caught me off-guard. “You, in desperation in this place? Nah, I’ve seen the way your eyes light up. You’ll be in a state of bliss, maybe with a slight sense of anxiety while you wait.”

  Considering what the next day held, she had a good point. Also, it would give me a chance to check the prisons, or at least try to. To better understand why the school had prisons at all, but also to see if there was any chance my sister would be there. We might have a lead, but that didn’t mean this guy had any information worth a damn.

  “I take it you found nothing?” Ice said, then scoffed at my lack of response. “Figured.”

  “What’s that mean?”

  “You’re not exactly… rogue material,” she replied. “Let’s be honest—you only made it this far because of your speed. When it comes to all the other underhand stuff, you only survived with the help of your sister and those around her.”

  I wanted to tell this bitch to fuck off, but she was totally correct.

  “Shit.” I walked back over and sat on my bed, watching as she lingered in the doorway. “Why do you care so much about this, anyway?”

  “This?”

  “My sister. Finding her.”

  “Malina is one of us,” Ice said, then stepped in. She went to the window, then glanced over her shoulder at me momentarily before closing the window and eyeing the door, which I noticed she’d also closed after entering, apparently. “But of course, it’s more than that. She made a promise to me, one I need to see that she follows through on.”

  “What, she owes you money?”

  Ice scoffed, then shook her head. Leaning forward, she rested her forehead against the glass of the window. “She told me she’d get me out of that hell hole.”

  Those words hit me, hard. “I’m not following.”

  “You can’t tell me you planned on staying with the guild forever. Shit, Charm, you’re better than that. Everyone knows it—but I’m not. I need an escape, an excuse, and a way. Malina was going to be all of the above. She was supposed to return, and then she’d let me in on the plan, our way out of there.”

  “Only… she did it without you.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  I put my hand to my mouth, then stood, considering her. “You… you’re here because you hope that’s not the case, of course. But if it is, then what? You’re here for revenge? To yell at her and ask her how she could’ve abandoned you? What?”

  Ice turned back to me, her expression pained. It was the first time I’d seen anything other than annoyance or mischievous in her. “Honestly, I don’t have a clue. But I need to know if she left me behind. If she didn’t, I need to help her out of whatever predicament she’s gotten herself into, so that we can finish the plan.”

  Whether I was supposed to feel sorry for her, or not, didn’t register. I was too busy feeling relieved—relieved to know she had a soul, somewhere deep down there. A heart that actually beat.

  Even knowing that, regardless of what it meant for how she’d behave once we found Malina, made me sleep that much sounder.

  12

  While the early classes of our first day of school weren’t much more than orientation and introductions, it was overwhelming to say the least. So many superheroes in training, quite a few who had probably already led a life of heroics—at least, compared to me and anyone I knew—and been raised by parents at the Citadel or local planetary superhero halls.

  Following a class on superhero etiquette and the ways of the Citadel, I was filled with excitement at the idea that we were now heading for Professor Lamb’s class. The thing she had said the day before, about getting in touch with ourselves and learning to level up, all of that, it got me excited. Made me want to learn everything I could about the subject and anything else she had to offer.