THE COUNCIL DECIDED to beef up security at Amarose.  Hunters sporting a swirling sigil on their shirts were stationed around the school as I reluctantly trekked to Demonology.  The guys all looked lethal and the few females were no different.  Some I recognized from Magnolia House last night. 

An arm slipped around mine, and a girly squeal pierced my ears.  “OMG.  I’ve died and gone to heaven.”  Braelyn grinned at a male hunter posted outside of a classroom.

“There are some hot bods around,” I admitted.  What?  I could look.

“There’s one Australian guy named Cory.”  Her lids fluttered closed as she licked her lips.  “He’s gorgeous, but with that accent, he’s downright sinful.”

I smiled.  “I bet.”

A familiar head of copper hair appeared in front of me, brown eyes cast down.  “Uh, Kory, can I talk to you for a sec?”  Trey shoved his hands in his pockets and awkwardly shifted on his feet.

Braelyn brow arched in surprise.  She didn’t know I was the one responsible for Daniel and Trey’s miraculous return.  According to everyone, they escaped on their own.  I didn’t mind not taking credit for their rescue.  Too many questions would be raised.

“I’ll see you in class, Brae.”  I slipped my arm from hers.

“Okay.”  She glanced over her shoulder as she headed into Roe’s class.

I jerked my chin toward an empty corner of the hall.  “Come on.”

Trey followed me and leaned against the wall, chewing his bottom lip.  “I just wanted to say thanks for helping Daniel and me.”  He glanced around, his eyes narrowing at the few students trying to listen.  “We’d probably be demons right about now.”

“Yeah, you would be.”  I clapped his shoulder, smirking.  “Don’t worry.  I would have found you and drove my knife into your hearts.”

He shot me a grimace.  “Thanks.  I think.”

I shrugged.  “Thank Alec.  He’s the one who asked me to do it.  Let’s just say all three of you owe me big.”

His face paled.  “I could only imagine the kind of favors you’d ask for.”

I crossed my arms against my chest.  “I’m not that bad.  I wouldn’t ask you to kill for me.  Besides, murder might just turn you into a demon, defeating the whole purpose of saving your sorry asses.”

“I’m starting to think being a pureblooded ferrum has a couple of downfalls.”  His eyes flickered toward Miles, the freshmen he’d harassed a few weeks ago.  “Being a half-blood or partial is looking pretty good right now.”

Instructor Roe cleared his throat as he stood outside of his doorway, his light green eyes pinned to us.  “Will you two be joining class or would you rather go straight to the headmaster for skipping?”

I sighed and strolled toward the sullen instructor.

Roe shut the door behind us.  “Now that Ms. Colt has graced us with her presence, we can start class.” 

I rolled my eyes as I took my seat.  He had to mess with me, didn’t he?  Why wasn’t he slipping Trey’s name in there?  Oh yeah, because he didn’t hate Trey.  I was the only student on his shit list.

Roe took a black marker and scrolled words across the dry erase board. 

Human turned demons and Ferrum turned demons.

He tapped the board with the end of the marker.  “Is there a difference between these two?”

Monica, the studious girl in the front, raised her hand.  “Was the ferrum full-blooded, half, or partial.”

A grimace curled Roe’s thin lips.  “That doesn’t matter.  They’re all the same.”

Obviously Kye didn’t believe that.  If he did, he’d turn every ferrum he could get his hands on instead of only pureblooded ones.

“Who would typically be the harder to kill demon?” he asked the class.

Alec shifted in the desk behind me.  “The ferrum turned demon,” he blurted.

Roe’s green eyes landed on him. “And why is that?”

“Because they probably had at least some level of combat training even if they weren’t hunters.”  He leaned forward, his voice louder in my ear.  “A hunter ferrum turned demon would be pretty lethal.”

“Precisely.”  Roe turned to write training on the board.  “That’s probably the only thing that remains of them once they turn.”

“That’s not true,” I blurted before I could seal my lips shut.  My mouth always had a way of getting me in trouble in this class.

Roe’s body stiffened, and he slowly turned.  “Is that so, Ms. Colt?”  He motioned his hand around the class.  “Please tell us your thoughts on this subject since you’re an expert.”

Why me?

You’d think Roe would have been a little more careful around me since I nearly went demon on his ass not long ago. 

“I just mean they’re not all mindless killing machines.  They do have a brain, and some think about more than killing.”  Kye was definitely not some two-dimensional villain.  He had a bevy of emotions lurking under that cold exterior.  “They’re monsters, but they do feel things beyond anger.”

Roe blinked for several long, awkward moments.  “Get out of my class.”

My head snapped back.  “What?  Why?”

“You’re defending demons.”  He pointed toward the door.  “Go to the headmaster’s office.”

I scoffed.  “This is demonology.  I thought we were supposed to learn about demons.  I was just telling you what I knew.”

“I’m the only one in this room qualified to tell you what is and isn’t true about demons,” he spat.  “I don’t care how many broken infinity tattoos you have.”  He motioned toward a council hunter standing in the corner.  “Please escort Ms. Colt to Headmaster Ashford’s office.”

The muscled guy strolled over, a sympathetic expression on his face.  “Don’t make this any worse for yourself,” he mumbled under his breath.

I rolled my eyes and stood.  “This is ridiculous,” I grumbled, grabbing my books.

The guy followed me all the way to Ash’s office.  They must have been warned I had a habit of slipping off. 

One of Ash’s blonde brows arched as his eyes flickered toward his watch.  “Causing trouble in inspector Roe’s class again?”

I shot him a grimace.  “He’s out to get me.  I swear.”

He chuckled.  “What happened this time?”

I dropped my books on his desk and plopped into one of the chairs.  “He accused me of defending demons!”  I tossed my hands up.  “I was only saying not all demons are mindless monsters.  They’re not all kill, suck life away, kill.”

Ash clasped his fingers in front of him.  “Instructor Roe doesn’t know just how much experience you have with demons.  He just sees a smartass—not that you are one—contradicting him in his own class.”

My lips puckered.  “I never paid attention in my classes at Duchene, and I certainly didn’t participate in discussions.  I got in way less trouble too.”

He winced.  “Just try to be patient with him.  You’re a touchy subject.”

“Why though?  I’ve never done anything.  He was like that from the beginning.”

Ash ran a finger over the scar across his eyebrow.  “Instructor Roe assumes a lot of pureblooded ferrums think they're better.  They’re called purists.”

“And he thinks I’m like that?”

He nodded.  “I know you’re not and anyone who really knows you doesn’t think that.”

It was a ridiculous notion when this time last year I thought I was freaking human. 

Ash abruptly stood and waved a hand toward the door.  “Let’s get some air.”

I followed the headmaster outside, a cold breeze ruffling my dark hair.  The grounds were empty except for a few faculty members and hunters patrolling the area.  Ever since demons had barged onto campus, hunters were walking around day and night.  It didn’t matter most demons only ventured out at night.  They weren’t taking any chances.

Too bad it wouldn’t stop Kye or Lorne.  If the OG demons wanted to get onto campus, they would.

Ash’s phone rang, and he dug it out of his pocket.  A picture of a woman with deep blue eyes and nearly white blonde hair popped up.  A grimace crossed his face, and he hit the ignore button.

My brow arched questioningly.

“My sister,” he said, his shoulders stiffening.

“You don’t get along?” 

“Not anymore.”  His lips curled into a deep frown.  “Not since she married a human.”

I blinked, caught off guard.  “What’s wrong with that?” 

He shook his head.  “I didn’t mean it like that.”  He shoved his hands in his pockets.  “It’s the guy I don’t like.”

“Oh.”

“Ever since she married him and had kids, she’s shut the ferrum world out.”  His jaw clenched.  “I just don’t understand.  She’s a full-blooded ferrum, and she wants nothing to do with us anymore.”

My brow furrowed.  “Why?”

“She doesn’t want her kids growing up in all this danger.”  He scoffed.  “The entire world is full of danger.”

I couldn’t have agreed more.

“Aubrey was an amazing hunter.  She trained in Rome.  She was one of the best.”  He shook his head, his lips thinning.  “When she found out she was pregnant, she decided to leave it all behind.” 

If I ever had kids, I wouldn’t want them growing up pretending there wasn’t this dark stain on the world.  It would leave them vulnerable.  They would need to learn to protect themselves.

I always wondered what kind of hunter I’d be if I’d been training my entire life.  Would I be better?  Or would I be less instinctual and rely more on technique? 

Sometimes I was secretly grateful for the world I grew up in.  It prepared me for what was coming.  I may have started off fighting bullies and creeps around the neighborhood and school, but my harsh life gave me an advantage a lot of hunters didn’t have.

We came to a stop in front of the statue of Aurora greeting everyone who entered those iron gates. 

My hand rested on Ash’s arm.  “Maybe she’ll come around.  She can’t keep something like this secret from her kids forever.”

Secrets had a way of coming out.  I was still finding more with my parents.

Ash sighed as his shoulders relaxed.  “I hope you’re right.”

My gaze wandered toward the statue of Aurora.  How did she feel about Ash’s sister?  Did she even have an opinion on it?

Doubtful.  She probably didn’t care one way or another.  As long as there were enough hunters to keep the demons at bay, she was happy.

Would she come down from her high cloud if Kye really succeeded in creating a whole new race of super demons?  Would she show her face then?

My lips puckered.  Was that what Kye secretly wanted?  Was he trying to get Aurora’s attention?

“The goddess welcomes all children of light into her arms.”  Ash pointed to the inscription in Latin at the base of the statue.

“So that’s what that means.”  I knew it was something weird and creepy.  “It sounds kind of cultish if you ask me.”

A wry laugh slipped from Ash.  “Maybe.”  His gaze darkened as he stared at the words.  “Sometimes I feel like it’s not exactly true.”  He glanced at me.  “What she did to you wasn’t fair.  You had an accident.  Harming that human wasn’t your fault.”

My stomach knotted as the crunch of that man’s skull echoed through my mind.  I swallowed the acid oozing up my throat.  “I know.  It sucks.”

He shook his head.  “It happens to too many of us.  Most weren’t as lucky or as strong as you to be able to fight the change.  And why only pureblooded ferrums?  Why are we punished so harshly?”

“I don’t really get it either,” I muttered.  “Maybe one day we’ll find out.”