^“Are you going to talk to me?” East asks me for the fourth time since I walked into air class. I’m actually not late for once, but the teacher is. We have all been waiting for fifteen minutes now, and he or she is a no show. I try for the tenth time to turn my phone on, but it’s not working. All I can see is my reflection across the cracked screen. My dark hair is all over the place, curly from the plait I had it in last night, and my pale eyes look tired.

“Kenz,” East says my name softly, and I glance over at him as he leans across his desk. I want to forgive him, but I’m still so mad that I can’t trust myself to respond to him at the moment. It really doesn’t help that East looks amazing as usual today, with his wavy hair looking soft and his warm eyes watching me closely. Why can’t he look tired or less attractive and easier to ignore? I just turn my head away and lean back in my chair, twirling my phone around on the table.

“Alright,” East replies. Just when I think he is going to leave it and get that I don’t want to speak to him, he stands on his desk and claps his hands. Everyone in the room looks at him as they go silent. We all watch on as he flips through his phone and then starts playing some music I don’t recognise.

“I’m an idiot. The biggest idiot in the world. I said something really stupid and regretted it the moment I said it. So, I’m going to do anything, including begging or stripping, to get the lovely Kenzie to forgive me. I messed up and got the wrong impression when in reality, I was just jealous,” he tells me and the entire class. Some part of me wants to see if he would actually strip in front of the whole class, but then he could get in a lot of trouble for this. I just raise an eyebrow, and he grins at me.

“I don’t think you would strip, East,” I laugh, feeling my cheeks going bright-red, and he grins down at me. East knows what he is doing to me, and most of me is embarrassed and another small part is impressed that he cares enough to do this.

“That sounded like a challenge, Kenzie,” East says and slowly pulls his shirt off over his head and drops it on my table as some of the girls in the room stand up and move closer to watch. I don’t take my eyes off East as I pick his shirt up and shake my head.

“Okay, okay, I get it. You’re sorry,” I laugh as he starts unbuttoning his jeans, and I can’t help but stare at his naked chest. Fucking hell, he looks amazing with no shirt on. I’m half tempted not to give him his shirt back and actually let him strip out of all his clothes.

“I embarrassed you and fucked up yesterday, so I’m going to get naked in front of the whole class and give the school something else to talk about,” he tells me quietly, making me wonder if he planned this, and if anyone else knew. They really should have stopped him. I’m a simple girl, I would have been happy with chocolate and a foot rub.

“East! I forgive you, you don’t have to do that,” I hiss as he starts pushing his jeans down slowly, in time to the music, and I laugh when I hear a girl shout over.

“Take it off!” she calls, and the whole class starts cheering. I can’t blame them, East is one of the hottest guys in the academy. I’m sure most the girls in the school wouldn’t have a problem with him stripping for them. East smirks down at me, just as his jeans fall to his ankles, showing off his tight, black boxers and the impressive package I can see. I pull my eyes away.

“What in the gods is going on in here?”

I look around East, seeing Mr. Layan standing in the doorway. The room goes instantly quiet, only the sound of the music still playing on East’s phone making any sound. I lean over, turning the music off and handing East his phone back. Mr. Layan walks further into the room, and I can see that he has on a long, thick, black cloak, and his hood is down showing off his long, white hair and beady eyes. I try not to laugh at the disgusted look he is throwing everyone in the room as they go back to their seats.

“Put your shirt back on and get out of my class now,” Mr. Layan snaps, and I hold in a smile when East laughs pulling his jeans up and jumps off the table.

“I’m the biggest idiot for many reasons, but give me another chance? Please, Kenz?” he asks me, ignoring everyone else in the room, and I sigh before nodding.

“Out,” Mr. Layan shouts again as East takes his shirt from me and winks.

“I have to stay to watch Miss Crowe,” East reminds Mr. Layan when he gets to the door, and I watch as they both stare at each other for a second. I can’t see Mr Layan’s expression, but he doesn’t look happy.

“I am perfectly qualified to make sure Miss Crowe doesn’t lose control of her gifts. Now, out and expect detention for the rest of the year,” Mr. Layan says, and East nods, giving me a slightly worried look before walking out. It’s strange to be without one of them around, but I know East couldn’t have stayed in this class, and I’m sure I won’t lose control of air. I couldn’t even use it the other day.

“Your usual teacher isn’t well, so you have me for your first class and maybe some others. I’m Mr. Layan, the headmaster of this academy, and I’m sure you have seen me around or heard of me,” he says, his tone downright cocky, like he expects everyone to know exactly who he is and be in awe of him.

“I have ten marks, one of which is air. Can someone tell me something about the air mark?” he asks again in that cocky tone and there’s silence around the room until a guy at the front puts his hand up and then starts speaking.

“Air is extremely difficult to use on its own, but works better with other element marked powers,”

“Very good, and yes, you are right. All elements can mix, some make others stronger and some can cancel each other out. Fire and air is destructive, and I wouldn’t recommend mixing those for a while,” Mr. Layan says and gives me a pointed look. I’m never going to live that one down.

“Water and air mix perfectly. Protection wards can stop extreme attacks from the air mark. Anyone care to tell me what happens when you mix earth and air?” he asks and everyone is silent, so I put a hand up and wait for him to nod before I answer.

“Tornados. Some of the biggest tornados around the world have been caused by marked using those powers wrong. My mother used to tell me that they shouldn’t be used together at all unless you are certain you can control it.”

“You are right, Miss Crowe. Now, open your textbooks and turn to page forty. I want you to read the next five chapters and write down the important notes.” I pull the textbook on my desk towards me and find the page, only glancing up once before reading and seeing Mr. Layan watching me. A strange look crossing over his face.

* * *

“Miss Crowe, please wait,” Mr. Layan says as I stand up at the end of class and put my phone in my pocket. Gods, what now? I pick my notes up off the table, folding the paper and sliding it into my coat pocket. The textbook is ridiculously boring and filled with useless information on the air mark. I can’t see how I can use any of what I wrote down today. Mr. Layan just sat at the front of class, messing on his iPad. I bet he was playing a game by the way he was concentrating.

“Sure,” I reply, walking towards him at the front of the classroom as everyone else leaves.

“I wish to show you something, come with me,” he says, walking towards the door. I look away, groaning as I look out the window at the sun setting. I just want to get back to my room, steal Mr. Daniels’ junk food, and collapse. Today has been a long day, and after this, it’s going to be dark when I walk back through the woods.

“Come, Miss Crowe,” Mr. Layan snaps as he holds the door open. I walk over and then follow him as he takes me down the busy corridors and towards the back of the academy. We walk into the empty hall, and he closes the doors behind us. The room is slowly getting dark, and I haven’t been in here since I first got my marks. The twelve marks on the wall seem to glow almost from the orange light of the sunset. I look back at Mr. Layan with a clear, unspoken question. Why are we here?

“I know what the twelfth mark is,” he says as he walks over, and I take a step back when I see the threatening look in his eyes. His words almost shock me in silence.

“What is it?” I ask hesitantly, and he laughs as he reaches into his cloak, pulling out a long, silver dagger. The memory of the vision comes flooding back to me, reminding me of Enzo’s words.

“I’m going to kill that teacher for this.”

“You don’t want to do this, not really,” I plead, putting my hands up, and he only laughs, dropping the dagger and using his air power to hold it in the air. I look at the dagger as he twirls it in circles, like it’s a game and not that he is going to try to kill me. I can’t die like this. I think back to what happened in my vision and know there’s a chance Enzo will come for me. The future is never certain and changes all the time, but I have to believe he’s coming.

“It’s nothing personal, Miss Crowe. But, you’re too powerful, and I won’t let you destroy the world. The council and everyone who knows the truth of your power has gone mad keeping you alive,” he says, and I instinctively put my hands up to stop the dagger as it flies through the air towards me. I call my protection mark, imagining the shield like I saw Locke do, but it’s no use. The dagger goes straight through the ward and into my stomach, making me scream out in pain. Everything slows as I look down, watching as the dagger slides out of my stomach and flies away again.

“I am sorry for this, Miss Crowe, but there is a reason there is no one alive with twelve powers,” I hear Mr. Layan say, and I force myself to look up as he raises his hand, shooting streams of fire around the room. I don’t need to look around to see he is setting the whole hall on fire.

“You won’t get away with this, they will know it’s you,” I gasp out, placing my hand on my stomach and pressing down as I struggle to keep standing from the pain.

“I don’t plan to stay around and see, Miss Crowe. It doesn’t matter in the end, as they will only think the rebels or someone else did this to you, not me,” he says, his voice confident and cocky once more. The flames around the room grow fiercer. I watch in horror as he walks out of the room, pulling the door shut behind him, trapping me in with the fire and slowly building smoke. I slowly walk towards the door, feeling the heat from the flames, every movement sending pain through my stomach.

“Enzo,” I breathe out when I see him open the door, his dark eyes meeting mine, and the fire in the room seems to reflect in his eyes. Black eyes and flame filled with anger. It’s the last thought I have before everything goes black.