As soon as the door closed, I shut my eyes and willed myself to take a deep breath. My heart was pounding, and I could feel myself losing control. My brain was running in circles, trying to make sense out of the last few minutes. Who were these people and how did they know what I was? How many other shifters were there in the world? Did I dare to even think about leaving?
Yes, I dared. There were only two things keeping me from packing my bags and being ready for that taxi when it came. The first was the one thing that had kept me here, instead of taking my chances of living in the streets. Blake was the only family I had and I wouldn’t leave him. The second thing keeping me here…
The door opened behind me, and I yelped in surprise.
“Blake,” I exclaimed, running straight into his arms.
Startled, he patted me on the back. “I know I’ve been gone for a couple of days, but I didn’t know I was this missed,” he joked. Then, his hand stilled on my back. “Hey…hey, what’s wrong, Claire?”
Gently, he pried me off him and looked down, his worried brown eyes taking in every inch of my face…no doubt looking for the bruises that might have occurred in his absence.
“What’s going on? Why are you shaking?” When I didn’t answer immediately, he took me by the hand, led me to the couch, and sat down beside me. “Tell me what he did to you.”
He being his father, I knew.
“Nothing,” I lied. I knew that there would be a big blow up whenever my foster dad made it home if Blake knew he’d gotten rough. My eyes landed on the pamphlet on the coffee table and I picked it up, hands still trembling as I handed it to him. “They came by today and offered me a full scholarship.”
Blake let out a low whistle as he thumbed the pages. “Imperium University. I’m impressed. They only take the best for scholarships, I hear. You’re going, right?” He looked up at me. “You would be crazy not to.”
“I don’t know.”
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Your life will completely change.”
You can say that again.
“Plus, it would get you out of here.” He glanced around the living room. “You would be safer there.”
That’s up for debate. I thought about the griffin headmistress and the cute guy who scorched the top of the candle, simply by breathing.
“But what about you?” I asked, coming to the reason I didn’t want to leave. “You’re the only family I have. What will happen to you if I go?” Sure, I wasn’t exactly his protector, but…
“I’ll be all right. I’ve been planning on telling you something, anyway. Seems like now is the perfect time,” he said, taking one of my hands in his.
Bad news. It’s always bad news when he does this, my brain screamed. The last time he took my hand was three months ago when he found our cat dead in the street.
“I’m planning on moving out in a few weeks. I’m eighteen now, and Dad can’t stop me.” He hesitated. “I didn’t want to leave you behind, and was trying to get them to let me bring you.”
It was always them. The gang, or people, or wherever it was Blake went to. He never said their names and whenever I asked, he would only shrug.
“But you’re seventeen and still a ward of the state, so they said no. But now, you’ll have a safe place to be, Claire. This was meant to happen. You have to go to Imperium,” he said, squeezing my hand. “If ever there was a thing called destiny, this is it.”
Destiny. Fate. I was meant to leave him and go to a school filled with people who could shapeshift.
“Tell me you’ll go,” he implored. “If you are there, I won’t have to worry whether you’re okay.”
I wanted to say no, because there was one other thing that kept me from wanting to go. The instant Magda Herensy and Logan stepped into my house, I could feel their magic. Instinct told me if I concentrated hard enough, I could tap into it and shift into what they were. I didn’t know how, or even why, but in that instant, I knew I was something more than a fox. That scared me more than anything. What was I, really?
Blake’s eyes held questions, and I knew he was wondering what he would do if I refused the scholarship.
“You won’t need to worry. I’ll go to Imperium University.”
“Awesome.” The grin that lit up his face was pure joy. I found myself smiling, too, if only because I had managed to make him happy. “I’ll help you pack,” he offered, then glanced down at his watch, his smile disappearing in an instant. “Crap, they’ll be here to pick me up in ten minutes.”
“You’re leaving already?” He’d been gone for two days and was only coming back for…what exactly?
As if reading my mind, he added. “I needed to grab a few pairs of jeans and some of my other stuff. I’ll be back tomorrow evening, though.”
“I’ll be gone by then. Why can’t you tell me who they are? It’s a gang, isn’t it?”
He wouldn’t say, but I knew. There were too many signs that told me he was into something no good. Instead of answering my question, he said, “I’ll be able to see you soon. I’ve heard the students always have their weekends off. You’ll be able to come back and visit me.”
Yeah, but will you tell me where?
“I promise I’ll see you again, Claire,” he said firmly. “Nobody can stop us. We’re family, and nothing will ever change that.”
Exactly ten minutes later, he was gone and I was alone. The only thing I saw of “them” were the taillights of a dark-colored car as it sped away from the curb.
“I suppose it’s time to pack,” I murmured as I went to my room and pulled out the suitcase from under my bed. It only took a matter of minutes to put everything I owned inside.
I stood in the empty room for a moment, expecting some feeling of nostalgia to wash over me—for some sort of good memory to come and ingrain itself into my memory for later. I sighed. Blake was the only good thing that had ever come from this foster home. There was nothing else I wanted to keep.
I glanced at the clock. It was only early evening. I thought about going to Hadley’s and telling her that I’d decided to go to Imperium, but decided against it. Hadley had enough going on, and I didn’t want to worry her. Besides, if Blake were right, I’d be able to visit her in a few days and thank her for telling them about me.
My brain went back to the griffin that had been in the living room, tail twitching like that of a lion, while eagle eyes watched me with such sharp cunning I’d found myself wondering which instinct the griffin depended on most.
Then there was Logan. With the scales and the smoke, I was almost certain he had to be a dragon. But dragons were imaginary creatures, weren’t they? I shook my head. So were griffins, and I’d definitely seen one of those.
I went to Blake’s room, hoping he’d left his old laptop behind. Luckily for me, it was still hidden under the bed. I sat down and opened it, then pushed the power button.
“Imperium…I’ll start with that,” I muttered, typing the school name into the internet’s search engine.
A picture of the imposing university, built of solid white marble, filled the screen. Even from the picture, I could tell it was arched like a shield, as if it had been built to protect something behind it. Giant spiraling pillars stood at the front entrance, and two concrete gargoyles sat at the bottom of the stairs.
I flipped through the different links, searching for any clues as to what I was getting myself into, but it was basically the same information that was in the pamphlet. Nothing at all on what the school’s real purpose was. I didn’t actually expect to find anything, but still I had to try.
Deciding to attempt a different angle, I went back to the search engine, typed “griffin,” and watched several images similar to the one I had seen in the living room pop up. “Jackpot,” I muttered as I looked at the winged, furry beast.
“The griffin was considered a protector,” I read aloud. “Well, that’s useful information. Good to know we’ll be protected.” Since it was a mythological creature, there wasn’t much more I could find, so I went back and typed “dragon” as I thought about the guy who had been in my living room just a short time before.
This seemed to be a more popular search and a good bit of information popped up, though I was fairly certain most of it wasn’t true.
I scrolled through the information, noting dragons were often referred to as “protectors.” Another link told me evil dragons had usually been slain by heroes, while good ones had been known to give wise advice. “Are you good or evil, Logan?” I muttered.
Time flew by as I continued to research every mythological creature I could think of. Werewolves, Chupacabra, the Loch Ness monster, and more filled my screen before I called it quits. By then, moonlight was streaming through the window. I looked at the clock. It was past ten.
After brushing my teeth, I went back to my room and set the alarm clock. Sleep came for me the instant I shut my eyes.
My dreams were made of nightmares and secrets as one creature after another took its place in my head. Somewhere in the mix, my foster father’s face showed up, his mouth contorted in an evil leer. I heard a slight pop, and then Logan’s face appeared. In the end, an enormous green dragon chased everything evil away.