"Are we sure it's her?" I questioned for what felt like the seven hundredth time. Our team was sent here to retrieve a supernatural, but so far nobody had shown the usual signs. Sure, Lennox seemed different, but I was afraid that the wounded puppy vibe was clouding their judgement. Though, according to Van, she showed some of her bullies what she could do. A chuckle almost escaped at that thought, I hated the kids at this school for breaking such an interesting girl. Well, maybe a bit bent, not quite broken.
"I'm almost positive it's her," Lachlan said as he sat against the headboard of my bed and flipped through his phone. He didn't even bother looking up, which only made me more angry. They should be taking this seriously, it’s our first assignment and we need to do well!
"Stop shouting, we are taking this seriously. We can use tomorrow and Sunday to get a feel for everything. If it's that nasty Clara girl, I'm out. She can stay here," he said, his voice full of disgust. I couldn't blame him, even I wanted to see her knocked down a peg or two, and I’m usually the calm and collected one.
Evander turned from his spot to face us. "What do you think she is?" He looked excited and far too invested in this. It’s unlike him, and I can’t seem to wrap my head around why they all seem so convinced. It’s more than that though, he’s acting like he found his soul mate. If she's not our target, this isn't going to end well.
Tristan met my eyes when I sent that thought to him and grimaced, nodding so subtly that I doubt anyone else saw. The thought of leaving Lennox behind made me uneasy, though. I was shocked she made it this long. We had watched this school for weeks before we finally gave up and enrolled. Thankfully, being friends with a vampire had its perks. It was easy to get the school to accept five new students with no notice and minimal paper history, if you use a bit of compulsion on them.
We go to the Obsidian Cove Supernatural Academy… that one will be fun to explain to Lennox. Close in name but worlds apart. A large chunk of the curriculum at the Academy was doing missions for o
ur territory, starting small and moving up. The Regency, our government, had a radar set up to detect fluctuations of magic in the human side of the world. It was an interesting bit of magical tech, but also quite effective. When the radar indicated someone was here at the Prep school, we figured it would be an awful, boring mission full of rich kids and snobby teachers. None of us wanted to enroll, but it could be months before our target showed any signs and we didn't have time for that. So here we are with a joint room and one of us in each of her classes listening to boring human Professors blather on about things none of us care about in the slightest. But if Lennox is in fact our supernatural it will all have been worth it and maybe even gain us a little clout back at the Academy.
Aeson, the king of subtlety, walked into the room, banging the door against the wall before slamming it behind him. "Guys, I didn't find her anywhere," he announced, clearly failing his mission to trail her when she didn't show up at dinner.
"That doesn't mean anything, chill," Lachlan said, tossing his phone aside and finally focusing on us. Apparently she’s interesting enough for him to focus.
Aeson paced anyway, clearly not wanting to calm down. "I think I have a way to see what she is," he announced, stopping and facing us, his face determined. "As a healer, I learned to read a person's magical essence; otherwise, it's a shot in the dark when healing or cleansing someone. If I can at least touch her, I can narrow down her specific magical signature. But she'd need a hell of a distraction to not notice the magic."
"At least that would end this eternal debate," Van deadpanned, looking at me.
I held my hands up in defense, not wanting another argument. "If she is, then I'll drop it, and we can move forward," I conceded. They all nodded, renewed looks of determination.
"Yeah, well... we need to find her first," Aeson reminded us, finally sinking onto his bed.
"Tristan, what are her thoughts like?" I asked, unable to hold back the curiosity. He shrugged for a moment, looking uncomfortable. He hated betraying people like that, especially people like Lennox who were obviously very private, but now was not the time for that.
"It's dark. She hates this place, and she's lonely. But she also gets angry and protective when they tease her around us, like she's trying to protect us. She also finds us annoying when we interrupt her, but she likes having us around," he explained, his face scrunching up as he sorted through what he’d picked up over the past few days. "Women are confusing," he concluded with a shake of his head.
"Well, we need to work on being friends for her then. Try and get to know her, so she's more comfortable with us. Because if she is the one setting off the supernatural radar, then we need to coax out her powers," I ordered, letting out a long sigh.
This isn't going to be easy.
February 24
Afternoon
Lennox
A loud knock on our door broke the silence. Since it was just me inside, I had no choice but to answer, though I wasn't stupid enough to not be prepared. I spread my feet in a defensive stance before reaching for the door. Evander's smirk greeted me as I peeked out, his friends standing behind him.
"Where have you been, Lennie?" Tristan asked as they came barreling in, settling into different spots and making themselves at home.
"Here," I said slowly, drawing out the word. "How did you find my room?"
"We stalked you," Aeson teased, giving me a fake evil laugh.
"I asked someone," Calev said from my desk chair, his legs crossed as he leaned back and studied me. His intensity still freaked me out, even after a few days of dealing with it.
"We were worried about our girl. You haven't been to a single meal since lunch on Friday," Evander said, walking forward and stopping right in front of me. For the first time his cocky smile was replaced by a glare. I started to shrink under its intensity before squaring my shoulders and meeting his glare with one of my own.
"And?" I challenged, putting my hands on my hips. Who the hell are they to demand answers? They’re not my boyfriends! Hell, I’m not even calling us friends at this point.
"Your trashcan here has no food wrappers, plus you have dark circles under your eyes," Calev added unhelpfully.
"I don't eat on the weekends. I prefer to hibernate here when my roommate goes home," I explained, moving over to my bed and taking a seat. "Seriously, why do you guys keep talking to me? Just fucking tell me and get it over with." My eyes narrowed as I waited, wanting to get the news over now, instead of endlessly waiting for the other shoe to drop. Did I want friends? Yes. But it's no coincidence they all chose me, and I doubted their reasoning was good.
"We have to have some ulterior motive to speak to a pretty girl?" Tristan asked, letting out a surprised laugh, sounding a bit exasperated. The others all look confused at my question. They're good.