Branded Page 6

  “Does it freak you out to know you’re being watched all the time?” Rory asks as he puts drinking glasses in a kitchen cabinet. He’s referring to the cameras installed in our apartment.

  “A little. Okay, a lot,” I admit. “Someone is probably monitoring our conversation right now.”

  Chloe and I definitely aren’t happy about the camera situation. Frank promised the cameras are only recording in the kitchen and main living areas. He swears there are no cameras in the bathrooms or bedrooms. I sincerely hope he’s being honest. No one needs to see me in my skivvies.

  Equally unsettling are the panic buttons scattered throughout the apartment. Most are hidden in everyday items like the remote control, a book and a soda can in the fridge, but there is a huge button in Chloe’s room. Chloe joked that it looks like the giant red button in the Staples commercials, but Frank wasn’t amused.

  Rory looks over at me. “You alright Chelse?”

  “This isn’t what I thought college would be like.” I get choked up. “For any of us.”

  Rory comes over and gives me a hug. “Chelse, it’s going to be fine. You like to have everything planned out, but life throws you curveballs sometimes.”

  He’s right. I’m not really upset about the apartment or the Guard. It has more to do with how different things are turning out than I thought they would.

  Rory kisses my forehead. “It’s still you and me Chelse. Always has been. Always will be.”

  I smile. “You’re the best boyfriend ever.”

  “I know.” He pulls away and makes a silly face at the camera in the kitchen corner. I smack his arm, but I’m laughing.

  “What?” he asks. “They’re probably really bored.”

  ---

  Chloe

  My first few weeks at Leviston are hectic. Between classes, homework, and my additional Verhena training, I have no time to sit still. I am constantly running from one place to the next and have little to no social interaction with my classmates.

  That being said, no one seems suspicious of me. Everyone is too busy dealing with their own issues. I can’t help but roll my eyes when I hear my classmates complain about their busy school schedules. They don’t even know!

  The Verhena training is insane. I knew it would be intense, but I was not prepared for what Frank and company throw at me. Every day my training begins with Frank kicking my ass. Plain and simple. Yesterday he broke my arm. I put my arm out to catch myself as I fell onto the gym mats and Frank pancaked me. Luckily Matthew is a healer and was able to fix it in a jiffy.

  “This is ridiculous!” I screamed at Frank after my arm was healed. “Why are we doing all of this combat training? When I have my full power, I won’t have to lay a hand on anybody. I will blast the hell out of them with magic!”

  Frank was not persuaded. “Last time I checked, you don’t have your full power yet. In the meantime, you need to know how to fight.”

  “Fine.” I stomped my foot. “No more breaking my arm though! That shit hurts!”

  Frank laughed, but then beat me up again. I’m getting better at dodging him, although my bruises don’t show it.

  After Frank uses me as a personal punching bag, I have magic training. I am learning new things in my regular classes, but these extra training sessions focus on advanced strength and combat spells.

  When I walk into the gym today, Frank has a surprise for me.

  “Dean Lucas is coming in for your advanced magic session. She is going to be your primary instructor for a while.”

  “Dean Lucas?”

  Frank nods. “She has amazing magical abilities. She’s very well-rounded. Not nearly as powerful as the Verhena, but the most powerful witch at Leviston.”

  I let this sink in. “Wait a minute. Did you tell her about me?”

  “Of course.”

  “What do you mean ‘of course’? You’ve been drilling it into my head since day one that I can’t tell anyone who I am, yet you can tell whoever you want?”

  Frank clenches his jaw. “This is different. Dean Lucas had to know. How do you think we got an entire apartment building on campus to ourselves?”

  I narrow my eyes. “You asshole. It wasn’t your information to share.”

  “Seriously? I’m an asshole?”

  “Yes,” I hiss.

  “I’m keeping you safe,” Frank insists. “I have done everything in my power to pull this together for you. I am getting you the best training possible. And I’m an asshole?”

  “I don’t know Dean Lucas from Adam. Just because you trust her, doesn’t mean I do.”

  Frank opens his mouth, then abruptly shuts it. To my surprise, he says, “You’re right. I shouldn’t have told her without running it by you.”

  Did he just say I’m right about something?

  After we stand awkwardly for a few seconds, I say, “Well, what’s done is done. Next time, ask me first.”

  Frank nods. “I will.”

  Dean Lucas is much livelier than I expected. I figured she would be a stuffy woman in a suit. Instead, she shows up in sweatpants and a t-shirt.

  “Hello!” she beams when she walks in the gym. “Nice to finally meet you Chloe!” she says as she shakes my hand.

  Dean Lucas is a short woman with a round belly and auburn hair. She exudes a positive energy, but also has an air of confidence.

  “Word on the street is you’re a powerful witch,” I say with a grin.

  She laughs. “Relatively speaking, I suppose I am. Most witches have one or two areas they excel in. I am a jack of all trades, so to speak. Although I’m not nearly as powerful as you will be one day. You will be a master of all the known spells.”

  “What are we going to work on?” I ask her, ignoring the awe in her voice.

  She smiles. “Let me show you one of my favorites.”

  We step outside and into the humidity. I can’t wait for the cooler weather to set in.

  Dean Lucas looks around for a second, then points to a tree. “You see the squirrel over there?”

  I follow her gaze and see a gray squirrel running up the trunk of an elm tree. “I see it.”

  “Watch this,” Dean Lucas says with a grin.

  Without warning, the squirrel stops mid-run. It’s frozen in place, its whole body stuck in an awkward position.

  “Are you doing that?” I ask Dean Lucas with wide eyes.

  “Yep.” She starts a countdown, “Three…two…one...” When she reaches one, the squirrel takes off again as if nothing happened.

  “Wow!” I gush. “That was amazing!”

  Dean Lucas shrugs her shoulders. “It’s okay. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll be able to hold people and objects in place for a lot longer.”

  “Really?”

  “No doubt in my mind.”

  A week later, with Dean Lucas’s supervision and the fire skills Samantha showed me back home, I’m able to freeze a person in place for a couple seconds, then singe them with a mini spark.

  “Nice work,” Frank tells me after practice.

  “Thanks!”

  Of course Frank can’t just leave a compliment sitting on the table. “Pretty soon, you’ll be able to light a candle.”

  “Ha ha. Very funny. Can I go now?”

  “In a second. I have something for you.”

  I follow Frank to a corner of the gym and he hands me a cardboard box.

  “What is this?”

  “Journals.”

  “Journals?”

  He takes the lid off the box. Six books are stacked one on top of the other. I turn my nose away when a musty smell hits me.

  “These are the journals of the previous Verhenas. Your predecessors. I think you should read them.”

  “Um, okay.”

  I walk back to my apartment, drop the box in my closet, and promptly forget it exists.

  A few weeks later, I lie to Frank and tell him I read the journals every night.

  “Good! Any valuable information in there?”


  “Uh, yeah,” I lie. Before he can ask me for details, I scurry off for my training with Dean Lucas.

  The truth is I haven’t opened a single one. My free time is minimal, and I need a few hours in my day when I’m not worrying about being the Verhena. I don’t like being dishonest with Frank, but he wouldn’t understand.

  Guilt must enhance magical power because my training session with Dean Lucas is awesome. I run all the way home to tell Chelsea about my breakthrough.

  I burst through the front door. “Chelsea!”

  “In here!” she yells back.

  I follow her voice to the living room and find her and Rory doing homework.

  “What are you guys up to?” I ask in between breaths.

  Chelsea looks up from her book and smiles. “I’m reading the next chapter for our potions class. This week is illnesses and maladies.”

  “Sounds thrilling,” I say, still catching my breath.

  Chelsea is excelling in our potions and healing classes. The professors love her.

  “Guess what?!” I’m so proud of myself, I’m practically bursting at the seams.

  Chelsea giggles at my excitement. “What?”

  “I started a fire today!”

  “You did!? That’s great!”

  Rory looks up from his book. “What’s going on?”

  Chelsea playfully shakes her head at how oblivious Rory is, but fills him in. “Chloe started a fire today!”

  “With my bare hands,” I add, holding my hands out for them to see.

  Rory smiles. “You’re making great progress.”

  “Let’s see your back,” Chelsea says. She checks my brand every time I make progress to see if my feathers are filling in with gold. I pull up my t-shirt and she walks over to examine me. “There’s more gold today! I swear!”

  “For real?”

  She nods her head vigorously.

  I make a break for my bathroom mirror and take a peek. “You’re right! There is more gold!”

  I walk back into the living room and hug Chelsea. “It’s happening! I’m becoming more powerful.”

  Chelsea grins. “We have more good news. Rory is going to be Professor Steller’s research assistant!”

  Rory stands to take a mini bow as we clap for him. “Thank you! Thank you!”

  “That is amazing Rory. Professor Steller is the best teacher on campus.”

  Rory’s eyes are wide. “He is so smart. I was in awe during his lecture yesterday about the history of the conflict between the wolves and witches.”

  As was I. That little “conflict” is something I have to get personally acquainted with.

  “Crazy how love ends up starting a war, right?” Chelsea adds.

  I frown. “Yeah, the war was really our fault, wasn’t it?”

  “It appears so,” Rory agrees.

  I think back to Professor Steller’s lecture. He was reading from our textbook like it was a dramatic play, motioning with his hands and adding flair to the story.

  “In the late 1800s, Eleanor Wiley, a witch from New York, bought a ticket for a Trans-Atlantic boat ride from New York City to London. It was during this voyage that she met Alexander Groome, a werewolf and her future lover. The two spent a month together in London before travelling home. Upon their return to the United States, Alexander confessed to Eleanor that he was not just any werewolf, he was the leader of the Eastern pack.

  Eleanor was shocked by the revelation, but it didn’t change her feelings for him. However, Alexander was not done confessing. Alexander admitted to Eleanor that he was in fact married and planned to return home to his wife.

  Fueled by her fury, Eleanor killed Alexander. Eleanor’s local coven tried to help her cover up the crime, but they were ultimately unsuccessful. The murder of their pack leader and the subsequent attempt to cover it up enraged the werewolves and ignited a brief, yet bloody war.

  After three years of brutality, both sides came to a truce. The wolves retreated to the west, and the witches promised to stay in the east.” Professor Steller snapped the book shut and concluded, “And that ladies and gentleman is why you cannot travel to California.”

  “What I don’t understand is the textbook said wards were placed over the boundary line to stop the wolves from crossing into the east, right?” Chelsea asks us.

  Rory nods. “Yes.”

  “If that’s true, how did the wolves cross into the east to kill Barbara?”

  “Well,” Rory explains, “I talked to Professor Steller after class yesterday and he said wards don’t last forever. They lose strength over time. If a ward is not recharged, it loses its power. The original wards between the east and west were placed long ago. After about fifty years or so, we stopped renewing them.”

  I interject. “We dropped the ball?”

  Rory shrugs his shoulders. “Yes and no. The pure amount of time and energy it would take to maintain the boundary line didn’t make sense given that both sides were voluntarily upholding the agreement.”

  “Until now,” Chelsea says.

  “Right. Until now. Professor Steller believes most wolves want to keep the truce. He thinks whoever killed Barbara did so without the authority of the pack leader.”

  Interesting. “Maybe so, but we can’t take our chances.”

  Chelsea reaches out and squeezes Rory’s shoulder. “You’re so smart.”

  He leans in and gives her a quick kiss.

  “Blah!” I jump up from the couch. “I’m hitting the shower.”

  After my shower and a quick dinner of macaroni and cheese (a girl needs to carbo load), I sit down to read our potions homework. Just as I’m getting into cures for the stomach flu, there’s a knock at the front door.

  I look through the peephole to see Frank. “What’s up?” I ask when I open the door. “Here to beat me up some more?”

  Frank smiles. We get along now. I think being able to punch me in the face helps him deal with me.

  “I wanted to bring you a burner phone.”

  I light up. “Is it time for an Elliott call?”

  “Yep. Here ya go. There’s thirty minutes on it. Use them wisely.”

  I give Frank a high five. “You’re awesome.”

  “Tell me that tomorrow during combat training.”

  I run to my bedroom and close the door. Rory and Chelsea are out, but I want my privacy in case they come home. And I don’t want the Guard listening to my conversation from the cameras in the living room.

  I’ve talked to Elliott once a week since I moved to Leviston. The conversations have been a bit like getting-to-know-you sessions. Elliott is easy to talk to and he makes me laugh. It’s nice to have something to look forward to that doesn’t involve magic or combat training.

  “Hey baby,” Elliott says smoothly when he answers.

  I love hearing his voice.

  I tell Elliott about my day and starting a mini-fire. I also tell him about my tattoo.

  “Awesome!” Elliott always acts so excited when I tell him about my small milestones.

  Then he tells me about his day. “I branded another girl with a hawk today. I think she’s terrified.”

  We both laugh.

  “My last three out of four brands have been hawks. Think it’s because of the issue with the werewolves?”

  “Probably,” I say. “I hope it doesn’t come to an all-out battle. That would be awful.”

  “I’m sure it won’t,” Elliott assures me. “Neither side wants to repeat history.”

  I sit down on my bed. “Our professor told us about the conflict yesterday.”

  “Ah, yes. Hell hath no fury, as they say.”

  “No doubt. I think Eleanor lost it a little bit.” I pause for a second, then add, “I can’t imagine ever being that upset with a guy. Well, except for your brother. I’d like to take a knife to him a few times.”

  Elliott laughs. “Frank’s harmless.”

  “Easy for you to say! He didn’t break your arm.”

  “True.” There
’s a few seconds of silence, then Elliott asks, “Is it safe for me to assume you’ve never had your heart broken?”

  I consider this. “No. I’ve been sad after a breakup, but never heartbroken.” I don’t tell him I’ve ended every relationship I’ve been in. I don’t want to scare him off.

  “Have you ever been in love?”

  “No, I guess not. You?” I’m not sure I want the answer to this question, but he asked first.

  “Yeah, once.”

  I twirl a strand of hair around my finger. “Who was it?”

  “A girl I dated a couple years ago.”

  “What happened?”

  “She didn’t like that I travel so much.”

  “To give the branding tattoos?”

  “Yep.”

  “Oh, that stinks. I’m sorry.” I try to envision this girl. The girl who Elliott was in love with.

  “Hey, I’m over it. Plus, if she was still around, I wouldn’t be talking to you.”

  “Her loss. My gain.” I make light of it, but I’m still thinking of his ex. Is this what jealousy feels like?

  “Enough about my love life. Let’s talk about yours.”

  “There’s not much to tell. I’ve never been in love, remember?”

  “How is that possible?”

  I lean my head back on the headboard of my bed. “I haven’t met someone I had those kind of feelings for.”

  “You’ve never had a boyfriend?”

  “I didn’t say that,” I correct him. “I said I’ve never been in love.”

  “How many boyfriends then?”

  “Define ‘boyfriend.’”

  Elliott laughs. “A boyfriend is someone you went on more than ten dates with.”

  “Hmmmm… I’ve had five boyfriends.”

  “Five? And none of them did it for you?”

  “Nope.”

  “What was wrong with them, if I may ask?”

  I smile. “They just weren’t, I don’t know, special. I never had butterflies in my stomach or felt like I wanted to be with them every moment of every day. If they were around, great. If they weren’t, that was fine too.”

  “I see.” Elliott pauses and I can tell he has another question.