The Silver Siren (Iron Butterfly, #3)(33)

“Did Darren and Fanny return?” I spoke up, searching the main hall for any sign of them.

“I’m sorry, Thalia. They haven’t arrived yet.” Adept Pax looked at me sadly.

“Then how did you know we were coming? How did you know to meet us here?” I challenged.

“I saw the four of you.” Adept Pax touched his forehead. “Here. And I have heavy news to bear. A lot has happened in the last few weeks.”

“We saw that there are troops patrolling the city for curfew.” Kael said.

“Haven’t you heard?” Pax asked and gestured to Joss. “Hasn’t he told you yet?”

“No, we’ve been traveling. We just found each other last night,” I gave out a lame excuse to cover for Joss.

“More Denai have gone missing, this time in the city. And now they’ve taken them from our own school.”

“What?” Kael shouted. “When? How?” Kael was immediately in protective mode, his mind spinning and strategizing.

“They disappeared in the middle of the night. Their beds were slept in, and all of their belongings were still in their room. But the students are just gone,” Pax said in a forlorn voice.

“Show me the rooms of the missing students,” Kael demanded.

“We’ve already searched them for clues. We found no foul play. The windows, doors and locks weren’t tampered with,” Pax added.

“Then that leaves us with one alternative,” Kael’s eyes turned dark. “It seems that our enemy walks among us.”

“You’re thinking an inside job? Impossible. All our staff are loyal to both school and crown.”

“Oh they may be loyal, but loyal to a heavy pocket of gold. Don’t worry, Pax, this doesn’t have to go any farther than our group. But I do need a list of everyone who was on duty, on staff, and present at the Citadel when the students went missing.”

Pax nodded. “This way. I started gathering the information already.” He motioned for Kael to follow him, but paused to address Joss, Hemi and me. “Thalia, your room is still available for you if you want to rest. Joss will see that your friend gets situated, won’t you Joss?”

“Of course, Adept Pax,” Joss said before turning to me and giving me a small smile. “It might take a bit of waking servants and poor Tearsa and Forrest to try and accommodate Hemi. I fear we may have to actually push some beds together.”

“Why you little…” Hemi made a fake grab for Joss’s head as if to box his ears.

I tried to smile, but it felt hollow. Was I in danger? Would they come back for me? I looked over to Kael and felt a little bit of relief. He wouldn’t let them take me. But I couldn’t stop imagining the students in the same predicament that I was in, and the thought made me sick. “I’ll meet up with you both for breakfast,” I called out to their disappearing backs as they turned to head down the hall. The catch in my throat was evidence that I was coming to breaking down and crying.

So I turned and swiftly walked back into the main hall. Not sure where I was heading, I kept walking. I wandered wherever my feet led me and ended up heading toward Adept Kambel’s office.

“So the sewer rat has returned.” A haughty feminine voice interrupted my thoughts.

It didn’t take a genius to recognize Syrani, the most powerful, or should I say most popular, student within the school. She was in her sleeping robes, her hair braided down her back. Her eyes looked wild and I could see a few dark circles under her eyes.

“Why are you wandering around late at night?” I asked.

“I live here. I have every right to come and go as I please. What of you? Did your dirty clansmen bring you back because they no longer wanted you?”

At one time, Syrani may have made me feel self-conscious or pitiful and nervous but not anymore. Now she only grated on my nerves. I let the anger rise to the surface and felt wind blow my hair even though there weren’t any open windows near. I let my skin crackle with power, and I showed her what really lay beneath the surface.

Syrani stepped back and almost toppled over in fear when she saw the difference in my eyes.

“Y-your eye. It’s glowing. You’re not a rat,” Syrani stuttered. She tried to back away down the hall and maintain her confidence, but her fear was obvious. “You’re a freak!”





Chapter 15



“This is highly unusual,” Adept Lorna said. She tilted my face from side to side, studying my eye. Her blue eyes pierced mine. Lorna’s spiky white hair always seemed to be at attention. Her tanned skin and angular face made her look so serious, you’d never guess she had a softer side until you heard her deep throaty laugh. But she wasn’t laughing now. “I’ve never seen anything like this. Have you, Kambel?”

“No, I haven’t. I once read about another race with eyes silver like the moon, but they weren’t here in Calandry.”

“Where?” Lorna asked.

“Not where…when.” The elderly adept known as Kambel Silverbane spoke. Taking off his spectacles, he cleaned them and slid them back onto his pointed nose as if by that action alone he could clear up the puzzle of the one discolored eye. He scratched his head with an ink-stained hand. “I came across a scroll from Avellgarde’s archives that spoke of another race from before the fall. Before the Denai came to Calandry. But that scroll disappeared shortly after I found it.”