Tales & Time (Lost Time Academy #1)(38)

“I haven’t played since we left you and moved here. My dad smashed my guitar when I tried to play it instead of practice fighting,” he explains to me. “I can’t even sing anymore because my powers mix in with my voice, and it’s not easy to control.”

“I never liked that asshat,” I admit, not knowing what else to say about the singing. I don’t know his powers and what he can do.

“No one does,” he replies with a tight smile.

“I’m going to fix you, you know that, right?” I ask, resting my head on his shoulder. “No more running away and avoiding me, Tob.”

“You might be running from me instead,” he warns. “I’m not safe for you.”

“I never liked the safe boys.”





Chapter 23





"Lane, if you are playing a joke on me again, I'm going to find scissors and start cutting some pages out," I warn him, because if I've learnt anything about Lane since we met, it’s that he is a master prankster. In science class, we have to use our books to work out recipes and make crystals that we can later use to defend ourselves. I cringe as I remember my last few weeks that I spent working on a smoke crystal only for Lane to give me the wrong ingredient name, and it blew up in my face. "I spent days getting the black dust out of my hair last time you were sure adding that herb would work."

"I have apologised many a time for that little mistake," Lane remarks, but he is laughing, so it doesn't sound the least bit apologetic as I eye him. Why did I get stuck with the most unhelpful book in history? I walk through the tables, slowing down when I see Noah and his perfect potion that he is picking crystals out of. His book is called Lady, which figures, and she is extremely helpful to all the brothers.

"Have you made yours yet?" Noah asks with a cheeky grin. "Would you like some help?" I stick my tongue out at him just as the classroom door is pushed open and Mr. Newman walks in, his eyes aiming straight at me.

"Miss Dormiens, you are called to meet the Masters," Mr. Newman explains, waving a hand at the open door. "Please come with me."

"What?" Noah exclaims, standing up. "Are my parents here?"

"Yes, but you are not called to see them, Mr. Tale," Mr. Newman responds. I pat Noah's shoulder as I pass him by, and shake my head.

"I will be alright on my own, and I will tell you everything later," I whisper to Noah, but it doesn't make him look any less concerned as I grab my book, shutting it with a smile at Lane and placing it in my bag as he grumbles. I chuck my bag over my shoulder before walking out the room, with Mr. Newman quick to catch up to my side as we head down the corridor towards the entrance hall.

"Where are we meeting the Masters then?" I ask Mr. Newman as we dodge a few students running to their classes.

"In the private meeting room which is only opened for Masters’ visits. It is behind the dining room. This way," Mr. Newman instructs, never pausing in his large strides that I struggle to keep up with. We walk across the quiet entrance hall as I try to think of any reasons the Masters might want to meet with me, but I really have no clue. If I'm honest with myself, I'm nervous to see the brothers’ parents again. It's been a long time.

"Why do they want to see me?" I ask Mr. Newman, because it is worth a shot, even if I don't like or trust him.

"You will soon see," he solemnly replies before we stop outside the dining room doors, and he pushes them open. I follow him in, and we walk through the space between the tables until we get to the back of the dining room where there are three doors. I've seen the cooks come in and out of the two doors on the right, but the left door I've never once seen opened. Mr. Newman knocks three times before pushing the door open and holding it for me to walk in. "If you don't already know, you must bow for a Master. Good luck."

I nod once at Mr. Newman before heading into the room, which is deadly silent other than two hooded figures sat on the only chairs in the room. There’s a circle pattern on the ground, and inside it has the cat tattoo thing, but this time the words "Lost Time Academy" are in English. Latin class isn't going well for me—or anyone in it, I suspect—so I'm happy to see some English around here. Both hooded figures lower their cloaks at the same time, revealing their stern expressions and familiar features that remind me of their sons. Mrs. and Mr. Tale. Mrs. Tale is the one in charge; you can see it in the way Mr. Tale looks to her for guidance and for her to speak first. The years have made her stern expression highlighted in wrinkles, and her hair is nearly all grey, the tips still slightly brown like her sons’. She lifts her head higher, a notion I can't help but notice. She thinks she is better than me, than anyone else, I suspect.

"Madilynn Dormiens, the last time we saw you, you were twelve years old and following my sons around like a lost puppy," she informs me, and I smile back at her as I reply.

"I like to think they followed me, not the other way around, Mrs. Tale," I tell her, and she frowns.

"Did they not tell you to bow in the presence of a Master? You are facing two of them," she says, somehow lifting her head higher and making her nose look bigger. I glance at Mr. Tale, who is completely grey-haired now, covered in stress wrinkles that gather a lot on his forehead. He doesn’t look my way, instead he is focused on his hands like they hold all the answers in the world. The Tale brothers didn’t get their love for breaking the rules from him, that’s for sure. I’m actually hard pressed to see any similarities. When I pull my eyes back to Mrs. Tale, she looks extremely pissed. Well, I’ve already annoyed her, I might as well continue on this path. We were never going to be friends.