Page 101 of Firestorm
Three names greeted me, accompanied by their files.
Wyatt Craig, 28
Aiden Brandt, 24
Rafael Sombra, 28
Rafael Sombra? Like, the fucking prince?! Skye, what the fuck!
Shit, Zeph, don’t scream in my brain,I whined.
Sorry. Which one is carrots? Wait, let me guess…Aiden. Carrots’ name is Aiden.
I rolled my eyes and failed to hold in my laugh. A girl walking by looked at me with widened eyes before hurrying away. I nearly laughed out loud again at her reaction.
We know Wyatt and Aiden. I’ve never met Rafael.
You better show me those files.
I rolled my eyes as I scrolled through, sharing the image with Zephyr.
Wyatt was a counselor at the school, we knew that.
“Affinities: Classified”
The fuck does that mean?Zephyr scoffed and my lips twitched.
I don’t know, I replied.They have to be rare.
Wyatt hadn’t been in any special clubs and didn’t have any special awards from his time at the academy. His professors all said he was a great student, and he’d done several work-studies. As a counselor, his colleagues liked and valued him. The students under him had all given glowing reviews as well. His top scores had surprisingly been in Health class. Apparently, Wyatt knew how to fight.
He’d attended the academy from ages sixteen to eighteen, and then he was pulled out for military service. He served six years and then came right back to school, completing his undergrad and graduate degrees in only two years.
So he’s smart sometimes, Zephyr said. I snorted in agreement.
I moved to Aiden, next. The photo on his file was clearly old, and…it wasn’t good. Heavy bags marred the creamy skin under his eyes, his cheeks appeared sunken in a gaunt, his lips chapped. The Aiden I knew now was a completely different person than whoever he’d been a year ago.
Aiden was listed as areintroducedstudent, on a strict grading plan. It looked like there had been a lot of meetings to decide whether or not he was allowed to be reintroduced. I raised my eyebrows in surprise. He hadn’t mentioned anything about that to me. Then again…I hadn’t exactly asked.
I’m so bad at this girlfriend thing.
Zephyr laughed, loud and sudden in my mind and I cringed as I realized I’d just sent that thought through to him.
You’re the Key, Skye. You don’t have to be good at anything. It’s the Links’ job to be good to you. You’ll give them all a power boost, of course. It’s in their best interest for you to be happy.
I bit back my retort, my eyes traveling over the new photo on my screen.
