Page 20 of Misfit Monsters
Before I can catch it, a spurt of my chilling power shoots out of me.
I glance over in time to see the two men in the parking lot skidding on the slick ice that formed out of nowhere beneath their feet. One topples and smacks his knee hard enough that I hear the crack of bone from where I'm standing. He groans in pain.
A car that was just pulling out of its spot skids on the spreading slick patch. Its tires screech in the instant before it slams into the trunk of a minivan.
Oops.
"Hail," Shanty growls at my shoulder. She yanks me off the path, away from the lot.
My pulse is already slowing, but the tang of adrenaline lingers, turning my thoughts and my tongue sour. "It was only a little ice. No one had any reason to think I caused it."
The siren glares at me. "No one had any reason to expect sudden ice in the middle of May. And you hurt that man. He wasn't even near you."
There were other men who did more than hurt. There were others where I didn't doenough.
All I was doing was putting the vermin in their place.
Saying that will only frustrate her more. My hand tightens around the near-empty chip bag.
I aim one of my charming grins at Shanty—the type that sets off giggles among half the female shadowkind in my dorm and a couple of the men too. “I was almost at the end of the path. Can’t you find the goodness in your heart to give me a few points?”
She sighs. “You know it’s not a point system. It’s pass/fail. And that was a definite failure.”
I flex my muscles subtly beneath my button-up tee. “You really are something to look at when you’re annoyed. I could make it up to you.”
She sputters a laugh. “Are you trying to seduce me now?You’rereally something, Hail, and I don’t mean that in a good way. If you aren't even going to try, you might as well go on back to the shadow realm. The Academy’s spots are for shadowkind who actually want to change."
A different sort of chill sweeps through me with a rush of denial.
No. This is where I'm meant to be, with the trees and the grass and the open sky. To go back to the suffocating darkness, alone...
"I am trying," I say with forced evenness. "My powers lashed out in an instinctive reaction. I didn'tdecideto throw ice at them."
"Do you really think that’s better? Come on, let's get you back to school. I’ll need to talk to the rest of the administration about this."
When I walkthrough the arched front entrance of the reform building, Gloss is standing just inside, eyeing the bonus assignments posted on the bulletin board as if she'd ever consider taking them on. They aren't even forvoluntary students like her.
She's waiting for me, of course. She’s very good at not letting it on, flicking her smooth black hair over her shoulder and lifting her eyebrows slightly as if she didn’t expect to see me coming in, but her interest in me has been obvious enough.
And she deeply wants me to move up in the levels so she can finally show me off over on her side of the school. I won’t be allowed to cross between buildings until I’m at least level four.
My gaze travels over her svelte body. I think she’d let me take her to bed if I offered the invitation. But she’s intense enough when we haven’t exchanged more than a few flirty touches. It’s easier to play around with the beings who don’t want anything more from me than that.
I’m not sure I have any interest in playing a significant role in her life. I’ve seen the excitement shimmer in her eyes when she’s just come back from a stint in the human world, hobnobbing with some elite group.
She wants to blend in. She’s gotten stuck on the idea that I could be a major force in paving her way, but I want to build something in this realm that humans can’t touch. There’s not much overlap between our dreams.
Still, shame pricks at the back of my neck when she takes in the 1 marked on my new badge.
To give the snow wraith credit, she hides her flicker of disappointment with a cool to match my own and tsks her tongue. “You just don’t know how to play nice, do you, Hail?”
I could say something about how she likes me betterwhen I’m being bad, but today’s expedition hasn’t left me with much interest in flirtation. I stride past her. “I never learn my lessons well enough, apparently.”
I keep my tone flippant, and Gloss laughs as if it was a fantastic joke, although it isn’t really one at all. As I head deeper into the school, she slinks after me. “You could burn off some frustration on the morphball court. Make sure you keep your top spot.”
I wave her off. “I’ve had enough games for today. Feel free to find someone else to play with.”
After the brush-off, Gloss doesn’t follow me. She’s got too much dignity for that.
