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and told him there
would be no more talking. To my astonishment, that actually worked; Darwin
didn’t say another word until we arrived at the university.
    It was pretty majestic as far as schools went, and
pretty creepy as far as castles went. Strangely, it also felt like home.
     
    *          *          *
     
    A few dozen students had also already arrived, but
the professors were nowhere to be seen. It made for a very quiet few days. I
went to Hunt’s office on Friday to see if he was okay and interrupted a very
vocal dispute between him, Flagstone, and Remington. I understood Hunt’s issue
with the situation; he could see through his familiar’s eyes and no one wanted
to see that much of their daughter. Still, I thought the wolf shifter was good
for Remy. They were both visibly happier together.
    I returned to my room to find Henry in this jaguar
form playing with his pillow. I couldn’t find any appropriate response until I
saw Darwin sitting in his chair. “What did you do?”
    He grinned and shrugged. “I might have accidentally
put a bit of catnip in his pillowcase.”
    “He’s going to kill you when he comes out of it.”
    “No worries. He’ll do that for ten or so more minutes
and then walk away from it.”
    Addison arrived on Saturday, so she and Henry spent
the three days of the full moon hiding away in her private professor’s room on
the top floor. One very interesting change I discovered was that Zhang Wei was
not only a teacher, but also the new head of all the feline shifters. Since
many of them, like Henry, were solitary creatures, Hunt thought that Zhang Wei
would be better suited than Alpha Flagstone. The wolf alpha was still in charge
of all other shifters. Li Na never looked so heartbroken.
    She sat next to Darwin on Sunday morning and my young
roommate asked her something in Chinese. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
    She answered in Chinese and Darwin turned to me. “She
said her brother is trying to kill her. He doesn’t think she works hard
enough.”
    “What’s that?” I asked, pointing to a symbol on her
wrist. It looked like a tattoo of the four elements inside a black circle, but
she tugged the sleeve of her red blouse over it before I could get a better
look.
    “Is nothing,” she said, then got up and left.
    “That wasn’t weird or anything.”
    “Amy!” Darwin said excitedly, forgetting about Li Na
when he saw his girlfriend. He stood, pulled his hood over his head, tightened
the drawstring, and then hugged Amelia as she reached us. The woman held still
so that her clothes wouldn’t crease and expose skin that could hurt him.
    She turned to me when he let her go. “How’s… oh…
sorry. Astrid is still missing then?”
    I nodded. “You can tell that from my emotions?” Her
power wasn’t all that different from mine.
    “I can see it on your face.”
     
    *          *          *
     
    On Monday morning, knowing my element was air this
semester, I made several guesses as to who my elemental mentor was. I was only
half listening to Darwin’s lecture on recycling plastic at breakfast when Henry
made a soft sound in the back of his throat. Darwin and I both turned to see
who was walking up behind us. My jaw dropped.
    Vincent handed me my schedule. “Good morning, Devon.”
    “Morning. Are you a teacher here now?”
    He smiled brightly. “It is much better than being on
the council. I am teaching the advanced divination classes, which you will be
in.”
    “But I haven’t taken beginning divination classes.”
    “You’re going to be my assistant this semester.”
    “I’m not getting up at five to wake everyone else up,
deliver messages, and run errands,” I said. I got a dirty look from one of the
assistants who happened to be handing Henry his schedule at that moment.
    “Not every assistant does that. We should save this
conversation for private. Come to the library where you practiced with me last
semester after you finish your