Read Whirl (Ondine Quartet Book 1) for Free Online Page A

sparkled as she gave me a wide smile.
    The other ondine had short auburn hair, a
light smattering of freckles, and large emerald eyes that observed
me with studious curiosity. The tight black pants and sophisticated
top on her slender frame made her look like she'd just stepped off
a New York fashion runway.
    "You must be Kendra," the blonde cheerily
said. "I'm Chloe Moreaux and this is Aubrey Rossay."
    Aubrey gave a friendly nod. "Don't let Ry
freak you out." Her voice was a bit deeper than Chloe's and tinged
with seriousness.
    "We looked up your school file earlier," she
continued with an apologetic look. "Just wanted to know a little
more about the new girl."
    Much as I didn't like the idea of someone
going through my private files, I couldn't begrudge them their
interest.
    "Thought Pelletier had student files under
lock and key."
    Ryder laughed. "As if that would be a
problem. Aubrey is our resident genius. It took her all of three
seconds to get into the school server and access it."
    "She does everything fast," Chloe added and
Ryder snickered. Aubrey shot him a dirty look.
    "I meant her mind," Chloe pointed out. "You
should see her on the computer. She's like one of those crazy
hackers you see in thriller movies."
    "Really?" My estimation of them shot up
exponentially.
    Aubrey shrugged, a slight flush tingeing her
cheeks. "Sorry about checking out your file. Pelletier assigned me
as your tutor and we were curious."
    I grinned and she visibly relaxed. "I'm glad
I have someone like you tutoring me."
    "So you're what all the fuss is about."
    The sardonic voice came from a guy with
short, dark hair and piercing hazel eyes with flecks of green. He
was joined by another boy whose dirty blonde hair was tied back
into a ponytail. He wore a t-shirt that had a huge Facebook button.
It read, "How Can I Block You in Real Life?"
    "Kendra Irisavie, meet Cam Martin." Ryder
nodded at the dark-haired boy who sat without acknowledging me.
"And that's Alex Girard." T-shirt boy gave a quick, friendly grin
before tearing into his lunch.
    "Haven't seen this hellhole get into such a
tizzy before," Cam said. Even with my back turned, I felt the
concentrated focus on our table.
    "That's because nothing ever happens here,"
Alex muttered.
    "Cam, Alex, and I are recruits in the
chevalier program," Ryder told me, taking a bite of the nasty
looking green vegetables. He made a pained face. "God, talk about
cruel and unusual punishment."
    "How are classes here?" I asked.
    "Depends on what teacher you get. We're all
juniors," Ryder motioned to everyone at the table, "which means we
have most of our regular classes together. In the afternoon, we go
to chevalier training classes while ondines take elemental magic or
Virtue classes."
    Ryder gestured rudely at the hot guy and his
group that I'd scoped out earlier. "Redavi demillirs take afternoon
classes in business and politics. But they usually just hang around
bragging about their inheritances."
    "Fucking Redavi," Cam muttered under his
breath. He glanced up at Chloe and Aubrey. "No offense."
    "What's the training program like?"
    "We enter our last phase next year," Alex
said between bites. "They'll divide us up into elite and corps
tracks. The ones chosen into the elites train with the gardinels to
enter the upper echelon of service, while the corps group trains to
serve in the main body of the chevaliers."
    "After that, we get inducted." Cam shrugged.
"Wasn't your dad Head Chevalier? Didn't he tell you all this?"
    "Nope," I said and almost gagged after taking
a bite of the vegetables. "He died when I was three, and my mother
never told me."
    "What about your magic classes?" Chloe asked.
"We looked at your schedule, but you had none assigned. Do you have
a Virtue?"
    I began peeling my orange. Better stick to
eating things that looked normal. "Pelletier assigned me another
tutor. I have experience with my Empath Virtue, but I guess this
person is supposed to be some kind of specialist."
    Five sets of