The Legend of the Eight: The Twisted (Book 3)

4: Seniors

FOUR: SENIORS
APRIL 4
KATE DIAMOND

"WHITE CARDIGAN OR DENIM JACKET?" Kate asked Nicole, holding both options up to the mirror and comparing them with the pale-yellow sundress she was wearing.

Nicole glanced over while she slipped into her Sperry's and then nodded towards the jacket.

"Denim," she said and then did a twirl in the mirror behind Kate, examining her own outfit—jeans, blush-colored blouse and an assortment of necklaces. "Are you ready?"

Kate tossed the cardigan onto her bed and then slipped into the denim jacket, fitting it against the dress perfectly. Then she looked at Nicole and smiled.

"Ready."

"UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES ARE YOU to mention anything about home, the Academy, or magic," Clarion instructed the teens as they shuffled around the kitchen, getting ready for their first day at the new school. Many of them were exceptionally stressed that morning—primarily Kate's parents who were flying out to Pittsburgh once the Eight were at school, to update everyone at the Armory and figure out their next move.

"Calm down, Mom," Wil said, rolling her eyes. "No one's going in, wands ablaze. We'll be on our best behavior."

Across the kitchen where he was securing a water bottle in his bag, Drew shot Wil a look and she started to giggle, clearly a result of some twisted language only they could understand.

"Walter and I will be back around dinner tomorrow," Clarion said next. "I'm sorry we won't be home to hear about your first day but Damon will be around if you need him."

Kate blinked over to her sister—who was still sleeping with Damon, though not to their parents' knowledge—and then looked back at her mother.

"These trips to the Armory," she said in a wary tone. "Are you and Dad making them a regular thing now that we're in the same Realm? Don't you think that will draw attention?"

Clarion shook her head. "Jeremiah's focus is not here which gives us a bit of flexibility. Your father and I believe there is a solution to get the World of Magic back and it lies within the Armory. Now it's our job to find it."

Kate tapped her fingers on the granite counter. From the foyer, Damon entered the kitchen, twirling two sets of keys around his fingers.

"Cars are both in the driveway," he said to Clarion before tossing the keys—the first set to Nicole and the second to Drew.

"Thank you, Damon," Clarion smiled and then turned back to the Eight. "The Jeeps are a privilege. Any funny business and you'll be walking to school, got it?"

For the first time in her life, Kate saw her mother behaving almost like a normal mom. It was a strange sight.

Everyone nodded to the agreement and mumbled 'okay's which seemed to please Clarion. She then turned to her husband, who was in the middle of dissecting the coffee machine due to the fact he had never used one before. It was comical watching her parents struggle to behave as normal people—without the palace staff waiting on them hand and foot. She never realized just how incapable they were of handling daily tasks.

"Is everything packed, Walter?"

He smacked the side of the machine as if it would somehow snap it to life (in that moment, Kate realized the machine was unplugged) and then he abandoned the entire process and nodded at his wife.