Raven of Water

Chapter 11: Meet Kai

After a couple days of lying low at my apartment, I'd worked up the strength to go back to work. I needed something to focus myself, something to center me as I grappled with the bombshell information which had been dropped on me.

The apocalypse.

That's what I was supposed to make happen.

The fucking apocalypse.

The thought made me sick to my stomach as I helped Brody check the progress of his seeds. We were doing a project in my class. I had the kids put apple seeds in a plastic bag with a wet paper towel. Each bag was labeled with a child's name, and we were watching the progress of seed germination. But Brody's seeds weren't doing well. I'd noticed that where the other kids' seeds had already began sprouting, Brody's were lagging behind.

"Ms. Lexi, howcome mine don't have green like everyone's?"

"Oh, Brody. Sometimes things take a little longer to grow, but that's OK. They'll still grow."

The boy frowned, looking down at his baggie next to the other ones which were already germinating and sighing before he got distracted by his friends calling him over to play in the house center. I watched the child for a moment, my heart hurting at the sight of his little slumped shoulders as he pretended to cook vegetables for his friends with little plastic food and pots.

When none of the children were watching me, I sighed before placing my palm over Brody's bag. My heart began to race as I willed my powers out and into the seeds to find out what the matter was. I sensed the tendrils of my abilities snaking out and wrapping around the seed's consciousness, probing and prodding for the answer.

Then it hit me.

The seeds were...not sick but were reluctant. They didn't like something about the conditions in the baggie, but I knew that I could make them happy. Smiling faintly now that I had a clearer picture of what was going on, I willed a sense of calm into them as I urged my powers out. The seeds, responding to the violet energy, perked up before suddenly sprouting open, and I gasped and pulled my hand back just before I made them outgrow their bag.

Too big. Too much power. And now Brody's sprouts were larger than everyone else's. But that was alright. At least they were growing now, and I'd stopped my power from making them turn into full-grown apple trees out of nowhere.

"Why are you making that child's seeds grow?" Kirroz's voice at the door to my classroom had me jumping and whirling around.

Mercifully, the kids hadn't noticed him yet, and I hissed and stormed over to him then placed my hand on his forearm before I could question the fact that I was making physical contact with a demon. His muscles flexed under my touch. He was warm and...refreshing. Like the water in a shallow pool on a really, really hot summer day. When I saw the man's perfectly trimmed eyebrow quirk up curiously, I caught myself and found the words which had eluded me for a few moments.

"Keep it down, demon. And how the fu—... how in the world did you get in here? The front desk shouldn't have let you back. Only parents are allowed back to these classrooms."

"Secrets, darling." I felt my skin pale as I imagined the worst. What had the demon done to get back here? Had he hurt anyone?

Seemingly sensing my panic, Kirroz looked wounded. "I didn't harm anyone, Lex. Relax. You're not the only one with magic, blood letter."

I didn't like the wiggling of his brows, and I rolled my eyes but felt my panic fading as the kids finally noticed there was a visitor standing at the threshold of the door.

"Ms. Lexi, who's that?" Cindy, ever the skeptic, frowned and pointed at the demon who was just standing there and wearing a look of disgust all his own.