The Last Phoenix- Book 1 of the Legends of Henge Series

Chapter 10

Harper Magdalena

"Harper?" I was already flying away, not because I was hurt but I was scared. Would he not want to see me now? He'd sounded pretty angry. Even if he did, it would probably be pretty awkward.

I flew home, landing on the roof and shifting back before climbing through my window into my small bedroom. I made sure I was out of the view of any other windows in case my parents had a late night snack or something. I listened intently on the window sill for any sign that my parents were awake. When I heard nothing, I continued inside closing the window as quietly as I could. In the stillness of the night, it sounded like gunfire. I again waited for any noise to give away my parents' alertness.

Convinced I was safe, I slowly crept to my bed and crawled under the covers. I'd closed my eyes for about 0.2 glorious seconds when the light switched on and my mother started screaming... in Spanish. "¿¡Dónde has estado!?" she screeched. "Where have you been? We have been worried sick!"

I lept out of bed, absolutely horror-struck that I been caught in the act. What would I tell her? I hadn't actually come up with a cover story because I'd been too confident she wouldn't find out. My father frowned disapprovingly from the doorway. "I... um," I stumbled, scratching my head to figure out what to say.

My mom rounded on dad. "¡Esto es tu culpa! This is all your fault!" she raged. "If we'd just been honest from the beginning, she wouldn't be out searching for answers!" Now I was thoroughly confused.

"¿Mamá?" I whispered tentatively. "What answers? How did you know I was going out at night?" Her mother made a dramatic gesture with her hands that clearly said she was far too upset to explain so her father started to explain.

"Your grandmother told us she's seen you out at night with a boy she'd seen touring the canyon," he started. I turned a bit red that my grandmother had caught me. "She told us a while ago and when we heard Marley whimpering in your room and you were letting him out, we knew you had gone out again. She also said she's been noticing some things about you over the years. That you can shapeshift into a bird. Like your great grandfather, on my side." I looked up in confusion.

"Yes, we both know of shapeshifters in my family and it's really no surprise that you are one," he continued and my eyes grew wider with each word. I wasn't alone?

"Your mother and I received a notice about a school for shapeshifters like you, called Vale Academy of Therianthropy," her mother let out a little grunt at that. "It was about a month ago now and we didn't want to tell you about it because..." he sighed. "We weren't sure if you were one or not. We thought you'd come and tell us. Your mother and I decided we didn't want you to go."

"What?" I asked incredulously.

"Don't take that tone with us, young lady," her mother started but I just stared at her.

"I've just found out I'm not alone after nine years of thinking I was and you want to keep me from it?"

"Nine years?"

"Yes, mom. Nine years ago I fell off the side of the Grand Canyon and I've been jumping off since," I snapped. My mom just shook her head and looked away with a determined look in her eyes.

"You're not going to that school and that's final," she told me. I felt like screaming in frustration. When had my parents become so unfair? "And you can expect you'll be grounded."

"You can't ground me for being born this way," I argued.

"But I can ground you for sneaking around at night with a stranger," my mom pointed out.

"Carter isn't a stranger," I screamed at her.

"Well, you can expect Carter and his parent's will be getting a phone call," she hissed. "And speaking of phones, hand it over." I gave her my phone and they left me in my room, thoroughly pissed off.