The Stars Said Hello [1]

C H A P T E R - 2 1

Dex refused to have anything to do with Fitz and Biana, so Sophie had to alternate spending time with him and Meredith who joined them sometimes at Havenfield and hanging out at Everglen. Alden and Della were gone a lot, and they usually came home smelling of smoke. They never talked about it, and Sophie was too afraid to ask questions after Alden's warning—but she wasn't giving up.

If she couldn't get any new information, maybe she could make sense of the pieces she already had. She tried to fit the clues together.

Project Moonlark had to have something to do with the Black Swan—whatever that was. And they had to be behind the fires. But . . . why set fires—especially around humans? What would that accomplish?

The fires consumed her thoughts so much they crept into her dreams. Vivid nightmares of her human family, trapped in their old house, surrounded by fire. She knew it wasn't real, but she still woke up shivering every night. It got so bad she slept with Iggy on her pillow so she wouldn't be alone.

Pretty soon she was counting down the days until school resumed. School was safe. She'd passed her exams. Once school started she would have nothing to worry about.

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"Congratulations to everyone who passed their midterms," Dame Alina said during their first orientation. "I hope you enjoyed your six-week vacation, because it's time to get serious. Anyone who got lower than eighty-five percent on their midterms needs to step it up or you will not pass your finals."

Sophie sighed. Aside from the seventy-nine in alchemy, she'd received an eighty-one in elementalism, and an eighty-three in physical education.

"Your Mentors also tell me there are one hundred nine Level Threes who haven't manifested abilities, and more than double that of Level Twos—which is unacceptable. Be prepared to be pushed much harder in ability detecting from now on."

Groans chorused through the room.

The next week everyone looked sweaty and wilted as they trudged into study hall after ability detecting. Even Marella's poufy hair had thrown in the towel and drooped against her head.

"What did they do to you guys?" Sophie asked.

"Stuck us in an oven and roasted us for two hours trying to figure out if we were Frosters," Dex grumbled.

"Which none of us were, because frosting is a stupid talent almost no one has," Marella added. She slumped into a chair. "What did you do in remedial studies?"

"Same old boring stuff."

Actually, she'd had a blast. Tiergan had her test her transmitting distance, and it was off the charts. Fitz and Meredith almost had a heart attack when she transmitted into their mind from all the way across the school. She couldn't blame them for his surprise—even Tiergan didn't know that was possible—but she'd never forget the way Flitz's mind actually jerked when she reached it. She hoped he hadn't peed his pants.

She fought off her smile, feeling guilty that everyone else suffered while she had fun. "What are Frosters?"

Dex rested his cheek against the table. "Cryokinetics. They freeze things by manipulating the ice particles in the air. It's totally useless. I don't know why they even test us for it."

"They have to test us for everything," Jensi reminded him.

"That's not true. They don't test us for pyrokinesis," Dex argued.

"Yeah, because that's a forbidden talent," Marella said.

"There are forbidden talents?" Sophie asked.