The Forever Blaze [3]

C H A P T E R - 1 5

"Next time you almost kill a Councillor, can I be there?" Keefe asked as he tossed a handful of gold powder on the path leading to the main auditorium. Lady Cadence had given them something called musk-tang and told them to coat every walkway on the campus. It wouldn't have been such a terrible detention punishment if it hadn't smelled like rotting bananas. Keefe told her the whole Sanctuary had been dusted with it.

Another protection against ogres.

"I didn't almost kill him," Sophie whispered, glancing over her shoulder to make sure none of the other prodigies were around. "I don't know what happened—and neither did Bronte or Kenric. One second he was insulting me, next second he was collapsed on the floor."

"Clearly it's not a good idea to get you angry. Uh-oh, should I be afraid?" Keefe asked as she glared at him. "You going to knock me out or something, are you?"

"If only."

She wanted to kick herself for telling Keefe what happened. Meredith was a much better choice. Sadly, she didn't have detention like them.

But she'd had to tell someone immediately. Or she would have burst. The more she'd replayed the session, the more she felt a nagging itch in the back of her mind, telling her something was off.

"Besides, it wasn't the anger that took him down. That was actually how I got him out of it. Which seems weird, doesn't it? I mean, he was basically allergic to happiness."

"Um, you have met Bronte, right?"

"I know. But I've been in some messed-up minds, and I've never felt anything like that sludgy darkness I felt today."

"Maybe that's what an Inflictor's mind feels like. I mean, no offense, but what you guys do is kinda creepy."

Sophie couldn't argue. If she had her way, she'd probably get rid of the dangerous ability. But talents couldn't be switched off once they'd been triggered. And creepy ability or no, she still didn't think that explained what had happened. Especially when she factored in the way Bronte's mind had blocked her from his memories. Almost like he had something to hide . . .

"You're cute when you worry, did you know that?" Keefe asked her.

Sophie flung a handful of musk-tang at his feet, surrounding him in a cloud of stinky golden dust.

He laughed as he coughed. "Oh, it is so on."

He pelted her with a giant handful, and Sophie struck back, nailing him in the shoulder before she took off running.

Keefe chased after her, hurling handful after handful as Sophie tried to swerve and duck. She was so busy launching counterattacks that she forgot to pay attention to where she was going. Which was how she ended up crashing into Lady Cadence, seconds before Keefe accidentally musk-tanged the furious Mentor's face.

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"Don't let her get to you, Foster," Keefe said as they made their way to their afternoon sessions. "Lady Cadence can send as many disciplinary reports to Dame Alina as she wants. It still won't change the fact that watching her choke on that mouthful of musk-tang was one of the greatest moments of my life."

It had been pretty priceless. Meredith had caught up with both of them after their detention was over and had been asking foe details. As much of a brilliant child she was, she was still a child to her heart. Sophie could see some stress lines but other than that, nothing.

And the disciplinary report wasn't what was bothering Sophie—though she wasn't exactly thrilled about that. Lady Cadence had gone on and on and on about how, given the controversy surrounding Fintan's healing, Sophie should be working harder than ever to prove herself a well-behaved citizen in her world. But what Sophie wanted to know was, How did everyone know so many classified things?