PERIWINKLE

I don’t resent the cage-like room. If anything, I’m grateful for it.

As long as I’m in here, alone and pinned by the piercing lights that reflect off the shiny surfaces surrounding me, I can’t harm anyone.

Now and then, the instinctive impulse grips me to put a positive spin on what’s happened. To come up with cheerful words of reassurance that everything will work out in the end.

But the words don’t come to me. The Academy’s administration already forgave me once, and I screwed up even worse just a couple of days later.

Maybe I’m not safe for the human world, no matter what I do. Maybe I came into existence with powers too erratic to be controlled, or maybe my time… before I came here broke something that can’t be fixed.

I’m not sure how long I’ve waited before a voice crackles from a speaker mounted somewhere I can’t see. The intoned syllables carry a current of sorcery that winds through my being.

Follow me to the meeting room. Don’t make any moves except walking where I lead.

As the commands take hold, a door opens in front of me. A hand beckons. Squinting against the stinging light, I hurry toward the gentler glow outside.

It’s only after I step into the hall that I recognize Jonah as my escort, though I probably should have guessed that from the magical orders. He motions for me to follow him down the narrow, pale gray corridor, his expression tight.

I keep pace, my stomach knotting at the thought that he’s angry with me. But just before he pushes open the door at the end of the hall, he glances over at me. “I’m sorry about this. It’s a mandatory safety precaution. I know you wouldn’t want to hurt anyone.”

I swallow thickly, with a bittersweet pang of relief that someone believes that even if I haven’t done a good job of following my principles. “I understand.”

We step out into the dwindling daylight of the late afternoon. The building where I was held is a squat tan cube set a little farther apart from the two much larger stucco buildings that hold the two divisions of the Academy side by side.

After crossing the hard-packed earth, the dry desert air prickling in my nose, we go in through the back entrance of the sprawling reform building. It’s only a short trek down that hallway to a familiar meeting room with its kidney-shaped table.

The other five administrators are already poised behind the table, their faces as grim as Jonah’s or worse. Even Pearl, who’s generally seemed to look on the bright side, has furrows in her forehead and frown creases at the corners of her mouth.

A vibe of disappointment and uneasiness wafts through the air from all around me, sour as curdled milk.

Jonah leaves me in the center of the room to take his spot at the end of the table. All six pairs of eyes study me.

Gnash speaks first, his voice a low growl. “You were already on thin ice, and now this. You’ve barely been at the Academy for a week, and you’ve hurt several students.”

I feel the need to defend myself a little. “I’ve been trying my best. There’ve just… been a lot of incidents that provoked emotions I didn’t want to feel.”

Jonah raps his hand against the tabletop. “We have to take into account the behavior of the other students toward Peri. You all saw the state they left her room in. We’ve heard what happened at lunch.”

Toni shakes her head with a swish of her dark bob. “Embarrassment and vandalism aren’t the same as an outright physical attack. And the students Periwinkle hurt weren’t even the ones who harassed her.”

Shanty’s mouth twists into a slanted line. “And when you’re out among humans, you need to be prepared to face situations that upset you just as badly. Mortals can be cruel and selfish. Lashing out puts all our survival in danger.”

My head droops. “I don’t want to.”

“That’s part of the problem,” Pearl says softly. “Your powers are out of control—our control and yours. If you’re not getting a better grip on them even when you’d really like to… I’m not sure what we can teach you.”

I suspect the outcome of this meeting is already decided, but I can’t help making a last-ditch attempt. “I’ll keep practicing—more one-on-one sessions—I’ll stay out there in the confinement building as long as you want so I can’t hurt anyone.”

Al speaks up in his flat tone. “You can hardly practice if there’s no one around to provoke you. How would we know that we wouldn’t see the exact same result as soon as you returned to regular classes?”

I don’t know how to answer that.

Gnash sweeps his broad hands across the table and stands up. The tiger shifter glowers at me for a moment before beginning. “In light of all recent events and observations of your failures to control your powers, the only choice we can make for the security of the school and the shadowkind community in general is—”

The whoosh of the door opening cuts him off. A languidly commanding voice rings out from the doorway. “You started without me.”

I stare at the shadowkind man who strolls inside, but that must be okay, because all of the administrators are staring at him too. He isn’t especially impressive to look at, with polished features that are handsome enough but a body that’s not quite as tall or bulky as Gnash’s. All the same, my skin quivers with the aura of power that emanates off him.

Whatever kind of being he is, he’s definitely not one I’d want to tangle with.

The new arrival has just reached the chair in the middle of the table when Shanty finds her voice. “Rollick. I didn’t realize you’d decided to join us.”

So this is the mysterious founder of the school Pearl mentioned to me, the one who must have wanted to give all shadowkind a chance to learn how to adapt to the mortal world. I peer at him more closely, as if his tawny hair and gleaming teeth will give me a clue about how he’s going to handle my case.

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I can’t catch any emotions trickling off him at all. Either he’s very good at moderating his internal reactions or he’s very calm about what’s going on.

He sinks into his chair in a casual pose and folds his hands in front of his stomach. His dispassionate gaze takes in all of his colleagues. “I had an inspiration but wanted to make sure everything was in order before I proposed it. And I spoke to the other involved parties first. I assumed the one in confinement was the least urgent.”

His attention slides to me with a hint of what might be… amusement? Does he find something about my imprisonment and potential banishment funny?

Gnash clears his throat. “I’m not sure there’s anything more to discuss here. This being admits she can’t control her powers. She’s inflicted wounds on several students. It would be a threat to all her classmates to keep her here, so we have to move to banishment.”

I knew that was where he was going before Rollick interrupted him, but my heart lurches at hearing the word out loud anyway. Another protest rises in my throat, but I clamp my mouth shut, afraid that whatever bursts out might harm my cause more than help it.

“Hmm.” Rollick continues studying my face, directing his answer at me. “From what I’ve gathered from my staff’s reports, you would prefer not to harm anyone, and you’ve expressed ample dedication to getting a grip on your powers to ensure that. Is that right—Peri, isn’t it?”

The fact that he uses my preferred nickname sets me slightly more at ease. I lift my chin, trying to demonstrate my dedication as well as I can just standing here. “Yes, that’s absolutely right.”

“And you’re also very concerned about staying out of the shadow realm.”

I dip my head in a swift nod. “Yes, um, sir. I—I wouldn’t mind going back for a little while, but I don’t seem to absorb emotions all that well there, and there aren’t many to absorb… I can’t get enough nourishment without coming to the mortal realm.”

“It sounds to me as though you have a particularly strong motivation, then. Excellent.” Rollick looks around at his colleagues again. “In that case, I have a unique proposition to make.”

Pearl cocks her head with an arch of her eyebrow. “What are you up to now, Your Demon-ness?”

Rollick’s lips twitch with a smile at her irreverent tone. Okay, he might wield enough power that he could disintegrate me with a snap of his fingers, but I don’t think he’s all that bad.

He leans farther back in his chair. “We’ve had some reports of strange shadowkind activity up north. Lesser beings acting in unusually destructive ways, creatures appearing that don’t fit any we’ve seen before… The few associates I’ve already sent to investigate have failed to return—or in one case, returned so injured I hesitate to send him again.”

Toni frowns. “You’ve mentioned this before. How does it relate to Peri’s situation?”

Rollick’s smile grows. “We have a few beings here at the school with highly effective powers but whose behavior has become erratic enough that they pose a threat to the other students. As an alternative to banishment, I suggest that they might benefit from some hands-on learning. They will go to the area of the strange occurrences as a team, determine the cause, and if possible, eliminate the problem. If they succeed, then we have proof that they can corral their impulses when the stakes are high enough.”

And if we fail, we… disappear? Or possibly even die?

A chill trickles through my body, but my resolve firms at the same time. How would that be any worse than being imprisoned in the shadow realm, left to starve and fade?

At least this way, I still have a chance at making things right.

“I’ll do it,” I pipe up before anyone needs to ask. “I’ll take up whatever mission you want me to if it means I might still get to stay here in the mortal realm.”

Rollick outright beams at me. “Excellent. Your three classmates felt the same way. Then we can get started almost immediately.”

Al appears to have paled beyond the norm of even his usually near-translucent skin. “You’re going to send a group of unpredictable, destructive shadowkind off on their own—”

“To deal with an unpredictable, destructive problem,” Rollick says. “It seems fitting. I have other concerns that prevent me from delving in for a sustained period myself.”

He swivels toward the right end of the table. “And they won’t be alone. Jonah, I’d like you to accompany this ‘team’ as their commanding officer, so to speak.”

Jonah’s mouth opens and closes again before he finds his voice. “Me?”

Rollick’s tone turns droll. “Who better? In a case like this, your sorcery could prove invaluable, both for tackling the unknown threat… and keeping our wayward students in line as need be. Unless you don’t feel you’re up to the task.”

Jonah looks a bit queasy, with a pang of defiance that hits me like a spicy dumpling. But he sits up straighter in his chair, his jaw setting. “If that’s how I can best help you and the school, of course I can handle it. Who are the other three students?”

Rollick gets up and saunters back to the door. “Three troublemakers who’ve been on the verge of banishment for longer than anyone else—and who’ve been making a particular nuisance of themselves lately. I think all of you should make an interesting squad.”

He twists the knob and calls into the hallway. “You can come in now. Talk amongst your team while I consult with my colleagues on the final details.”

As the three figures stalk through the doorway, my heart drops—and then plummets even farther.

First is Mirage, with a flash of his sharp fangs through his grin like he’s thinking of snapping at me again. Even when he comes to a stop a few paces from me, he keeps shifting his weight as if he can’t stay still.

He’s followed by Raze, who I last saw accusing me of defiling our dorm room. The big shadowkind stares at me and then jerks his gaze away, his sinewy shoulders hunching in an aggressive stance.

Last to enter, with nonchalant strides as if the mission we’re about to be sent on means nothing to him, is Hail. The chill that seems to follow the winter fae man thickens when he sets eyes on me.

His lips draw back in a sneer. “You’re sending the pipsqueak with us? This is a joke.”

“No one’s laughing,” Rollick says smoothly. “You can figure out how to work together—and and how to work with your own powers without them going haywire—or you can take a one-way trip to the shadow realm. If you’ve changed your mind, feel free to say so now.”

The men remain stubbornly silent. My hands clench at my sides, but I keep my mouth shut too.

I can fulfill this mission. I can prove I’ll do more good than harm.

As long as I survive both the unknown threat ahead of us and the shadowkind on my team.