PERIWINKLE

The silence in the administration room lingers, as if Rollick is waiting out the rest of us to see who’ll break it first. I’m not ashamed to pipe up in the hopes of diverting us from the uncomfortable tension.

“So, where exactly are we going, and how are we getting there?”

The demon offers me a small smile that suggests he isn’t bothered by me getting on with the mission. “Very good questions. I should give you all a thorough debriefing before you leave.”

“Debriefing with plenty of grief-ing,” Mirage says in his singsong voice. There’s a swish as his tail appears and promptly vanishes again.

Toni narrows her eyes at the fox shifter. “You need to keep all those inhuman appendages under wraps more than ever when you’re away from the school.”

He offers her a jerky salute and a grin that shows his fangs, as if he’s trying to be playful but can’t quite pull off his usual irreverence. “And if I mess up again, I’m really in a mess. Message received loud and clear.”

How exactly did he mess up in the first place? Is it only because of his antics and revealing pieces of his shadowkind self?

I haven’t seen Mirage get into any significant trouble here at the school, but then, he’d probably say the same about me.

Hail scoffs and folds his arms over his chest. The winter fae is putting on an expression of cool boredom, but the uneasiness wafting off him tastes bitter as wasabi. “This whole group is a mess. If you want me to prove something, let me do it myself. I don’t need all these duds dragging me down.”

Raze lets out a growl, tension rippling through his ropy muscles. “If we’re here because we’re duds, I think that means you are too, pretty boy.”

They’re all agitated, upset—well, so was I just a moment ago. I can’t even say I’ve totally recovered. But I can try to get us all on the right path.

I hold up my hands, glancing from one of them to another with a bright if cautious smile. “Hey, we’re not duds, any of us, or Rollick wouldn’t think we could handle this problem at all. It’s incredibly generous that he’s giving us another chance instead of banishing us. We’ll go find those weirdo shadowkind, figure out what’s up with them, and mission accomplished, no worries.”

To my relief, Raze’s fierce expression softens. Maybe he’s not still pissed off at me for the gore-splattered room thing.

Hail snorts and shakes his head, but he doesn’t argue. And despite his dismissive attitude, the bitter flavor of his emotions turns milder.

Mirage shivers and then cracks his knuckles. “Weirdo shadowkind. Takes some to know some, huh?” His chuckle still sounds a bit tight, but more honestly amused than before.

Satisfied, I turn back to the table to find all the administrators looking at… me. I’m not sure how to read some of their expressions, but Gnash is definitely suspicious, Pearl pleased, and Rollick has a gleam in his eyes I’d call sly if that made much sense.

Albumen simply looks bemused. “Well, Rollick, your choices might not be quite as inexplicable as they first appeared.”

“Thank you so much for the vote of confidence, Al,” Rollick replies dryly. He claps his hands for our full attention. “You’ll each be supplied with a phone within the hour, at which point you’ll head out. I can pull all the details I have into a comprehensive report in that time and send that to your devices. The unfortunate fact is that we don’t have a tremendous number of details at this point, which is why we’re sending you on this mission at all.”

Raze frowns. “You said the other beings who’ve gone to investigate didn’t come back or returned injured. If we run into… any kind of trouble where we’re going, will there be anyone nearby we can reach out to for help?”

The demon’s eyebrows arch. “I’d imagine you’re more than a match for anything you might find out there if it comes to a physical fight, especially with your comrades for backup. The sightings have come from a fairly desolate area of northeastern Canada, where relatively few beings of both the shadow and the human kind make their home. Jonah will have contact information for a few associates of mine in nearby cities, but they wouldn’t be able to provide immediate support.”

If the problem is happening out in the wilderness, it’s no wonder information is scarce. There could be all kinds of things going on up there that no one’s witnessed at all.

A shiver of my own passes through me, but I keep my chin high. We do have a combination of many impressive powers. I’m sure of that even from the little bit I’ve seen from the men around me. I don’t know how much I can help, but I’ll at least be able to pick up on the internal state of any humans or shadowkind we encounter.

And if the communities are small and quiet, there shouldn’t be too many highly charged emotional situations we could run into that might set me off. Not like if we had to explore a big city.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

There’ll also be a lot fewer people around that I could hurt if I do have an outburst. Which maybe the staff in front of me were taking into consideration.

“I’m sure we can look after ourselves well enough to at least observe what’s going on up there,” Jonah says. His voice stays calm, but I taste an undercurrent of anxiety with a metallic tang like the rarest of meat.

He’s not even shadowkind, and he’s getting stuck watching over four of us who’ve done enough harm in whatever way to be at risk of getting kicked out of the school. I guess he can work his sorcery on us if any of us gets too unruly, but from what I’ve seen of him so far, I don’t think he’d look forward to having to enforce order with his magic.

That’s why Rollick is sending him, though. He’s the only one here who could control us if we’re acting out—in a way other than by tackling us with physical force. And I’m not sure anyone in the room other than probably Rollick could face off with Raze unscathed.

I don’t even know what all of these men’s powers are.

Rollick nods at the younger man’s comment. “I’ll arrange a large camper van for you—nothing that’ll stick out in the area, but with enough space that you can use it as a base of operations without needing to rely on outside accommodations. It’ll be stocked with plenty of food and any other supplies you might need. The more you can steer clear of the human settlements up there, the better.”

Hail grimaces. “So you’re sending us off into the middle of nowhere to do next to nothing. Is this really a test or just another type of banishment? Or a punishment, having to deal with them?” He flicks his fingers toward the rest of us.

Raze lets out a low snarl. “What about us having to deal with you?”

Mirage laughs and whips himself around in a graceful twirl. “The games are already beginning.”

Shanty pushes to her feet with a scrape of her chair legs loud enough that all three of the men go still and silent. She eyes each of them with a stern expression.

“I’m only going to remind you once. Rollick is making you a very generous offer, but it’s limited to this one chance. You’re going to have to figure out how to work together rather than tearing each other’s heads off, or you’ll all be banished.”

I swallow thickly. I’d like to vote for heads staying on.

Rollick motions toward us in a careless gesture that I suspect is deceptive. “I’m going to arrange your vehicle and that briefing. You four had better stay in here and practice your ‘getting along’.”

As he saunters out, another being appears at the doorway. She murmurs to Pearl, who leans over to confer quietly with her colleagues.

Shanty is the one who turns to me. “You have a friend who’s noticed your absence and asked permission to say her good-byes. Would you like to see her and reassure her that you’re not banished from this plane of existence just yet?”

My heart leaps with a pang of affection. “Fen?”

A hint of a smile touches the siren’s lips. She inclines her head, and a broader smile springs to mine. “Yes, please and thank you.”

As she motions me over to the doorway, Hail lets out a haughty sigh that I ignore. He’s probably just stung that none of his fan club has rushed over to beg for mercy on his behalf.

Do Raze and Mirage have any friends? I’ve never seen Raze talk to… anyone, really, unless he has to for class. People like to laugh at Mirage’s antics, but I’m not sure I’ve seen him having an actual conversation either.

It’s kind of sad. Maybe it’s not really my fault that I haven’t figured out how to talk to them properly.

Shanty stays with me in the hall, as if she thinks she has to guard against me making an escape attempt or something. I’m not sure where I’d go even if I wanted to run for it.

Within a matter of minutes, Fen comes hustling down the hall. Her face brightens when she sees me.

I open my arms, and she accepts the hug, even though she has to lean over me a little with our height difference. When she steps back, her fingers are dripping a puddle onto the floor.

“I was so worried when I heard they put you in isolation,” she says.

I raise my hands reassuringly before she needs to go on. “It’s okay. I’m not being banished. I just—I’m doing like an extra credit project to hopefully hone my self-control so I’ll be able to fit in better when I get back.”

That seems like a reasonable way of framing the mission. I glance at Shanty and she gives me a shrug of casual approval.

“Oh, that’s great!” Fen beams at me. “I’ll miss you, but it won’t be so bad if I know you’ll be back.”

I give her arm another squeeze. “Don’t let the harsher beings get you down. I’ll see you soon.”

I hope.