Kyla’s POV

I felt my eyes go wide with shock. She had to be joking. “This video, it’s from the night of my debut; Fey was already dead.”

“Oh. I didn’t realize. He looked very much alive to me, I watched him teleport away, then a few minutes later a velociter went missing from the docks. My guess is he escaped.”

I had already considered the possibility that the boy was my brother, but that simply didn’t make sense. Why would Pyro think he was dead if he wasn’t? Who could’ve deceived him?

He could tell if someone was lying so the messenger would have to believe it themselves, but who would go through so much work just to convince him of Fey’s death?

“Hey, your thoughts are plain on your face. Trust me, you’re better off staying out of this one.” Irina said, giving me a stern look. “Like I said, questions you don’t really want answered and all that.”

I shook my head. Biting back my building emotions I said, “I do want the answers, but if you don’t want to give them I understand.”

Irina gave an understanding smile then returned to her game.

That was that. She wouldn’t tell me more, so I had to figure the rest out on my own. “I won’t mention the tablet to anyone, but you should probably make sure to at least lock them when you’re done.”

I left the tablet with Irina, grabbed my jacket from the back of my chair and rushed out of the office.

As the door was swinging shut, Irina shouted, “get me a candy apple on your way back!”

I wondered if her hearing was good enough to hear my eyes roll.

***

There was one person who should know exactly what happened to my brother, and when—Valencia Nordblum. She was a dreadful wench when she was training me, but once I completed the adjustment, she became much more tolerable, friendly even.

An unfriendly girl behind the reception desk tapped a few keys before answering, “Ms. Nordblum is busy at the moment, but I can schedule you an appointment if you’d like.”

“No, did you tell her it’s Kyla Ray? Are you sure she can’t see me now?”

“As in Starla The Sun Summoner?” Her eyes went wild with excitement. “No way!”

“Look, I don’t want a scene. Just tell me if she’s available or not.”

The girl nodded. “Right, I’ll check. But…Uhm, do you think we could take a selfie together? My friends would never believe I met you without some kind of proof.”

This was exactly the kind of attention I was hoping to avoid, but it was just one picture. “Sure, as soon as you’re done.” I said with a slight nod.

The girl’s fingers flew across her keyboard with furious speed. In only a few short seconds, she squealed, “She’ll see you, uhm—we can take the picture here if you like, or we could uh—”

I held up my hand to stop her. “Here is fine.” Twisting my wrist so that my palm was facing up, I asked, “Can I see your comm?”

The girl’s eyes opened a bit wider as her brows raised and she nodded eagerly while grabbing the device from her pocket. “Of course. Can I get you anything else? Do you want my bow? It would look ten times better on your ponytail.” She started untying the sparkly bow from the end of her braid as soon as she’d placed the comm in my hand.

She was totally starstruck and might’ve even forgotten that she’d asked me for a picture. “No, it's beautiful and you wear it well. I think it’d be a shame if you parted with it.” I said with an appreciative smile. “The comm is for the picture…” I opened the camera app and leaned against the desk. “...are you ready?”

“Yes,” she said, looking obviously embarrassed, though she recovered quickly and leaned over next to me.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I snapped three pictures, but in the third, a pair of pale fingers rose peaked out from behind my head. Mrs. Nordblum was standing beside me, her red hair pulled back and tied up in a neat bun.

“Hello, Kyla… or would you prefer that I call you Starla now?”

“Kyla is fine.”

I handed the receptionist her comm then followed Valencia back to her office.

***

I wasn’t sure how to ask Mrs. Nordblum about the video or what Irina had said without mentioning the tablet or Irina. While sitting silently across from her, I pondered over the questions I wanted to ask. Mrs. Nordblum was patient, sipping a cup of tea and watching me expantly as she sat cross legged and slightly reclined in her seat.

Her office was large, but not nearly as extravagant as Pyro’s. There weren’t any windows, except for on the door, and despite the presence of many bookshelves, there weren’t any books or decorations. The room was only furnished with essential items, and nothing personal, as if her stay here was only temporary. I knew Nordblum had worked at the school for years though, so that wasn’t it. Maybe she was just busy, or was she a minimalist? She was always on about maximum efficiency during training, so—

“Kyla,” Valencia called with a smile.

“Yes?”

“Why are you here? I could read your thoughts, you’re practically shouting them at me anyway, but I assume you’d prefer to tell me yourself.”

“Right…” with a deep breath, I cleared my thoughts. “Is my brother—”

“No.” She said firmly.

“No? Does that mean you won’t answer, or is that the answer?”

“You make of it what you will.” She paused and we lingered in a moment of tense eye contact as I tried to discern something from her cold expression.

The only thing I knew for sure was that she knew more than she was saying, but I wasn’t like her. I couldn’t simply go inside her head to get the information I wanted. From her expression, I knew she wouldn’t tell me so I sighed in frustration. If no one would give me the answers I needed, then was I supposed to get them.

Then Nordblum added. “Whatever you know, or think you know, if there’s a doubt then follow it. You’ll either find the truth or learn what you already knew.”

“If you know, then why won’t you just tell me?”

“At some point, you’ve probably heard that knowledge is power. It’s a cute saying, and true often enough, but sometimes the things you know are what make you a target. If you’re not prepared to defend yourself, some knowledge might just get you killed.”

“That makes no sense.” I crossed my arms. “I’m asking about my brother's well-being, not some crazy hero's dirty secrets.”

Valencia shrugged. “I’ve said all I can on the matter. If you need something else then out with it, otherwise I really do need to get back to work.”

“Fine.” Without another word, I left her office.

I wasn’t quite sure where I was going, I wasn’t sure if much anymore. If Fey’s death was a lie and the security video was real, then he was a fugitive now, but what was his crime? Why was the security footage from the night all gone, and who would have both means and motive to orchestrate a cover up?

“Kyla, so this is where you’ve been?”

As I was about to step on a teleporter that would take me to the school’s main entrance, Pyro grabbed my arm and pulled me aside. I was suppressing my senses to focus on my thoughts, so I hadn’t noticed Pyro at all until he spoke and was completely caught off guard.

“Why did you ignore my calls and messages?” He asked with an air of concern. “Did something happen to you?”

“Sort of. I don’t know who yet, but someone is hiding something and it’s got something to do with my brother.”

Pyro’s brows pressed together as his head tilted sideways. “What?” He said, with a slow blink.

“Did you know Fey is still alive? Or at least he was when you told me he had died.”

“How did you learn this?”

“I Uhm…I came across some files and… why don’t you seem surprised?”

“Of course I’m shocked, I mean, it’s great he’s alive…” his expression became a mix of emotions I couldn’t fully tell apart. “…but are you sure? Can you show me what you found? I just want to make sure—”

His comm rang with a harsh siren, the sound that signaled a beast attack.

It was Baldier, again. “Why is it always there?” I asked, feeling that the frequency and concentration of attacks had reached a point of concern.

“Who knows, but I think you should deal with this one. I’ll be there to support you if needed.”

“Wait, but I was going to—”

He placed a finger on my lips and began speaking. “I don’t think you should worry about this anymore. I’ll look into it personally when we get back.”

If anyone could find answers it was him, but would he share them with me, or would he keep it to himself like Nordblum and Irina? I wanted to insist on figuring things out myself, but a sense of fear swept over me. Meekly, I nodded my agreement.

“Good, then let’s go.”