Chapter 3: Cassandra

I walked down the hall alone but could still sense the energy from Braeden, Kyler, Oliver, and Dash. It seemed as my powers grew so did the energy between me and the guys. Dash had even mentioned feeling my presence in his room at night while he slept. The others agreed they had the same experience. Though we never discussed it, I felt their presence in both my room at night and in my dreams.

"Hey, Reagan," I said as Raegan Howard approached. She started the academy the same time we did. We had become friends, but we weren't as close as Ruby and I. Reagan grew up in Florida as well. She, like most students, had gone off to faraway places during break. "How was Europe?"

"Amazing." There was a glimmer in her eyes, one I wished for. "We managed to hit fifteen countries, drank thirty kinds of beer, and I met a hot Swiss guy." She smiled but gave no more information about the Swiss guy. "How was training?" she asked.

"I'd rather have been in Europe. But it went well. Thanks for asking." I tried not to show my disappoint with being on campus all summer.

"The guys hangout with you?" she asked. Everyone on campus knew there was a connection between the five of us. I was used to the whispers and gossip.

"Yes, sure did." I smiled but gave no additional information on the things we did. I would rather have been traipsing around Europe with them than training in an empty arena.

"I think I would rather have hung out with four hot guys." Raegan pulled her schedule from her notebook. "You know where Demons and Hexalogy is? Room 206?"

"Down the hall on the right. I just passed it. Looks like a new instructor to the academy."

"Yeah, I heard several instructors left after what happened in the spring. I heard a lot of them were afraid Edius was going to return." She seemed to think about her next words. "You think he'll return?"

I hated to think he would, but there was no denying who his targets were. He would definitely be back. "I'm not sure. I'm hoping we get to find him before he finds us." I put my hand on Reagan's hand. "Don't let it ruin your semester. I think the academy is doing everything they can to keep us safe." I actually didn't believe they were, but I wanted to set Reagan at ease.

"Okay," she said and went about her way. Like most students, Reagan wore the boring academy clothing: white blouse, short school-girl skirt, knee-high socks and flat shoes. Most of the guys wore white buttoned-down shirts and khakis. Some of us had managed to stay away from the drab look and wore what we wanted.

As I watched her go, I wondered when I would actually get to see a place outside the states. I wanted to hit Europe, Iceland, Australia, and Southeast Asia before making my way to South America. And I wasn't planning on nice hotels and cars to get me around. I wanted to rough it and carry a backpack as I trekked my way across the world. But when? I had a sense of dread toward what the future held with Edius. I wished I could have been more positive with Reagan, but that sense of gloom and doom still hung over the academy, though most students were oblivious to the feeling.

"Look who has a glow," I heard Ruby say and then she snuck up behind me, Nicolette by her side. Both girls hugged me. I actually wasn't concerned about them being friends since Ruby and I were going to be roommates again. I trusted her the same way I trusted the guys.

"You cut your hair." I twirled Ruby's hair around my fingers. "Looks great." Nicolette looked as though she were waiting for a compliment. "And you" - I pointed at Nicolette - "look thinner." Nicolette's eyes shimmered at the compliment.

"You've got to get to Europe," Ruby suggested. "It's everything people say it is." Her eyes fluttered. "The food was so damn good." She looked around to see if anyone else was listening. "And some of the men were hot as hell."

"So I hear. Well, tell me about it." We hooked arms, Nicolette on my left, Ruby on my right, and headed down the hall.

"We landed in London in the middle of the night." There was a happiness in Ruby's voice that made her sound younger. "It was creepy as hell at first. The fog was thick as thieves. Reminded me of the old Jack the Ripper movie. We spent a few days traveling around the United Kingdom. Even went to Stonehenge and heard some story about ancient aliens. I suggested maybe it was created by a group of witches." She laughed and then shook her head as if she were about to faint. "Then we hit Spain, Portugal, and France. TV doesn't do the Eiffel tower justice. We went to the top, and it seemed like you could see forever."

"I'm so jealous." Nicolette's voice always sounded like a five-year-old's. "I've only been to South America and Australia." Knowing I'd been nowhere, Nicolette winked at me. Friend or foe, once again I didn't know where our friendship fell.

As Ruby went on and on about the things she saw and experienced, I wondered if I would ever see or do those things. Maybe the guys would take me on a trip between semesters. But then deep down I knew I was probably stuck at the academy for the full four years, especially if we had been handpicked to fight Edius.

"Instead of hostels, we stayed with different mages and learned some new spells and hexes. We got to practice magic in castles, along the Mediterranean, and in the Swiss Alps." Ruby stopped us. "They'd also heard about you." She smiled, and Nicolette let out one of those "oh no" sighs.

"Oh, great." I considered covering my ears. Although I'd learned not to give too much credence to other people's opinion, it didn't make it any easier to hear. Those days were past me, but I knew some people would never let me live them down.

"No, it was all good stuff," she said. "They heard about you and the guys and what you did for the academy. They also heard about your guild. Even the mages in Europe are worried about what happened in the states. When we left, they were all headed to Helsinki to discuss how to deal with Edius and his henchmen. Luckily, we never had to use our magic to fight while we were gone."

"We trained hard all summer to try to stop Edius from doing anything else," I said. "I'm just not sure when the hunt for him will begin." I turned to Nicolette who had been left out of the conversation. I'd seen her around the academy over the summer, but I had no idea what she'd been up to. "How was your summer?"

Nicolette put her hands on her hips and shrugged to adjust her backpack. "I never left campus," she said. "I trained with Aurelius every day after he was done with you guys." She looked away as if I would be offended about her training with Aurelius.

I glanced at Ruby. Aurelius said nothing about training other students over the summer. "That's cool," I said. "I think it helped us a lot. By the end of the summer, my powers had strengthened so much I thought I was ready to take on the world. Aurelius assured me I was not ready for that just yet. We went over a variety of techniques, learned new spells and hexes, and really concentrated a lot on working as a team. How was your training?"

Nicolette, with her typical attitude, smirked and crossed her arms. If we ever needed her to fight with us as a team, I wasn't sure any of us could count on her. "I learned a few new things as well," she said and the three of us headed to class. I had no problems with Nicolette and hoped whatever was bothering her about me would go away.

I wondered if maybe, like Dash, Nicolette's tough, sassy attitude was a façade. I thought she wanted to be part of our circle of friends, but she just wasn't sure how to do so. She took great pride in being a pain in the ass, so it probably would never happen.

We entered the classroom, and I found myself surprised by all the new faces. "Who are these people?"