INTEGRATION (Bonfire Academy Book Two) (Bonfire Chronicles) (5 page)

“Yes, I have considered that, regarding both Mason and Faustine. I did rule out that possibility for Faustine, since she has no Wanderer history in her family. Mason is a bit trickier, though. His background is very vague. I did explain to his father that if there was any such history, it would be important to share that with us, especially since he could be wasting his money on this chamber. His father was not forthcoming about the family history, but he paid for the facility, fully warned. So I have to assume that Mason’s not a Wanderer, though I can’t be sure. If the containment chamber works, we’ll be sure that he isn’t. And if it doesn’t…well, the only natural conclusion is that he is. We don’t know of any other way of escaping this chamber. Although Faustine is still an enigma.”

Yes. But she wasn’t an enigma. Not to me. Faustine could not be contained, but that was because of a Wanderer—Ryker. Ryker, who happened to be Mason’s adoptive brother. Was it possible that Ryker had sprung Mason out of the chamber at Boone Academy? I’d have to find out. Professor Bern didn’t seem to have considered the possibility that someone else would help her students escape the chamber. Why would she? “What do you need me to do?” I asked.

“Well, you will continue to be involved with Faustine’s training. We’ve only just begun to gain insight into her powers; she has a lot of work to do before she can fully immerse herself into the Integration process. However, I have another project for you.” She shifted, looking very uncomfortable.

“What?”

She cast a glance over my shoulder, blinking nervously at me.

I turned around, and through the thick glass of the containment chamber, the beady eyes of an eagle glared back at me. I shuddered.

W
TF? Mason? What the heck was he doing there? Sure, he was going to use the chamber, but not with me around! I was relieved that I was on the other side of the chamber when he suddenly pecked at the glass with his enormous beak, making me jump a little. Stupid bird.

I turned around and glared at Professor Bern.

“That’s your other project,” she said, her tone deadly serious, her face set in a cold mask.

I swallowed hard. She had to be kidding. I wanted to yell and scream, but her deadpan expression had me silenced.

“I won’t tolerate any insolence. Let me make it quite clear that any insubordinate behavior will be punished. Severely. You are my
apprentice
. This is your project. You will carry out your work to the best of your ability and report your results to me. Henri will supervise you. He is one of my most experienced and trusted assistants and was present at Faustine’s sessions.

“It’s not what you were expecting, I know. However, as we have discussed, Mason needs the containment chamber, so it only makes sense that you oversee his process as well.” Professor Bern threw Mason a death glare, and he immediately transformed into his human form.

Not that he was any more palatable in his human form. In fact, I almost preferred the bird version. He tried to lock me in his stare, but I made sure not to look at his face. I turned to Professor Bern instead.

“Are you ready to talk to him?” she asked sharply, snapping me back to reality.

I nodded, feeling numb.

“Wonderful. Remember, he’s just an Integrate, one that still has a lot of work to do on exploring and developing his powers, much the same as Faustine. Neither of them was able to get as much done as they should have during their Initiation year. So they have a lot of catching up to do, while they also take part in the Integration sessions, which I expect you to get involved with as well. However, we can discuss that later.”

Professor Bern walked over to the armchair, sat down, and was transported back to the basement. Once the chair reappeared, I did the same. She was waiting for me downstairs, and I followed her up into the main dome.

“Mason, please have a seat,” she said, waving at a group of metal chairs around a glass table.

I hadn’t noticed Henri walk in, but he was already seated, and he smiled as we walked over. I waited for Mason to sit, and then chose the seat farthest from him.

“Mason, welcome back to Bonfire Academy. Have you had your meeting with Frau Schmelder?” Professor Bern asked.

“I have.”

His voice sent a lightning flash of anger right through me. I closed my eyes momentarily to try to dampen it.

Professor Bern nodded. “Good. So you’re aware that you’re on probation.” She narrowed her eyes into dangerous slits and hissed, “Do not try anything with me or my staff. Understand?”

He returned her gaze with no hint of fear, just a smug turn of his lips. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Professor Bern,” she corrected.

“Professor Bern,” he repeated.

“Good. Now, let me introduce you to my team. First, Henri.” She nodded at Henri, who sat to my left. “Henri is my assistant. He’ll be in charge of your sessions. You know Cordelia. Whatever your history is, I don’t really care. Be warned that I won’t tolerate you being disrespectful to her. She’s my apprentice, and you are one of her projects. She will be present at all your sessions and will work under Henri’s supervision. Understood?”

“Yes, m—Professor Bern.”

“Henri, do you have Mason’s file? Could you go over the immediate plan?”

“Certainly.” Henri opened an orange folder lying on the table in front of him and flicked through some loose sheets of paper. “Hmm. Ah. Here it is.” He briefly held up a diagram and then reached back into the folder and pulled out copies for Professor Bern and me. “Mason, I don’t have a copy for you, but you can share with me. Your progress report from your Initiate stint here at Bonfire Academy indicates that very little happened during those sessions. The few you attended.” He peered questioningly at Mason. “Why did you attend so few sessions?”

Mason shrugged.

“You’ll have to do better than shrug,” Professor Bern reprimanded.

“Don’t know,” Mason muttered sullenly.

“Don’t know?” Professor Bern hissed.

“Yeah.” Mason pursed his lips.

“Well, whatever the reason,” Henri said, “the result is that you are pretty much at a beginner Initiate level, as far as your tests are concerned. I’m surprised that you weren’t kept back.”

“He was,” Professor Bern offered. “But Frau Schmelder decided to allow him into the Integration program.”

In other words, his dad’s donation had magically graduated him. I felt another twinge of anger burn through me. Who was he, thinking he could buy his way through life? All I knew about Mason’s biological dad was that he was the shifter sovereign of Paris, a very powerful, and obviously wealthy, man.

Henri nodded knowingly at Professor Bern. “It will be tricky, Mason, but we’ll do our best to allow you to assimilate into the Integration program as much as possible, while trying to catch you up with your tests. The more you cooperate, the easier it will be.”

He still looked sullen, but nodded.

“Good.” Henri looked down at his plan again. “I have the first week’s schedule drawn up. We’ll do two test sessions this week. That’s more than normal—normal being one test every two weeks—but I want to get some baseline measurements down so that we can formulate a proper plan. Is that okay with you?”

“Yeah. I guess.”

“We’ll meet tomorrow morning at ten and then again on Thursday at the same time. We’ll get the tests done in the morning so that you can attend the Integration classes in the afternoon. I notice that you’ve not completed all your Initiation required classes yet, so I’ve slotted those into your schedule, as well. You’re going to be very busy. It’s not usual to assign Integrates mentors, but we’ve felt it necessary in your case. We couldn’t find a suitable student mentor, so we’ve asked the new student advisor, Jagger Deveroux, to mentor you.”

My skin tingled at the mention of Jagger’s name. Student advisor? How the heck had Jagger been persuaded into taking on that role on top of supervising the ski program? And being Mason’s mentor?

Wait. It suddenly dawned on me. He was doing it for me. If it weren’t for me, he wouldn’t even have returned to the Academy, but would be busy getting involved with the Olympic ski team.

“Mason, you may go now. Be back here tomorrow.” Henri rose from his chair and ushered Mason out of the dOME lab.

When Henri returned, he sat back down in his chair and asked, “Cordelia, do you have any questions?” He took a sip out of a large black mug, then smacked his lips, making me flinch.

I gathered my thoughts. “I don’t know where to start. What exactly do you want me to do?”

“I’m sure you must be feeling overwhelmed. There’s no need. I’ll be supervising you closely,” Henri reassured me. “Just be here at eight tomorrow morning to help me set up.”

“But, I need to know a bit more. All I know is that Mason and Faustine are my
projects
. Does that mean that I’m just supposed to assist you in their tests? Or am I expected to do more stuff?”

“More. But we can deal with the other stuff as the issues arise. No need to burden you all at once. For now, familiarize yourself with Mason’s and Faustine’s files. I’ll have them sent to your iPad.”

“Why is Mason back here at the Academy?” I tried one last time to get some clarity.

“Cordelia.” Professor Bern sighed. “I’ve already told you that! Because of the chamber.”

“I don’t buy that. My apologies if I’m coming across as petulant. I don’t mean to. Mason’s dad could have built the chamber at Boone, but he didn’t. Mason wanted to come back here. And I want to know why.”

Henri took off his glasses and wiped the lenses with the corner of his white sleeve. “I’m sure you’re right. And that’s something we can try to explore during his tests. Let’s get his baselines done this week, and then sit down and figure out how to trigger his transformations. I know that you’ve had issues with him, and it may well be that we use you as one of the stimuli. If, of course, you are amenable to that.”

I nodded. I was more than willing. Finding out what went on in Mason’s head would be priceless.

Professor Bern stood up. “Right. I have to go. I have another meeting. I’ll meet with you on a monthly basis. Let’s say the first Monday every month, but I’m always available, should you need to see me. I’ll leave you in Henri’s capable hands.” With a nod, she turned and walked out of the lab.

I glanced over at Henri. He looked like a stereotypical science nerd. Although he sported geeky round glasses, I could have sworn they weren’t prescription lenses. It seemed weird for him to wear them as a fashion statement, but I guessed they made him feel more confident in Professor Bern’s company. He sure seemed cowed around her, despite her obvious trust in his abilities. I suddenly wondered what he was. I assumed he was a witch, but it was hard to tell just by looking at him. He did seem a bit shy and retiring for a witch. Much as I’d have liked to ask him, I knew that would breach the school’s privacy guidelines, so I didn’t. “Henri, do you need me for anything now? If not, I’ll head over to catch up with my brother.”

“Go. I’ll send the files over to you. Study them before you come over tomorrow.”

“I will.”

I walked over to the Initiate’s dining hall, excited about catching up with my little brother. I hadn’t had much contact with him since I’d been at the Academy, but Mom had filled me in on his latest adventures.

Like me and our other siblings, Pascal had been sent to a regular Parisian school where he had settled in without much drama—to start with, anyway. Initially, the only issue he had was one that most paranormal kids suffered from, especially those with parents in significant positions—being a snotty little brat. He was way better at academics than his human classmates, sponging up any information thrown at him and regurgitating it on demand. He was also much stronger and more agile than the other students, excelling at sports. So my little brother had very quickly developed a sense of supremacy and somehow missed out on the importance of being
humble
. The more arrogant he became, the more the other kids at school disliked him and joined up against him. The problem escalated with my brother being faced with groups of kids bent on teaching him a lesson. And of course, Pascal retaliated the only way he knew how—with his powers. Bad scene. He was quickly whisked away from school before the stories and rumors surrounding the strange happenings pointed at him. After a dose of homeschooling, he was sent to the Academy.

I spotted him as soon as I walked into the hall. Or at least, I heard him. He was bent over in a chair, laughing loudly. All I could see was his mop of bright orange curls bobbing up and down as he shook with glee. The other two boys at the table were chuckling as well, one of them with tears running down his face.

“What’s so funny, boys?” I thumped my brother’s back.

“Hey! That hurt.” Pascal sat up and spied me with a glint in his eye. “Wassup, sis?”

“We’re having lunch together. Remember?”

“Uh?”

“Oh, you can be so annoying. Come on, let’s get a table.”

Pascal stood up, taller than I was by at least half a foot. “Later, mates.” He waved at his friends and followed me to the meat station.