Whirl (Ondine Quartet Book 1) (5 page)

"He's Chief Gardinel and Crown Prince of the
Selkie Kingdom."

I should've known he was more than a
gardinel. His presence was too powerful.

"Next to him is Gabriel Renard, Head
Chevalier and director of the Training Center at Lumiére."

"Gabe's also my mate, which makes him your
uncle," Marcella added.

Only I could shout, insult, and make pointed
remarks at the Prince of the Selkie Kingdom, the Head Chevalier,
the Headmaster of my new school, and the Governor of Haverleau
within the first few minutes of arrival.

The rug had been pulled out from under me.
And like any situation in which I felt cornered, I bluffed my way
through it.

"Well, Grandmother." My voice was so bland I
could've been discussing something as non-important as the weather.
"You may have raised my mother. But you still don't know anything
about me."

Rhian's mouth tightened into a thin, straight
line. "That may be. But as an ondine, as a resident of my
community, and as my granddaughter, I expect you to abide by the
rules of our world and be an appropriate example of the Irisavie
family.

"Prince Belicoux," she went on. "I trust you
and your gardinels at the Academy will keep an eye on the
sondaleur
."

There was that word again. Now that I knew
who my grandmother was, I realized the term must have something to
do with being a member of the First Family.

No wonder the Aquidae had been so glad to
find me. If they kidnapped and turned the granddaughter of
Haverleau's Governor, it would've been a major blow against water
elementals.

"Of course, Governor." Tristan's voice was
serious and firm. I must have made some sound of indignation,
because his mouth curved and he looked at me. "Don't worry. You'll
never know we're there."

That was probably true since he'd followed me
around for a day in San Aurelio and I hadn't noticed. It pissed me
off that he could do that.

After Rhian informed me that I was expected
at the Governor's House for dinner tomorrow night, Tristan and
Gabriel escorted me to the Academy clinic where a Healer fixed the
bruise on my face and the cuts on my arms and legs. We then headed
toward the eastern section of the campus, where the demillir and
ondine dormitories were located.

Both of them walked ahead of me in silence,
only speaking to point out the cafeteria, the library, or class
buildings so that I'd be able to find my way around later. The
first floor of the dormitory had a large commons area that Gabriel
said was a kind of student lounge. Afternoon classes were still
going on, leaving the campus and dorm empty and quiet.

My room was small and plain with a twin bed
against one wall and a desk and computer across from it. My duffel
bags had already been brought up from Tristan's car. The window
looked out on to the woods behind the dorm and when I opened it, a
breeze brought in the distinctive fresh scent of the ocean.

After a quick shower to wash off the blood
and dirt, I spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking and checking
email.

There was a new message from Ian MacAllister,
a guy I'd met in Florida during the ninth grade. That was the year
I'd gotten into a fight with the official bitch queen of the
school, giving her a massive black eye. After that, I had a
reputation for being extremely dangerous and students were either
scared of or fascinated by me. It was a reputation I was quite
proud of.

Ian had sat next to me in the cafeteria one
day, talking about his great love of 80s music and how the movie
Matrix had changed his view of the world. He was different and a
bit eccentric, which didn't bode well for his high school social
life.

I never told him the truth about who I was or
why I moved around so much, but he had a knack for contacting me
just when I needed a friendly voice.

Like the email I got from him today, asking
if anything new was going on. I wrote a short message telling him
I'd moved again to Washington State.

Smiling, I closed the browser window. I could
see Ian rolling his eyes, asking me what I'd done to get expelled
from another city.

It was early evening and my stomach growled.
I hadn't eaten anything all day because I'd arrived at the Academy
after lunch.

A full-length mirror was attached to the
wardrobe in my room. I stood in front of it, critically examining
myself. I wasn't that tall, but my body was lean and tight from
years of physical training. A touch of eyeliner and mascara
highlighted my dark green eyes and high-gloss lipstick in a pale
peach not only showed off my lips (which I thought were my best
asset), but also complimented my paler skin tone.

Thick, straight hair tumbled down to my
waist, and I gave it a few more swipes with a brush to make it
shine. I swept all of it in front of my left shoulder so that my
right shoulder lay bare, showing off my tattoo. The familiar feel
of my dagger in its usual place at the small of my back comforted
me.

Sexy and just a bit dangerous. Exactly the
look I was going for.

I'd moved and changed schools enough times to
know how important the first entrance was. People needed to think
you were hot enough to pay attention to. But you also had to make
them wary enough so they wouldn't mess with you.

Time to enter the social jungle of every
school.

The cafeteria.

FOUR

Juicy gossip is like a bizarre virus.
Once awakened, it takes on a life and speed of its own, spreading
and mutating until it's out of control.

As soon as I walked into the cafeteria, it
was clear news of my arrival had already spread. How that was
possible, when no one had seen me arrive and I hadn't left my room
all day, was a mystery I'd never solve.

I strode in confidently with a lazy grin on
my face. The large space, filled with long rectangular tables,
looked like any other high school cafeteria. I headed over to the
food line as the rambunctious noise of the room dropped, replaced
by the buzz of muttered whispers. All eyes followed me.

I casually picked up the ugly, orange plastic
tray and loaded up on today's menu of lasagna and boiled green
vegetables that looked like it had all but disintegrated into a
pile of pulpy mush.

After I grabbed an orange and a bottle of
water, I carried my tray down the middle aisle. My eyes assessed
the seated students, analyzing the social structure and determining
where the power was and who would be a problem.

At the far right table was the head group. A
thin girl with a slightly large nose watched me with sharp eyes.
She whispered to the three girls next to her as I walked past. They
reminded me of dolls. Artificial perfection in their hair, makeup,
and clothes.

Next to her was a hot guy with heavy-hooded
brown eyes and dark golden hair, styled to look fashionably mussed.
He was perched on the table in a deliberately casual slouch,
surrounded by a group of five other guys.

His eyes followed me with arrogant curiosity
and when he saw me looking, he gave an appreciative grin. With a
half-smile, I made sure my expression didn't reveal anything more
than a slight interest. I didn't want to blow him off yet,
especially if he might come in handy as an ally against Ms.
Blondie, whose eyes had narrowed.

I would've bet my dagger that the entire
table was Redavi. They screamed of money and entitlement.

I'd scouted the table to sit at the moment I
entered the cafeteria. Located at the very back left corner, I
wanted to claim the empty space before any more students arrived.
Sitting there would make sure that people had to come to me, and
not the other way around.

I made sure my back was turned to the rest of
the room and waited for whoever had the nerve to approach the new
girl.

"You figured everything out yet?"

The friendly voice came from behind and
another orange tray landed on the table. I looked up at a guy with
short, sandy blonde hair, dressed in a casual hunter green t-shirt
and jeans. He had a muscular build, like an athlete. Smoky grey
eyes, fringed with long, dark blonde lashes, were lit up with
amusement. Pretty cute, especially with that mischievous
expression.

I gave him a lazy grin. "I'm liking what I
see so far."

He sat next to me. "Ryder DePaul. Welcome to
Lumiére."

"Kendra Irisavie. Can't say it's all that
great to be here."

He laughed. "Gorgeous and honest. Nice."
Taking a bite of his lasagna, he gazed at me thoughtfully. "You
have the eyes of a soldier. Saw you sizing up the room as you came
in."

Surprised, I gave him another appraising
glance.

"Just a habit," I replied. "I like knowing
what sort of situation I'm in. It's kind of second nature."

"So I heard. You've got some hard-core
martial arts skills."

Swallowing my bite slowly, I turned to face
him. Even the gossip pipeline wouldn't explain that depth of
knowledge.

"Is that right? And what else have you
heard?"

A tsking sound came from the other side of
the table.

"Come on, Ry, don't go blabbing all our
secrets."

Two girls joined us. They both had the pale
creamy complexion of ondines, but their coloring was different. The
one on the left had long, silky bright blonde hair that reminded me
of the color of buttercups. She was about my height and had on an
elegant sundress that hugged her delicate frame. Cornflower blue
eyes sparkled as she gave me a wide smile.

The other ondine had short auburn hair, a
light smattering of freckles, and large emerald eyes that observed
me with studious curiosity. The tight black pants and sophisticated
top on her slender frame made her look like she'd just stepped off
a New York fashion runway.

"You must be Kendra," the blonde cheerily
said. "I'm Chloe Moreaux and this is Aubrey Rossay."

Aubrey gave a friendly nod. "Don't let Ry
freak you out." Her voice was a bit deeper than Chloe's and tinged
with seriousness.

"We looked up your school file earlier," she
continued with an apologetic look. "Just wanted to know a little
more about the new girl."

Much as I didn't like the idea of someone
going through my private files, I couldn't begrudge them their
interest.

"Thought Pelletier had student files under
lock and key."

Ryder laughed. "As if that would be a
problem. Aubrey is our resident genius. It took her all of three
seconds to get into the school server and access it."

"She does everything fast," Chloe added and
Ryder snickered. Aubrey shot him a dirty look.

"I meant her mind," Chloe pointed out. "You
should see her on the computer. She's like one of those crazy
hackers you see in thriller movies."

"Really?" My estimation of them shot up
exponentially.

Aubrey shrugged, a slight flush tingeing her
cheeks. "Sorry about checking out your file. Pelletier assigned me
as your tutor and we were curious."

I grinned and she visibly relaxed. "I'm glad
I have someone like you tutoring me."

"So you're what all the fuss is about."

The sardonic voice came from a guy with
short, dark hair and piercing hazel eyes with flecks of green. He
was joined by another boy whose dirty blonde hair was tied back
into a ponytail. He wore a t-shirt that had a huge Facebook button.
It read, "How Can I Block You in Real Life?"

"Kendra Irisavie, meet Cam Martin." Ryder
nodded at the dark-haired boy who sat without acknowledging me.
"And that's Alex Girard." T-shirt boy gave a quick, friendly grin
before tearing into his lunch.

"Haven't seen this hellhole get into such a
tizzy before," Cam said. Even with my back turned, I felt the
concentrated focus on our table.

"That's because nothing ever happens here,"
Alex muttered.

"Cam, Alex, and I are recruits in the
chevalier program," Ryder told me, taking a bite of the nasty
looking green vegetables. He made a pained face. "God, talk about
cruel and unusual punishment."

"How are classes here?" I asked.

"Depends on what teacher you get. We're all
juniors," Ryder motioned to everyone at the table, "which means we
have most of our regular classes together. In the afternoon, we go
to chevalier training classes while ondines take elemental magic or
Virtue classes."

Ryder gestured rudely at the hot guy and his
group that I'd scoped out earlier. "Redavi demillirs take afternoon
classes in business and politics. But they usually just hang around
bragging about their inheritances."

"Fucking Redavi," Cam muttered under his
breath. He glanced up at Chloe and Aubrey. "No offense."

"What's the training program like?"

"We enter our last phase next year," Alex
said between bites. "They'll divide us up into elite and corps
tracks. The ones chosen into the elites train with the gardinels to
enter the upper echelon of service, while the corps group trains to
serve in the main body of the chevaliers."

"After that, we get inducted." Cam shrugged.
"Wasn't your dad Head Chevalier? Didn't he tell you all this?"

"Nope," I said and almost gagged after taking
a bite of the vegetables. "He died when I was three, and my mother
never told me."

"What about your magic classes?" Chloe asked.
"We looked at your schedule, but you had none assigned. Do you have
a Virtue?"

I began peeling my orange. Better stick to
eating things that looked normal. "Pelletier assigned me another
tutor. I have experience with my Empath Virtue, but I guess this
person is supposed to be some kind of specialist."

Five sets of eyes stared at me.

"You're an Empath?" Chloe squeaked. "That's
really rare."

"I've never met an Empath before," Ryder
said, staring at me like I'd grown horns out of my head.