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The first day of school couldn’t come fast enough. Celest ordered us to approach Angelo in a neutral location. That meant that we couldn’t just barge into his house, not that we knew where it was. From what I understood, Angelo’s people could teleport. Angelo could protect Ciara by day and teleport to a Grecian villa by night. So I waited two days to start the search for Jade.
***
“Good morning, Sheena,” Julia greeted as I rushed into the kitchen. My father, Grant, was at the Silversmith Coven’s stronghold, doing some business for Celest. That was the excuse that Julia always fed us. But I suspected that my parents were going to announce a divorce pretty soon. Julia gestured to the plate at the table. She made chocolate chip pancakes that had strawberries and whipped cream on top. She was trying to cheer me up. But the loss of Tim and Jane still rankled. If I was supposedly some kind of foreseer, why in the hell hadn’t I had a vision of the fiery blast? I would have warned Tim and Jane, and they would still have been alive. “Eat up.” I nodded and plopped down in a seat. I took my first bite before I noted that someone was missing.
“Where’s Ben?” I wondered.
“He woke up at three for his workout and ate around five,” Julia explained. Yikes! Knights could function on four hours of sleep. As I ate, I was so glad that I was an oracle, a kind of caster that needed at least eight hours to function. It gave me a good excuse to sleep in. Once Jade was safely on Earth, I could tell her about oracles and make the joke. I was sure that she would find something like that really funny.
Jade. Where was she? What was happening to her? The thought of Jade being abused made my appetite vanish. I pushed my half-eaten plate of pancakes away. Julia frowned as she collected the plate.
“You have Angelo on your mind?” she wondered.
“Not just that. I’m worried that he won’t tell us anything,” I said. Julia finished scraping the remains of my breakfast in the trash and washed the plate.
“What does he have to lose?” Julia asked. “You already know about his race, and you know who his king is. My advice is to be transparent. Just tell him who you really are to Earth.” Right, Julia was on the “earth’s protectors” idea. I myself didn’t seem like much of a protector. I felt like an utter failure. But I nodded anyway when I heard the car horn.
“It looks like they’re impatiently waiting for me,” I said as I made my way to the door.
“Good luck, sweetheart. I love you,” Julia said.
“I love you too,” I replied as I rushed out into the freezing cold. Amber’s new SUV was idling in front of my house. I quickly made my way to the back and got in. I wasn’t surprised to find myself seated beside Tucker, Ben’s best friend.
“Hey, Sheena,” Tuck greeted.
“Hi, Tuck. Are you going to pretend to be a student?” I wondered as Amber pulled away from the house.
“Nope. He’s your ride since Ben is helping me guard Ciara. I have convinced her to skip school,” Amber said. “Hopefully, Angelo doesn’t get wind of that. If he does, he won’t show up at school. I doubt that he’s there to get a high school education.”
“Smart. Tuck, you and I are questioning Angelo?” I asked. Ben let out a sigh.
“Since I don’t actually go to Silversmith High, I need you to lure Angelo out of the school,” Tucker instructed. So the entire thing fell on me? Well, no pressure. I could either complain, or use my energy on trying to come up with a plan. First, I needed to figure out who this Angelo was. Without Ciara, that would be a challenge. But I had a feeling that he would be standing out in the cold, waiting to catch sight of his charge. Since Angelo’s particular breed of alien appeared similar in physiology to humans, Angelo wouldn’t stick out. So, I supposed that I could appear as normal as possible.
When we drove into the school, I frowned at the news trucks that were lining the perimeter. Reporters with cameramen were stationed all along the front of the school. No students were in sight. Right, this was the biggest thing that had happened in Silversmith since two teenagers were caught robbing a bank. Of course reporters would want to go to our school in an attempt to gather more information about Jade Bane. Fury filled my heart at the thought that my friend was being exploited. She wasn’t a kind, warm presence to these people. She was nothing more than a sensational topic that would increase their viewership. I forced down my anger and spoke.
“I hope that the vultures don’t bother me,” I told the casters.
“They won’t,” Amber assured. “Just act like you don’t care and flip them off when necessary.”
“All right. Good luck, everyone,” I said as I hopped out of the car and jogged toward the school.
The reporters must have been warned against harassing the students, because they ignored me as I hurried into the building. I wasn’t surprised to see students clustered in the foyer and hallways. The students all shot me pitying glances. Some of the classmates that didn’t know me as well glanced my way and turned to whisper to their neighbors. I ignored them and headed to the area where the lockers were located. Amber had told me which locker was Ciara’s. I saw a guy standing across from Ciara’s locker, his eyes focused on it as if something would magically pop out of it. I walked over to Angelo and held out a hand. Well, I thought that the muscled man with the jet-black hair was Angelo.
“Hi, Angelo,” I confidently said, sporting a wide grin. Angelo reached out and grasped my hand in his.
“Hi, Sheena. I’m sorry about Jade,” he said, his kind expression making me feel like we could be friends.
“Ciara is safe,” I softly told him. “Listen, Angelo, we don’t have much time. Let me sum it up. I’m a caster, a protector of Earth. I’m an oracle and saw a vision of King Rayon’s...” I felt fire travel up my arm and into my chest. My vision blurred for a moment and then I found myself in a different location.