Elemental Air (Paranormal Public Series) (14 page)

“Right,” I said. There was no way
in the world she was imposing rules on me. “Have a good night.”

“Oh, you too dear,” said Martha
with a wink and a smile.

I was out the Astra door and a
little ways down the path when something bumped my shoulder. It was a sugar
cookie, floating by itself in the air. I had to smile. Sigil had known I wanted
it, and had made sure I got it.

Luckily, the rain was taking a
break, but the path was slippery, and everything from the grass and rocks to
the other buildings of Public had a sheen of moisture covering it.

The light had just begun to fade
when the first floor of the new building came into view. It was a mirror of the
library, with colored glass. I could see that they were still working on the
upper floors, and probably would be for some time. Students were streaming
toward the new hall from every direction. There were vampires and pixies
walking in groups, fallen angels gliding down from above, and stray Airlee
students coming down the path.

I felt my face break into an
involuntary smile. I loved Public and everything about it. Except maybe the
dorm mothers.

The stray Airlee students turned
out to be my friends. Sip, Lisabelle, and Lough were coming toward me, and I
could see that each of them had changed clothes, although the only way I could
tell with Lisabelle was that she had put on a regular long-sleeved black
t-shirt instead of a turtleneck black t-shirt.

“How’s it going?” Sip asked,
skipping up to me with a big smile on her face. “I’m famished. Hey, where’d you
get that cookie?” She pointed at the last bit of sugar cookie I had yet to
stuff into my mouth.

I rolled my eyes and told my
friends about my new dorm mother.

They all felt bad for me, but
Martha sounded more like an annoyance than a serious worry in a place where
demons tried to kill us and the president of the paranormals might really be a
Nocturn.

Once we finished eating we
streamed into the dining hall with all the other students. I felt like it was
our Starter semester again and we were new, but this time everyone was new, not
just us. The doors opened right into the dining hall, but I could see that
there was another set of doors, which probably led to stairs that would someday
lead to the upper levels of the new tower.

“Wow,” said Sip, craning her neck
upward. The ceiling of this dining hall was glass, and from below we could see
the night sky and the rainclouds starting to form again.

The tables were all white marble,
as was the floor, which was covered in rugs that represented every house. White
marble benches, which were mercifully not part of the floor like the tables
were, offered ample seating. The room was entirely glass. Instead of one big
station serving food there were five, one representing each house. The new
arrangement made it easier to avoid different paranormal types you might not
want to run into, like the pixies.

“This is awesome,” said Sip. “So
pretty.”

“You’d think they were just
begging the demons to destroy it,” said Lisabelle, shaking her head.

“What can demons possibly do to
marble?” Sip asked indignantly. “Besides, it’s beautiful. We have a lovely
view.”

“Until it’s smashed to
smithereens,” said Lisabelle darkly. “Come on, I’m hungry. Besides, I want to
finish early, so we can go to Astra and meet Martha.” She gave me a wicked grin
as she went off to the fallen angel station for food.

The hall felt more packed than it
usually did, and I realized that even though they had given us different food
stations, and there were still small round tables for us to eat at, the dining
hall as a whole was smaller.

“They want to keep us penned in
like cattle,” said Lough once we were seated. Keller was sitting with his
friends Nate and Marcus, while Rake was with the vampires. Trafton, though,
much to Lough’s dismay, had joined us.

“Yes, I’m sure they usually think
of the students at one of the best paranormal schools in the world as glorified
milk suppliers,” said Trafton, spooning a bit of jellyfish soup into his mouth.
He had gotten it from the pixie station and was slurping it up happily. Not
long after Lough gave him a death stare, Trafton got up and went for thirds.

“Remind me again why we’re
friends with him?” Lough asked.

“He’s smart, he’s nice, he’s
funny.” Sip listed off a number of positive traits, only making Lough angrier.

“He’s the only other dream giver
on campus,” said Lisabelle. “You two should be teaming up for all sorts of
stuff.”

“Which reminds me,” said Sip.
“Are there any classes we all have together?”

“We should have two,” I said.
“Zervos’s history and Korba’s paranormal defenses. They were mandatory. Korba’s
class should be useful, under the circumstances,” I finished darkly, thinking
of Caid’s meeting with Malle.

“Most of us should also have ways
to unfriend dream givers,” said Lough.

“But Lough,” Lisabelle said, “we
like you too much.”

“Good, because you won’t be
getting rid of me,” said Lough. He took another mouthful of bread; nothing, not
even an argument about Trafton, distracted Lough from his dinner.

“Much to our dismay,” said
Trafton, returning.

We spent most of the rest of the
meal discussing Caid’s situation and what his options were. We all wanted the
president to act, but it didn’t seem likely that he was going to.

As we talked, I kept taking in
more details of the new dining all. There was a marble table for the professors
and committee members, at which Risper’s chair was still noticeably empty. The
rest were full. Oliva, Dove, and Erikson sat in the very middle, with Zervos
between Dove and Dacer. Dacer must have arrived just moments before I saw him,
because he walked in the door halfway through the meal. In the end I was glad
he hadn’t been on the bus; knowing what I knew about his old friend Caid, I
would have had a hard time looking him in the eye.

Toward the end of the meal, right
when we had all started to contemplate dessert, Oliva rose to his feet. He was
so short he needed a stool to be seen as he stood behind the lectern to address
us.

Instantly the hall fell silent.
Obviously we weren’t the only students who were curious about what he had to
say and what changes we would see this semester.

“It feels like a new school every
semester,” Sip whispered to me. “There’s something different every time, but
getting speeches from the president stays the same.”

“At least we always have Zervos,”
I told her. She snorted and rolled her eyes.

“Good evening,” said Oliva,
smiling around at us. He was dressed all in green, and I could see bits of dust
sparkling around him.

“I hope you all had safe travels
back to Public. Some of us drove back, but I know many of you came through the
woods, and of course in these difficult times the demons are always a concern.
I am happy to see you all here safe and well.

“This semester, there will be
several changes at Public. I hope they turn out to be all to the good. First,
as you all know, last semester Ms. Vale was your president. It did not work out
so well. This semester, the committee has finally chosen another president, and
it is my great honor to announce that I have accepted the position. This school
needs leadership and understanding. I think that with the help of my deputies,
Dove and Erikson, I can provide just that.”

I exchanged a look with
Lisabelle, but she just gave a slight shake of her head. She didn’t know if
Risper was coming back. I wondered if he even knew that Oliva was the new
president. It was beyond interesting that a pixie had been chosen to lead
Public when the pixies were so clearly wobbling in their loyalty.

There was clapping and cheering,
most loudly from the pixies themselves, who were thrilled to have one of their
own in charge.

“The next change is that there is
a curfew, even for vampires. The demons are everywhere, and I cannot have
students in danger. The Power of Five only extends so far,” he finished
ominously.

I felt like Oliva had punched me
in the stomach. The Power of Five was weak because of me, or rather, because
there were no elementals left and I could not be everywhere at once. I was also
just a normal elemental, and there were still many spells, enchantments,
intonations, and other parts of being an elemental that I had yet to learn.

“In keeping with that, I ask all
of you for caution. Public has been tried over the past few years, and with its
magic fluctuating there’s no telling what could happen if the demons attack.
These cautions are, of course, for your own safety. With that in mind,” Oliva
continued, when some of the grumbling from the vampires had died down, “I must
insist that if you see a demon, you must not engage it in battle.”

“What?” Lisabelle sputtered into
the silent hall before she could stop herself. Oliva’s eyes flicked to our
table, then away.

“Shhh,” said Sip to our friend,
giving her a purple-eyed glare. “You’re going to get us in trouble, or
more
trouble, I should say.”

“You know what’s going to get us
in trouble?” Lisabelle asked scornfully. “Not being allowed to defend ourselves
when we’re attacked by demons. Oliva’s crazy. He’s a pixie and he’s crazy. Sad,
really.”

“What are you saying about
pixies?” Camilla hissed from behind us.

“You heard me,” Lisabelle
retorted.

“So, now we know who’s going to
give us our punishment,” said Sip glumly. “I should have known.”

She was right. It was Oliva
himself who would be distributing our punishment for fighting with Camilla on
the bus. He was definitely a long way from the friend he had been to us during
the second semester of our Starter year.

“Just wait until Lanca hears,”
said Lough, “or do you think she already knew?”

“She probably already knew,” I
said. “They wouldn’t do something like appoint a new president of Public
without informing the Rapier queen.”

“I’d kind of like to see Vital
mad again,” said Sip reverently. “He’s amazing.”

“In other news,” said Oliva, “we
have several students this semester from other universities. They are studying
abroad and will be joining the other Starters in showing off their paranormal
skills.”

It was known as a Demonstration,
basically just a way to impress the rest of us and bring honor to your type. I
had failed miserably when I had done mine, because I hadn’t known I was an
elemental. I still flinched whenever I thought of it.

Meanwhile, Lisabelle was still
trying to absorb the situation. “Oliva’s our new president,” she muttered,
staring darkly up at the pixie. “What is the world coming to?”

The rest of the evening went by
in a blur. The demonstrations were pretty cool. We had visiting students from
all over, as far away as China and as close as New York City. The student from
New York was a werewolf who looked kind of rough and tumble. He was covered in
tattoos and wore ripped jeans, and he introduced himself as Nolan. Once he had
finished his Demonstration, Professor Erikson stood up and informed him that he
would need a new uniform, one that included unripped jeans, and a comb couldn’t
hurt either. His face inscrutable, he gave her a curt nod. Once the
Demonstrations were over, students streamed out of the hall.

Before we could go back to Astra,
we had to accept our punishment from the new president. All the students who
had been involved in the altercation on the bus went to stand before the raised
dais.

At first Oliva ignored us, but
soon enough he beckoned for us to follow him. Lough, who wasn’t in trouble,
departed with a wave and a shake of his head. “Good luck,” he whispered.

Oliva led us outside, and then
back inside the nearest building, which turned out to be the campus bookstore,
where my friends and I needed to go anyway.

Oliva shook his head at all of
us, including Camilla and Kia, who were standing a little way away from Sip,
Lisabelle, and me.

“Let me just say,” Camilla simpered,
“congratulations on your appointment. I am sure you will make a truly wonderful
and inspirational leader of Paranormal Public.” She batted her eyes for good
measure. Lisabelle looked like she wanted to vomit, or punch her, I wasn’t sure
which.

Oliva smiled. Once a pixie,
always a pixie. “Thank you,” he said warmly. “I’m looking forward to the
challenge.” Then, collecting himself, he cleared his throat.

“Your punishment is to help paint
the far end of the Long Building,” said Oliva. “It’s been a long time since it
was taken care of, and it’s falling into disrepair. Mr. Erikson is in charge of
getting the painting done, so talk to him. Charlotte,” - I blushed, knowing
what came next - “I know you have a special relationship with Mr. Erikson.”
Camilla sniggered, but Oliva ignored her and went right on. “If I hear any
breath of favoritism, you will both receive further punishment. I have already
directed Mr. Erikson not to treat you any differently from the way he treats
anyone else.”