Gael sulked, dwelling on this horrid placement. Even Tiffany’s brief smile didn’t lift his spirits, though he mentally noted how the gesture must’ve meant they weren’t fighting this week, so he’d try his luck at flirting later. Christ, that kid had a one-track mind.
No wonder he had to sign a Global Guild waiver. Gael hadn’t been assigned to Milo, but instead the very famous Texas Daddy—ugh, how I loathed that stage name—since the enchanter had set up roots in Chicago until the Celestial Coven mission was resolved. One would think Gael could appreciate interning with an enchanter so famous.
Mentor: Enchanter Lawrence
Interns: Carter Howe; Vik Smythe; Zoya Khan
Wow. Carter beamed with delight at seeing he’d work under Gladiatrix, one of the world’s most renowned enchanters, and the pinnacle of trans activists among industry witches.
His excitement was overshadowed by the elation swelling inside Katherine.
She spotted her name under Guild Master Campbell and buzzed with eagerness to learn everything about running a guild, but disappointment clung to her when she saw she’d have so many other top-tier students alongside her. She’d have to work incredibly hard to stand out and make a name for herself.
Mentor: Guild Master Campbell
Interns: Katherine Harris; Layla Smythe; Amani Williams; Jennifer Jung; Tatiana Owens; Olivia Flores
Last semester, Katherine’s internal drive to learn more about the role of a guild master encouraged me to broach the topic with Campbell. She seemed rather aloof at the prospect of mentoring a student despite my determined pitch, expressing how Katherine noticed how few women take on the mantle of guild master.
Glossing over Campbell’s thoughts, it became clear she took that message to heart, even if she pretended to placate me with utter disinterest. Campbell researched the most adaptable female students at Gemini and handpicked an entourage of interns she’d teach how to run the industry one day.
I continued skimming through the names projected in search of my homeroom coven students. Correction, my former homeroom coven students. Even if I’d stayed at Gemini, even if I’d continued teaching, they wouldn’t be my students anymore.
“Mel, sweetie, you need to request a transfer.” The disgust in Layla’s voice cut through the air. “Seriously, Kraken is second-rate, and while you’re not impressive, at least you’re not sloppy like the rest of your group.”
With that, Layla sauntered off and abandoned her friend so her clique could continue exploring the who’s who of Cerberus Guild.
Melanie clammed up and read the name of her mentor and fellow interns.
Mentor: Enchanter Ortiz
Interns: Jamius Watson; Melanie Dawson; Yaritza Vargas
That was rather surprising. Most Gemini Academy students had landed with Cerberus Guild enchanters, but Chanelle had outsourced more than a few other guilds to work with a small chunk of the student body.
“What a bitch,” Yaritza said in regard to Layla’s comment. “Hellrazer is top-tier. Way better than interning for some office snob.”
“Interning for a guild master is the most prestigious opportunity anyone could ever ask for.”
“Your boss isn’t here,” Yaritza said, rolling her eyes. “You’re not getting any bonus points for sucking up. Besides, the only ones worth being jealous of are the people interning with actual Global Guild members. But, like, Hellrazer is close enough. He was offered a spot and turned it down. We’re going to learn so much!”
While I wanted to believe Enchanter Ortiz’s fire magic would be great for Melanie and okay for Yaritza, I didn’t see any reason for Jamius to be teamed up with the enchanter. Unless, of course, he had stipulated he wanted interns who shared familiarity with one another, which was common practiceamong lazy enchanters. If I had it my way, Ortiz wouldn’t have even made the cut to the ‘desperate last resort’ list of suitable enchanters.
It had nothing to do with the fact that he was Milo’s ex and everything to do with the fact that the fool lived life based on all of Milo’s bad qualities with none of the charm or good intentions to balance them out. Hellrazer was Chicago’s bad boy who didn’t bend the rules so much as burn them to cinders in order to make his cases. To be clear, he didn’t reject an offer from the Global Guild ranks. According to Milo, they rescinded the offer because of his cavalier behavior.
Ugh. I needed to have a word with Chanelle about this placement. Clearly, she was overworked and just slapping assignments together.
“Is there a reason you didn’t mention signing a waiver?” Kenzo asked. His agitation reeled my attention back to him and Gael instead of wandering through the sea of students processing their internships.
“Well, when you didn’t get one, I worried you might be a little jealous.” Gael grimaced. “Not that you’d need to be jealous. I mean, I was worried I’d be jealous of how not jealous you’d be about the whole thing.”
Gael gulped, mind swirling in Spanish thoughts.
Kenzo scoffed. “As if I care. Just don’t let that arrogant fool ruin your success with tacky lessons on how to be a fuckboy instead of helping you harness your magic.”
I glared. Milo wasn’t a fuckboy. Well, not anymore. And that was mostly just his image during the early days of his fame.
“At least my enchanter is somewhat competent.” Kenzo eyed his mentor, Enchanter Novak, who, along with Milo’s other acolytes, had recently been promoted. As such, the three of themwould each only have one intern. “Branchless and Whitlock are screwed.”
