I turned to find their names all grouped together.
Mentor: Enchanter Novak
Intern: Kenzo Ito
Mentor: Enchanter Russo
Intern: Caleb Huxley
Mentor: Enchanter Reed
Intern: Tara Whitlock
While I found Milo’s former acolytes mostly competent, I didn’t believe any of them were ready for interns quite yet. Especially the students they’d been assigned. I mean, granted, Lena Novak was probably the only person who could handle Kenzo’s beratement and dish it back in equal measure. But Caleb being assigned to Hayden? The ditzy witch who was never on time for his life and possessed two branches. What was he going to teach Caleb? How unfair life was, and how to be late to literally every event?
Ellie’s personality was nice enough for a pushover, but even with her lock capability, I didn’t know how suitable a match she’d be for Tara. Sure, she’d identified some of Tara’s branch threads in the past, but like the rest of us, she couldn’t make much sense of it. Personally, Tara should be assigned one of the Global Guild witches. Maybe Wadsworth. Actually, considering his history with her mother, that was a bad idea. Just the thought of Tara’s mother out there, roaming the world, eluding the Global Guild, and seeking to steal Tara away to fulfill some mad agenda. It made me queasy. When would she make her move?
I continued searching names, noticing how conveniently Wadsworth’s name was missing from the list of mentors despite Gladiatrix and Diaz both taking on interns since their mission had relocated them to the city.
Wadsworth wasn’t the only name missing from the board. I scoured every single mentor, mostly from Cerberus Guild, a few from other guilds, but I couldn’t find my name anywhere.
Chanelle used the high-pitched blare of the microphone to cut through the conversations. Once she’d settled some of the idle chat, she quickly returned to the podium.
“Now that everyone’s had a chance to check out who their mentor is, I’d like you all to meet up with them,” Chanelle announced. “Those of you working with other guilds have transportation awaiting you downstairs. Your mentors are eagerly awaiting your arrival.”
I cut through the thick crowd of students, making my way toward Campbell to have a word with her about her oversight in leaving me off the mentor list. Seemingly, I was the only person at Cerberus Guild not mentoring a student.
Yaritza and Melanie brushed past me, each trying to quickly make their way to the elevator without being spotted. It didn’t work. Minds perked up at their discreet exit.
“Have fun on your little bus ride.” Layla smirked, gathering a laugh from her friends.
Ugh. How quickly she turned to mock Melanie now that she’d been grouped with Yaritza.
“Have fun with your Girl Boss secretary gig,” Yaritza quickly retorted. “Bet you’ll learn all the best ways to file paperwork.”
It was a strong clapback that actually managed to irritate Layla, not that she let it show as she rolled her eyes and directed her friends to find their mentors. Truthfully, every intern wouldbe learning the joys of paperwork. It was a nice break for enchanters to pass off their administrative to-dos off to rookies and lighten their caseloads. They’d get field experience, too, but not as much as in years past. Too much red tape for injuries and an angry public. Most enchanters played it safe and kept their interns in the wings for observational tasks.
Students continued funneling through the room in search of their enchanters, clogging up space as everyone tried to have introductions here. Enchanters really were such fucking morons. They had no understanding of learning. Hundreds of students in one setting were not going to pay attention, comprehend, or even hear half the introductory directives.
“Where’s the cowboy dude?” Gael asked with a pouty huff, joining several others who’d been assigned a Global Guild mentor over by Chanelle.
“Those of you working with Enchanter Diaz will be meeting with him in the lobby,” she explained. “He’s not big on crowds.”
I rolled my eyes. Based on Diaz’s distant thoughts, he wasn’t big on punctuality either.
“What about those assigned to Gladiatrix?” Carter asked eagerly. “I mean, to Enchanter Lawrence.”
“She’s still traveling for business,” Chanelle explained. “She’s expected to arrive later this afternoon, so you’ll be shadowing me for the morning.”
Impressive. The fact that Gladiatrix just wrapped up a case in the UK and was going to fly across the entire ocean and half the country in a few hours. Her speed was unparalleled.
I made my way to Guild Master Campbell, who had a trail of eager interns following her. With a quick wave of her hand, one of her three personal assistants intercepted the girls and ushered them off in a different direction. They had a tailored orientationto attend to for their first day, and by the brief glossing on Campbell’s thoughts, it seemed her assistants would be doing the heavy lifting on the mentoring side of things.
I ground my teeth at that. She couldn’t even be bothered by the full expectations of mentoring, yet she blatantly disregarded me for the role. And I knew she’d done it intentionally based on the buzzing irritation wafting from her surface thoughts or the frantic need consuming the other two personal assistants attempting and failing to intercept me.
“Not dealing with either of you,” I snapped as I stomped between them and barreled toward Campbell’s office door. “We need a word.”
“Based on your demeanor, I’d say several words.” Her sigh of exhaustion was feigned, but the headache my presence created was genuine. “You two can join the orientation. I’ll handle Enchanter Frost.”
