Page 19 of Facade

Were they seriously this juvenile? Clarke debated the wisdom of commenting while Jace, who had gone stiff next to her, glared at the other monitors. She preferred standing her ground, but didn’t want this to escalate into an argument either.

“You made yourselves look bad,” Professor Halston pointed out bluntly. “Take some accountability for your own actions. Voudrie and 007 performed better than either of you, and deserve to be commended for it. Instead of sniping, and ganging up on the new guy, you should work on improving your own performance.”

Several of the other professors nodded in agreement, but didn’t comment. Ray and Mitch looked offended to be called out, and left in high dudgeon.

Jace had told her that Heath Halston had been the caster monitor prior to being promoted to Professor two years ago. He had done an excellent job, and earned the loyalty of his students. Some of them would still be enrolled as upperclassmen.

Clarke guessed that Professor Halston was offended on behalf of his students. Having been a monitor himself, he might feel that Ray and Mitch were undeserving of the position. Still, he could have kept his mouth shut, and chose not to.

Appreciating his support, and not wanting to dwell on Mitch and Ray’s lack of maturity, Clarke turned to the caster professor. She had heard comments that Halston had nicknames for several staff members, but hadn’t heard this one.

Jace hadn’t been bothered by the moniker, so it was either flattering, or all in good fun. “007?”

Halston shrugged before replying. “Zero patience, zero diplomacy, seven complete sentences.”

Jace did tend to be monosyllabic in the meetings. He grunted as often as he spoke. It was also true that he was impatient in certain aspects, and direct without concern for tact. She appreciated the honesty of that, but admitted to herself that it was a fitting nickname.

An involuntary giggle erupted from Clarke at the comment. Fortunately, thanks to the charm, it came out sounding like a manly chuckle. Shit, she could have given herself away.

Between his charisma, humor, and sheer gorgeousness, this man could be lethal to her disguise. Clarke would need to watch herself around Heath Halston.

Heath

It was the end of another workday, and he looked forward to relaxing. The beginning of a new school year was always an adjustment. As was his habit, Rascal met Heath at the door, and weaved around his legs, purring for all he was worth.

“Yeah, I missed you, too, buddy,” Heath said as he knelt down to scratch the big orange and white striped tabby between his ears.

He kicked off his shoes in the mudroom, and sat his briefcase down in the kitchen. Knowing he was about to be fed, Rascal meowed loudly, looking expectant. Heath scooped the contents of a can of cat food onto a plate, and sat it on the floor for his furry roommate.

Grabbing a root beer out of the refrigerator, Heath walked into the dining room with food he’d picked up in town. The sound of his footsteps echoed on the hardwood floor. It was only the two of them in this big house.

Heath didn’t need this much space, but he’d gotten it for a steal. He’d fallen in love with the wrap-around porch, high ceilings, and privacy. It still needed considerable work, but would be worth it in the end.

His home was in a rural neighborhood just west of the college. The properties here were widely spaced with large yards and mature trees. There were several houses on each side of the winding road. They weren’t on top of each other like most of the residential neighborhoods in Clementine.

It was tranquil, away from the hustle and bustle of town. Peace eluded him, though, even here in his personal sanctuary. Heath had hoped that he would unravel at least one of the mysteries bothering him, or at the minimum find clues that would give him a direction to look in.

Ten days into the term, however, Heath had more questions than ever, and not a single answer. As he ate, his gaze was drawn to the white board propped on an easel in one corner of the room.

Hoping to organize his thoughts, Heath had made columns with headings. The sheer lack of information in each row was aggravating. He hadn’t discovered a damn thing.

Rascal hopped into his lap, and made a circle before settling in. Heath petted him absently as he stared at the board.

Alumni was the title on the left, and what had begun his investigative project. Graduates of Mars had vanished, seemingly into thin air, beginning a little over a year ago. Each of them had been at the top of their classes, and were being recruited for sought-after positions.

His sister, Nadine, reported the same thing happening at Venus. A total of five more had disappeared from both colleges after graduating last term.

Heath had brought his concerns to Armando Garcia, head of caster studies, who told him that the deans of both colleges were aware of the situation. They were working with local police, who were stymied.

Armando said that administration was keeping this quiet to prevent potential panic among the students. Heath didn’t like that, but he did understand. All they could really do was cooperate with detectives who were investigating. Advertising the disappearances wouldn’t solve them.

Reaching out to faculty at other universities revealed that alumni were also missing from the three closest educational institutions that exclusively taught evolved students. Those graduates also had high-ranking powers, scored top grades, and were being watched by scouts. There were no leads. That was extremely disturbing.

Relatively few of the missing graduates were casters or shifters. Most of them were elementals, or had physical powers. That could be insignificant, but Heath felt like it was a clue as to why these students had vanished.

Heath was convinced that all of the graduates had been targeted by one entity or organization. He had a theory of when and how they were being selected, without the necessary data to prove his suspicions. Not that it would help if he couldn’t figure out why and where they had been taken, and by whom.

Animals was the heading of the second column. It was a scientific fact that animals, both wild and domesticated, were more sensitive to metaphysical events, energy fluctuations, and magic than humans, evolved or unevolved. It was a subject that Heath found fascinating.