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“Actually no. I wasn’t nomadic, I didn’t even know I was Divine. I grew up as a human, I grew up in all these cities you are speaking of.”
I swear you could hear a pin drop with how silent the entire room became. At this point, I wasn’t sure anyone was even breathing. Did Divines need to breathe to live? Dammit, there was still so much I didn’t know about their kind,mykind. Before I could delve deeper into my unanswerable thoughts, Gunther regained his composure.
“Well, I see. This is a first. We have never had a Divine in our midst who grew up a human.” Suddenly I saw every worst-case scenario pass through my eyes. I was about to get kicked out right when I got here, I wasn’t going to get all the answers I now craved, I wasn’t going to get to find out who I really was, but all those thoughts vanished when a large laugh left the Professor.
“Here I was worried about catching up a new student on the intricacies of the human realm, but it seems we have an expert in our midst! Wilder, you need to watch out, our new student may be better suited for this internship than any other student at the academy.” Gunther continued to laugh as he turned towards the whiteboard and began listing the cities Divines should avoid, but I couldn’t pay attention as I felt the glare burning into the side of my face. Shakily, I turned towards Wilder, feeling like his black eyes were imbedding into my skin. If I felt the look was intense before, it didn’t compare to the feeling I had now. For some reason, I think I just became someone Wilder hated. And even though I didn’t know much about this world, I innately knew that it was not someone I wanted to be.
Chapter Nine
Madden
Driving along the lakes and endless farmland of northern Michigan, I couldn’t help but contemplate my internship decision. There weren’t many options to begin with, not many job opportunities in the Divine community. Truthfully, unless you decided to run a small business in your town, you could either join the Council, the Guard, or the Recruitment. The Council was immediately out when it came to my decision. Sitting in stuffy suits, leading the Divines, and coming up with useless rules to keep us contained? Hard pass for me. The Guard was interesting enough but when the internship post spoke of how the Guard was like a “brotherhood”, I was immediately out. I preferred the solace of being alone and growing up with two brothers myself, I didn’t need any more. Unfortunately for me, I also didn’t want to be stuck in those small ass towns for the rest of my life, so the Recruitment it was. But with the countless trips I had been sent on so far this year, I was beginning to regret that choice. I had tried to pawn off the trips on some other poor Shifter, but having the strongest tracking ability of the Shifters, they never allowed it. It was always some bullshit about how theyneededthe strongest tracker finding the people. As if. Almost every Divine was exactly where the registry listed them. The only person that actually tested my tracking ability was the girl from yesterday. Finding that girl was like finding a needle in a haystack; nearly impossible. Of course, that in itself made her intriguing, but after finding her and learning she grew up in the human cities, I almost wanted to talk to another person for longer than mandatory. My whole life all I had wanted was to be able to abandon the Divine community I had grown up in and actually explore the world. What was the purpose of starting over in the human realm if we couldn’t enjoy it? Of course, my mother had made it clear that was forbidden and although I hated my deadbeat dad, I adored my mom. So, I listened to her. I thought maybe that joining Recruitment would give me an opportunity to explore the world I had dreamed of visiting, but besides driving through the cities I longed to live in, I stuck to the tiny ass towns Divines hid in.
Crossing the barrier that protected the Michigan Divine community, I was welcomed by a familiar sight. One singular road with restaurants, grocery stores, clothing stores, a doctor’s office, and everything else one might need. Beyond the road and across the sprawling farmland were the dozen or so houses that the inhabitants occupied. Although colder than where I grew up in Southern Texas, it looked the same as my hometown. Boring and predictable. The people living here would beg to disagree though. Most Divines were like that grinning fool Eli that always tried to delve into my emotions when we were in each other’s company. I dealt with his best friend Knox because I had to, the Seer came in handy when I needed to know about my recruits’ backgrounds, but I swear Eli was like an annoying gnat glued to his side. And every time I met with Knox, there was Eli, grinning at me, prying past my mental shields, and trying to “figure out my puzzling emotions” as Eli so eloquently put. But the one thing that bothered me the most about Eli was that he seemed immensely happy about living in his tiny community, going to our tiny academy, and then returning to a tiny town upon graduation. And all the other Divines I had encountered felt the same. Wilder was the only other Divine I had met in my lifetime that also wanted a way out. You’d think that ideology would give us some sort of companionship, but due to our animalistic and isolated natures, we avoided each other more than others. Which was perfectly fine with me, the less people in my circle, the easier it would be to one day ditch the communities and live out the rest of my life with the humans in peace.
The quaint house I pulled up to held my newest recruit, Kalani Ramirez. Clearly, the family knew someone from the academy would be coming today as the whole town seemed to be waiting outside on the front porch. There were at least ten kids running around the yard, as a decent sized group of adults bounced on their feet at the front steps. My instincts kicked in, the name Kalani running around in my mind all day, and my gaze landed on the girl leaning against a pillar. Her blank gaze was something I was unaccustomed to on these trips. Usually, the male or female I was picking up would be jumping up and down with their family, excited to finally be joining Willow Grove Academy, it was a rite of passage after all. However, she looked bored with the whole endeavor, seeming ready to leave, and I wondered if it was another kindred spirit. There seemed to be more of that going around in the last week than in the last century and I couldn’t deny that I liked it. The more Divines fed up with hiding, the more likely we’d be to eventually say fuck it all. Ditch the hiding mentality and kill anyone who dared to mess with us. The Hunters had dwindled in numbers since the war, and with our superior powers, the few that remained stood no chance. We deserved to live amongst the humans like we used to.
Maneuvering my way through the large crowd, I walked right up to the girl. “Kalani Ramirez?” I asked out of societal politeness. I obviously knew this was the girl I had been assigned to grab. Not only from my ability but the stupid “Birthday Girl” headband she wore was a dead giveaway as well. She simply nodded and began to walk. I took that as my cue and headed towards the academy gifted SUV. Kalani was bombarded with hugs and well wishes from every person she passed, the Spanish rolling off their tongues with excitement. Although clearly ready to leave home, it was obvious the girl loved her family, as she met each encounter with her own compassionate words. Once we were both seated in the car, I stretched out my back in a decidedly feline pose, readying myself for the long ass drive back to Maine. It was times like these I wished Enchanters were still around, I sure as shit could have used a portal on these long drives. But tough shit for me because the last Enchanter died off decades ago and I didn’t think we’d be seeing one of those ever again.
Chapter Ten
Halley
Standing in a room full of Ethos, I couldn’t help but feel out of place as they all chatted amongst themselves. After my human realm class, Gunther informed me that since my blood testing hadn’t come back with a Sector, I would spend this week sitting in on the four Sectors introductory classes to learn more about the Divines. When I was told I would be starting off with the Ethos, I had breathed a sigh of relief, expecting Eli to be here, but so far, he was nowhere to be seen, which left me standing in a corner by myself while I waited for the professor to begin class.
Tapping my foot, I scanned the room, hoping Eli would show up, but when the professor called the attention of the class, I sighed, knowing I’d have to do this alone. Honestly, it shouldn’t be such a problem, I was used to being alone, but I couldn’t deny I had enjoyed Eli’s company and having someone to guide me through all these changes.
“Alright everyone, we’re going to pair up today for the lesson. You’re all adults so no need for me to assign you a partner.” The professor stated and although I’m sure all the other Ethos appreciated choosing their own partners, panic bubbled in my chest.
Looking around, I saw each student meet up and take a seat on the floor across from each other, obviously knowing what was going on. Realizing I would have to speak up, I made my way towards the professor, when a soft voice stopped me.
“Hey, I saw you standing over here without a partner, and I figured we could pair up. You’re Halley, right?” The voice asked and I turned towards the girl.
Standing about my height, she had shoulder length blonde hair, light blue eyes, and a kind smile. I found myself relaxing slightly and returned her smile.
“That’d be great. I really appreciate it.” I said and I meant it. No one wanted to be the odd one out, especially when my whole existence here already cemented me as an outsider.
Sitting across from each other, the professor, who introduced herself as Celine, started talking about the focus for the day. Apparently, we were supposed to practice identifying which emotion our partner was feeling. Obviously, without knowing what my powers were, I couldn’t participate, but I could be a good partner for the girl who kindly went out of her way for me.
“I’m Maeve by the way. Third year Ethos and from the Tennessee community. I’m sorry I already know who you are, but you’ve been quite the talk of the school.” Maeve chuckled lightly and I found myself laughing along with her.
Although all the talk got under my skin, I could tell Maeve wasn’t a cruel person, and she had simply just heard the news about the new girl from the human cities.
“It’s nice to meet you Maeve, and no worries, I know my appearance here has been quite the gossip. But let’s get into the lesson. Obviously, I can’t identify what you’re feeling but feel free to give it a go.” I said, gesturing towards myself.
To be honest, I had no clue how the Ethos powers worked, but I guess that was the point of me sitting in on these classes. To observe the Sectors and learn what it meant to be a Divine. Waiting for Maeve, I watched as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, as if focusing. After several moments, I felt a strange push against my chest, the same I had felt when I met Eli outside of Zachariah’s office, and I wondered if he was feeling my emotions then.
Opening her eyes, Maeve curiously glanced at me, her eyebrows drawn in confusion. Wondering if something was wrong, I asked her if that feeling was her power and explained how I had felt it with Eli as well.
“Was Eli able to identify what you were feeling?” She asked, that same expression adorning her face.
Feeling slightly uncomfortable under her scrutiny, I shifted on my butt, before answering. “Well, I don’t really know. He didn’t tell me if he felt anything, but you did, right? That’s how this works?”
Maeve shook her head and explained to me that when someone felt your emotions, it was like a tug on your power. But for me, she couldn’t even get to them, as if a wall was blocking her power. Apparently, nothing like this has happened before and Maeve called Celine over to discuss it. Unfortunately, the professor had the same confused look on her face.
“Well, this has never happened before. Let me try.” Celine focused on me and again, I felt the push against my chest, but nothing else, no tug they had been explaining.
“It seems none of us are able to get a read on your emotions. If I had to guess, it’s because your power has not manifested yet and therefore there is nothing forourpower to latch onto.” She explained and some of my worry faded, hoping her explanation was true. I didn’t need any more oddities surrounding me. “Since Maeve does need to practice using her powers, I’m going to have her pair up with someone else. But feel free to watch and ask questions Halley. Who knows, you may end up with these abilities and this class will have been beneficial.”
