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“I don’t know. I don’t know anything about this place, and it’s going to be my new home.” The unfairness of it all hits again, forcing me to hold back more tears. “I hope you can visit. I hope I can come here.” Then I remember Cooper’swords of warning. “Oh, wait, I have to stay among other auras, or my organs cook from the inside out.”
“Jesus.” Dad shakes his head. “Oh, Kira.” After a moment, he asks quietly, “Can I help you pack?”
I nod.
We make our way upstairs, and he drags the biggest suitcases into my room. He packs my stuffed toys and dresses while I handle the things I wouldn’t want my dad to see. Then I sit down on my bed with two fit-to-burst suitcases, still wondering what the hell is going on with my life.
“Do you want me to call your mum?” Dad asks. “Either now or when you get there?”
I don’t look up from the bag I’m filling with cosmetics. “After I’ve gone.”
“Can I speak to this Cooper fellow? I’d like some basic information about where the academy is and when I can visit.”
“Good idea,” I say, although the thought makes my eyes fill again. “I’ll nip out and ask him in.”
I hurry down the stairs and out of the house. On the walk down the drive, I quickly brush tears from my eyes and compose myself.
Cooper is bopping along to frankly the weirdest country-and-western music when I reach the camper van. He grins at me and turns the radio down. “All set?” he asks.
“My dad wants a word. We don’t know where I’m going.”
“Oh, right. I almost forgot.” Cooper leans forward and grabs something from the glove box. Then he bounds out of the van and up the drive to my front door. Despite the circumstances, his golden-retriever energy makes me smile.
Dad is waiting in the lounge in a clean shirt when I getback to the house. I show Cooper a seat and then find my own.
“Good afternoon, Mr Grant,” Cooper says politely. “My name is Cooper McCoy, and I’m a new student at Aura Academy, based on an island near Skye. I drove down here from Scotland on the request of Octavia Pax, the headteacher of the school, to recruit Kira.”
“An island?” I blurt out.
Cooper nods and passes my dad a brochure.
“You have reading materials?” I give him an affronted look. “Why didn’t I get one?”
“Sorry.” Cooper shrugs. “I’m new to this whole recruiting thing.”
Something else occurs to me. “Also, how come you haven’t felt ill when you’re away from the other auras?”
“The headmistress performed a ritual before I left,” he explains. “It allowed me to travel here to meet you. But if I was to go elsewhere, then I’d be boiled up pretty good by now.”
I turn my attention back to Dad, who’s flicking through the Aura Academy leaflet.
“Why didn’t someone just send me an email?” I ask.
Cooper laughs. “And say what? ‘Your destiny is to be a Guardian, so please come to our magical academy on a Scottish island as soon as possible’? Nah, it’s something you need to experience for yourself.”
“Yeah… and how do I know you’re for real? You could be lying about all this.”
“I’m not, though. Hold on. I’ll prove it to you.” Cooper stands, holds out both hands, and closes his eyes. A momentlater, each one of his fingers is lit with a small flame, like he has tiny lighters attached to his hands.
“Holy crap,” I mumble.
Dad lifts his head, closing the leaflet. “When do I get to visit my daughter?”
The flames disappear all at once. “Every first Saturday of the month. She’s allowed three visitors at a time. You also get a tour of the castle.”
“Castle?” I turn to Cooper. “Like an actual castle?”
“Yup. It’s cool as f—” He catches my dad’s frown. “It’s very cool. I’m not gonna lie, you need warm clothes for winter, but it’s amazing, and the view is too.”
