Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE

Winter

"Let me talk to him again. Please." Crossing my arms, I stand my ground.

My Aunt Nora sighs and drops her head into her hands. "I know you'll do as you please."

I cock an eyebrow. "So you're not going to stop me from going into the basement?"

She looks up at me from behind her desk--her new headmaster's desk. Not long after we retook Hawthorn Academy from the Silver Hunters, Headmaster Whitlock left the school to travel to Europe to meet with other super groups about the Silver Hunter threat.

He also seemed to feel it was a good time to pass the baton and retire as headmaster. Which is where Nora came in.

Aunt Nora was chosen as his successor and has been trying her best to keep the school running smoothly ever since. But there's only so much she can do when the world is still in chaos.

We haven't even reopened the school yet--we're still busy rebuilding it--but she's busy from dawn to dusk, either in her office or on the phone or meeting with contractors.

I've been helping every day, trying to keep my mind off my missing parents, but it's gotten to the point where I can't do that anymore. I need to know where they are.

And there's only one person in here who might know.

Tyr.

"I don't think you're ready to go searching for them yet," Nora says.

"Why not?" I plant a hand on my hip and then wince in pain.

"That's why." She gives me a pointed look.

Okay. So I was injured a bit in the battle here at school. Most people were. Some of us lost our lives.

My shoulder isn't too bad, though. And the stitches where I got stabbed in the side are holding up. I'm ready to go.

"I don't know how you can be so relaxed about this," I tell her. "He's not just my dad. He's your brother."

Nora's face tightens at the mention of him. "I know, Winter. And believe me, I want to find them just as much as you do. But we need to be careful. The Silver Hunters are still out there, and they're still a threat."

"I know that," I snap. "But what good is all of this if we can't even save our own family?"

I know she hasn’t seen my dad in years–and she didn’t even meet me for the first time until weeks ago–but we’re still blood. We need to look out for each other.

She sighs again and leans back in her chair. "Wherever John is, he--"

The door opens, and my friend Damon comes in without knocking. "You're needed, Nora. The Guild is..." His lips draw thin.

"Arguing again?" She stands, looking exhausted. "Let me guess what about. Tyr."

I feel a knot form in my stomach. I know Nora has been talking to the Guild about Tyr, but she hasn't told me anything. The Guild is a group of supernaturals sworn to protect our kind, and they can be very secretive about their plans.

"What's going on with Tyr?" I ask, my voice shaking.

"Some Guild members..." She trails off. "They think we should execute him."

I gasp. "No! He has the information we need."

"It's more than just that."

She walks out of the office, and Damon studies me. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine," I lie. "Just worried about my parents."

I feel a little bad complaining to him. Damon doesn’t even have parents anymore. They died way before he went into the pocket dimension to search for the Golden Coin.

Damon's eyes soften. "I know it's tough, Winter. But Nora is right. We need to be careful."

"I know. But I can't just sit here and do nothing. I need to talk to Tyr and see if he knows where they are, but Nora won't let me. She's treating me like a child."

"I'll talk to her for you. But you need to promise me that you won't go down to the basement until we know it's safe."

I hesitate, not wanting to lie to him. I can't promise to stay away from Tyr. If push comes to shove, I'll do what I know is best. Even if that means going behind Nora's back.

He places a hand on my shoulder. "We'll find them. I promise."

I nod, but I'm not sure I believe him. Even though Tyr is now our prisoner, he's still taken so much from me. He had my parents held captive, and now no one knows where they are.

When he attacked Hawthorn with his ghoul right after we beat the Silver Hunters, I hoped that would be the end of things, that he would confess where my parents were. Evidently, the tough times just don't quit, though.

It's nice that Damon is being so supportive, but we both know he doesn't have time to help me find my parents. As the headmistress's assistant, he's just as buried in work as Nora is.

It's funny seeing him here at Hawthorn, working a normal job. It's a world away from the pocket dimension we met in when Alec and I were also searching for the Golden Coin.

"Are you taking care of yourself?" he asks as we leave the office and follow Nora down the hall.

"Why? Do I look that bad?" I try to crack a smile, but it probably looks more like a grimace.

Damon gives me a small smile, but there's concern in his eyes. "You've been through a lot, Winter. It's okay to take a break, you know."

"I know. But I can't just sit around and do nothing."

"You don't have to do nothing," he says. "Just take it easy for a bit. Let us handle things."

As we reach the stairs, I pause and look at him. "You know I can't do that, right? I have to find my parents."

"I know," he says softly. "I understand. Just... be careful, okay?"

I nod and start up the stairs after Nora. Loud voices emerge from the second-floor meeting room. The Guild is arguing.

Again.

"There's only one way to deal with this kind of problem!"

"Sure, if you're barbaric!"'

A third voice joins in. "The Guild has clear rules about this--"

"Screw the Guild rules! Everything is changing! It's time to rewrite the rules!"

Nora stops in the doorway, Damon and I right behind her. The shouting is still going on, though, and it seems no one has noticed her presence.

Taking her wand out of her pocket, she waves once, muttering an incantation under her breath as she does so. Sparks fly from the tip of the wand and explode in loud pops.

The eight people in the room stop arguing and turn to look at her. Nora tucks her wand away, satisfied.

"Gentlemen and ladies, I understand that you may have differing opinions on how to deal with Tyr and his imprisonment, but we must remember that we are still bound by the laws of the Guild. We cannot simply throw them out the window because we don't agree with them."

The first Guild member, a panther shifter with a bushy beard named Edgar, crosses his arms. "But what about justice, Nora? He's a monster! He deserves to be punished! We need to put him to death for what he's done!"

Nora's eyes darken. "He will be punished. But we must do it according to the laws of the Guild. We cannot lower ourselves to the level of the Silver Hunters. We are not killers."

Professor Stills speaks up. "Nora is right. The Guild protects life. It doesn’t take it."

"But what good is the Guild if we cannot even protect our own?" Liz, a Guild member who is sporting a broken arm thanks to the battle with Tyr, asks.

Nora's lips press together. "We are doing our best to protect our own. But we must be patient and follow the proper procedures. It may take time, but justice will be served."

I can feel the tension in the room, thick and suffocating. These Guild members are all on edge, and I don't blame them. We've all been through so much, and the thought of losing anyone else is too much to bear.

But as much as I want to side with them, I know Nora is right. We can't just throw out the rules and act on our emotions. That's what the Silver Hunters did, and look where it got them.

There are murmurs and responses all around. I step forward, needing my voice to be heard.

"Nora is right. We can't--"

"You're not a member of the Guild," an older man named Gerald says.

Professor Stills frowns at him. "If it weren't for Winter, we would be dead today. Do I have to remind you who saved all of us?"

My face warms. I don't want to be treated like a hero.

Yes, my powers are, well... freaking amazing, to be honest. When combined with Alec's, they're unbelievable. We were the ones who sprouted angel wings and killed Tyr's ghoul. And I was the one who took the Golden Coin from Tyr and broke it. Now without that relic around, no one will be able to use it for evil.

But I don't want pats on the back for that. All that I want is to move forward.

I want to find my parents.

"Tyr can help us," I say. "I'm still looking for my parents. I know that he has done some terrible things, but he might have information about my parents. I need to talk to him."

"Aside from your parents, there are still a number of students unaccounted for," Professor Stills says. "Four, if I am correct."

"They're probably dead," Gerald says. "Their bodies in the river or somewhere else."

"Or they're alive," Professor Stills counters, "and they need us to find them. Tyr could know where--"

"Tyr doesn't know." Gerald shakes his head. "The Silver Hunters do, and we're not about to catch and question any of them."

Everyone's voices rise once more, and my head pounds from the noise.

I take a step back, feeling overwhelmed. It's all too much. The arguing, the uncertainty, the fear for my parents. "Everyone, stop!" I yell. "Students are missing! My parents are missing! And you're just sitting here arguing!"

My hands clench into fists, and my chest heaves. It's not like me to lose my temper and yell, but I can't take it anymore. My tolerance level is now near zero.

It doesn't matter that everyone else was yelling. That's not who I want to be, and now I'm ashamed of myself for stooping that low.

Turning on my heel, I stalk out of the room.

I take the stairs two at a time and slam the door to my dorm room closed. The room is small, and the bed is unmade. Clothes are strewn about, and my backpack lies open on the floor. I'm a mess, and I know it. But I can't seem to care. All I can think about is finding my parents.

I take a deep breath and try to calm myself down. I can't afford to lose my cool like that again. Not with everything that's at stake.

There's a knock on the door, and I steel myself before opening it.

It's Heather, her eyes narrowed.

"What's got a bee up your ass?" She strides into our room and roots around in her vanity drawer. Most of the rooms were wrecked during the Silver Hunters invasion, but luckily the furniture in our dorm was still together.

I want to snap at her, but I know it's not her fault. Heather used to be a truly terrible person, but she's changed a lot since the Silver Hunters attacked. It seems crazy to say this, but I actually trust her now. The girl might have thrown me in the river at one point, but now she would be one of the first people I picked to back me up in a fight.

I slump onto my bed and focus on the frayed edge of my comforter instead.

"Just the constant arguing. It's like no one can agree on anything."

Heather lets out a sigh and pulls out a lipstick. "Yeah, I hear you. We should just kill Tyr and be done with it. Make it a public execution."

My lips pull thin. "He knows where my parents are."

Heather twists the lipstick cap off and applies it to her lips, then smooths her black hair. "You're probably right," she says. "But how are we going to get to him?"

"I don't know," I admit. "But I have to do something. I can't just sit around and wait for someone else to find them."

"So we'll go down to the basement and make him talk."

I know Heather well enough to know that she means torture. Which I am absolutely against, no matter the circumstances.

Sighing, I stand. "There has to be another way."

She raises her eyebrows, her look clearly saying, "No, there isn't."

But I refuse to believe that. There has to be a way to get to Tyr without resorting to violence. Maybe I can appeal to his humanity. Maybe I can make him see that what he's doing is wrong.

I shake my head at Heather. "No. We're not going to torture him. We're not going to become like the Silver Hunters."

Heather shrugs. "Suit yourself. But just remember that sometimes, to get what you want, you have to get your hands dirty."

I shake my head. "I can't believe you're advocating for torture."

She shrugs again. "I'm just saying, sometimes you have to do what you have to do."

I shake my head. I was hoping to get some clarity in my room, but it just feels oppressive in here as well.

"Where are you going?" Heather asks as I open the door.

"I'm not sure." Pushing the door shut behind me, I stride down the hallway, tears collecting in my eyes. Today has been a mess, and it looks like it won't be getting better any time soon.

I should be feeling grateful. Happy. The Silver Hunters are gone, and we're rebuilding Hawthorn. A new era is beginning.

But what does that really matter if I have no family to share it with?