Free Salt by Danielle Ellison

strength and speed
    Threat level: 10
    “Do you need help with something?” a voice says from behind me. I jump up from the computer and face a man who’s shorter than me, has a round stomach, spiked gray-blue hair, and dark slanted eyes. He smiles and there’s a huge gap between his two front teeth.
    “Sorry. I—” I start. The man looks at me, waiting for an answer. I what? I was bored? I wonder if that will fly. “I’m taking my exams.”
    The man chuckles and the cat circles his feet. “Are you here on assignment?” He nods toward the computer.
    “Sort of,” I say. I quickly exit out of the screen.
    “Name’s Poncho Alistair, librarian. Something I can help you with?”
    “No,” I say. He starts to walk away and I change my mind. “I can use the resources here, right?”
    Poncho raises an eyebrow. “Depends.”
    “On?”
    He smiles. “Do you know what you are looking for?”
    “Information.”
    He picks up the cat and walks back to his desk. “Your name is?”
    “Penelope Grey,” I say.
    His eyes find mine, nose scrunched like he’s reading a book. “Owen and Genevieve’s girl?” he asks.
    “Yes sir,” I say.
    Poncho nods. “Good people. It’s a shame what happened to them.”
    His comment takes me by surprise. It shouldn’t. Mom and Dad were well-known before their death, but when others talk about them I feel like I’m missing out. “You knew them?”
    “Oh yeah,” he says. “I may not look it now, but I was someone in their circle back in the day. You say you’re in the Enforcer examinations? Following their footsteps, eh?”
    I nod silently, not really sure what to say. Yes, no, maybe. I have to pass the thing first.
    “You can be here anytime I am,” Poncho says. “And I’m always here.”
    “Thanks,” I say.
    “Can I help you with that information?” he asks.
    I stare at him for a moment. He’s the librarian, so he knows how to find things that I can’t. But if I tell him what I’m looking for I don’t know how he’ll respond. “I’m good for now.”
    He nods and I head to class.

    There are fifty girls left in the running for the Enforcers examination, and no more than ten of us will make it. Maple and her friends saw me come in and moved their circle around me, and now I’m sitting in the front row smack in the middle of four of my competitors. They are going on about some of the boys from their courses who are testing down the hall.
    “You know who’s smart?” Miriam, a girl with black hair and a big nose, chimes in. “Keith Collins in region two. He’s totally going to be Bonded to whoever he gets.”
    Kessa snorts. I glance sideways at her. She’s one of those super-pretty girls with curly red hair that falls below her shoulders and freckles across her cheeks. “Smart boys aren’t necessarily the best. Not when it comes down to the two of us and a demon,” Kessa snaps.
    Trina, the taller girl, shifts in her seat and pushes her glasses up to the bridge of her nose. I guess she agrees.
    “He’s good kisser,” Beth mutters. Beth’s cheeks turn bright red, making her dark eyes and hair look brighter. The other girls laugh. I’m not into any of this. I want a good partner, not a make-out buddy.
    “There’s a boy from region four—Jordan Stork—he’s really brave. His dad used to teach,” Maple says. She smiles and sips her water. “Sarah Jenks said he was a good kisser.”
    Kessa squeals. “Sarah Jenks kissed him?”
    My eyes drift to the window. I don’t know who they are talking about or even how they know each other. Our regions don’t get together that often, but even if they did, I didn’t. I was always training or studying. I don’t have time to meet people. This is my life. It isn’t about finding a boy I may or may not be Bonded with; it’s about finding demons. One demon.
    Trina squeals beside me. The other girls are whispering and I missed whatever they said. They’re all excited—hands moving as quick as their lips. I