Free Bind the Soul by Annette Marie

haemons—mainly, that they were freaks not to be welcomed under any circumstances.
    Quinn cleared his throat. “Mr. Young and I discussed your particular circumstances. He’s perfectly happy to make an exception for you.”
    She gripped the seat of the chair so hard her fingers ached. “I can’t go to a human school.”
    “Mr. Young is—”
    “I can’t go to a human school,” she repeated, louder. “I’m a haemon. I don’t belong there.”
    “Piperel, you—”
    “I’m a haemon! You can’t send me to a human school.”
    “After the events surrounding the Sahar, I think—”
    “ You think? What the hell do you know? You’re not the one who protected the Sahar for days. And maybe you forgot, but you’re the one who gave it to me.”
    “Piperel!” He gave her a silencing glare.
    She glared back. The logistical differences between a human/haemon school and a humans-only school were minor, but for her, it was the difference between two distinct lives: one she wanted more than anything, and the other her worst nightmare. A human-only school was the first step toward a human-only life.
    Quinn cleared his throat. “Considering the threats to your life and your inability to protect yourself, I think the wisest choice at this time is to remove you from the Consulate until the furor settles. You know why I’ve kept you out of school these last weeks.”
    Of course she knew. Some daemons thought she had an idea of where the Sahar was, and her current school had no security to speak of. Westwood Academy, on the other hand, boasted the kind of topnotch security for its privileged students that outsiders told stories about—like the rumor that the school had professional snipers who picked off anyone dumb enough to wander the grounds at night.
    She sucked in a deep breath, fighting for calm. “What about my apprenticeship? I can’t abandon it for three months. Is there a Consulate in Arlington I can transfer to as well?”
    Quinn shuffled some papers on his desk. “We can look at your apprenticeship when you return.”
    Ice trickled through her. “What do you mean ‘ look at my apprenticeship’?”
    “We don’t need to get into that now—”
    “ Father —”
    “Piperel, there’s no need to get worked up—”
    “No need?” Her voice shot up an octave. “You’re thinking of cancelling my apprenticeship, aren’t you?”
    He folded his hands on the desktop. “I won’t deny I’ve been considering it since—”
    “How can you even think that?” she cried, so horrified she could barely speak. “You can’t do this to me!”
    “Piper—”
    “This is all I’ve ever wanted to do. How can you take that away from me?”
    “You—”
    “All that stuff with the Stone—I survived it, didn’t I? I handled it. Why are you trying to ship me off to a human boarding school? You can’t do that!”
    “Piper!” he barked. “Calm down.”
    “Calm?” She shot to her feet. “I won’t calm down while you’re trying to ruin my life. You can’t punish me for saving the stupid Sahar. I protected it. I found out about the Gaians. I rescued Uncle Calder. I—”
    “ Sit down. ”
    She choked back her fury and dropped into her seat. Her hands shook. She balled them into fists.
    “Where were you last night, Piper?” Quinn asked.
    She glared at him. “That has nothing to do with this.”
    “Doesn’t it?” he asked coolly. He took the paper he’d been reading when she’d entered his office and detached a photo from the page. Face expressionless, he slid it across the desk toward her. She cautiously picked it up and turned it over.
    Her stomach plunged toward the floor.
    It was a blurry shot of a quasi boxing ring. Two huge TVs and a game show wheel filled the space behind the ring. Several rows of spectators’ heads and waving arms obscured the shot, but the two people in the ring were painfully clear.
    A girl was pinned against the corner post by a shirtless man, his muscles gleaming with a sheen