Free Fractured Truth by Rachel McClellan

sounds like fun.”
    “Fun probably isn’t the word people would use to describe it, but it won’t be boring. And hopefully when I’m done, we’ll have some new recruits for our class.”
    “Good. We really need it.”
    We were nearly to the elevators when I caught movement outside the window. It wasn’t the movement that captured my attention but the size of it. I gasped.
    “Something wrong?” Kiera asked.
    I stopped in front of the elevators. “You guys go ahead. I’ll catch up with you later.”
    I bolted to my right, toward the doors leading outside. I pressed on them and used my arm to shield my eyes from the early morning sunlight. After a few seconds my vision adjusted, and I moved into Lucent’s massive courtyard and looked around. A few girls were already on the sidewalk heading to class. Near the bell tower I found what I was looking for—a Lycan. Even from this distance I could see he was massive.
    I took a deep breath and crossed the lawn to him. He was facing the outer wall, but as I drew closer, his body tensed, and I knew he was aware of my presence. His hair was black, as black as the long jacket that barely seemed to fit over his large frame.
    “Excuse me?” I asked.
    He turned around slowly, but it still wasn’t slow enough to keep me from stumbling back when I saw his face. It wasn’t hairy like I naïvely expected it to be; on the contrary, his skin was tanned a deep brown, and he had sharp, commanding features with thick, arched eyebrows, high cheekbones, and a jaw line that was as distinct as his high forehead. Thesepronounced features made him look like a monster out of a fairy tale.
    He turned away as if he knew his appearance was frightening.
    “What do you need, Aura?” His voice was deep, so deep I half expected to feel the ground rumble.
    I gathered some strength and stepped forward. “Are you in charge of your kind?”
    “No one is in charge. We work as a collective.”
    I cleared my throat. “Right. Well, I need something and hoped you could help.”
    “We are here to protect Auras. Nothing more.”
    “That’s what I need help with.”
    “Explain.”
    “I’m trying to teach Auras to defend themselves against Vykens.”
    For the first time, his eyes met mine. “You are Llona?”
    I nodded, surprised he knew of me.
    “We agree with what you are trying to do. No race should be powerless.”
    I smiled, liking him immediately. “What’s your name?”
    “Petros.”
    “So, Petros, will you help me?”
    “What do you need?”
    I straightened to make myself taller for what I was about to say. “I need two Vykens by tonight. Alive.”

NINE
    I hurried away from Petros and back to Lucent. He hadn’t given me an answer but promised he would discuss it with the pack and get back to me.
    Inside Chadni Hall, the school was busy with students heading to classes. I wove my way in between them and headed to Dr. Han’s office. On my way, I removed my phone from my pocket and checked my messages. There weren’t any. This surprised me as I expected to see at least one from Liam. We frequently texted each other throughout the day. Usually dumb stuff, but still.
    I pocketed my phone, an uneasiness growing inside me, and knocked on Dr. Han’s office door.
    “Come in,” he said.
    I opened the door. Dr. Han was with Mrs. Crawford, looking over a mess of papers across his desk.
    “Am I interrupting?” I asked.
    “We were just finishing up,” Mrs. Crawford said, swiping a long curl of brown hair away from her face. She came to me and gave me a hug. “How are you feeling?”
    “A lot better. Thank you.”
    She pulled away and looked at me. “We’re going to get Sophie back. You know that, right?”
    I startled at the comment. “How can you be so sure?”
    She lowered her voice. “I’m a little bit psychic.”
    “Really?”
    She smiled and nodded.
    “Before you say anything, Llona,” Dr. Han said as he gathered papers in front of him into a neat sack, “we don’t know