Free Elemental Havoc (Paranormal Public Book 11) by Maddy Edwards Page A

when she pretended not to recognize him he calmed down slightly.
    “Can I have the salt?” asked the girl after we had been eating for a few minutes.
    The salt was right next to Keegan’s place, but the request for some reason made his shoulders shoot up to his ears. He looked petrified. When he made no move to hand it to her she asked, “Well?”
    Keegan reached over and pushed the salt toward her without looking at her.
    “I’m Eighellie,” she said, seemingly to the table at large.
    “Ricky,” I told her. She sniffed at me.
    “I’m Keegan,” said the tree sprite, still not looking at her. A couple of the other members of our group, who had ignored us so far, gave us curious looks but didn’t say anything. It was as if they thought that the idea of introducing yourself to someone you were going to spend a lot of time with was insane. The girl who had just introduced herself didn’t seem to have anything further to say either. I waited for some follow-up to the introduction, which she had instigated, after all, but all she did was bend her head down to read President Valedication’s letter.
    Printed on Dobrov’s official stationery, the letter started, “Each group is to devise its own year-end test, a sort of capstone project, if you will. This project is intended to foster fundamental skills such as team building and working together to achieve goals and overcome obstacles. It will force teams to think critically about what they really want.”
    “Imagine any of us actually knowing what we really want,” said Keegan, shaking his head.
    “Don’t you?” Eighellie sounded amazed. “I have a list.”
    Keegan twitched.
    The notice continued, “Once that’s taken care of, your next step will be to submit the plan to the president for approval.
    “That’s just crazy,” Keegan said, looking horrified. “It’s the worst idea in the world.”
    “To get President Valedication’s approval?” Eighellie asked.
    Ignoring her, Keegan looked at me with shock and wonder and said, “To work together!”
    “Tree sprites are famously difficult to get along with,” Eighellie observed.
    “No we aren’t!” Keegan shot back. “And anyhow, who says?”
    “‘The History of Tree Sprites’ is who says,” said Eighellie, rolling her eyes.
    The letter seemed like no big deal to me, but other students were also sputtering and complaining as they absorbed its contents. Most of the anger was directed at the requirement for working closely with other paranormal types. It had been clear from the first night’s dinner that none of the vampires, pixies, fallen angels, or the like intended to cooperate with one another.
    Keegan put the feeling into words. “This is dumb, and awful,” he said. “Awful, and also dumb.”
    “Hey, what do you think of this idea?” I said.
    “Why do you think this is such an awful idea?” Eighellie asked, gazing at Keegan and ignoring my sarcasm. “Just because you don’t work well with others?”
    “I work fine with others,” said Keegan. “Just because Ricky hasn’t had a good idea since we met doesn’t mean that he won’t.”
    “I’m sure his time will come,” said Eighellie, blinking at Keegan. She was still waiting for an actual response to her question.
    Keegan gave a gusty sigh. “The biggest problem I see,” he said, “is that teammates can use the assignment against each other. Instead of working together, they can just as easily work to tear each other down. We don’t get along. There’s no cooperation. It’s us against them and that’s not going to change anytime soon. It doesn’t matter that Rake is nice to us or that Sip comes to visit. Cooperation among paranormal types is dead.”
    “That was a big paragraph for you to say all at once,” said Eighellie, “but President Valedication is never going to let that happen. The letter says he has to approve the plans, so I’m sure it will all be fine.”
    Keegan leaned forward so that his weight was