Free Knowledge: The Fifth Division Saga: Book 1 by Kira Stüssy Page B

sometimes there is a tint to the hair. But I have never seen anyone like you.”  I felt my cheeks burn red, a rare occurrence for me.
    “Knowledge?” I asked, unsure if I really wanted to know.
    “It’s like…” He seemed to be searching for the right term, “your magical talent, I suppose.”
    “Magical talent?” I snorted. I waited for him to laugh with me and admit to his jest, but he remained silent and serious. My chuckles faded into the empty night air, lost whispers in the wind. I felt my heart beating unevenly in my chest. “You’re crazy.”
    The corner of his mouth twitched upwards, “Most likely. I guess you’ll see soon enough.”
    *
    Caspian stared back at his mother and Bram, waiting for further explanation. But to his extreme annoyance, they remained resolute in their decision to refrain from giving him all the information until their arrival in this foreign land they called Nostos. It took all of Caspian’s restraint of temper to keep from screaming in frustration.
    Time ticked steadily on and he still had no idea what was going on or where Wiley had taken Mira. According to Bram, the Legion would have no trouble finding and retrieving her; but this fact did little to ease the tension that slowly built in the pit of Caspian’s gut over the course of the evening. Danny had already tried to call and ask about the sudden conclusion of the party and it was more than difficult for Caspian to convince his best friend that everything was alright when, in fact, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. His phone alerted him for the fifth time that he had missed a call from Danny. Caspian sighed and tossed his phone to the side. Caspian had never flat out lied. Ever. Sure, the occasional white lie to make someone happy, but never anything that withheld important truth. When he explained to Danny over text not to worry, that Bram just thought it was getting late and that’s why the party had been shut down, the words tasted like desert sand in Caspian’s mouth and forcing his fingers to type out the words caused physical soreness. But it had to be done, because the truth was insanity, and he hardly even understood the truth at all. Danny would never buy the lame excuse given to him,  but it would just have to make due for now.
    The only further information his parents had managed to leak to him was that a small group from the Legion had been notified to retrieve the three of them from their house at exactly eleven o’clock, that something drastic would occur at 11:45pm tonight, and that his heritage made him something called an Elemental. They failed to explain what the heck that meant. They told him he would find out soon enough.
    Well soon enough isn’t soon enough , he thought.
    A quick glance at the old kitchen clock alerted him of the time: 10:59pm. Any minute, now the Legion would be arriving to take them to Nostos, an unknown place that held a certain unexplainable fascination for Caspian. The thought of traveling with this mysterious task force sent nervous shivers down his back. He ran his fingers through his hair; it had gotten unruly and long; he made himself a mental promise to trim it when possible. As a distraction, he pictured himself with a Tarzan haircut, wondering if he could pull it off. 
    The minute hand closed the final distance and the bell began to chime eleven times.
    A knock rapped at the door.
    Rain Daily stood briskly to her feet, her face a mask of worry as she absently brushed herself off and strode to the front door. Bram pushed off from the wall where he had been leaning and went to join his wife, motioning for Caspian to follow. After a brief hesitation, he did.
    Caspian turned the sharp corner that led into the foyer and saw the doorway crowded with three stern yet beautiful faces. Two of the visitors were guys with set expressions, both with brown eyes. But the third person really caught Caspian’s attention. Standing between the two boys, the most beautiful girl