Broken Knights (Gifted Academy #4) - Michelle Hercules Page 0,18

them, per se. This whole situation sickens me. The constant power struggle, the need to be superior, the oppression of the weak. And there’s more violence and bloodshed to come.

I head for the couch, feeling suddenly bone-tired. Mom wants me to attend class today, but it doesn’t mean I have to be there early. I close my eyes, wishing Daisy were here with me. We’ve been apart for a little over an hour, but I already miss her so much. I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to stay away.

For the first time ever, I wish I had Phoenix’s ability to connect with others via dreams. I sure could use dreaming about Daisy.

My body relaxes against the couch, and I feel the threads of slumber pulling me under. Maybe if I’m lucky she’ll invade my dreams nonetheless.

“You’re doing everything wrong, mummy boy!” Rufio yells at Morpheus, the small, curly haired kid who somehow ended up in our boat.

“Don’t call me that!” He jumps forward, rocking the small vessel and threatening to send us all into the water.

I grab him by his life jacket and pull his ass back on the bench. “Sit down, you idiot, or you’ll capsize the boat.”

“Can we head back to camp already? This is lame,” Phoenix, the cocky blond, pipes up.

“I agree.” Rufio throws a piece of bread in the water.

“We haven’t found the buoy with the clue yet,” Morpheus retorts.

“Who cares about some silly-ass scavenger hunt? That’s for low-level Fringes and babies.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose, wondering for the thousandth time why I agreed to come to Idol camp. Oh yeah, my mother thought it would be a great opportunity for Rufio to learn social skills, and since I’m his brother, I got roped in too.

“Let’s head back,” I say. “Your bickering is giving me a headache already.”

Suddenly, Morpheus’s demeanor changes. His spine becomes rigid, and his tan skin seems to turn paler. He aims his gaze skyward as if searching for something.

“What are you looking at?” Rufio follows his line of vision.

“I don’t know. I got a bad feeling all of a sudden.”

“Gee, I knew you were a weirdo,” Phoenix mutters.

Morpheus doesn’t seem to register the mean comment as he hugs himself and shivers.

“Are you cold?” I ask.

“Yes, I’m freezing.”

“You’re joking, right? It’s almost eighty degrees,” Phoenix replies.

I’m about to test my telekinetic powers to steer the boat back to shore when my eyes catch dark clouds fast approaching on the horizon.

“Son of a bitch. The weather is turning,” I say.

Morpheus stares wide-eyed at the storm. “I knew something was wrong.”

The wind and sea change, becoming violent in the blink of an eye. I’ve never witnessed the weather turn so rapidly like this.

“We need to get out of here!” Phoenix shouts over the howling winds.

“You’re a telekinetic, right?” I ask.

He nods. “It’s not my major gift though.”

“Mine either, but I think if we work together, that should be enough.”

A wave crashes against our small boat, flooding half of it. I shake the salty water from my hair and then realize we can’t even see the coastline anymore.

“Where’s the beach?” Rufio asks.

“We can’t possibly have gone that far,” Phoenix shouts over the noise.

Heavy rain falls down, creating a gray curtain all around us. Lightning streaks the dark sky, followed by the loud clamor of thunder. The waves are getting bigger and bigger. If we don’t get out of the water, we’re going to sink.

Morpheus bends forward, folding himself into a tight ball. He makes strange sounds, and I fear he’s getting sick.

“If you throw up, I’m tossing you off the boat,” Rufio tells him.

He doesn’t reply for a moment, but when he finally lifts his head, I see dark veins coming from under his eyes and down his cheeks. They look like black tears. Freaky.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Phoenix asks.

“There’s an island that way.” He points ahead. “That’s where we need to go.”

I glance in the direction he’s pointing at, but there’s nothing but a great gray wall. “There’s nothing in that direction besides the open sea.”

“Trust me. The island is there,” he grits out.

Our boat begins to spin, which can only mean one thing: we got caught in a whirlpool. But that doesn’t make any sense.

“Fuck! Come on, Phoenix. Help me out here.”

I focus my power on moving the boat away from the whirlpool and toward Morpheus’s invisible island. Phoenix gets with the program, and together we make the boat move as fast as if it had an