The Tracker Hive Academy Year One - Avery Song Page 0,31

"Why?"

"I just met you and I can smell trouble around all four of you. Definitely off limits," I elaborated. "To be nice, Jade Masters. My twin is skipping around here somewhere," I introduced, making an excuse for Shadow Jade's absence.

She was present but was now acting shy as she secretly analyzed all of them slowly. If we were having weird reactions, we were most definitely going to figure out why.

"Twin?" Zeke sounded intrigued, but from the dark flicker in his eyes, I felt he'd already caught on to our secret somehow.

"Yup. You'll see her around," I announced. Turning my attention to Bianca, I gave her an innocent smile. "Can we finish this tour now?"

"Sure. Let's get started. You all can talk and walk." she clapped her hands. "Boys," her voice was stern again. "Keep your elements in check or I'll force you to."

"Yes, ma'am," they said in unison.

"Trouble," Shadow Jade mumbled.

You're totally right, Shadow Jade. The four of them are trouble central, and I think we're caught right in the middle.

9

Investigate The Troubled Four

"Lick, Lick, Lick."

Please don't tell me you're actually thinking of licking one of these men, and I know which one you're referring to.

"Intriguing."

That's your power talking. You're making me acknowledge I have hormones and emotions. Not the time to be doing it.

I tuned back into Alaric's speech to the five of us. We stood before the gates of the school, getting an overview of the massive mansion-like structure.

It was all familiar to me, so I was far more focused on trying to figure out where these guys came from. Did they always exist? How could four identically perfect men just exist like this?

I'd been doing my best not to show my uneasiness around these guys, but I was mentally wishing for this to be done so I could go back home and try to find out every single detail about them.

Which basically meant questioning Alaric myself.

I'd managed to turn the spotlight on myself for one brief moment, but with the introduction of these four power-loaded beasts, I wasn't sure if I’d be the apple of everyone’s eye anymore.

And if I was, it would be out of jealousy that I was the only girl in our fivesome.

Taking the tour together had lumped us up as a group within the minds of the students. If I actually knew more about these guys and their real purpose for being at this school, this opportunity could be a huge advantage.

However, I knew nothing but their names, how they made me admit that I was a female with feelings, and that they were making me imagine irrational, unrealistic situations in the bedroom rather than focusing on my purpose for being here.

They could be the very reason Alaric wanted me to attend and I was falling for whatever charm spell they had going on.

"Do you have any questions?" Alaric asked.

"Are you and Jade related?" Zackery asked.

We all looked at him as he shrugged. "What? It's a good question to ask."

"Yes, we're related," I answered for Alaric.

"You two look nothing alike," Zackery replied. Zion, who stood next to him, elbowed his arm.

"Ow!"

"Zackery's wondering which parent you got your good looks from," Zion said sweetly.

"Bold thoughts to have when my dad is right there." I winked.

"You definitely don't act like the average girl," Zackery mumbled.

"I'm not average." I crossed my arms. "See? My uniform has red in it. That makes me extra special."

"Why does it have red in it anyway?" Zackery asked. "I want red in our uniforms, too."

"Red is an ugly color," Zeus commented with a scowl.

"That's color prejudice," Zackery accused.

Zion and Zeke just watched their brothers argue, turning their attention to me.

"We like our element colors," Zion said with a tender smile.

"Makes sense to promote your respective shades," Zeke encouraged. "Makes me wonder if red is your favorite then."

"Red and pink. Gold isn't bad either. It depends on how I feel." I was trying to divert them from bringing up my element situation again. They shouldn't have known about that from the get-go.

Mission to investigate the Trouble Four. Maybe I'll threaten them later.

"I have a question," Zeus announced, pulling our attention to him. "Do we need to attend all the classes? Our thought processes are connected. I don't see the need for all four of us to attend the same classes each week."

"Zeus has a point," Zeke supported, looking at Alaric and Bianca. "We can transfer information to one another. I don't see the need for us to go to each class unless