that most slayers tended to stick together was that the children of mixed marriages were nearly always sight-blind. In fact, until she turned eight, Emma’s biggest fear was that she would be as well and that all the amazing stories her mom had told her would just be that... stories.
But then it had happened.
On her eighth birthday, her parents had taken her out to the beach. It was April and the spring air had been warm and fresh, and the smell of salt had been dancing in her nostrils before it was suddenly replaced by something else. Something evil. Then, without even knowing why, Emma had dropped to all fours just before a large phoenix went swooping over her, missing her by mere inches.
In a second Emma took it all in: The heavy torrents of wind that gushed up as the creature went past her, its dark red feathers that almost seemed to blaze like fire against the blue spring sky. The small orange eyes that were filled with malice. And most noticeably the large beak, curved and deadly.
A second later her mom appeared with a crossbow in her hands and killed the creature before it could turn and dive a second time. Emma had instantly burst into tears, which her mom had mistaken for fear rather than joy. But how could she be scared when her mom was there to help her? And even better, now that she had the sight, she would be able to go to Burtonwood. It had truly been a perfect day, and together she and her mom spent the next two hours planting a series of tiny electromagnetic wards to stop any more phoenixes from returning to the area.
With that thought she shut her laptop and went to bed. Thinking of her mom just reminded her of how much was at stake. And as she drifted off to sleep, she desperately tried to come up with the perfect Plan C so that she could convince Kessler to change his mind. Her future depended on it.
CHAPTER FIVE
So how much sleep did you get?” Tyler asked the next morning as he carefully studied her face. “I bet it was six hours. No, actually, make that five hours. Am I right? I bet I’m right.”
“Shut up, Tyler.” Loni cut him off with a glare as Professor Vanderbilt started to hand out a photocopied article on how to dismantle a hand grenade. “But seriously, Emma, are you okay? You do look a little tired. Maybe you should go and get checked out again by the nurse.”
“I’m fine.” Emma yawned as she took one of the copies and passed the rest of the pile just as Professor Vanderbilt held up a hand grenade.
“Okay, everybody. I want you tell me three situations when you might possibly need to use this weapon.”
“When you’re in the food court fighting fairies,” Glen called out from the back row, and the rest of the class started to laugh. Emma sighed and slunk down in her chair. Obviously her fifteen minutes of fame weren’t quite up yet.
“Good idea, but remember we frown on hurting civilians,” Professor Vanderbilt said in a mild voice—with a hint of sarcasm—before turning his attention back to the rest of the class. “Does anyone else have any ideas?”
Brenda immediately raised her hand, but before she could speak, Principal Kessler appeared in the doorway and nodded for Professor Vanderbilt to join him. Emma felt her mouth go dry as she studied the headmaster. His tanned narrow face was grim, and his straight gray hair was pushed back off the top of his forehead as he talked to Professor Vanderbilt in a low voice.
She turned to Loni and Tyler. “I bet this has something to do with his meeting with the Department yesterday. And maybe it will explain why I couldn’t find him anywhere.”
Loni nodded in agreement, but before she could reply, Principal Kessler finished his conversation and walked up to the podium.
“The Department’s got word that a zombie virus has been released over in the western suburbs,” he said, which instantly caused a murmur of confusion to go racing around the classroom. Even though there was some cross-training between Burtonwood and the other Departmental branches, zombie hunting definitely wasn’t something that any slayer normally did. “However, their efforts to reverse the virus at stage two have been impeded by a clan of nearby crocus demons.”
Ah. Emma and the rest of the room nodded in understanding. Now it made sense, since while some