kissed his forehead lightly.
He beamed at my affection before his expression turned into a frown. "Why haven't any of you guys asked a question about it?"
"You'll tell us when it's right," Connor casually replied.
"It's not something to worry about as long as you're not pointing an arrow our way," Jax added.
"We know you'll tell us once you're comfortable," Kaito concluded. "We trust you as you trust us. No need for explanations. As long as you're okay, we're good with not knowing," he assured him.
"Thanks, guys," he whispered.
We returned our attention to Professor Phoenix and she went right into it.
"First off, congratulations on surviving Semester Six. I'm sure that was a little uncalled for, and that specifically wasn't the type of ending we set up for the games," she admitted.
"It wasn't?" I asked. "So the arrows...that killed Jax and Kaito."
"Arrows?" Kaito and Jax repeated the word as they looked at our side. "We didn't die."
"You didn't die because Brianne somehow timestamped a place during the exams and rewound time to that exact moment," Connor revealed as he looked at me.
"How did you do that, Red?" Finnick questioned. "You did it so flawlessly, like you knew this would happen."
"To be honest, I'm not sure," I confessed and bit my lip while remembering the incident. "I normally follow my gut and that specific part of the dance seemed off. I don't know why I felt the need to leave some sort of magical mark on that very spot, but I didn't hesitate. I'm really glad I did."
Finnick and I stared at Jax and Kaito once more, and Jax reached out to place his hand on mine. "Hey. We're here now. We ain't dying," he assured me and squeezed my hand.
"I know," I whispered.
"Doesn't mean it wasn't a scary experience to endure," Finnick mumbled. "You both were dead. Stabbed with arrows and left to die. It...was insane. That couldn't be a part of the exam."
"It was not," Professor Phoenix firmly declared, catching our attention once more. She actually appeared angry, which left us shivering as her pink eyes seemed to shift to silver.
"The exam was supposed to end at the ball. There would be a challenge once you were pulled apart by the wind, but it should have brought you all to another room in the hall. Not outside to where you were left. We realized it far too late, but it was when Brianne turned back time that we caught a glimpse of the culprit."
"Who was it?" we all asked in unison.
She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Elijah."
"Fuck," all four of my men declared in various volumes.
"Watch your words." I tried to lighten the mood with the reminder. The four of them glanced my way as I shrugged. "It's true."
"Why hasn't he been arrested?" Kaito questioned.
"Arrested?" Jax huffed. "He should be dead! We saw him fall into the crumbling ice! Does he have some voodoo juju going on that makes him invincible or something?"
"He could have a gift none of us know about?" Connor suggested. "Not one that gives him immunity, but maybe something that's similar to teleportation?"
"Connor is correct," Professor Phoenix announced. "I had to do some digging and check his family history to see if his gift could potentially be one that was passed down. He has teleportation capabilities. Intriguing enough, it's elementally based."
"What element?" I questioned with a low voice.
Professor Phoenix smiled at my inquiry. "Darkness."
"That makes a whole lot of sense," Finnick mumbled. "Did he set up the arrow attack to kill Jax and Brianne?"
"I feel that was his original plan. However, instead of Brianne being the leader, Jax was, and instead of Brianne being partnered with Jax, it was Kaito," Professor Phoenix revealed. "It's obvious that the purpose was for either Brianne or Jax to be triggered by the other's death. Jax is the obvious danger of losing control with how destructive his magic is. However, Brianne would have potentially done a whole lot of damage. It’s one thing if your specific element is fire. It's another when you can easily conjure multiple spells and control time and space."
I swallowed at the mere thought and noticed Connor's silence.
"Connor?"
He seemed to be in deep thought before he mumbled, "It still doesn't make sense. I remember Elijah at the bridge. I could feel his fear in the depths of his soul. He actually worried about Brianne. He feared for her life when she fell over and he did get help when she asked for it. It's bugged