Blood + Tears (all 15)

Chapter 12

Glowing pink dust surrounded us. Eight pairs of eyes looked at me in disbelief. They were frozen, even the emotionless Mr. Blackbourne showed shock on his face. His frozen stare made me want to poke his cheek, but I doubted that he would appreciate that.

"Oops," Kota muttered breathlessly. His emerald green eyes met mine. "You broke it."

Nathan blinked slowly. "You mean shattered it. It's dust."

I fidgeted and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. I fought for words in the continuing silence. Deciding to act nonchalant, I dusted the glowing pink dust off my arms. "Maybe the orb was broken?"

I jumped at the sound of nonsensical muttering. Looking over, I saw Mr. Blackbourne pacing back and forth, muttering under his breath. Occasionally he would peek at me with disbelief in his eyes before pacing again. After three minutes of watching him go back and forth, he suddenly slapped his hands on his face and slowly slid his hands downward until his hands covered his mouth. His silver eyes assessed me. "Ms. Armani, the orb was not broken. That was one of the sixteen finest orbs ever created."

Nathan smirked. "Well, fifteen now." At Mr. Blackbourne's glare, he held up his hands. "Sorry."

"Stop glaring at your family, Owen," Sean said. He had relaxed in his chair, acting as if a high level orb breaking was an everyday occurrence.

Mr. Blackbourne shot Sean a scowl. "This is something we haven't seen before."

Sean rolled his eyes and looked at me with humor. "I have a feeling that Sang will keep shocking us in the future. Anyway, by shattering that orb, this means that Pookie's levels couldn't fully be read. We can assume that she is even higher than Pink."

"Not only that," Luke spoke in my ear. I jumped in surprise. When did he get behind me? Turning my head, I was met with a smiling Luke who seemed to be buzzing with excitement.

I furrowed my eyebrows in surprise. "What?"

Luke grabbed my arms and pulled me towards him. He wrapped his arms around me and started to jump. "You're a Pink rank. That means you are more powerful than me."

I looked at the others in confusion. Kota smiled and answered my unspoken question. "Luke is the most powerful of us. When we'd spar, he couldn't use his powers at their full potential. Now that you're more powerful than him, he has the chance to use his full powers in battle."

I nodded. "So who's the next powerful?"

Marc rested his head against his hand. His elbow was bent and was resting on the table. "Well, all of us are more powerful than most shifters. Luke is at the top of our group with Gabriel, Sean, North, Raven, Owen, Axel, Kota, Corey, Victor, Brandon, me, Nathan, Kevin, and Silas. There are more people more powerful than us including the Pinks which now includes you."

I blinked in surprise. "So do you know any other Pinks?"

Mr. Blackbourne nodded. "There is one Pink level shifter at the Academy. He is actually the headmaster, and he'll probably teach you personally."

I suddenly realized that Luke was still hugging me. Feeling my face redden, I coughed and patted Luke's back. "Uh, you can let go now."

Luke jumped back and looked away. I smiled at his red ears. Sitting down, I sighed. "So what is the Headmaster's animal?"

Before anyone could speak, the doors burst open, and the rest of them rushed into the room. Gabriel was first then followed by Axel, Kevin, Brandon, North, Victor, and Silas. Gabriel looked around for any danger. When he saw us relaxed and sitting, he stormed over to where I sat. "What happened? I felt the palace shake."

My eyes rounded. So it wasn't my imagination that the castle shook when the orb broke? "That might have been me."

After telling the others what happened, I was going to ask them my question again when a knock on the door drew our attention. Gabriel frowned before speaking. "Enter."

The door opened to show the maid who helped me this morning. Karen was her name, I think. She bowed and spoke. "Your highness, the Academy Headmaster is here. He asks for a meeting."

Gabriel was quiet for a moment before nodding. "Send him in."

The maid nodded before disappearing out the door. Within seconds, the door opened to reveal a stranger in a red robe. He was older with graying hair. Blue eyes looked at me with a look that seemed to now all of my secrets. The power that radiated from him shook me. His level of power was almost suffocating. He was as powerful as me.

"Your highness," he said before bowing his head.

Gabriel smiled with a friendly look. "Welcome, Headmaster Roberts. Your meeting was unexpected. What are you doing here?"

Headmaster Roberts smiled back, looking at the fifteen of them with a fatherly look. "I came to greet the first female Pink Rank Shifter."

Axel frowned. "How do you know about her?"

Roberts laughed. "Did you forget? Prophecy is one of my gifts. I foresaw her coming."

I felt Amara inside me look at the stranger. After a few tense moments of staring at him, she whispered to me. He is dangerous but a friend. Trust him.

"May I have a moment to speak with her privately?" The headmaster spoke. Gabriel and his protectors hesitantly left us. When we were alone, the headmaster turned towards me. "Hello, my name is Phil Roberts, and I am the headmaster of the Academy."

I nodded in respect. "I am Sang Armani."

He chuckled. "There is no need to lie, Ms. Sorenson. I know your secret."

A/N: Three updates for the all15! I hope that all of you guys liked them.