The older man inside looked as human as Constance. He arched a brow at our abrupt entrance.
Constance buzzed around us like an agitated bee. “Sir, I’m sorry—”
The poor woman wasn’t destined to ever finish a sentence. “It’s okay, Constance,” he said. “I knew they were coming. There are some advantages to being a Seer.”
Constance cast a worried glance toward us, but then she nodded and withdrew, closing the doors behind her.
Seer? I peered at the man. What did he see?
“You’re a Seer?” Matt asked.
“He can see a few hours into the future, but it isn’t his main function. He has applied his considerable administration skills to keep this new effort coordinated and moving forward.” Cara provided the information with compressed lips, and something about the set of her jaw indicated she wasn’t on the best terms with the man. “This is Amadeus, the headmaster of the Shade League Academy of the Cryptid Council.”
Wowsers. That was a mouthful. I lined up the consonants. SLACC. My mouth twitched, and when I glanced at Matt, there was a matching twinkle in his eye.
Amadeus, however, stood very stiff as she introduced him and seemed unamused by our presence. As if he tracked our thoughts, he said, “We haven’t finalized the name.” He turned to Cara. “I was expecting one young Dire. Imagine my surprise when I foresaw a woman with him.” His gaze dropped to Trix. “And a dog? What have you brought me?”
Cara gestured to Matt. “This is the Dire shifter you were expecting. But I picked up Anna today—we’re not sure what her heritage is yet. She seems to attract animals, and she might be telekinetic.”
His second brow joined the first. “Seems and might? We are building teams that need to hold their own in any situation. To properly train the Shades, we require that they be a known entity.”
My heart froze. Until that moment, I hadn’t realized how badly I wanted this opportunity.
“No,” Cara disagreed with him. “Training requires that we explore their talents and strengthen their weaknesses. Many Cryptid hybrids have no idea as to what they can do. We are the only place those individuals can trust to teach them to control their abilities.”
Amadeus stiffened. “We are not the depository for every miscreant.”
Cara’s eyes flashed. “The line between miscreant and misguided is blurry at best. Anna here killed a feral Dire with only a touch and a thought and then healed herself afterward. We do not yet understand her talent, but she belongs here.”
His brows twitched, but his jaw hardened. “I’m relieved she might have a use, but if we don’t know what she is, how can we train her?”
Cara stood firm. “The physical components of training are the same, regardless. Start her on that. I am going to explore her talents. Once we have a lead on how she did what she did, we can train her abilities as well.”
Amadeus did not look amused. “We are at capacity for this session.”
“You can make room on a team for her.”
A muscle jumped in his jaw. “You are aware that there are only three other females in the introductory program?”
Now it was Cara’s turn to arch a brow, and anger spiked through me. Was there a sex-based bias at this place?
He leaned forward. “In a program filled with maleDires, Cara. One Dire female is mated. She and her three mates form both a team and a pack. The two other females are unable to mate with Dires.”
“I am aware. I am the one that recruited them,” the Watcher said.
His nostrils flared. “Yes. Well, this one will be another matter.”
Was he saying that the males here couldn’t be trusted? I glanced at Cara, who didn’t disappoint me.
“If they cannot control themselves in training because of a single female put in their midst, they are not Shade material, and you know it.”
Amadeus’s gaze slid away from her, to fasten on me. “Are you aware of the risk, young lady? Both humans and cryptid hybrids can be turned into alpha females for Dires. Some of these Dires have no doubt dreamed of obtaining such a thing. They crave the structure a female would provide their pack.” He drew himself up tall. “Throwing you in among them is literally throwing you to the wolves.”
I glanced at Cara and was dismayed to see that her expression had altered. She now looked more concerned than determined. “There were only so many Dire slots approved. The recruitment process insisted on equal representation.”
A triumphant gleam lit Amadeus’s eyes. “The other Cryptids have been slow to respond to the opportunity. I was forced to fill the remaining slots with Dires because so many had applied. We’ve even had an alpha join our ranks.”
Both Matt and Cara stiffened. “Why would an alpha want to join the academy?” Cara queried.
