Chapter One:

Travel by Train

To say I was exhausted was an understatement. I wanted so badly to shut my eyes, but I couldn't. Not because I was being forced, but because of everyone talking. I could only sleep in silence, and this was far from it.

Trish MacGrath elbowed me gently in the ribs. "Aren't you excited, Kayce?"

I grunted in response.

She grinned. "It's not that bad, y'know. What's buggin' you?"

"Just a bit irked that I'm starting at a new school without any of my old friends, I guess," I muttered disdainfully.

"Never been the new kid then, huh?" Trish asked.

I shook my head.

Violet Chance came into our little box in the train and sat down with a long, heaving sigh. Her long black hair sprung out because of the static as she did, because the seats were leather.

"There's either too much estrogen or testosterone on this damned train," she muttered. "I can't walk to the bathroom without boys yelling or girls giggling so loudly that I want to take an axe to their heads."

I knew how she felt.

I was worried about where I'd be going. I'd never been to the Academy for the Gifted before (which was a ironic name for it), and I'd never dreamed of attending. Trish had already been there for a year, and I knew she was a Conduit, but it had worried me when I started high school that I'd share that gene. A week ago, when my mom had saved me from these two creeps trying to kill me named Alden and Sasha, my worst fears were realized.

Mom, surprisingly, was totally cool about it, as if she knew it was going to happen. She'd explained that she was a Conduit (dad wasn't), and that my cousin Violet was one too. So, a week after the normal, Human schools started, I was now on a train headed for the Conduit Academy, as it was commonly referred to.

Trish laughed at us. "You two're gloomy for nothing! This'll be the best thing that's ever happened to you! You'll see!"

And with that, Trish left the room. Mom told me to refer to Trish as my cousin, but I didn't have a clue how she was really related to me. When I'd asked, mom just smiled and said, "It's complicated." I really had no doubt that it was.

"Wanna grab something' to eat?" Vi asked me.

I nodded. "Sure. Maybe I'll just grab a pop though."

Vi shrugged and led me to the dining cart, where a few kids were laughing and hanging out. It reminded me of my friends back in New Marias, but we were definitely more… Human. Or, at least, they were.

Vi and I slid into a booth only a space away from the other Conduits and ordered what we wanted when the waiter came. I paid, since I wanted Vi to save her money for a souvenir from the academy. She got a souvenir from everywhere she went, so I wanted to make sure her tradition kept on going.

"It makes me wonder…" Vi mumbled as she spun the straw of her Pepsi around.

"What?" I asked.

Vi's eyes came back to the present. I guess she thought she was talking in her head. "Eh? You heard that?"

"What makes you wonder?" I pressed.

Vi bit her lip. "Well… your mom's Joan Grey, Trish's dad is Cole MacGrath, and my dad's Alec Chance. I know for a fact that your mom's probably about as famous as Cole in the Conduit world and whatnot (my dad isn't that much, but he's still widely recognized), and when Trish went to the academy last year, she became really popular, really fast."

I groaned. "Man, if I could just slip into the background, I'd be fine. Not like I wanted these powers, anyway. Why couldn't I just keep going to my normal, Human school?"

"Well, this school is gonna teach us how to control these powers. What we want to do after is up to us, whether it be good, evil, in-between, or nothing at all."

"If only," I grumbled, taking a sip of my Coke. "They'll probably force us to stay there to be the professors."

Vi smiled and ate a fry from her plate. "But I guess there's an upside to this…"

"And what would that be, dear cousin?" I asked sarcastically.

Vi's smile turned mischievous as she held up a single finger. "Boys."

"Horny bitch."

"Hey!" Vi was still grinning, despite my insult. "Are you sayin' that you're not at least thinking about the possibilities?"

"What possibilities? They're boys, we're girls, and that settles it. Didn't you ever take a sex-ed. class?"

"Duh! I had to! It destroyed my fragile mind and now I can't get the image of—!"

"Don't you dare say it! I was in the same class you were!"

"Then why did you ask me if I was in a class?"

"I thought it'd be self-explanatory!"

Vi rested her cheek on her hand just as a girl from the table of laughing teens came to our table. "No offence guys, but do you think you could keep it down a bit?"

I facepalmed. "Y-Yeah… sure. Sorry 'bout that."

"Like I said, no prob." The girl looked over at her friends, and then back to us. "Hey, d'you guys wanna come and sit with us?"

I looked at Vi, who grinned. "Sure! How 'bout it, Kay?"

I reluctantly nodded. I didn't like large groups, that's why my friends had always been diverse and from groups of their own. If I wanted to visit them, I'd just catch 'em in the hallway or something.

Vi grabbed her Pepsi and fries and ushered me to the table with the girl. I just barely managed to grab my Coke on the way. Her friends made some room for us to sit, and even though it was a bit of a squeeze, it was comfy.

"My name's Elise, by the way," the girl said. "Elise Fitzpatrick. And your name's are…?"

"Violet," Vi answered. "Call me Vi."

I decided to play it smart like Vi and not give my last name. "Kayce," I said. "Call me whatever."

Elise smiled at this. "Well, it's nice to meet some new faces. Everyone at this table, save for you two, have been going to the academy for three years now."

She did look older than us, that I'd admit, but I looked older than I actually was.

"So you guys're first-years, huh?"

"Yep," Vi answered. "I'm excited! This is gonna be a blast!"

Elise smiled. "Well, it is fun. But you've also got to focus on studying a lot!"

I remembered what my parents had said: I had to get into the top fifty at the academy to find out why mom knew I was a Conduit. I was pretty sure that motherly instinct was completely irrelevant in that way.

"So, what kind of powers do you have?" Elise asked suddenly.

Vi smiled proudly. "No electronic is ever safe from me! I can get into their… well, 'heads', per say. Make 'em do what I want."

"Interesting!" Elise beamed, and then turned to me. "And you, Kayce?"

I fidgeted from under the table. "Erm… well…"

Trish entered the dining car and briskly walked over to the table. "There you guys are! I was wondering if you'd fallen off the friggin' train or just—!" Trish stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Elise, and instead of the friendly, mocking smile she'd just been wearing, her expression turned into a smile that could only spell out, "I-hate-you- with-all-my-guts." "Hey, Elise. Long time no see, huh?"

Elise smiled the exact same way. "MacGrath. I was hoping you'd drop-out."

"You know me; always the rebel. And at least one MacGrath needs to make it through college."

Elise looked at Vi, Trish, and then me again. "Friends of yours?"

"Cousins, actually," Trish said as she grabbed the back of our shirt collars and dragged us out of the booth. "Both of them are always lookin' for trouble. You know kids."

Vi looked like she was going to argue, but she stopped short when I swiftly jabbed her in the ribs for silence.

"Yeah," Elise agreed, "kids. Always looking to pull the rug from underneath your feet."

Trish and Elise had a staring match for at least five minutes before Trish smiled. "Well, we'd better get going. Don't want a seduction Conduit making out with me before I even know it."

Before Elise could argue, Trish dragged us out of the car. Only when we were safely in our seats with the door closed did Trish let out a breath she'd been holding in.

"Lemme guess," Vi said, "she's not your friend."

"Got that right," Trish grumbled. "I met 'er in my first year, when she was a second-year. She immediately felt her power threatened when I got to the Academy, because everyone knew I was a MacGrath. That name carries a lotta things, not all of 'em good." Trish snorted distastefully. "So, she gets it in her head that I'm trying to take over the school. You know how those popular kids are; as soon as there's a new piece of gossip, they're on it like starving lions on a big, juicy steak."

I bit my lip. "What does a seduction Conduit do?"

"They're simple enough; they increase their pheromone levels to get people attracted to 'em, but once people know what they're doing, it loses its magic."

"Sounds… interesting," Vi said. "Nothing I've ever heard about before."

"Well, there're lots of Conduits around the school. A lot of 'em are different, so you'll see a good variety." Trish checked her watch and looked out the window. "We're almost there. Grab your suitcases, kiddies; it's nearly showtime!"

Somewhere, deep inside my stomach, a knot tightened to a point where I felt far past uncomfortable.