Read Online INTEGRATION (Bonfire Academy Book Two) (Bonfire Chronicles) by Imogen Rose - Free Book Online Page A

click, and in just moments, the door was open. I peered into the room over Jagger’s shoulder. A cold draft blew in through the open window, causing the papers on the desk to flicker. The room was empty of beings—no shifters or anyone else. I walked to the middle of the room and closed my eyes, breathing in all the different smells, gagging at the strong shifter reek. Something else—not a shifter—had been in there, but my olfactory senses weren’t sharp enough to identify the source. “Jagger, can you smell what else was in the room? I mean, apart from Mason and his father.”
    He shook his head. “Nope, faeries don’t do the whole sniffer-dog thing. I’m guessing demons suck at it as well?”
    “Yes, some more than others. I’m particularly poor at it. Oh well, looks like they took off out the window,” I said, looking out. They were long gone.
    “So whoever was in here with them can fly as well or was flown out by them. Either Mason or his father could have handled that. Mason had no problem flying off with you, remember?”
    “Not likely to ever forget.” That had been one of the worst experiences of my life—being held in Mason’s claws as he flew me over the St. Moritz peaks…and then dropped me. Ugh.
    My phone rang, snapping me out of my reverie. I dreaded answering it, slowly gliding my fingers over the answer tab.
    “Cordelia Hammer! Get to my office at once and bring Mr. Deveroux with you!” Frau Schmelder hung up.
    I turned to Jagger. “Sorry, I’ll take the blame.”
    “No need. Plus she’ll have seen me do the lock.” He grinned.
    We walked back to The Smelt’s office in silence, with me mostly wondering if she’d have us turned into rodents. That would suck. I also kept trying to figure out who’d been in the room with Mason and his father. I was still coming up blank when we rapped on The Smelt’s door.
    “Come in!”
    Jagger opened the door and held it, allowing me to walk past him and into the room. I stopped short and gasped when I noticed Mason—in his male form—and his father sitting on the couch facing Frau Schmelder’s desk.
    “Well, don’t just stand there. Come in and sit down,” she said, shaking her head.
    I perched on the stool by the door again, and Jagger stood next to me.
    “Mason and his father just returned,” The Smelt said.
    The office seemed to be back to normal, everything in its place. The books were back in the bookcase, and the desk was neat and tidy. Professor Bern must have helped clean up, using a bit of her magic. I wondered why she wasn’t here.
    “Mason has apologized for flying off, and I’m glad that Monsieur Drasco brought him back here.”
    I was absolutely dying to ask them who the woman in the room had been, but the firm squeeze from Jagger’s hand on my shoulder warned me to shush.
    The Smelt smiled at M. Drasco. “Mason has agreed to cooperate, although he maintains that he had nothing to do with the note.”
    Yeah. Right.
    “So, I think we’re done here?” M. Drasco boomed. “Please don’t jump to conclusions in the future. Now, I must get back to Paris and some pressing matters over there. I shall walk Mason back to his room and then head off. It was less than the usual pleasure, Frau Schmelder. I hope to meet under more congenial circumstances next time.”
    “Monsieur.” The Smelt nodded. Then she turned to Jagger. “Could you walk over with them, and then get Mason to his afternoon class?”
    Jagger grimaced, but opened the door for Mason and his dad and followed them out.
    Frau Schmelder glared at me. “Well?” she spat.
    “I’m sorry. I couldn’t help myself. I had to know who was in the room with them.”
    “And did you find out?”
    “No. They didn’t answer the door, and by the time we got inside, they’d flown away.”
    “And it didn’t occur to you that that’s exactly what would happen?” She raised her eyebrows and flared her nostrils. “I mean, it’s pretty apparent. Don’t you think? Or did