The Last Phoenix- Book 1 of the Legends of Henge Series

Chapter 31

Lance Taylor

I knew Arielle was going to do something she shouldn't be when she broke off from the group so I tipped off Professor Orion.

I mainly just wanted to make sure she didn't come back. She was leading us in collecting for the Quest that was rightfully mine. So once she left, I took over.

We ran into Luna's group and she suggested we team up because of our "similar goals" but I told her we didn't need her.

I didn't expect to come back to the dorm to see an infuriated Arielle with Bailey and Lark trying to calm her down. She looked up when the rest of the team entered and glared instantly.

"Which one of you told Mrs. Orion you thought I was doing something suspicious?" she snapped. I looked at her calmly while the others looked really confused.

"What are you talking about?" Harper asked.

"I did," I told her.

"And why the hell would you do that?" Her eyes were a flaming gold.

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Because maybe you're behind the attacks?" I hissed back at her.

Bailey laughed coldly. "You honestly think Arielle is the one behind the attacks?"

"Yeah, maybe I do," I said, warming up to the idea.

"That doesn't make sense," Lark argued. "Arielle doesn't have any way of controlling others."

"Oh don't pretend like you know so much," I snapped, disgusted.

"She is the Quest leader," Bailey defended.

"And you honestly think she should be? She doesn't know anything about our world!"

"Woah, let's back up," Harper suggested. "It is possible Arielle was being controlled. Lance was just trying to make sure that another attack didn't happen."

"You can't honestly be taking his side?" Bailey cried angrily.

"Can you really blame him for being suspicious?" Harper snapped back. "Arielle has been hiding things this whole year! Everyone can tell that Aurum has been telling her things and she won't say anything. How can you trust that?"

"Because I know that there's something called confidentiality!" Bailey yelled.

"And what about Lark?" Ryker joined in.

"What about her?" Arielle asked, glaring holes into his head.

"Well you've got to admit it's a bit suspicious that she just happens to show up in the middle of the first attack and is the only one not claiming to have been controlled," he pointed out. "And she conveniently doesn't remember anything about that night. For all I know, she's a liar and she's behind the attacks."

"It is a bit weird," Anvi piped up, though she didn't wear the accusatory glares that me or Ryker wore.

"Hang on," Chetan broke in. "Why are we all suspecting each other? This is all a bunch of if's here. Lark is unlikely because she's only just found out she's a shifter this year. How could she manage to control other people and burn down the Nocturnal Sector? And where would she have known to get a Dragon Bomb?"

"But you're not ruling out Arielle," I pointed out.

"You seriously think she did this? It's highly unlikely."

"And why is that?"

"You know what, bastard?" Arielle finally spat. "You're just upset because you weren't elected as leader! And as for what Aurum's been telling me, it's all about Asteria! Because I grew up with her and she was giving me updates."