by Jacey Ward
Quest for Trust
Veritas Academy - Book 1
Jacey Ward
Copyright © 2019 by Jacey Ward
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Contents
Introduction
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Epilogue
Follow Me!
Untitled
The Deviants Trilogy
CHECK OUT THIS 8-BOOK SERIES WRITTEN BY CHLOE FISCHER AND JACEY WARD
Untitled
Introduction
How could they have allowed the damn faeries into Veritas Academy?
Everyone knows they’re just a bunch of lying, thieving, con artists.
Then, just when I start to soften towards my faery, with her sparkling innocent eyes and her lush ginger curls, her true deceitful self is revealed.
Betrayed, by that liar!
#NeverAgain
Forever blamed, forever banished.
Judged and found guilty – without a trial.
The story of my life.
When will people beyond my wings and pointy ears? Past the reputation that all faeries seem forced to pay for.
Well, I’m done with this.
I can fight my own battles, stand up to my own monsters.
Even if my monster is a pissed off, fire-spewing, mountain-of-betrayed dragon.
#ImTougherThanYou
Prologue
You’d be very foolish to try to trick us tricksters, human ... we’ve had centuries to detect it – and perfect it.
That voice ... high-pitched, sweet, even enticing and yet filled with peril. Where the hell was she? He scanned the darkness of his office.
Dragon’s blood may grant you the illusion of possessing the gift of our kind, but you’ll find you’ll need to eventually have it pour into your veins to sustain it - fool!
You never should have been granted this position as the head of this academy – you are nothing but a fraud — Human!
Damn! There’s another one, and it was definitely more peril than sweet. He’d heard that voice as though someone were standing directly beside him, and yet he saw nothing. The ancient’s blood had served him well, and yet tonight his normally keen eyes could not see any threat before him.
Was he losing his mind now, was that a side effect of too much of the dragon’s blood?
The voice was correct, since he’d succeeded in his plan to assume the position of chancellor of this academy just under two years ago, he’d had to at least double the volume of fluid he ingested.
“Show yourself, dammit!”
Nothing but the light trill of giggles cascading like musical notes in the air.
Wait ... was that a movement he saw on his desk? The pupils of his lime green eyes contracted to oblong slits. They fixed on the darkness of the air before him and he swore he saw particles swirling in some sort of vortex.
The particles appeared to shimmer and dance before him. He felt a featherweight disturbance of air at the same time he heard the flutter of wings and was stunned as a beautiful woman with gossamer wings floated before him and settled on his desk. She was surrounded by a soft radiating glow of iridescent light.
“Not to worry — we don’t have to reveal your secret ...” The silver-haired woman before him stated innocently, her ethereal silver eyes perfectly framed with long fluttering eyelashes. “We could even supply you with the blood —”
For a price, of course, Chancellor! The second voice grated like nails along his nerve endings, ending in a smug chuckle.
Suddenly, a being appeared to the right of him. She was short, old, yet menacing just the same.
“What the hell are you?” he demanded. “And what exactly is that price to be?”
You’ve far less right to be at this academy than those of the faery realm, imposter! We’ve been banned from the many benefits it can afford its student body for far too long. All we want is entry —
“Never!” the chancellor cried out. “Your kind will never be accepted here. The core founders of the academy will see me fired before they’d allow me to sign off on that!”
“Don’t worry, Chancellor,” the silver haired one spoke aloud again, “we will help you to do so. If you wish to maintain your current livelihood and position, and we know just how desperate you are to do so, then you have no choice. We will make your life very unhappy if you do not help us ... starting by letting it be known to those core founders, exactly who you are and more importantly what you are not. And it’s highly unlikely you will simply be let go – you know too much about our paranormals now. They couldn’t risk you exposing them to human-kind.”
He fell back into his cushy chair heavily, knowing the beauty and the hag were right.
“How is our bargain to be struck, then?”
His defeat was met with more sing song laughter.
Chapter 1
Zahreena Daely pulled the covers over her head at the crack of dawn. She was both excited and terrified at the prospect of attending her first day of classes in the Law program of the Veritas Academy. She had been one of ten of the Faery Realm selected to study at this prestigious institute.
The reason for having any of their kind be accepted at the academy this year was shrouded in mystery, but so very exciting to the entire realm. Many of the elders of her land had been lobbying for a very long time to gain them access, but nothing had ever come of it – until last spring.
Suddenly rumors were casting about, that this time, it was going to happen. She had doubted its validity up until the summer drew to a close. But then, suddenly tuitions had been paid for the ten of them, lodgings had been acquired on campus, but far from those deemed the most angered by the decision. That there was a need for such a precaution gave Zahreena some anxiety, but she was reassured by her aunt, all would be well.
Zahreena thrust the blankets aside, mentally preparing herself for the day ahead. She knew it was not going to be an easy task to excel in her pre-law courses, but she was determined to do so. Since she had been a child, she’d been a bookworm, one who always applied herself in her studies, opting to work doubly hard to succeed, rather than wasting her time with playing at the jokes and tricks some of the others thought so funny.
She’d never been one to play tricks on people, and in fact, sometimes wondered where she had come from, since so many of her friends and the faeries her age would sooner spend their time plotting revenge on others – often for no reason at all. It was the way of her kind.
Tricksters. Pranksters. Demons, some called them.
Zahreena had always been content to find the positive in others. To let her peers be who and what they needed to be, and not to find someone at fault simply to feel justified in planning some elaborate punishment on them.
She was determined to do the same at the academy, stay her ground, mind her business and ultimately work hard to succeed in her career choice.
She hadn’t decided what type of law she would eventually want to specialize in, but had seriously considered getting an environmental law degree. To h
er, harming the land she and her kind called home was almost paramount to murder. She doubted though, that any amount of her determination or her willingness to be friendly with them would gain her acceptance from the student body or the school’s officials.
The nine others who had been accepted along with her had already identified a small group of particularly nasty individuals who would go above and beyond to make their life at the academy less than comfortable.
For reasons that were never spoken of in her hearing, faeries, elves, trolls, and gnomes ... all were considered to occupy the lowest class of the paranormal species’ hierarchy. Those who had developed the academy centuries ago – evidently ones who considered themselves among the highest class of paranorms, had forbidden entrance to any of her kind.
While she didn’t know the full history, she knew enough to be well aware that her small group of ten would be little more than outcasts. Not only would they have to prove themselves worthy academically, they would have to deal with the emotional backlash they were sure to receive from the members of that nasty group — who seemed to consider themselves ‘Godlike’ — and probably a whole lot of others who looked up to the ‘Gods’ or were just too scared to go against them.
Zahreena finally decided on a silky hi-lo maxi dress, enhancing her petite figure and giving her the illusion of being taller than she was. She added a fitted bolero over top, intricately embroidered with copper coloured stitching, every stitch woven with a protective spell. Between that and her long, ginger mop of curls she looked the picture of autumn.
She pulled her hair back loosely in a high ponytail, trying to detract from her slightly pointed ears. She hoped the fresh, young and innocent look she presented might win her acceptance from at least some of the student body.
She wasn't as concerned about feeling like an outcast as the others were. Truth be told, she was quite familiar with being alone. She was a loner by nature, in fact.
Her mother had passed when she was just a wee flit and her father had abandoned the realm shortly after. No one seemed willing to discuss him after he’d left.
Had it not been for her aunt and the elder fairies, Zahreena would have felt completely alone. Those loving ladies willingly looked after her and taught her what they could.
But fitting in with others her age had never been a part of their life's lessons for her, so she had grown quite used to her own company. She assumed the elders and her aunt were among those pulling the strings that gained them entrance this year, but she couldn't be certain. Everything had been kept so strangely quiet.
"Please Mother, if ever you were with me, be with me today. I cannot fail at this opportunity. None of us can if we hope to get through this year unscathed."
Zahreena took one final look at herself in the mirror and was emboldened when the copper thread of her coat shone and sparkled back at her – as though her mother was reassuring her in whatever way she could.
She locked her residence behind her, heading to meet the others as they had all planned in order to present a united front in their first week of classes.
Chapter 2
Hunter Kamberlin cracked open his amber eyes, immediately slamming them shut again, as the tiny bit of light that came through his shaded window penetrated them to pierce his head like sharpened shards of glass.
He hated this time of year and he abhorred the ancient wiccan faery group responsible for cursing his species all those centuries ago.
As though through a haze, he let all remnants of his human shape fall away, knowing he would need the strength of his dragon side to shield him from the worst of this ordeal. His skin rippled as golden luminescent scales armoured it, he felt his face and head contorting and reshaping itself to that of his counterpart, his snout elongating and his teeth bursting forth in his mouth.
The specialized residence easily kept both sides of him comfortable. He hoped his twin brother Gabe was faring better in his own sheltered residence at the academy. Despite their shared familial genes, they each reacted differently to the curse, as did most of the dragon shapeshifters. It seemed to attack whatever characteristic within them that made them the weakest.
Hunter endured debilitating headaches and extreme fever as the curse reached its peak, while Gabe suffered from excruciating muscle and full body pain, weakening him sometimes to the point of collapse and frequently sending him into spasms hard for him to control. He tended to do better in his human form while the effects of the curse were full force.
No one in his family today could even fully explain why they had been cursed. The males of their species were left to suffer every fall season, following their twenty-first year. Thankfully the instructors at the academy were aware of their plight, some of them firsthand.
The Veritas Academy was among three paranormal post-secondary institutes, but it was ranked number one. Its mandate to ensure paranormals, primarily shapeshifters, demons, sorcerers and vampires were trained to not only fit into society seamlessly, but also to use their unique gifts to reach their academic and professional potential. The Kamberlin family had founded the academy centuries ago alongside a core group of other influential paranorms.
Hunter was in his final year of criminal justice and wanted to pursue a career in investigation - putting his unique dragon skills to good use in his human state. A career in Criminal Research and investigations would see that his hunting skills stayed strong and honed. But only if he survived the effects of this bloody curse!
Unfortunately, the way his head felt like it would explode right now, survival was definitely in question. It seemed to worsen with each passing season.
He turned away from the window and willed himself to sleep. He had a long way to go before the full moon, which marked the end of the curse. Full moon, damn it, he was a dragon not a bloody werewolf!
“Hunter,” the sing song voice penetrated his fevered brain. “Hunter ... how are you doing?”
“How do you think, Luna?” Hunter growled and peered at the forming mist before him. “What are you doing here, Valluna?”
“Making sure you haven’t self-combusted,” her reply was flippant, but Hunter could see the hurt darkening her violet eyes.
He sighed, instantly regretting his tone. “I’m sorry, Luna. I appreciate your concern, but as much as I know you are excelling in your studies, I don’t think you’ve mastered dragon physiology yet, especially not when it’s being dicked with. I have no time for this, this year.”
“It’s not like you have a lot of choice in the matter ... I checked on Gabe, too. He appears to be faring a bit better than you ... I have some very intriguing news, albeit for you, likely not good news, since you’ve been laid out.”
When Hunter didn’t jump at the bait, she continued, “A new species has joined our fine institution this year. A species that might be very instrumental in helping you get to the bottom of this curse, in fact.”
“Unless you’re referring to some new God of Judgement, who can destroy the ones who cast this bloody curse and lift it from each of us, I highly doubt that, Luna!” he grumbled.
“I’m actually surprised I’m the one sharing the news of these little ones being accepted entrance, I was certain you would have heard by now –” Valluna continued, ignoring his bark. She knew full well he was as grouchy as any male who was ill, grumpy and moody as hell.
“Little ones? Luna, I’m not in the mood for guessing games today, spit it out. What are you talking about?”
“We have a trial group of ten joining us from the Faery Realm. It was faeries who set this curse of yours in motion so long ago, was it not? I wasn’t kidding when I said you and Gabe might finally be able to get to the bottom of it. That is, if you can avoid the stupid little jokes they’ve been playing throughout the campus since the start of the year.”
Hunter cracked an eye open to glare at her suggestion and the news that these troublemakers were already doing what they did best – causing trouble. His nostrils flared and he let out a snort
followed by a billow of hot smoke.
“Keep your glares and especially those huffs and puffs to yourself. They smell a lot worse than they usually do right now. Look it was just a suggestion. Both of you have had this thing hanging over you since your twenty-first year, and your father before you, and any number of dragon shapeshifters before him. I doubt highly it’s about to disappear in the next millennium. That’s a LONG time to live with this.”
"How in hell could they have been accepted here? Whose brilliant idea was that? This is supposed to be a respectable paranormal academy, not just some low-level college fit for the likes of them." Hunter growled.
"Wow, dial it back big guy. Your ancients may have established this place, but I don’t think you have any say in who gets to study here. Besides, the girls seem like a nice enough sort. The jury’s still out on the elves, though.”
Hunter bit back his retort to that but was fairly sure Luna would read his thoughts quite clearly.
“Okay, I think I'm figuring out why Gabe is faring better than you are ... "
It wasn't until he raised his leathery textured brow inquiringly, that she continued. "His attitude doesn't suck nearly as bad as yours!"
"Is that your best medical opinion, doctor?" Hunter commented wryly.
"Indeed, it is, my friend. I don't need to master dragon physiology to diagnose an arrogant ass with attitude." She stood up from the end of his bed and started walking towards the door.