by S. L. Morgan
Then his words came hauntingly back to me—he’s going to break me? Break what? What the heck was this school really after?
“You can push until the others get back,” he said after both of us finally ended our stare down.
I dropped and started hitting the pushups, faster and faster. I needed to get this anger out of me and keep the wolf silent. I had no idea why I was filled with rage. I pushed the dude to pop on me, so I knew I had it coming.
Lunchtime was going to be spent in a corner with Vannah. I needed to know if her witchy senses were picking up on stuff going down. There was no way this was happening to me and no one else. I had a shadow creature in my room last night and now an alpha wolf up my butt—oh, and let’s not forget the surge of witch magic that soared through me this morning too.
I had to get a grip because if I didn’t, I felt like reality would start slipping right through my fingers like sand. I wasn’t going to lose my mind in this place, if anything, I was going to figure out what the hell that thing was last night and what exactly was going on.
This alpha thing had to ride back seat, but Dominic was right about one thing: an alpha command should have made me immediately obey, and it didn’t. Now, my inner wolf was pissed, and I was about to go straight into my shifter class, completely spun out like a wild animal.
Chapter Ten
It was a crappy day, to say the least. Even shifting into my wolf form didn’t help get my irritability out, and that was saying a lot, but that was most likely due to not being able to get Vannah off alone at lunch or dinner.
All of my friends were acting like they were high on academy life, and I was starting to question these stupid fairies they befriended. The sprite that Tanner was officially calling his girl had me wondering if she was sneaking her rune magic on him. It seemed like the only logical answer for him not being in his usual love ‘em and lose ‘em mindset. The sprite could’ve been using her ability to manipulate the air on him because, from the way he was acting, it was almost like his brain was starved of oxygen. It’s not like I wanted the poor girl dumped after the next supernatural cutie came around, but I knew my friend, and to put it bluntly, it wasn’t like him to keep a girl for over a day much less the two weeks we were going on.
Then there was Vannah, my steadfast and authoritative friend who seemed to be all in at this school and thanking the elements of earth, wind, water, and fire that this school of horrors existed.
I strained my eyes on the words of my textbook, trying to go over the material for the exam we had tomorrow for House Fae. The class was tough enough to focus in, being that it was all magical and majestic here.
Each supernatural house had its own touch. House Mage was more like a witch’s dungeon, but it was really cool with the way the candles floated in the room, and we got to sit on couches instead of the stadium seating of the other supernatural classrooms.
House Draugar was precisely what I expected from the vampires. It was too extravagant. Everything was gaudy and overdone, pretty much showing how the vamps were. Their house practically screamed they were above all of us, and nothing less than luxurious with everything they did. I imagined if a vamp were in the human realm, you’d spot them a mile away by how they put on a display of being in positions of power and having boatloads of money.
Then there was House Fae, which gave me a headache every time I sat in the brightly-lit room. Vivid colors, glitter, and everything mystical thrown into one place…it was way too much for the shifter mind to take in.
The fact that Braeclaw was completely plain showed how much shifters cared about any of this. All we wanted to do was shift and be one with the earth. So, all in all, each house represented each supernatural at the school pretty well.
Focus! I strained my eyes at the history book. Since it was of the Fae realm, each word was printed in a foily, glimmery color of the rainbow, and then if that wasn’t enough, they mixed colors up, so one page that had a thousand words meant there were a thousand different glaring colors to read.
“Jenna,” Vannah’s voice rang through my head like it was my imagination. “Jenna!” she said with a laugh.
I looked up, and I was so happy to see she searched me out alone that I couldn’t help but turn to my side where she sat next to me and hug her like I hadn’t seen her in years.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so happy you showed up,” I said, filled with excitement.
“Relax,” she brought her lips close to my ear, “Master Dominic is watching you right now.”
“I couldn’t give a crap what he thinks. I’ve missed you.”
“You’re showing weakness.” She pulled back, and her familiar smile was so settling. “Knock it off,” she mouthed with a knowing arch of her eyebrow.
“We need to talk, but I swear I think these walls are probably eavesdropping on me already.”
She frowned, “My gosh, it looks like you’ve seen a spirit. Are you feeling okay?”
“What if I told you I saw a shadow figure come into my dorm last night? It got cold, and then in the morning my energy didn’t replenish like it should have after being up all night.”
“What!?” she practically shouted. “Here,” she looked around the room and then back to me, “I have to do this quickly and hope I don’t get busted.”
She took my arm, closed her eyes, then released it.
“Well? Anything?”
“You don’t have any energy that tells me you’ve been altered or have been exposed to dark magic like that,” she answered. “Are you sure you saw this? Did Lusa?”
“She was knocked out when her head hit the pillow. I saw it out of the corner of my eye, but it vanished, although I felt the damn thing in the room—”
“Shh,” Vannah rolled her eyes. “Great, here comes your master. Could you at least try not to cuss?”
“Don’t you dare leave. I need to talk to you.”
“Do you find it amusing to taunt me?” Dominic’s—dare I say it—sexy smooth voice questioned as he stood at the edge of the table.
“Sorry, I got a little excited, and to be honest, I didn’t know you were in the room. Sorry about the language,” I said, wanting to get him out of here so I could catch up with Vannah.
“You know the repercussions of your disrespectful language won’t be something enjoyable for someone like you.”
His deep brown eyes glittered, but the jerk wasn’t charming me. He was baiting me, and I wasn’t going to fall into any of his stupid Master Dominic traps and get stuck tomorrow doing pushups instead of being able to shift into my wolf.
“I know. I’m sorry if it offended you. Or this school, sir,” I added, just to throw a cherry on top of the butt-kiss comment so he would leave.
He smirked, and dammit if the dude didn’t have some dumb effect on me, making me feel like one of the groupies who seemed to worship every ounce of the robust and perfect physique he strutted around with.
“Trust me, it doesn’t offend me, but you are one of my trainees, and I won’t have any of my crew saying or doing anything out of line with Immortal Academy’s school policy.”
“Understood,” I said hurriedly, seeing Vannah looking up at him like he had her locked up in his charm of perfected beauty too.
“Trying to dismiss your master, Silvers?”
Oh. My. God. Really? Just go!
“Why would you think that?” I asked, my stupid inner wolf now panting at what she was picking up on from his wolf. This was a freaking battle of emotions I wasn’t prepared for, and now my wolf was betraying me. She’d had one run with Dominic while he was shifted into his massive black wolf, and now my wolf was in love?
“Well, you just rolled your eyes at me.” He crossed his arms. With my luck, his wolf was probably picking up on what mine was doing.
“You give yourself too much credit.” I ran my hands over the Fae book I was studying. “If I rolled my eyes, it was probably at the fact that me and my friend, Vannah, were trying to get through this rainbow that th
rew up on these pages so I could pass my exam tomorrow,” I answered.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” He turned to leave, “Oh, and maybe if your wolf was at ease, you could look through its eyes and study.” I met his knowing smile with heated cheeks. “You know, flip on the black and white sight for reading the fairy lore books.”
I closed my eyes in absolute disgust that this dude picked up on my wolf who was practically prancing around for him to notice her. At least he was sorta cool about it, and I was definitely taking his advice, that’s if my wolf would calm down and focus when I needed her.
“Wait!” I called out to Dominic. “Stay here,” I said to Vannah, jumping up to catch up to my master.
He turned back with a different demeanor, Master Dominic demeanor.
“Yes?” he questioned as if I had already taken up enough of his valuable time.
“You mentioned seeing through my wolf’s eyes.”
His brow knit together. “Yes. Why wouldn’t you do that?”
“Because I’m losing her,” I said, truthfully.
Dominic shockingly laughed at that. “Why would you assume that your wolf is a separate being from yourself? I think you’re losing your mind.”
I bit my bottom lip and refrained from instinctively snapping at him for insulting me. “It’s how I’ve always seen my inner wolf. She’s sort of her own, and we work together.”
He leaned his six-foot-four frame down to me, “Keep talking like that, and they’ll lock you up.”
“You think I’m crazy,” I stated.
“I think you’ve dangerously allowed your inner wolf to carry on a life of her own. That’s something that could get you into big trouble. That’s something I’ll fix if I have to, but trust me, you don’t want to go through that routine.”
“You’re a real dick, you know that? I’m not crazy.”
He took my arm and pulled me off to the side. “Listen, Silvers, there’s something different about you, I’ve already picked up on it.” His eyes darted around us and then zeroed in on me. “Now, you’re talking about being a shifter who basically gave her inner creature its own life force. That is dangerous. If that wolf decides it wants something different than you—and bad enough? Trust me, Jenna Silvers will be nothing but a name we all remember.”
“You’re saying I have no control over my inner wolf? The part of me that this place is trying to kill off?”
“I think this place is the safest place for you and your shifter abilities. When did you give this wolf of yours that much power?”
“I haven’t given her power!” I whisper shouted back.
His eyes grew severe, and my wolf was intently snarling at him now. “Oh, my little trainee, yes, you have. I sense her wanting to shift and come at me as we speak. Do you even feel her wanting the shift outside of the rules set forth?”
“I feel her wanting to kick your ass right now,” I answered.
“Take it easy on your language,” he glanced around with concern. “Listen, if you piqued my curiosity about who you really are, then others have taken notice too.”
“And who are the others, Dominic?”
Hard lines of anger creased his flawless face. “Just trust me. Lay low, and stop feeding that damn wolf,” he said in a low growl before he walked off like nothing ever happened.
I watched him meander over to where the other masters sat at a table with some shifter chicks who instantly looked down at their books, acting like they hadn’t been watching our interaction. Dominic casually joined them and shook off some shifter girl who touched his shoulder.
When Master Scott said something, I watched Dominic look back at me, then to Scott before Scott strangely went right back to reading his book.
No. I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration. No. No. No. I wasn’t going to let this school change me further. Dominic was wrong. If my wolf wanted a life of her own, she’d have done that by now. There was a reason I saw her as my strength outside of myself. If Dominic saw that as giving my wolf power to take over who I was, then he was sorely mistaken. He was as delusional as everyone else seemed to be at this school in obeying what this school wanted.
“I need to get back to my dorm. We’re going to finish this conversation later,” Vannah said, walking up to where I stood glaring at Dominic’s study table. “And you’re going to explain what Dominic was worried about just now. I’ve never heard an instructor use foul language to any student. If what he said was right, then we need to work on that.”
“Can’t you see it, Vannah?” I said through gritted teeth. “Something is completely wrong with this place. How are your witch powers not picking up on it? I’m not losing my mind.”
Her eyes widened, “That’s why we’re going to find time to talk this out. I have no idea what’s going on with you, but I can tell you right now that I don’t like it. All I’m picking up on are your intensely negative vibes and your rebellious nature. This isn’t like you. You’ve changed. I have to go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Her voice was stern and yet filled with concern. I was stiff, rigid, and ready to combust with anger. I’ve changed? No! This place is changing all of us, and we’re somehow its victims inside this enchanted realm. I wasn’t okay, not one bit.
I walked over to my book, slammed its rainbow words shut, and dropped it in my leather satchel. I deliberately walked in the other direction, needing out of this library and knowing I was going to fail the fairy exam tomorrow. I had no time to study and more crap was swirling in my brain again.
For the first time in my life, I wanted to break down and really have a good hard cry. I hated this place, and I was stuck here for three more years.
Chapter Eleven
I threw my covers off the bed in a panic. The room was black, but the hallway flickered like it was illuminated by candles on the wall. I licked my lips, trying to calm down and get my bearings. I pinched myself to make sure this wasn’t a nightmare—I never had dreams, so this would be a first.
I felt a cold rush of energy wash over me, paralyzing me, then leaving as quickly as it came. My eyes shifted to the door where a tall shadow wearing a fedora hat floated by as if it was patrolling the halls.
“Lusa!” I knelt by the side of her bed, rousing her awake. “There’s something out in the hall. That shadow thing that I saw…” I paused, noticing the once flickering light in the hallway getting dimmer.
“Jenna?” She sat up, rubbing her forehead. “Calm down a bit.” She said, trying to wake up. “What are you talking about?”
“Remember last week when I said I was awake all night with that shadow thing?”
“Yes.”
“It’s back.” I tugged at her arm, “I’m going to check the halls, but you need to stay awake. That weird, cold energy was in here again.”
“I’m coming with you,” she said, pulling a silk robe over her nightgown, the total opposite of the tank top and gym shorts I slept in.
“You awake enough? I’m just going to check.”
She stood with me. “If there are shadow creatures out there, you and I both know you’re not going alone. It’s best to have a vampire at your side who can ward that stuff off.”
She was right. Darkness never really came after the vamps. They had a way of taking that energy and destroying it if their black magic creator wasn’t strong enough to make them dangerous.
“Let’s go,” I urged.
I left my goddess vamp back in the room, rushing out and almost running straight into Ethan. Ethan’s eyes were all white, something I’d never seen before. He was pacing and rubbing his hands together in what seemed to be agitation, or it was the fact that he knew exactly what was lurking on the floor of this dorm.
“Immortals don’t die,” he started repeating to himself.
“Ethan!” I tried gripping his shoulders to calm him down, his energy was making my heart race. The owl shifter picked up on something, and his chant was creeping me the hell out. “Ethan, come on, buddy, snap out of i
t.”
“Immortals don’t die.” His eyes were bright silver-blue when they met mine for a split second and went white again.
“Oh my gosh, E!” Lusa said, rubbing his back. “E, sweetheart, what are you saying?”
“What the hell is going on?” Dominic’s voice came up from behind where Lusa and I were trying to calm Ethan down. He absently jerked me away from Ethan and took both his hands and placed them on each side of Ethan’s head.
“Immortals don’t DIE!” Ethan yelled as he tried to pry Dominic’s hands from his head.
“E,” Dominic’s voice was lower and authoritative. “E, come out of it, man. It’s okay, we know,” he said, trying to coax him.
Dominic and I hadn’t had a conversation since that night a week ago when he jumped my case. In fact, this last week went by like a blur. It was like someone hit fast forward on time, and here we were.
“What happened to him?” Dominic seethed to Lusa like this was her fault.
“I don’t know.” Her eyes were wide with fear but set with sadness. “Jenna saw some shadow out here. We came to check and found E like this.”
“E!” Dominic brought his attention back to the poor shifter. “Ethan Carter, don’t you dare shift on me!” he demanded.
Ethan’s eyes came back, and he looked directly at me. “Immortals will die.”
“What the…” Dominic started, but the next thing we knew, a large white owl was flapping its enormous wings, and Dominic ducked just in time for the owl to soar sideways down the hall and out of the building. “NO!” Dominic growled, then looked at Lusa and me with anger. “Both of you get in your rooms. This never happened. Lusa, kill the lights. I’ve got to find him.”
“But, Dom, he might…”