Immortal Academy- Year One

by S. L. Morgan

  “That felt familiar,” he said softly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”

  Now, I cut him off. My emotions, my wolf, and my hormones were taking the wheel and urging me to kiss him like the last kiss we shared. I reached up to his brawny shoulders, stood on my toes, and nipped at his bottom lip.

  Dominic sighed, framed my face with his hands, and shamelessly indulged us both in the kiss we shared the day I left him. My head was spinning, my body floating as our tongues reunited in desperation. I heard a low groan come from Dom while I pressed my body against his. His hands were tighter on my face now, and our kiss ended as fast as it began. Instead of pulling completely away, Dominic let his forehead rest against mine while his hands came down and he interlaced his long fingers with mine.

  “Hold very still,” he whispered.

  I was frozen like a statue. His grip tightened in my hands, and all I heard was his breathing. I had no idea what was going on, but my wolf seemed to be on full alert.

  Dominic’s thumbs rubbed against where they rested on my hands, making a warm sensation wash over me. It was a feeling of comfort and completion I hadn’t felt since Dominic lost all memory of what happened.

  When he rose up, he had a smile I had never seen on his face before. He reached for my face and ran his knuckles along my jawline. “How could I ever forget us?” he said with a smile of love and adoration.

  He remembers!

  “A lot of crazy shit went down, and unfortunately, after you kicked ass and saved this wicked place, you didn’t—”

  “No,” he said. “More than that, Jenna.” His eyes were bronze again. He let out a sigh like he remembered a whole lot more crap than I had locked up. “We go farther back than this school. How could you just let me treat you like crap while I fought off my own selfish emotions?”

  “Because I didn’t want to wake the sleeping evil in this place. And trust me, you didn’t treat me like crap, I would have cussed you out and requested another unit if I’d thought that.”

  My breath hitched in my chest when he shook his head. “I remember it all. You and me at Dark Water,” he laughed. “Our wolves embraced their fates and forced us at such a young age to accept it all.” I stood in silence and shock at this memory highlight reel he was having and watched his expression grow sad. “I promised you I would never forget. I swore it to you when they took our memories to protect you.”

  “Okay, I’m completely lost now. As far as I know, I never met you until I came to IA.”

  He shook his head. “It was my senior year, your junior year. The supernatural magic you used on our quest brought in an older woman. She took me, you, Ethan, and Lusa. Professor Matthews was concerned for your safety, and they never explained why you had that magic or how you used it. They just told us that they needed to pull our memories of the event and of each other to keep us safe. That one day, it would no longer work on all of us, but they had to. You don’t remember any of it?”

  “All I remember is you and me figuring out this school was killing immortals. Then I went into some spirit world…just the stuff from here. I didn’t know you and Lusa went to Dark Water.”

  “That was part of the cover-up. They impressed in our minds that we went somewhere else. My wolf hung onto everything and just showed me our history. Who we are—you and me.”

  “Why were Lusa and Ethan involved?”

  “You and Lusa were best friends.” He laughed. “My God, they took everything, and it didn’t even really protect you. I remember everything that happened here too. How your wolf jumped into mine will always be a mystery,” he took my face in his hands again, “but you’ve always been more than just a shifter, Jen, that’s why they pulled us apart like this. To protect you. To protect our strength because they knew this school would catch on.”

  “What do we do now?” I asked. “I mean, I don’t remember us at Dark Water, but I still have feelings for you.”

  “How strong are your feelings?” he asked.

  “Well, they were a lot stronger before. After a month of us being separated like this and having to suppress everything, I haven’t let myself feel them. It’s almost like regressing.”

  “I’m not losing you again. You are my soul, Jen Silvers. You may not remember the bond we formed at Dark Water, but I do. My wolf does. I won’t pretend I don’t love you like I did before and still do now that I remember us.”

  “Hey, I’m not sure exactly how much of my past I’m missing out on here, but I hate when people call me Jen,” I said, getting a little nervous as to what the hell he was remembering and what exactly we might have done.

  “I know.” He smirked. “You would never let anyone call you Jen, so I took it upon myself to call you only that. You eventually didn’t mind anymore…I think.”

  “So we had a healthy, loving relationship that I’m completely unaware of at the moment?”

  “It looks like it, yes,” he said with a huge grin.

  “Okay. I guess.” Now, I was the one with the nagging headache. “What do we do? I mean, I felt a bond with us, our wolves knew it before we did, right?”

  “Yes. Our wolves remembered even when they took our memories of each other away for the second damn time,” he growled. “Whoever in the hell is doing this is starting to piss me off. The first time they tore us apart to protect you, I was certain our love and devotion would overcome the spell, but it didn’t.”

  “The people who did this seem to be on our side, but by the tone in your voice, I’m guessing you think they’re not?”

  “I think you and I are a pawn in some witch and dark magic voodoo artist’s game. I don’t trust anyone. You said you were dead…”

  “Yes. And I saw my dad.”

  His eyes grew severe, and he reached for my hands, “Your friend Vannah is a powerful witch, they took her in first before they wiped out our memories. She said she had a spell to shield our power, we need her.”

  “Maybe that’s why Vannah fell so easily into the school’s trap here.”

  “It’s exactly why. Same as Lusa. I’m not sure, but that may not have been your dad,” he said somberly. “I know you don’t remember who we were or why it all happened, but it did. We will have Vannah cover up our bond. We’ll have her do it now so that as the bond strengthens, we don’t have the memory erasers screwing with our lives again. I’m not losing my girl ever again.”

  I felt more love pouring out of this man than I had ever felt, and it made me angry to know that we went back even farther than this school, but I couldn’t remember it. I was angry that hearing him tell me he loved me sounded foreign because I couldn’t remember. He was recalling memories of us—memories I might possibly never get back.

  “I’m so sorry that I don’t remember us,” I said, hugging him, needing to feel his strong arms and smell his woodsy and spicy aroma.

  “I’ll make you feel the love we felt before, I promise you that. I’ll get you back, Jen, if it’s the last damn thing I do. Then we’ll get Vannah up to speed and have her cover our butts so no one comes between us again. You and I are fated to be together for more than one reason. This school is just a small piece to a larger puzzle. A mystery is being kept from us, and every time these people get into our heads and screw with our memories and minds, it keeps them all a step ahead of us.”

  I looked up at him, needed to feel the connection his powerful and tasteful kiss gave me. “I want to remember us like you do.”

  He ran his fingers through my hair and his eyes glistened, “I would give anything to have you remember who we were, babe, but maybe it’s safer like this for now. You will remember, and I will be patient until you do.”

  “My gosh, Dom,” I said, seeing the sadness in his eyes. “I love what we are when we’re close like this.”

  “I do too,” he answered. “Just know I will kill all of them. I know the time isn’t right, and we’re not ready yet, but I will spend every day we are at this school until it is time to take them all out, finding out who t
hese people are and ways to destroy them.”

  “We’ll take them down together,” I said, trying to reassure him I was with him, even though I hadn’t made it to the love story chapter of our memory loss book just yet.

  “You and me,” he smiled, “Forever.”

  I licked my lips, “Will you tell me about us, you know, from before?”

  He glanced behind me and then his eyes met mine. “I’ll tell you absolutely everything, but right now, we have to get back to the dorms. If Vannah can’t help us, then we’re on our own. I’ll get us the hell out of here and on the run if I have to, I’m not losing you again.”

  “We can’t leave the school, Dominic. Death is the only way out.”

  “We would find a way, Jen. For now, we play the game.”

  I laughed. “Play the game. Seems like famous last words to me.”

  Dom smiled the smile that captured my heart, body, and soul. “It just might be if we can’t take out what’s after us. I will die before I lose you again—since we both know immortals can die, you can probably sense how much I’m done with people screwing with you and me.”

  I walked back to the dorms, Dom’s hand holding mine in a tightened grip. I glanced at the enchantment of the school, then tried to let my eyes see it for what it was. The façade didn’t fade, and I felt my heart rate pick up. My head grew fuzzy, and I had to wonder if I was falling victim to this stupid school and the evil that could have just sparked up because of Dom’s memories coming back to him.

  It felt like we just woke up the sleeping, evil school, and we were going to be lucky to make it past this year. What happened to just going to freaking school and majoring in something you loved? What happened to the basics of studying Fairy BS 101? Not here, not at Immortal Academy, and apparently not even at the school I loved and trusted—Dark Water Academy. We were not just in a supernatural school system, Dom and I were literally locked up in some supernatural prison that wanted us either dead or doing its bidding.

  “Jen!” I felt Dom pull me into his arms.

  I rocked my head up. “I think we just pissed the school off, and it’s—” I stopped when I saw a dark orb over me and then shoot into my stomach, making me almost barf all over Dominic.

  Oh my gosh, this wasn’t happening. As Dom took off in a sprint, I felt my veins heat up and hoped that maybe it was my inner fairy-witch genes killing whatever darkness had just entered my body.

  The last thing I remember, I was being rushed into Vannah’s room, her roommate freaking, and Vannah’s eyes as wide as silver dollars while Dominic ordered her to help cleanse whatever darkness had jumped me and was about to have its way with everyone.

  “I can only do so much,” Vannah said.

  “If you don’t, she’ll be powerful enough to take me with her next, and then every human and supernatural are screwed! Lives depend on Jenna and me not going dark, Sahvannah!”

  “How did you remember her?” Vannah asked him while I was internally fighting a battle between good and evil inside my aching bones.

  “How do you know I remember her?” Dominic seethed like he was staring at a demon.

  “Because I’m not Sahvannah,” the voice sneered.

  “A shape-shifter? Who are you!” Dominic said with panic in his voice.

  “You’re going to find out, Dominic Rossi. Now, I have you both, and it’s up to me what I’ll do here at Immortal Academy, then I will work my way through the rest after that. Taking out all of the human race isn’t exactly a snap your fingers kind of routine, these things take time. So you will sit there silently and paralyzed while you watch me encourage your little wolf mate to accept the darkness that found her. Sorry that your reunion had to be cut short.”

  After that voice faded—that familiar voice—I went under and was suffocating in darkness. Things just went from bad to worse, and all I had now was hope…hope that Ethan would stop this and give Dom and I the chance we needed and deserved.

  It was the last hope all of us had.

  Chapter Forty

  As I was sucked deeper and deeper into the darkness, my mind called out to Ethan, begging him to come and take out the shapeshifter who was threatening Dominic and me. Something deep within me knew I had gotten to Ethan telepathically, and if I truly had, that evil soul sucker was about to be ripped apart by a pissed off owl.

  As soon as I let my mind face the darkness, an instant feeling of reassurance washed over me. I might not have known how to get the darkness out of me, but I knew I could control and contain it.

  It was a strange situation. One second, I felt like I was drowning in darkness, and the next, I was in a void inside my mind, facing one of those shadow creatures. It was up to me to juice up my magic and lock this sucker down. I took control of my mental state, knowing this was a foreigner in my body. It was possessing me, but I could control it.

  It had no face, so I couldn’t get a read on the thing, but I felt its consuming power, and I was screwed if I didn’t shut this thing down. I looked around when this creep shifted my mind to another location. The void had transformed into the creepy room where they’d killed Jess.

  This was a stupid move on its part. I had no idea how to lock this thing up, but it’d just manipulated a memory of mine, and I was going to build on that. I was going to lock it up in this room. I stood there with the creature facing me, floating inches off the ground in the black looking suit it wore. It was taunting me, this is where it must have thought it was going to lock me up in my mind, so it had full possession of me.

  Hell no, I was beating this SOB at its own game.

  I felt it grow stronger, and I felt a sense of being trapped here. I had to stop overthinking this and draw on the magic I had inside me. Time for the trap. I ran over to the area where they had the needles that killed my immortal fox shifter friend. The demon spawn moved toward the needles, but my mental will to get there faster beat it.

  The thing squealed like a pig—good it was pissed. Anger is a weakness. I took the needle we both went after at the same time, stabbed it into its neck, and magically imagined the thing being restrained on the same bed as Jess when they killed her.

  Feeling like I was somehow exacting revenge for Jessica’s murder, my desire for retribution grew. I looked at the machine that the needles were connected to by tubes and pushed every freaking button on it.

  Nothing.

  We’re in your mind, Jenna, you have control. Turn on, dammit! I scolded myself. As soon as I mentally willed the machine on, the spawn started shaking, and then all grew quiet.

  It was struggling, fighting the invisible restraints my mind put it under, but it wasn’t dying. The good news was that I felt myself regaining control of my mind, and that was a positive sign. Time to lock this SOB up and wake the hell up.

  I walked to the door, knowing I was locking this creature away in my mind, giving me myself back. So long as I could keep in contained, I would wake up, and I would figure out how to get something to spell this crap out of me. Right now, I had to wake up. Period.

  I walked to the door of the realistic room in my mind, the demon thing still squirming and fighting, but I had control. This was my body, my mind, and I was in control of the evil that tried to screw me. I stepped out of the freaky room and imagined using my hand—my witchy magic—to seal up the door for good.

  As I sealed the door, I felt my body again. I was back, I just couldn’t open my freaking eyes right now.

  I heard shuffling in the room around me, I tried with all my power to open my eyes, but failed. I had no idea what was happening. What if Dominic was also possessed? That thing that we thought was Vannah said it was taking him and me. I had to fully wake up.

  “You okay, Sahvannah?” I heard Dominic’s oddly out-of-breath voice.

  “Yes, what happened? One minute you’re walking into my room, the next minute I’m waking up to…” she paused. “Oh my gosh, Jenna!”

  “It took her down hard. Ethan said the darkness who jumped you was a str
aggler, left behind after the cleansing of this school. Ethan’s owl killed it, but one got into Jenna.” I felt his warm palm running across my forehead and over the top of my hair. “I can’t lose her.”

  “Jenna will be fine. She locked up the evil inside her.” Ethan’s voice rang through my head, and his words blanketed me with relief.

  “What are you talking about, E?” Dom asked.

  “She’s waking up. She will come back.”

  At that moment, my eyes finally let me see the face of my god-like man. I drew on his wolf that he had opened up fully to me.

  “Dom,” I said, reaching for his face, “I think we did it.”

  Dom’s hands were on my face, his eyes searching mine. “Oh my God, Jen.” He looked back at Vannah who was behind him, trembling with tears in her eyes. “Vannah, I need you to pull it together. I need you to cloak us now. Can you do that?”

  Vannah was frozen in some fear and relief state when Ethan stepped toward her. “You must cloak their power. The evil is locked in Jenna. The school is safe from all of it now. If you don’t, the evil will come back.”

  “Okay,” she stammered. “Oh, God, okay.”

  “Vannah,” I smiled, sitting up, Dom’s hand supporting my back and holding my hand like he was never going to let me go. “You’ve got this. Cloak us, and it will all be over.”

  Vannah swallowed and nodded. “Ethan,” she looked at the owl shifter, “I saw you when you came into my mind and fought that thing, I felt your powers. I need them. Can I draw on your owl’s energy?”

  “Yes.” Ethan nodded. He gave her his hand, “Use our physical connection.”

  “Maybe I can help?” I offered, knowing I had some fairy juice still left.

  Ethan’s eyes were sincere when he looked at me. “Jenna, you have to reserve your powers to keep the evil from taking over again. You can’t use it on anything but fighting what you have locked inside you.”

  I exhaled, “You’re right.”

  “God, just do this shit, right now,” Dom growled. “If you two can cloak us, get to it. We’re wasting time.”