But it was no use. The hands had pulled her away. Grace was on her own, facing the demon. Facing Jonathan.
Eve turned to yell at whoever had pulled her from the circle. Didn’t they know she was the reincarnation of Faust? Didn’t they know it was up to her to save them? She needed to get back into the circle.
But when she looked up and saw her mother’s calm eyes, she couldn’t fight her.
She’d spent her whole life fighting her mother. Believing she knew better. Believing she knew more of the world.
Since her mother had passed, all she’d wanted was one more peaceful moment. One more time to say, “I love you” and mean it.
“Evie, rest darling. Your job is done. The reincarnation of Faust will handle the rest.”
Eve was certain she hadn't heard her right. “Mom, I am the reincarnation.”
“No, baby. You aren’t. You are my daughter. And you are strong, and powerful, and important. But you are not the reincarnation. She is.” Her mother waved to the circle where Grace was engaged in hand to hand combat with Jonathan.
“Mom, I-”
“It’s okay. I know. I love you too.”
And with that, her mother was gone, and Eve quickly lost consciousness.
Chapter Twenty
She really needed to get new curtains for her bedroom, Eve thought as the piercing sunlight woke her up.
The brownstone was right in the path of the morning sun. Blackout curtains had been needed for years, but she never had time for shopping.
Between trying to maintain her 4.0 GPA and all the extracurricular activities she did to make her transcript look good for Harvard, every spare moment was delegated and dictated.
God, her palms hurt like fuck. What the hell had she done last night?
She blinked her eyes open to look at them, but instead was distracted by the most gorgeous girl she’d ever seen.
“You’re awake,” the girl said as she smiled and clapped her hands together. A bandage covered both of her palms and wrapped all the way around, muffling the sound.
“I, uh, do I know you?”
It was like there was an itch in the back of her brain. Some memory she couldn’t quite touch. Like when you study for a test and know all the answers but just can’t place them once the paper is in front of you.
The girl’s honey colored eyes widened, and she turned toward the blond man beside her.
“It’s okay, Grace,” the man said. Grace— it was a good name for her. She looked like a Grace. “She’s been through a lot today. This is normal. It’s merely the brain's way of handling the trauma.”
Grace covered her mouth as tears formed in the corners of her eyes.
The man leaned forward over what Eve could now tell was a hospital bed. “Do you remember your name?”
Of course she did. She wasn’t sure what had happened, but she wasn’t that bad off. “Evangeline Elizabeth Revere.”
“Good,” the man said, the harsh angle of his shoulders lowering a bit. He genuinely seemed relieved that she knew who she was, and it made Eve start to worry that she’d missed something incredibly important. “Can you tell me where you are?”
“Well, I thought I was at home, but since I’m in a hospital bed I am going to assume I’m in Mass General for some reason. Is it my hands?” She lifted them up to see the same bandages the other girl wore wrapped around each hand. “What happened?”
“Well—” Grace started.
“She needs to rest,” the man said to Grace, cutting her off.
“But Professor Blade, what happens now?”
“That is for the school to decide.”
Eve asked them to stay. She didn’t want to be alone with all these lingering questions. But they insisted she rest and the harder she fought against it, the more she was finding that she, indeed, was growing more tired by the second.
When she opened her eyes again, a man sat in the chair beside her bed. His curly hair fell into his face as he focused on the book in his lap. There was a rather old-looking top hat resting on the bedside table next to him.
Jonathan. She wasn’t sure how, or why, she knew his name, but she knew for certain that was it.
“Jonathan,” she tried softly just in case her brain was deceiving her.
His head snapped up quickly. “Eve, thank god. They said you didn’t remember.”
“I- I don't.” Great, now on top of being confused she felt guilty for getting this really hot guy’s hopes up.
He looked down at the book in his lap and then back up to her. “I have an idea, but I don’t know if it will work. I’ve never tried anything like this. And I’m not sure if they’ve already stripped me of my powers.”
Powers? Wonderful. The super good-looking guy was actually insane. Isn’t that how it always seemed to work? She should have been used to it.
His hands started making some weird motions as the gloves on his hands turned blue.
Who does he think he is? Houdini?
Before she knew it, he was raising two fingers to her temple.
A flood of images rushed through her. A golden envelope. A trip on an empty plane. Some weird gentlemen’s club. A rat-faced boy in a stupid suit. A beautiful Irishman walking through the quad. That Grace girl. Magic. A coffee date. The feeling of Jonathan’s lips on hers. Summoning. Late night meetings learning all about the magical arts. Faust. The responsibility of being his reincarnation. Of being the savior of the entire school. That stupid demon. Her mother.
The images came to an abrupt halt.
“No, keep going. Show me what I missed,” she begged Jonathan.
“What you missed is painful for all of us. But we survived. Each one of us. Grace sent the demon back to hell for another lifetime. I managed not to be mortally wounded during the battle. Your mother saved you. That’s the short of it. That’s the good news.”
Eve narrowed her eyes at him. “What is the bad news then?”
He pulled a golden envelope from the inside of his coat pocket. “This.” He handed it to her, and two snakes appeared on its surface.
“We will misssssssssss you,” they said in unison.
She looked back up at Jonathan, her eyes searching his face.
He couldn’t meet her gaze. “Grace admitted she helped you during your summoning trials. Otherwise, you would have been sent home long ago with your memory wiped of this place.”
“So, what, I’m expelled?”
He motioned at the envelope and she kindly asked the snakes to open.
“Evangeline Revere. It is with our utmost displeasure that we must inform you that you have not passed the trials here at Faust University. While we cannot accept every student, we wish you the best on your eternal pursuit of knowledge.”
She smiled a very fake smile. “Great. Now what? Back to the real world? I turned down fucking Harvard for this.”
Jonathan shifted in his seat. “I have it on the word of one of the new professors there that your acceptance has not been withdrawn.”
Eve shook her head. “Yeah, right. You have an in with Harvard professors. I’m sure.”
A crooked smile worked its way up from the corner of his mouth. “You see, Ms. Revere, my time at Faust University has come to an end as well. It seems fraternizing with students and murder are looked down upon even when one is possessed by an ancient demon.”
“So, what are you doing now?”
“I’ve accepted a position at Harvard as an economics professor.”
Eve’s head fell back into the pillow as she dissolved into a fit of laughter.
Maybe, just maybe, Harvard wouldn’t be so bad after all.
Wicked Nobles by Margo Ryerkerk and Holly Hook
Wicked Nobles
Nocturna Academy Prequel
Blurb
In a world ruled by vamps, being half fae and magicless sucks.
You know what’s even worse?
Being sold into slavery by your own mother.
I am Onyx Logan, and my mot
her revealed my half fae heritage to Nocturna Academy, condemning me to a life of slavery. If I get lucky, the academy will mold me into a servant for rich vampires. If not? I’ll become a courtesan. My value just dropped to that of an object.
But if the vamps think I’ll take this lying down like a good little bitch, they’re wrong. I don’t have the means to escape Nocturna Academy, but I have my eyes set on someone who does.
Prince Preston Kallan, a hot, pureblood fae teacher from the Summer Court, doesn’t know who I am yet, but he will soon.
At least that was the plan.
Because as it turns out, nothing goes the way I need it to.
Wicked Nobles is the prequel to the Nocturna Academy trilogy. Immerse yourself into a world filled with magic, danger, and romance.
Chapter One
My heart pounded with excitement as I grabbed the crisp manga from the bookshelf and hurried toward my hiding spot—the foreign literature shelf, which was rarely frequented by customers or the bookstore sales people. They didn’t appreciate cheeky non-paying visitors like me. As I crossed the store, I stared straight ahead, avoiding all eye contact. No one stopped me, and I exhaled with relief as I reached the end of the shelf. I sank into the soft carpet, my back against the wall, my legs pulled up. I flipped the first page open, ready to discover how Sakura was going to get out of the mess she had gotten herself into last time. Sakura stared up at me in her dog form, and for a moment, I wondered what it would be like to be a shifter, to have a community who cared about you and kept you safe.
“He’s totally a fae,” a whiny girl said on the other side of the shelf, and I stiffened until I realized the girl had said, “he.” She wasn’t talking about me. Still, how did she know that fae existed? Most teenagers were clueless about the existence of supernaturals unless their parents were high ranking government officials or company moguls.
“If you’re so sure, we should turn him in.” The second girl giggled, and I balled my fists. How could they talk about handing someone over to the vamps as if it were a game?
The click of sharp nails against a phone followed, and then the first girl exclaimed,“Ten grand! He’s worth ten effing grand with that amount of magic.” The other girl clapped, but the first shushed her. “Not so loud, or he’ll run away.”
My gut contracted. Certainly, they weren’t planning to actually go through with this. I leaned over to peek around the shelf. The two girls came into view. They were my age, probably high school seniors, but that’s where the similarities ended. Unlike I, they were fully human and loaded. Their elegant leather bags, stackable bracelets, and highlighted, blow-dried to perfection hair screamed wealth. Yup, their parents definitely worked in the government or were some high-ranking businessmen.
“We could use the money for a little summer getaway.” The girl on the left lifted one eyebrow.
The one on the right grinned. “Daddy cut me off after I totaled his car, but he said nothing about me having to stay here over the summer if I got the funds. Ugh, I need to get away from these stupid mountains. Cabo San Lucas, here we come.” She sing-songed the last sentence.
The first girl waved her suggestion away. “Mexico is roasting this time of year. How about L.A.?”
Bile rose in my throat. They wanted to condemn a fae to a life of slavery for a stupid vacation?
“Should we call the SD?” The first girl typed away on her phone, probably searching for the Supernatural Department number, which most people thought was the Security Department. My blood turned to ice. They were actually going through with this. Unbelievable! How could people be so ignorant and cruel?
“First, we need to make sure he’s really fae.” The two girls stalked away on their heels, and I rose, following them before my brain could catch up. What the hell was I doing? Sure, what they were about to do was wrong, but I needed to stay under the radar. I might not have magic, but my slightly pointed ears still gave away my half fae heritage. My hand flew to my hair and the beanie cap I used to hold it down against the wind, checking that my purple strands were still covering my ears.
The girls stopped in front of a toy shelf, peeking over stacks of board games. Since when had bookstores become places where people stocked up on games for their children? I craned my neck to see what they were watching. Or who, I should say. A blonde boy, no older than eight, sat on the ground, examining a Lego set that was supposed to make a forest. A small hole in the back of his shirt revealed pale skin.
I swallowed hard, knowing that just like me, the boy couldn’t afford what he was admiring. If you wanted more than the basics, you needed to be part of the system and accept your role as the vamps’ slave. I searched around the kids’ section for the girls’ victim, but he was nowhere in sight. A wave of sickness rose into my gut and as I watched, one of the girls poked the other in the ribs.
My breath hitched as the child, unaware he had an audience, put the set down and swirled his hands through the air. No, he wasn’t! I groaned inwardly as twines sprouted from his fingertips, recreating what he had seen on the lego box. Tiny leaves unfurled as he held his hands up to the image, making sure that everything matched.
He was their victim. A child.
The girls exchanged open-mouthed glances and stepped aside, vanishing behind volumes of reference books. They would dial the SD. Within ten minutes, the kid would be snatched up by vamps. They would never let him have a normal childhood, especially since power such as his was rare in the human world. They’d probably put him straight to work. My nails dug into my palms as my pulse roared in my ears. I couldn’t stand by and condone child slavery.
So I did the stupidest thing I could have done. I got involved.
I put the manga down on top of some history books, walked around the other side of the game shelf, and leaned down beside the boy.
He snapped his gaze up at me and the twines curled back into his fingers with a soft whisper.
“Follow me,” I whispered.
His huge brown eyes met mine. “What? Why?” He wasn’t scared enough, nowhere close.
“The vamps are about to pick you up. Don’t use your magic in public, ever.”
His brown eyes grew even wider, and his lip trembled. Damn, I was going all wrong about this. I had to get him out of here before he started crying. I pushed my hair back, showing him my ear. “I’m fae too. Please, trust me. I’m trying to help you. But we need to hurry, or we’ll both get caught.”
He nodded, and I threw my way too large hoodie over him, hiding his hair, then pushed him in front of me, hoping my body would hide him as we exited the store.
“Yes, we’ve spotted a UF,” one of the girls was saying into her phone, using the acronym for Unregistered Fae. “Yes, he’s alone. He has magic, and he’s barely out of diapers. We’re at Book Worm on Washington Street.”
It took everything within me to continue walking and not break out into a run. We were almost by the door when one of the girls said, “Where did he go?”
“Probably got bored with the Lego set and decided to read a kid book.” The girls’ heels clacked away from us as they went deeper into the store while I shoved the door open, smelling the sweet summer air. The sidewalk bristled with people, rolling carts of belongings, bags of bottle return cans, and even the occasional dog.
Police sirens and blue-red light raced down the street towards us. My stomach turned. The SD had lots of vehicles, including police cars, and I had no doubt that the officers advancing were coming for the boy next to me. My heart leapt into my throat as I pulled the boy down a side street, and then another one, taking a few turns until we were far enough away from the bookstore that it would take the vamps' police force more than fifteen minutes to find us. I didn’t stop until we reached a pair of homeless tents nestled in the alley. Neither were occupied at the moment as their owners were likely out, collecting cans or holding up signs at a street corner.
“Where do you live?” I regretted my question immediately. Full blooded fae couldn�
�t lie, and this boy likely hadn’t learned the sneakier ways around the truth.
“A few blocks from here,” the boy replied vaguely, handing me back my hoodie. “Thanks.”
I smiled. “Good. Never tell anyone your address and keep your magic to yourself.” I touched his blonde hair, pulling it as much as I could over his ears. “You need to grow this out.”
He sighed. “That’s what my mother said as well.”
“Where is she?”
His lips turned downward. “Working as always.”
I exhaled. Day work meant she was a maid or servant. Good. That was much less dangerous than some professions.
“Will you tell her what happened?” His lower lip wobbled again, and I quickly shook my head.
“I won’t, but you have to promise not to go back to the bookstore. It isn’t safe.” He didn’t look convinced, so I kneeled to be on his eye level. “The vamps will look for you there, now that they know it’s your hangout. Find a different place or even better, stay at home.”
His mouth turned downward, and I hated telling this young boy to spend his life in hiding. But what other choice did we have? It was either hide or be a vamp slave.
“Can you find your way home from here?” I asked.
“Yes, I’ll be fine.” His face went serious, and he was no longer a boy, but a young fae aware that this world was a cruel, dangerous place. He pivoted and began walking away.
“Be careful.” I watched him leave, knowing that offering to walk him home would only put us both in danger. If we wanted to escape the vamps' notice, we needed to blend in, act human, and never ever hang out with other fae. The best thing I could do for this boy was to never see him again.
The boy reached the end of the street when he turned around. “What’s your name?”
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