Magic Within: A Young Adult Urban Fantasy Novel (Bloodline Academy Book 1)

by Ahava Trivedi

  “I’m not that kind of a witch,” I replied, scrunching up my face.

  “Suit yourself,” Ulric sighed, like he was exhausted from having dealt with me over the past couple of hours, “they’ll just make you give them some later anyway.” He pricked his own finger and smudged the oozing liquid onto a small patch of the metal gate. I watched it slowly creak open and he stepped aside so I could enter before him. As soon as we were both inside in the courtyard, the gates swung shut. The air seemed different on this side, like it contained less oxygen. The strange thing I noticed was that as soon as we’d come through, there seemed to be a wispiness to the atmosphere that was neatly contained within the courtyard.

  “And now?” I asked, wrapping my arms around myself. “Wait, what was that?” It was still deathly quiet but from somewhere above us, I heard a single bump. The windows above were still firmly closed.

  “Follow me. And let me do the talking until I can find where you’re supposed to go.”

  We walked on the bricked path in the middle, between the carefully preened boxwood hedges that made miniature mazes, with paths running off from the main one we were on, on each side. We came to the bleached double doors. In keeping with the architectural style of the rest of the city, the building had wooden paneling that ran vertically to the small square windows on the upper half of the doors.

  “No turning back now,” Ulric smiled, shuffling uncomfortably. Was there ever? I didn’t say anything. He pushed gently on one of the doors and both swung open. No amount of preparation would have been enough for what greeted us on the other side.

  The lighting was much brighter than the dinginess of the outside and students, already in uniform, were clustered around in their little cliques, chattering amongst themselves in hushed voices. I couldn’t tell if they were first years though they all looked like they were seasoned attendees of the academy. They’d self-segregated into two sides of the ground floor’s entrance, leaving a clearing in the centre of the hall. On one side were the vamps and the other were the werewolves. I was surprised at how many werewolves there were. I’d expected Ulric to have been part of a tiny minority from all I’d heard and what he’d confirmed. My observations were cut short as I realized both groups were gawking in our direction. The chatter died down and I wished I was invisible.

  “Look what the cat’s dragged in,” said a bold voice. It belonged to an ashen-skinned girl with deep red lipstick and long black hair. She was a vamp and a goth. How original. Her tarry eyes flickered from Ulric to me and then settled back onto me.

  “He’s not a cat, can’t you smell the stink coming off him? Looks like a mutt to me,” said a boy standing in her circle. I heard a low growl coming from next to me and realized it was Ulric. It took all I had, not to run away from him and all of them. That I didn’t have anywhere to go, probably helped. Goth girl and the other vamp stared at us, momentarily suspending their curiosity about me, to engage in a bout of confrontation with the werewolf. Sooner than I could tell what was happening, Goth Girl’s mouth opened and revealed two pointy fangs that had appeared instantly. Their whiteness was garishly apparent over her chosen shade of lipstick and she made a sound that resembled a hiss.

  “Let it go,” commanded a voice, as deep as Ulric’s, from the other side. A tall, red-haired guy, who could have been one of the academy staff but his uniform said otherwise, walked over to us. There was a dominance in his stance as he approached but he also carried himself with too much dignity to allow mere words to provoke him. “You’re so close. Concentrate on the task you’ve been assigned.” He looked at me. Great. I was nothing more than a task. A job to get done and over with.

  “You’re right,” said Ulric. The way he bowed his head in submission told me this red-head had to be his alpha on campus.

  “They’re receiving new students through there,” said the alpha, whom I remembered that Ulric had mentioned was called Kane, gesturing with his head but keeping his eyes locked on Ulric.

  “Just through this way,” said Ulric, looking up again at me. He walked across the foyer, which was still quiet and I felt many pairs of eyes boring into me as I followed. Considering how spacious the entrance hallway was, the ground floor was much larger than I’d estimated because the next hallway we found ourselves in, was about the same size as the first. “That’s where you’ll get registered. That woman does the academy’s intake and she’s also head of the security team. Her name is Corentine – Ma’am le Boursier to us,” said Ulric as we walked to a wooden counter that had been set up at the end of the hall.

  There was one student with her back to us who was being registered ahead of me. All I could see of her, were her loose blonde waves that she’d pulled into a ponytail. The girl walked over to one side of the room, once she was done, toying with a package in her hand which must have been her uniform, and a pair of shoes in the other. She hesitantly left, obviously as unfamiliar with her surroundings as I was.

  The figure at the counter gestured at me with one hand. I stood there hesitant and unmoving. “Go on,” whispered Ulric. “You never wait for them, to call you!”

  “Come with me?” I whispered back, as I walked towards the imposing figure. He would have done so, anyway. After all, he had a job to complete.

  “Present yourself, please,” said the stern voice. Le Boursier looked her age. She must have been pushing sixty and didn’t have a drop of colour about her and up close, she was quite slight. She wore small, round-framed glasses and notwithstanding the deep foreboding of the place and the scores of vamps and werewolves traipsing about it, her presence added little more than a bit of drabness. I couldn’t believe that she could even be part of a library’s security detail, let alone head of security at an institution like Bloodline Academy.

  “Katrina Snow Quartz,” I answered, clearing my throat. The woman’s eyes widened and she let her glasses slide a considerable way down her nose so she could see me properly with her opaque, grey eyes. I was glad my blooming was covered up by the navy-blue sleeve of my top.

  “The Crystal Witch who’s also a Sanguine,” she remarked, making me feel painfully self-conscious like everyone else had. It sounded so weird to be classed a Sanguine. In no way, shape or form could I relate to the likes of Goth Girl. “You can go – and change into your uniform,” she said to Ulric, though she didn’t break her focus from me.

  “Goodluck,” said Ulric. I heard his footsteps swiftly getting distant.

  “You’re a bit of an anomaly, aren’t you Miss Quartz? You’re the one and only witch in this establishment’s entire history to receive an education within its walls.”

  “Yes,” I said.

  “Follow me, let’s get you a uniform first.” She hopped down with agility and as she led me towards a corridor. Her frame was thin and she was a it shorter than me. And I’d never been known for my spectacular height. She opened a narrow door that held a drab-looking but nonetheless neat storeroom. It had nothing but uniforms packed into the floor-to-ceiling shelves, folded by size, into slim packets. One side was for females and the other for males. Le Boursier looked me up and down and promptly withdrew a pack, handing it to me, along with a pair of pristine black ankle boots. “You can change in here and report back to me so we can finish your registration,” she said leaving me alone in the dim room.

  I looked around for the source of the soft lighting but couldn’t find candles or anything else. I closed the door and stood there, in a world that wasn’t mine. Keeping a constant watch on the door, I slowly slipped out of my clothes and tore open the packet, shaking out the white half-sleeved shirt first as balled up black stockings fell to the ground. The blazer and skirt – which was far too short for my liking – were both the same shade of navy-blue and made from a breathable but weightier material than they looked. The skirt had the stereotypical chequered thing going on. Awesome sauce. Le Boursier had gauged my size with complete accuracy. Wearing the rest of the uniform, I smoothed down the blazer, my fingers bumped over the academ
y’s coat of arms, sewn onto the left breast. It was a simple yet impactful symbol: a shield with three horizontally placed white spikes, I guess they were teeth, that stretched all the way across, on a red background. The top of the shield had ‘St. Erzsebet’s’ written on it and on the sides were the words ‘Animus Magnanimus’.

  I tugged at the skirt uncomfortably as I stepped back outside and found my way back to where le Boursier was back at her appointed post. She looked down and started going through a file. “We don’t yet have a sample from you,” she licked her lips and I knew exactly what kind of a sample she was referring to. I stood there looking as repelled as I felt. I had no idea how to respond. I should have availed of Ulric’s needle-pen when I’d had the chance.

  “Right,” I replied.

  “Do you have an implement to make the incision?” she asked, expectantly.

  “Erm, I can check,” I fumbled in my bag, knowing full well that I had absolutely nothing sharp. I felt one of the spell books. Would a papercut count?

  “You’re already quite late,” she said, as a man who clearly worked at the place and appeared at a higher pecking order than hers, strode towards us in a faultlessly pressed, dark grey suit. He was tall and slender but solid with a slightly beaked nose. Thickly defined eyebrows framed his dark eyes. His black hair scraped off his face made him look dignified rather than gothic. “Here, take this. And this,” said le Boursier disappointedly, handing me a silver needle-pen like Ulric had and, a thin vial. “Give it to one of the professors afterwards. Katrina Quartz – she’s ready and the last of the new students, Etienne,” she said, turning to the man. “This is Professor Devin, he’ll take you to the main hall, where you’ll be honoured to hear Principal Nadasdy speak.”

  “Miss Katrina Snow Quartz?” said Professor Devin, “Come right this way, please.” He spoke in a refined manner, with a hint of an accent and gestured me ahead of him which while chivalrous, only made it more awkward for me as I had no idea where I was supposed to go. I walked a few steps and turned back. “But of course, allow me,” said Etienne Devin, taking the cue. He walked up to a narrow corridor that veered away from the counter.

  Le Boursier had already come off of her perch and was packing away various files and assumedly getting ready to wear her other hat, which was security personnel at the academy. There was a door on the righthand-side which looked like it had a closet on the end of it. It didn’t. Instead, there was a dimly lit and very claustrophobic set of stairs, leading straight into the bowels of the building. It was palpably colder as we made our descent and I couldn’t help but compare the confined space to a crypt. A chill, wrapped around and went through me. As it did, my blooming became illuminated through my sleeve, giving the walls and the staircase, a silver glow. I glanced at Devin who had turned his head just enough to stare curiously at my arm with a slight smile, though he didn’t comment upon it.

  When we got to the bottom, there was another corridor, lined with doors. Devin quietly opened the second one on the left and let us in. I found myself in an enormous lecture hall that was bright with artificial, white lighting. Other professors lingered at the back of the hall where we’d just come in and from rows and rows of seats, a sea of students stared at us – or more likely me – as a woman with a shock of silky platinum blonde hair, that came down her shoulders, looked at us too. She posed like a catwalk model as she paused to take us in. She was dressed like one in a beautiful teal dress that stopped just above her knees. Even from across the hall, I could see that her complexion had a chalky-white glow. It offset her heavy eye-makeup, the kind that would have cheapened most looks completely, yet gave her a fashionable edge. She was strikingly beautiful and dangerous at the same time.

  “Well, if it isn’t our own little faery-witch who’s come to join our ranks. Take a seat princess!” she said in a buttery voice. I felt my face flush as all eyes were indeed, once again, on me. Waiting for my move. This must have been the whole school present and just as I’d noted the separation in the foyer when I entered the building, I saw that werewolves were huddled to one side and vamps were - not huddled but – pompously taking up the other. I could tell that which side I chose to sit in, would have huge implications. I couldn’t join the werewolves and their side as one thing I knew was that I wasn’t a shifter. I clumsily proceeded towards Professor Ice Queen, at the front of the hall to seek out one of the limited free seats. Each other row but those right up close were packed. I clutched at my arm self-consciously, though luckily the lighting prevented the glowing pattern across it from being too obvious.

  When I reached the front, I walked over to the vamp section. I scurried past a row of students, who had to either move their legs or stand up to let me through. My cheeks felt like they had their own pulse as the heat throbbed in them. I made it to my seat and collapsed into it, most grateful that I had managed to stay on my feet and not fall flat on my face during this time. I gazed down at the floor, not wanting to meet the Ice Queen’s gaze, lest I gave her more fuel, not that she appeared to need any.

  “As I was saying, to those of you who are returning students, welcome back – I’m thrilled by your survival, without us holding your hand and spoon-feeding you every drop. And to our new students, welcome to St. Erzsebet’s Academy. Most of you will end up destroyed by your own incompetence and lack of ability to follow simple instructions, before the end of the first term.” She delivered her uplifting keynote in the same tone that she used to chide me with. If what she said hadn’t sounded so ominous, I would have taken comfort that she hadn’t been getting personal when she’d embarrassed the hell out of me.

  “Whether you’re a part of the ancient line of Sanguine vampires or one of the Novus, you need so much more than your basic supernatural senses and instincts if you’re serious about your survival – and that of our species.”

  “I don’t fancy Sugar Puff’s chances then,” someone snickered from the row behind me. It was Goth Girl. And I’d been naïve enough to think Quinn was a real bitch. The Ice Queen stopped her speech. She was totally unreadable as she gazed out at us. Suddenly she honed in, looking past my head with eyes like two aquamarines. She knew exactly who had interrupted her.

  “Did I give you the impression this was a townhall meeting?” she asked, too sweetly. Goth Girl had no retort. “Do you think that just because you’re a student here, I can’t rip you to shreds in less time than it would take you to plaster on another layer of your cheap little lipstick?”

  “No – I…” Goth Girl stammered.

  “I haven’t seen you before. I remember faces no matter how self-righteous and stupid they look,” said the Ice Queen. No one laughed. “This means you must be a first year. You probably think this is all your birthright,” she gestured around her. “Let me assure you that the next time you interrupt me, will be your last.” I turned to glimpse at Goth Girl who was looking down. Part of me felt sorry for her. Her face was still pasty, which did nothing to make her stand out from the crowd, but her haughtiness had been greatly reduced. For now.

  “Werewolves and others, don’t kid yourselves, I’m talking to you too. And you know very well, that your survival is dependent on strong vampire leadership,” said the Ice Queen, resuming like nothing had happened. Like she hadn’t just issued a not so covert death-threat for having been disturbed. “At these uncertain times – which is what they always are – vampires are making a much needed come back. But strength doesn’t come overnight. So far, it’s been more than four centuries of sweat and blood. With both, power-hungry mortals and growing opposition from the supernatural community with their mortal-backed Supernatural Light Alliance.

  “This academy is your opportunity to prove yourselves worthy of all that could await you. Don’t let us down.”

  Everyone in the hall began to clap, reluctantly at first but then bolder as a stately looking man, whom I took to be Principal Aramastus Nadasdy, walked onto the podium. I wondered if it was his voice that had spoken through Babette. He appeare
d middle-aged and his brown hair, the same chocolatey shade of mine, sat just above his shoulders and was combed back, revealing features that were a little peculiar but by no means intimidating. I was starting to learn how deceiving looks could be, especially with vampires. He looked like someone who had nearly grown into their looks that had held potential as a teenager but that had never quite materialized as he’d matured into adulthood. Unlike Etienne Devin and a couple of the other professors I’d spotted at the edges of the hall, Principal Nadasdy wasn’t sporting a modern business suit but instead something very vintage looking. He wore a long, burgundy coat, a tall collared cream shirt, and brown pants. Oh, and the man wore a black top hat. A real top hat. I was accustomed to varying degrees of flamboyance with my ongoing exposure to the dress sense of warlocks but this took it to another level.

  “Thank you for your heartfelt address, Trista,” said Nadasdy. That was one way to put it. “Thank you everyone. Professor Duquette is an asset to St. Erzsebet’s Academy and we’re very lucky to have her here as an esteemed member of our faculty.” More claps emanated as Trista Duquette walked off the podium and towards the back of the hall.

  I wondered what the principal, who had the slightest hint of an accent, that I couldn’t quite put a finger on, could possibly say to top that speech. “By now even the newest students among you, know me as the founder and the principal of this – your – academy,” Nadasdy made a grand sweeping gesture all around him. “I’d like to tell you all a story about myself. I am not just a Sanguine but descended directly, from a family of great nobility in the Old World. Ours was a bloodline at the helm of many mortal empires. I have been here in New Orleans for centuries, waiting for that ship to come in.

  “Things are starting to fall into place. And despite so many who would try and hamper what we continue to work tirelessly to achieve, this academy is the best chance each of you have, to be accepted and become part of a once again noble era, this time in this New World. Each of you whether Sanguine, Novus or non-vampire shifter, has the right to exist and exist well.