Soul and Disaster: Slayer Academy (Book 1)

by Cassidy Summers

  “Shit. I’m going to be in so much trouble,” I groan, looking up at Jacinta, dreading what Rylan’s going to say about this.

  “No way,” Daniel says. “She threw the first punch, everyone saw it.”

  “Yeah, I know, but still,” I say getting up and pacing the small hallway.

  Everyone remains quiet as we sit against the wall, waiting for some sort of authority figure to come busting down the hallway and drag me to Ms. Peterson’s office. The bell chimes for the end of lunch and with no teachers storming my way, we head off to combat training.

  We walk through the big door and Rylan introduces us to Ben, Tessa’s substitute as she has officially been approved for personal leave, and at this stage, Rylan’s not sure when she’ll be coming back. Ben seems nice though, he’s older and has heaps of experience so he should fit in well with our small group. Though, anyone is better than Tessa right now.

  Rylan is just starting his session when the inevitable happens. Ms. Peterson throws open the doors, quickly scans the room and finds her target within seconds. “Bianca Moore,” she calls from the door. “My office. Now,” she demands, red in the face before, turning on her heel and slamming the door behind her.

  “Crap,” I mutter to myself before making my way to the door.

  “Bianca,” Rylan calls as I push down on the door handle. “Come back here when you’re done,” he says. I glance over and meet his eyes, and I know he knows what happened. Anger dances behind his eyes and I’m positive I’ll be copping it big time from him. I give him a nod and head out into the cool afternoon towards Ms. Peterson's office.

  Her office is huge and most certainly too much for what she needs with her wall of books across from the bay window and her expensive glass desk sitting in the center of the room. This office has become a second home to me over my time here at The Guard Academy with how often I’ve frequented this pretentious room.

  I push through her door without knocking and take a seat in the one I know she’s going to offer me. She sits across from me, tapping her long fingernails on her desk, a scowl firmly in place. This woman has been waiting for her opportunity to kick me out on my ass and I worry that I’ve finally given her just what she needs to make it happen.

  I cross my arms over my chest and return her scowl as my heart begins to beats rapidly. “I don’t care what she said or what story she’s spun, it wasn’t my fault and there’s a room full of fifty kids to prove it,” I say.

  Her scowl presses into a thin line as she considers my words. “Alright then,” she finally says. “Let’s hear your side of the story.”

  Thank God.

  I launch into my explanation, not leaving out a single detail as I explain Nora’s attack over lunch and after forty-five minutes of back and forth questions and answers, Ms. Peterson finally agrees that Nora brought it all upon herself. I’m finally let off with an after-school detention, because, let’s face it, I probably shouldn’t have punched her and there’s no way I was going to walk away from this without some sort of punishment, but either way, I feel that’s a win for me.

  Ms. Peterson promises to follow up on the incident with more interviews from the other students to confirm my story and sends me on my way to meet my doom in the form of a really pissed off, really sexy, combat instructor.

  I push my way through the doors of my combat class to find everyone paired up and busy fighting. I walk deeper into the room and find Rylan to get my instructions for the hour that’s left of training.

  Rylan gives me an annoyed look as I come closer, which I try my hardest to ignore. “Hey, uh, what should I do?” I ask, hoping I don’t come across as a nervous train wreck.

  “You’ll be sparring,” he says in a hard, dismissive tone, then pauses to narrow his hard eyes at me. “With me.”

  Oh, crap.

  “Sure,” I nod, fixing him with a look and accepting whatever challenge he’s throwing at me, knowing it can’t possibly go well. He leads the way towards a sparring mat and steps up to face me as he pulls off his jacket. My greedy eyes roam quickly over his hard body before I rip them away and get my head in the game.

  “Ready?” he asks, his face an absolute mask. I give him my perfect bitch face and a slight nod. He strikes out immediately, sweeping my feet out from under me, putting me flat on my back.

  “What the hell?” I cry in outrage.

  “You said you were ready,” he says raising an annoyed eyebrow.

  I haul myself to my feet and launch myself at him, not waiting for the formalities of sparring, but he’s too quick to be caught off guard. He blocks my blows as if he was shooing a fly. “Come on, Bianca. I’ve taught you better than that,” he taunts.

  My blood begins to boil for the second time today. “Yeah, well looks like I’m not the only one holding back right now,” I growl, knowing he’s only giving me the bare minimum to get his point across.

  Anger flashes in his eyes. “You want to do this properly? Because I guarantee you won’t win,” he says with fire in his eyes, once again blocking my fist and striking out his own, putting my ass on the floor for the second time.

  My anger finally gets the best of me, I get up and face him. “What the hell is your problem?” I say hissing under my breath so the rest of the class doesn’t hear as I fix him with a glare just to let him know how pissed off I am.

  “My problem is that you go and punch some girl who can hardly defend herself and isn’t getting the same training that you’re getting, all for what? Running her mouth?” he says, trying his hardest to keep his temper under control. “You’re going to get yourself in trouble and end up on your ass soon if you don’t learn to control yourself.” He takes a long deep breath and runs a hand through his hair.

  I take a deep breath of my own, getting my temper under control before looking him in the eye. “You’re right” I snap, watching as his eyes cut to mine as if I’m playing some sort of game. “But it seems I’m not the only one who needs to learn some self-control,” I say, calling him out and making a point of the little show he’s just put on. “Now can I go?”

  My eyes begin to sting. Crap. Do not cry.

  Do. Not. Cry.

  He narrows his eyes at me, trying to figure me out, even though we both know he can already see straight through me. “Yes.”

  With that, I turn on my heel, grab my bag, and leave.

  What a day.

  Chapter 25

  I wake not sure how my training session is going to go. I know I need to apologize to Rylan for acting like a brat just as Jacinta had pointed out to me all night long. Jacinta and I had stayed up most of the night discussing all the crazy events of the day, like how Nora had promised to destroy me during their fairy class and how the rest of the academy was abuzz after hearing about the fight.

  I just hope word hasn’t gotten to Millie yet, the last thing she needs is to hear about the fights her big sister has been getting into. Lastly, I told Jacinta all about sparring practice with Rylan, though she wasn’t too surprised after hearing it from Trey, which shocked me a bit. I hadn’t realized at the time that the rest of the class had been watching, though I should have known better, the kids around here would do anything to get a juicy piece of gossip.

  I walk into the gym and find Rylan sitting on a bench, elbow on his knees, waiting for me. This isn’t going to be good. I pause at the door unsure how to approach him then remember, during class, he’s my instructor, but during these one-on-one morning sessions, he has become a friend who happens to know more about my life at the moment than anyone else. I take a deep breath to calm the butterflies in my stomach and walk towards him, sitting my perky ass on the seat right beside him.

  He keeps his gaze trained on the floor as I try my hardest not to notice the way my skin reacts to the closeness of his.

  We sit in silence for a short while before I finally get the nerve to speak up. “I’m sorry,” I whisper. I watch as he nods his head, acknowledging my apology. “I was angry and annoyed. I talked
to you like crap and you didn’t deserve that.”

  Rylan takes a deep breath next to me and I know whatever he’s been thinking about is ready to come out. “What you did yesterday was not acceptable, no matter whose fault it was. You know better and I know that you are better. It pissed me off, and yes, I should have handled it better, I was too hard on you. But…” he says leaning back to sit up straighter beside me, letting out a breath. “That day I told you I would help you, I said you had to keep out of trouble, and that was the type of shit I was talking about, so as long as you can promise me that shit like this won’t happen again, then I’m willing to give you a second chance. But just know, you won’t be getting a third.”

  My heart pounds in my chest as I take in what he’s saying, and I know I would be nowhere without him. I turn to look at him, catching his dark eyes with mine and promise him just that and in that instant, both he and I know that I mean it.

  “Let’s get on with it then,” he says.

  Chapter 26

  It’s been four weeks of training with Rylan, and my body has not only gotten used to the extra workload but it craves it. I’m now stronger and faster and I absolutely love it. I head over to the stairs in the combat room to grab my bag when I hear Rylan calling my name. I hang back and wait for the room to clear out before asking what’s up.

  “I’ve got something for you,” he says, indicating to the stairs and that I should take a seat.

  I sit down and watch as he pulls a piece of paper out of his back pocket and slowly unfolds it. “It took long enough, but the sketch of that vampire finally came through this morning.”

  His words are my undoing and my whole world stops with what’s on that piece of paper. I take a deep breath and reach out, taking hold of the paper. I glance down and pain instantly rips through me as I stare into the face of the monster that’s haunted my dreams for the past nine years. “It’s him,” I say, trembling. “That’s the vampire who killed my father.”

  Rylan takes a step forward and sits down on the step beside me. “I wasn’t sure if I should have given that to you, if maybe seeing him would set you back, you know, with your nightmares and all.”

  “Well, to tell the truth,” I say, tearing my eyes away from the paper. “Since that day I told you about my Dad, I haven’t had a nightmare, maybe all I needed was to tell someone, but having said that,” I add, handing him back the piece of paper. “I don’t think it would be healthy to hold onto this.”

  Rylan lets out a quick laugh, looking relieved that I didn’t go into breakdown mode. He takes the paper and folds it back up, hiding the monsters face away from me. “I suppose you’re right about that.”

  “How are the hunting parties doing?” I ask, already knowing what the answer is going to be.

  “Not good,” he says, getting up and starting to pack away.

  Not feeling ready to make my way out, I get up and help him pack up. I feel his curious gaze on me and am thankful he decides to let go of whatever question is stirring in his mind.

  “Can you tell me about your sister?” I ask, needing to get my thoughts away from the face in my mind.

  Surprise is written all over his features and I’m pretty sure my question is about to get shut down. He turns to me, searching for something in my face and finds whatever it is he’s looking for. “Kaylee would be 27 now. She actually reminds me a lot of how you are with your sister. She would come and visit me on the Junior Campus to make sure I was staying out of trouble, though, I hated it at the time because all my friends thought she was hot,” he says with a rare and wonderful smile gracing his face as the memories start flowing. “She would always check that I was keeping up with my classwork because she knew I was only interested in getting into Combat and needed to make sure I had something to fall back on just in case that never happened. I used to think she was so annoying,” he laughs.

  “She sounds a lot like you,” I say, watching as he grows thoughtful at my comment.

  “Yeah, that was until halfway through her senior year when it all got too hard and she turned to drinking and partying. It all went downhill from there,” he says with sadness behind his eyes.

  “Do you miss her?”

  “Everyday.”

  “Have you ever tried to find her?” he looks up at my question with that same sadness in his eyes.

  “Yeah, about two years ago. I took a few months off and went searching, but apparently, she doesn’t want to be found.” He’s quiet for a few moments as I’m sure heavy thoughts of his missing sister circle through his mind.

  “I don’t know what I’d do if Millie was out there somewhere and I couldn’t get to her,” I say quietly.

  “Speaking of people you’re not able to talk to,” he says, suddenly declaring a change of topic. “Have you cleared things up with Tessa yet?”

  “No,” I scoff, shock running through my system at the very idea of ever speaking to her again. “Why the hell would I want to do that?”

  “Jesus, calm down. I’m not suggesting you become best friends and paint each other’s nails,” he smirks. “I was only asking because it’s your birthday next week, which means your navigation test is the week after that and Tessa will be required to accompany you. So, unless you want to have a very awkward 48 hours, I suggest you do whatever it is you females do to make that 48 hours a little more bearable.”

  “The only thing that would make my time with her a little more bearable would be my fist in her face.”

  “Don’t talk like that,” he says, a slight scowl on his face. “And besides, there’s no way Tessa would let you get the drop on her a second time.”

  “Yeah,” I laugh. “I was pretty shocked I got that first one in.”

  He shakes his head at me as a sexy smirk appears across his face. “Are you going to talk to her?” he asks, all serious again.

  “Nope.”

  “Suit yourself,” he says as we finish packing away the room.

  I make my way over to the stairs and sling my bag over my shoulder before heading for the door. I hover at the door to the room and turn back to Rylan. “From what you’ve told me about your sister, she loved you something fierce, and I don’t think she would want you to give up,” I say with a small smile. “She’s pretty lucky to have someone like you.”

  He gives me a soft look as emotion runs wild in his eyes so I turn and leave the room to give him whatever privacy it is he needs.

  ----------

  I’m sitting in Guard History when a knock at the door has the room’s full attention. The senior year advisor, Miss Layton stands in the doorway, a bright smile covering her too-perfect face. A scowl immediately comes to my lips as memories of her hands all over Rylan while throwing her head back in an awful attempt at flirting comes rushing through my mind. “Ah, Miss Layton,” my teacher, Mr. Williams says. “How can I help you?” he asks with a dirty smile gracing his lips.

  “I was hoping I could borrow Bianca for a short while,” she says, stepping further into the room. My head snaps up at the sound of my name, having no idea why she would need to speak with me.

  “Of course. Bianca,” Mr. Williams indicates to me, a look on his face telling me to hurry it up.

  I stand and collect my things before making my way out of the room with Miss Layton hot on my heels. She steps in beside me as she leads me to her office in the library. “It’s good to finally meet you, Bianca. I’ve heard a lot about you. Seems you’re somewhat of a celebrity around here,” she says with a smile so beautiful, it’s no wonder why Rylan and every other male around here is swooning over her.

  I halt at her words. “Um, excuse me?” I ask, having no idea what she’s talking about.

  “Being the only girl in the Combat Program and going from the bottom of your class to now holding your own against all those guys. I’ve no doubt that comes with the help of your mentoring relationship with Rylan,” she says while I try not to deepen my scowl at his name on her lips or the way her eyes sparkle when he was m
entioned. “Then, of course, there’s the story of your fight in the cafeteria with Nora that’s been circling around campus quite a bit.”

  “Okay,” I mumble, seeing that she may have a point about my status within the Academy. “But I’m not sure I quite understand why I’m here,” I say, hoping she understands my subtle hint to get on with it.

  “I want to make it my mission to get to know each of the students personally and make sure that each and every one of you are coping with your studies and workload, and it seems that you, in particular, have quite a lot on your plate with your training schedule and all,” she says with a question lingering in her eyes.

  “Thanks for your concern, and I seriously owe you for getting me out of Mr. Williams’ class, but I’m fine. I enjoy training. I mean, the first few weeks were tough, but I’m kicking butt now.”

  “Yes, it does seem that way. Rylan mentioned you have been improving quite a bit,” she says and I wonder when in the ever-loving hell those two got together to discuss my training. “But do remember that you need to be careful. Your body isn’t going to be able to keep up with the amounts of hard work you’re constantly putting in, and you’ll burn out soon enough,” she warns, though I don’t know how she could possibly know what my body can and cannot handle.

  “Right. I’ll, ahh, be careful then,” I say.

  She seems to approve of my barely-there comments and launches into a one-sided discussion about the rest of my schoolwork.

  Half-an-hour later, I’m being dismissed and make my way to the cafeteria to meet up with Jacinta. I find her at our usual table with a tray of food sitting beside her. “This for me?” I ask, sitting in the space next to her.

  “Sure is,” she nods, glancing up with a sad smile, pushing a blonde lock behind her ear, as Trey and Daniel sit down on the opposite side of the table.

  Ignoring their hellos, I turn to face Jacinta. “What’s wrong?” I ask her as Trey’s head snaps up at my question.