Academy of Beasts IV

by Becca Fanning

  “No. You’ve been let off the hook for nights, according to Prince Dracus.” He checked his watch. “I have to run. Bye, Fiona. It was fun hounding you all day.” With a sweeter than pie smile, which was dripping with humor, he waved. He probably had to practice for the music rehearsal that he’d missed out on.

  I stood alone in my room with the door open. It’d been a while since I’d been alone. It was nice.

  I was glad that I requested a meal for myself tonight. No boys! I threw my backpack down and stretched. There were endless possibilities: outrageous green face masks, eating all the chocolate I’d hidden in my desk, not having to worry about my every move being watched. I put on some music and went to work on the little homework I had.

  The only downside to a cool manor was that it distinctly lacked an internet connection. Most of the Academy did. What the hell did these students do for fun? It made sense why they all snuck off to dark dungeons to hook up with one another or drink themselves silly or both. Nothing else existed besides shifter activities (read: working out your already gorgeous body). I settled in for the night. Nobody to bother me. I had some books. I could always call Priscilla and gab to her about my scandalous night. But that would involve admitting a lot of things…and I wasn’t sure I was ready yet.

  Could Priscilla be trusted?

  Could anyone?

  I flopped onto my bed. The dinner service would be coming soon. I could do a face mask and get into cozy pajamas without anyone bothering me or snapping at me for peeing in the middle of the night. Sounds great.

  The staff member arrived with food. I thanked her for the delivery. Tonight’s meal was an Italian dish that I definitely didn’t know the name of and probably could never pronounce. I changed into pajamas and dug in while flipping open a book. There was a sizable fiction section in the Academy’s library. This book I’d actually gotten from one of the forgotten studies in the manor. There was an impressive romance selection, which I’d pilfered from. They were mostly written by shifter writers from what I could tell. I glanced at the cover again. A strong, muscled man with a primal expression of desire was grasping a woman, who was smirking and pushing against his chest.

  It was this or stare at the wall.

  Turns out, it was actually good, in a trashy kind of novel way. The heroine was human, and the love interest was a wolf-shifter. He was a total Ren type. One of the far-gone Council members must’ve secretly had a love for romance novels back in the day. I read on as Lucius, a shifter with abs of steel, tried to seduce the stubborn yet enchanting Pamela.

  “He reached towards her plunging neckline with purpose,” a voice read over my shoulder. “Her lips parted as he pressed himself—”

  I snapped the book shut with a snap and leaped out of my chair. Enrique grinned at me.

  “I knocked,” he protested and pointed at the open door.

  “And you still came in?” I asked, throwing my hand out. How long had he been standing there? There was no robe to cover myself. He’d have to see me in my silk camisole and shorts. The fabric hid nothing. I shook my head. “I was supposed to have a blissful boy-free night.”

  His lips quirked upward, but a guilty expression fell over him as he leaned to the side. “That’s what I’m here about.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me that you’re my new bodyguard for tonight.”

  “No,” he said and shook his head. “Look. I wanted to say…” He hesitated, thinking hard on the words. “I’m sorry?”

  I stared at him and crossed my arms, trying to make sure my nipples weren’t peeking through. That was the last thing I needed with Enrique. “You’re either sorry or you’re not. Besides, it was both our faults.”

  He bit his lip and placed his fist near his mouth as if containing himself. “Yes, sort of. I mean, I could smell that you were hopped up on hormones. I didn’t have to take you to my special room.”

  “Special room?” I echoed. I would’ve thought that he’d taken all of his current flavors of the week there.

  He pulled the collar of his shirt away from his neck. “Yes. Dracus gave me a stern lecture about power dynamics, responsibility, and ethics.”

  “That sounds like a drag even to me,” I told him. He chuckled darkly. “It’s not entirely your fault though. I was part of it too. Sorry for trying to use you for information.” I bit my lip, wondering which one of us had been crueler. Maybe it was a tie.

  A slick smirk came to his face. His boyish eyes aged in a second as he leered down at me. “You can try again any time you want.”

  My chest squeezed. I tried to look at the space beyond his shoulders. His broad handsome shoulders…Gods, why were the Council boys beautiful and fascinating?

  “That’s dangerous, Enrique,” I said finally. “And you just got a lecture.” His predatory expression faded as he threw his hands behind his head.

  “Yeah, yeah, you’re right. I’ll be good.” He stuck out his hand, extending his pinky. “Friends?”

  “Friends,” I said and shook it with my own pinky. I didn’t say, “Friends with awkward sexual tension.” That could’ve summed up my relationship with each Council boy. I swallowed.

  His eyes swept past me and landed on the book on my desk. He smirked. “You know, my uncle used to write things like that. He was really famous for it among shifters.”

  A shiver of excitement came over me. I’d heard plenty about Enrique’s family before at school, but it was always wedged between words like organized crime or mafia. “Really?” I asked and hopped towards him. “What was he like?”

  He smirked. “Are you trying to get information from me, friend?”

  “Friends talk to one another,” I insisted. A voice inside my head was shouting for him to tell me everything. Another voice was insisting that we don’t get much closer to him. It could be dangerous.

  He wiggled his eyebrows. “My version of friendship does much more than that.” I snapped my mouth shut. He threw his head back and laughed. “Fiona, you’re too easy to rile up.”

  “It’s not fair,” I protested. “Everything feels new here. Everything feels dangerous.”

  A shadow passed over him. “If anyone ever gives you trouble, you know that you can come to me.” His left hand was balling into a fist. I shook my head.

  “That’s not it,” I insisted.

  “You feel alone,” he said. “That’s what you said yesterday.”

  I hung my head. “Yeah. I do. I guess yesterday was also me acting out. It’s hard when Dracus tells me to trust. I want to trust you guys. I do, but…”

  “You’d be foolish to trust random people that you’ve been thrown together with.”

  His honesty shocked me. I lifted my chin to see him staring earnestly at me. “I’m serious. Dracus thinks everyone runs on honor, but people rely on emotions and instincts. I understand that.” He tapped his chest.

  “Thanks for understanding. It’s just…hard. I think it’s getting better, but I can’t help wanting more information. It feels like a mouse in a game with five super-power cats.”

  He grinned and a shiver of delight passed through me at seeing his sharp incisors. He and Ren almost bordered on vampire territory with their teeth. He said, “Yes, but perhaps five cats are worried the mouse will outsmart them. You’re more powerful than you think.” His voice held in a dangerously low tone. My stomach flipped. “Think about what you’ve been able to do.” His gaze held mine. It was as if he was trying to wire a secret message between us at that moment. I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t read his thoughts. Enrique might seem like he consisted merely of girls and nice clothes, but he’d proven himself to have much more depth than that.

  “I’ll think about it,” I said. My voice wavered. He tucked his hands into his pocket and gave a nod.

  “Good.” He brushed the side of my mouth with the rough surface of his thumb. “You had a crumb.”

  I decided to finish the book after he left.

  Chapter 7

  �
�No more bodyguards?”

  Dracus rolled his shoulders an inch and didn’t look up from his newspaper. Today’s language was Arabic. Maybe? I wasn’t the best with languages.

  “No,” he said. “You’re off the hook for now.”

  The whole house was together at breakfast, save for Ren. I’d grown more and more comfortable with saying things in front of the Council boys.

  “Did you make that decision?” I asked. It seemed odd that Dracus was feeling awfully lenient suddenly. The dragon-shifter regarded me briefly with fatigue written on his face. I stared defiantly back at his handsome face.

  “Fiona. You can’t ask questions like that.”

  I sighed and collapsed back in my chair.

  Theo chuckled from across the table. He’d built a tower of biscuits and was slowly deconstructing it by eating them, one by one. Enrique flicked a jelly packet into the tower and a biscuit at the top rolled off and into Theo’s lap.

  “Joke’s on you,” Theo said with a gloating grin at Enrique. “I was about to grab that one.”

  I don’t think Theo knew about the kiss with Enrique. He’d said nothing. He caught my gaze and smiled.

  “Do you like my tower?” he asked proudly.

  “Very cool.” I ate the last bite of my sausage.

  Training this morning had been tough, but I’d been escorted by Dracus himself for Dragon Fist drills. I was eating more and more lately. It was strange to look in the mirror and see my soft curves sharpening into muscles. It looked nice. In high school, I’d been jealous of the girls who ran around doing team sports and never thought I might end up like them. Seeing results made me want to work harder.

  Theo and Enrique left first. Jasper and Dracus followed shortly after, heading in opposite directions. I collected my plate and headed into the kitchen. It was oddly lonely today after being around someone by force for the last few days. Moony was nowhere to be found. I left him a note saying hello and grabbed my protein shake from the fridge. Dracus said we were increasing the amount of protein for me, given our recent training. I shook up the bottle as I walked down the hall.

  There was enough time before class to see if there was another book from the trashy romance section that I could grab. This hall was abandoned, only taken up by forgotten studies and offices that were oddly spotless. Theo mentioned that the servants used magic to clean them. I wondered how as I opened the door to the study I was looking for. The bookshelf in question was across the room next to the window.

  I dropped my backpack in a polished leather armchair and strolled over to the briefcase. My brain was arguing over the finer points of using magic for cleaning when someone shoved me to the ground. I gasped and a hand flew over my mouth. For a moment, my vision went dark as I collided against the ground.

  Oh, come on. I’m on my own for one day, and I get attacked in the first few hours? This wasn’t going to look good for Dracus. I groaned and opened my eyes, peering through my blurry vision.

  Ren’s face swam into view. Rage and fear had sharpened his eyes. I stuttered something incomprehensible as he pulled his face away from me. It was as if a wolf had just been staring me down in the flesh.

  “What are you doing?” I whispered hoarsely, too frightened to bring it above that volume.

  His expression softened. The peril seemed to fade. “I thought you were someone else,” he muttered. I glanced down. He was straddling me, hovering above me with his hands on my arms. A droplet of red fell onto my arm. He was bleeding from his arm!

  “What happened to you?”

  He hurried off of me and hid his arm. I scrambled upward but remained on the ground. My head was spinning.

  He said, “None of your business.”

  I rolled my eyes and promptly regretted it. It made the nausea much worse.

  “Do you want to go to Nurse Greta, tough guy?”

  “Hn.” It wasn’t even a word. I rubbed my forehead. Odd. He wasn’t dressed for school. I studied his black pants and his black tank top, pulled tight to showcase his muscles. His hidden arm had a gash that was running up to the top of his shoulder. Bruised at the top, but not blood.

  “You should get it looked at.”

  He grunted. “This is nothing. Go to class, Fiona.”

  Bossing me around? I glared at him and stood. “Whatever, Ren. You’re the one who attacked me,” I reminded him. He said nothing. His lips tightened together. I snatched up my bag and stormed down the hallway. The others had left earlier, and nobody caught me with the dark storm cloud above me head on the way to school. It was only when I saw Priscilla’s face that I realized maybe I needed to cool it.

  “You look pissed,” she said as I caught up to her in the hall. We fell into stride on our way to our first class. “What the hell happened?”

  I shook my head. “I’m so tired of living with these boys. They don’t tell me anything. They’re always running around doing secret shit. Do they tell me anything? Nooooooope.” I huffed and hitched my backpack up higher on my back. Gods, my anger was coming off me in waves. A nearby student shot me a look and scampered off. My heart fell. That was the exact reaction the Council boys had, especially Ren. I softened. “Sorry. I’m venting.”

  “It’s okay to vent,” she said with a half-smile. “You’re not the first person to be angered by the Council boys walking around like they own the place.”

  I nodded. She’d told me herself that she was frustrated by coming in behind Ren and Dracus, even when they missed class due to special “Council” activities.

  “I seriously have zero ideas about what they do,” I said. “They miss class or go off doing something.”

  She frowned and bit her bottom lip. It was an odd expression on Priscilla. Worry. Hesitation. The danger of not knowing? I paused in the hall and she stopped with me. I realized that it reminded me of Dracus. He and Priscilla were both dragon-shifters. Our classmates passed us without a word, not bothering to spare a glance. I suppose the cloud above my head had dissipated.

  “Many people wonder that, Fiona,” she said gently. “There’s a very strict rule to not ask questions about it at the Academy.”

  “From who?” I asked, throwing my hands up. She tucked them down as a girl shot us an odd look. We kept close to the wall. “It feels like this school is run by a secret cult or something.”

  She shrugged and said, “It’s not out of the question. The Academy has been running for years. The Dean is the public face, but he might answer to other people.” My thoughts churned with this hypothesis. She admitted, “I’ve often wondered about it before. Many people probably do.”

  “I see them injured sometimes,” I confessed in a low whisper. The halls were beginning to thin out now. We’d have to hurry to class. Her eyes widened. “Why would they be injured, Priscilla? What could they possibly be doing that would hurt them?”

  “I don’t know,” she replied with a little shiver. Odd as dragon-shifters ran hot constantly thanks to their fiery nature. “Part of me doesn’t want to find out. The rational side of my brain says that there is a reason that nobody knows.”

  “I wonder.”

  “Fiona,” she said and leaned towards me. “Sometimes, I think that the Council boys are annoying…but sometimes, I feel that they carry a heavy weight on their shoulders. I can’t explain it, but they look like soldiers at school. It’s as if they’re fighting against something that we can’t see.”

  My mouth opened. She’d managed to sum up some of my feelings without even realized. I was about to add something, but a small chime ran out. She grabbed my hand. Top students like Priscilla are never late to class. We hurried inside and settled in empty seats towards the back, not to disturb the class. Theo glanced back at me from his seat in the middle, making a puzzled face. I shot him an expression that I hope was apologetic and not I’ve been gossiping about the whole lot of you.

  But, I’d made a decision.

  I was going to ask for more answers tonight.

  This game was growing t
ired.

  Class began.

  Chapter 8

  Everybody was at Dinner. For my plan, this didn’t matter. My main target was Dracus. I dressed in comfortable clothes, the ones I’d been wearing when they’d rescued me. My soft skinny jeans, worn from lots of wear, and a fitted tank top with a faded soda brand on it.

  Dracus’ shoulders steeled from the beginning of the meal. Could he sense something was up? I hoped so. When Theo and Enrique tried to engage in banter with me, I made vague answers.

  “You were late for class today,” Theo teased as he poured me a small glass of wine. “Were you and Priscilla trying to play hooky?”

  “Priscilla would never,” I said firmly. “Thanks.” I took the wine and said nothing else.

  Theo exchanged a look with Enrique. I could practically see the alarm bells going off in their heads. If I had learned anything from the human world to bring into the shifter world, it was that a woman who goes silent is dangerous. When a woman doesn’t talk, there is a problem. Granted, this was probably sexist drivel, but my mom once told me that the cold shoulder was a woman’s way of waging war. I was going to be a bit more mature: cold shoulder for a tiny bit and then full-frontal attack.

  “Are you ready for the quiz on Thursday?” Theo asked.

  He was taking the bait excellently. I felt a bit guilty. We were supposed to hang out later this week. And we would…maybe.

  “Yes. You?”

  He frowned. “No. Can we do a study session?”

  “Sure.” I picked at my salad. Enrique inhaled sharply. Jasper looked more excited than he had in months, watching everything with a sly half-smile on his face. Ren glowered at the table.

  “It appears that some of us are in a bad mood tonight,” Dracus said.

  “Ren’s always in a bad mood,” I shot back. The wolf in question glared at me. I stared right back, saying nothing. He’d taught me a few tricks while he was my bodyguard.

  “If you’re going to be hostile, you can take your meal in your room,” Dracus said evenly. I raised an eyebrow.