ASH
I demanded that nobody in Gilgamesh house should prank Maeve. I'm still shocked that she has no idea where she is, and each time I see her, the less confident she looks. Everybody must swear allegiance to their house, but Maeve shouldn't have to deal with the initiation pranks from students that follow the ceremony. Normal students know to expect this and can fight back with their powers. Maeve won't expect anything and doesn't know what she's capable of if frightened.
Nobody does.
Clive sneered at me and questioned why Maeve shouldn't be pranked too, and we almost came to blows. We're told not to treat her differently to other pupils, but I draw the line at this. It's unfair. I watched Clive—and asked some of the rugby team to do the same—and missed him sneaking away. I immediately went to the Petrescu common rooms to find him; positive he'd headed to find Katherine. I'm damn sure she's planned something. I will never trust members of that house.
The pair aren't in the Petrescu common room, and those who are treat me with the usual dismissive attitude but hold back on the rudeness. Clive may be on their side and hold more sway in the academy, but the Petrescu kids know not to mess with me.
I'm a popular guy who few want to cross because I have a lot of people who would have my back. For this reason, I was told to watch Maeve around the academy when she arrived, and liaise with Jamie, who's keeping an eye on her around Walcott.
What is a human doing at the Nightworld Academy?
The answer is simple: Maeve isn't human but is unaware what she is. The moment I discovered she'd been placed in Walcott house, I knew. Maeve is a witch—but what kind? She's lived as a human and can't have any skills.
Or so I thought. Her behaviour by the rugby pitch yesterday alerted me to what Maeve could be. The girl didn't faint. She had a vision. Then she told me her relative's name and it rang a bell, but not loud enough to know who her aunt is. I asked Jamie to look into it and use his relationship with Theodora to dig deeper.
How long will the faculty keep Maeve in the dark over this? She's not stupid. Maeve already asks questions any intelligent human would.
I stomp away from the Petrescu building and towards Walcott tower where Maeve is due to swear her oath. Nobody is there, including Jamie and Amelia, who said they'd keep an eye on her. I hope they disobeyed the rules to escort her away from anything untoward.
A dog howls and I recognise the cry. My scalp prickles. An alert. A call to arms.
Danger.
The academy grounds blur past me as I storm through the building in the direction of the howl. Tearing across the cloisters, I round a corner and smack into Clive, who slams a hand into my chest to stop me.
"Dude, watch where you're going."
He's with Katherine. Literally, with, because his other arm remains around her waist, and her skin glows pink. I knew they were friendly but not at this stage. She gives me a simpering smile. There is a lot wrong with this situation, but I only have time for or care about one question.
"What did you do to Maeve?" A human would be out of breath from my sprint, but I could run another ten miles at the speed I did and not struggle.
"Maeve?" His confusion is genuine.
"Katherine? What did you do?"
She tips her chin and looks down her nose at me. "I'm not wasting time on the human. She'll be gone by the end of the week. If somebody wants to scare her away quicker, fine by me."
"She isn't human, you idiot." I drag both hands through my hair. "Can't you hear the howling?"
She continues to look as if I'm a bad smell she wishes would go. "I expect your doggy friends are fighting with each other again."
I ignore her scorn. "No. This is more. An alert. Clive?"
He shrugs. "They'll sort whatever's happening. The guys are probably fighting the vamps."
Katherine nudges him hard in the side. "Excuse me?"
He sighs. "Vampires. The Pneuma. Remember last term when they mind-controlled the shifters to attack each other? They've been planning revenge."
I'm not buying his explanation. "You swear to me that this isn't you pranking her?"
I search both students' faces but already know the truth. They're busy with their secret liaisons in secret corners. Has Katherine used her Lamia powers on Clive or is this a genuine romance?
"Fine." I shove past them and leap over the wall towards the sound of the howl.
A girl screams and my blood heats in anger. Whoever chose to do this to Maeve will regret their actions. I'll have them on detention by the end of the night—unhurt if they're very lucky and I keep my temper. The terrified scream comes again, and rage blackens my vision. I can't shift yet, but I have a power rawer and greater than a human. Or a vamp.
Three cloaked figures are gathered behind a building, one holding Maeve over a shoulder. With a yell, I barrel into the middle, knocking them down like bowling pins. The one holding Maeve releases his grip as he falls, and she tries to crawl away. He seizes her ankle.
"Reveal yourselves, because you are in a hell of a lot of trouble," I snarl down at the one who lands by my feet. The figure sits and I push him down with my boot on his chest, tugging at his hood.
I frown at his face. He's not a student.
What the hell is this? Dominion members? Hunters?
I stagger forward as something hits me in the back. Righting myself, I turn to see a fireball headed straight for me.
Dominion.
I duck as the flames miss my hair. A second fireball emerges from the hand obscured by the cloak.
Am I dealing with an element affinity witch?
Behind me, Maeve yells and struggles with her attacker, and I'm impressed when he cries out in pain. What can I do apart from try to hold these people off her? I don't have the strength to take them all on, especially powerful magic users.
The man beside me makes a good shield, and I hold him in front between me and the fireball. The witch abruptly stops and yells at his colleagues to finish the job.
I toss the guy to one side, ready to charge at the witch, when a sudden deluge of water falls from the sky. I soak through in seconds and struggle to see through the wall of rain around us. The fireball guy swears as his spells fizzle around his fingers. I lose sight of the other men behind the wall of water, which means they can't see me and Maeve.
Another figure jumps down from a window above and lands crouched, steadying himself with one hand as he peers around. Coiled for attack, I make his face out in the rain.
Andrei.
The betraying bastard.
He stands and springs forward, a metre higher than the figures in front, and kicks out. His foot collides with a man’s chin and the figure is sent sprawling across the muddying grass.
Momentarily, guilt crosses my mind that I thought he was involved. He climbs the side of the building wall, effortlessly with no need for hand and footholds, before alighting on a ledge.
Andrei turns and jumps again, knocking someone to the ground as he lands. I catch sight of a third figure illuminated in the window behind.
Amelia stands, hands raised, palms upwards and she stares at a black cloud above the scene responsible for the rain. The air between her and the cloud shimmers, an energy suspended in the area links her to the elements.
Two of the figures slide on the mud as they attempt to run, and I dart across to catch them. I hit an invisible shield and slip to one side as I attempt to find a way through the barrier. None. I reach out to push my way through and sparks flicker through the air. A crackling outline shows a barrier higher than even Andrei could jump, and it stretches between the two building walls with no way around.
Two of the cloaked figures merge into the darkness as they silently move away.
The fireball man remains, and he looks at me in challenge. "You're out of your depth, little boy."
Andrei lands on the ground beside him and his face transforms as his mouth stretches wide, revealing serrated teeth. For a heart-stopping moment, I think Andrei is about t
o break the races' centuries old accords and attack a witch—the witch stepping back into the wall of water and bowing with a flourish.
What the fuck was that?
I’m stunned into shocked silence, but Andrei's features settle back to normal as he shakes out his sleeves, pulling faces at where his shoes stick in the mud.
"That's enough, Amelia," he shouts. "I bloody hope you've learned how to switch your magic off again."
"I'm learning!" she replies. The rain slows but doesn't cease, and Amelia swears beneath her breath. She shakes her hands and closes her eyes. Nothing.
"Is Jamie up there?" I call up.
"No. He ran to fetch Theodora."
The rain slows to a trickle and the cloud shrinks back to a clear night sky. I shake water from my hair. "Who the hell were they?"
"Who the hell are you?" asks a small voice from the ground.
I blink away the raindrops and turn to Maeve. She stares back at me, hair plastered to her face and hands covered in mud. The terror remains even though the attackers left.
My heart twists with regret.
After all my worries someone might scare or hurt her, her new friends are the people who've terrified her tonight.
Chapter Eleven
MAEVE
Am I having a vision?
I'm not experiencing the blurred surroundings and buzzing as usual, but I did see the impossible. Maybe I'm hallucinating through fear, or this is an elaborate prank filled with pyrotechnics and invisible wires that allow Andrei to fly through the air. Hidden contraptions that fool me into thinking Amelia conjured rain from nowhere.
Her small figure stands in the window and is framed by the light behind. My hand slides through fresh mud as I struggle to stand and demand an explanation from the people I thought were my friends.
Ash's face bleeds from a cut above his eyebrow, but otherwise he looks no different for a guy whose recent behaviour would give the Hulk a run for his money.
"What the hell happened? Who thought that was funny?" I demand.
I make to walk away but my feet slide from beneath me, ending any chance of stomping away in disgust. I'm caught by Andrei, who appears beside me and hitches me around the waist. Ash rushes over too and I swat at them.
"Let me go! Tell me what happened!" The two guys do as I ask and glance at each other, then at me, wary.
"Are you hurt?" asks Ash.
I blink at him, incredulous. "You frightened me half to death. Where were the others taking me? To some dumb initiation ceremony somewhere?"
"No. We don't know who they were either, but they're dangerous." Ash's gruff tone sets the hairs on the back of my neck.
"This wasn't a prank, Maeve," says Andrei.
I look between the two guys who are as soaked to the skin as I am. Andrei isn't laughing or smirking in triumph at succeeding in scaring me, and his worried look matches Ash's.
Amelia appears from the shadows and pushes past Ash. She carries a blanket which she immediately unfolds to wrap around my shoulders. "We need to get you inside. You'll get sick if you stay out here."
"Sicker than hallucinating about fireballs and superhuman displays?" I point at Andrei. "How did you jump that far and that high?"
"It's a skill I have."
"A skill?" My voice rises. "That's not a skill. Humans can't..."
There's an alternative to the logical reasons I create in my mind, but those reasons can't be correct. Amelia tightens the blanket around my shoulders and attempts to lead me away. If I believe what I'm about to say, the knock on my head when I fell did more damage than I thought.
But Ash is unscathed, and he threw a guy the same size as him. Not shoved. Threw. I back away from Amelia. Rain. Fireballs.
"This isn't a normal school, is it?" I whisper. Now they'll laugh and tell me the truth—that this is an elaborate hoax. They have to.
"No, it isn't," says Amelia softly and touches my injured cheek. "The students have special skills."
"Like magicians?" My head spins again.
"No."
"Well, there is magic involved for Amelia," puts in Andrei.
I wipe water from my face. "I knew it! This was an illusion."
She shakes her head then looks to Ash. Ash nods. "I used real magic, Maeve. I'm a witch."
I wait for her to laugh and my heart thumps in time with each second she doesn't. Each of them regard me stony faced. They’re serious. Or insane. Or both.
"Oh hell, I'm at Hogwarts." My face hits the muddy ground and the world turns black.
I wake on a sofa in an unfamiliar room which smells like a mix of lavender and mint. A dark wood bookshelf crammed with books of different sizes spans the wall opposite me and a scenic painting covers the other; one depicting mountains and a castle in a stormy sky.
Beside the picture, a montage of pictures features a woman with long, brown hair dressed in beautiful clothes with equally beautiful men.
Ash sits opposite on a maroon, velvet-upholstered chair, leaning forward with his powerful arms dangling between his knees. Jamie stands beside him, arms crossed, and features tugged into a serious look I've not seen on him before. On the other side, the woman in the photographs and portraits looks down with a kind smile. Theodora Lancaster.
I'm still wearing clothes covered in mud, including my newly acquired blazer, and a clean blue blanket covers my legs.
"Where's Amelia?" I ask.
"She went to class, as did Andrei. I don't want all of you disappearing from lessons at once. That would prompt questions. Fortunately, the initial prank against you was by Gilgamesh and nobody saw the Dominion attack," she says.
"Who was responsible from Gilgamesh? I'll deal with them," says Ash and his jaw clenches.
"Clive. He has been instructed to spread the word about the prank or have his... dalliances with Katherine shared with his family," Theodora tells him. "I've spoken to Clive, Ash. The matter ends here, and you are not to confront him."
Ash dips his head, but his cheeks redden in anger.
I push myself up to sit and wince at the bruising. "What's Dominion? Another academy?"
Jamie sighs. "No. I'll explain later, but we need to know you're okay. Did anybody hurt you?"
"Well, let me see. The fireballs missed, so that’s lucky," I say, ready to hide behind my sarcasm barrier.
"This is very troubling," says Theodora. "I didn't think the Dominion would attack the academy. I have sent word to the Confederacy and asked them to investigate and then send a representative to meet with us. We need to discuss the way forward."
"It wasn't the academy they attacked," Jamie puts in. "They targeted Maeve."
"Then she needs to learn to protect herself." Theodora walks to her desk. "I told the academy faculty we needed to tell Maeve where she was and why as soon as she arrived here. Now the poor girl is confused."
I scramble to keep up as my brain fog clears. "A little. I don't understand what I saw tonight. If this wasn't illusions, what was it?"
"This isn't a normal school, as you've already deduced," says Theodora. "The pupils here have skills that aren't found amongst the normal population."
Ash sighs. "With all due respect, can we not beat around the bush?" He turns to me. "This school is a Nightworld Academy. The three houses are different supernatural races who study together. Walcott are witches and Petrescu are vampires. My house are shifters."
I cough in disbelief. "You are kidding, right?"
Theodora looks at me with a kind expression. "Jamie and Amelia were told to gradually reveal their powers and explain yours."
"I personally think it's better you saw what we are instead of needing to convince you. That's what I hoped would happen, but not like this."
I bury my head in my hands and the smell of the mud takes away the sickly scent in the room. "I don't believe this," I whisper.
"Andrei hinted at this, Maeve," says Jamie. "You must've thought something wasn't right."
"But I don't believe in vampires and
werewolves. Maybe witches, but not ones who can create rainstorms."
"I understand, of course," says Theodora. Her soft tones meld with the soothing scent to keep me from running screaming from the room and calling my parents. "Once you attend lessons, you'll have more evidence to support what we say."
I look up. "The advanced program?"
She nods.
I appraise Ash, taking in his powerful form. "Are you a werewolf?"
"No. Gilgamesh are more than one type of shifter. I won't know what I am until I'm nineteen."
"So, you might be a werewolf?" The questions sound ridiculous and I laugh at myself.
Jamie interrupts. "There are different types of each race in each house—there's more than one type of vampire."
"Andrei's a blood-drinker," mutters Ash. "I don't trust him."
"What? Any more than the lamia, Katherine? You can tell she's using Clive to gain energy from when they..." Jamie trails off at the horrified look on Theodora's face.
"This is insane. This isn't true," I mutter under my breath, over and over.
"Ash is strong due to his shifter blood, and as he said, he doesn't know what animal he can shift into yet," says Theodora. "The older boys have their forms—mostly wolves or dogs, as you saw."
"And Amelia? Jamie?" I swallow. "Me?"
"The witches have different affinities. Amelia has affinity with the elements. Jamie with the spirits. You, we suspect, are a future-sighted witch."
"Future-sighted? The visions," I mumble.
"Yes. You have visions of the future, you know that."
I place a hand over my mouth, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Jamie's concerned eyes meet mine and I look away. This can't be true.
I lean forward and wrap my arms around my head, burying my face into my knees. The last two hours catch up with me as shock trembles through my body, and I fight the sobbing. Someone places a large hand on my back and rubs, soothing, but the action triggers more tears. I'm in a nightmare. A living, breathing, horrific dream.
Looking up, I drag my sleeve down my face, and summon the person I want them to think I am. The girl who can cope with whatever life throws at her. "I guess this means I'm on the advanced program, then?"
Nightworld Academy Box Set 1 Page 6