by Kat Cotton
Shadow Girl
Shadow Academy, Volume 3
Kat Cotton
Published by Kat Cotton, 2020.
This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.
SHADOW GIRL
First edition. May 30, 2020.
Copyright © 2020 Kat Cotton.
Written by Kat Cotton.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 1
FROM YOUR SECRET ADMIRER.
Roses? Really? A whole bunch of them, propped up against my dorm door. Like I’d fall for that. They could have bugs of the non-insect kind. Or maybe the insect kind too, ready to create an infestation in my room. They could have some kind of weird chemical on them that would leech into my skin. There were any number of evils that could be hiding in those Trojan horse roses.
I’d squatted down to read the card but that had to be lies. I had no secret admirer. I snorted, loud enough for anyone who heard me to think I was a bit crazy. Secret admirer? In this school? More like my secret enemy. I definitely had a heap more of them.
Damn. Angela Blackstone, I bet, playing one of her stupid tricks. That girl had had it in for me since day one.
I really didn’t want to deal with her tricks right now.
People didn’t send me flowers. Ever. People didn’t admire me either. A true admirer would know I preferred food gifts to flowers any day.
I pulled my sleeve over my hand and picked them up, not wanting to touch them with my skin.
I walked into my room. Stupid move. I should’ve left those tainted flowers outside. The blood-red color of the petals contrasted vividly with the sterile whiteness around me, like a blot of death. Needing to get rid of them, I rushed into the bathroom and threw them in the sink. Then I peeled off my hoodie and put it in a plastic bag to stop any possibility of cross-contamination.
I needed to wash my hands but since flowers filled the sink, I had to use the shower.
Typical. Just as I’d soaped up my hands, my phone beeped.
“Wait a minute,” I called to my phone. It only seemed to beep more urgently, though.
I shook my hands dry and rummaged through my backpack to get my phone, hoping it wasn’t some stupid broadcast message that I could easily ignore.
Nope.
Principal Murphy.
He wanted to see me in his office. Now.
That never meant anything good. I wasn’t even sure if I could trust Principal Murphy. He’d been pretty tight with Mr. Worthington and Mr. Worthington had been pure evil until I stopped that. I mean, I’d stopped his evil by having a teeny part in his death. Nothing major. Just commanding spirit vampires to kill him, that’s all. Well, okay, enough of a part in it to have most of my friends giving me a wide berth.
I hoped the principal hadn’t found out. I could be expelled for that. At least I thought I could. It hadn’t happened on school grounds or anything.
Dragging my feet, I walked through the entrance hall and down the hallway. The slower I walked, the longer it’d take to get the bad news.
Eventually though, I ended up at his office and sat in the reception area.
“Come in.” Principal Murphy opened his door before I even had time to collect myself. “Sit down.”
I wasn’t ready. I needed at least ten minutes of panic time in reception first.
The usual school trophies littered the principal’s office but that big, spiky one that had once sat on his desk had gone. Maybe because it was ugly, maybe because he was worried I’d use it to threaten him. Again.
My anger management counselor hadn’t been completely wrong about me. Maybe, if I faced hard facts, I had a little anger control issue. But that was in the past. The new Cherry didn’t lose her cool. The new Cherry had everything under control.
I sat in the visitor’s chair and smoothed out my skirt. Principal Murphy smiled. That smile didn’t fool me. If I’d learned one thing in this life, it was that people in authority will smile right before they screw you over. The brighter the smile, the bigger the screwing over.
Principal Murphy’s smile ranked about medium on the brightness scale. Not bright enough for me to worry about expulsion but cheery in the way that made me think this wouldn’t be pleasant.
“Cherry, thanks for making time to see me.”
Huh? Like I had a choice in this. It’s not like I had the option of passing on this meeting. Today isn’t good, maybe next week would be better for me. You don’t tell the principal your schedule is too tight, especially when you’re a lowly scholarship student.
“Now that the dust has settled, we need to talk about your position at the school.”
Aha. I got it. The principal wanted me moved out of that fancy private dorm room that Mr. Worthington had paid for. The allowance he’d paid me for tutoring Ren would be cut off too. I’d been expecting that. I didn’t see why the principal needed to tell me in person. I was plenty used to poverty. I’d get by without those handouts. And I’d saved enough of that allowance to make it through to the end of next year, until I graduated and could get a summer job. I probably had more than enough, since my expenses were minimal.
I’d run through the figures three times, hoping I’d have enough surplus to get one of those parfaits from the fancy cafe in town but, with no more money coming in, I couldn’t indulge myself.
“Mr. Worthington’s lawyer contacted me. Because the agreement you signed with him is watertight, you can expect to keep receiving your allowance. Your fees are paid until you graduate. You will, of course, keep your current room on the elite floor with all the privileges. The only thing not accounted for are the extras, like having meals in your room. You’ll have to cover the payments for that yourself.”
I nodded. How long did I have to wait before I could thank Principal Murphy then get out of this office?
Wait... what?
My head jerked up. I’d keep my allowance? Until graduation. Parfaits were back on the menu.
I almost punched the air. Then I remembered. “What about Ren?”
Because Ren’s father had died in mysterious circumstances, all his father’s money had been cut off. Basically, he got nothing. He’d been offered a scholarship due to his paranormal abilities — all of us scholarship kids were here because of that, to protect the rich kids from the supernatural creatures who hunted them — but he’d had to move from the elite floor to the crappy downstairs dorm where t
he not so rich and scholarship students lived.
Stuck with the poor kids he’d once bullied, life had to be hell for him.
Not just did he live in the poor kids’ dorm, he’d taken on a part-time job at the stables so he could keep his horse at the school.
This made me richer than Ren. Me. But rather than rub it in his face and splash my money around, it seemed a shameful thing. I hadn’t ever wanted to take what rightfully belonged to Ren.
“Ren will continue as he is.”
“But my allowance is for tutoring him...”
Principal Murphy sighed. “I guess so but really, no one is going to monitor that. Without the Worthington money behind him, Ren’s future won’t be so bright any more. He barely has the grades to get into a mediocre college. Tutoring isn’t going to help him now.”
I leaned back in my chair. So, what the principal was saying was that without his father’s money, the school no longer gave a toss about Ren. That seemed especially harsh but that was pretty much how this school operated.
Until he lost his money, Ren had been the golden boy of the school. Now, girls had stopped ranting about his perfect hair and perfect skin. Boys had stopped trying to be his best buddy. Some kids held their noses when he walked into class, implying that he stunk of horse poop.
No matter what, though, I’d keep tutoring him. Now he had to make his own way in life, he’d need to get good marks more than ever. Ren would never get good marks on his own. Principal Murphy wasn’t wrong. It’d take a lot of work just for him to get into a mediocre college.
Lately though, I’d been wondering if college was even a viable option for either of us. There was this prophecy that together, we’d save the world. As far as I knew, you couldn’t major in world-saving at college.
Anyway, I figured Ren’s situation was only temporary.
“Ren will have his fortune restored though?” I picked at a hole in my tights, not wanting to look Principal Murphy in the eye.
“It doesn’t seem so. I mean, anything’s possible. If Mr. Worthington’s body is found and there’s proof his death was from natural causes... Technically he’s a missing person, presumed dead. The entire estate will be tied up for the next seven years unless he’s found.”
“What about his wife?”
Principal Murphy shook his head, laughing as though I’d said the most ridiculous thing. “His wife died years ago.”
So, everybody believed, but Ren had heard differently. Mrs. Worthington existed out there in the world somewhere and she could be the key to everything.
“Well, just supposing it’s discovered that she isn’t so dead. They are still legally married, right? She’d be the next of kin.”
“Let’s not get into hypothetical situations. That could go on all day.” The principal stood up. “Unless you’re planning to raise the dead.” He narrowed his eyes, his gaze laser-focused. “You can’t do that, can you?”
I tried to ignore how pale he’d gone and how much fun it’d be to let him think I could raise an army of zombies. I could play with his head but I held myself in check because the new Cherry was a nice person. An upstanding citizen. A model of self-control.
“Not that I’m aware of.”
I stood too, glad that this interview was over. Even if the news wasn’t bad, I hated spending time in the principal’s office. The place reeked of authority and other people having control over my life.
Leaving the office, an idea sunk into my brain. I could fix this so easily. I didn’t need my fancy room and my allowance. Sure, living the high life suited me just fine but I was never one to want handouts. Scratch that. I loved handouts. Handouts were the sweetest things in life. But this one felt wrong.
I rushed back to my room, threw those tainted roses into a plastic bag. I didn’t want to dump them in the bin just in case they actually had been from a genuine secret admirer. I calculated the chances of that at about one in five thousand — and there weren’t even five thousand students in this school, let alone students with access to the elite floor — but I didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.
Holding the bag of roses well away from my body, I headed straight back to the elevator. Rose petals trailed behind me but I’d deal with those later.
The garden maintenance shed sat behind the main building and, around the side of it, was an incinerator for garden scraps.
I opened the lid and dumped the roses inside. They’d burn along with all the contaminants and evils they held.
Smoke billowed out as the roses hit the flames.
Goodbye, evil roses.
Wait...
I should’ve saved a sample for Mr. Norton to analyze. I opened the lid and smoke billowed out. Too late now. It wasn’t worth risking third-degree burns just to get some evidence.
I put the lid back on the incinerator and headed for the stables. I needed to talk to Ren.
Chapter 2
I KNEW REN WOULD BE in the stables even though we’d barely spoken for a week. I’d seen him in class but he’d kept his head down, not wanting to talk to anyone. I understood. He wanted to stay under the radar. I could give him some advice. Dealing with bullies was my field of expertise but I also knew calling attention to that kind of treatment didn’t help. I hated it myself and, for Ren who’d never been bullied, it’d be a hundred times worse.
A light rain started falling as I crossed the grounds to the stable so I stuck close to the school buildings.
“Hey Cherry, want to join our study group tonight?”
Jolted out of my thoughts, I looked around to see who spoke to me.
Angela Blackstone?
Talking to me? Not jeering or threatening but asking me to do stuff with her?
She jumped in front of me. Some weird twitching thing went on with her mouth, like she was trying to make it smile but wasn’t really sure how to do it.
I recoiled, waiting for the punchline. “Your study group?”
“Yep, we were discussing it earlier.” She shifted her weight onto one foot, hand on hip. “Since you’re going to be sticking around upstairs for a while, we should get to know you better.”
I coughed. I coughed so hard, my lungs nearly exploded. Ever since I’d started at this school, Angela had made it clear how much she despised me. Her aim in life was making my life a misery.
And I’d only just found out that I’d be sticking around myself. How did she know? The Blackstone’s IT security firm had a contract with the school and I was not fully convinced Angela didn’t have the place bugged.
“Ah, I think I’m busy.” I tried to walk off.
I had no idea what her game was but I didn’t want to play it. Her request stunk of ulterior motive.
“Well, if you change your mind, just let me know.” Angela smiled and walked off.
I shook myself. That had just happened? Angela acting like we were best buddies? I didn’t trust her one inch. She’d killed one of the students. Sure, Farran had been a vampire and Angela hadn’t known taking the ring off his finger would turn him to dust in the sunlight, but she had never seemed too remorseful about it.
I thrust my hands in my pockets. I couldn’t get on any moral high horse about killing people. Not after Mr. Worthington. And now Ren suffered because of what I’d done. Ever since that day he’d been cold towards me and I couldn’t blame him. He’d said it himself. I’d crossed the line. I’d gone dark. But, even with that evil inside me, I wanted to do the right thing. Could you cross that line and then come back?
Checking that Angela hadn’t followed me, I headed into the stables. Then covered my mouth. I’d never get used to the smell of hay and horse poop.
“Ren? Ren?” I walked down the middle of the stables, well out of reach of those horses and their big, bitey teeth. “Ren?”
Then I stopped and bit my lip.
Ren!
I’d peered into one of the empty stalls and, oh my... He’d stripped off his top as he did something to the hay with a pitchfork. Sweat covered his
naked chest and... well, he’d had a good body before but this manual labor had done things to him that defied my imagination.
Those muscles bulging as he moved that fork hypnotized me. I tried to ignore that image but it’d burned itself into my mind. Instead of talking, I could only gulp air. I averted my eyes, staring at the hay on the ground instead of those hard muscles.
“You wanted something?” Ren’s voice didn’t exactly sound welcoming.
“I... ah...” Oops, I looked up without meaning to. The words I meant to say stuck in my throat. I wouldn’t stare. But no one had this effect on me. Not even Nova and he was an incubus with mind-controlling sex powers.
“Are you okay?”
I covered my eyes. “Can you put your shirt back on?”
Ren huffed but I heard him moving. “It’s okay to look now.”
I hoped so but even with his chest covered, I knew what was under that t-shirt now.
“We need to talk.”
“I can’t take a break right now. Say what you need to while I’m working.”
One of the other stable hands walked by and gave me a dirty look. I guess I didn’t have a choice. I didn’t want Ren getting in trouble but I didn’t want anyone else overhearing what I had to say either.
I told Ren what the principal had said.
Ren shrugged his shoulder as though it didn’t concern him either way.
“It’s not right. I shouldn’t be the one staying in the fancy dorm. We should change places.”
Ren stopped shoveling hay and stared at me. That wasn’t good because all those thoughts of his bare chest flooded back into my mind.
“We can’t change places. That’s not even possible. You know it. If you mentioned it to Principal Murphy, he’d tell you that. This is just the way things have worked out.”
I leaned against the stall. The wall wobbled a little but it held firm.
“But it’s not fair. I never wanted this.”
Ren went back to shoveling. One of the horses neighed as though he had opinions of his own.
“I’m going to keep tutoring you. If I’m getting paid for it, then I have to.”