by Jayme Morse
Once she was gone, I let out a loud howl.
I needed to get the fuck out of here.
As Iris took a seat in front of Vince, my heart pounded against my chest like a sledgehammer.
I knew I should have just skipped school this year. Why had I let my mates talk me into this?
I wasn’t ready to face her. I hadn’t even expected her to show up, not after everything that had happened this summer. I really thought she would have stayed with Milos. The last thing I had expected was for her to show her face at Werewolf Academy again. But now that she was here, I knew I wasn’t safe.
I couldn’t do this.
Without even thinking twice about what I was doing, I bolted out of my desk and headed for the front of the room. I didn’t look in her direction as I made a mad dash for the door of the classroom.
As I slipped out into the hallway, I expected my heart rate to return to normal. But it didn’t.
I couldn’t be around her. There was just no way I would be able to get through this semester.
I was halfway down the hallway when I completely collided with Theo.
“Raven? Are you okay? Your heart is pounding a mile a minute, and you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
I wished I had seen a ghost. This was far worse than that.
“She’s here,” I managed to say through my panicked breathing.
“Who’s here?” Theo asked at first. But then the color completely drained from his face, and I knew he understood exactly who I was talking about.
“Iris is here?” he whispered.
I nodded, still trying to calm myself.
“Are you okay?” Theo asked me.
I just stared back at him, unsure of how to answer that question. Clearly, I was okay… physically. But mentally? That was a whole other story. Seeing Iris had made me realize one thing: My PTSD was worse than I had realized.
When I didn’t respond, Theo let out a deep sigh. “I really didn’t think she would have the balls to show her face here. Damnit. This wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“Is there a problem, Professor Rossi?” Headmaster Black’s familiar voice filled the air.
Shit. If there was one more thing I didn’t want to deal with today, it was the Headmaster.
I didn’t like him. I didn’t trust him. And frankly, I wanted no part of him.
“Actually, there is a problem, Headmaster. Can we speak with you in your office?” Theo asked.
“Why, of course.” Headmaster Black smiled at us as he began to lead the way down the hallway.
“There’s nothing I want more than to wipe that smile right off his face,” Theo spoke to me through mind-speak.
I couldn’t have agreed more.
As we entered Headmaster Black’s office, he motioned to the two chairs across from his desk. “Please have a seat, Mr. Rossi and Miss Gallagher.”
I sat down, and Theo slid into the chair beside me. Reaching over, he grabbed my hand and gave it a little squeeze.
“So, Mr. Rossi, what seems to be the problem?”
“I want Raven to be removed from all of Iris’s classes,” Theo told him.
Headmaster Black’s eyes widened. “That seems like an odd request.” His gaze shifted to me. “I thought Iris Frost was one of your close friends.”
“She was one of my close friends, but not anymore.” I paused, swallowing hard. “It’s important for me to be away from her. Really far away from her.”
“And why is that, Miss Gallagher?” the Headmaster pressed.
“Because she tried to kill me.”
Headmaster Black leaned forward. “Iris Frost tried to kill you?”
“She didn’t just try. She almost succeeded,” Theo added.
“I’m sorry, but I find it very hard to believe that Iris Frost tried to kill you,” the Headmaster replied, shaking his head.
“Oh? Do you know Iris on a personal level?” Theo asked defensively.
“Well, no, I can’t say that I do. In fact, I have had very few exchanges with Miss Frost. But we’ve never had any issues with her in the past. She has a clean academic record. In fact, she’s one of our brightest students.”
“So? Just because she has a perfect record and she’s a bright student doesn’t mean she’s not a murderer,” I protested. My cheeks were growing hot with anger.
“But you’re sitting right in front of me, Miss Gallagher. Therefore, Miss Frost isn’t a murderer,” Headmaster Black pointed out.
“Okay, but she helped Milos Santorini kidnap me.”
“Milos Santorini kidnapped you?”
“He kept me as a prisoner in his dungeon for three months this summer.” It was one of the first times I’d actually said it out loud. Somehow, that only made it feel more real.
The skepticism was obvious in the Headmaster’s black eyes. It was clear that he didn’t believe that, either. “I’m sorry, Miss Gallagher. It’s not that I don’t believe your story, but if Milos Santorini kidnapped you and held you as his prisoner as you claim, I highly doubt you would have lived to tell the tale. And what does any of this have to do with Miss Frost?”
“Iris is Milos’s accomplice,” I explained. “She’s another ancient.”
“Iris is an ancient?” The doubt was written all over his face.
I knew that there was no convincing him of any of this. For reasons I didn’t understand, the truth was unbelievable to him.
“Iris is a Descendant,” I replied pointedly.
“Just because she’s a Descendant doesn’t mean she’s an ancient,” Headmaster Black replied.
I sighed, knowing there was just no use. There was no convincing him of the truth. “Look. Believe what you want, but the truth is that I’ve had one hell of a bad summer, Headmaster Black. All I’m asking is that you switch me out of Iris’s classes. Please.”
He stared at me for a long moment. Then, finally, he turned to his computer. He stared at it long and hard for a few moments before sighing. “I’m afraid that I cannot honor your request, Miss Gallagher. There are no spots in any other classes.”
“Headmaster, please. Can’t you just switch another student’s schedule with hers?” Theo asked.
“That’s simply not possible, Mr. Rossi. Given that Miss Gallagher is both Descendant and Crescent, it would take a lot of rearranging to make it happen, and classes have already begun. I’m sorry. Now, if you’ll both excuse me, I need to get on with my day, and you both need to get to class now.” The Headmaster shot both of us a look that told us to get the hell out of his office.
I made a beeline for the door.
“God damnit.” Theo punched the stone wall once we turned a corner.
I watched as the stone shattered.
“Elemiente fixe,” I murmured in the witch language.
I watched as the stone repaired itself.
Lunar Magic was pretty useful sometimes.
“I’m fucking pissed. How can he make you take classes with her? She kidnapped you.” The rage in Theo’s voice was obvious. “Maybe you should drop out.”
I shook my head. “No.”
“No. Raven, it’s not safe for you to be near her. We can just train you privately, the way we have been during the summer months.”
“I’m going to school,” I replied quietly.
“I really do support you dropping out,” Theo insisted. “I didn’t think it was a good idea at first, but now that she’s here… Well, I get why you wouldn’t want to be here. And we can make it work. I can resign.” He paused. “In fact, we can all resign. Without you going to school here, there’s no reason the rest of us have to teach here. We’re only here because of you, but we can just homeschool you. You’ll get the same lessons, just on a one-on-one basis, and—”
“Theo, stop,” I interrupted, meeting his blue eyes under the dim hallway lighting. “I’m still going to Werewolf Academy.”
My mate just stared back at me blankly. “Why?”
“Because dropping out is no longer an
option. It would only mean letting her win. That’s what they want—to scare me. I can’t let them. I can’t back down. She can’t know I’m afraid of her.”
Even though I was. I so was.
Iris had shown me a side of herself over the summer that I didn’t want to ever deal with again. I had no idea what she was capable of, and truthfully? I didn’t want to find out.
I would never let her back into my life again… even if that meant that I had to cut off Vince, too.
Chapter 3
When Theo and I reentered the classroom, I made a deliberate effort not to make eye contact with Iris. I wasn’t about to back down or let her win, but that didn’t mean I had to look at her. I didn’t need to see her gloating.
As Theo headed to the front of the room and I made my way to the back of the classroom, I could feel all eyes on us. Everyone must have thought that we were fooling around in his office or something.
It made me miss the simplicity of last year. Life had been so much easier back then—back when fooling around in Theo’s office on the first day of school had been one of our biggest worries. Back before we had known that war would soon be upon us. Back when Iris had been my best friend and not my enemy…
It was so crazy how much had changed in just a year. It made me wish that we could go back. But that would have meant going back to a completely different place in time—a place that no longer existed.
Nothing was the same now.
Not even me.
When lunch came, I ordered my food and then scanned the cafeteria for someone I knew.
Thankfully, Iris and Vince were nowhere to be found. I figured that she must have convinced him and his mate Julie to sit outside today, probably so she could feed both of them lies about me. As much as I didn’t want to end up losing Vince, I had a feeling that it was inevitable at this point.
Continuing to glance around the room, I spotted a wave of black hair at the back corner of the room, along the windows. It was the first time I had seen Maddie on campus.
She was sitting across from Branden Mitchell, her mate who we had known back in the human world. Even from a distance, I could see the way the two of them were staring into each other’s eyes. They looked completely caught up in one another; it was as if there was no one else in the world, let alone the cafeteria, but them.
It made me feel sort of bad that I was about to interrupt them, but they had spent the entire summer together back in West Brook. I hadn’t spoken to Maddie since before summer break had begun. She still didn’t know anything about what had happened to me this summer: the kidnapping, the near murder, the fact that a war involving the Darken pack—a war about me—was about to begin at any moment. I had thought about telling her, but some things are just better said face-to-face.
As I sat down next to Maddie, she broke her gaze with Branden for the first time.
“Hey, Raven!” My best friend chirped, as Branden said, “Hey.”
Before I could get a word in edgewise, Maddie continued. “Ohmigod. I’ve been trying to get in touch with you all summer. I know reception can be bad in this realm sometimes, but I didn’t know it was that bad.”
“Actually, it didn’t have anything to do with bad reception. I’m sorry. A lot has happened since the last time I saw you,” I explained.
“Is everything okay?” There was a look of concern in her brown eyes.
“It will be.” At least, I hoped it would be. “Maybe I can catch you up to speed later.” I glanced over at Branden pointedly.
“Oh. Shit. You want privacy.” He rose to his feet. “I’ll go hang out with my friends. I’ll catch you later, babe.” He leaned down and kissed Maddie before heading towards the front of the cafeteria.
She stared after him longingly as he went. “I love him so much. This past summer, all I’ve done is fall for him. Remember when I thought I was in love with Robbie?”
“Yeah.” Robbie was Maddie’s ex-boyfriend who had bitten her just so she couldn’t escape him. He had hoped that she would turn out to be his mate, but fate didn’t let that happen… thankfully. Instead, she was mated to Branden, who we had known since we were kids.
“That doesn’t even remotely compare to what Branden and I have.” She turned to me then. “Anyway, what happened? Are you really okay?”
And so, I told her everything: about how Milos had lured me to his dungeon, how I had woken up to Iris while I was there, and everything else that had taken place there.
When I had finished my story, Maddie just shook her head in anger. “I can’t believe this. I’ve never trusted Iris—you know that. But I didn’t think she was capable of something like this.”
“Yeah. It was a pretty big shock to me, too.”
Maddie paused. “Have you told Vince about what happened?”
I shook my head. “No, I’m not sure if I’m going to, either.”
“Raven, why? Vince needs to know what a monster she is. And you know he’ll take your side. It’s not like he didn’t see that Iris had gotten really weird,” Maddie said.
“I know he’ll take my side, and that’s part of why I can’t say anything.”
“I don’t understand,” Maddie replied, shaking her head.
“You know the saying: Keep your friends close and your enemies closer? Well, the one thing that will piss Iris off even more is if I ruin the one and only friendship she has on this campus,” I explained. “I’m not sure if I’m ready to deal with the backlash from that right now. I just need to figure out a plan on how to handle everything first.”
“I get it. I just don’t think Iris deserves to have him as a friend.”
“I’m more afraid that she might try to use him as a pawn in her game.”
“I’ll still be friends with both of them,” Maddie suggested. “That way, I can keep an eye on Vince.”
“But Iris knows that you’re my best friend. She’ll know that I told you,” I insisted.
“And what’s she going to do about it without letting the truth drop in front of Vince? Trust me. I’ve got this. It’s all about playing the role. I decided this summer that it’s my goal to become a famous actress. Branden and I are going to Los Angeles next summer. He’s going to a filmmaking camp, and I’m going to an acting camp.”
“That’s awesome.” I said.
“It is. I’m really excited. But this will be my first real acting ‘job’.” Maddie made air quotes with her fingers. “I’ll give her the performance of my life.”
“Well, thank you.” It was relieving to know that someone would be watching out for Vince, even if it couldn’t be me.
“Don’t thank me. It’s just the right thing to do. I care about Vince, too, you know. He’s a really good friend.”
“He is.” And I was going to miss him like hell this year. Or, at least, until I figured out what to do about Iris.
“Branden’s having a party this Friday night, by the way. You know, to kick off the start of the school year,” Maddie informed me.
“It wouldn’t be the start of a school year without Branden throwing a party,” I replied with a laugh.
“Are you going to come? We’re throwing it the same place he held it last year.”
Last year, I had seen Milos for the first time ever in person at Branden Mitchell’s party. So much had happened since then, in just one year.
How did I know that Milos wouldn’t return this year, just because he could? I wouldn’t have put it past him.
“I don’t know, Maddie. The absolute last thing I want is to run into Iris,” I replied with a sigh.
“I promise I’ll kick her ass if she tries anything. Please?” Maddie shot me a pouty face. “It just wouldn’t be the same without you.”
I stared at her for a long moment before finally nodding. “Fine. I’ll be there. But if Iris tries anything, I don’t want you going near her. You can’t kick her ass’.”
“Fine.” Maddie rolled her dark brown eyes.
I hoped that she was hearing me and t
hat she wouldn’t actually try anything.
When it came down to it, Iris was a lot more powerful than my best friend knew.
After lunch came Deadly Lunar Magic with Caroline Wickburn in the Crescents’ House. It was also the first time that Vince and I had been in a class alone together.
When I got to the classroom, I was sort of relieved to find that the seats had all filled up quickly. The only open desk was across the room from where Vince was sitting.
That couldn’t have worked out more perfectly. The further away I was from him, the less likely I would be to spill the beans on what had really happened between Iris and I this past summer.
As Caroline Wickburn arrived to the classroom, I was surprised to find that she looked completely rejuvenated. Her naturally fair skin was glowing, and she had cut her auburn hair into a short hairstyle and added blonde highlights, which made her light eyes pop.
She also looked happy, which seemed odd, considering Javier Rodriguez, the half-ancient werewolf, half-vampire who she had been dating last year was no longer teaching at Werewolf Academy this year. I wondered if they were still together or not. I wasn’t sure if Caroline Wickburn knew it, but Javier and I were blood mates. Our blood mate bond had formed after he had compelled me to kiss him.
A blood mate was someone who a vampire was connected to for life. Meaning, Javier had to drink my blood every month for the rest of his life in order to live.
The only way to get out of the blood mate bond was if one of two things happened:
1). He wasn’t able to drink my blood at least once a month, which would cause not just him but both of us to die.
2). We killed him some other way, which would allow me to continue living.
Aiden felt that killing Javier should have been at the top of our to-do list. Even though I knew we did need to get rid of him at some point, I believed there were far more important things for us to do right now than kill him. The list of werewolves we needed to kill was quickly growing, to say the least.