by Holly Ice
I didnae think the barghest had any appreciation for its timing.
‘Are we starting in the middle of the school year?’ Kaylee asked.
It wasn’t like I hadn’t done that. Though it’d be odd to start a term in November. But… witch school. What counted as odd here?
‘Oh, no. This is actually the start of the school year, technically, but we have new arrivals every term. Students arrive when their power manifests, such as yourselves, or they can join from the first term after their eighteenth birthday. Later, if they wish. So, students mark each year from the term they arrive. Compulsory modules alternate each term so every student completes the required content.’
That meant I’d have no idea which students were new or old faces, even in beginner classes. I’d have to go on trial and error.
McKee waited for us at the top of the stairs.
Ah, the bragging area.
Oil portraits of old headmasters lined the wood-panelled walls, labelled with their names and years of tenure, the last finishing a year ago, which went some way to explaining McKee’s enthusiasm. He was still new.
A section of the wall was spared for a glass trophy cabinet opposite the stairs. The awards weren’t the usual sports achievements. They included ‘elemental all-rounder’, ‘fire champion’, and ‘ice sculpture creativity winner’.
And on a wooden plaque to the right was a long list of head boys and head girls, their names hand-painted in calligraphy.
That settled it. This school was real. Whatever they’d planned, no one went through this much effort for a lie.
‘There are only two houses?’ Kaylee asked, pointing to the two head boy and girl columns labelled Animalis and Cognata.
‘Yes. Houses are assigned based on your familiar.’
‘Familiar? Are you expecting me to adopt a cat?’ I wasn’t ready to take on that kind of responsibility. Especially when our landlord didn’t allow pets.
‘No.’ McKee chuckled. ‘No, not at all. Familiars are a magical guide. Aether chooses their form. You’ll first see them after the initiation ceremony.’
He missed a lot of details. Did they have personalities, form? Did they follow me around?
I sighed. This place had to improve their intake procedures. They’d thrown me from one big reveal to another with no time to catch my breath.
I’d met social workers like that. Talking a mile a minute and running out the door before you had a chance to explain the situation. Or object.
McKee swept down the left corridor, taking us the entire length of the building, up a few flights of stairs, and around a tight turn until he got to another large wooden door, this one with a regal woman’s painting to its left. ‘This is the women’s wing, where you’ll be staying.’
‘You don’t mix genders?’ Kaylee asked, frowning. ‘Most universities do.’
‘Rarely across one floor. We’ve found our students feel safer and more secure when separated at night.’
‘Of course,’ Kaylee said.
I internally rolled my eyes. All these rules. The second they turned their back, they’d be broken. Or did they plan to station monitors in the hallways?
‘Ah, here. This is yours. Room eighty-four.’ He reached into his pocket and took out two silver bracelets. ‘These unlock your bedroom and all doors you’re permitted to access. Please keep them on your wrist at all times. If you lose your bracelet, speak to Mel to get a replacement and have your old bracelet deactivated.’
Kaylee nodded and held her wrist out.
I waited and took mine from him. Then stared at it. The flat bangle-like design looked like real silver. It even had maker’s marks. And it was weighty. For all students to have these, they had more than enough money to spare. Could the fund be real, too?
McKee gestured for Kaylee to open the door to our room. She twisted the handle.
The room was a decent size with two single beds, two desks, a bookshelf filled with books, and two chests of drawers, which I hoped held something for me to wear because Kaylee and I did not share the same sense of style, or the same height. She was maybe five foot six to my five foot nine.
McKee gestured to our beds. Thick wads of paper bound by metal rings rested on the jewel-blue bedspreads. ‘Please read the orientation chapters before you see Mel about your schedules. You’ll find everything you need about our school, its rules, and what you can expect there. Even familiars, if that’s your worry.’ He winked at me, and I cringed inside. ‘If you have questions, Mel will be happy to enlighten you.’
‘Where’s the bathroom?’ I asked. Our room didn’t have any other doors, and I desperately needed a shower.
‘Left and down the hall. There’s a map of the building and grounds in your books.’
‘And towels?’
‘Provided in the drawers.’ He gestured to them and took a deep breath. ‘Great. If that’s it, I’ll let you rest.’
‘How about my phone?’
‘Who has it?’ McKee asked, eyebrow raised.
‘Andris, I think.’
‘Then you’d best talk to Mel when she’s back in her office tomorrow. He listens to her more than the rest of us.’
McKee looked between us and, on no reaction, ducked out the room, closing the door behind him.
I gazed out of the arched window to our top-floor room. It looked out onto the trees and the lake bank to the side of the property. It’d be nice to wake up to that each morning, providing I got my only link to the outside world back. That’d do a lot to make this place feel more like a school and less like a prison.
‘I’ll take this one,’ Kaylee said, leaving her suitcase by the end of the left bed and plunking herself on the covers.
‘No problem.’ People like her were best left getting what they wanted, at least until I cared about the result.
I rummaged through my chest of drawers and found jeans, tops, hoodies, jackets, coats, and an unopened pack of underwear and socks. Even towels and spare bedsheets. Enough to hold me over until my stuff arrived.
I flung a towel over my shoulder. After a long shower, I’d tackle that doorstop of a rule book to find out what this school offered me. And what everyone’s crappy explanations missed.
Chapter 5
I woke late to thrown open curtains and the sun streaming onto my face. Hot and sweaty. A wonderful way to ruin last night’s shower, especially since the school forgot to include deodorant in my supplies. And Kaylee was nowhere to be seen, though she’d left her suitcase wide open and her clothes strewn across her bed. She wasn’t as neat at home as she was outside. Figured. I’d use something suitable from her collection of bathroom supplies before I left for the day.
Stretching to sitting, I searched for the guide to the school and found it on the floor. I must have dropped it when I read about the vocational subjects. It didn’t make sense to choose them when I didn’t understand this world, but I could switch later, and most of the magic modules were mandatory. My main choices were for things like maths and art.
Still, what I wanted most was my phone. My housemates needed to know I was okay.
I changed into a thick, fleece-lined hoodie and loose jeans, and slipped my feet in my usual black Converse, then braved the halls.
No echoing footsteps today. The dorm bustled with people, most of them chatting. They hurried in and out of their rooms, slamming doors, bringing boys into the area, and animatedly discussing which house they expected people to be sorted into, or which subject would be the hardest.
It was almost impossible to pinpoint who belonged to this world and who arrived in it recently. Although some older students were obvious since they used magic to carry stacks of books, read and turn pages on the move, or hold their drink between sips.
A few people smiled, nodded, or opened their mouths to start conversation, but I hugged the wall until I reached the trophy cabinet and the stairs. Mel was in an admin office to the left of the front door, if I was reading my map correctly. That had been where she s
aid she’d be, right? I turned the map sideways, double-checking, but the map was definitely the right way around.
I went through my subject choices again as I stared at the map, and my arguments for getting my phone back. The orientation book confirmed my stay here was covered and that the academy was well respected. So Andris didn’t have a reason to hold on to my phone any longer. I was willing to give this place a try.
‘New here?’ a deep voice asked.
I looked over the paper and met the eyes of a guy who turned my knees to goo. My cheeks heated.
He glanced over my shoulder and guided me to the left, out the way of a group of guys stampeding downstairs.
I smiled my thanks, and he smiled back.
Sinfully sexy, he oozed dark, rough charm. Intricate landscape and wildlife tattoos curled over his forearm towards his pushed-up black leather jacket sleeves. And he had the richest hazel eyes, like a leaf turning from green to brown.
I took a slow breath, only to take a shaky step back.
He smelt like the outdoors, fresh and woodsy. And he was tall, too, over six foot and tanned with strong cheekbones.
He frowned, sending my head into meltdown. Bad boy leant closer, hands now stuffed in his pockets. ‘So, are you new?’
Right. Talking. ‘I arrived yesterday.’
‘So you’re one of the Edinburgh finds.’
‘I’m not a find.’
He waved his words away. ‘You’ll be going to Mel for your schedule?’
I nodded towards the stairs. ‘That’s the plan.’
‘Did I miss our other new arrival?’
‘I don’t know. I’m not her keeper.’ And why was he asking? Was it him wanting to meet the new witches? That could’ve been friendly, but that didn’t explain the frown.
He ran his tongue over his bottom lip and opened his mouth to say something when a group of guys came upstairs. All were varying degrees of muscular apart from one.
The skinny one nodded to me and my map, and then to Mr Gorgeous. ‘You ready, Shane?’ he asked.
Shane – why did he have to have a sexy name? – nodded, and they trooped downstairs, like he’d never stopped me.
What the hell was that all about?
* * *
I left Mel’s office with my new schedule folded and shoved in my back pocket beside the school grounds map. But Mel – my new hero – put the smile on my face. She’d stomped across the road and returned with my phone.
I was low on battery, but I had to check in.
Finn didn’t let it ring long. ‘Bee! What happened? People came around today saying you’d gotten a scholarship to some university in another country? You never said you’d applied anywhere. You should have warned me.’
I climbed to my dorm room. He probably fretted all night. I’d even wanted that kind of reaction then.
‘I’m sorry. It was all last minute. They basically scooped me off the street and said I had to start today.’
Best to stick close to the truth when hiding a bombshell like this. The introductory rulebook said humans that learned about the supernatural had their memories wiped. And it wasn’t a straightforward process. They often ended up in the mental hospital or in need of serious therapy.
‘Was there a dropout or something?’
‘Must have been.’
He sounded more reasonable now. I was convincing him. And I actually wanted to. Going to university had always been an aim. I just couldn’t afford it. And here it was, given to me, expenses paid. I wasn’t going to relax yet. They could kick me out at any moment. But, for the time being, I’d see how well this worked out.
‘Well, I made sure they got everything you’d need. Rhea helped.’
Good. I didn’t want him going through my more personal drawers.
‘Did they say when it’ll arrive?’
‘No, but I checked the airlines. There are a few flights a week, depending which airport you fly from. Next flight to Riga is tomorrow.’
Right, he’d search for commercial flights. So my stuff could come earlier, depending how much they valued it getting here. At least I had more to wear than my manky work clothes. Oh, shit! ‘How did my boss take it?’
Finn snorted. ‘How do you think? You upped and left without notice. I’d not ask him for a reference. You blew that one.’
‘Damn.’ I bit my tongue. If this didn’t work out, I’d need good references to get a new job.
‘Yeah, well. It could be worse. The guy is an arsehole.’
‘Too true.’ I smiled as I walked along the corridor, almost at my dorm room. ‘I should go. We start tomorrow, and I need to make sure I’ve got my schedule straight.’
‘Wow. You weren’t kidding about it being last minute. Did they give you a reading list yet?’
I smiled, thinking of my ‘name’ for a book of monsters that Luka so enjoyed. ‘No, not yet. But I think it’ll be a long one.’
I’d have a lot to catch up on. The tome on my bed said students raised in magical families went to junior magic schools where they learned preparatory material, especially the theory behind handling instinctive magic, like what I’d used to save myself. Which meant I was at a huge disadvantage if I didn’t throw myself into all there was to learn. And I wasn’t a big reader.
I’d have thought there was a magic shortcut, but the older students levitating books wasn’t promising.
‘Okay, well, you’ll let us know how it goes?’
Ugh. I’d been quiet too long. ‘Sorry, Finn. A lot is on my mind. This place is insane. Of course I’ll update you. And they settled the rent, aye?’ I bit my tongue.
‘Yeah. Can’t believe that was included. They paid for an entire year!’
I blew out my breath. Even I hadn’t known they’d be so generous.
‘Amazing, right? You lucked out, Bee.’
It seemed so. ‘You should see this place, Finn. They must have enough to pay for all of us one thousand times over.’
‘Send pics! And get me an invite.’
‘Will do. And I think they’re full, but I’ll try.’
I hung up and looked around my room. I wanted to find the gym and get some dancing stretches in to my favourite songs, but I wasn’t in the mood to meet anyone else yet, so I stuck on some R&B while the bedroom was empty, and ran through my flexibility stretches in the space between the beds.
* * *
The next day I woke early to my alarm – a blaring reggaeton song in full Spanish from Wisin y Yandel.
‘Turn that crap off!’ Kaylee clamped her pillow to her head, her voice muffled. ‘What are they even saying?’
I let the alarm ring for fifteen full seconds. She deserved some pain. She’d kept me awake half the night typing, with the sound on, and without reducing the screen brightness. And then she had a late-night phone call to her parents who were overjoyed she was accepted into such a prestigious university and eager to ken what clubs she’d joined and which subjects she’d chosen.
The front to the human world was complete. The school’s website and records even convinced Finn, and he was a stickler for investigating potential schools, reading reports at least five years old.
I threw the covers back and plucked jeans, a hoodie, and a long-sleeved top from the dresser. From what I’d seen of the other students, I shouldn’t stand out, but I was new to the school and to magic, and likely to be stared at for that alone, if my introduction to Shane was anything to go by. The book had said throwbacks were rare. Just my luck. I finally get thrown into a magical world, and I find out I’m a curiosity.
Like calls to like. I had to remember that. I could find my people here. Or at least people who understood me.
I grabbed my school map and schedule and headed out the door. The initiation thing was scheduled before breakfast, which had to be a new kind of torture. No one wanted to hear the headmaster go on and on about school rules and houses when their belly was crying out for food. And coffee. Coffee was an important food group.
Kaylee stirred behind me as I shut the door.
I hurried downstairs through a positive sea of students and frowned. All of them had leather jackets. I definitely hadn’t missed mine. I’d gone through all the drawers, and nothing like that was there or I’d have worn it.
The arched double doors to the main hall were an exact replica of the entrance. Even the knockers. I wasn’t touching them this time.
‘Bianca! Wait over here, please, with the other new students.’ Mel pointed me to a small huddle of students without the leather jackets.
So, I hadn’t missed it.
I joined the group but didn’t offer much more than a hello. I didn’t do good mornings. Good mornings involved coffee. Or lie-ins.
Other students streamed past. I kept my eye out for Mr Gorgeous, but Shane must already be inside the hall. It was so weird how he’d asked if I was a new find, and then left. What was I, some kind of circus freak? The more I thought about the encounter, the weirder it got.
Kaylee snuck downstairs at a minute to eight.
Mel beamed. ‘That’s everyone! Let’s get you inside.’
She opened the doors and, I swear, every single student in the room turned and looked.
That’s when I noticed their jackets had different patches on the sleeves. Students on the left side of the room sported the dragon and the right the weird skull thing. They must represent the houses. Though far more students sat on the left than the right of the room. Didn’t most schools try to equalise the students in each house? How could competitions be fair if one team was three times larger than the other?
Mel led us between the two groups, towards two empty rows of seats by the stage.
And I did not like the circled pentagram they’d drawn in black powder, surrounded by strange runic symbols. What did they have to do to get our familiar to appear? Summon demons?
‘Hurry now. We’re ready to begin.’ Mel was almost giddy.
I kept to the back of the group and claimed a seat at the end of a row. Whatever this was, I wanted to see it happen before I got involved. They’d taken pretty much every decision since I left work out of my hands, including my clothes. But if I didn’t like this initiation, I wasn’t getting on that stage unless they brought Justin back to force me up there.