Shadowblade Academy 1: Darkness Calls

by KC Kingmaker

  “Huh?”

  “Never mind.”

  He tilted his head, scoffing. When he looked back at me, his face was serious. “We want to invite you to join the Glove. Officially.”

  I narrowed my eyes and ground my teeth together. “Myria’s still out there, Sunny. You saw her.”

  “Right. You can call yourself a placeholder if that’ll make you feel better.”

  “It doesn’t.”

  “Do you want it or not?” He bared his teeth in frustration. Turning to his guys, he said, “Why do I always have to be the one to do this shit?”

  “Because you’re an asshole,” Venn answered.

  “You could use the practice,” Dax quipped.

  I thought for a moment. “Give it to Vivi. She’s better at this shadowcasting stuff than me.”

  Sunny put his hands on his hips. “Princess, you put a man’s soul back into his body. Don’t give me that shitty excuse. Plus, Vivi is still recovering. She wants a break from it all while she gets her head on straight. Apparently those drugs did a number on her. She can’t remember anything from the prison.”

  “Damn.”

  “And she might have warmed up to you, but she still hates me.”

  “Gee, I wonder why.”

  Sunny looked over my head, up to the sky. “Yeah, me too.”

  His sarcasm wasn’t lost on me. I couldn’t deny the giddiness that knotted itself in my belly, threatening to explode. The guys were finally calling me worthy of being one of them. I glanced from one face to the next, seeing gleaming anticipation in each of them. “You guys want this?”

  Venn and Dax nodded decisively. Sunny groaned, averted his gaze, and finally bobbed his head ever-so-slightly.

  “Fine. I’ll do it.”

  Sunny shot me a smoldering smirk that made my legs quiver. “Then welcome to Hudson’s Glove. Princess.”

  AFTER THE FESTIVITIES of my promotion to Phantom and my induction into Hudson’s Glove, Venn pulled me aside as I was walking to the mess hall with Charli.

  Charli hissed like a snake at Venn. I gave her a pointed look and a small nod, telling her it was fine and she could go on ahead. She did, but not before giving him the “I’m watching you” glare with two fingers pointed at her own eyes.

  Once alone, Venn said, “Has enough time passed, Coralia?”

  Boy, he was an eager one. “Enough time?” I asked, playing stupid.

  “For you to forgive me.”

  I sighed and leaned toward him, smelling his crisp, rainy scent. “Venn, dear, I forgave you when you risked your life for me in the prison facility.”

  “Really?”

  “You saved me.”

  “You would have done the same.”

  I scrunched my face. “Ehhh, would I have? In that moment?”

  He snickered. “Rude.” Then he looked both ways down the hall, saw no one was coming, and pulled me up against him. He tilted my chin and slammed his lips against mine, claiming my mouth.

  I let our tongues do the talking for a while, dancing and swirling. My hands wrapped around his taut body, feeling his muscles through his shirt.

  He separated on a breathless sigh. “It feels like I’ve waited years to do that again.”

  I searched his lavender eyes, which sparkled like they hid an entire cosmos inside. Something came to me—a reminder of everything I had been through with each of the Glovemates.

  “Venn, I don’t know how to say this . . .”

  “Oh no.” His face sank. “What is it, hun? Having second thoughts?”

  I shook my head adamantly. “No.” I couldn’t deny the pressure in my tummy, wanting to get out. Wanting to feel him inside me. “I . . . don’t want to be exclusive.”

  He cocked his head curiously, amusement twitching his lips. He didn’t look angry, just . . . curious. “Got your eye on someone else, Cor?”

  I shrugged, face flushing. “I might. It’s none of your business.”

  “It’s Dax.”

  “No!” I blurted, entirely too quickly. My face flamed even worse.

  “And Sunny.”

  “Definitely not!”

  Goddammit, I shouldn’t have said anything.

  He wasn’t wrong. I just wouldn’t admit it. Both of those guys intrigued me as much as Venn did. Sure, I felt like I had a piece of Venn inside me ever since we had done the dirty, but I wanted to see if the same thing was possible with Dax Kilmeade and Sunder Conway.

  See if I couldn’t crack through the mysterious barrier of the panther shifter, and the arrogant, aggressive wall of the vampire. They allured me.

  “That’s fine, babe,” Venn said. “I don’t mind sharing.” A lustful smirk hooded his eyes. “Actually sounds pretty kinky.”

  I frowned, shock and embarrassment rolling through me. “What! I never said all togeth—you know what.” I took a deep breath. “Never mind. Just. Never mind.”

  “Okay then, have we gotten that out of the way?”

  “Yes. Why?”

  “Because I can’t keep my hands off you any longer.”

  “Is that so?” I popped my eyebrows a couple times.

  “Yeah. Now then.” He looked both ways again, conspiratorially. “Where’s that fucking janitor’s closet you were talking about before . . .”

  HUDSON’S GLOVE STOOD before Headmaster Cane in his conference room. The four of us were shoulder to shoulder, hands clasped behind our backs. We were one man short because Quentin was still rehabbing at the infirmary. He’d been there a month, though we were expecting him to make a comeback soon.

  We were just glad he was still alive. The boys had never been happier, now that they got to see their Glove flourish again.

  Jace Hudson stood in front of us, hands also behind his back. We looked the very picture of a military troop being instructed by our drill sergeant, Alaric Cane.

  With just a few short sentences, Headmaster Cane changed the vibe and had the four of us glancing out the corners of our eyes at one another.

  “Jace Hudson, your Glove has succeeded in the Asberald City final. You returned two students to Shadowblade Academy. Your efforts will not go unrecognized.”

  “Thank you, Headmaster. My Knuckles deserve the accola—”

  “However,” the ancient man cut in, raising a bony finger. “You broke protocol numerous times along the way.” Alaric nudged his chin over Jace’s shoulder, to me and Sunny. “Those two left campus.”

  I noticed Jace’s hands, hidden behind his back, flex. “Sir, it was necessary. That was how we were able to discover the portal.”

  “Do you remember what I said last time something like this happened? When Sunder Conway caused Coralia Hargrave to accidentally Slip to her hometown?”

  Jace’s shoulders sank.

  Wait a minute. What the fuck’s going on? My corner-of-the-eye stares were becoming more worried.

  “Yes, Headmaster Cane, I remember. You said I was skating on thin ice.”

  “And?”

  “Not to let my Glove get out of hand again.”

  “And yet . . .” Alaric said, trailing off. He cleared his throat. “Here we are. On top of those transgressions, your Glove disobeyed command to eliminate every entity that wasn’t living, inside that prison. Had the demons gotten out—”

  “They didn’t,” Jace said emphatically, interrupting to defend himself. “They killed every Leatherwing in that place.”

  “But not the walking corpse.”

  Jace’s head reeled, hands unclasping from behind his back. “You mean Quentin?”

  “He was not alive at the time.”

  The Wrist shook his head, putting a palm to his forehead. “Headmaster, this is ridiculous. Coralia Hargrave brought Quentin Argyle back to us. Furthermore, I stand by my Glove: I would not have them kill their own Glovemate.”

  “Even if he was a walking monster? What if Coralia had failed in her unexplainable soul-transfer?” He looked over at me. “Which, young lady, we will be speaking about further in the futur
e.”

  “She didn’t fail,” Jace shot back. “She succeeded in doing something none of us had ever thought possible.”

  “And she disobeyed a direct final assignment order by doing it. I’m not convinced Sunder Conway, Dax Kilmeade, or Donovenn Gable would have killed Mr. Argyle—or whatever he was at that point—if it had been necessary. Because, as you just said, they are Mr. Argyle’s Glovemates.”

  “Sir, are you reprimanding me on . . . a hypothetical?”

  “I’m reprimanding you because Shadowblade Academy law dictates it!” Alaric screeched. He slammed a fist on the table in front of him, sending papers fluttering.

  The room became very quiet as he composed himself, fixing his stooped posture with a roll of his shoulders. “Jace Hudson, you are too reckless. As a Professor, your students in Physical Intent get harmed—a perfect example being Miss Hargrave here. As a Wrist, you work outside the bounds of the Gloves. Tell me, Mr. Hudson, do you think you are better than the other Wrists at the Academy, sir?”

  “Of course not. Sir.” Jace’s hands folded behind his back once more, and he struck a firm, rigid stance. “I just believe in my Knuckles. That’s all.”

  “Well, Shadowblade Academy is no place for your fast and loose behavior, I’m afraid.” The headmaster nodded morosely, clicking his tongue, like he was sad about what he was doing. “With that being said, I unfortunately have no choice but to terminate you from the Academy, in every aspect and from every position you hold. In short, Mr. Hudson, you’re fired.”

  My jaw dropped. Grumbles and raised voices sprouted up from my Glovemates.

  “This is bullshit!”

  “Wait, wait, hold on—he didn’t do anything wrong!”

  Only Jace had the dignity to stand tall, while the four of us spouted off and shot from the hip.

  As usual, for some unknown reason, Jace Hudson was taking the blame for our actions. He was being thrown under the bus. He was our fall guy, and I had a feeling he had always known he was expendable.

  Perhaps he had beef with a big Academy donor. Maybe with Alaric himself.

  “Is that all, sir?” Jace asked.

  Headmaster Cane nodded. “You’re dismissed. And seeing as that you’re no longer associated with Shadowblade Academy in any capacity, I must ask you to vacate the premises posthaste. Is that understood?”

  “Yes sir.”

  With that, Jace turned, gave us a soft frown, and walked past us. If he wanted to speak with us, clearly he didn’t want to do it in front of the headmaster.

  We all glared at Alaric, and he just waved us off in dismissal.

  Outside the conference room, we couldn’t find Jace anywhere.

  Sunny said, “Fuck this. We’re going to get to the bottom of this bullshit, team. Who’s with me?”

  We all nodded in unison.

  Then the vampire frowned at me. “Sorry, princess, but I guess I spoke too soon. You can’t really be a Knuckle to a Glove that doesn’t exist, can you?”

  I snorted in disbelief, gritting my teeth in frustration.

  Spirits eat my ass!

  Epilogue

  Dreamwatcher

  I SAT UP IN THE HOSPITAL bed, my skull aching and ringing, as it had been for what seemed like eons. The days were blurring together.

  Putting a hand to my temple, I groaned.

  I remembered everything. Unlike Genevieve Jade, who had been afflicted with some sort of amnesia after the prison in Asberald City, my body there had never had any memories to keep. My thoughts had joined me in the Spectral Realm when I became a wandering soul.

  My past—before Shadowblade Academy—was still a mystery. But my time in Hudson’s Glove, leading up to the failed Ghost final? I remembered it all.

  I recalled falling off that building—or, rather, being tossed off the building by the winged demon. I remembered plummeting through limbo, dropping into a black portal etched into the ground, rather than splattering skull-first on the concrete.

  From there, everything went hazy, as my mind became separated from my body. From there, I had been lost.

  Until she came along.

  First she found me in the Spectral Realm. She enticed me, this Coralia Hargrave. So beautiful, so pure, so . . . spirited.

  Then she found my body in the human world.

  And, somehow, she merged the two of us and made me whole again.

  Ever since then, during my weeks-long recuperation, I hadn’t been able to get the girl out of my mind. My Glovemates were infatuated with her like she was Myria reborn. If anything, they seemed even more intrigued with this one.

  Just like me.

  Because what she didn’t know was that she had left a part of herself with me. When she fused my soul with my body, combining my Spectral Self with my Human Self, she had dropped a part of her own soul inside me.

  Now it was marinating. I held onto it like a priceless heirloom. It was something I couldn’t part with.

  Yes, I was going to get close to this Coralia Hargrave. I was going to discover who she really was.

  And then I’m going to make her mine.

  To Be Continued!

  Dive into Coralia and her Glovemates’ next journey with Shadowblade Academy 2: Darkness Rising!

  Thank you for all the support from my fans and readers! You make writing these books possible.

  If you haven’t gotten a chance, retrace your steps with my first reverse harem PNR academy series, “Briarwitch Academy,” to learn all about Dawn Rose and her epic cast of friends and lovers:

  Check out the series box set right here!

  Set in the same universe as all these books is my second series about Levia Sunfall and her steamy dragon shifter mates:

  Take a look at Dragon Shifter Dominion here!

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  About the Author

  KC KINGMAKER LIVES in San Diego and has been writing and reading fantasy and romance for years.

  Briarwitch Academy was KC’s first foray into paranormal romance, trying to bridge the genres to make something steamy, funny, mysterious, action-packed, and most of all, fun!

  Dragon Shifter Dominion came after, trying to meld that same steaminess with traditional fantasy, to create a romantic fantasy explosion!

  Shadowblade Academy, KC’s third series, is technically a spin-off of Briarwitch Academy, though it can be read as a standalone series. It has just as much intrigue and mystery and steam as the others, but things get a bit darker...