by Cara Wylde
But I couldn’t think about the incubus and the sphinx now. Adrian had said he’d always be there to pull me out if I decided to travel to the Great Old Ones’ universe again. I knew that when he’d said it, he’d meant it. Things had changed, though. So, I figured… why not try to do it alone? The first time, the sleeping pills had been the problem. I dumped them in the toilet and flushed. I was a natural. I could do this without any sleep aids, and without a guardian. I could do it right.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Three times I dream jumped alone before I had to admit that I was missing something. Body asleep, mind awake – I found myself in the point of neutrality first, and then right on the beach with the black sand without noticing the transfer between the two places. I’d cross the beach, enter the tropical forest, walk on the black stone platform up to the tower. And no matter how many times I tried to go around it, I couldn’t. The sky would get dark, the thunder would begin, and the creature from the depths would emerge to the surface time and time again. It was like a loop. Yes, that was the word. I was stuck in a loop. The only difference was that Adrian wasn’t there to force me out of my dream, so it always lasted a few minutes longer. I would look up and see the giant sea monster like a shadow on the horizon, its head parting the clouds, its tentacles covering every inch of its body. I couldn’t distinguish the details, and it wasn’t because I was too far away. It didn’t look like anything I’d ever seen, and my brain simply couldn’t put the elements of its deformed body together and come up with a coherent image. As the monster stepped onto the beach, I’d wake up covered in sweat, cold shivers rattling my bones.
I was missing something. I should have probably asked Aunt Katia, but I didn’t. I had no idea why. There was something at the back of my head – a voice – that was telling me that I was supposed to do this alone. I felt like a failure. So, I tried again, and again. I couldn’t find the damned flower! Gilgamesh had found it, Aunt Katia had picked it countless times, and here I was, unable to find the solution to the space-time loop, so I could move the hell on and be useful to Adrian and his daughter for once!
I became a ghost. I performed my daily duties on autopilot. Got up in the morning, washed my face, brushed my teeth, took a shower. I went to breakfast, but I was never hungry anymore, so I didn’t eat. I barely spoke to anyone. In class, I was physically present, but mentally absent. My grades were in the gutter, my worth score was close to zero. I vaguely heard people talking about me, wondering if I was okay… Maybe Headmaster Colin showed concern once, but I couldn’t be sure. It was as if my brain didn’t want to register memories from this dimension anymore. I lived there, now – in the universe of the cosmic spawns. Was I losing myself? I couldn’t tell. There was no way to diagnose it, was it? Who could say if I was still whole, or if pieces of my soul were missing? I didn’t dwell on it. I had one goal: to make this work. I was convinced that if I kept going there every night, I would discover something, unravel a clue that would help me break the loop. Never once did I think I could have tried to jump to another dimension on the network Aunt Katia had drawn for me. Never once did I ask myself if the point of neutrality was truly… the point of neutrality. I was doing everything right. Wasn’t I? But I was stuck, so maybe… I was doing everything wrong?
It called to me. That place, that dimension, that black stone crawling with moving symbols. The tower called to me, the forest whispered my name. Coral skeletons washed ashore and arranged themselves in the shape of letters. They spelled my name. And the creature… the monster… the cosmic being… It came closer every time. I woke up later every time. But never once did I think that one of these nights…
One of these nights, I’d wake up too late.
One of these nights, I wouldn’t wake up at all.
It consumed me.
And the strange thing was…
I wanted to be consumed.
* * *
My bare feet sloshed through warm water. I instinctively knew rust stained my ankles as I walked, my toes clinging to the slippery stone hiding under the water to help me keep my balance. My eyes were open, but I couldn’t see. I wasn’t supposed to be here. My hand brushed the rounded peak of a stalagmite as I walked past it. Candles flickered in the semi-darkness. My foot hit the edge of a platform, and I raised it higher to step onto it. There was no water here, but the stone was still warm to the touch. One step, two, three… I reached out, and my hands came in contact with the low exterior wall of the well. I traced the symbols etched into it with my fingers, then leaned forward. My long hair slipped over my shoulder, rushing toward the dark depths of the well. The air was heavy, humid, and it smelled like death. I wasn’t worried, though. I’d seen Death in all her glory when I was a child. I’d looked her in the eyes, and she’d blessed me. Nothing could touch me, nothing could hurt me, nothing…
Because I was never born, so I could never die. So, Death… Death was kind and all, but she was just a person. A supernatural like any other. She had no power over me because I existed outside of her and her twin, Life. I existed outside of this dimension, outside of this entire network. I was. I simply was, and I…
Voices came from afar.
“What is she doing?”
“Is she sleep-walking?”
“What is this place?”
“Professor Wyvern, I don’t think we should be here.”
“Shut up and help me restrain her!”
They were pulling at my arms, lifting me off the ground. I kicked my legs, and one of them caught my ankles and immobilized them in a strong grip. I screamed, scratched, and bit. I struggled like a beast, trying to get free, trying to get back to the well, trying to throw myself into the well, because I had to! The voice kept whispering in my head that I had to get down there. Everything depended on it!
“Let me go! Let go! Please!” When they held me tighter, I screamed at the top of my lungs. I screamed like a banshee, and the echo carried my voice down the tunnels, into the forest, to the ocean, up through the secret passages inside Grim Reaper Academy.
“Krause, get her feet! Don’t let her hit you! For real?”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I don’t know what I’m doing!”
“What’s happening to her?”
“Khepri, shut up and help me carry her to the beach.”
“How is she so fucking strong?!”
“She’s not herself…”
“Professor Wyvern, is she possessed?”
“Just… let’s get her out of here…”
Their voices were fading. I went limp in their arms, as little by little, my consciousness slipped out of my body.
Darkness.
THE END
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Year Two: Rebels
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Isolated from the world. Locked up because I’m a danger to others and to myself. Who would’ve thought I’d end up in the Karmic Asylum? They throw in here the supernaturals who’ve gone mad or rogue, they pump them full of drugs and potions, and wait for them to wither away. This won’t happen to me, because I have friends in high places. My Grim Reaper cousin, Mila, will come to my rescue. All I have to do is wait.
When Mila doesn’t show up, I start losing hope. Then, the tree men who I thought were my enemies get me out of this nightmarish prison, and I realize I owe them my sanity. Davien, the incubus – he will consume my soul. Seth, the sphinx – he’s worshipped me all this time; how didn’t I see it? Adrian, the Unseelie warrior… He wants something from me, something I’m not sure I can give him. He begs me to save the most important woman in his life. And no, that’s not me…
Absolutely make sure you read Grim Reaper Academy, the entire series, for Mila’s crazy story! Available in Kindle Unlimited!<
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Want more Academy Romance by Cara Wylde?
Check out Lure Academy – a paranormal M/M/F romance standalone (not bully)!
Lure Academy
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Lure Academy. A place ruled by demons of love and lust. A place where cambions – the offspring of incubi and succubi – come to learn how to control their powers and use them to protect mankind. Lure Academy is the only place that curvy, insecure Sophie can finally call home.
Sophie’s first day at the Academy is equally exciting and frightening. She will attend the Midnight Ceremony and choose a mentor who will help her tap into her hidden magic. The problem is that the second she meets hot, dangerous Kain and sexy, mysterious Alexi, Sophie realizes it will be impossible for her to make up her mind. What if she chooses both of them? Would it be too much for her, a young and inexperienced apprentice, to handle?
Kain and Alexi are the best cambions Lure Academy has. They’ve been secretly attracted to each other for months, and now it so happens that they want the same thing: to possess Sophie. Will she bring them together, or tear them apart? Every time the three of them meet, sparks fly and the air around them becomes heavy with desire.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cara Wylde loves to write about strong, feisty women and their hot Alphas who will do anything to make them happy. Her books are filled with romance and just a dash of mystery, suspense, and that eerie atmosphere she fell in love with reading too many gothic novels. With a master's degree in Comparative Literature, she can't help but play with tropes and themes from various genres, trying to come up with fresh perspectives on the paranormal characters her readers love so much. Vampires, shapeshifters, demons, witches... Cara will always make sure they get their own twists.
When she's not writing, Cara is reading, planning her next story, or daydreaming. Oh! And also studying and reading Tarot. If you’re interested, you can visit her Tarot Website.
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