by Demi Dumond
Because I was concentrating on arguing with Ivy, I somehow didn't see the six-foot-five-behemoth of a student striding down the halls until I barreled straight into him, falling on my ass in the process. It was like having a run in with a terminator. This guy was massive, and he walked with a swagger I had never seen.
Ivy laughed as I lay on the marble tile floor looking up at him. He had shoulder length brown hair, a strong jawline, and a ruggedly handsome face. His brown eyes roamed over me. The expression he wore looked like he was trying to decide if I was prey or not.
After a moment, he reached down and helped me up. The moment our hands touched; I felt a surge of electricity that I had never felt before. He reacted to the touch as well, with a frown and a growl. A real, feral, make your hair stand on end animal growl.
Once I was upright, he walked away quickly, leaving me to wonder if he was even real.
A furious, red-faced Ivy turned to face me. "There's one more rule, you idiot. Stay away from Rafe. He's the big bad wolf. Trust me, you can't handle him. And I take back my offer, you can find the cafeteria on your own."
10
Rafe
What the hell was that? As soon as I knocked down the new girl in the hall, something happened inside of me.
My wolf jumped out so fast I nearly shifted right there in the hallway. My body heat rose, and my heart pounded out of my chest.
One look at her and I knew. She was my mate. My body reacted to her and my wolf lost it. He wanted to throw the new girl against the wall right there in the hallway and take her. Right in front of Ivy.
Awkward. And stupid. This was the last thing I needed to deal with right now.
I forced the wolf to back down and sucked in a few deep breaths. This was complicated.
Pack life had been so much simpler before the academy. Now that I had lost touch with my pack in the outside world, nothing made sense anymore.
And the last thing I needed was a fucking sexy new girl bringing out my wolf.
I knew Ivy would be pissed, even though I had fought back all of my urges. She knew.
I decided the only thing I could do right now was to push my wolf down and move forward. I had to put this behind me. Just because my wolf reacted to her, that didn’t mean I had to give in.
11
Keira
Ivy was gone, and she was pissed. Great start, Keira. Was that Rafe guy her boyfriend or something? I stood there in the middle of the hallway thinking about what just happened while the other students went around me.
I figured it was best to leave some space between me and Ivy. I had to eat in the same cafeteria as her and Mr. Giant McSteamy, and I wanted to avoid another awkward confrontation.
"Sorry about them." I heard a girl's voice in the crowd and wondered if it was aimed at me. I whirled around to see who it belonged to. Turned out it was a girl around my height with blonde curls, blue eyes, and a red moon tattoo on her right forearm.
"What?" I asked over the noise of the crowd.
The girl smiled. "Sorry about Ivy and Rafe. They are the most annoying couple in school, but you'll get used to them. You're the new girl, right?"
I had to admit I was happy she seemed genuine. I was starting to wonder if three months dealing with the intense assholes that were my fellow students here would cause me to lose my sense of humor like Ivy suggested.
"Thanks," I said. "I'm Keira. And yes, I'm the new girl."
"Bree," she said. "I heard about you. Lowest magic entrance exam in the history of the school. I'm afraid you'll be putting up with a lot from the Ivys of the Academy with that hanging over you."
I frowned. "Hey, I had never taken a magical test before. The whole thing felt more like a trick if you ask me.”
The girl smiled again, then she started walking, indicating that I should follow. I fell into step.
"That does sound like something our front office would do. Want to have breakfast with me?"
"Yes," I said, "but won't your reputation take a hit eating with the magic-deficient new girl?" I wondered why she brought it up if it didn’t bother her.
"Oh, you'll find I'm much more evolved than most of the students here. I do my own thing," she answered.
"Oh," I said with a smile. "A rebel, I like it."
Bree got to the door of the cafeteria first and held it open for me.
The two of us filed into a very large cafeteria. It had a typical serving area in the back of the room, and typical chairs and tables that could be found in any college or high school.
The décor, however, was anything but ordinary. In fact, it was the most magical thing I had seen since I got here last night.
The windows didn't look real, they looked like holograms or something because the view out of them was of a rural English countryside, not the courtyard and forest I had seen from my dorm window.
The lamps were beautiful, ornate, and shimmered when I walked past. I stopped and ran my fingers through them. They flickered, but then came right back.
Bree gave me a quizzical look. "You really don't know anything about magic? I thought you were being ironic back there."
"I am new to the whole magic thing, but trust me, I'm also as ironic as they come."
Bree led me to the serving line. "Well, let's get our food before you get distracted again." In front of us shuffled all the other students in their crested blazers and skirts, waiting their turn.
The food smelled delicious and was served by smiling chefs. There were lots of choices including bacon and eggs, pastries and muffins. Oh, and pancakes as well as little quiches. I had never eaten so well out in the real world. Score one for us magic freaks.
My mouth actually watered looking over everything. On second thought, this magic academy might be worth it just for the food and lodging. All I had to do now was bring the magic, a prospect that still had me worried.
I chose pancakes, eggs, and bacon and followed Bree through the sea of tables to a quiet area in the back of the cafeteria where a few other girls were already seated. There were exactly two seats left at the table. Bree and I sat down.
"Oh, now I see why you're late, Bree," said one of the girls. She had brown hair and wore it in a tight bun. "The new girl latched on to you.”
I sat and made eye contact. What was everybody’s problem with me?
“I heard she's the reason Billy got hurt."
"Who’s Billy?” I asked. “Or is this about that stupid prophecy? Because I showed up last night, everything is my fault?" I balled my fists, but forced a smile, hoping that the accusations sounded as stupid out loud to her as they did to me.
I was getting tired of being called new girl. And I was also tired of being the convenient scapegoat for whatever the hell was going on here.
Either way I decided to at least try to be friendly, there was no use in making a bunch of enemies for no reason. "My name's Keira." I said. "And you are?"
"Full." Wavy hair said, pushing her empty plate forward. "You guys had better eat up, breakfast is almost over." She leaned in. "From what I hear, you'll have to make your food disappear the old-fashioned way, since you don't have any magic."
"Alright, ease off, Chelsea," Bree said. "Or shall I tell some stories of your first week here? Maybe some nice, juicy pre-shifter stories?"
Chelsea's face turned a satisfactory shade of red. She opened and then closed her mouth before settling into a crossed-arms pout. Then Bree shot me a reassuring smile.
It made me feel better. The next thing I knew the bell rang and breakfast was over. It was time for my first class.
12
Keira
"Oh hell," I said out loud, trying to find the right classroom. For a moment, I allowed myself to get pulled along by the crowd. Hopefully it was at least going in the right direction.
Of course, my first period class had to be Professor Kiln’s Magical Theory and Practice. She already hated me, so I didn’t want to be late.
This place was going to take some getting used
to. At the last minute, I found the right door. That’s when I realized I was on a collision course with Malachai.
I had to practically crash into him to get across the tide of students passing through to get into the classroom. Luckily, I pulled away at the last minute and avoided him while still making it in the door.
Once inside, I couldn't help but be impressed. The classroom was huge. Big enough for sixty or so students. While normal looking outside, the inside of the classroom was made to look like a castle, with sturdy gray brick and torches everywhere. The ceiling was the same, and the shades to all the windows were drawn. With the torches as the only source of light in the room, I had to squint to see, but it was a very cool effect.
Malachi went to a seat in the middle of the room. I made my way to the very back of the class and found a seat next to a girl dressed in ripped jeans and a black t-shirt. She had long black hair, dark eyes, and was slumped back in her chair like she didn't have a care in the world. For once, I saw somebody I actually wanted to make friends with.
I took out a notepad and pen. Not having any idea what was going on was intimidating as hell and I planned to keep as low a profile as possible until I could figure things out.
All of a sudden, the chair I was sitting in scooted loudly across the dirty tile floor in the opposite direction of the girl next to me. I turned around bewildered, holding on for dear life to my things until the chair stopped moving. That brought a round of laughter around me.
My eyes locked onto ripped jeans girl, who glared at me. "Personal space," she said, giving me a dirty look, "ever heard of it?"
"Sure, yeah, my bad," I deadpanned. “Classy. Let the new girl hazing begin.”
That’s when everybody’s gaze shot to the front of the room. Professor Kiln didn't enter the room as much as get swept into it. She wore a pointy hat today and held a stack of books that she promptly threw onto the desk with a loud thud that echoed loudly in the castle classroom.
The atmosphere in this place was perfect. I was sure that if I closed my eyes and concentrated for a moment, I could hear dank water dripping off in the distance and screams of prisoners in dungeons. If magic conjured up the interior of this classroom, then I couldn't wait to learn more about it.
For a moment, I realized I was having fun and hoped that maybe Professor Kiln could just let go of whatever the hell last night was. Especially since I didn’t understand it myself. Maybe we could start fresh now that we were officially teacher and student.
"Well, class, today we were scheduled to learn the ins and outs of portals and interdimensional communications, but something has come up. So, I'm going to need you all to come to the front of the class and demonstrate a proper burst-style protection spell."
The class groaned in unison. There were a few complaints of again? I looked around, horrified. A dozen hands shot up in the air.
"Yes, Kevin?" The professor asked.
"This is first year stuff. We're way past that now," he complained.
"Technically you're all still first years, even though this is one of the most advanced classes I've had in years." More hands went up.
"Sally? How can I help you?"
"We already did the burst protection months ago, remember?"
Kiln slumped into her chair with a sigh. "I remember, Sally. Look, if any of you have a problem with today's lesson, you can march yourselves right into Julius Crowe’s office and tell him yourself." She stared at the students until all the hands went down.
"That's what I thought," she said, her eyes flashing in anger as they scanned the room.
Fear washed over me and I slumped as far down as the chair would allow, trying to hide behind several tall students who happened to be sitting between me and Professor Kiln. It didn't save me though. Those beady eyes scanned the room until she found me with a smirk of satisfaction.
"Keira," she announced my name with glee. "We have a new student, everybody. And I'm pretty sure she's never done a burst protection spell."
I felt like I couldn't breathe. I just got here, and this was my very first class. I hadn't had time to learn the first thing about magic and Kiln was calling me out? I could feel the glare of the others.
"Who would like to come up and demonstrate for her?" Kiln asked. There was a distinct lack of hands shooting up in the air.
I sat there; my cheeks hot with shame. If I knew any magic at all, I'd have used it to make myself invisible. I held my breath as everyone stared at me. Exactly zero hands shot up.
Then one hand did. The girl next to me. "Fine," she said, bringing her hand down on her desk with a slap that made me jump. "If it will move things along, I'll demonstrate."
"Excellent, Madison," Professor Kiln said. "Please come to the front of the class."
Oh shit. I'm going to have to do my patented brand of little to no magic in front of everybody. I considered getting up and running out of the classroom, but I knew this would all catch up to me eventually. There was no way out.
Madison went to the front of the class. She nodded at Kiln and then stood there like she was assuming a tai chi power pose or something. The students in the first row scooted their chairs noisily backward.
Madison waited until they were done. She held her hands fingers up and splayed, like she was surrendering. She inhaled and held her breath. Then she blinked and exhaled, and when she did, she pushed her fingers downward.
I gasped as blue sparks erupted from her fingers outward in every direction.
"Ow," said a kid in the front row, a blond-headed boy who hadn't backed up enough.
"Sorry, Ted," Madison said.
Professor Kiln clapped and the rest of the class joined in. "Excellent, Madison, well done. Now please explain the inner process that you used to complete the spell."
Madison had taken several steps toward her seat before turning back around and shooting a confused glance at Professor Kiln. "What?"
"Inner process. I told you, we have a new student. And until Keira can complete the spell, we're not going anywhere."
Madison practically had smoke coming out of her ears at the prospect of having to think about the process. Professor Kiln had said that this was her most advanced class in years. She had thrown me to the wolves. I should have known.
"Okay," Madison said. "Um, you stand in a way that focuses your inner energy." She went back to her power pose. "Focus the magic to your hands, that way you can control the direction and the intensity of the magic easier. Take a deep breath and hold it and feel the magic as it’s ready to activate, and then breathe out and use your fingers to release the energy out into the world."
She looked to Professor Kiln to check if the answer was okay. The Professor nodded and indicated she could go back to her seat.
"Your turn, Keira."
13
Keira
I got out of my seat and did what felt like the longest walk of shame ever. Feeling the hot stares of all of my classmates and ending with the cold glare of Professor Kiln, I stood in front of the class ready to try my hand at the spell.
Okay, step one, power pose. I did my best to imitate the pose I had seen Madison get into. I took a deep breath, knowing that I was supposed to be focusing magic. The problem was I didn't have any idea what that felt like or how magic worked. The only time I had ever used it was an accident.
My eyes scanned the room for a distraction, anything to take the focus off the fact that I didn’t know what I was doing. I kept scanning the crowd until I found Malachi in the middle of the room. No angel, fallen or otherwise had any business being that hot.
His golden eyes were on me, and the look brought a fresh heat between my legs and I was sure I was blushing. I would have looked away if I had a choice, but now I had to try to concentrate on magic, whether I was turned on or not.
This was the part of the process where I was supposed to feel something. I closed my eyes for a moment and tried to concentrate to see if I felt anything different, but there was nothing.
&n
bsp; Just me in a weird pose ready to breathe out and try the hand movement that Madison had performed. I did it just the way Madison did. I even blinked the same way, I swear. My hand remained sparkle free, however, and the class groaned in frustration.
"Again," Professor Kiln said.
I felt like throwing up. I wanted to ask Professor Kiln and the judgy students what the hell magic felt like. Instead of level zero, I had been thrown into the advanced class and humiliated in front of everyone, including Malachi.
Having no choice, I did it again with the same result. And again, and again, and again. When the bell finally rang, I was so relieved. I could finally get out of here. Maybe there was a library and I could check out some basic level magic books. Maybe they had a copy of Magic for Idiots. At this point I would settle for anything helpful.
As the students filed out, I crossed the room to my desk to collect my things.
"Where do you think you're going, Keira?" Professor Kiln asked icily.
I pulled the schedule out of my pocket. "Um, Supernatural Creatures." I said, wondering why she cared as the next class of students filed in.
"You're not going to Supernatural Creatures or any other class today until you complete that spell."
I searched her face, hoping she was kidding. She was not. Did she really mean to humiliate me in front of the whole school, one class at a time?
"Oh hey, it's the new girl," I heard whispers and looked up to see a guy with a crew cut and khaki pants. He got closer so he could whisper something to me. He mouthed the words no magic so that everyone around us, but not the Professor could hear.
Laughter broke out and then whispering as the students explained the joke to each other. Crew cut threw himself into the chair next to me before quietly continuing. "Lowest magic score in the history of the Blood Moon Academy. Congratulations, Keira. You're the biggest loser."