Psychic Secret: An Urban Fantasy Academy Romance (Psychic Academy Book 1)

by Samantha Bell

  “I’m no good at this “caring” stuff,” Ryland admitted. “All my life I’ve trained to be the best I could be. My family accepts nothing but perfect. Since I’ve come here, I’ve constantly been in Luke’s shadow. He is the star pupil. He’s the multi-talented, a nice guy who everyone wants. Not me. I’m just the black sheep that no one trusts.” He shook his head.

  “So why do you spend so much time with Luke if you hate him so much?”

  “I used to tell myself that it was because I wanted to learn his weaknesses.” Ryland’s voice lowered, and he avoided my gaze. “Now I know it’s just cause I don’t want to be alone.”

  What was I supposed to say to that?

  “He’s the only one who puts up with my bullshit,” Ryland added. He turned from me, ashamed of what he had just revealed. “I guess, in some weird way, he’s the only friend I have anymore.”

  Without hesitating, I stepped forward and hugged him tight, pressing my forehead against his back. He gasped and his hand drifted down to mine.

  I wasn’t going to tell Ryland that Luke was suspicious of him, that wouldn’t solve anything. What I had to do instead was prove that he was innocent. The only way to do that was to find out who was really behind these strange events. If they had only begun since I enrolled, then it was my duty to solve it.

  “I’m going to figure out what’s going on here.” I swore to myself, not caring that Ryland heard me.

  “Bianca, I didn’t mean for you to take it personally when I said that everything weird started with you.” Ryland turned towards me and pulled me close. He smelled like soap and his face didn’t have a hint of stubble.

  I felt myself being pulled into his blue eyes. It was an almost dreamy state when our eyes locked. It was magnetic. “I didn’t take it personally. It’s the truth.” My voice faltered as he cupped my cheek.

  “You know what else is the truth?” Ryland’s voice was low.

  “What?” I whispered against his mouth.

  “How badly I want you.” Ryland kissed me hard and pulled my body against his.

  I unraveled at his touch, throwing my arms around his shoulders and pressing myself against him. He groaned against my kiss and send a jolt of desire through my body. I arched my neck, and he kissed down my jaw and towards the center of my throat.

  “Ryland.” His name escaped me.

  “What is it?” He asked, sucking on my neck softly.

  “We shouldn’t be doing this here,” I gasped and pulled away slightly so I could look him in the eye.

  “You’re right. Shall we go somewhere more private?” Ryland grinned devilishly.

  With one motion, he scooped me up in his arms and opened the door to the changed room that joined the gym. It was empty, as almost everyone changed and showed in the comfort of their own areas. Ryland moved to a bench, perching me on his lap and kissing my chest.

  “I’ve been dying to finish what we started.” He growled against my flesh.

  I grinded against him, feeling his hardness. I wanted him so bad that my body was aching for it. I tipped his chin up gently so I could kiss him again. We went for so long that I thought I might suffocate against his lips, which wouldn’t be a bad thing.

  Ryland wrapped his arms around my waist. His hands moved up my shirt and explored the skin underneath.

  I felt a strange ripple of energy, but I ignored it. He had sworn that he couldn’t read my mind. It must have just been my imagination. When I parted my lips and deepened the kiss, the energy surged again.

  I really hope she never finds out. She’d never look at me the same way again.

  I heard his voice clearly in my head. I threw myself back and jumped off of his lap. I blinked, staring at him, unable to comprehend what just happened.

  “What?” Ryland’s icy blue eyes were wide and innocent.

  I stepped back, shaking my head and trying to calm my breathing. My hands trembled as I held them in front of me. I tried to speak a hundred times, but no words came out.

  Finally, I managed four words. “Stay away from me.”

  #

  I packed my backpack and threw it over my shoulder. I didn’t look back as I ran from the dormitories to the teleportation area.

  There was a break in the fence right beside where students and teachers teleported. I wasn’t sure if it was an oversight or if someone at some point had tried to break in. Whoever they were, they would have been small. The fence was weighed down by overgrown weeds. I kicked the leaves back to reveal the small gap in the fence that I had noticed while helping Luke look for his tracking pin.

  I sucked in my breath and wriggled through the gap, for once in my life I was thankful for my skinny build. On the other side there was nothing but a parking lot filled with crumbling concrete. When I looked back, much to my surprise, the illusion of an abandoned steel mill loomed above me.

  I hesitated only a second before setting my shoulders and running off into the night.

  I ran until I found a gas station on the edge of the city. By the time I got there, I was very out of breath. So much for progress. I paused, leaning against the pay phone to catch my breath before punching in Inspector Dolinsky’s phone number.

  No answer. I wasn’t surprised that he wouldn’t pick up for a random number.

  “Shit,” I sighed and then tried Daniel’s cell. I was seriously lucky I had memorized his number. I couldn’t recite any of my other friend’s numbers, or even my dad’s cell. He was the only one I could trust with this information now, anyway. My parents were still hypnotized into thinking I went to some fancy college on a full scholarship.

  “Hello?” Daniel’s voice was groggy. Thankfully, he was the kind of person who answered every call and even had a hard time hanging up on telemarketers.

  “Daniel! It’s me!”

  Daniel gasped and his voice became clear. “Bianca? What’s wrong? Are you ok?”

  “Yeah, I think so. For now.” I looked around to make sure I was alone. “I’m at a gas station near the freeway. Can you come get me?” I knew this was asking a lot of him. Daniel had his license, but he had always been a nervous driver.

  “Anything for you.” There was not a hint of hesitation in his voice.

  I gave him the name and address of the gas station and hung up. It took all the strength I had not to ask him to leave me on speaker while he drove, but the collect call would already put a serious dent in his phone bill.

  I slipped my cold hands into my pockets and sat on top of the propane tanks to wait. The night was cold for July. I surprised a shiver, wishing I would have thought to pack a sweater with the rest of my stuff.

  I looked up at the sky. I couldn’t see the stars or the moon through the clouds, which were reflecting a sickly orange hue from the industrial park’s lights. Even the air smelled metallic and dirty here.

  What was I thinking? This was crazy. I could only hope that Daniel got here before anyone else did.

  The station clerk glanced at me a few times through the window, but didn’t say anything about my loitering. It didn’t look like the kind of place that got much business at two in the morning and for that I was grateful.

  About twenty minutes later, Daniel’s beat-up old sedan rolled into the parking lot. He had bought it for literally two hundred dollars and hadn’t used an entire tank of gas all year. The fact that he braved the interstate to come rescue me meant more than words could express.

  I jumped off my perch and ran to him, hugging him as tightly as I could before breaking down in tears.

  Daniel held me tightly. “Bianca, what happened? Did someone hurt you? Geez, your skin is like ice.” He shrugged off his hoodie and wrapped it around my shoulders.

  The warmth hit me immediately, and I slipped my arms into the sleeves. The fabric smelled like his favorite laundry detergent, and yes we had been friends long enough that I knew what his favorite detergent was. I flipped up the hood and tucked my hair inside to stop it from blowing into my mouth as I talked.


  “There’s something going on at the academy,” I said. “Something not good and I think it has something to do with me.” I looked around to make sure we were alone.

  Daniel mimicked my paranoid glances. “Come on, get in the car. Let’s get out of here.”

  I slid into the sedan and buckled myself in tight. I couldn’t stop shivering, even with his thick black hoodie around my body. “I tried to call your dad, but he didn’t pick up.”

  “He’s on the night shift this week,” Daniel said. “He must have been busy.” He kept his eyes forward and his hands and ten and two as he drove. His discomfort was palpable.

  “I’m sorry I made you drive all the way out here.” I said softly.

  “Don’t worry about it. I’m just going to take the back roads home. I almost lost my dinner on the freeway,” Daniel replied. He shuddered. “So, what exactly is going on at the school?”

  I shook my head, unable to believe the words that were coming out of my mouth even though I experienced them firsthand. “Someone is attacking students and teachers who teleport out of the academy and it all started happening after I came. I was attacked the other day by that creepy psycho that we met in the park.” It seemed like a lifetime ago, but the memories were still fresh for both of us.

  “What happened?” Daniel asked.

  “We got him and they took him in for questioning. Didn’t your dad say anything about it?”

  Daniel frowned. “I may know that psychics exist but I am certainly not privy to the daily happenings inside the FBI,” He said flatly and then shot me an apologetic glance. “Not that you would know that, sorry.”

  I smiled. “Don’t worry about it. You have every right to be grumpy. I know how much you like your beauty sleep.” We both laughed and reveled in how good it felt to just be together in the moment.

  The road was dark and empty in front of us. Gravel picked up under the tires and pinged off the back of the car. It was relaxing. I blinked to keep my eyes open, only now realizing how tired I was getting.

  “Nap,” Daniel said, not missing a beat. “Let’s get you back to my place and as soon as my dad is off shift, we’ll figure out what to do next.”

  That sounded like a good plan. The reassurance was all I needed to allow my eyes to close and drift off to sleep.

  I was jolted awake as the car came to a screeching halt and the horn blared in my ears. There was a man standing in the middle of the road. He had a trench coat on and his face was unrecognizable as the headlights bleached out his distinguishing features.

  “Crack head, get out of the way.” Daniel honked the horn again, but the man didn’t budge.

  The ominous rumble of energy worked its way up my body. “He’s no crack head, Daniel. We need to get out of here. Now.”

  Daniel paled and threw the car into reverse. He stomped on the gas and sped away backwards before coming to a complete stop. We could hear the tires squealing on the ground and the entire frame was trembling, but we didn’t move an inch.

  We both looked at each other. Daniel took his foot off the gas and let out a terrified sound.

  The man moved both hands forward. He clenched his fists and the hood of the car buckled under his psychic force before being pulled forward like a toy to an electromagnet.

  We both screamed; I wasn’t sure who’s scream was louder. Daniel unbuckled his seatbelt and fumbled to pull his phone from his pocket. It fell under the seat.

  As I reached down to grab it, all four doors were flung open by some invisible force. It pulled me forward, but stuck tight because of the seatbelt around my body. The belt dug into my skin, leaving long red welts along my chest.

  The force grabbed Daniel next. He flew out of the car and to the ground like a rag doll. He screamed, the force dragging him towards the man. The man, who had to be at least 6’5” and proportionally as wide, grabbed Daniel by his shirt collar and dug his thump into a pressure point. Daniel went limp; he was unconscious.

  “Daniel!” I shouted, trying to release the seatbelt that had become jammed. “Shit, shit, shit!” I tugged at the buckle, but it was no use.

  Seeing you want to do this the hard way, little girl, let’s play a game.

  A voice inside my head began speaking. It was that of a woman. She appeared alongside the man. A large-brimmed hat covered her eyes.

  Return our partner and we will return your little friend.

  The woman joined hands with the man and they disappeared, taking Daniel with them.

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

  “Daniel!” I screamed and tugged at the seatbelt. When it refused to give, I growled with frustration and used my psychic power to rip the seatbelt free. I gasped and tumbled out of the car. I struggled to my feet and ran to where the couple had been standing, but they were long gone and the psychic energy had faded. There were lines in the gravel where Daniel was dragged away.

  Blinking away tears, I ran back to the car, grabbed Daniel’s phone and tried his dad’s cell. No answer again.

  “Shit!” I threw the phone down in frustration. What was I going to do now? There was no one on the road and I could barely see in the darkness. Far away in the distance I could see the orange glow of the industrial park. I knew that it was my only option.

  I pocketed Daniel’s phone, pushed my sleeves back to my elbow and got in the car. Drumming my hands on the steering wheel, I gathered all of my adrenaline-infused courage, turned the key in the ignition and shot off into the night.

  I raced down the side roads while praying that a cop wasn’t staked out around every corner. Thankfully, this part of town was dead at this time of night. I gunned the engine of Daniel’s poor rusted car without stopping until I reached my destination.

  I didn’t want to attract attention to myself, so I parked on the side of the road near the academy’s disguised island. No one would think twice about an abandoned car on the outskirts of Detroit. I grabbed my backpack and slipped through the narrow gap in the fence.

  “Didn’t think I’d be back here so soon.” I muttered. It was surreal to watch the holographs morph around me and the academy come into view.

  I ignored my aching feet and dashed across the grounds to the dormitories. The security guard at the front door was asleep as usual (how had he not got fired yet?). The wait for the elevator was mercifully short.

  Once I got to the third floor, I wriggled through the doors and didn’t stop until I reached Katie’s door. I knocked as hard as I could.

  There was a sound of scrambling feet and a shadow appeared at the peephole. She opened the door, rubbing her eyes. “Bianca? What is it?”

  I pushed into her room and shut the door behind me. “Katie, I need your help.”

  Her eyes were wide and scared. “What happened?” She squeaked.

  I struggled to catch my breath, seeing stars as my exhaustion finally caught up with me. Collapsing to the ground, I threw off the backpack and took a second to gather my thoughts before they all came spewing out.

  “I was in the gym making out with Ryland, wait never mind that. Wait, no that’s important. He freaked me out and I just snapped. I tried to run away by sneaking out. There’s this little gap in the fence near the teleportation area. Did you know that? Anyways, I got out and met my friend at this old creepy gas station. Don’t worry he knows about psychics. So we start driving and get stopped by this weird guy. His powers were, like, so intense. He stopped our car! So he and some lady kidnapped my friend and they say they won’t give him back until we let that other Rogue go and I don’t know what to do. I can’t tell the Major cause then he’ll know I ran away and I really don’t want to get expelled but I need to find my friend.” My voice gave out and sobs took over me.

  Katie was silent for a moment. She sat with me on the floor until I calmed down. “It’s ok, it’s ok.” She repeated in a soothing voice.

  “I’m sorry. I just didn’t know where else to go.” I cried, trying in vain to wipe tears from my cheeks.

  “It’s ok,” She
insisted. “I’m glad you came to me. It actually makes me feel useful for once. I can help you find your friend.”

  Relief washed over me. “Thank goodness.” I dried my eyes. “Ok, how do we do it.”

  “I need something of his, it will help me visualize where he’s being kept.” Katie explained.

  I pulled his phone out of my pocket. “How about this?”

  Katie shook her head. “Electronics act weird around psychic powers. Do you have anything else?”

  My hope momentarily deflated until I remembered I was wearing his hoodie. I shrugged it off, balled it up and passed it to Katie. “What about this? It’s his favorite.”

  Katie smiled. “Much better.” She held it in her hands and hugged it to her chest.

  “Are you getting anything?” I whispered.

  Katie opened her eyes and frowned. “No offense but I need total silence and concentration to do this properly.”

  “Oh,” I said sheepishly and slid away from her on the floor. “Sorry. Go ahead.”

  Katie took a deep breath, closed her eyes and held the fabric to her chest tightly.

  I watched her for a moment and then let my eyes wander around her room. It was decorated with posters of Scandinavian metal bands and weird art prints. Her bedding was black and there was a huge assortment of pillows on top. Some of them were strangely cute. Like in a creepy-cute sort of way.

  I was itching to get up and explore, but I didn’t want to do anything to distract her. Finding Daniel was the most important thing to me. It was probably the most important event I had ever experience in my life.

  I glanced at Daniel’s iPhone in my hand. The battery had jumped from 76% all the way down to 25%. It wasn’t going to last much longer around all this psychic energy and Daniel’s father hadn’t called back. I turned it off, just in case I needed it later.

  Fifteen long minutes later, a low hum filled the room. Nothing moved, but I could feel the frequency in my chest. With a gasp, Katie’s eyes snapped open. “I see where he is. He’s being kept in some sort of warehouse. Not far from here. His energy is close, and it seems stable, so they’re not in a vehicle.”