HUSH, Ivy 3: The Foundling World (HUSH IVY)
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Hush, Ivy.
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THE FOUNDLING WORLD
Kirah Nyx
Hush, Ivy. The Foundling World.
Book 3
Copyright © 2019 by Kirah Nyx.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in case of brief quotations used in reviews and/or academic articles.
Imprint: Independently published
SERIES BLURBS
HUSH IVY 1, SUMMARY
HUSH IVY 2, SUMMARY
HUSH IVY 3, SUMMARY
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Hush, Ivy.
*
THE FOUNDLING WORLD
Kirah Nyx
SERIES BLURBS
HUSH IVY 1, SUMMARY
THE ARCANE ACADEMY
As a wealthy Vampire, born from a pure and ancient line, most wouldn't think Ivy Skyler's life was all that terrible.
But at The Arcane Academy, where all of the Cloaked World's creatures come to train, Ivy can't summon a lick of her ancient magic or rid herself of the hateful prince who lives to torment her.
In a Videer--an old order of protectors, who swore oaths to the Vampires centuries ago--Ivy finds an unlikely friend ... more, even. But love between Vampires and any other species is strictly outlawed, and the penalty? Death.
Ivy realises that falling for a man she can never have and struggling with her powers are the least of her problems. There is a Shifter on campus, the only species capable of killing Vampires ... and Ivy finds herself being the hunted.
This year, at The Arcane Academy, no one is safe.
HUSH IVY 2, SUMMARY
KNIGHTS AT THE ACADEMY
As a wealthy Vampire, born from a pure and ancient line, most wouldn't think Ivy Skyler's life was all that terrible.
But at The Arcane Academy, where all of the Cloaked World's creatures come to train, Ivy can't summon a lick of her ancient magic or rid herself of the hateful prince who lives to torment her.
After failing her final Blood Powers test at the Arcane Academy, Ivy gives into a life without Vampire abilities, and turns her dwindling energy to the one fight she cares about. The love of her life, a forbidden Videer who has turned his back on her. But can Ivy win back the man she can never truly have after she realises what she has really done to him?
A goal made harder by the cruel prince, Samael, who shatters her dreams with an unwanted proposal.
But none of that compares when the rebellion of Shifters cross the borders of the Academy, and with them, bring the bloodiest fight to Ivy she's ever known--and the most horrible of truths.
No one is safe at the Academy. And no heart is safe from the truth.
HUSH IVY 3, SUMMARY
THE FOUNDLING WORLD
As a wealthy Vampire, born from a pure and ancient line, most wouldn't think Ivy Skyler's life was all that terrible.
But Ivy is forced to take refuge in the human world, hidden away from the cursed Shifters who hunt her and the cruel Vampires who wish to steal her back into their cold embraces. In the human world, Ivy struggles to keep her friends by her side, while evading the dangers hunting her--including Domenic, the dark brooding Shifter she fell in love with, who turned out to be the very one bringing her harm.
Life on the run is harder than she ever imagined, and it isn't long before those she hides from are on her trail, and Ivy realises that she's more connected to the rebels than she could have ever imagined.
No one is safe from the rebellion. And no heart is safe from the truth.
Hush, Ivy.
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THE FOUNDLING WORLD
Book 3
1
Bells jingled as the automatic doors slid apart.
Three unusually pale girls stepped inside, shielding their stark-white eyes from the blinding fluorescent lights. Moths flew in with them, escaping the darkness of the night.
Aside from the dull echoes of bluegrass coming from the speakers, the shop was quiet.
A bearded man with arms crossed tightly watched the girls wander through the aisles.
The girl with long white hair, tied back with a ribbon at the nape of her neck, stopped at the refrigerated doors at the rear of the shop. Her fingers were threaded through those of the pixie-cut blonde beside her, earning narrowed eyes from the watchful shopkeeper.
The low hum of the refrigerators muffled their whispered words.
Ivy tapped her long, sharp nails against the glass as she studied the rows of sugary beverages through it. Her stomach churned as she looked at the bubbling liquid in shades ranging from caramel brown to blues like ocean waves.
People actually drink this stuff? She puckered her lips in obvious distaste. Disgusting.
“The locals can tell we’re not from around here.” It was Addie who spoke, her free hand fiddling nervously with the ribbon at the back of her neck.
Penny glanced back at the gruff shopkeeper, then down at where his gaze was planted—her and Addie’s entwined hands. “It doesn’t help that this isn’t a touristy town. If anyone asks, the story is that we’re from Scandinavia and we got lost on a trip to Mardi Gras.”
At the same time, Addie and Ivy asked, “What’s Mardi Gras?”
Penny tilted her mouth into a line. “Let me do the talking.”
Ivy sighed, and gave a brisk nod. Made sense, since Penny was the only one of the trio that knew the first thing about the Foundling World. Their technologies, their geographies.
Penny fetched a fizzy cola, then a bag of what looked to be dried strips of meat from the shelves before shuffling towards the counter.
Ivy and Addie followed behind her as she strode ahead.
Penny may have oozed confidence, but stuck in this unfamiliar world, they only wished to stay under the radar.
Difficult, given how they looked.
The cashier raised an eyebrow as Penny dropped her loot onto the counter. He scanned the snacks, never taking his eyes off the girls in front of him.
“This it?” His voice was as rough as the tangled beard he wore.
Ivy wondered if it was normal for the humans to let themselves get so ... hairy. It wasn’t a problem when it came to drinking their blood, all she had to do was yank the beard to the side if she wanted to feast on him. And she did. But it wasn’t the place, what with all the cameras planted around the shop.
Still, the longer she spent in the human world, the more she noticed their unkempt appearances. Some dressed and presented themselves nicely.
But then there were people like the shopkeeper. Tangled beard with some hidden crumbs embedded in the wiry white hairs, and a smear of sauce at the corner of his wrinkled mouth.
Back home, everyone was presentable. The Videer and Vampires most of all. Never a hair out of place, clothes pressed and crease-free and expensive. Even the Fae stuck to those norms, if one ignored their yellow teeth.
“It’s a great night, isn’t it?” Penny rattled on as the man bagged her items. “So glad we found this place. I was feeling peckish. Is this where we pay for gas too? I couldn’t read the sign outside, it’s so dark—”
The man groaned as he pushed the plastic bag across the counter. “You swipe your card on the machine by the pump, then fill the tank. You never bought gas before?”
“Not out in the middle of nowhere.” P
enny forced a smile on her face. “How much is everything?”
He tapped his finger on the screen above the register. “Can’t read this either, huh?”
Addie shouldered her way forward and, with a deadly glare at the beefy man, snapped, “Does this road leads into Lake Charles?”
Ivy felt the tension roll out of her. For a second there, she’d been sure Addie was about to spill his blood all over the cheap counter.
“First time without mom and dad holding your hands?” His tone had Ivy’s fangs aching. “Route ten is what you're looking for. But I’d head home if I were you. Girls out here, all on their own...”
He finished with a shake of the head.
Ivy and Addie gritted their teeth in perfect synchronisation.
So badly, Ivy wanted to show this old loudmouth just how capable they were. But she knew that causing a scene in the Foundling World was more trouble than it was worth. Their kills had to be discreet. Justified and safe.
Videer patrolled this world too. And any whiff of three Vampires killing their way through countries, three female Vampires with their descriptions, would alert all of their families at once.
Ivy couldn’t go back. Not to a life with Samael, where she would never be safe with him or the Shifters hunting her.
While this rotten human irked them, he would be a far greater problem for them if he became dinner.
Penny took the plastic bag before one of them had a change of mind, and they left the shop.
2
As the sliding doors closed behind them, Addie shook her head, “Are all humans this infuriating?”
“Not all,” Penny swung the plastic bag as she walked. “But we’re going to have to get used to this kind of treatment while we’re here. Everywhere has their bad bloodbags.”
Ivy clutched onto her necklace and gazed up at the moonlight.
Bad bloodbags...
She knew that saying all too well. The one man she thought she could trust betrayed her in the vilest way possible. And her own parents had arranged her marriage to someone she detested. It was hard to trust anyone anymore.
The hollowness inside of her only seemed to carve deeper every time she thought about what her life had unfolded into in such a short amount of time.
No blood powers. A hateful, vile fiancé. The man she loved trying to take her prisoner and destroy her.
With a sigh, Ivy leaned against the side of their beat-up van.
Penny fiddled with the gas pump while Addie climbed into the back seat.
Ivy watched the pump fit snugly into the gas tank hole. She had no idea what it was actually called.
Four months in the Foundling World, and still, she knew so little.
If it weren’t for Penny, she and Addie would have been lost. Found within days, or dead within weeks.
Of course, Penny wasn’t all-knowing. Even her knowledge was limited.
She learned to drive using the Foundling technology—the web, as Ivy recalled. And those practices ended up in a total of six stolen cars left to rot in the streets or wrapped around trees.
Luckily for them, Vampires could survive just about anything.
Ivy jumped into the passenger seat and scrunched down into her seat. This world was going to take a lot of getting used to.
But at least she could count on being safe.
The driver’s door swung open and Penny hopped inside. Her grin was infectious. As numb as she felt, Ivy couldn’t help but be moved by her friend’s optimism.
A smile threatened to touch her pale, crinkled lips.
Hunger was creeping in.
“Alright!” Penny hit the steering wheel. “Next stop, Louisiana!”
Addie tilted her head at the plastic bag nestled between the front two seats. “What do we do with that junk? We can’t eat it.”
Penny shook her head. “Rule one of dealing with humans in shops: They always listen to a paying customer.”
Addie’s face pinched. “If you keep throwing money around, we’re going to go broke again.”
“Our next stop will fix that. Now, who wants to see the bayou?”
Addie laughed.
To them—Penny and Addie—it was fun pretending they were on a care-free trip through the Americas.
Thinking of it as an exile only filled Ivy with anxiety, because she knew her friends didn’t want to be here anymore.
It was only fun when they weren’t sleeping in sewers during the day, or had no cash for travel, and had too much trouble trying to source people to feed on.
It was only fun now. But soon, it wouldn’t be fun anymore and Penny and Addie would pull away again.
Ivy held her head in her hands. The thought of their inevitable abandonment of her made her feel dizzy.
Penny rested her hand on Ivy’s shoulder. “It’s going to be okay. Here, use the gift I got you.”
Ivy shifted her gaze to the sleek black object with a glossy surface. A blue light at the top flickered. A phone, it was called. A smart one.
Ivy grabbed it and held it up in front of her. She tapped on the screen. It lit up with a dull glow.
Back at the Academy, for her birthday Penny had showed her a couple of things a phone could do, like make phone calls and send messages. But there was so much more to it, she’d learned in the Foundling World.
‘It’s almost magic. Well, as close to magic as humans can get.’ Penny had once said.
Ivy swiped her finger down the row of rounded square buttons. A device that put unlimited information right at one’s fingertips.
To many it could seem like a dream come true. But to Ivy, it was just another thing adding to her ever-growing list of disappointments. It could contact anyone in the world, but not the one person she wanted to talk to.
Penny drove the, down the dark, desert road.
Only the moon’s glow lit their journey.
After a while, Ivy closed her eyes. It was too early to sleep, but it was going to take more than flashy devices to keep her awake during a mind-numbing journey through the middle of nowhere.
Besides, Addie was already snoring in the back of the van and Penny had taken to singing the radio’s disgraceful music selection.
Ivy tuned it all out.
3
Ivy’s eyelids fluttered.
She thought she heard her name.
The voice was muffled, but it growled with rage.
Ivy… Ivy… Ivy…
She wanted to reach out. Her hands yearned to caress his cheek. Those onyx eyes haunted her mind.
Ivy felt her body rushing forward. But as she ran, those eyes drifted further away. He was fading out of sight.
Don’t go. Domenic, please stay.
The breath was trapped in her lungs.
He faded away.
“No!” she screamed and jolted up in the passenger seat.
The van jolted into the opposite lane.
A blaring horn honked.
Ivy blinked her eyes.
Her friends were shouting, but she couldn’t make out what they were saying. Her vision was blurry. Through the haze, she saw floods of light flashing at them, coming right at them.
A cement truck was speeding towards their van.
Ivy gasped and looked down at her hands—gripped onto Penny’s arm and the steering wheel.
“What are you doing, Ivy?! Let go!” Penny screeched. “We’re going to crash!”
Pulling the wheel back to the right lane, Ivy felt her heart pound.
The van skidded out of the truck’s way just in time. But they veered off the road and sped through the rocky soil before crashing into a ditch. With only their seatbelts holding them in place, the girls whipped forward.
They winced as the nylon belt dug into their chests and squeezed their guts.
Ivy’s head cracked into the window. Blood dribbled down the side of her face, getting in her eyelashes.
Penny’s entire face had smacked against a giant white balloon that burst out from the steering wheel,
silencing her instantly. Not even her limp arms were stirring.
And Addie groaned in the backseat wearily, holding the nape of her neck in her hands.
They had crashed right into a dirt pit.
Ivy knew it was her fault.
4
The three were shaken.
Penny pressed her head against the wheel, breathing harder than during a kill.
Addie’s teeth chattered.
Sinking into her seat, Ivy gazed out the windshield with empty eyes.
It all happened so fast. She was having a dream, dreaming of him, and then…
Addie broke the silence. “What’s gotten into you? You grabbed the wheel right out of Penny’s hand and … and—”
Ivy gulped.
They had every right to be angry with her. It wasn’t their anger that upset her. It was how frightened they were.
They looked at her as if she was a wild beast, ready to lash out at any moment. They looked at her the he did after she attacked Archer. Like she was an uncontrollable monster.
“I’m so sorry,” she pleaded, “I was asleep. I didn’t know anything was happening.”
Penny lifted her head. Her voice was congested with saliva as she spoke, “You’re not yourself, Ivy. Maybe you can’t see it, but we can. Something...isn’t right.”
The words stung like bites nipping at the skin.
The stress was putting her on edge.
Every day, she woke up feeling more miserable than the last. And her sleep was constantly plagued by the same man.
This is exactly why I can’t go back. I need time to clear my head.
“I said I was sorry. It’s not like I did it on purpose.”
Addie leaned forward, between the front seats. “Sorry doesn’t save us from a head-on collision.”
Ivy crossed her arms, “I turned the wheel in time, didn’t I? And it’s not like we’ll die.”