Years of planning, studying and sheer determination had resulted in me being the youngest Headmaster in history at the age of twenty-two. Somehow I had managed to hold the position for two years now. However, a little under a year ago The Supernatural Council had called me in for a meeting.
With no ounce of compassion, they destroyed everything I had believed true. Informing me that the only way to break the curse was to get a Ceallaigh woman to fall in love with me. True love, not the kind that could be replicated with spells. Which was why when Nieve Ceallaigh’s application for the school had come through I fought to get her here. It was too much of a coincidence, she had to be the one who would save us.
A knock on the door snapped me out of my thoughts. I already knew who it was no one else would dare disturb me while I was in this room.
“Come in Cooper, and get it over with. I can hear your brain swirling from here.” There had been a time not so long ago that our families had been at war. An unspoken rule was we should never mix our kinds. We, however, were attached from the first day we met and he hadn't left me alone since.
“Why did you do it?” He said as soon as the door behind him was shut. I didn’t have to explain myself to anyone, but I always confided in Cooper. However, this was the one time that I couldn’t. There was too much at stake.
“I had to Coop. We couldn’t very well let an untrained mage out into the world could we? I am no happier about this than any of you, but I did what had to be done. Which means she stays unless she leaves. So I suggest you and the guys just leave her be.” I said even though I knew it was a waste of breath. Coop was hard headed and would do what he wanted no matter what anyone told him. It had to be the angel in him.
“I will just make sure she leaves then. Something has to be wrong with her for the binding not to have worked and I don’t like it. We have all heard the horror stories of what James Ceallaigh did, we don’t need another serial murder on campus.” He spat, clearly very passionate about everything that he said. This was going to be harder than I thought.
“I really wish you would just let it be. It's been hard enough on me having her here. We don’t need you and the guys getting in trouble.” I tried to reason with him one last time, even though I knew it wouldn’t matter.
“We will see. You can’t protect her though. It’s already started and the girls in this school are going to try and bring her down. Apparently, Sarah caught her in the hall and told her she needed to leave, but all the Ceallaigh girl did was laugh and tell her she looked like a cheeto or something. Now the others are out for blood.” Well, that was interesting and also very true. The “it” girls of the school were all vain and Sarah did indeed look very orange.
“Well there is nothing we can do now, but see how it goes. The council is already breathing down my neck. I don’t have time to worry about it.” I really hated lying to him, but if anyone found out that I actually wanted her to be here there would be hell to pay. So I had to play the part, even though on the inside I was full of hope that my younger brothers would be able to grow old.
“I’ll leave you to it then boss.” He chuckled knowing that I hated when he called me that, and then headed out the door.
Heading over to the mirror on the back of my wall, I waved my hand over it and the Ceallaigh girl appeared. I had watched her ever since her mom petitioned to have her enrolled. Maybe it was curiosity or fear that something would happen to stop her coming but everyday I would check on her and with every detail I learned a small part of me became hers.
She was my salvation, my life and she would be mine. She just didn't know it yet.
Chapter Three
Neive
As soon as I shut the door to my dorm room, I dropped the bags and plopped myself down onto the bed.
“That woman is a heinous beast. I swear, if I was still in my human form, I would give her a piece of my mind. After all these years, a member of my family is finally here and she thinks she can talk to them that way. Uh uh, not happening I will so be peeing in her coffee tomorrow.” A male voice sounded in my head.
“What the fuck!” I shrieked jumping from the bed and looking around, only to find that there was a small red and white fox staring at me from the top of the desk.
“Oh no. Things are much worse than I ever could have envisioned. Me being gone has resulted in our gene pool being diluted with common muck. If you had muttered those words in my day, young lady, why I would have washed your dirty little mouth out with soap. Your mother shall be hearing from me. Well once you finally clear my name and I can refrain from hiding as a disgusting animal.” The fox tilted his head and gave me a mischievous look.
“Ah! What the hell is going on? No stop talking, you’re not real. This is some sort of game to get me to leave, right? Well nope, I am here until I expose the cover-up that resulted in my Uncle's death and oh my god, why am I playing along with this crazy illusion?” Shaking my head, I headed out the door. I wouldn't get any answers stuck in my room with whatever spell they had cast. I needed to explore before classes started.
To my own chagrin, the damn fox followed me out. Was there no getting rid of this thing?
“I am truly sorry if I startled you. That was not my intention, it's hard, you see, when no one can know you exist. When you have to stay invisible for 50 years because if anyone finds you, they will rid your soul from the earth. I need your help so I can finally rest in peace and be with the ones I love. I swear to you all of what I say is the truth and if you look inside yourself you will recognize me for who I am just as I did you.”
Okay, so the creepy fox was right. I did feel a bond towards him, but that could very easily be the work of a very powerful mage. It should be easy enough to work out though.
“Okay, so you are saying your my Uncle. Then you should know this, what did Gran use to make your toes fall off when you were kids?” I laughed knowing there was no way that they would know about this story.
“That is a trick a very clever one at that. It wasn't my toes, it was my fingers and she used a spell from our mothers forbidden book of magic. My mom whooped her so bad she refused to speak for a whole week.” If foxes could smirk, that's what this one would be doing right now. I was completely floored he was here. I came to avenge his death and this whole time he was here.
“Explain now or so help me, I will find a way to skin your ghost like ass. Have you any idea what your death did to your mom? To your sister? Gran still talks about how she failed you. How you would still be alive if she hadn't got pregnant and left the Academy. There better be a really good explanation because we had to suffer all these years for something we had no idea about.” I said in shock.
“I could go in to detail about that night, but honestly we don't have time right now. Just know this, you being here has put a price on your head. There are a lot of people here who were apart of the killings all those years ago. We need to be careful about all of this because two students have already been reported missing and you will not be next. I have to go. I have been watching the council members the past few weeks and they are definitely hiding something. I need you to do one thing. After classes start, you need to go to the old library. It's at the top of the Academy, once you get there head to the fantasy section and look for a book by Charle. P. Emerson. Inside you will find all you need to assist you in clearing my name. Can you do this for me, for our family?”
Before I could reply, he was gone. Stupid fox, he could have answered some of my questions before disappearing. I guess now, all I could do was wait until classes started two days from now or I could go ahead and check it out. Decisions, decisions.
Why wait? I thought before heading out of the dorm building. There were no rules about not exploring campus so if anyone stopped me I had an excuse. Once again I was awed at the sight of the school. It was so castle like and elegant. It was hard to believe that I was actually here.
Heading in the double doors once again, I noticed that most of the people who had b
een here earlier had dispersed, which actually worked out in my favor. Walking down the main hallway, I noticed the wooden circular stairs that hopefully led to the top floor of the academy. I don’t know why I didn’t grab my map.
Finally after climbing about a billion stairs, I reached the top. God, who puts a library all the way up here? No wonder people read on kindles now. You need to be a star athlete to get a dang book.
Annoyed at how unfit I was I pushed open the door and stomped in. Instantly I knew I was in the wrong place. The huge gorgeous tank of a man glaring down at me was a huge sign.
“Mason, someone needs to come take out the trash before it infects the dorm. I would do it but who knows where this thing has been.” He said looking at me as if I was the dirtiest thing he had ever seen. Well that just took him straight from gorgeous to asshole status in less than a minute.
Before I could give this douchebag a piece of my mind, a tall, dark, and handsome guy was suddenly standing there in the doorway. His eyes flashing red was the last thing I saw before I was thrown from the room. My head smashed down on the concrete floor, pain flared through my body and darkness consumed me.
Chapter Four
Neive
“You know he's going to kill you, right? He specifically said no getting in to trouble and what do you do? You almost kill the one person, we were ordered to stay away from. What the fuck is wrong with you? Our reputation here is already awful, we can not be associated with vermin like the Ceallaigh’s.” A deep voice said as I started to come to. My head was still pounding and my throat felt as if it was the Sahara desert.
“Water?” I croaked, opening my eyes only to see that I was surrounded by five of the most attractive guys I had ever seen. Looking at each of them, my eyes flashed when I noticed one was the asshole who had been at the door when I entered.
“We ain’t getting her no water. She needs to leave.” Another voice said, and it was the guy who had thrown me through the door. Fuck this shit! I thought as I flung out my hands.
All the men around me shot back and slammed into walls behind them and hung there as I slowly stood up. I knew my eyes were glowing but I didn’t care. Leaving them there, I could hear their shouts and angry words as I headed into their kitchen and got myself a drink of water.
I figured I would have to deal with people being assholes, but I hadn’t been prepared for physical attacks. That would be fixed from now on though. Walking back into the hall I took a moment to study the men who had decided I was trash just due to my name.
The one closest to me shorter than the rest. I was sure he still towered over me though since I was only 5’2. He had short firey red hair, and emerald eyes that at this moment were looking at me as if I was crazy.
A snapping noise brings me out of my examinations, my eyes snap over to the guy who had thrown me from the room. His long blonde hair billowing behind him as he falls from the wall to land on his feet.
“Is that the best you got?” He laughs before flicking a wrist again and letting the other guys loose. The smirk on his face getting bigger.
“Unlike you, I wasn’t aiming on hurting anyone. Who knew this school would be full of assholes who follow the council like little sheep? You should know better than to believe rumors.” I said before shooting them all one last look. “Maybe we can finish this chat later. Gotta bounce.”
I felt the tell-tell shiver go through my body as I teleported myself back to my room. As soon as I left the hall though, all the guys clothes would be gone even the ones from their rooms. Harmless prank, but maybe it would teach them to back off and leave me alone.
However, it left me with quite the mess seeing as all their clothing items had landed in my room when I did. Flicking my wrist, I moved them to the bed on the other side of the room, seeing as I didn’t have a roommate it seemed like the best spot for them to go. They would stay there as a reminder not to let my guard down. This place was not safe for me, these people didn't care if I lived or died and I would not make the mistake of trusting anyone. No matter how hot they were or how nice an ass they had.
Looking at the suitcase on the floor, I sighed I could put everything up with magic, but I had nothing better to do. So I started hanging up my clothes and getting my room in order. All of the old journals and folders of the missing kids sat on my desk staring at me. I had already read them so many times that I pretty much had everything memorized.
“I told you not to go to the library until classes started!” My uncles condescending voice filled me causing me to jump.
“I didn’t want to wait. I really don’t want to be here any longer than I have to be. Pretty sure I learned my lesson on that though and hopefully those assholes learned not to touch women too.” I said kinda wishing that I had listened to him.
“Those assholes, as you put it, guard the library. It is through their house. Which is something that I would have told you before classes started, but no my only family member to grace the school since me is apparently an idiot. You will have to go during classes so they will not be there. I am assuming you can do a simple unlock spell.” His words hurt a bit more than they should because I had let my impulsiveness take over and I could have seriously been hurt.
“I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.” I said meaning every word.
Before he could answer, there was a loud banging on my door. Walking over, I looked in the peep hole and saw a sculpted naked chest that made me want to drool.
Pulling the door open, I saw that it was the asshole who had thrown open me through the door.
“What do you want?” I asked knowing full well what he was going to say especially since I was having a hard time keeping my eyes from going lower then his head. It was a lot harder than I would ever admit to.
“Where is our clothes? I know it was you.” He spat at me, it was very clear he was pissed, but I had to fight to keep from laughing. It was hard to take him seriously when he was stark ass necked.
“Your clothes are gone. Maybe next time you will think before throwing a random person through a doorway and my name is Neive not the Ceallaigh girl.” I said as I went to shut the door only to have him stick his foot in it to keep it from shutting.
“You will regret this, trash,” was all he said before turning and walking down the hall giving me a full view of his muscular ass. What a fine ass it was.
Chapter Five
Neive
The last two days had flown by and luckily, I hadn’t had anymore run ins with anyone. I stayed in my dorm as much as possible to avoid the guards or as I dubbed them in my head, the assholes. I had given in and called home, hearing my mom's voice had calmed some of the nerves that I had gotten since my run in with the guys. She was still worried, but I think for the most part she was convinced everything was going ok. I may have left out the run in with the human dorito and assholes as well as meeting my Uncle. That could wait until everything was over. She would pull me out so fast if she knew the truth and I was more determined than ever to finish this.
“Classes start today, did you memorize your schedule? If you listen to me, I can get you in the library. You should have a free period when the other guards shall be in class. That will be your opportunity. Oh, one thing before you go. Be careful after all is said and done, yes I would like to be free but I will not have another innocent life taken to ensure my freedom. Do not take any unnecessary risks and for all that is holy in this world avoid the guards and our dutiful headmaster at all costs.” He whispered the last part and I could see just how much the death of the students had affected him. Losing a loved one is always hard but their story was just tragic.
“Okay, I promise to be careful but I am not giving up. It's not just our family who deserve the truth.” I replied, before turning away from him.
Grabbing my book bag that was laying by the door, I headed out. I wasn't going to waste any more time and risk being caught again. Now I knew where I was going, I could just teleport there and save my poor legs from climbing
all those damn stairs but not until I was sure the assholes wouldn’t be there.
Lost in thought, I made my way to Magic History class. I had a feeling that it wasn’t going to be a fun one considering the events that trashed the Ceallaigh name would be a popular subject.
The whispers of the other students got louder the closer I got to the class. This was going to get irritating fast. Everyone gave me a wide berth though keeping at least two feet of space between me and them as if I was diseased. That part didn’t bother me though I wasn’t here to make friends.
Just as I noticed the classroom I needed to be in, I was falling. My foot had hit something and I went down like a sack of potatoes. Luckily, I got my hands out in time to keep my face from bashing the floor. However, howls of laughter overtook the hallway as I looked to see what I had tripped over only to see a foot that was attached to a giant asshole. Mason, I think was what he had been called.
Don’t kill him, Nieve. Don’t do it! I thought as I pulled myself up off of the floor.
“Oops, didn’t see you there? Who would have thought trash was allowed to walk the hallways.” He said smirking, causing another round of laughter to go through the crowd that had gathered.
Without uttering a single world, I took a page out of his book and walked right up to him and kicked the shit out of his shin before turning and heading into my classroom. I could hear his cursing as I went in causing me to giggle before finding a seat in the back corner of the classroom.
“Well, well, well, I didn't think we would see you again so soon and here of all places. You understand that your family history is a huge part of the curriculum here? I feel like you have an unfair advantage.” God that voice was pure sex, deep and smooth I could listen to him talk all day. Looking up to see who the voice belonged to all attraction fled when I saw one of the asshole guards.
Tormented: A Bully Romance Anthology Page 20