by M Guida
Ebony's Legacy Year One
M Guida
Copyright © 2021 by M Guida
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Dear Reader
About the Author
Also by M Guida
Chapter 1
My older sister Raven threw open my door. “Come on, Ebony, get a move on! You’re going to be late for your first day at Legacy. The train leaves in fifteen minutes and you haven’t eaten any breakfast yet.”
Ignoring her impatient tone, I took my time, packing carefully and neatly folding my jeans into my suitcase.
“I’m not hungry,” I mumbled. I’d been dreading this day for months. My sister was one of the most powerful supernaturals and everyone was expecting me to be the same. What if I couldn’t measure up?
She looked beautiful as always, with her black hair and dark brown eyes, and she gave me that big-sister-judgy look that always made my blood boil. I could feel my horns sliding out of my head already.
She shrugged and sat on the edge of my bed. “Sorry, Ebony, I didn’t mean to make you mad.”
I slammed my suitcase shut. “Nobody even asked if I wanted to go there.”
She gave me a small smile. “Nobody asked me, either.”
That was true, but it still didn’t make this any easier for me. “I know. You don’t have to remind me.”
She frowned. “Why don’t you want to go?”
“Because I don’t like being compared to you, and I know that’s exactly what’s going to happen. I’m not you, I’m me, but no one seems to understand that.”
She sighed heavily. “Believe it or not, Ebony, I had the same problem when I went to Legacy. Mom and Dad were legendary and everyone looked at me to be some great hero, too.”
I sat next to her. “But you did become a superhero. What if I can’t?”
She put her arm around my shoulders. “Don’t let it get to you. You’re already different than me. You’ve got those great horns.”
I rolled my eyes. “They only come out when I’m mad.”
“I know, but I still think they’re super cool.” She gave me a squeeze. “Besides, you’ve got all your buddies going with you.” She cast me a grin. “And you’ll get to see Gunnar again.”
My gut tightened. I’d had a huge crush on Gunnar ever since he came here after Armond healed his soul. I’d felt connected with him and I thought we were developing something, but after the big battle against King Cormac and Ryker, and his sister being kidnapped, everything changed. He hardly ever talked or looked at me now. I lowered my head. “I’ve only seen him a couple of times in the last three years and he hardly spoke two words to me.”
She patted my thigh. “Well, he and Anton have been trying to figure out how to use that medallion without having much success. But don’t give up on him. I think he’s really into you.”
I crossed my arms. “Yeah, right.” He was one of the reasons why I didn’t want to go to Legacy. I couldn’t bear to think I might see him with someone else. I had it bad for him and I felt like I was on a runaway freight train headed straight for a major heartache.
“Come on. The rest of the gang is downstairs and you don’t want to piss off Rusty or Montae.”
I followed my sister down the stairs, wishing I could go to a regular high school or another academy, but that wasn’t happening. Mom and Dad were super excited for me to go to Legacy. I just wished I shared their enthusiasm.
Everyone was waiting for us at the bottom, just like Ebony said.
Rusty was smoking a cigarette and wearing a frown that could curdle milk. With his long dark red hair, awesome body and deep green eyes, he’d be really hot if he didn’t always look like he was about to tear your head off.
He exhaled a long puff of smoke into my face. “Why are you so late? Did you go to a beauty parlor?”
Anger whooshed through me like a roaring river and I could feel my face getting hot.
“Gets her every time,” he chuckled. He motioned with his cigarette. “Your horns are showing, Maleficent.”
“Shut up, Rusty.” Armond gave his body guard a hard stare that washed away Rusty’s smirk. He looked damn good today, with his dark curly hair and beautiful silver eyes. He’d really gotten hot lately.
Mom and Dad kept hoping I’d fall for him, but he didn’t do it for me like Gunnar did. Besides, my best friend Cadye really had a thing for him.
Mom walked over to me and gave me a big hug. “I’m so proud of you, honey.” She looked exactly like Raven with her dark hair and dark eyes. Only I was the odd one out.
“Thanks, Mom.” As hard as I tried, I couldn’t get excited about today.
She put her hands on my shoulders. “You’ll do fine, hon. Your dad, me, and your sister all have faith in you.”
Easy for her to say. They were all superstars at Legacy. What if I couldn’t live up to the family name? I was the same as Raven—a mix of silver dragon, vampire, and Golden Demon—but somehow I felt different. It wasn’t just because of my white hair and horns.
Dad walked in with King Gregori of the Golden Demons. They were both tall with dark hair, and powerful. Sometimes I felt so small around them.
Like Mom, Dad gave me a big hug. “Ready to go knock them dead?”
Yeah, no pressure there.
“I guess,” I mumbled.
He stepped back and studied me. “What’s wrong?”
“She’s scared shitless,” Rusty laughed.
Suddenly, a throw pillow from the couch flew across the room and hit him in the face, knocking his cigarette out of his hand.
He glared and clenched his fists. “Montae, you asshole, show yourself.”
Montae materialized and glared at Rusty. “You were just as nervous when you went to Legacy, Rusty, so leave her alone. Remember, you still have to pass my class to graduate.”
Rusty wisely shut his trap. From what I’d heard, the new Defense Against Dark Magic teacher was a hard-ass. I was nervous taking that class too. What if I messed up? Raven had aced it.
Dad gestured with his arm. “Let’s get you on the train.”
There was another thing I dreaded—this summer, Kyle had shifted into his wolf, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t shift into my dragon. Raven told me Anton would help me, but I wasn’t sure.
We all went outside where our luggage, except for my one last bag that I
had just brought down with me, was waiting for us. The guards would carry our it all to the Celestial Lightrail train station. Supernaturals always took the train into Legacy. It was safer that way and a rite of passage. Headmaster Anton used some protective spell on the train to keep Dark Demons—and now the Unseelie too— off our butts. The only good thing would be that Gunnar wouldn’t be on the train. He was already at Legacy.
The next few minutes were a whirlwind of activity. People hugged their kids goodbye. The Golden Demons popped out their wings. Armond and his twin brother Darius looked amazing with their silver eyes and matching wings.
Dad clasped my shoulder. “I’ll take you to the train station.”
That wasn’t a big surprise. No way would the Golden Phoenix let anything happen to his youngest daughter.
Dad shifted into a beautiful shimmering purple dragon, the only purple dragon I had ever heard of. I climbed on his back and hung on tight as he flew into the air. Montae carried Rusty. Those two had a real love/hate relationship. The others followed, with Raven bringing up the rear. Kyle rode astride on her back. He was definitely safe, because Dark Demons were scared shitless of my sister. Scared of me, on the other hand? Different story.
In less than an hour, we were at Celestial Train Station. Humans only saw a decrepit wooden building with keep out signs posted everywhere. Not supernaturals. We saw a busy two-story station with beautiful sparkling glass windows, bustling with commuters. I could smell coffee and baked goods. According to Rusty, the restaurant and bakery here were great. My stomach growled and my mouth watered. I never had gotten around to breakfast at home.
I slid off my dad’s back and took a deep breath. “You’ll do great. I believe in you. I’ll try and stop by, but it depends on the success of hunting down Aibell’s lost medallions.”
Aibell was one of the oldest and ancient dragons. She possessed magic and gave seven medallions to the other dragons, but the medallions had been lost. Until we discovered that Gunnar and his sister possessed two of them. The lost stones have the ability to lock King Cormac and the Unseelie in the Elder Dimension forever.
I gave him a sympathetic look. “Still no luck?”
He shook his head. “No. The Defenders, including your sister and Lucien, haven’t found a clue, but we’ll find them. I promise.”
He gave me a wink and flew back into the skies, circling over the Celestial Train. Then he was gone, with Raven was right behind him. I hoped there were no dark demons or Unseelie around.
Rusty threw his backpack over his shoulder. “Come on, let’s go. The train’s going to be here in less than fifteen minutes.”
Hopefully, I had time to grab a coffee and a donut or great big gooey cinnamon roll. Caffeine and sugar were just what I needed.
Rusty led us up the stairs to the station. There was a long line to the bakery, but I didn’t care. Coffee and something sweet were definitely on my agenda.
I left Rusty hovering over Armond and headed for back of the line.
“Ebony!”
I turned around to see Cadye hurrying over to me with a big smile on her face. She had her black hair up in a ponytail that highlighted her deep green eyes. I would have loved for us to be roommates but she was a Golden Demon and I was a dragon, so I already knew we would be in separate towers.
She gave me a big hug. “I thought you’d never get here.” She released me. “You’re still not happy about coming, are you?”
“Now, that you’re here and Mr. Happy is gone, I think my day just got tons better. All I need now is some coffee and something sweet.”
“Get a cinnamon rolls. They’re divine.” She gasped and grabbed my arm. “Oh, my God, Ebony! Look who Armond is talking to.”
I followed her gaze and my stomach did a triple somersault. Beads of sweat broke out all over me and I could feel my cheeks flush. Gunnar was here. God, he looked even better than when I saw him last. He had gotten more muscular, his hair thicker, and his face, wow, he was so good looking that he took my breath away.
And he didn’t even know I was alive.
Cadye leaned closer. “Oh, shit. They’re headed over here. Man, Armond looks so damn good.”
Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap
I hadn’t even fixed my hair after I flying dragon airlines. I’m sure it was a white tangled mess. I wanted to hide behind Cadye or melt into the side walk. The line started to move and I shuffled along with it. I stared straight ahead, my heart pounding so hard I thought it would explode.
I could feel his presence before he even spoke.
“Hey, Ebony, how have you been?”
I swallowed my fear and stared into Gunnar’s beautiful blue eyes. “I’ve been doing okay.”
“You ready for this year?”
“Yeah. How’s Hades—“
Hades was the Catalan dragon that was tattooed on Gunnar’s chest. He had the head of a lion and the body of dragon. Upon Gunnar’s command, Hades could spring to life and jump off his chest. I had missed the little guy, and couldn’t wait to see him again.
Gunnar clutched my arm. “Sorry. Will you excuse me? I’ve got to go talk to Evan and Kyle. I haven’t seen them for a while.”
And just like that he was gone. I tried to bury my disappointment.
Evan was Kyle’s older brother and as usual had a flock of girls around him. With his blond hair and greenish blue eyes and sinful smile, he drew girls like honey does flies, but I wasn’t looking at him. I was looking at Gunnar who once again didn’t know I was alive. He was close with Raven, because she helped him through some dark times. But to him, I was just Raven’s little sister.
“Excuse miss, I can help you?”
I turned to the cashier at the bakery. “Yeah, I’d like a café latte and the biggest honking cinnamon roll you’ve got.”
She gave me a big smile. “Sure.”
I took my coffee and pastry and hurried away from the bakery and everyone else. Cadye was busy drooling over Armond and Gunnar was in the middle of Evan’s gaggle of girls. All I wanted to do was disappear and eat my cinnamon roll, even if my stomach was protesting.
I found an empty table and plopped down with my breakfast. Misery washed over me as I heard Gunnar’s deep laughter. I pushed back the tears, feeling like the world’s biggest idiot.
“Hey, all the other tables are taken. Do you mind if I join you?” a husky male voice asked.
I looked up to see a guy with blondish-brown hair looking down at me. God, he was handsome.
“Sure."
“Thanks.” He slid next to me. He had a coffee and two huge chocolate donuts. “These donuts are messy and I don’t want be wearing them instead of eating them,” he laughed. “My name’s Jaxon. You’re Ebony, aren’t you? Raven’s younger sister?”
Great. The comparisons had already started.
“Yeah,” I mumbled as I pulled off a strip of my cinnamon roll. “But I’m nothing like her.”
He winked. “I can see that. You’ve got stunning white hair and beautiful clear blue eyes.”
That made me smile a little bit.
“Hard to live up to her legend?”
But then my smile vanished. I shrugged. “I guess so.”
“Hey, I get it. My cousin Dante Palazzo. He’s one of the Defenders and the next vampire king. I should have gone to Red Rose Academy like most of the vampires do, but my parents wanted me to follow in my cousin’s footsteps, so here I am.”
I laughed my first real laugh of the day. “Someone to share my pain.”
“You know it.”
He wasn’t Gunnar, but maybe Jaxon could make me feel just a little bit better. Maybe Legacy wouldn’t be all bad.
That thought vanished the minute I saw Gunnar walking toward the train platform with Nora Wilson. Nora was the daughter of a Golden Demon guard and every time Gunnar had visited, she’d been working on getting her hooks into him. Looked like she’d succeeded.
She was everything I wasn’t. Tall, red hair, big boobs, and flew like an angel.
And right now, she had Gunnar.
Chapter 2
I took another big bite of cinnamon roll and tried my best to ignore the girl standing way too close to Gunnar at the train station for my taste. Anger and disappointment were brewing inside me.
Jaxon’s eyes widened. “Wow, are you a dragon?”
I swallowed a bite of the cinnamon roll that was lodged in my throat. “Yeah, why?” I grabbed my coffee before I choked altogether and made a proper fool of myself.
He was looking up at my head. “You just grew a pair of horns.”
My cheeks burned red. Great. Talk about wearing your heart on your sleeve.
I put down my coffee. “I’m sorry. When I get angry or frustrated, my horns come out. Like, literally.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” He gathered up his coffee and second donut as if to leave. “Did I make you mad?”
I shook my head. “No. Please, stay. I just saw something that…never mind.”
He followed my gaze and frowned. “Gunnar? My cousin fought him in the Dark Demon wars. According to Dante, Gunnar has had a change of heart, ever since Armond healed him. But I don’t know. I still don’t think I trust him.”
I wiped my mouth with my napkin to get the frosting off. “Why? He’s a really good guy. He saved us a couple of years ago. If it wasn’t for him, a lot of Golden Demons would have died.”
I didn’t know why I wanted to defend Gunnar since he’d turned traitor and was acting like I didn’t exist, but he had a target on his back here. Many of the supernaturals, including Jaxon, might never forgive him for his past deeds as the Dark Demon Healer and fear him for his ability to kill as well as heal. Even Armond could only heal. Not that Armond was interested in killing people.