by Coralee June
With a shock, I realized that it was Gritt, the angry shifter who had attacked me in the judge’s chambers. I cursed inwardly. This must be all four paragons. Of course he would be one of them. I should’ve known based on his age and level of power.
“We can’t do anything about it, Gritt. Judge Braxton wants her here, and Headmaster Torne said she can stay unless she becomes a threat to other students.”
“Then why not make her a threat?” that singsong voice asked before standing back up. “I have to go. There’s a necromancer in Philly that keeps bringing hookers back to life. Have to step in before he pimps them out to the humans. Sometimes being a paragon sucks corpses’ dry balls.”
“Gross,” someone said.
“Don’t think you’re getting out of babysitting duty, necromancer!” Render called at his back as the figure walked away. “Fucking necros,” he continued, this time in a lower voice. “They’re all a bunch of lazy fuckers.”
“You’re one to talk, vamp,” Gritt growled.
I frowned. Seemed the only thing these paragons had in common was their hatred of me.
“So what are we going to do?” Quade asked, bringing the conversation back to the problem at hand—me.
“I don’t like to agree with the necromancer, but he has a point. We should just make her a problem,” Render replied speculatively. “It shouldn’t be hard. We can just get her worked up. Make her life here a living hell. She’ll crack eventually, and then the headmaster will have cause to kick her ass out. Problem solved.”
A bat suddenly flew right past my face, making me flinch back. I swallowed the scream on my tongue so that I didn’t alert the guys to my presence.
“Sounds easy enough. I still want to figure out her powers though. We need to get my brother switched back,” Gritt replied.
“Then you better work fast,” Quade said before stepping away from the group and moving to head back toward the academy. “Because with what I have planned for her, she won’t last a fucking day.”
I gulped at the surety in Quade’s tone. Part of me felt terrified, and the other part of me wanted to prove him wrong. “Headmaster Torne would be proud,” Render said before following after Quade. “We’re actually working together.”
“Yeah, don’t get used to it,” Gritt grumbled before walking off in the opposite direction, toward my cabin.
If that asshole was planning on peeping through my windows at night, I was going to lose my shit.
I stayed on my branch for a good ten minutes longer, until my legs and back were sore from the awkward angle. Keeping my ears perked for any sound, I didn’t descend the tall tree until I was sure that no one was still hanging around. The need for risk in my soul had disappeared, leaving me exhausted. Now, all I wanted to do was to go back to bed, but that lingering worry that Gritt was still nearby had me anxious.
I carefully descended the tree, landing on the balls of my feet with a spring. Then I slowly started back toward the feral cabin, smiling in relief when I saw the front porch with the broken door and busted wood paneling. “Home sweet home,” I whispered to myself before taking another step toward it.
“I wouldn’t get too comfortable there if I were you,” a deep voice resonated from behind me as a hand clamped down around my mouth. A scream lodged in my throat, but I couldn’t get it past the barrier of his hand. “Why were you hiding in the trees, Void? You like to gossip with the fucking birds?” Gritt asked, his rough stubble scratching against my ear as he spoke.
I tried to shove his hand away, but when he didn’t let go, I tilted my shoulders back, arching my spine and flailing around to try to get out of his hold. My movements didn’t work though. He was too strong. All I was doing was rubbing my ass against his hardening dick.
“Stop that,” he grunted.
I went impossibly still, my amulet shaking with need. Opening my mouth, I bit down hard on his fingers, but he didn’t even budge. “Feisty, aren’t you?” he asked. “I could smell you up there, you know. Did you think you could actually spy on us and get away with it? I bet it got you hot, thinking you were so fucking smart.”
His free hand wrapped around my waist, and it felt like concrete was holding me in place. Fear-filled bubbles floated in my stomach, bursting against my gut. “I wanted you to hear how much you’re not wanted, Void. I want you to know that we’ll do anything to break you,” he said, his voice a gruff whisper against my ear. “You’re going to figure out how to switch those powers back, and then you’re going to crawl back into whatever fucking hole you came from. Think about that when you sleep tonight.”
He suddenly let go of me, and I spun around to face him, molten anger and anxiousness coursing through my veins. The Void was whispering to me. Take off your necklace. Show him how strong we are. I reached my hand up to touch the clasp, feeling like I was holding my index finger over the trigger of a gun. “I’m not scared of you,” I stuttered, feeling lame for sounding so weak.
“That makes two of us,” the shifter replied before spinning around, giving me his back as he walked away.
I stood there seething, my necklace crushed in my hand as I rolled his cruel words around in my head. I felt disgusted with myself for even considering giving into the Void’s hunger. I wouldn’t be the monster that they painted me as. I refused to fail.
I didn’t want to be here, but I was. And I had every damn intention of proving those asshole paragons wrong. I was going to learn how to control my powers if it was the last thing I did, even if just to wipe the smug fucking looks off their faces.
Chapter 7
I woke up sore but well rested, and I sat there waiting like a good little puppy until Render came to collect me. If they wanted to bully me into leaving, they would have to fight for it. I resolved to do everything they said—to be the epitome of perfection while keeping my head above water. I was here for a purpose, and even if I wasn’t wanted, I was going to take advantage of that. I craved to know more about my abilities—more about this world I’d been exiled from. So I was going to learn as much as I could. Besides, I’d been tormented before. I could handle this.
At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.
The dining hall was so different from any other cafeteria I’d ever been in that it was laughable. It was nothing like my human school with buffet tables and plastic trays. And Mrs. Coxcomb’s was a rich prep school, so it wasn’t like it had been that bad to begin with. Still, Thibault’s was way above and beyond.
A full waitstaff worked the long tables, serving five-star dishes to a student body that, for the most part, had separated themselves by breed. I could tell as soon as I walked inside for breakfast the next morning, with Render at my side, that they all stuck with their own kind.
The vampires were the easiest to spot because they were the most perfect looking. Smooth, pale skin and movements that were either too slow or way too fast. They had an ancient air about them, even though none of them were older than twenty. They spoke quieter because they could hear better, and every once in a while, I caught a glimpse of their fangs when they spoke or raised a glass to their lips. But the dead giveaway? It was the fact that their tables were completely empty of food. All they had before them were crystal pitchers of thick, red blood.
The shifters were on the opposite end, and if vampires exuded a deathlike stillness, then the shifters embodied the opposite. They were loud, rambunctious, and had so much food piled around them that I was shocked the table could hold all the weight. Most of them had long hair, even the males, but unless they shifted partially to reveal canines and claws, they looked mostly human. Except for their eyes. If you caught them in the right light, they flashed luminescent, like a cat in the dark.
The elementals had their own tables, all full, with way more people than the other two combined. Elemental magic was common but strong. Most could control a single element, like water, while some of the more powerful ones could call on two. Except for Quade Fucking Sandwood, who could control all fou
r.
It was clear that the school was mostly run by elementals, just based on the sheer numbers. I could see it in the way they sat on top of the tables, lounged on their backs on the floor, and tossed around balls of fire or water like the dining hall was their own personal playground. None of the professors who sat before the huge stained glass windows gave the elementals a single glare. It was clear that this was the norm, and they were allowed to do pretty much whatever they wanted.
But what caught my eye the most was the necromancer table. Table, as in, only one. Necromancers were rare. Not nearly as rare as Voids, but for every hundred elementals, there might be thirty vamps, twenty shifters, but only one necro. For that reason alone, I felt a strange sense of camaraderie toward them, even though that was stupid. They definitely didn’t feel camaraderie toward me. That became brutally clear when the group sneered at me as I passed by.
The necros looked human except for one glaringly obvious difference. They were all marked with the sign of death. Like a birthmark, necros developed a symbol on their necks when their powers manifested. It was as dark as a freshly inked tattoo, a single X left to mark their skin.
I was thankful as hell that my Void powers didn’t outwardly mark me like that. At least I’d stayed under the radar so far. Mostly. Students just shot me curious but uncaring looks, a few glares too, but nothing I couldn’t handle.
As soon as we got inside the cafeteria, Render had dumped me here to eat alone while he went to sit with the other vamps. Quade stayed away from me, too. And though I’d cast a few looks over to where he sat, not once had I seen him look back. But why would he? I was just the Void, sitting at a tiny table in the corner, and our moment near the cabin had meant nothing at all. Gritt, on the other hand, had no problem shooting me dark, loath-filled glares. I avoided his table completely.
It was clear that all three of them revelled in their paragon status at the school. They stayed at the heads of their sections, surrounded by supers that acted more like adoring fans. I couldn’t tell who the necro paragon was yet, but I remembered his voice from last night. Smooth. Nearly lyrical when he’d suggested that they sabotage me.
Still, I had to take this one day at a time. For now, the food was good, even if the company was nonexistent. I’d been mostly ignored throughout breakfast, which was fine by me. If I could, I’d try to stay under the radar until graduation. Of course, Headmaster Torne had other ideas.
“Attention students.”
His voice rang out like a clap, echoing off the walls. Hundreds of heads swiveled to attention, their voices dying down immediately. The headmaster stood at the teachers’ table, still in his suit, and cast a look over the hall. “It is my duty as your headmaster to inform you that we have a new student who has joined us today.”
“Of course you’re gonna fucking do this right now,” I mumbled into my cup, my heartbeat ratcheting up.
Despite his simple words, Headmaster Torne’s voice was already filled with contempt, and every single person here could hear it. Curious whispers broke out, and faces turned to look at me, the sore thumb who sat alone.
Headmaster Torne raised his hand and motioned toward me. “Devicka Cainson, the Void, has been assigned to Thibault Academy.”
The whispers instantly gave way to shouts. Shocked eyes zeroed in on me. Questions and arguments broke out. One girl a few feet away from me started to cry dramatically and moved to a table further away. They didn’t need any further explanation. My name was like a curse word in the super community. Everyone knew who I was.
I dug my fingers into my legs and pinched them as hard as I could as humiliation crashed over me.
“Quiet down,” Headmaster Torne called out. “As much as I disagree with the decision, the Void is here to stay. Precautions will be made to ensure your safety, but if at any point you feel threatened by Miss Cainson, you may alert your paragon or professor, and they will handle the problem immediately.”
Handle the problem.
That was all I was to them, and that was all I’d ever be. A problem that needed to be handled. I could already see the writing on the wall with the sneers shot my way. They were going to use the headmaster’s decree against me at every opportunity. I was going to be eaten alive.
The headmaster took his seat again, and students started getting up and leaving. Everyone made sure to go around my table, staying as far away from me as possible, but plenty of them openly stared. A couple of vamps flashed by me, tossing trash my direction and leaving me zero time to react before I felt plates full of old food fall into my lap. Laughter followed, and I kept my eyes trained down onto the sloppy mess of pancakes and syrup, watching as it soaked into my clothes.
Quade laughed with his other elemental friends as they went by, and Render kept a smirk on his face, even as he worked to ignore me completely. Their complete dismissal was more humiliating than the breakfast plastered onto my plaid skirt.
“No one wants you here, Void,” a shifter snarled at me as he rounded my table.
“Well, your mother didn’t want you either, so I guess we all get stuck with unwanted things every once in a while,” I shot back.
The shifter growled, and I turned my body, just begging him to come at me. I’d rip my amulet off so fast, my Void would consume him before he could even extend his claws.
“Keep walking. She wants an excuse to take your powers. That’s what she does. She’s a fucking thief.”
My eyes snapped over to Gritt’s voice. The paragon walked up beside the other shifter, giving him a knowing look.
The shifter looked me up and down. “You’re right. She’s not worth it,” he said, sneering at me one last time before stalking away with his group of friends.
Gritt stood at the end of my table, staring down at me with such fiery hate that I was surprised his ears weren’t smoking. But the rest of him was plenty hot. His shoulder-length hair was a bit wild, but it fit him. He looked entirely wolf-like the way he watched me with his predatory green eyes. He had muscles on muscles, and probably stood at a good six and a half feet. I bet if he actually stopped glaring long enough to smile, he’d be even more handsome. Why did all of these paragons have to be so damn hot? It wasn’t fucking fair.
Unlike everyone else, who made sure to stay at least twenty feet away from me, he stalked right over and crowded my space. “Let’s go.”
I clenched my teeth, reminding myself not to give him an excuse to get me kicked out of school. The last thing I wanted was to be escorted by him right now, especially while I was dressed in an ill-fitting, second-hand uniform, covered in syrup.
I never thought I’d miss Mrs. Coxcomb’s School for Troubled Girls, but right now, I’d give anything to be back there. At least there, I was relatively ignored rather than openly hated.
People watched and whispered as I stood up, soggy pancakes falling to the floor with a slap at my feet. With as much dignity as I could muster, I made my way over to him, trying to ignore as people scuttled out of the way.
Gritt pointed forward. “Walk.”
Clenching my teeth, I walked ahead of him, fully aware of his menacing presence at my back. But before I could even leave the hall, another voice stopped us.
“Miss Cainson, one moment.”
I turned around to see a smartly dressed brunette woman who was probably an elemental. Since supers aged slower, I had no idea how old she really was. She could be anywhere from thirty to a hundred. She strode forward but stopped beside Gritt like that was as close as she was willing to come.
She held out a piece of paper to me, her fingers barely grasping the corner. I took it, my eyes skimming over the list. “That’s your schedule, although the headmaster wished me to inform you that it’s liable to change,” she told me. “He also wished me to let you know that, should you be disruptive to the classes, you will be expelled.”
“Thanks,” I said dryly.
She pursed her lips and walked away, and I folded up the paper and held it in my fist, turnin
g my attention back to a scowling Gritt. “The hospitality here is just incredible,” I said sarcastically while watching the secretary slink away, pressing her back to the wall and crab walking along it, like she was scared I’d do a sneak attack.
“Let’s go,” Gritt said before stomping out and leading me toward what I assumed was my first class.
“Are you going to be with me all day?” I asked while walking down the hallways beside him. Unlike yesterday, when the school was bursting with life and power, today everyone seemed scarce. “And where is everyone?” I asked while adjusting the too-tight uniform top I was given. It had stains on it like it was a lost and found reject they’d tossed on my doorstep. I only got one too. I looked like a slutty schoolgirl, which normally I wouldn’t give two fucks about, but it didn’t exactly help me fly under the radar.
“We each have agreed to take you to one class. Your schedule was picked based on classes Judge Braxton thinks will help you learn more about your powers. It’s a joke, really, considering you’ve been in human school your entire life. You’ll be so behind, you’ll just slow everyone else down.”
I looked down at the schedule again. I was supposed to take A History of Power with Professor Nero right now.
“Okay...Are you going to tell me where I’m supposed to go, or would you rather prolong this whole nightmare?”
He leveled me with a look. “Left.”
I rolled my eyes and turned down the left corridor, seeing some of the other students disappearing behind doors. I didn’t want to ask Gritt a damn thing again, so I carefully read every plaque beside the doors until I finally found the one with Professor Nero’s name on it.
I opened the door, but to my surprise, Gritt followed me in. I frowned at him. “What are you doing?”