The Soul Bond (Rite World: Blackthorn Hunters Academy Book 3)

by Juliana Haygert

  I clenched my fists, feeling more pissed than before.

  But if I didn’t move now, I would miss my next class. I would get a bad mark, and that would make me even angrier.

  Letting out a long, calming breath, I pushed off the wall. Movement outside the glass doors caught my attention.

  I approached the doors and glanced out. To the left of the entrance, an older, tall man with thick blond hair loomed over Ava.

  “You’re close to disappointing me, Ava,” the man said. Though his voice was muted by the closed doors, I was sure he was yelling at her. “Do not disappoint me, or you’ll regret it.”

  “I’m trying!” she shouted back. “But your expectations are hard to achieve.”

  “You’re wrong.” He shook his head once. “You’re my daughter. You can achieve anything.”

  Ava rolled her eyes. “You’re asking too much of me.”

  The man clenched his fists and inched over her, as if he was trying to stop himself from hitting her.

  I could help with that.

  I pulled one of the doors open and walked out. “There you are, Ava.”

  She stared at me with momentary shock, though her father glared at me. “So, it is true. You’re associating with scum.”

  I glanced around, unfazed. “Who are you talking about, sir?”

  “I won’t stoop to your level.” The man glared at me, before turning to Ava. “I know you have class starting in two minutes, so I won’t keep you. But you’ve been warned, Ava. Do not disappoint me.”

  After another disgusted glance at me, Ava’s father strutted away.

  The blond bitch looked at me. “Why did you do that?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. But aren’t you glad I did?”

  She scoffed, but didn’t answer me. Instead, she walked up to me and the both of us entered the building again. In silence, we started down the corridor, going to our class before we were too late.

  Fifteen seconds later, Ava spoke up. “That was my father.”

  “I got that part.”

  “You know how Professor Eleanor is with Harvey? My father is ten times worse than that with me. He expects greatness from me, and he’s upset I’ve been hanging out with you.”

  “But you haven’t. Not much.”

  “But it was enough,” she said, sounding rather sad. “Tom told my father. You know Tom? I heard he threw demon blood on you yesterday.”

  “Yeah, I know who he is.” That damn blood … I had spent hours in the shower last night to get it off me.

  She grimaced. “I’m sorry for what he did to you.”

  I stared at her, confused. Why was she apologizing? “It was not your fault.”

  “I know, but … he’s my cousin.” She shrank into herself, seemingly ashamed of the revelation.

  Well, I didn’t need to know that either, but it was nice to see she sort of cared. “It’s okay. I get it. We don’t choose family.”

  “Right.” She nodded once. “He’s a bastard. Always trying to get me in trouble.” Her blue eyes shone bright. “I know. We could get back at him.”

  “You mean, like revenge?”

  “Yes,” she whispered, a tone of excitement in her voice. “Come on. I have some ideas.”

  Ava entered the classroom and sauntered to where Claire was seated. In shock, I watched as she left an empty seat beside Claire, but took the next one. She glanced at me and beckoned me over.

  Claire stared at me, puzzled, while Ruby and Stella, who were seated on the other side of the classroom, seemed to be as shocked as I was.

  “Miss Delman?” Professor Astrid called me. Last semester, I had weapon forging class with her, but this semester I had demonic lairs. “Class starts in ten seconds. I suggest you come inside before I have to give you a bad mark.”

  “Yes, professor,” I said, striding inside.

  I sat down between Claire and Ava. Claire grabbed my arm. “What’s going on?”

  I shook my head and whispered, “I’m not really sure.”

  Ava could be confused as one of my best friends during our demonic lairs class. Whenever Professor Astrid wasn’t looking, or when she told us to read a chapter by ourselves before discussion, Ava took the opportunity to lean over my desk to plan the prank on her cousin.

  As much as I wanted revenge, I didn’t want to go overboard and break any more rules—I already had a long list of reasons to be expelled. I didn’t want to add anything to it.

  But I couldn’t deny her idea had merit.

  After class, instead of going to the cafeteria for lunch, Ava, Claire, and I headed to the underground garage. According to Ava, Tom had gotten a new car before classes started, a super fancy one, and he kept visiting the freaking thing to show it off to his friends.

  As Ava suspected, Tom was right there, beside his blue and silver convertible, seated on the hood, while his friends surrounded him and examined the car.

  He had a superior air around him, as if he was seated on a throne and his friends were his subjects.

  I hated people like that.

  “Told you he would be here,” Ava whispered.

  I spied from around the stairs, where we were hiding. “Are you two ready?”

  Claire shook her head, but Ava nodded. She pulled out her cell phone, which she shouldn’t be carrying, and set the camera on video mode. She was going to record it all.

  I got why Claire was apprehensive, but I had to side with Ava on this one. The freaking dude had thrown nasty demon blood on me! He deserved to burn in hell.

  That was a little too much for me, so I would burn his car instead.

  Or pretend to.

  I called my magic and let it fill my veins. Then, I sent it to Tom’s car. I wasn’t sure what I was doing; I was trying to mimic when I conjured fake zombies, but this time, it was fake fire.

  Closing my eyes for a second, I focused on my magic and what I wanted it to do. A moment later, smoke rose from under the car.

  “What the fuck?” Tom yelled, hopping off the hood. He took two steps back, his friends along with him.

  The smoke grew thicker and darker.

  “Is there a fire?” one of his friends asked. “I don’t see it.”

  Tom crouched down and tried spying under the car. “I don’t see it either.” Then, he opened the car’s hood. A thick cloud of smoke greeted him, and he stepped back again, coughing as if the smoke was real. “What the hell is going on?”

  Now, for the final show. The smoke turned into fire. Tall orange flames licked the car, enveloping it.

  “No! My car!” Tom knelt on the ground, his hand buried in his hair. “My poor car!” Tears came down his face.

  “He’s crying,” Ava whispered. “Oh my gosh, he’s really crying.”

  “Isn’t that enough?” Claire asked. “He’s already terrified for his car. You got your revenge. Now let’s go before we’re found out.”

  But it was so much fun to see him suffering.

  The smoke and fire were fake, but his desperation wasn’t. When he realized it was all pretend, he would be mortified that he had acted like a baby in front of his friends.

  I willed my magic to work for another five minutes, then dropped my hands. “All right. I’m done. We can go.”

  Claire was the first one to climb up the steps.

  Ava and I lingered for a few more seconds before following her.

  Once we were on the main level and heading to the cafeteria, Ava let out a content squeal. “That was great.” She patted the pocket of her jacket, where her phone was stashed. “And now we’ve got a video of Tom crying like a baby over his car.” She snorted. “If someday he gets married, I’ll show this video to his fiancée. He’ll be even more humiliated.”

  I chuckled, but it wasn’t heartfelt. I felt better after pranking Tom, but at the same time, I didn’t feel like it fixed anything. I got my revenge, but it didn’t bring me peace.

  Now I understood why people said revenge wasn’t worth it.

 
However, as I glanced at Ava, who practically skipped at my side, I wondered if there was something this prank had brought me.

  Maybe a new friend?

  It was too early to tell, but I kind of liked the idea of Ava not being an enemy anymore.

  4

  Rey

  After the second day of school, I headed to the Aster building.

  When I first got Randall’s note early that morning, I thought he was asking for me, and my mind spun. What could he want? He hadn’t called me, or Erin for that matter, ever since the big ordeal at the Spring Hunter Ball last semester. We both still had contracts with him, but he seemed to have forgotten about us. He hadn’t even asked us to continue searching for the half-demons to join his Black Knight Unit. Could he want something else now?

  But as the day went on, I learned others had been called to the meeting. What the fuck could this be about?

  I tried focusing on my classes during the day, but it was hard when two topics filled every inch of my brain. There was a meeting, which made me uneasy, and then there was Erin.

  I hadn’t seen her today and despite wanting to feel relieved about it, it only made me anxious. Many students and professors and staff had showed discontent about having the half-demons in the school, and Erin was a double negative since she wasn’t only half-demon, but she also was a demonic princess. I had stopped Tom and his friends from doing worse things to her two days ago, but since then, I had heard whispers about how they wished she was gone.

  Or dead.

  To make things worse, yesterday’s argument between Erin and me brought knots to my stomach. I fucking hated fighting with her. I hated that now I was her professor and we had to act all respectful and distant. Well, in a way, that was better, since I needed to stay away from her, but it still bothered me anyway.

  The way she poked at me … it both excited me and bothered me. I had been so agitated, I had given her fucking detention. If I had stopped to think, I wouldn’t have. Because now it meant she had to come to the classroom and spend time with me.

  Alone.

  I was in so much trouble.

  Pushing those thoughts away, I picked up my things and went to the Aster building. When I entered the big meeting room across the hall from his office, I realized this was a school board meeting of sorts. Randall hadn’t arrived yet, but everyone else was here. The senior professors—Crimson, Martha, Genevieve, and Graham—and a handful of seasoned demon hunters from the nearest outpost—including Alain Heyward, Ava’s father.

  I took my usual seat at the right of Randall’s chair and waited in silence. Crimson was right in front of me, on the other side, and I tried hard not to look at him, lest it remind me of the threat he had made last semester. Because of this threat, I hadn’t slept well in over four months.

  Crimson tapped his fingers on the long, black table. “How long will he keep us waiting?” he muttered, glancing at his wristwatch.

  I knew what he was doing: stirring the pot.

  Many of these professors and demon hunters were against the Black Knight Unit. They were already displeased with Randall. Crimson was only poking at the wound.

  Whispers began anew and I frowned.

  Moments later, Randall strolled into the meeting room and the whispers ceased.

  “Sorry I’m late,” he said. “I had an important call.” He took his usual seat at the head of the table. His chair wasn’t different from ours in any way, and yet he sat on it as if it was a throne. I guess being immortal and ridiculously powerful made you a being apart. “I tried having this meeting last week, but some of you couldn’t make it, so we’re doing this now.”

  “What is this about?” Crimson asked, his voice uninterested.

  “To discuss plans for the upcoming semester,” Randall said simply.

  Alain crossed his arms. “I don’t need to be here for this.”

  “No, but we can discuss something else, then,” Professor Graham started. “The fact that Erin Delman and many other half-demons are walking around campus as if they belonged here.”

  Graham had been vocal last semester when Erin was found out and almost expelled from the school. Apparently, his opinion hadn’t changed.

  “I agree,” Alain said. “Talking about those half-demons is more important than deciding on the school’s agenda.”

  Crimson nodded. “We need to eradicate the half-demons.”

  I gritted my teeth. Oh, so help me. It would be a miracle if I got through this meeting without either starting a fight, or murdering someone.

  Alain and Graham agreed instantly, along with the other demon hunters in the room. Professor Genevieve was oddly quiet, but Professor Martha didn’t stay silent.

  “That’s ridiculous,” she protested. “They shouldn’t be blamed for their heritage. It’s not their fault.”

  “Then we find their parents and punish them too,” Graham suggested.

  I curled my hands under the table, trying to hold my tongue. Three people in here knew I was half-demon. If the others found out, I would be shunned too. Maybe even fired, and I couldn’t let that happen yet.

  “As one of the leaders of the Blackthorn Hunters, I propose we lock all the half-demons up.” Fingers steepled, Alain leaned over the table. “After that, we conduct public executions, as a warning to other half-demons who think they can infiltrate our society.”

  Martha gasped. “That’s barbaric.”

  Alain shrugged. “Then let’s have trials. I’m sure they would be convicted anyway.”

  “Convicted of what?” Martha asked, clearly losing her patience. “Of trying to adapt to a world that doesn’t want them. I’ll repeat; they aren’t guilty of who they are.”

  Graham glared at Martha. “Why are you defending them?”

  “Enough,” Randall said, his voice low but powerful. Final. Everyone in the room quieted. “I didn’t call you here to talk about the half-demons and the Black Knight Unit, but if you insist, let me tell you bluntly: They are here to stay.”

  “That’s preposterous!” Graham barked.

  “You think so,” Randall said, remaining as calm and regal as ever. “But you forget that I’m the first demon hunter, the founder of the Blackthorn Hunters and the Blackthorn Hunters Academy, and the current headmaster. My word is law. And I say the half-demons stay. In fact, not only are they staying, but they are also joining us. The half-demons who are of age will enroll in the academy immediately, and attend classes as students.”

  “You can’t be serious,” Alain said, his eyes wide.

  “What if I refuse to teach them?” Graham asked, defiant.

  “Then you’ll be fired,” Randall said with a snarl. “Let it be known: You and all the other academy staff are to treat all the half-demons students with respect, just as you would a demon hunter student. If you don’t, it’s your job on the line.”

  Graham punched the table hard, but swallowed whatever curse he wanted to throw at Randall.

  “Randall, you know you’re practically starting a civil war, right?” Alain asked, his voice dangerously low.

  “It’s a war only if you make it one,” Randall said, unconcerned. “Now that this issue is resolved, can we talk about the school schedule?”

  The professors, demon hunters, and the rest of the staff weren’t pleased about the decision, but no one protested. No one dared go against Randall’s wishes, at least, not right under his nose.

  The tension in the room was palpable as the topic of the meeting shifted and we finally discussed the upcoming events, exams, the third-year midterm games, and such.

  An hour later, Randall dismissed us. With unhurried steps, he was the first out of the room. As usual, he holed up in his office.

  Graham, Alain, and the others who were opposed to Randall’s plan got together at the end of table. They discussed in hushed tones, but anyone could see they weren’t happy about the headmaster’s decision. They were fucking stupid if they fought Randall head-on.

  Professor Martha shot
a glare at them, then turned to me. She paused beside me and said in a whisper, “Erin asked to be excused from your class.” She turned her hazel eyes to me. “What did you do?”

  Fuck, what had Erin told her mother? “Nothing that I’m aware.”

  “I gather you heeded my words and are staying away from her?”

  Everyone was so serious and fucking sinister today.

  “I teach her class, you know. But other than that, I’m as far as I can get.”

  “Good,” she said with a short nod. “Keep it that way.”

  Without another word, Martha marched out, as if she too had a plan and had to get on with it.

  I exited the conference room before I couldn’t exercise my self-control anymore and exploded on Graham and Alain, and trotted out the building. With my first step, I turned left, aiming for the Snapdragon building, still not used to the fact that my room wasn’t there anymore. Now that I was a professor, I had been given a townhouse at Dahlia Villa on the other side of campus.

  I whirled around to correct my lapse, and found Crimson standing in my path.

  “That meeting was enlightening,” Crimson said. I slipped my hands in the pockets of my pants, doing my best to stay nonchalant while Crimson rambled on. “Didn’t you think? Professor Graham and demon hunter Alain are ready to go against Randall. This is exactly what we needed.”

  “If you say so.”

  “Don’t you get it?” Crimson’s eyes widened with excitement. “This is an opportunity. The board is already against Randall’s decision. If you push it, if you keep sowing seeds of discontentment throughout the school, if you—”

  “Me?”

  “Yes, you.” The glint in Crimson’s eyes darkened. “Or did you forget our deal?” He took a step closer and smiled at me. “I thought you would do anything to protect your soulmate.”

  My hands balled into fists inside my pockets, and I gritted my teeth. I wanted to punch him. Maybe if I hit him hard enough, his arrogance would fall out.

  “What do you want me to do?” I asked, the words giving me a headache.