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

by Juliana Haygert

  If only I could bury myself in a hole and never come out again.

  Pretending to be cool about it all, I looked around the classroom. The students kept stealing glances at me and whispering.

  “That’s nothing new,” I said in a low voice. “They do that all the time, mostly because I’m my father’s daughter.”

  “But they are starting to notice you act like this only in Rey’s class,” Claire said. “Maybe you should try to act normal in his classes, Erin. That will be less suspicious.”

  I shook my head. “I can’t. You know I can’t.”

  Despite myself, my traitorous eyes found him across the classroom. He was like a magnet. Even when I didn’t want to look at him, I always found him as if he was a beacon calling for me.

  Only I didn’t call to him. I repelled him.

  He was demonstrating a move to two students, looking so elegant and powerful in his uniform. Every time I saw him fighting, he looked like a martial artist, with the precise moves, the right strength, the perfect finish.

  He was freaking perfect.

  Except for when he was a jerk and pushed me away.

  Seriously, how long would it take for me to learn he would always be like that? I shouldn’t give him openings to use and play with me like that night. I shouldn’t have hope that this would become something more.

  I was foolish.

  When class was dismissed, I was the first one out the door. I waited for Claire outside, and then we walked from the Hyacinth building to the cafeteria on the first floor of the dorms.

  On the way, we witnessed as other students picked on the half-demons. Since they joined our classes as students a week ago, the full-blood demon hunters had been meaner and the protests from the parents had continued. Twice, I had been surrounded and yelled at, but thankfully, I hadn’t been alone. For some reason, Harvey, Ava, Harper, and even Peter seemed to always be a hop away. Whenever they saw something suspicious, they came and helped Claire and me.

  Things weren’t any different in the cafeteria. The half-demons were shoved and threatened in the lunch line, and harassed while they were eating quietly. Though most of them—us—tried to stay quiet, some of the half-demons had hot tempers. They responded, turning the situation into a fight and ending up in Randall’s office.

  Whenever that happened, whispers spread like wildfire.

  “Did you see it? I told you they are unstable.”

  “They aren’t just unstable. They are also evil.”

  “It’s just a matter of time before they attack and kill us all.”

  I confess, even I had trouble holding back. I wanted to summon my darkfire and release it on them all. I wouldn’t hit to kill, but damn, I wished I could throw my magic at them, enough to inflict a little pain.

  Without any complications, Claire and I made it through the lunch line, and we went to our usual table along the glass wall.

  I sat down, but she put her tray on the table and said, “I need to go to the restroom. Be right back.”

  I watched as she weaved through the tables and disappeared down the hallway that led to the restrooms.

  A moment later, a new tray appeared beside mine.

  “Hi,” Harper said, taking a seat beside me.

  “Hey, girl.” I smiled at her, glad to not be alone. I was never a wimp, but it would be foolish of me to pretend I wasn’t wary of being among so many ill-meaning students. “How is it going?”

  Harper shrugged. “I’ve been better.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Claire hasn’t paid much attention to me,” she said, her tone dejected. “I mean, as a friend or a classmate. But no more than that.”

  I frowned. “Hm, Harper, I think that might be because of two things. One, I’m not sure Claire realizes you’re into her. To her, you’re a good friend. You know what I mean?” Claire would only figure out Harper liked her, if Harper made it clear. “And two—”

  “She still hasn't forgotten Tanner,” Harper finished for me.

  “It’s not that she can’t forget him; it’s that it was an intense and damaging relationship,” I explained. “It’ll take some time for her to recover from that.”

  “I know, I know.” She sighed. “I guess I just have to be here and be a good friend to her until she’s ready.”

  “Hang in there,” I told her. “If I have my way, you two will get together someday.”

  Harper smiled at me.

  “Who will get together with whom?” Claire asked, sitting down by my side.

  “In the movie,” Harper said quickly.

  “Movie?” Claire asked. She grabbed her utensils and started picking on her food. “What movie?”

  “Tonight,” Harper said. “I heard there will be a romantic suspense movie playing in the movie room tonight.”

  “Do you know where it is located?” I asked, curious. Each semester, the movie room moved. Sometimes, if there was danger of the movie room being found, it moved in the middle of the semester.

  “I do.” Harper nodded. “I was told it was a good movie to bring a date to.” I shook my head at Harper. What the hell was she doing? Claire wasn’t ready. She went on, “What about you, Claire? Don’t you want to bring a date to the movie tonight?”

  Claire’s shoulders sagged. “No movies or dates for me.” She pierced her forked through the french fries, as if she could hurt them. “My heart can’t handle anything like that right now.”

  “I see,” Harper muttered, her tone sad.

  Shit, I knew it. Why did she poke around so soon? Now Claire had been reminded of Tanner, and Harper was sad because she still had no chance here.

  We finished eating in silence, each of us lost in their own head. And I would bet, all of us thinking about our doomed love lives. Claire was sighing over Tanner, Harper was daydreaming about Claire, and I was crying over Rey.

  Now we just needed to be joined by Ava, who was always after Harvey, and we would have a full party of heartbroken girls. Maybe we should form a band. What would be a cool name for us? The Leftovers, or the Ones Left Behind, or the Forgotten, or the Unwanted.

  I snickered.

  Claire glanced at me. “What is it?”

  “Nothing,” I muttered.

  A moment later, Professor Graham entered the cafeteria. “All students proceed to the courtyard. Headmaster Randall has an announcement.”

  Most students rushed out, but Claire, Harper, and I took our time getting up from our table, putting the trays away, and walking to the courtyard.

  “Is there another ball coming up that I don’t know about?” I asked as we halted behind the throng of students, professors, and other staff milling around the courtyard, everyone facing the back of the Aster building. “Or maybe an event?”

  “Not that I remember,” Claire said, sounding as curious as I was.

  Soon, the headmaster walked out the Aster building. He smiled, like a rock star greeting his fans. In a way, I guess he was a rock star in our world. Even more than the full-fledged demon hunters, since he was the first one, the founder of the Blackthorn Hunters and the academy. And though people seemed smitten by him, they didn’t go crazy like they had done with the demon hunters last semester.

  “I’m here to announce I made a deal with the protestors and the school board,” he said, his voice loud and clear, as if he spoke into a microphone. Whatever chatter or whispers had been running through the crowd ceased. “A contest will be held at the end of the next semester. This contest, called the Shadow Trials, will help us determined which of the half-demon students are worthy of continuing at the academy.”

  The chatter and whispers came back, fueled by outrage and lots of questions.

  The headmaster continued, “Anyone who passes the Shadow Trials will be fully accepted by the demon hunters here. Anyone who doesn’t will be cast out—if they don’t die first, because this will be a deadly contest.”

  I shook my head, not believing what I was hearing.

  “Is he se
rious?” Claire asked me in a whisper.

  I wish I could tell her he wasn’t.

  “The half-demons will be given a year to study here,” the headmaster continued, “to learn as much as they can before the contest. Meanwhile, the half-demons will be treated with respect and equality. If they aren’t, I’ll punish those who disobey me.” He waved his hands, dismissing us. “Now everyone go back to your classes.”

  Just like that, the headmaster walked into the Aster building, leaving all of us speechless, but full of questions.

  People dispersed, but all of them were talking about this contest.

  “He just drops a bomb like that, then leaves us to ponder,” Harper said, taking the words right out of my mouth.

  “There’s nothing we can do about it,” Claire said. “Besides, this contest is at the end of next semester. Anything can happen before then.”

  “That’s true,” I muttered, though I wasn’t satisfied with the lack of information.

  “Let’s go to class,” Claire said.

  We started walking to the Statice building.

  “Erin.”

  I whipped in the direction of her voice. My mother walked toward me, her steps fast. From the set of her mouth and the hard line of her brows, I knew she was upset.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  She halted in front of me. “You’re a half-demon. Everyone knows that.”

  “Oh-kay. And?”

  She pressed her lips tight before blurting, “You’ll have to participate in the Shadow Trials.”

  10

  Rey

  I watched the whole announcement from the corner of the Orchid building. What the fuck was Randall playing at? A deadly contest for the half-demons? This had to be some kind of sick joke.

  Randall delivered the half-baked speech and left without any explanation. The student started going to their classes, all talking about the Shadow Trials. Erin also turned and walked away, until her mother stopped her. From this far, I couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but judging by the way all the blood drained from Erin’s face, it couldn’t be good.

  Was Martha proposing more crazy experiments and spells? Hadn’t she realized Erin wasn’t up for dark magic like that?

  The two of them resumed walking, soon leaving my line of sight.

  At least I knew Erin would be okay for the next few minutes. Meanwhile, I could do something else. I went into the Aster building and knocked on Randall’s office.

  “Come in,” he said.

  I walked in and closed the door behind me. “What’s going on?”

  Randall stood behind his desk, watching the window and all the students leaving the courtyard. He glanced at me. “What do you mean?”

  “This fucking contest. The Shadow Trials. What is that all about?”

  He didn’t answer at first, making me think he wouldn’t. What? Now I wasn’t his dear second anymore, and he was keeping more stuff from me? Not that I fucking cared, but this … this was important.

  Finally, he said, “I had to appease the protestors and even the professors who are strictly against teaching the half-demons. That was the only solution I could think of.”

  “I bet you could have come up with something better.”

  “Believe me, I’ve tried, but nothing seemed good enough for them.”

  I shook my head. “I can’t believe that. A deadly contest? It doesn’t seem right.”

  “At least it’ll be entertaining.” He sat down at his desk. “A few lives will be lost, but those would survive will be able to stay without discrimination.”

  “Do you really believe the discrimination will stop after that?”

  Randall sucked in a sharp breath. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”

  “I know you can stop this if you want.”

  “I won’t because, when it’s time, I’ll assign the Shadow Trials to the full-fledged demon hunters. They will take care of it.”

  “But—”

  “Rey, this contest is happening; there’s no way around it.” He leaned forward on the desk, his dark eyes dull. “And I should inform you: You’re a half-demon. You’ll also take part in the Shadow Trials.”

  What the … “Only a handful of people know I’m a half-demon.”

  “I know, but that will change closer to the contest.”

  I took a step forward. “Are you threatening me?”

  Randall let out a hollow chuckle. “You might be old and powerful, Reyan, but I’m older and more powerful. I don’t need to threaten you. If I wanted, I could squash you with my thoughts.” He waved me off. “Now get out of my sight. I have much to do.”

  I clenched my teeth, my jaw hurting from the pressure. The rage whipping around me demanded I lunged over the desk and punched him, but Randall was fucking right. He was much more powerful than I was. I would never be able to touch him if he didn’t want me to.

  I strutted out of his office before I did something stupid.

  In need of some release, I climbed up the stairs until I was on the top floor, at a balcony that opened up in the middle of the roof. It wasn’t as high as the turrets at the corners of the building, but it would do. After taking a good look around, I shifted into my raven and flew up.

  I hadn’t shifted so much in months, maybe even years, but lately it seemed it was all I could do to clear my head and calm my breathing. High in the sky, I flew around the perimeter of the academy.

  But instead of clearing my mind, many thoughts knotted together.

  What was Randall’s point with the Shadow Trials? What did he want with it? And what was that about revealing who I was and putting me in the contest?

  Did that mean he planned on having Erin participate in the contest too?

  Erin …

  She had been even worse in class since that disciplinary-action-gone-wrong. Completely absentminded and always looking sad. It broke my fucking heart.

  If only she knew how much restraint it had taken to stop myself that night, if only she knew how I was trying to keep her safe, if only she understood my side of things.

  If only she knew I was trying to do the honorable thing and respect her mother’s wishes—threats.

  Even if I sat down with her and explained it detail by detail, I didn’t think she would agree with me. That was why I didn’t tell her, why I didn’t ask her if it was okay.

  For now, I avoided her as much as I could, while sticking to the shadows to make sure she was safe.

  Since I didn’t have any classes that afternoon, I flew around the academy, eventually checking on Erin whenever I knew she would be out of the buildings to either switch classes, or to go to the cafeteria.

  Or to go to her dorm.

  I perched atop the Gardenia building and watched as she walked in with Claire and Harper for the evening. If she kept to her habits, she would have dinner with her friends in the cafeteria, then they would get together for a little while in one of their bedrooms, and later they would turn in for the night.

  I took flight when I saw them entering Claire’s room, sure that they wouldn’t leave for another hour, and went to stretch my wings some more. The full moon was high in the sky, almost obscuring the many stars dotting the darkness. It was a beautiful, warm night, and I wished the rest of the world was as peaceful as the night sky.

  I lost track of time. It was probably almost midnight when I rounded the outer walls of the academy, attempting to go back to my townhouse, and spotted something that caught my attention.

  A shadow moving fast through the trees.

  Faster than the shadow, I flew down, but kept my distance, in case it was some demon. Honestly, the first thing that came to mind was that this was a demon doing a reconnaissance mission for King Brikan.

  But it wasn’t that.

  The shadowy figure was a man in a heavy black cloak, its hood covering most of his face.

  Wanting a better look, I flew ahead of the figure and paused on a low branch. The man walked past me and I almos
t yelped in surprise.

  Randall.

  What the fuck was he doing out this late at night?

  I couldn’t waste this opportunity, so I followed Randall, careful not to catch his attention. I didn’t think he knew I could shapeshift into a raven, but I wouldn’t risk that now.

  I didn’t have to follow him long. Randall halted in front of an arched tree. He raised his hands high and chanted something in a muted voice. Dark light shone from the arched tree trunk, creating a thin black wall that touched the ground.

  A portal.

  Without hesitation, Randall entered the portal.

  I flew forward, but stopped myself. Who knew where this fucking portal was going? It could very well go to the underworld for all I knew, a place I was not welcomed right now. If I went into the underworld, I wasn’t coming back alive.

  I knew Randall had to come back sometime, so I perched on a high branch near the portal, and waited.

  Waiting … not my strong suit.

  I almost caved in and entered the portal several times. I was glad I didn’t because almost an hour later, Randall walked out.

  His hood was down, showing off all the blood staining his chin and neck. My stomach knotted. There was blood on his hands too.

  Was … had he drank blood? From whom?

  Where the fuck did that portal lead?

  The portal faded behind him. Randall pulled up the hood of his cloak and dashed away in the direction of the academy, just as fast as he had come earlier.

  Despite wanting to be away from him right now, I followed, just to make sure he wasn’t going to stop anywhere else, open up another portal, and repeat whatever shit he had done.

  But he didn’t. He went directly to the academy.

  For a moment, I wondered how he would get past the guards without anyone seeing the blood all over him, but I should have known better. Randall used his magic to have the guards walk away from one of the outposts. He casually walked through the small gate and strolled to the Aster building—unseen.