Paranormal Academy Book 3: Elemental Blood

by Jody Morse

  As I walked out of the room we were in and down the hallway, I felt so many emotions swirling around inside of me.

  It was all but confirmed that I was a warlock. And honestly? I wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about that.

  I’d always thought that being part vampire would be the absolute worst possible thing, but now I knew otherwise. Being a warlock was the worst thing I had learned I was so far.

  Well, almost learned. I didn’t have official confirmation yet, but it felt close enough. I highly doubted that I would have been able to do that electricity spell and kill fifty snakes at one time if I wasn’t a warlock.

  I quickly rounded the corner, not even looking where I was going, when I went colliding with someone. Someone who I would have recognized anywhere with her red, yellow, and orange-streaked hair.

  Ember.

  She ended up falling onto the cement floor. She glanced up at me from behind her glasses, an angry look in her hazel eyes.

  “I’m sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going,” I apologized.

  “Clearly not,” she muttered as she picked herself up off the floor, brushing off her bare legs. Then she stared at me for a long moment. “Hey, you look really familiar. Aren’t you one of Ambur’s friends? I think we met in the Blackwood Forest.”

  “Yeah, that would be me,” I replied with a nod. “Are you a student here?”

  “Yup.”

  “And they placed you in the House of Darkness?” I asked with raised eyebrows.

  “You know it’s not just for warlocks, right? Dark fae are also dark magic users, and we’re not the only ones. There are lots of dark magic users here. I mean, you didn’t actually think I would be in the House of Mage, did you?” Ember asked.

  “Not really,” I admitted. The House of Darkness actually seemed like the perfect House for her. If I had to choose a house for her, it’s exactly what I would have chosen. She seemed far too evil to be integrated into the rest of the Paranormal Academy student population.

  “I didn’t think so.” A devious smile crossed her lips for me. “Hey, want to give my sister a message for me?”

  “Sure,” I replied with a shrug.

  “Tell my twinnie that the entire reason I came to Paranormal Academy is because I want to make her life a living hell. And I am going to do exactly that.” A wicked smile crossed her lips. “Thanks for being the bearer of bad news for me. See ya around.” She blew a kiss at me and then walked away.

  Chapter 12

  “God, Ember is such a bitch. I really am the good twin,” Ambur complained as we headed to Magical Weaponry class together. “I just kept wanting to give her the benefit of the doubt. I mean, she came from my parents. My parents are good fairies. I still don’t understand how they birthed her.”

  “Fae twins suck,” Draia commented, glancing over at me. “Thank god we’re witches.”

  I knew I should have kept it a secret. I knew I shouldn’t have told them. But I was done keeping secret from my friends, so I found myself spilling, “Actually, there’s something I need to tell you guys. There’s a chance that I might not actually be a witch. I might be a warlock.”

  “What? You? A warlock?” Ambur just stared back at me and let out a laugh.

  My eyebrows shot up. “What’s so funny about that?”

  “It’s just that you’re one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. And you don’t even like to hurt flies!”

  “I just killed fifty snakes,” I informed her.

  Ambur’s lip quivered, and I was pretty sure she was going to cry. “Those poor snakes.”

  “Snakes suck. Thank you for getting rid of them,” Draia said.

  “Why are you going around killing snakes?” Ambur asked.

  “It was a part of my Dark Magic Aptitude Test,” I explained. “The test that will determine if I am a warlock or not.”

  “My money is still on the fact that you’re not,” Ambur insisted. “Even if you did kill fifty snakes, which we should give a proper funeral, by the way.”

  “Only you would want to throw a snake funeral,” Draia said, shaking her head at her.

  “All living things are important!”

  “We can’t give them a funeral,” I informed her. “They had to keep them to analyze my magic.”

  “So, what does this mean for you? If you are a warlock, are they going to move you to the House of Darkness?” Draia asked.

  “Nope. Headmaster Crane said I would keep my schedule. I imagine that they might add a class there or something, but he seemed firm on not changing anything too much.”

  “That seems pretty weird,” Ambur commented. “Considering there’s that whole entire policy in the student handbook about how we’re not supposed to intermingle with dark magic users.”

  “Yeah,” I replied, just as Kaden began to head in our direction, reminding me that I wasn’t the only potential dark magic user who had been allowed to take classes with the good magic users.

  A thought occurred to me then, something I hadn’t considered before. What if the entire reason Headmaster Crane was allowing Kaden and me to be a part of this class even though we may have been warlocks had something to do something to do with the Headmaster’s association with the Dark Coven.

  Was he purposely trying to allow the warlocks and dark magic users to intermingle with the rest of Paranormal Academy’s student population to weaken good magic?

  ***

  In Paranormal Societies class that day, Professor Vanderbilt told us how important it was for shifters to have friends of their own kind. Not only was it good for them for social reasons, but it also helped them thrive when it came to their magical abilities, strengths, and powers.

  It made me realize that I hadn’t met a single dragon shifter at Paranormal Academy yet.

  So, after classes ended that day, I decided to head over to the House of Were. There was a courtyard where a lot of the shifters hung out.

  I was on a mission: find other dragon shifters.

  Of course, I had a feeling that was going to be a lot easier said than done. I wasn’t even sure where to begin, actually.

  I approached a girl who was sitting on a bench in front of the building. She glanced up at me as I approached her.

  “Hey, I have a question for you. Do you know if there are any dragon shifters in this House?”

  “Yes, there are.”

  A hopeful feeling passed through me then. There were others here, others like me. “Do you know where I might be able to find them?”

  “No. I’m a werewolf. I have no idea who the dragon shifters are.” She paused. “I would check with Chuck Newberry. He’s the RA here. As far as I know, he knows everything about everyone. His dorm room is on the third floor at the end of the hall, right next to the boy’s bathroom.”

  “Thank you. I really appreciate the info.” I continued into the building then and took the stairs, two at a time, until I had reached the third floor.

  I followed her instructions and found his dorm room. His door was closed.

  I knocked, knowing there was probably a good chance that he wasn’t even in his room.

  To my surprise, he flung his door open. Chuck was a nerdy-looking kid. He reminded me of the real-life version of Where’s Waldo?

  “Can I help you?” he asked.

  “I hope so. I have a weird question for you. I was wondering if there are any dragon shifters in the House of Were.”

  He narrowed his eyes at me. “Who wants to know?”

  “Me. I’m looking to find others who are like me. Others who are my own kind, I mean. I’m a dragon shifter,” I blurted. Even though I hadn’t actually intended to share that information with anyone, I figured that honesty was probably my best chance at finding out who the other dragon shifters on this campus were.

  “You sure about that? I’ve never seen you here before. You definitely don’t live in these dorms.” Chuck narrowed his eyes at me suspiciously.

  “That’s because I have multiple paranor
mal races,” I explained. “They placed me into the House of Mage because I’m also a magic user, but I’m also a dragon shifter. My name is Juliana Montgomery.”

  His eyes widened. It was obvious that, like everyone else on this campus, he had heard my name before.

  “Well, Juliana, I’m pleased to tell you that there are not just one but three others who are just like you. Our dragon shifters are Jacob Pierce, and Nellie and Noah Jones.”

  “Okay. Where do I find them?” I asked.

  “I’m not sure where Nellie and Noah are right now, but I’m pretty sure I just saw Jacob heading for his dorm room. He lives in Room 4B, which is right down that hallway.” He pointed.

  “Thank you.” I beamed at him before continuing off in the direction he’d pointed out.

  The door to 4B was shut, so I knocked. I heard the sound of rock music on the other side. It was turned off and a moment later, the door was opened.

  A guy with short, light brown hair and deeply sun-kissed skin was standing on the other side. What was most noticeable to me were his eyes.

  They were cat green—the same exact color as mine.

  I found myself lost inside them for a moment, wondering if having green eyes was a sign of being a dragon or something.

  “Hey, what’s up?”

  “Are you Jacob?” I asked.

  “Yeah.” He looked surprised that I knew his name. “Who are you?”

  “My name is Juliana Montgomery—” I began, but he interrupted me.

  “Holy shit. I’m talking to Juliana Montgomery. You are a goddamn legend.” He grinned. “Why are you talking to me, though? Wait. Do you want to go out with me? Because I would totally go out with you.”

  I forced a smile. “No, that’s not the reason I’m here.”

  “Damn. I should have figured. Why are you here?”

  “I heard you’re a dragon shifter.”

  “Yeah, I am a dragon shifter. What makes you ask?”

  “I’m a dragon shifter, too. And I was just hoping to meet other dragon shifters,” I explained. “I thought we could be friends.”

  “Aw, you wanna be my friend?” He grinned. “I think we can work that out. Do you want to be friends with benefits?”

  I rolled my eyes at him. “No.”

  “Alright, I figured I’d at least ask. I’ll cut that shit out now. Why don’t you come inside? Let’s talk… about dragon shifting.” He held his door open a little wider for me. As I stepped inside, he closed the door behind us. “I didn’t know you were supposed to be a dragon shifter. I thought the werewolf gene ran in your bloodline.”

  “Yeah, that’s what everyone thought, including me.”

  “So, how do you know you’re a dragon shifter then?” Jacob asked as he sat down on the bed.

  “I mean, it was kind of hard to ignore when I shifted into a dragon,” I replied. “I wasn’t expecting it or anything. I thought I was about to shift into a werewolf, but then I became a dragon.”

  “Oh, shit. That must have been so scary for you.”

  “Scary was one word for it,” I replied with a nod. “My first shift was actually extremely scary. Did you have an out of body experience the first time you shifted?”

  “Out of body experience?” He repeated.

  “Yeah, I was literally ripped from my own body and watched as it shifted. After I turned, I was able to return to my body.” I paused, noticing how surprised he looked to hear about my experience. “I always assumed that this was something to happened to every dragon shifter.”

  He shook his head. “That never happened to me before, and I never heard of it happening to any other dragon shifter.”

  “Wow. I wonder why it happened to me then,” I murmured.

  “How many times have you shifted since then?” Jacob asked. “Has it happened every other time, too?”

  “I wouldn’t know. I’ve only ever shifted that one time.”

  “Really?” He frowned. “How long ago was that?”

  “Last May, right before school let out for the summer.”

  “That’s strange. I shift into a dragon all the time. Though they say male shifters tend to shift more.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  “Yeah, testosterone affects it, I guess.” He shrugged. “I wonder when you’ll shift again, but I feel like it should have already happened by now. Usually, it happens during the full moon. Maybe you’re a late bloomer or something.”

  “I guess we’ll see.” I paused. “There are two other dragon shifters who go to school here. Do you know them?”

  “Yeah, Noah and Nellie. We all hang out all the time. They’re cool as shit.”

  “I want to meet them,” I told him.

  “We’ll all hang out. It will be really fun. Actually, this might sound crazy, but I’m pretty sure that you’re a part of our clan.”

  “Clan?” My eyebrows lifted.

  “Yeah. You know how werewolves have packs? Well, dragons have clans,” he explained. “Noah, Nellie, and me are all a part of the same clan, and I think you might be, too.”

  “What makes you think that? Aside from the fact that we’re all dragon shifters who go to the same school?” I asked.

  “Your eyes look just like mine,” he explained. “And Noah and Nellie have the same exact eye color as we do.”

  “Is it just a dragon shifter thing?” I asked him.

  “No. I’ve met dragon shifters who have amber colored eyes. Hazel eyes. Dark green eyes. Brown eyes. Black eyes. Blue eyes. I’d never seen anyone who has the same exact eye color as me until I met Noah and Nellie. And now you have this rare shade of green. You gotta admit it’s rare.”

  “It is rare,” I agreed. The truth was that I had never actually met anyone with the same exact eye color as mine until him.

  Maybe he was right.

  Maybe we really were meant to be a part of the same dragon clan. Crazier things had definitely happened.

  “You should come to our clan meeting this week,” Jacob went on. “It’s on Saturday night at nine p.m. in the Enchanted Forest.”

  “But that’s against the rules,” I said out loud.

  “We don’t care about rules.” Jacob shrugged. “We’re dragons.”

  I thought about it for a long moment. It wasn’t like I had ever really cared about breaking the rules for Kaden in the past. But maybe that was because I had such strong feelings for him. Breaking the rules for this dragon clan, for some reason, bothered me more.

  And yet, I still found myself wanting to break them. The truth was that I was extremely curious about Noah and Nellie. And a big part of me wondered if being around other dragon shifters would somehow cause me to start shifting more.

  “Alright, you can count me in,” I told him.

  Jacob grinned. “I have a feeling that this is the start of something good.”

  Chapter 13

  Headmaster Crane was waiting for me in his office when I arrived.

  “Juliana, please close the door.” There was a firmness to his tone—a firmness that sort of scared me. I couldn’t tell, based on that tone, whether he was in a good mood about my results or not.

  When it came down to it, I wasn’t even sure what he actually wanted the results to be. Even though he probably should have only wanted me to be a witch because it meant that my magic could be easily used for the better, I couldn’t forget the fact that he was associated with the Dark Coven. That had to have been for a reason. Maybe there was a part of him that was secretly hoping that I would be a warlock. If he wanted dark magic to rule the world, then it would have only made sense to hope that The Chosen One was part warlock.

  “I have the results of your Dark Magic Aptitude Test,” Headmaster Crane began as I slid into the chair across from him. “The results are very unexpected.”

  “Okay.” I took a deep breath. This was the moment that would change everything: who I was, what I was, my future, my life—everything. It was one of the most life-changing moments I would ever have;
I could just feel it. I was about to find out, once and for all, if I was good or bad.

  “Your results show…” Headmaster Crane met my eyes, his expression remaining stone-cold and not at all indicative of what the answer was. “That you are not a warlock.”

  “How is that even possible?” I asked. “I zapped fifty snakes at once. And I didn’t even know how to do an electricity spell.”

  “And the very fact that you chose to perform an electricity spell would have made me suspect that you actually were a warlock,” the Headmaster said. “Most students who aren’t warlocks—and even some who are—choose to use other spells. For example, knowing that you are so good with the elements, you could have just as easily have frozen all of those snakes—or lit them on fire. And yet, for some reason, you opted for a spell that often only the strongest, most powerful warlocks use. I found that a little strange, to be frank.”

  I thought of Kaden. It had been how he had chosen to kill that dog-like monster in the woods. Was that an abnormal choice? Had he only chosen to use it because he was a strong, powerful warlock? Or had his reason for choosing it been entirely strategic?

  “There’s more that I have to share with you about your results,” Headmaster Crane continued. “While we did find that you were not a warlock, even though you have a very, very strong handle on dark magic, the analysis of your snakes you killed revealed that your magic was not your own.”

  “W-what?” I was confused by what he was even saying.

  Headmaster Crane met my eyes. “The magic that you used to kill those snakes belonged to someone else.”