by Ivy Hearne
My mouth gaped open and I tried to think of something to say.
“But what happened to Erin?” I managed to choke out.
“No clue.” The new girl—my new roommate, apparently—shrugged and moved over to the closet. She hefted a suitcase up on to Erin’s bed and unzipped it.
I drifted back into the bathroom to pick up a brush. Perching on the edge of my own bed, I brushed my hair and frowned at the floor. Eventually, I realized I was being incredibly rude. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m just surprised. I didn’t realize I was getting a new roommate this semester.”
“Whatever,” she said as she hung up a few more uniforms.
Okay. So I hadn’t made a great first impression. But I was trying to apologize. “Is this your first year at the Academy?”
She rolled her eyes and shot an irritated glance at me. “Yeah.”
Fine. I would try being friendly later. Clearly, this wasn’t going to work right now. And I couldn’t take any more of the one-word answers. I stood and pulled jeans and a T-shirt out of my own closet.
I wasn’t comfortable getting dressed in front of her, so I moved back inside the bathroom. From there, I called out, “My name’s Kacie DeLuca.”
I might not be able to get her to be polite to me, but maybe I could get her to at least tell me her name.
Instead, there was a long silence, the kind you get when someone goes completely still.
Dammit. Something about me telling her my name had freaked her out.
I pulled my shirt on and stuck my head out into our room. “You okay?”
My new roommate took a step backward, away from me. “You’re Kacie DeLuca? The gorgon?”
My stomach clenched. That was the one thing I hadn’t wanted to happen. I didn’t want that story going around campus. Bad enough that I was the student who had all the weird things happen to her last year.
Now I was also the gorgon.
Still, there wasn’t much to be done but acknowledge it. “That’s me.”
She frowned.
“So what’s your name?” I asked, brushing my wet hair and braiding it back out of my face.
“I’m Layla Smythe.” She turned her back on me and continued unpacking, but her motions were jerkier than they had been before. She’d gone from being rude to scared.
Of me.
I heaved a sigh and pulled on a pair of socks and my hiking boots.
When Erin was my roommate, I usually mentioned where I was going and asked if she wanted to join me.
I didn’t say anything at all to Layla. The last thing I grabbed on my way out was my jacket. Early fall afternoons in the Colorado Rockies can get chilly.
Outside, only a few students made their way across the quad. Everyone was busy getting settled into their rooms. I stomped toward the library, trying to convince myself that I was suffering from some kind of adrenaline let-down.
But the truth was, I didn’t think I was going to like my new roommate very much.
I needed to see if I could find someone who would tell me where Erin had gone. She’d left campus early last semester, hadn’t bothered to stick around after the battle. She wasn’t the only one—a lot of students had taken off. I wondered how many more of them wouldn’t come back at all.
But I wouldn’t have guessed that Erin would be one of the ones too traumatized to return.
Pulling out my phone, I sent a text to her number. I waited for a minute but got no reply.
With a sigh, I shoved my hands into my jacket pocket and trudged toward the library. Maybe I could find something to do there.
Really, the library was just an excuse to get out of my room. I didn’t have any reason to go over there—though if anyone asked, I planned to say I wanted to print out a copy of my class schedule for the next day. I wouldn’t say aloud that I simply couldn’t stay in my room with the model-beautiful, rude, and suddenly terrified-of-me new roommate.
I was going to miss Erin. We’d had a great rhythm for living together—we did some stuff together, but we also had our own friends. We got along. And she wasn’t afraid of me.
Now, though, I apparently had some sort of terrifying reputation on campus. One that was scary enough to turn a queen bitch into a rabbit huddled in the corner.
No. The library wasn’t going to do me any good at all. I would just sit there seething at the books. Probably alone.
Surely somebody would be around getting coffee or food at the Rathskeller, or even just hanging out.
Technically, underclassmen weren’t welcome in the Rathskeller without one of the upperclassmen. But I was hoping it would be empty enough that I could grab a Coke and some French fries or something.
And probably sit and seethe at the empty pub. Alone.
Whatever. It was still better than dealing with my roommate.
The longer I thought about it, the more certain I became that I wasn’t going to like her.
A thought suddenly struck me. What if everyone on campus decided I was too terrifying to socialize with?
That thought terrified me almost as much as I apparently terrified Layla.
This semester needed to improve. Quickly.
Chapter 4
When I opened the door to the Rathskeller, though, I discovered it wasn’t ideal. In fact, Caleb was sitting in a booth with Izzy and Bash. Caleb glanced up, searching me out with his gaze, almost as if something about my presence had grabbed his attention before he could even see me.
To my surprise, my heart lifted a little when I saw him.
As soon as I realized that, I felt guilty. Souji and I had texted all summer long, on and off, at least.
Whatever else was going on in my life, I knew my hunting partner cared about me.
I didn’t know if what we had was truly romantic—but we had kissed more than once, and with some pretty magical effects. Literally magical. Not some princess-in-a-movie kind of sparkly romance magic.
Then again, Souji wasn’t due to be back to the Academy until tomorrow morning. He and his brother Reo had stayed here for most of the summer. Now that Reo was the official Hunter in Residence on campus, he had decided to work with the campus pack. So they’d been busy.
But Souji was still my partner. Flirting with Caleb back home had felt a little mischievous. Fun. Flirting with him here felt almost treasonous. Like I was likely to hurt Souji with it.
My head still full of Souji and his brother, I strolled over and slid into the booth next to Caleb, across from Izzy and Bash.
They were snuggled together comfortably. Something about that almost bothered me.
What kind of person chooses a life mate when they’re a teenager? What would that be like, to know that your romantic path was laid out for you forever? The permanence of it kind of gave me the heebie-jeebies. Not that I didn’t think they were a cute couple. They definitely were. But I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be that certain about another person.
I picked a fry off Caleb’s plate and ate it. “Hey, guys.”
“Glad to see everyone’s looking cleaner,” Caleb said with a grin. “Izzy and Bash were just telling me about the pack here. Izzy’s been here all summer working on combining her shifting and her magic.”
Izzy nodded. “Yeah—before I got here, I couldn’t remember anything from when I shifted. I couldn’t control the shifts either. I was stuck running home naked through the woods every month because I couldn’t remember where I’d left my clothes or anything.”
Sebastian wrapped an arm around her shoulder and snugged her in tight against him. “Oh, that’s not so bad.”
Izzy slapped at his shoulder and turned a bright red. “Bash, hush. Don’t talk like that in front of other people. It’s embarrassing.”
“I thought shifters weren’t embarrassed about nudity,” I said.
“Well, not when we’re in the middle of fighting or something,” Izzy said. “I mean, today was no big deal because I just had to do it.”
“Izzy’s still getting u
se to the whole shifter nudity thing,” Bash added.
“Yeah. I was the only shifter where I grew up. It’s not like I ever had a pack or anything.”
“Me, either,” Caleb said. “My family moved around so much trying to stay off the radar that I’ve never been around any shifters other than my family.”
“Are there a lot of hound shifters in England?” Bash asked.
“A few here and there,” Caleb said. “I don’t know that it would count as a lot.”
“More than over here, I bet,” Izzy said. “Isn’t England the home territory of the hound shifters?”
I actually knew the answer that one because I had looked it up this summer once I knew that Caleb and I would be going to school together. “There’s a community of hound shifters in New York City,” I said. “And a few others around the country. But yes, most of them are still in the United Kingdom. Not that there are that many anywhere.”
“New York City would make sense,” Izzy said. “Coywolves came out of a blend of hound and wolf and coyote shifters. And most of the coywolves are in New York.”
“I’d never met a coywolf until I met Izzy,” Bash said. “And you’re the first hound shifter I’ve met, too.” He nodded toward Caleb.
“Oh my gosh, here we are talking about being the first ones we’ve met, when you’re the first gorgon anyone has met in ages, Kacie.”
I gritted my teeth. Then I dropped my head down onto the table in front of me and let out a groan.
“Oh, no! Did I say something wrong?”
“No, not at all,” I reassured Izzy. “I just met my new roommate and apparently something she’s heard about me terrifies her. I think it has something to do with me being a gorgon.”
“Well, that’s just silly,” Izzy announced firmly. “Everybody who knows you has nothing but good things to say about you.”
I laughed. “Who have you been talking to? I can’t imagine anybody has good reports from everyone. I could think of some people you could talk to who might not like me all that much.”
“Mostly Souji and Reo,” Bash said. “They were here all summer with us.”
Right. I was suddenly hyperaware of Caleb sitting next to me and felt the slow burn of a blush climbing up my neck and onto my cheeks.
“Who are Souji and Reo?” Caleb asked.
“So just my hunting partner.” My voice was tight, my words short.
“Hunting partner?” Caleb asked.
“I thought you two spent the last few weeks talking about the Academy,” Bash said. “How did you not end up discussing hunting partners?”
“Shut up, Bash,” Izzy said, nudging him with her elbow.
“And Reo?” Caleb asked.
“He’s Souji’s brother.”
“And he’s here,” Izzy said.
“Yeah,” I said, “Reo is the Hunter in Residence for the Academy, so he’s around a lot.”
“No.” Izzy stood. “I mean he’s right here.” She waved toward the door.
I turned to look. Reo was strolling toward our table, his hands loose by his side, ready for him to spring into action if he needed to. He moved like a cat, like the panther he was in his other form. Definitely a hunter. And as beautiful as ever. His silky dark hair was a little too long—he could use a haircut—but it framed his face, with those high cheekbones and sparkling eyes.
I couldn’t help the smile that stretched across my face. Standing up, I moved toward him as if to hug him.
He didn’t stop me, but he didn’t exactly return my hug, either. His hands patted my back briefly and then he stepped away.
“Kacie,” he said. “Good to see you again.”
His words were welcoming enough, but his tone was more formal than anything I’d ever heard from being.
This wasn’t the Reo I was used to.
“It’s good to be back,” I said, “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Not right now, Kacie.” That was twice Reo had said my name, which somehow made his words seemed almost as formal as his tone.”
I blinked in confusion but nodded. “Okay. I need to discuss something with you sometime soon, though.” I wanted to ask him about Izzy’s entrance exam.
Reo scanned the room, almost as if he were looking for something more interesting to focus his attention on. “Yeah, sure.”
His dismissiveness hurt—at least for a few seconds. And then it just pissed me off.
I didn’t want to do anything that would damage my chances of actually talking to him like a real human being later. So I wasn’t going to attack him, not even verbally—but that didn’t mean I couldn’t come up with a way to keep him here talking to me longer than he really wanted to, just out of spite.
“Hey. What happened to my roommate? I’ve got some new chick living in my room. Erin’s gone. I tried texting her earlier, but she never answered. What’s going on?”
Reo shot me a frowning glance. “No one told you?”
Finally, something got his attention. “No one’s told me anything. I’ve been home all summer doing nothing exciting.”
At that, Caleb snorted. I rolled my eyes. “No offense.”
That seemed to get Reo’s attention, too. “You haven’t introduced me to your friend.”
“Oh, this is Caleb. He’s a shifter, too.”
“Hello, mate,” Caleb said, holding out one hand to shake Reo’s. The two men stood there staring into each other’s eyes over their clasped hands, and it took me a second to realize they were having some sort of contest. Probably doing that too-hard handshake thing men sometimes do.
“Oh, stop it. You two don’t need to get into with each other.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Reo said, but he dropped Caleb’s hand.
“Tell me about Erin.” I turned my body so that I block Reo’s view of Caleb., Focusing his attention on me.
“It’s no big deal, really,” Reo said. “She was offered a special studies position at one of the European academies, so she took it.”
“Special studies?” Izzy asked brightly.
Reo glanced at her and his entire demeanor softened. “It’s like graduate school. She technically had another year here, but she had the chance to study with some of the best European hunters, so Dr. Novak arranged for her to leave early.”
Why was he being some nice to Izzy and so harsh with me?
Granted, his words weren’t harsh—but there was something about his demeanor that was different. Almost as if he was angry with me.
I didn’t have the energy to deal with this right now. It would just have to wait.
“Thanks for telling me,” I said to Reo, my words a clear dismissal.
Reo’s eyes narrowed. “Sure thing,” he said. “You kids have a good night.”
I glared after him as he strolled away. Kids. He’d never treated me like less than an equal before.
What had gotten into him?
“Well,” Caleb said,” how long have the two of you been involved?”
“Involved? We’re not involved.”
Caleb laughed aloud. Picking up a French fry, he popped it into his mouth. “Oh, yeah? Try telling him that.”
Oh, dear. Was that Reo’s problem? That I was here with Caleb?
If so, I might be in real trouble this semester.
Chapter 5
I spent another two hours hanging out with Caleb, Izzy, and Bash, but I was distracted for a lot of it. What the hell had been up with Reo? What was he acting like that?
The whole socializing thing was just a pain. From the time I was twelve until I started at the Hunter’s Academy, I had suffered from horrific migraines brought on by a curse placed me by the Lusus Naturae, the evil side of the supernatural, the ones who wanted to take over from humans, enslave them.
I had missed out on building social skills during that time. I wasn’t used to whatever it was that people did to let each other know that they were upset. All I knew was how to be that weird girl with the headaches. The
thought of going back to being that weird girl who’s a gorgon made me alternate between wanting to cry and wanted to smash things.
The problem was that every time I started feeling like I wanted to smash things, the power started to build up in me, to wrap itself around my pendant as if it were about to go through it and start attacking things. Or worse, people.
I waited until I knew the Commons would be open for dinner before I finally went back to my room. Just as I had hoped, Layla was gone when I got there. I don’t know where she was, but by the time she got back to our room, it was almost eleven o’clock, and I could at least pretend to be asleep.
I didn’t sleep well, though. I tossed and turned most of the night, feeling like all the changes in my world were pressing me down into my bed. When I finally did get to sleep, I dreamed strange dreams. Stranger than usual, even, which was something coming someone who had recently discovered a whole world of monsters.
The next morning, I got up before Layla was awake, pulled on my uniform, braided my hair, and headed down to the Commons. I don’t drink coffee very often, but it seemed appropriate that morning. The thought of food turned my stomach, though. So I sat down in the mostly empty cafeteria and pulled up my schedule my phone.
I was still half asleep, so it took me a long minute staring at the screen in front of me to figure out what was wrong.
My schedule was the same one I’d had the semester before. Exactly.
And that definitely wasn’t right, because I had done well in my classes. I had good grades, even if I did spend most of the year fighting off the Lusus Naturae. Or maybe because of it. That was, after all, what our academy was designed to teach us.
Well. This was going to be a problem.
I wasn’t sure what happened, but I suspected that Dr. Novak would be in his office. After all, he was a vampire—and as far as I knew, they didn’t need to sleep as much as humans.
I poured my coffee into a to-go cup and left just as the bulk of the students began trickling in for breakfast.
To my surprise, though, Dr. Novak wasn’t in his office.
“Actually,” said his secretary, “Dr. Novak isn’t on campus today.”
