by Ivy Hearne
“They wanted to weaken us,” Ms. Hush confirmed. “And this definitely does that.”
“Yeah, but I think maybe they got something they didn’t bargain for,” Reo suggested.
“What’s that?” Ms. Hush asked.
“Kacie is a gorgon.”
“What?” Ms. Hush demanded.
“A gorgon?” I asked, offended. “Aren’t those the ugly ladies with the snake hair? I am not one of those.”
“A gorgon,” Reo confirmed for Ms. Hush, ignoring me completely.
All three of them turned to stare at me, their eyes huge.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“It means,” Ms. Hush said, a huge grin spreading across her face, “that there is a good chance we are going to win the war against the Lusus Naturae. Finally.”
I stared out at the bodies littering the quad—piles of broken, useless things no longer of service to their owners.
Was I that powerful, really?
“Maybe we’ll win,” I whispered, “but at what cost?”
“Come on,” Ms. Hush said. “We need to get someone over here to get Ms. Gayle. She would hate being seen looking so...vulnerable.”
I stepped away from Ms. Gayle, following my living friends away from the blast zone.
Tonight we would deal with the dead, turning them back from damaged dolls to the people we loved. Soon, we’d have a memorial service for them all. We would mourn the ones we’d loved and lost.
And then?
Then it would be time to take them on.
It would be time to wipe out the Lusus Naturae once and for all.
But first, I had to find out more about what a gorgon could do.
And how, given my very human parents, I had ended up as a gorgon at all.
Yep. I had a lot to work on.
Hunters’ Academy Books
Hunters’ Academy 1: Entrance Exam
Survive or Die.
It's not much of a school motto—not as inspiring as, say, “Let us give light to the world,” or “Knowledge is liberty,” or even just “Light and Truth.” Those are all real school mottos. So is this one. It belongs to the Hunters' Academy. And now, so do I.
Since she was twelve years old, Kacela Deluca has suffered debilitating migraines. On the eve of her sixteenth birthday, she learns her headaches are the result of untapped psychic abilities. She's given a choice: continue to suffer or leave behind everything she knows and join the Hunters’ Academy. The only catch? If she doesn’t pass the entrance exam, she’ll die.
A teen with blocked psychic powers, a panther shifter who can't—or won't—shift, a secret academy, and the power to defend the entire world...if only Kacie can unleash her potential before it's too late.
Fans of Vampire Academy, Mortal Instruments, Harry Potter, and Dragon School will love Hunters’ Academy!
Entrance Exam is episode one of Hunters’ Academy - expect a new episode every month beginning Fall 2018!
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Hunters’ Academy 2: Winter Break
Santa’s Claws have come to town...
The worst part of having to stay at the Hunters’ Academy over the winter break is the pure boredom of it. With most of the other students away for the holidays, Kacie has little to do but read and watch movies...and practice all the hunting moves she learned in her first semester.
When her boredom sends her on a run into the nearby human town, she discovers something horrific preying on the local children. But of everyone still on campus, she’s the only one who can see it—and that means she’ll have to put those hunting skills into practice much sooner than she expected.
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Hunters’ Academy 3: Crash Course
If the course load doesn’t kill her, one of her teachers might.
Having passed the Entrance Exam, sixteen-year-old Kacie DeLuca is ready to buckle down and learn to be a true Hunter. But the Academy’s headmistress has hired a new instructor—a former member of the Lusus Naturae, the self-described “freaks of nature” with dark plans to subjugate humanity.
When a student’s mutilated body is discovered on campus, all signs point to the new teacher’s guilt, and Kacie might be the only one who believes in her innocence. Worse, Kacie’s magics instructor has been assigned to investigate the murder and seems determined to ignore crucial evidence.
With no clear sense of where everyone’s loyalties lie, Kacela is about to get a crash course in what it really means to be a monster hunter.
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Hunters’ Academy 4: Independent Study
A Hunters’ Academy Short
She’s on the Dean’s list. And not in a good way.
When Kacie DeLuca broke through the psychic blocks the evil Lusus Naturae placed on her, she thought she was free to complete her studies at the Hunters’ Academy.
She was wrong.
Now that she’s able to use her powers, the monsters are more determined than ever to keep her from becoming a full-fledged hunter, sending agents to attack her at every turn.
But Kacie still doesn’t know why they’re targeting her in particular, and the Academy’s new headmistress isn’t sharing what she knows.
So Kacie and her hunting partner set out to track down the truth on their own—and run headlong into danger of the worst kind.
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Hunters’ Academy 5: Valentine’s Dance
It’ll be a hell of a dance.
When a fire threatens to engulf the school the night of the annual Valentine’s Day Dance, Kacie and her friends at the Hunters’ Academy must determine if it’s an accident or the work of the Lusus Naturae, even as they fight to save the Academy itself.
Valentine’s Dance is episode 5, a special for readers of Hunters’ Academy—expect a new episode every month (and some special stories in between, too!).
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Hunters’ Academy 6: Spring Break
Monster-hunting’s a beach—and then someone dies.
Kacie is planning to spend yet another school holiday at the Hunters’ Academy, prepared to be bored out of her mind—even her hunting partner Souji is going home this time, though he doesn’t really want to.
So when Souji's brother Reo invites Kacie and Souji to join him in a low-level monster hunt at a beach resort, they both jump at the chance to change their plans.
But of course nothing in their world is ever as it seems, and before long, the three of them are fighting for their lives.
In order to survive, they’ll need more than one lucky break—and they’ll have to learn how a sea serpent terrorizing a small beach community connects to events at the Hunters’ Academy, over a thousand miles away.
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About the Author
Ivy Hearne spends her days dreaming of heroes and monsters and the heroines who tame them. She writes young adult paranormal romance and urban fantasy, and fully expects to find herself someday transported to a world of fantasy and magic, where her snarky tendencies will win her the respect of the realm—and probably a crown, too.
To keep up with all the latest releases, you can sign up for Ivy’s newsletters here.
LOVE THE HUNTERS’ ACADEMY Series? Check out Witch Hunt, below!
Prologue
“You came all this way to my domain to tell me that?”
If there had ever been such a thing as true evil made flesh, the vampire queen Reina was it. She had spent hundreds of years ruling her kingdom with an iron fist. She was as dangerous as she was beautiful.
Waves of animosity, nihilism, and dark promises wafted off her and nearly choked the wizard kneeling at her feet. He’d already nearly panicked and run when he came in and was barely holding it together even now.
“Should I be pleased, wizard?” Reina thundered, her voice crackling with power and irritation.
The wizard kept his gaze down on the red marble tiles, refusing to meet the monarch’s eyes. If what they said about being entranced by a vampire’s star
e was true, he wanted nothing to do with it.
He was already too far in the queen’s debt, anyway. He swallowed nervously, afraid to anger Reina. He had burns from a past transgression, and he would do anything to avoid that again.
He was a powerful wizard, sure, but in the eyes of the queen, he was as useless as a pile of dung. No, what the queen wanted was a witch. And they had one within their grasp. The wizard would bring her to the queen on a silver platter.
“It’s our opportunity to seize the witch,” he said, rising to his feet. “The girl’s aunt has been wanting to marry her off for some time. To utilize the witch’s powers for her own plans.”
Reina raised an immaculate eyebrow. “And you’re fine to just hand over this witch to me? Even though she'd be your betrothed? Even though you’d have her power at your own disposal?”
The wizard didn’t take the invitation and watched the space at the queen’s feet instead. “My loyalties lie with you, your Majesty.” It was the best answer he could give.
Reina drummed her exquisitely-manicured fingers on the armrest of her throne, considering the wizard. “And you say Cezara wants the union tonight?”
“Yes, your Majesty.”
The queen frowned, her fingers grasping the armrest. As if she disbelieved the wizard, but the man refused to look up to see for sure. “That’s a little sudden, isn’t it?” Her voice was thin, icy.
“Aurelia is coming into her powers quickly,” the wizard explained. “She will be a force to be reckoned with if she isn’t tamed.” He licked dry lips. “Cezara wants to put a permanent leash around her neck.”
Reina chuckled darkly. “Mortals. Your lives are so quick, so fast. You think everything needs to be done now.” Around the wizard, other vampires began to chuckle mockingly. He stiffened at the insult but didn’t say anything. It was always wiser to not say anything. The vampires were ancient, older than the buildings and city that the wizard grew up in. No new vampires had been made in hundreds of years, and he knew better than to start a fight among them.
They were desperate for new blood. New vampires. New hope. New clans. Vampire hunters had whittled down their ranks over the years, endangering the legacy of their race.
A witch like Aurelia could change that. And the vampire queen had other uses for her too, uses that she wasn’t about to impart to the wizard. But he knew more than she thought he did.
For example, he knew about the prophecy—the one about the slave-witch becoming The Joiner of Worlds, uniting the supernatural races and ruling them all.
It was no wonder everyone wanted to control Aurelia. The mere possibility of that kind of power had Reina and Cezara both all but salivating at the chance to hold the little witch’s leash.
And no matter who won, Fane was determined to gain his share of that power, too.
Reina’s tapping fingers stilled as if she could hear his very thoughts. “We’ll pick her up during your wedding then.”
The wizard blinked. “During? But I can—”
“Do you think I would let you go through with the marriage?” the queen snarled, sending chills down everyone in the throne room. “When I have plenty more in store for the witch?”
“No, it’s just—”
“I keep you alive for your usefulness,” the queen warned. “Do not make me regret that.”
"The elves,” the witch attempted to say, and Reina rose from her throne in anger.
"The elves have nothing on my men nor my power!” she thundered. “Those elven abominations are powerless to do anything themselves, so they tie their allegiance to a weak ruler like Cezara Reznik. They will be a mere annoyance.”
“They will be there,” the wizard said through gritted teeth. “They will fight.”
Reina gestured, and a group of vampires left, disappearing in the shadows. They were her most elite, most brutal warriors. The wizard knew that while only six had left, they would be more than enough to take out Cezara Reznik’s guards and army of elves.
“We will have the element of surprise,” the queen said with a low smile. “We need the witch. And I will have her tonight.”
Part 1: The Vampire
Chapter 1
“YOU BELONG TO FANE now.”
Aurelia didn’t know despair until she'd heard that. It was news that involved her in the most intimate, permanent of ways. And it was news that she couldn’t believe.
Yet there it was out in the open. Her aunt Cezara Zimaka watched her take the news with malicious glee. After all, Cezara liked to see her hurt both physically and emotionally. It’s what kept the young witch under the evil woman’s thumb throughout her whole life. It was what kept Aurelia’s powers at her aunt’s beck and call, ever since Aurelia’s parents had died.
Until now, Aurelia had willingly done everything that her aunt had asked of her. Everything.
But this?
She couldn’t, wouldn’t do it. She'd met Fane on several occasions throughout her life. Had seen how cruel the wizard was to those he perceived as weaker or lower than he.
How would a lifetime of being chained to a man like Fane tear her apart?
“N—no,” Aurelia stuttered. “No, please.”
Not in a thousand years. Not if her life depended on it.
Judging on her aunt’s expression, however, it looked like her life may depend on it. Cezara went from smiling to frowning to something lethal. Her very visage promised pain for Aurelia that she knew all too well by now, growing up under the older woman’s scrutiny.
“No?” Cezara repeated. Her eyebrows drew together in a scowl. “No?”
Aurelia licked her lips. She wasn’t above begging. Not if it meant she could stay as far away as possible from Fane. “Please. If there’s one thing I’ve ever asked of you, it’s to keep me here. Under your watchful eye. Because... Because...”
Aurelia’s voice trailed off, because she could see that begging wouldn’t make a difference. Cezara had a heart of stone as she knew well enough, growing up with the woman as a guardian.
She just never realized what little esteem her aunt held her in.
“Because what, Aurelia?” Cezara crossed her arms over her ample breasts and cocked her head. “Simply because you don’t like the man?”
Aurelia chewed the inside of her cheek and averted her gaze.
“Because you think there’s another future for you?” Cezara pressed.
Still, Aurelia didn’t answer, knowing full well where this was going. Mockery from Cezara always ended badly for her. She had the scars from a switch on her back to prove it.
“Or do you think you’re too young? I was married when I was only fifteen, you know.”
And her husband had died less than six months later—probably at Cezara’s hand, though no one mentioned it except in whispers.
And sixteen is too young to be married, Aurelia screamed—but only inside her mind. Outwardly, she remained calm.
Cezara snickered at Aurelia’s silence. “Or is because you think there’s as such thing as love in this world?”
That chilled Aurelia’s blood, and she looked up to glare at her aunt straight on. “No,” she whispered hoarsely. “You taught me a long time ago that there was no such thing as love.”
It was meant to be a pointed jab at Cezara, for all the terrible things that she had put the young witch through. For what she had made her do. Aurelia still had nightmares about how Cezara had used her own powers—powers that she could feel leaving her like pieces of her being ripped from her soul—to torture information out of the innocent. And that was even without complete control over Aurelia’s powers. A race of elvish creatures had been helping Cezara harness Aurelia’s raw magic as her own. So far, even after years of chipping away at her resolve, the elves had only scratched the surface of Aurelia’s powers.
If Cezara ever accomplished complete control, Aurelia knew that there would be no corner of their world safe from her demented terror—much less within the mountainous, forested regions of Prochazka.
Being bound to Fane, those walls might finally break down and Aurelia could be lost forever.
“Well, you’re not as stupid as you look,” Cezara sneered.
Aurelia swayed at the insult, but after a lifetime of abuse, it wasn’t the worst she'd ever heard from her aunt.
She tried one more time. “Please.” Her voice broke. “Please don’t make me do this.”
For a moment, Aurelia thought it had worked, that she had managed to convince her aunt to take pity on her and finally do what she asked. After all, Aurelia had been compliant in her years of servitude. She was Cezara’s right-hand woman, doing things that made her shudder even now.
Cezara’s face broke into a wide smile. Too happy to be true, then.
“Why would I ever do that, Aurelia?” She gave Aurelia a light slap on the cheek. Aurelia had stopped wincing at those a long time ago. It was the only time her aunt ever showed her affection, if it could be called that. “You’re a witch. Fane is a wizard. To breed you with him...” The old woman closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, relishing the thought. “You and he can create more witches. Powerful witches the likes of which the world hasn’t seen in centuries.”
For a moment, Aurelia had a brief insight into her working mind. She had a flash of a potential future where Cezara led groups of children—Aurelia’s children, fathered by Fane and honed as weapons, not as human beings. The world would be razed, humans, witches, elves, and vampires alike. Her children would never know a moment of peace. In fact, they may grow up to be worse monsters than Cezara ever had been.
All because Aurelia hadn’t been strong enough to stand up to Cezara’s evil plans.
