by Jayme Morse
Except, it had all felt so… real.
As hard as I tried, I couldn’t remember falling asleep. It had to have been real. There was no other way to explain it.
As I walked through the front door, I found Cara sitting on the couch. She was watching a Lifetime movie with a box of tissues next to her. She glanced up at me as I entered the room.
“Oh, hey, Lux.” Cara smiled at me. “How was your beach trip?”
Weird as fuck. But of course, I couldn’t tell her that.
“It was okay,” I replied as I sat down on the couch next to her.
“Did you have fun with your friend Nick? Did you guys do it?” Cara glanced over at me with a genuine look of interest in her dark brown eyes.
Of all the foster moms who I’d ever had before, Cara was probably the coolest about… well, everything. She was in her mid-thirties and, by no means, “mom” material. It had been working out pretty well so far, aside from her late night sexcapades with the guys she met on Tinder.
“No, we didn’t.” I paused. “Cara, I have a weird question for you.”
“A weird question, huh? Well, hopefully I have a weird answer for you,” she joked.
“Have you noticed any suspicious guys lurking around the apartment lately?”
“Suspicious guys? You mean besides the mailman, right? That guy always stands outside the window for a little bit before he delivers my packages. Unless he’s oddly obsessed with my rose bushes, I’m pretty sure he’s hoping to catch a peek of me walking around naked one day.”
“I don’t mean the mailman,” I replied with a laugh.
Cara tapped her chin as she thought about it for a moment longer. “No, I can’t say that I have. What makes you ask?”
“There was this guy at the beach who said he was stalking me. It was just… weird.”
“He said he was stalking you? He probably just thought you were cute, hun. He’s crushing on you. I swear, teenage boys are such horn dogs,” Cara said with a snort.
“Yeah, maybe that’s it,” I replied, even though, deep down, I knew that wasn’t the case. I had never seen the guy before in my life. There was no way he could have been crushing on me.
The more I thought about it, the more I wondered if I should have been taking the guy’s warnings more seriously. The guy knew my name somehow and for reasons I couldn’t even begin to figure out on my own.
What if the reason he knew my name was because what he had been saying was true?
But what type of danger could I have possibly been in? That was the only thing I couldn’t seem to figure out. From where I stood, he seemed like the only element of danger that had come into my life recently.
Part of me wanted to think he was just some guy who got his kicks by scaring girls on the beach at night, but that wouldn’t have explained how he had known my name.
I preferred the other theory: that the last twenty-four hours had been nothing more than a bad dream.
I supposed there was only one way to find out, though.
Opening a text message to Nick, I typed out the most embarrassing text I had ever sent in my life.
With shaky hands and a racing heart, I hit “Send.”
Lux: This may seem like a weird question, but did I really kiss you?
I waited a few moments for him to respond. Nick normally texted me back right away, but not this time.
Of freaking course.
The worst possible scenarios floated through my mind: He thought I was crazy for asking, or our friendship was over because I had kissed him, or his family had gotten into a car accident on the way back to his house and he was in critical condition.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, my phone buzzed with a new text message.
Nick: Yeah, you did. You forgot? You really were drunk, weren’t you?
I swallowed hard. The kiss really had happened, so that could have only meant one thing.
The guy in the black hoodie had been real, too.
***
Lux
Later that night, Cara went to the bar. I was relieved to have the house to myself, even though I planned to stay in my bedroom and think about the kiss… and what Nick’s lack of response had meant.
I hadn’t responded to his text, and honestly, I wasn’t sure if I even would respond. If he had actually remembered the kiss, then why hadn’t he said something about it? Would he ever say something, or would it forever be the elephant in the room?
I was pretty sure the kiss might have completely ruined our friendship.
The truth was that I didn’t really want to have to face him now. There was only one bright side: I could just let my social worker know I wasn’t happy living with Cara. I could be placed in another foster home, which would have probably meant going to another school. That way, I would never have to see Nick Covington again.
In the meantime, I would just let our friendship fade into thin air. That would be easy enough. The first step was obvious. I wouldn’t respond to his text message. I would just ghost him.
I had gotten so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t even hear the creaking thuds at first. When I did hear it, I turned down the TV and listened.
I heard the sound of footsteps climbing the stairs, but I knew they didn’t belong to Cara. Not only was my foster mom noisier, but she always announced when she was home.
So, if it wasn’t Cara, then that could have only meant one thing.
Whoever was climbing the stairs was an intruder.
My heart pounded against my chest as I reached for my phone to call 911. But before I got the chance to dial, I heard the sound of a male voice.
“You can’t just kill her, Alice. Cielo will be pissed. Our job is to bring Lux back before they get to her—not to kill her.” He spoke in a hushed tone, but his voice echoed down the hallway.
Who were “they”? And why were they talking about killing me? The guy’s voice didn’t sound familiar, and I didn’t even know anyone named Alice or Cielo.
I climbed out of bed as quietly as I could, but the mattress still creaked. Tiptoeing across the room, I pressed my ear against the door to listen in on their conversation a little better.
“I can do whatever I want,” a female voice, which I assumed belonged to Alice, snapped back at the guy. “And let Cielo be angry. If all of the legends are true, then Lux Whitmore is too powerful for her own good. If we don’t do something to stop her, she’ll get out of control and then no one will be able to stop her. Killing her would be the best thing we can do.”
“Fine. Kill her if you want, but just remember that it was your doing,” the guy replied. “I want no part of this.”
“Then why don’t you just leave? It’s not like I need you for this. I can kill her on my own… just as soon as I find her,” Alice said.
I heard the sound of a door opening down the hallway. I knew that she was getting closer and closer to me.
I started to go into a full-blown panic as my fight or flight instincts began to kick in. It no longer mattered why Alice wanted me dead; all that mattered was how. Did she have a gun?
I wasn’t sure, but I wasn’t about to stick around to find out, either. I had to get the hell out of here.
Glancing around the room for something I could push in front of the door, my eyes landed on the dresser. I seriously doubted I could move it all on my own. Especially not without making a sound.
Knowing that Alice was going to reach my room any moment now, I hurried over to the door and eased the lock into place, hoping it wouldn’t make a sound.
“Did you hear that?!” Alice hissed from the hallway. “I think I found where she’s hiding.”
Crap.
“Come out, Lux,” Alice said from right outside my door.
I held my breath, hoping Alice would think she’d heard wrong and move along.
But Alice continued from the other side of the door. “There’s no use in hiding from me. I will get to you eventually. If you don’t come out, I’ll rip the
door right off its hinges.” She paused for a moment. “Are you going to come out or should I tear this door down?”
I glanced over at the window, surprised to find that it was already open. The curtains were blowing in the wind. That was strange. I knew I hadn’t opened it, but I didn’t really have time to think about it at that moment. I just needed to escape.
Sliding into my flip-flops, I went through the window and out onto the balcony.
Glancing down at the city below, my stomach twisted in knots. It may have only been three stories, but it looked like a long way down.
I knew if I jumped, I could have ended up killing myself in the process. Then again, Alice was going to kill me if I stayed in the room. At least jumping gave me a fighting chance.
I was about to leap to what could have been my death when the guy with the black hoodie appeared out of nowhere—literally—in front of me.
What. The. Fuck.
Was I dreaming?
“Where did you come from?” I narrowed my eyes at him accusingly.
“It doesn’t matter,” he replied. “You need to come with me, Lux.”
An array of emotions swarmed through me. On the one hand, I couldn’t help but be suspicious of the guy who could vanish into thin air and reappear just as easily.
Everything about him screamed danger in my mind. But as crazy as it may have sounded, I also couldn’t help but feel the slightest bit of relief to see a familiar face… even if it was his.
And the reality was that he had told me I was in danger, and now someone had come here to murder me. And coincidentally—or maybe not so coincidentally—he was here now. Even though there was a chance that he was the dangerous one, I couldn’t help but feel like maybe he was there to save me.
“You still haven’t even told me how you know my name,” I pointed out.
“I’ll tell you later. We need to get the hell out of here.” His eyes locked on mine. “Right now.”
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“Away from here. Come on. We don’t have a lot of time.” He turned around so that his back was facing me. “Put your arms around my neck.”
“Why? So we can nosedive onto the sidewalk together?” I asked. “I think I’m good with dying alone. Thanks.”
“No. We won’t die. I promise you that. Do you trust me?” His amber eyes locked on mine. His eyes may have startled me before, but there was something… different… about them now.
There was just something in his gaze that made me want to trust him, something that I hadn’t felt with him before. I couldn’t put my finger on what it was, but something about him seemed genuine.
Before I had the chance to respond, I heard the sound of something snapping. Glancing back into the window, I watched as the door was pulled off its hinges.
Holy. Crap.
Whoever this Alice girl was, she was apparently inhumanly strong. What was she, the Hulk’s daughter?
“Do you trust me?” the guy repeated, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“I-I don’t know,” I stammered. He had been right about me being in danger, but he was still a complete stranger to me. A complete stranger who wanted to jump off a three-story building with me. “How can I trust you when I don’t even know your name?”
“It’s Zay. Now, come on.”
He motioned for me to climb onto his back.
I took one more glance into the bedroom and saw Alice—a tiny blonde girl who didn’t look nearly strong enough to rip a door off its hinges—heading straight for me.
She held a sword in her petite hands.
It didn’t take much for me to make my decision. I flung my arms around Zay’s neck. I wasn’t sure how he planned to get us safely off a third-story building. I just hoped he had a parachute or something.
He took a step up onto the balcony railing, with me just hanging from his neck. Since my legs weren’t wrapped around his waist, I didn’t think he would be able to lift me easily, but he seemed to carry me effortlessly. Apparently, he must have had some major muscle action going on underneath that black hoodie. Who were these people, and why did they all seem like they were on steroids?
As he shifted his weight, I stared down into the city street and swallowed hard.
Yeah. I was about to go plummeting to my death. We both were.
This was the world’s worst idea.
But it seemed like a much smarter idea than facing the huge-ass sword Alice was wielding.
And then I heard the sound of something flapping, like bird wings, as I was being lifted into the air.
Even though the darkness of the night, I could see that Zay’s wings were black and feathery, like that of a crow.
Was he a freaking bird? There was no way that could have been possible, and yet, I could see his wings, feel the soft feathers brush against my skin, and we were flying.
I tried to scream, but it just seemed to get caught in my throat. “What is happening?” I somehow managed to ask.
“Oh. Yeah. I forgot to mention that I can fly,” Zay explained over his shoulder.
“But how?”
“It doesn’t matter right now. I need to get you to safety first.”
As he lifted me further into the sky, I tightened my grip on his neck.
“Relax. I meant it when I promised you wouldn’t die, Lux,” Zay said gently as I stared down at the city lights below us, which glimmered like tiny twinkles of hope.
For the first time since I had met him, I actually believed him.
***
Lux
We flew for what felt like an eternity, over mountains, cornfields, and forests. When we finally came to a swift stop on top of a cliff, I planted my feet on the ground and watched as Zay’s wings disappeared.
Glancing around, I took in my surroundings. The cliff was overlooking a valley below us, and we were surrounded by a stormy-looking sky that would have made the perfect backdrop for a horror movie.
Staring beyond the cliff, I noticed a building off in the distance. Was that… a castle?
I glanced over at Zay, who had moved to stand alongside me.
With his hood pulled down, I was able to get a really good look at him for the first time. He had dark brown hair that he wore shorter on the sides and longer on top. Even under the dark sky, I could see that his skin had a sun-kissed glow.
“What is it, Lux?” Zay asked as I scanned him up and down.
“You can… fly.”
He smirked. “I can. You do know we discussed this already, right?”
“But we didn’t discuss how you can fly. Are you a… bird?”
Zay chuckled and shook his head as if in amusement, but he didn’t answer my question. When it became apparent that he wasn’t going to give me answers, I sighed.
“Where are we, exactly?”
“Demon Blood Academy,” he replied.
“What’s that?”
His amber eyes flitted to meet mine. “You’re about to find out.”
Chapter 3
Lux
With every step we took in the direction of the castle, the knot in my stomach tightened a little more.
Demon Blood Academy? It sounded like some sort of boarding school, but what type of sinister place called itself that?
None of this felt real. It just didn’t even make sense. I pinched myself, just to make sure I was actually awake and that this still wasn’t all part of some crazy dream.
I definitely wasn’t dreaming. This was reality. Zay had sprouted wings and flown us to the castle that loomed in front of us. He had saved my life once—but that didn’t mean I was still safe.
As the hair on my arms stood on end, I turned to Zay, who was walking alongside me. “What is this place?”
“You’ll find out soon.”
“You keep saying that, and so far, I’ve found out nothing,” I replied frustratedly.
He glanced over at me, an apologetic look in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Lux. I wish I could tell you everything, but I�
�m forbidden from saying anything. Kieran wants to be the one to fill you in.”
“Kieran?” I raised my eyebrows. “Who’s that?”
“You’ll meet him soon.”
Even though I was growing frustrated that he wasn’t giving me answers, I believed him. He seemed like he genuinely wanted to explain everything to me, but it was out of his hands.
As we approached the front of the castle, my heart began to pound. I had no idea what I was about to walk into.
Zay glanced over at me. “There’s no reason to be afraid, Lux.”
“I never said I was afraid, did I?”
“No, you didn’t, but you also didn’t need to. It’s written all over your face. Besides, anyone would be afraid. You’d be crazy not to be.”
Run. The word filled my mind, but I couldn’t get my feet to move. Where was there to go, anyway?
“You are very frustrating, you know,” I told him in my best attempt at changing the subject. Really, I was trying to avoid asking him why I should have been afraid.
His dark eyebrows knitted together at the center of his forehead, marking his confusion. “Frustrating how?”
“You still haven’t explained how you know my name.” I shot a pointed glance at him.
“Once you meet with Kieran, everything will begin to make sense,” Zay explained as he pulled the intricately designed wooden front door of the castle open and motioned for me to follow him inside. I resisted the urge to run my fingers over the roses that had been carved into the door.
As we entered the school, I was surprised to find that there were other people—teenagers, who all appeared to be about my age, wandering the halls of the castle. The girls were donning black skirts, while the boys were wearing black pants. They all wore plain white shirts and ties.
Between the school uniforms and the castle, I couldn’t help but feel like I had just stepped foot in Hogwarts and was about to face the sorting hat.
One of the girls glanced over at me. Her eyes were the same exact shade of amber as Zay’s. I wondered if she was his sister.
I wanted to question Zay about it, but he was already halfway down the hallway before I had the chance to. We had just reached a closed door at the end of the hallway when he turned back to me.
