Rebels And Runaways
Eden Academy Book One
Grace McGinty
Contents
Also by Grace McGinty
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Epilogue
About the Author
Sweethearts and Savages (Eden Academy #2)
Copyright © 2021 by Madeline Young
Writing as Grace McGinty
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
without the express written permission of the author
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
First Printing, 2020
Cover artwork by DAZED Designs
Also by Grace McGinty
Hell’s Redemption Series
The Redeemable/The Unrepentant/The Fallen
The Azar Nazemi Trilogy
Smoke and Smolder/Burn and Blaze/Rage and Ruin
Dark River Days Series
Newly Undead In Dark River/Happily Undead In Dark River/Pleasantly Undead in Dark River
Black Mountain Mates
Hunting Isla
Eden Academy Series
The Lost and the Hunted (Prequel)
Heart of the Hounded (Prequel)
Stand Alone Novels and Novellas
Bright Lights From A Hurricane
The Last Note
Castle of Carnal Desires
For my readers. Every single one of you.
But especially the ones who don’t even blink when I say I want to write a story about a detachable dick.
You guys are seriously the best.
G x
Prologue
Carmen
Bobby was lookin’ at me with a frown again. I didn’t know why he was here. Not like he was my boss or anything. He was only four years older than me, but whenever me or my littermates, Christopher and Enit, got in trouble, they’d always call Bobby. No, not Enit. She never got into trouble.
It wasn’t like us and Bobby were related, but it probably had something to do with Pack politics, and the fact that Bobby was the next Alpha of the Nîso Pack. So here he sat beside me on the hard plastic chairs out the front of Principal Pea’s office.
I swung my legs in the air like I didn’t have a care in the world. I was still short for twelve, and no one let me forget it.
“Why’d you do it, Mouse?”
I screwed up my nose. I wished he wouldn’t call me that like I was still a baby. “He deserved it.”
“But why? You know what Miss Pea said about fighting. It’s instant suspension.” Yeah, Bobby was worried. I didn’t think Miss Pea would kick me out though.
I turned and looked at Bobby’s dark eyes, and my chest felt funny, but I wasn’t sure if it was because my hand still ached from punching Josh in the face, or because I enjoyed the way the blood spurted from his nose, or because Bobby had the darkest, prettiest eyes I’ve ever seen.
Yeah, it was probably the bloody nose.
Bobby did that thing where he waited for me to answer with a patient look on his face. I liked to think of it as his future Alpha face. It’d stopped working on me years ago though.
“Josh squeezed my boob. I hit him in the face. Seemed fair at the time.”
Bobby’s whole body went rigid. “He did what?” The growl in his voice made me want to whimper, but I ducked my head, looking over at him from beneath my lashes. I didn’t respond though, because just then the door opened and my dad stepped in.
Well, one of my dads. I had, like seven, and none of them were actually my real dad. But I loved them anyway, and they loved me.
I breathed a sigh of relief, and then my face stretched into a grin. It was Lucius. Thank God.
Bobby stood and strode over to Lucius, his body still held tightly. He’d had a growth spurt a year ago, and now he was nearly as tall as Lucius. He murmured something in a low voice, and I strained to hear.
Whatever Bobby whispered made Lucius’ lip curl, and he thumped Bobby on the back. “You’ll take care of it?”
“Yes, Sir.”
Lucius nodded once. “Good.”
With that, he strode toward me, a small smile on his face. His pointed teeth shone in the stark fluorescent lights. Did I mention most of my parents were vampires? Not me though, I was a wolf shifter. It was complicated.
“What mischief are you up to now, Carmen?” He didn’t say it like mischief was a bad thing.
“I punched a boy in the face.”
“Did you make him bleed?”
I grinned. “Yep.”
He frowned slightly, his eyes boring into mine. “Did hurting him make you feel better?”
I shrugged. Lucius wouldn’t judge me if the answer was yes. He was the most bloodthirsty of my dads, and his reputation was enough to make the most powerful beings fear him. Not that I’d ever seen it firsthand. My mom, Raine, would kick his ass if he so much as swore bad around us.
He appraised me for a little longer, then stood straight. “Okay. Let us go talk to your Principal.”
As if summoned, the door to the Principal’s office opened, and Miss Pea stepped out. She looked at Lucius and her whole body went on high alert. Yeah, Lucius had that effect.
“Lucius, I didn’t realize it would be you coming down today.”
Yeah, Lucius terrified the hell out of Miss Pea. I mean, I guess I got it. He wasn’t exactly sane. But he loved Raine with something bordering on obsession, and by extension, he loved the rest of us too. He would protect us with a violence that was probably terrifying to others, but it was the only reason I ever slept at night.
“Unfortunately, everyone else is occupied. They decided I could handle one school visit without killing anyone,” he joked, but even his jokes held a hint of death. Miss Pea’s face was pale and I pressed my lips together to hold back a grin. Bet she wished she’d just given me detention now.
I saw the moment Miss Pea steeled her spine because she pasted a polite smile on her face. “Please, come in. I’m sure this will be quick.”
Yeah, because no one wants to spend too long in a closed room with an ancient vampire. The Principal's office was a large, well-lit room, and the furniture was light and modern. Lucius waited for me to sit, and then sat down in the chair next to mine.
Miss Pea took a deep breath. “Carmen physically assaulted another student in the playground today, and under the rules of the Academy, she will need to be suspended.”<
br />
I swallowed hard and looked at Lucius. The only sign he’d even heard her was a tiny crease between his brows. “I see. And for the other child? The one who touched my daughter without her permission? What will he get?”
The suggestion that he should definitely get some kind of punishment, or instead he’d get death, hung heavily in the air. I resisted the urge to smirk. The color had drained again from Miss Pea’s face. Her eyes shot to mine.
“Is this true?”
I shrugged. “I handled it. You guys are the ones making a big deal out of it.”
Miss Pea pinched the bridge of her nose. “Look, in light of the circumstances, I’m willing to let Carmen off with a warning. I will also talk to the other student.” She met Lucius’ eyes, which was really brave of her. I generally respected Miss Pea. She took no shit. “There will be no need for further action by yourself, Sir.” Aw, no death and destruction for dear old Dad today. Miss Pea’s eyes slid back to me. “Carmen, please, if it happens again, let one of the teaching staff know. It will not be tolerated in any situation, but neither will violence. Are we clear?”
I nodded, because I was pretty sure everyone in this room would know I was lying when I said, “Yep.”
She shook her head at me. Yeah, the problem with Miss Pea? She was a telepath. I mentally apologized, and stood. Lucius let me leave the office first and then walked me down to the doors of the Academy building.
“You should head back to class. I will see you at home this evening. I believe that X is cooking some kind of roast beef thing. We’ll have a talk about your propensity for violence later. I have pointers.”
I smiled. “Thanks for coming and having my back,” I said softly and I did something I rarely do. I stepped forward and hugged him. He stood stiffly, because Lucius wasn’t a hugger, but eventually, he squeezed me back tightly.
“Always.”
1
Carmen - Six Years Later
I rested my chin on my hand as I sat at the long counter at Bert and Beatrice’s Diner. Enit was making origami swans out of her napkin and Christopher was talking about some grunge rock band with one of our dads, Tex. Tex was blind, but he had a real affinity for music. He’d taught both me and my siblings how to play guitar and piano by the time we were eight.
My other dad, X, was trying to outfold Enit in origami, but all his swans ended up looking like roadkill. He could kill a man in the blink of an eye, or perform surgery, but folding paper was beyond him, apparently.
Beatrice bustled over with the largest plate of fries I’d ever seen, and I perked up. She smiled widely at us, and I couldn’t help but smile back.
“How are my sweet little bairns today? Hungry, I hope? Bert is out back frying up some of those tomahawk steaks he saw on that cooking show, just for you three.”
Huge ass steaks? Yeah, that was enough to perk up any girl, but especially a wolf shifter. Enit gave her a sweet smile, and I rolled my eyes. I loved Enit. I would lay down my life and tear out the throat of any person who so much as hurt her feelings. Because she was an Omega shifter, it was almost bred into my DNA to protect her.
But sometimes, she was too perfect, and living in the shadow of my Alpha brother and my Omega sister was like being suffocated on both sides. I was just a boring old beta. We didn’t even get capitalization. A default setting. Run of the mill, everyday, nothin’ special, beta.
I grabbed a handful of fries and stuffed them in my mouth. Beatrice kissed Enit’s cheek and ran a hand down my smooth brown hair. If we had a grandmother, Beatrice would be it. Even my parents stepped carefully around Beatrice.
“Are you three excited to start the Academy this year?”
I was old enough to remember when Eden Academy was first built. I would have only been six, but Enit, Christopher and I were some of their first elementary pupils. We were definitely part of the first class to go through our entire schooling at the Academy.
It was a pretty cool set up really. It was your normal K-12 school, teaching the average school subjects, spelling, math, science. Shit that everyone needed to know, whether you were preternatural or just a human.
But once you graduated senior year, you went on to do an extra four years at the Academy. This was where they taught you what you needed to know as a supernatural in a world filled with humans and every variety of preternatural known to the Moon Goddess. From vampires and shapeshifters like my parents, to humans with extra senses and abilities. To actual freaking demi-gods like the co-founders of the school, Locke and Layla. They were called Offspring, and they were half god. Like actual deity. That shit blew my mind every time I thought about it.
Enit grinned at Beatrice. “Well, I’m certainly excited.”
I snorted, and Christopher nudged me with his elbow. “Four more years of school? Of course, sign me up.”
X chuckled from the other side of the table, snagging a handful of fries and somehow inhaling them. “Learning supernatural politics at the Academy will save your ass. Ask your mother, you don’t want to stumble around in that cesspool blind. Not everything can be solved with your fists.”
Now it was Tex’s turn to snort. “Sure thing, Executioner.”
Oh yeah, so two of my dads used to be part of the most feared mercenary team in vampire society. They were the ones who put down rabid vampires. How they ended up here being a doctor and a deputy sheriff still blew my mind.
But I knew that X was referring to my secret. The one that not even my littermates knew. Hell, only Lucius and X knew, and that was because Lucius had tattled on me all those years ago, and they’d decided that if I wanted to be a bloodthirsty psycho, at least I was going to be a properly trained bloodthirsty psycho.
The front door of the diner opened, and the room went silent.
“Who the fuck…” Christopher whispered, and I snapped my head around.
So, Dark River didn’t get a whole lot of visitors, given the fact we were in the middle of fucking nowhere. And we definitely didn’t get any visitors like the ones standing in the doorway now.
Unease tickled down my spine as I tried to take them all in, my gaze flying back to my dads. Tex was tense, his head tilted slightly to the side, as if he was trying to read the room using only his hearing. Tex was blind, but you wouldn’t know it.
If you looked at X though, he seemed completely relaxed, the smug grin on his face resting there like he didn’t have a care in the world. But I knew him well enough to know that he was poised to leap the table and rain down pain.
I turned back around, tucking Enit tighter between me and Christopher. A beautiful woman with golden hair was surrounded by four men. No, they weren’t men, they were fucking bikers. Their patches read Damnation MC around a stylized horse head. There was another guy at the back, his dark eyes taking in everything, light streaks of grey coming from his temple. He looked a little older than the other guys, but hey, I wouldn’t mind calling him Daddy.
Ensconced between them all was a girl who had to be my age, her looks so similar to the older guy, she had to be his daughter. She had long dark hair, dark eyes, and a smile that said she meant absolutely nothing good.
I liked her instantly.
They stepped toward the counter, their bodies tense. A huge fucking guy covered in tattoos was watching the whole room like he could kill us all if we made one wrong move. X stood, stepping from the booth and straightening to his full height.
Oh shit.
I went to stand, to run and get Lucius or Walker or Judge or someone who could talk sense into X before he got into a fight with a guy who literally turned my blood to ice.
I climbed to my feet, but then they glued to the floor. Because when the pretty girl moved, behind her was a guy.
Holy fuck.
Like holy bad boy, wet dream, take me now ‘cause I am done, fuckness. I may have whined, and Christopher growled.
I dropped my eyes, and the head of every one of those strangers turned toward me. Including the hot bad boy with the panty-droppin
g pout.
Another huge fucker stepped forward, I swear this one was as big, maybe bigger than the tattooed guy, his eyes running between me and Christopher. He frowned. Did he think Christopher was chastising me?
I looked up, gave him a wink, and grinned.
Beatrice, bless her, stepped from around the counter, and my eyes went back to the hottie with a body.
I watched him as he watched the room. He was young, maybe Bobby’s age? Definitely a little older than me. I could see tattoos peeking out from beneath the sleeve of his leather jacket, and his black shirt bore the same insignia as the biker's cuts.
I tuned back into the convo when the woman spoke. “Just stopping for something to eat on the way to the Academy.”
I perked up. They were going to the Academy? Well, the next four years just got more exciting, though the guy looked too old to be enrolling.
Beatrice nodded, her face friendly. “Of course. Come on, I’ll show you to one of the booths at the back.”
They all stepped in, and I realized that they hadn’t been all hunkered around the girl. No, they’d all been standing around another kid, younger than us all.
And he was…
Rebels and Runaways: Eden Academy Book One Page 1
