Gifted: The Winterwood Academy Book 1: A Young Adult Witch Novel

by Kate A. Fox

  She sidled up to him again and for a moment I thought she was going to kiss him.

  Then just as suddenly as he had moved before, Booth slammed her back against the wall and brought his face down so that it was just inches away from hers, their noses almost touching.

  Even from here I could sense the anger in him. As I watched I was sure that I could see a clouded red light forming all around him. It almost looked like the energy field that guarded the academy but this was a pulsing, angry energy that seemed like an extension of his dark mood. It made me shiver when I saw it but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't look away.

  "Get it into your thick, blonde skull," He growled at her again, "You and me are never going to be an item and if these rumours about us don't stop spreading, I'll be sure that a few of my own start to spread."

  There was a warning in his tone that told me Rhea would be an idiot to ignore him.

  "I'm sure you wouldn't like to make an enemy of the Maxwell's, Booth." Rhea offered up a threat of her own, "You know it would be a crazy stupid thing to do."

  "Threaten me again and you'll see how bad I can make life for you." Booth growled and then he stepped away, his arms falling to his sides as though he no longer cared.

  "Don't you see that we would make the perfect couple?" Rhea's voice was whiny now and it made me cringe, "You're the head of the football team and I'm...well...head of practically everything else."

  The fact that she couldn't come up with a single club or something else to be head of told me she was kidding herself.

  "Don't you want to be consort to the next Grand Priestess of the Winterwood Academy?" She giggled and that's when Booth laughed, a haughty laugh that made my head spin with how wonderful it was.

  "Hell would have to freeze over before you became the next Grand Priestess." Booth laughed in her face.

  "Celestria won't be the Grand Priestess here forever." Rhea shrugged, "And you don't think they'd put a lowborn witch in charge of the academy instead of a Maxwell daughter, do you?"

  An image of Rhea sat in Celestria's office chair with an evil smirk upon her face was conjured in my mind and the mere thought of it made me feel sick.

  Sure I had only been at the academy for a day but I hoped that whoever placed us in our adult positions had more sense than to put Rhea at the head of the academy. I wasn't sure why but my gut feeling told me there would be nothing worse than that.

  "Good night, Booth." Rhea purred when he remained silent and I realised then just how insane she was. She actually leaned up on her tiptoes to press her lips to his cheek before she turned and entered her room, clicking the door closed behind him.

  Booth's fist connecting with the door frame made me jump and I saw another flash of cloudy red all around him.

  I probably should have stayed in the shadows of my room and ignored the feeling in my gut that told me to make my presence unknown. My gut had a funny way of overwhelming the sense in my head and I pulled the door open all the way to step out into the hallway.

  Booth's head whipped around instantly as though he'd sensed me there.

  "How much of that did you catch?" He groaned as though the entire thing embarrassed him.

  "Enough." I said softly in the hopes that Rhea wouldn't hear me, "She seems like a looney to me."

  I blushed as soon as I realised I had given him my opinion, practically announcing the fact that I was on his side like a giant neon sign above my head that said, 'Rhea bait!'.

  His lips twitched in the beginnings of a smile as though he found me amusing.

  When he glanced down I suddenly realised that I was wearing nothing but my mint green silk pyjama shorts and a white vest top. The outfit didn't leave much to the imagination and I found myself crossing my arms over my chest, suddenly feeling naked.

  "I could use a coffee." He sighed, averting his gaze as though he didn't wish to make me feel awkward, "Fancy joining me?"

  "I'm not really supposed to leave my room." I admitted even though every fibre in my body was sizzling with the desire to go with him.

  He crossed the distance between us, leaving Rhea's room far behind him and I felt my breath catch in my throat.

  The warm cinnamon scent of him washed over me as he drew closer and I breathed it in deeply, my cheeks blushing when I realised he'd caught me.

  "Your friends told me what happened at the river." He sighed and I was glad he hadn't brought up my 'sniffing' him. "Seems to me you have first hand experience of how much of a bitch Rhea is."

  "Maybe we should start a club." I said, and instantly became embarrassed once more.

  Booth's amusement was clear on his handsome face as he smiled back at me and leaned against the door frame.

  He was so close to me now that the scent of him wafted all around me and I was sure that when Zoe returned she would still be able to smell him on me.

  No doubt she'd bombard me with questions. What the hell? I might as well give her something to question me about.

  "I can grab coffee if you're okay with whatever they have downstairs?" I shrugged.

  Celestria had told me to stay in my room. The dorm was close enough, right?

  "I think I can handle that." Booth nodded.

  "Great. I'll just grab a jacket." I smiled back at him and popped back into my room to grab my New York hoodie and slip my feet into a pair of green ballet flats.

  We were silent as I clicked the door closed and we wandered past Rhea's room. I held my breath, half expecting her to appear to give me a piece of her mind.

  When she didn't, I finally managed to breathe again.

  Following Booth down the stairs I was distinctly aware of his closeness and the way his knuckles brushed against my own.

  The slightest touch caused electricity to surge up my arm and into my chest.

  What was it with this guy? Why did he affect me so badly?

  "How's your head?" He asked as we reached the dorm kitchen and found that there wasn't another person in sight. It seemed as though all the girls were off partying except for me - and now Rhea.

  No doubt she was pouting in her room after what had just happened between her and Booth. I had to admit, if he'd rejected me like that I would be hella upset.

  "It’s not too bad." I shrugged.

  The truth was I hadn't even thought about it since it had happened. My mind was more preoccupied with what had happened when I'd woken up to be told that every element had been whipping around me in a frenzy.

  "Rhea never should have attacked you like that." Booth grumbled even as he grabbed a couple of coffee pods from one of the cupboards and pushed onto into the coffee maker on the worktop, "She gets away with far too much around here thanks to her parents."

  "Why is that?" I said, only half interested in the conversation. If it had been anyone else talking about Rhea I probably would have switched off by now but Booth's voice was like music to my ears.

  "Her dad is a Maxwell and her mum is some witch from another great family." Booth shrugged, "Her uncle is a member of the witch council."

  "So that gives her an excuse to be a bitch?" I asked.

  It wasn't very often I used curse words like that but it seemed appropriate right now.

  Booth's amusement was obvious once again as he removed the first coffee mug from beneath the machine and handed it to me.

  "She seems to think so." He shrugged and placed another mug under the machine before removing the empty pod and replacing it with the second.

  I watched him, marvelling at the gracefulness of his movements. Everything about him seemed perfect, almost too perfect.

  I was just about to say something about how someone should knock her down a peg or two when the front door of the dorm suddenly burst open. Feet came rushing into the main room and I caught sight of Keeya, Luci and Zoe through the archway.

  Concern instantly burned inside me when I saw the paleness of their faces.

  Booth and I glanced at each other before rushing through the archway to join
my friends.

  "What's going on?" Booth demanded even as Keeya and Luci helped Zoe down onto one of the couches.

  My roommate was trembling so badly that I knew something terrible had happened.

  "It’s Molly." Keeya gasped and I recognised the name of the girl who had served me breakfast that morning.

  "What about her?" Booth scowled as though he hated open ended answers as much as I did.

  "She's dead!" Zoe cried in anguish.

  How could that be? How could the friendly girl I'd met this morning be dead?

  She seemed fine when I met her.

  "What happened?" Booth demanded, the amusement that had been on his face was gone, replaced by a severe scowl.

  "We were all in the meadow, partying," Keeya gulped, "And then Molly just dropped."

  "There was blood everywhere." Luci cried, "It was coming out of her nose and mouth and even streaming out of her eyes!"

  The usually perky blonde was trembling just as badly as Zoe was and I remembered how badly she'd reacted when she'd caught sight of the wound on my head.

  "Celestria came with some other lecturers and they took her away but she's obviously dead. You could tell by the way they looked at her." Keeya shivered as she spoke and it passed right to me.

  "Obviously she was dead." Luci insisted, "I saw the way her eyes rolled back in her head."

  "Yeah and don't forget the way the light seemed to go out of her like someone blew out a candle." Keeya shivered again and the image she conjured up in my mind wasn't one I wanted to have.

  "Witches don't just drop dead like that." Booth shook his head and I could see the cogs turning in his mind, "Even when we are really sick, our bodies fight it better than any human would."

  "That's...that's how it happened with Melanie." Zoe said quietly and when I looked down at her she was gazing into empty air, seemingly remembering something from the past. Her face was the whitest of them all and she seemed almost as though she was lost.

  "Who's Melanie?" I asked, unsure whether I should have asked at all.

  "She was Zoe's roommate before you." Keeya told me. There was the answer to one of my previous questions.

  "She died about a month after Zoe got here." Luci added, "They said her powers were too much for her and they burned right through her body."

  "That can happen?" I gulped fearfully. From what my friends had told me my powers were stronger than anyone at the academy had seen before. Were my powers going to burn right through me?

  "It’s rare but it happens." Booth shrugged, "That can't possibly have been what happened to Molly. What are the chances?"

  "Like one in a million." Keeya put in and we all glanced around at each other, save for Zoe who was still staring off into space.

  "Maybe she is just sick and they'll take her to Merrin?" I suggested, trying to remain hopeful.

  "They carried her away on a stretcher with a white sheet over her." Luci's voice quivered, "That suggests dead to me."

  "It was red by the time they carried her out of the meadow." Keeya cringed and Luci let out a small squeal as though she hated the reminder.

  "That's how they carried Melanie out of our room." Zoe said mournfully, "And I never saw her again."

  "I should go." Booth took a step back from the girls and turned towards the door.

  "Wait? What?" I turned on him. The last thing I wanted was to be left alone with three hysterical girls.

  "I'll swing past Celestria's office on my way back to my dorm." He told me, "See if she can tell me anything."

  He paused at the door and turned back to look at me, "Can I get a raincheck on that coffee?"

  All I could do was nod and watch him go.

  Keeya and Luci looked at me with raised eyebrows before turning their full attention back to Zoe. Now wasn't the time for them to be asking what I had been doing hanging out with Booth.

  "Come on. Let's get you upstairs." Keeya said softly as other girls began to file into the dorm. The party in the meadow seemed to be over and a shroud of darkness blanketed the whole academy.

  CHAPTER 19

  FOR THE REST OF THE WEEKEND THE WHOLE CAMPUS was wrapped in mourning. Luckily for me I was still confined to my room but I wasn't totally untouched by it. Molly had been friendly to me when we'd met and Zoe moped around like a bear with a sore head.

  But by Monday the events of the weekend seemed to be over. Everything seemed to return to 'normal' and even Zoe plastered a smile on her face as we walked from breakfast to Celestria's office to pick up my class schedule.

  She was waiting outside as though she had been expecting us and she smiled warmly at us as we approached, "Brianna, Zoe."

  She gave us a swift bow of her head which we both returned out of respect. As I turned my gaze back up to look at her, I couldn't help but notice a change in Celestria. She seemed more beautiful than ever, her skin practically glowing as though she'd swallowed a candle or something.

  "Are you ready for your first day?" She asked me even as she held out a piece of paper.

  "I think so." I replied even though I wasn't at all sure.

  "Good. Your mentor should be joining us any minute." Celestria told me.

  My mentor? I didn't even realise I would be getting one. Nobody had mentioned it before.

  Before I could ask, footsteps sounded down the hall and Zoe and I turned to see Merrin walking towards me. Her striking blue eyes reminded me of only one thing - her son.

  "I have asked Merrin to be your mentor and she has graciously accepted." Celestria explained, "I might have taken you on myself but I am much too busy with the running of the academy."

  "I am honoured to have been picked as your mentor, Brianna." Merrin said with a respectful bow of her head, "You have already shown great promise."

  "With great promise comes great responsibility." Celestria said, the tone of her voice making me shiver.

  "Zoe, why don't you run along to your first class?" Merrin suggested. When Zoe glanced at me, clearly unsure, she added, "I will see Brianna to class. I believe it is Latin?"

  I glanced instinctively at the schedule in my hand and sure enough, she was right.

  My mentor was supposed to know my schedule, right? So why did the fact that she knew everything about me, creep me out so much?

  "I'll see you at first break?" Zoe said and although she said it as a question I knew it was more of a promise.

  I nodded and offered her a quick smile before she turned and began to make her way down the hall.

  "Brianna, I shall leave you in the capable hands of your mentor." Celestria smiled, "I have a class of my own to get to."

  The two women exchanged respectful bows of their heads before Celestria began to follow Zoe down the hall.

  "Brianna, I am sure you are already wondering how the academy can continue to run as normal after a student's death." Merrin sighed when we were alone and I turned to her, stunned.

  She really needed to stop doing that or I was going to lose my mind.

  "The first thing I will teach you is that here, death is not the end." Merrin explained, "We believe here that death is simply the next stage of life and we seek to embrace it as the natural order of things. Molly, though not with us anymore, has moved onto the next place. She has gone on to the Summerland where she dances and feasts with the Goddess."

  "But she died? Doesn't that mean we should have a funeral or something?" I struggled with her explanation. It didn't seem right to just forget about her and move on.

  "Molly will be taken home where her parents will host her funeral." Merrin explained, "And she will be honoured at the next circle casting."

  It wasn't the first time someone had mentioned a circle but I had absolutely no idea what it was or when one would be held.

  "When will that be?" I asked.

  Merrin seemed to look into herself as though the information was written on her heart or something.

  "The next full moon is tonight so Celestria will cast a great circle to honour
our fallen sister and guide her onto the Summerland." Merrin explained.

  A wave of excitement swept over me then. Tonight would be my first circle.

  "Until then you must put Molly out of your mind and concentrate on your first day of school." Merrin advised.

  I nodded although I knew it would be almost impossible for me to forget about the girl who had died. I could still remember every gruesome detail of what Keeya and the other girls had told me.

  "Come with me." Merrin said and she swept down the hallway in the opposite direction that Zoe and Celestria had taken.

  We passed the staircase that led back down to the main hall of the building and passed beneath an archway that led to a hallway lined with what must have been classrooms.

  "Each one of these rooms houses a seperate class." Merrin explained. Gesturing to each one in turn, she added, "Spellcraft, worship studies, elemental studies, history, and finally Latin."

  We stopped at the door at the end of the hallway that reminded me of the door that led to my bedroom in the dormitory.

  "Remember that Latin will open up a new world for you. It is the centre of all our spellwork and chants." Merrin explained. Was that what she and Keeya had chanted when they used their powers?

  "It is one of the most ancient languages in the world and witches have used it as a way of connecting to our goddess given powers for centuries." Merrin lifted her hand and pushed open the door, "Be sure to pay careful attention and it will make all your other classes much easier."

  I was surprised to find that there were already several other students waiting inside.

  They must have come up early from breakfast, eager to get the best seats.

  "Go in and take a seat." Merrin instructed and I did as she said, surprised when she followed me inside.

  "Class, please welcome our newest student, Brianna Winters." Merrin said as she made her way to the front of the class and stood before the chalkboard.

  I hadn't seen one of those since I was in primary school.

  "Merry meet, Brianna!" The rest of the class called out to me and I felt my cheeks burn red when I realised that everyone in the room was staring at me.