Animage Academy: Year Three ~ The Shifter Academy Down Under (The Shifter School Down Under Book 3)

by Qatarina Wanders

  When they arrived at the main entrance, Levine was waiting to welcome them. “Gulati, Carrington, there is a curfew in this school for a reason. Why did you choose to ignore it?”

  Ava glanced at him, briefly. He dearly hoped she wouldn’t tell anyone of his stupid mishap. If people found out, they‘d look at him with pity.

  “Ma’am, uh, I went out to meet Tarun.”

  Crap, he forgot momentarily that she couldn’t lie.

  He thought quickly. “I got a letter from my mother today, Ma’am. She’s cancer-free. I went out to celebrate and lost track of time. I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.”

  Now Ava was staring at him like he had two heads. That part he hadn’t gotten around to telling her.

  Levine’s stern face broke into a smile, “Really, Sushmita is out of the woods?”

  “She is, and she sends her regards.”

  “Oh, I am glad to hear it. I was afraid we’d lose her. As for the two of you, I will let this go for today. Be careful. You may return to your dorms.” She turned, a glimpse of her griffin peeking through, and galloped away.

  The reception area was nearly deserted when they entered. The counter manned by a male attendant. He was flipping through a magazine as they passed, not sparing them a glance. The students sitting on the plush red cushions were less than a dozen, and they all trained eyes on them. Conversations slid to a standstill.

  He thought he heard a “Hey Tarun!” but that was probably his mind. Also, his clothes were a mess. Wrinkled and torn in places, How Ava managed to appear so neat after what they’d been through baffled him.

  “You go up first. I’ll meet you at your room in ten minutes.” She said for the first time since they entered the school.

  Okay, the party wasn’t over yet.

  He stopped her and tilted her face to his with his fingertips. “Ava, I’ll be here tomorrow morning. There’s no need to rush.”

  She bit her lower lip, her turquoise eyes piercing, “I don’t think so. This can’t wait.”

  “You look exhausted, it’s all because of me. I can’t let you go through a difficult night. We’ll talk in the morning.” He finished with a finality in his voice that she couldn’t protest to.

  Her head moved slightly; her fingers crept up his arm. “Tarun,” she said heavily, her eyes pleading now.

  He understood it, she was asking him, no, pleading. “I’ll be here.”

  “Promise?” she whispered.

  “Cross my heart.” He made a cross over his heart. “And hope to die.”

  She smiled, a sad one. But it was a smile. “No more of that, please.”

  “Of course not.” He shifted his weight uncomfortably. “That wasn’t what I meant.”

  “I’m happy for your mother,” Ava said before turning away.

  She took the stairs opposite, and he watched her go. Lighter than he’d been since the crash, he climbed the stairs to his room.

  “He did WHAT?!” JiSoo exclaimed.

  “Scream louder; I don’t think the girls down the hall heard you well enough.”

  “Ava, how can you be so calm?” JiSoo flapped her arms. “He needs help. Aren’t you scared he’ll try again?”

  Ava was quickly regretting telling her friend. She was asleep when Ava crept back to the room, eye mask in place—JiSoo couldn’t quite close her bulging eyes all the way—and murmuring gibberish. But the second Ava opened the door, she bounced from her bed and demanded to know where Ava snuck off to.

  Left with two choices: ignore her, which was impossible despite the fact JiSoo was pint-sized—she was a mean little thing. Or tell her the truth.

  She’d chosen the latter to her eternal regret.

  JiSoo was freaking out more than she and Tarun put together. Ava’s eyes followed her as she paced the room, slapping her thighs and muttering.

  “What if you hadn’t been there to catch him? Wait, how did you catch him?”

  That was a valid point—how did she do it? All she remembered was the debilitating fear that’d zapped through her when she saw him fall—no, jump—off the cliff.

  “I—I don’t know.”

  “You can move people?”

  “I don’t know. It just happened. I wasn’t thinking, all I know is that I wanted him to be safe. I wanted to pull him up, and it happened. I’ve never done it before.”

  “Never? Wow.” JiSoo shook her head—her little pigtails bouncing. “How is Tarun holding up? Are you sure we don’t need to report to Levine or anyone else? Maybe a professional? They can help.”

  “You mean therapy?” Ava said the last word as though it left a bitter taste in her mouth. “Yeah, that’s a splendid idea. While we’re at it, we might as well have posters around the school announcing what he did.” She didn’t miss the hurt expression on JiSoo’s face. Ugh. “JiSoo, I’m sorry. I’m just tired. What you said makes a lot of sense. Tarun is fine. I don’t think he’ll be avoiding us.”

  “You don’t need to apologize. I totally understand.” Although her little bottom lip still protruded slightly.

  She flexed her fingers. “Really though… How did I pull him up?”

  “We’ll figure it out tomorrow. Now, you need a bath and sleep.”

  “Hey, I thought you wanted to talk.” But JiSoo was already pushing her toward the bathroom. Apparently, Ava was acting too cranky to talk. Plus she knew her clothes stank, and her breath was probably poisonous. Ava was on the verge of pushing the little pug-shifter across the room when she slammed the door and ran out.

  Finally, alone, Ava switched on the faucet and let the water run. She sat on the toilet and let the tremors takeover.

  She could see him on the bluffs all over again, the bleakness of his face, the total loss. The boy she’d seen up there looked chewed up and spat out.

  She’d kept this part away from JiSoo: he thought he killed his own father. How was that even possible? Tarun was the sweetest, kindest person she’d ever known—and that was including Winta.

  No, there was a mistake somewhere, she was sure of it. There was a mixup. She’d cut him short because the raw pain in that face killed her. Oh, she wanted to find out what actually took place that day.

  Everyone made mistakes—it was only Tarun who would take it so personally.

  Water trailed from the bathtub and poured out to the tiled floor. Oops. She jumped from the toilet seat and turned off the faucet. Then she removed the cover from the drain and let the water lower a bit.

  Tomorrow, there was a lot she had to do. The upcoming centennials and skills tournament was a part of it. But first, her boyfriend had to explain. She flexed her fingers again. And now she had new powers. Was it part of her unicorn magic? Tomorrow she’d find out why.

  8

  The sun was beating down without remorse on tryout day. Within minutes of stepping out in her tracksuit, Ava was soaked. She’d bound her hair in a tight bun, but purple wisps still escaped and plastered themselves to her face.

  By her right, Winta and JiSoo were sweating in leather jackets and jeans and heartily cursing Ava for dragging them out without warning.

  “C’mon, ladies, it’s just for a few minutes, then we go back inside.” Ava laughed at the unconvinced sneer on Winta’s sweaty face.

  “I don’t like war games, Ava,”

  “And I’m not asking you to join, just watch,” Ava replied patiently. That was the third time Winta repeated herself. Turns out she was permanently scarred from Kenya. The word ‘war’ wasn’t a joke to those who had to live through it.

  The lanes had been readjusted with the spears, balls, arrows for archers, targets, dummies made out of stuffed clothes and a face from gelatin.

  “Hey, does that dummy remind you of anyone?” JiSoo questioned.

  They squinted against the glare of the sun. Ava mumbled, “Oh, yeah…omigod, that’s--”

  “Bills!” JiSoo laughed out loud.

  “Oh no! Who would do that?” Winta’s eyes grew wide.

  Laughter from nearb
y drew their attention and answered the question. Guys were clapping a grinning Deacon on the back and not-so-discreetly pointing at the dummies.

  Ava looked at the dummy again. It had the same chubby cheeks, the puffy, droopy eyes, the constant disapproving lips. It was Bills all right.

  The guys scattered ahead suddenly. Ava looked back to see the real Bills stomping toward the lane, and he did not look the least bit amused.

  “Who did this?!” he roared upon getting to the first dummy.

  No student answered. In fact, everyone pretended to be extremely busy tying shoes, stretching, and taking short laps. Ava caught a glint in Levine’s squinted eyes—she was sure that was amusement.

  “When I find whoever did this—” He didn’t complete the sentence; he just glared at the offending dummies and stomped off again. Fortunately for Deacon and the other contestants, Miss Tortellini was in charge, and she was already in place adjusting the targets.

  Ava was sure that was a smile on Tortellini’s face, too….

  “Poor Professor Bills,” Ava said with a chuckle.

  “I’ve never seen his face that red,” Winta observed.

  “Oh, please, he needs to lighten up.” JiSoo rolled her eyes. “That’s why it’s good we have games like this here. The students need something better to do with their time.”

  “You bet!” Ava agreed. “I need an outlet for all this energy.”

  Winta looked at her. “JiSoo told me what you did last night. That was pretty incredible, Ava. Tarun owes you his life.”

  “No, he owes me nothing. Speaking of, have you seen him this morning?”

  “We skipped breakfast to meet you here, remember? I’m sure he’s around somewhere.”

  “He’s right here,” a deep baritone said from behind them. Ava swung around and hungrily swept her eyes over him. Outside their group, no one knew about what happened the previous night, and looking at his freshly scrubbed face and sparkling gold-flecked eyes, no one would know the hell he went through.

  “Tarun.”

  She let him wrap her in his arms, just like she’d dreamed the last night. She let the woody aftershave wash over her. “God, I missed you.”

  “I missed you too, Baby,” Tarun murmured sweetly into her hair, a complete one-eighty from his behavior the previous evening. It seemed almost as if his personality had been split into two very different halves.

  “Mmmmhhhmmm…” Someone cleared his throat loudly behind Tarun.

  He held her against him, and they turned to see together. It was James dressed in what could only be called the world’s most ridiculous speedos over a full-body leotard. And it was shockingly pink.

  Winta and JiSoo doubled over laughing. James, on the other hand, placed his hands on his waist, stuck out his chest, and announced, “Mister Barbie, here to save the day!”

  Ava lost control and burst out laughing until she cried.

  Winta recovered first and went to stand by him. “I want to make it clear that this stunning man is my boyfriend.”

  James bowed, “Thank you, my lady,” and kissed her hand.

  JiSoo giggled, “You can have him all to yourself.”

  As a group of shark shifters and the dragons noticed James and his outfit, they hauled insults at him, half of them laughing. James had a thick skin or just didn’t give a hoot because he turned around and strutted for them. Wiggling his tiny, taut behind.

  One made a move to come closer but clashed eyes with Tarun and stepped back. They could insult from a distance, but no one dared mess with Tarun’s friend. Then again, James looked big enough to take care of himself now. He had grown significantly more muscular since the previous year.

  Why he wore a Barbie outfit was beyond Ava. And as ridiculous as it was, the new, increasing confidence looked good on him. She looked again; it was obvious. Winta was smiling as he strutted--she even stopped to wipe tears from her eyes. Maybe this outfit thing was a good idea, even Tarun was shaking with laughter.

  “Okay, ladies, Mister Barbie is going to change, and Ava, prepare to get your ass kicked,” he ended with a wink.

  “Yeah, yeah…I’m so scared. Bring it on!” Ava replied, punching her fist into the air.

  “Uh, James, you bet against her in a race? Man, that was stupid.” Tarun raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

  James's charming smile flashed, “It’s just tryouts. Have faith, Dude.”

  Miss Tortellini blew her whistle, and James sprinted off and hurried into regular shorts and a yellow jersey. Students gathered around Miss Tortellini when he ran out again. Winta and JiSoo remained on the sidelines.

  Tarun stood beside Ava, watching her prance on her feet. Her arms glistened with sweat.

  There were at least fifty students trying out for the games. Elaine was among them and gearing up for a fight. She caught Tarun’s gaze and winked, then blew him a pouty pink kiss.

  Tarun winked back and, almost as a reflex, Ava smacked him across the head.

  “Aw, Babe.” He looked flustered, turning slightly redder.

  A feminine laughter rang out; Ava didn’t have to look to see that it was Elaine. Ava groaned and shook her head.

  “Listen up!” Miss Tortellini called. Her tight leotard and long sleeves made it hard to take her seriously. She was passing out pieces of paper. “You are grouped in threes, five teams at a time. There are tags on your paper, one to five, and when you’re called, you come up and execute the tasks on your paper.”

  “Trust them to make this boring,” Ava grumbled.

  “It’s not boring, just organized,” Winta argued.

  “Organized is boring.”

  “Okay, people, let’s move it! Purple Team One, go!”

  Ava checked hers, she was partnered with—crap!—Elaine and Michaela.

  “Look who I was paired with, your new girlfriend.” She pushed it to Tarun’s face.

  “I have just the one, and she’s currently acting overly jealous.”

  “I saw you wink at her,” she whispered hotly.

  “Babe…”

  “Sorry, but did you have to wink back? No. I don’t think you did.”

  Tarun grimaced. But, thankfully for him, Tortellini called for the next team.

  Three guys. Ava wondered why they put three sharks together. Everyone knew how ferocious and violent they could be, and put together in a team? They would be plenty formidable.

  “Fan out!”

  The first team, the shark boys, lined up on the mark she made on the lane.

  Tarun had been paired with two other guys he was only on acquaintance levels with, and James was paired with Deacon and Colin.

  Poor James.

  “Check your tags. What are your tasks?!” Tortellini barked. “Now, I don’t need to remind you, these trainings will prepare you to compete with other schools. There are several skills tournaments, and if you can perfect two, we will be sure of securing that trophy. Are you with me?!”

  “Yes, Coach!”

  “Are you ready?!”

  “Yes, Coach!”

  “All right, boys, move it!”

  “Boy, I’m pumped!” Ava exclaimed, all thoughts of Elaine and her winks fleeing her mind.

  The guys took off, their task was to get at least ten targets while archers attacked them with arrows from the elevated platform. They were hidden from sight.

  As they weaved through the flying arrows. Ava was minutely worried that those arrows looked a little too real. Not for herself though—she’d heal instantly—but for Tarun and the other students. He explained that it was mere plastic tipped with a foamy material.

  The sharks, in a singular aim, zapped through the field, dodging the arrows and sticking darts into the targets. In the background, Tortellini droned on, talking about the importance of this exercise. Ava caught her jotting something down. Probably noting the best students.

  She bent double and flailed her arms up and down, stretching. She was going to knock their socks off, make everyone see that the tabby was
strong and adept.

  Soon the boys were at the lane’s end. She checked the targets, there were darts strewn about on the floor, but many more were stuck on the bullseye.

  JiSoo and Winta waved at her from the sidelines and she smiled and waved back.

  The second team went on—same task, different targets. They didn’t even come close to beating the sharks’ scores.

  Ava was in the third team, Tarun on the fourth, and James was in the fifth. Good, James was about to discover that he underestimated her. When Tortellini called Purple Team One forward, Ava rushed to the forefront.

  Elaine was beside her, doing some planks.

  Tortellini called out, “Go!” accompanied by sharp blasts from her whistle. Ava took off; she was like a mirage, shifting and blending the lights, so fast she could barely see the onlookers as she zipped through the arrows. They came faster, but they just kept going, buzzing right by her.

  Close to the middle, one of her teammates was struck. She landed on her back, made to get up and join them, but Tortellini’s whistle stopped her. Ava was ahead, far ahead, but she could see it was Elaine.

  No time to help her though.

  Ava’s fingers moved effortlessly, tossing darts into the small red bullseye.

  She made it to the finish line, pumping her small fists into the air. She waved enthusiastically at her friends, and they waved back just as enthusiastically. It was clear from Tortellini’s grin that she was more than just a little pleased that someone didn’t lose one single dart and that that person weaved through the flying arrows with such grace.

  That’s right, Ava thought. Job well done.

  Tarun’s turn—he had to fight the carefully positioned dummies, dressed like invaders. Beside them, little children dummies were placed. If one of those kid dummies was knocked down, they would lose a point.

  He started off amid the clapping sounds, a little embarrassed there, and his friends hailing him on. I’m not sure these kids know this is just a tryout, he thought.