Nightworld Academy Box Set 1

by L. J. Swallow

  I have time. Halloween is six weeks away.

  Chapter Fourteen

  MAEVE

  My excitement about attending a potions lesson disappears within ten minutes of attending Professor Turlington's class.

  I imagined jars of rare ingredients and vials filled with mysterious liquid. Cauldrons and strange smoke drifting from inside. I pictured myself mixing them together and producing something magical, while taught by a man in a long black cape.

  Instead, today's lesson is potions theory, taught by a middle-aged man in a tweed suit, as we sit in rows of desks the same as any of my normal subjects. Long benches with cupboards above and below are at the back of the room. Is that where the potion making happens?

  The professor spends ten minutes at the start of the lesson searching the room for a text book; a search that involves emptying several cupboards and leaving papers all over the floor.

  Beside me, Amelia chuckles. "He's a good witch, but not the best teacher."

  Professor Turlington runs a hand through his unruly wavy hair and opens the finally-located book. He clears his throat.

  "Right. Ah. Last week we identified the plants needed in the potions we'll make in a few weeks. This week I'd like you to study where to find this list of flowers, and how to dry them."

  "I can find all these ingredients in my father's cupboards," mutters Andrei.

  Professor Turlington flashes him a look. "Perhaps, but you need to know this in order to pass your exams, Andrei. That involves fully involving yourself in lessons and assignments."

  His mouth curves into a sneer and he pulls out his phone. I stare in disbelief as he begins typing, but Professor Turlington merely tuts and turns back to the engaged pupils.

  "Wow. That wouldn't be allowed at my old school," I whisper.

  If anybody behaved like that towards a teacher at my old school, they'd be thrown out of class and into detention for a week.

  "Andrei's family hold the purse strings here," explains Amelia. "He gets away with more than he should."

  Andrei hasn't spoken to me since last night and, although he helped, I'm wary of him and the vampires. Now I understand his amusement at me telling him to 'bite me' the other day, and my cheeks heat at my stupidity.

  After searching through his soft brown briefcase for several minutes, Professor Turlington pulls out a sheaf of papers, which he passes around the room.

  Worksheets.

  I sink back in my seat and chew on the end of a pen. "Who knew magic studies could be so fun?" I mutter sarcastically.

  "Don't worry," whispers Jamie. "There's a practical lesson in a couple of weeks."

  As with the werewolf trials research, Google is not my helpful friend, and I need to search for answers to a quiz through a strange text book. I never knew most of these plants existed, but I'm no gardener. I didn't know with the right combination and magic, they could make you invisible or compel someone to do as you ask.

  The lesson drags as I struggle to answer the questions. At this time of day, I'm usually in bed watching shows or already asleep. I've two more lessons to go and if they're as boring as this, I'll find out how much trouble falling asleep in class causes.

  There's a ten-minute break between classes and I dig out the can of energy drink I'd brought with me. Amelia and Jamie sit with me on the bench outside the classroom. I look around for Ash. He wasn't in the Potions class, and he isn't waiting for the Mental Magics class either.

  "Is Ash okay?" I ask Jamie.

  He looks up from the laptop balanced on his lap. "Ash? Gilgamesh students don't attend potions and mental magic lessons. They spend the time on physical training classes."

  "Yeah, learning to control their animal instincts." Andrei sits on a bench opposite, eavesdropping and smirking.

  "You can talk," retorts Jamie. "How's the bloodlust control going?"

  Amelia shoves him in the shoulder. "Jamie! Don't you think Maeve's freaked out enough without making her worry vampires will attack her."

  "I don't worry," I lie.

  Andrei rests his elbows on his knees, hands beneath his chin as he gazes at me. "I couldn't thrall her. She's a witch. I tried."

  "What?" Jamie scowls at him. "When did you try?"

  "In the library. Don't look at me like that, I wanted to confirm my suspicions, not drink her blood."

  His eyes remain on mine and I hold his look. Why hasn’t he changed his attitude towards me after helping last night?

  Katherine walks by and halts when she catches our conversation.

  "Whose blood do you both drink?" I ask Andrei.

  "He drinks animal blood," Katherine says and wrinkles her nose. "I don't drink blood."

  "But you're a vampire," I blurt.

  She smiles and runs her tongue along her bottom lip. "Not all witches are the same, and neither are vampires."

  I'm unsure whether to be relieved that Andrei doesn't drink human blood or concerned exactly how Katherine gets her energy. Didn’t Theodora say she was a lamia?

  Katherine gives up waiting for me to respond and changes tack. "I heard you had an unfortunate time after your allegiance swearing last night."

  Jamie leans over to whisper, "Nobody knows what really happened apart from us."

  "I thought Ash liked you," she continues. "I saw him looking for you. Worried his prank had gone wrong."

  "Ash didn't prank me," I say.

  "Oh? Then who did?" Katherine sits and places her bag on her lap.

  Jamie nudges me with a knee. "I don't know," I reply. "Someone from Gilgamesh."

  Andrei's attention switches to his phone again and his lips press together. I'm impressed if he's kept his mouth shut about last night.

  "Did you see anything, Andrei?" she asks.

  "Me? Why would I?" He looks up from his phone.

  With a knowing smile, she pulls an emery board from her bag. "I saw you sneaking down to the servant’s quarters again, at around the same time."

  "I wasn't sneaking anywhere and the humans who work here aren't servants," he retorts.

  Katherine begins to carefully file a nail, complaining she broke it in potions class, and the tension grows.

  "The new girl who works in the cafeteria seems nice, Andrei. Don't you think? Pretty. Rosy-cheeked. Some can be quite anaemic-looking."

  "What are you saying?" he snaps.

  She leans forward and whispers something to him. He blinks rapidly and his face darkens.

  "Don't screw with me, Katherine. I'm not one of your followers."

  "No, but you know who to keep on your side, don't you?" Her low tone holds a warning as she glances at Andrei's fists clenching on his knees. "You might need my help one day."

  I'm relieved the questions about last night stopped, but the strange display intrigues me. Katherine is a queen bitch, that's apparent, but does she hold sway over the academy or pupils that allows her to maintain that position?

  The rivalry isn't only between houses but within.

  She tucks away her emery board and stands, adjusting her short skirt. The girl is immaculately turned out in her uniform, the poster girl for the academy.

  "Laters."

  I cringe at her expression as she walks away. I underestimated her. Katherine isn't a vapid mean girl, but a manipulative person whose influence spreads further than a small inner circle of hangers on.

  Jamie closes his laptop and tucks it away before standing. "Time to go."

  Amelia rubs her cheek and tries to catch Andrei's eye. The guy has returned to his phone, a technique I recognise. Avoidance.

  "I just need to use the bathroom first," I say and stand too.

  "Do you want me to come with you?" she asks.

  "No. I can manage alone," I say and laugh.

  "Okay. The next class is in room 505. That way, around the corner, left."

  She hesitates momentarily before she leaves, and I watch as she walks away with less bounce in her step than usual.

  "I hope you're not waiting back to t
alk to me," says Andrei.

  "I wanted to thank you for helping me last night."

  He looks up at me. "I was passing anyway and love an excuse to kick someone's arse. Don't go thinking I made a special effort for you."

  "I never said you did."

  A group walks between where we face each other on opposite benches, breaking our measured look of each other. I find Andrei's intensity overwhelming and understand how those green eyes could mesmerise.

  The last person passes, and Andrei now stands with his scruffy canvas bag over a shoulder.

  "But yeah, you're welcome. Don’t expect me to look out for you again."

  "I'm not asking you to."

  "Because you have others who will?" He looks at me with pity. "When I told you to be careful who you trusted, I meant it. Don't judge who the bad kids are or decide who must be the good ones. You'd probably be wrong."

  I chew my bottom lip. "Like you? Is that what you mean?"

  Andrei snorts derisively. "No. I'm one of the bad ones. I don't pretend to be anything else."

  The chains on his belt jingle as he lopes away from me. He's claimed his 'bad boy' image as a badge of honour. But I think there's more going on behind those eyes.

  Chapter Fifteen

  MAEVE

  Amelia stands with a book clasped against her chest and an anxious expression as she watches students pass into the classroom. Her face brightens as she sees me.

  "What did Andrei say?"

  I tense. "What do you mean?"

  "You hung back to talk to him. I saw you." She purses her lips. "I know he helped last night, but be careful."

  "Don’t stress. He's not exactly the most charming of guys; no way do I want to spend time with him. I thought I should thank Andrei for last night, that's all."

  Amelia nods. "That's wise to keep away."

  "Is this a house thing?" I ask. "Walcott versus Petrescu?"

  "No, Maeve. This is an Andrei thing."

  We're called into the next classroom. Runes run in a line across the threshold and they glow as each person steps over. I hesitate at the edge of the magical security screening.

  "That's to stop humans walking in," she explains. "Occasionally nosy cleaning staff wander into the rooms they're supposed to leave alone."

  "There wasn't one outside Professor Turlington's classroom."

  "Most magical items are behind locked cupboards in there. The place looks like a chem lab. Professor Whitlock's classroom is covered in runes and shelved books that would make uninitiated humans accuse him of black magic."

  I lift a foot and am relieved when nothing happens as I step into the room. For the first time, I feel as if I've stepped into something magical. Thick black curtains drape the windows and obscure the faint moonlight I saw from the potions classroom. A large runic circle is painted on the floor in the centre of the room, and a line of symbols printed on paper run around the wall close to the ceiling. The arrangement looks like a magical ABC chart that adorned the wall at my primary school. Will I have to learn these?

  Amongst the dark and unsettling magic, a bright poster for the Christmas dance has been taped to the wall beside another which depicts small creatures that look like demons. I shudder. Please don't bring demons out for me to play with.

  Pupils sit at desks arranged in a U shape around the room with a large oak table covered in a deep red cloth at the front. Andrei and his perpetual frown sit with a tall guy whose dark hair has the same style, and who's chatting to a girl beside him. Katherine and Clive sit opposite, heads together as they talk. They make no secret of their closeness. Is it as taboo as Theodora hinted?

  The man at the front turns around and my breath is knocked away as if I'd walked into him. He's tall, dressed in clothes similar to Andrei, but his hair shorter and swept back. Like Katherine and her vampire friends, his looks are captivating. I can't put my finger on what particular feature draws me in. Is this part of their ability to mesmerise others? That they've been created as something a human would find hard to resist?

  He doesn't look old enough to be a teacher. Please let him be a Petrescu head boy.

  The guy scans the room and when his blue eyes alight on me, my body turns to jelly. Thank god I'm sitting down. He approaches and my stomach flips as his attention focuses on me.

  "You must be Maeve. I'm Professor Whitlock."

  A voice inside screams an anguished "no" as his words stomp on my growing romantic fantasies.

  "Yes. Hello."

  "Please, call me Tobias." His voice is smooth and cajoling and I feel as if I'm the centre of the room.

  "Okay," I half squeak. Why does he look this young? It's unfair.

  "Everybody else does."

  Behind him, Katherine chuckles. "I told you she was more human than supernatural. Don't be mean, Tobias. Can't you see she's crushing on you?"

  My cheeks heat and I swear they're bright red.

  I'm relieved when he turns back to the girl rapidly becoming my nemesis. "I wouldn't be able to use mental magic on Maeve."

  "Oh. That's worse. She's hot for teacher." Katherine's friends join in the hilarity at my reaction to the guy.

  Tobias shakes his head. "Katherine. Maeve is facing a lot of challenges today and I feel you should be kinder. As the teacher in charge of pastoral care for Petrescu house, I advise you to remain friendly to all students. Don't you remember what happened last time I had complaints about you?"

  His words silence her, and I can't help a smug smile of my own.

  "Most girls and some guys have that reaction to him at first," whispers Amelia. "He's a pneuma vampire as well as being hot as hell. Some of what you feel is him drawing your energy into his."

  "Omigod," I breathe out. "A what?"

  "Don't worry, he's not deliberately taking your energy, but if you have strong emotions, he'll pick them up to uh..." She rubs her head. "For sustenance."

  I pull a face at her euphemistic word. "Do you mean he feeds on people's energy?"

  "Emotions, mostly." A guy beside us adds. "At least it doesn't hurt."

  Well, that makes everything better.

  I shift in my seat. "How does he... feed?"

  The guy looks away.

  Professor Whitlock, who everybody does seem on first-name terms with, now perches on the edge of a desk at the front. Confident. Elegant. Effortlessly good-looking.

  An energy-sucking vampire. A teacher. Not boyfriend material.

  Get a grip, Maeve.

  "Now, who succeeded with last week's practical task?" he asks and picks up a sheet of paper from the desk. He gestures at the guy sitting beside Andrei. "Lucian. You were assigned a visit to town to quash a rumour brought about by your indiscretions."

  I shudder to think what an 'indiscretion' is for a vampire.

  "I was drunk," he muttered.

  "When you went back?" Tobias frowns.

  "No, when I bit the chick."

  The room lurches. Whoa. Okay.

  "And did you succeed in mesmerising her the second time?"

  He nods.

  "And you're positive her mind is now blanked?"

  A surprised noise escapes my lips and Tobias turns to me. "Maeve?"

  "Sorry, am I right in thinking Lucian bit somebody and then made them forget?"

  "Well, his victim wouldn't want to remember someone sucking the blood from her," snarks Katherine.

  "She was not a victim," snaps Lucian. "She was into the idea."

  "Of you sucking her blood?" I can't help my horrified reaction.

  Tobias folds his hands on his lap. "Maeve, there are many things you have to learn about our world. Sometimes we make mistakes that need correcting and have ways to do this."

  "Such as brainwashing humans? That's wrong."

  The class turns silent at my outburst. Tobias steps down from the desk and walks back over to me. "These skills are necessary. The use of mental magics is to protect humans and to protect us."

  His beautiful features have filled with
a darkness I don't want to be on the receiving end of.

  "If we're discovered, it's harder to stay out of the human world," says Jamie quietly. "Most witches can stay hidden, but sometimes things happen to us all we'd rather nobody remembered."

  "Listen to your friend." Tobias nods at him. "I am 150 years old and even though I was not around for the Purge, I know this would be repeated should the supernatural world reveal itself again."

  "Then keep away from people!"

  His voice angers. "I am not arguing with you, Maeve. If you prefer, you can retreat to the corner and study a history book to see what happened in our history. Perhaps then you would not be so judgemental."

  I clench my teeth against saying anything that will anger this vampire more.

  "Did you know any of this existed, Maeve?" pipes up Katherine. "Were you aware vampires and shifters lived amongst you?"

  I glower at her.

  "No? Well then. You can see how Tobias's teachings are necessary, and work."

  I stare at the table, torn between disgust and understanding at why this is necessary magic. Yes, if mistakes reveal these people to society, this would cause mass panic. Or worse, the authority’s involvement. But some could use this to abuse humans—to feed or attack.

  "Why isn't everybody learning mental magic?" I ask. "If it's important."

  "Witches and vampires have the ability which can be honed. Not shifters."

  "Yeah, it’s better to teach them to run faster," says a vampire boy beside Katherine and half the room laughs. I bristle on the shifters' behalf. Is there more tension between the races than I realised?

  I spend the whole lesson sick to my stomach as Lucian describes how he succeeded in wiping a girl's mind and proudly explained the techniques he used. Some sitting around me scribble down his suggestions, including Jamie. I stare at my hands. This world isn't all about the academy. The life I've been dragged into is part of a much bigger, frightening picture.

  The shock and the caffeine-loaded drink mix together to keep me awake as the time approaches 11 p.m.. I'm eager to escape and read, watch a show, anything to blank my mind the way these people are taught to do to others.