He’s as much a part of everything happening as the rest of our group—and I don't know how that makes me feel.
Amelia? She’s back in Scotland and off the grid—literally, as there’s no internet or phone reception at her family home. Her family keeps their environment untouched by the modern world as much as they can. The elemental witches use solar electricity and water from rain tanks, living a self-sufficient life where they can encourage nature to supply what they need.
Amelia hates her old life now and only returns home to see her sister. Genevieve’s health gradually improves as the damage from her magic accident slowly heals. Amelia insists her sister will be herself again one day, but Genevieve hasn’t spoken since the day she was attacked.
Christmas lunch finishes, and I head to the lounge and slump in the lumpy sofa ready to enter a food coma and watch this year’s bad Christmas movie with Mum.
"Ash, dude. Dishes." Vince’s voice carries from the kitchen.
"Can we leave them until later?" I call back.
"No, you can’t." Mum walks into the room, pink-cheeked from too many glasses of wine with her Christmas dinner. She flops beside me. "I want a break before tonight."
The pub doesn’t often close, and Dad’s reopening this evening. I promised I’d help out along with Vincent, and hoped for a snooze before I do.
Mum aged over the last few years—more than she should—and Vincent is the reason. I loved to see her eating more today and to see her eyes shine again. She lost more weight from her already slender figure, giving her a frailty I hated, something she tried to hide beneath baggy clothes.
Today Mum’s dressed in her favourite red dress with her long brown hair plaited down her back. Her arms are still thinner than they should be, but there’s new life in her today.
Grumbling, I head into the kitchen where Vince loads the dishwasher. He points to a sink filled with soapy water.
"Wash the pans."
Ugh. I'd argue that I want to load the dishwasher, but he's gruff and I'm worried how he'll react. I never fight the guy—he’s bigger and hardly lost any bulk while he was away. His hair is longer than mine now, and he reminds me of Jamie as his eyes hide behind the curls. But there's no mistaking we're brothers.
I push the greasy baking tray beneath the bubbles and stare through the window at the snow settled on the stone walls outside. I’m stuck on what to say to my brother. Any conversation we have turns around to me and my life. He either doesn’t want to, or can’t, remember his recent months. All we can talk about is the past or my present.
"Who’s the girl?" Vince asks.
I glance over. "Which one?"
Vincent chuckles. "Why? How many do you have? The one you’re always calling."
"How do you know I'm calling a girl?"
"Because you always have a gooey look on your face afterwards."
I scowl at his teasing. "I do not. Besides, Maeve isn’t my girl. Not officially."
"But you’re smitten, I can tell." He shoves wine glasses into the dishwasher. "I presume she’s from the academy. Are her family wolf shifters?" I shake my head. "Bear? That would be unusual for the UK."
"And dragons aren’t?" I ask. My heart speeds because I know where this conversation is headed.
"Good point. Well?" He pauses to watch me wash a pan. "What is she?"
"Does it matter?" I ask.
"I guess not." He pauses. "As long as she’s a shifter, everything is fine."
I scrub the pot harder.
"Ash?"
What do I say?
"She’d better not be a bloody witch." Vince’s tone changes, harsh, the way it is when he talks about his missing years.
I shake my hands and grab a tea towel. "Like I said, she isn’t my girl. We just made out at the school dance."
"Nothing more?"
I wipe my hands and prepare to lie. If I upset Vincent and he loses his temper with me, I’d spoil Mum’s perfect day. "She’s just a girl."
The words choke me because they’re far from the truth. Maeve isn’t ‘just a girl’ and never will be—to me or to the world. My heart hopes she’ll become a bigger part of my life, that she’ll kiss me a hundred times the way we joked, and when that happens, I won’t be able to hide anything from Vincent.
But the thought frightens me. What if he hurts her? Rejects me?
Falling for Maeve has more complications than I imagined.
Vincent returns to his domestic duties, large hands stacking plates into the dishwasher. Livid red scars cover the faded ones from scrapes when he was a kid, and remind me of the pain he suffered.
But what about the scars in his mind? What’s hidden deep inside Vincent that he won’t talk about? Those are the scars that worry me more.
Chapter Two
MAEVE
Amelia unpacks her bag onto the bed in our dorm room, examining her new clothes with shining eyes. She carefully folds jeans and T-shirts with tags still attached beside her warm winter jumper decorated with flowers.
Our trip together to the post-Christmas sales ended in crowded changing rooms and suffocating stores, as Amelia snapped up bargains.
I knew that would happen as soon as Amelia suggested the ‘day out’. At least this shopping trip didn’t involve visions of death.
Amelia visited and stayed with me for the last days of the Christmas holidays. Mum was overwhelmed by her enthusiasm, which filled our already brightly lit house with more Christmas cheer than most of us could cope with. We spent time together talking about events at the academy or hanging out with Tessa and her new friends.
That night almost ended in disaster when Amelia’s drunken spell casting drew attention. She joked this gave her a chance to practice her memory wiping skills. I forced a smile as my two worlds clashed.
"Have you heard from Jamie and Ash?" she asks as she places a blue dress on a hanger.
"Ash, yes. Jamie, not yet. You?"
"Jamie called to say he’d arrive late today. I called Ash and his brother answered." Amelia wrinkles her nose. "Vincent said he’d pass a message on, but I’m not convinced he will."
"Vincent probably thought you were me," I reply. "Ash told me he’s anti-witch."
Amelia chews her lip. "I hope that won’t be a problem. Ash always hero-worshipped Vincent, and now he’s back, I’m worried he’ll only listen to his brother."
"You mean Vincent will tell Ash to keep away from us?"
Her lips pull into a knowing smile. "I doubt Ash will keep away from you, Maeve."
I sit on the bed. The night the academy found Vincent, he was rushed inside and then taken to a private hospital. The hospital has human patients as cover, but most who are treated there are shifters.
After that night, I heard little. The shifter community is tight and secretive. I doubt I would’ve heard anything at all if Ash hadn’t told me.
Witnessing someone bleeding towards death sickened me, but Ash’s reaction broke my heart. Years of grief poured from him, as if he was losing his brother again. He wouldn’t listen when Professor O’Reilly dragged him away, as medical staff tended to Vincent’s wounds before the ambulance arrived. Ash wasn’t in any state to go with him to the hospital.
I didn’t see Ash again—he went home the next day and the family locked down.
I never saw Tobias again, either.
In my hazy memories of the minutes that followed, Andrei stands out. For the second time that night, he stepped in and helped as I struggled. The unforgettable kiss with Ash lingers in my memories, but Andrei’s attention bordered on affection. He sat with me on the cold steps outside the main academy building until the shock faded. We barely spoke—I wasn’t capable—but he didn’t walk away until Amelia and Jamie arrived.
"We can focus on moving forward. All of us," I say to Amelia.
Amelia sits beside me and squeezes my hand. She’s shocked by the events with Tobias. We all are. I’ve told her everything, apart from our intense exchange that confused us both. I’m ash
amed to admit I’m attracted to him, but that’s irrelevant now.
Tobias has gone.
I looked for him the next day, wanting more answers, determined Tobias would take me to Theodora and confirm his story.
Instead, I found his study empty and bare. The room still smelled of him and I stood, with a mix of anger and disappointment, as I looked to where his books once lined the shelves and at the table that once held the glass he shattered.
Did Tobias run before his crimes were discovered?
So, we face a new term with new teachers—and new lessons.
"Have the class lists been posted yet?" I ask.
"They’re usually pinned to the house noticeboards in the main entrance hall. We can head down and look if you like? Then, coffee." She sighs. "I’ve missed coffee. Mum and Dad will only drink tea. I loved the coffee I had at the fancy cafe in your town. Maybe I could ask the cafe staff here to make me one. What was that called?"
"Caramel latte." I smile at her babbling. At how Amelia can wipe away my troubling thoughts as easily as if she cast a spell. That’s a talent, magical or not.
I point at her clothes. "Finish putting your spoils away, and we’ll head out."
I turn away to unpack mine too.
I’m back at the Nightworld Academy and this time I’m happy to be here. I cringe as I remember the uptight girl whose shock became a barrier against the world she was thrust into. I’m happy to throw myself wholeheartedly into everything.
To control my powers. To use them to stop the Dominion.
I stand beneath the school crests lining the high wall in the entrance hall and study the pinned lists on the large noticeboard. Holding a notepad in one hand, I search through the Walcott class lists to note my new timetable.
Amelia shuffles from foot to foot beside me. "Are you done yet?"
I hold up my pen. "Has the school not heard of email? Online bulletin boards? Why do I need to copy this down?"
"Because it’s harder for humans to hack pen and paper," says a scornful voice. "The academy’s advanced program is secret, or did you forget that?" Katherine stands beside me, one long finger on a pinned sheet. "This one," she says to the girl beside her. "Write it down."
The young, curly-haired witch under instruction from Katherine pushes her glasses up her nose and writes on a pink notepad.
"Hello, Katherine. How was Christmas?" I ask. She might want to start term with the same attitude, but I’ve more to worry about than her.
She blinks at me. "I’m sorry, what?"
"Christmas. Holidays."
"Didn’t your vampire puppy dog tell you we don’t ‘do’ Christmas?"
"Katherine stayed at the academy," pipes up the girl beside her, and Katherine shoots her a filthy look.
"Why?" blurts Amelia.
"My parents are on business and I couldn’t join them," she snaps. "I wasn’t the only one who stayed."
What does ‘your vampire’ mean?
"Oh look, we have potions together, Maeve." Katherine taps the paper again. "Cynthia, write this down too."
I’m on the verge of snarkily asking Katherine if she can write when Amelia interrupts.
"How about that coffee, Maeve?" She looks at me pointedly. "You can finish copying the timetable later."
"Can’t I copy yours?" I complain.
"We don’t have all the same classes," she says. "Different magic specialisation. Sorry."
"Huh." Katherine peers at the lists. "The Mental Magic class list is missing."
Amelia side-glances me. We noticed too and presumed the academy haven’t recruited anybody yet. The missing sheet confirmed to me that Tobias has gone.
He did lie.
"I’ll miss Tobias." Katherine sighs. "I bet you will too, Maeve. I swear you were his favourite."
"Coffee!" interrupts Amelia and gives me a light shove.
I feel Katherine’s eyes boring into me as I head away.
The cafe is crowded with students exchanging stories about their holidays. I touch the necklace Ash bought me, the silver chain and blue pendant warm against my skin. I wish Ash had visited like Amelia did, or I’d had the chance to visit him, but I understand his and his family’s need for privacy.
Two girls at the table beside Amelia and me discuss their new gifts too, and I shake my head. Some things here make the place almost human.
I drop my hand from my neck as I notice someone watching me from the opposite side of the room.
Some things make the school very un-human.
Andrei sits on one chair with his feet on another. We haven’t spoken since the winter ball. I left in the daytime on the following day so never had a chance to see or thank him. We’ve never exchanged numbers, which means he couldn’t contact me using that well-used phone in his hand.
This guy does weird things to me—I never expected a vampire would set my heart beating faster or my body would crave his attention. It’s crazy. I’m crazy. I have a perfectly normal and caring guy who would lavish attention on me that Andrei never would.
If you could call a huge guy on the verge of becoming a dragon shifter normal.
I sigh. What is normal?
Andrei’s legs are hugged by scruffy black denim and his greying T-shirt has a faded logo on the front. Even though his face is half-hidden by hair as usual, his bright eyes are fixed on mine.
Andrei tips his chin in greeting but instead of returning to his phone, he continues to study me. The hairs on the back of my neck lift under his scrutiny— Andrei’s actions the evening of the ball changed everything between us.
We can’t pretend we don’t care about each other any longer.
"I’ll be with you in a minute." I leave Amelia enthusing to Jade about her trip to my town and walk over to Andrei. He moistens his lips as I approach and his look becomes wary.
What do I say?
"Hi, Andrei. Did you have a nice holiday?"
He stares for a moment then laughs at me. I scowl. "Sorry. Your over-politeness sounds weird. I’m fine. Thanks."
Andrei looks at his phone.
"Omigod." I take the phone from him and place it on the table. "Are you ignoring me already? We have a lot to talk about."
"Not here and now, we don’t. I’ll speak to you later." Huffing, I sit and cross my arms. He looks over my shoulder to avoid my eyes. "I’m sorry I never told you what Tobias did on our field trip, okay? You have your apology, so can you leave me alone now?" He takes his phone back.
"Wow. Rude, much? And for the record, I understand why you didn’t tell me."
Andrei doesn’t respond. Seriously? I refuse to leave, hoping to annoy him into talking to me, and the tension crackles between us.
"I thought we were past this, Andrei."
His eyes meet mine again. "Maeve. Please. I can’t deal with you right now." His voice is softer, almost pleading.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
He shrugs. "Whatever you want it to."
"Wow, Andrei. Is this because I’ve exposed Tobias and he ran? Are you worried you don’t have a mentor?"
"Tobias? He’s a lying bastard." Andrei swipes his fringe from his eyes. "And Tobias hasn’t ‘run’ anywhere."
My heart skips a beat. "What?"
"Tobias. He’s back."
Chapter Three
MAEVE
I rush through the building, out of breath already, as I haul myself up the stairs to the classrooms. My shoes slap along the tiled hallway as I rush past the darkened, empty classrooms and arrive at the Mental Magic room.
Pausing with my hand on the door, I attempt to control my breathing. This can’t be true. He wouldn’t come back.
The door is unlocked and I stride inside, across the runes, then peer around the dark classroom. There aren’t any candles or lanterns lit, and I struggle to make my way through the desks and chairs to the door at the classroom’s rear.
Tobias’s study. If he’s back, I’ll tell him I’m not frightened, and that I’ll expose him.
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The door is ajar and, as I peek inside, my brain finally catches up with my ludicrous idea I’ll find Tobias here.
The small study is as bare as when I last saw the room—apart from two cardboard boxes: one on the desk and one on the floor.
No Tobias.
I smooth hair from where strands flew into my face running up here, then turn to leave. A figure stands in the doorway to the classroom and my heart judders.
Tobias is silhouetted against the light from the corridor. He remains still and quiet, and I wish I could see his face and expression. The last time I was alone with this guy, he told me terrifying secrets.
Tobias warned me he couldn’t get close to a witch, what it could do to him—and hinted what he’d do to me.
"Class doesn’t begin until Tuesday, Miss Foster," he says in an even tone. Struggling for words, I move away from the study door in case he pushes me inside and threatens me again. "Or did you want to speak to me about something else?"
He moves from the classroom doorway, and I edge around the opposite side of the room, ensuring several desks separate us as I inch towards the exit.
Tobias halts. "What’s wrong?"
"You can’t come back here," I whisper through the dark.
"I can, and I did." He speaks in a matter of fact tone, as if nothing untoward ever happened.
"Then I’m going to Theodora to tell her what you did to me. Who you are."
"There’s no need, Maeve. I told you, Theodora already knows."
Tobias turns away and light glows as he lights a nearby lantern. The light highlights the impassive look on his face.
"I don’t believe you. And I mean it. I’m going to speak to Theodora tomorrow."
"And I don’t care. Ask her," he says, moving closer again.
This time I stand my ground, ignoring the pneuma vampire’s immediate pull on my energy. "I will." He laughs softly at my childish comeback. "We all know," I say. "The whole group. You can’t blackmail us all like you did Andrei."
Nightworld Academy Box Set 1 Page 45
