“No, I was…feeling ill.”
“You don’t lie very well.”
Or maybe I did and he just knew me too well. “Then you know I’m being honest when I say it’s important I talk to you for a minute.”
He sighed, unable to reason with that logic. He allowed me to pull him down the corridor and to an alcove where we couldn’t be overheard.
Everything about him screamed that I only had a few seconds before he would lose interest. His arms were crossed over her chest, he leaned against the wall with an expression that reeked of boredom already. He was completely nonplussed with the whole thing.
I probably only had two seconds left before he turned around and left. “You remember we visited my grandmother on the weekend?”
“It was two days ago.”
“You can’t tell anyone I’m related to Samara Oakford.”
“Why would I tell anyone?” he asked.
“I don’t know. You might drop it as a fun fact sometime or something.”
“In case you haven’t noticed,” he paused and looked around for dramatic effect, “nobody talks to me here. Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.”
Even though he was being sarcastic, I still had a feeling he wouldn’t be gossiping around campus anytime soon. He was more a lone wolf type of person.
“What’s the problem, anyway?” he asked.
It would have helped if I’d thought through the conversation more while I waited to find him. Having some lies prepared would have come in handy.
“Uh, my grandmother is concerned for her privacy,” I finally said. “She doesn’t want anyone to find her and if people know I’m her granddaughter, they might try to get her location through me.”
If he bought that lie, it was a miracle. I waited with my hands clenched together until he replied.
Any moment now. Why was he dragging it out so long?
Seriously, just say something!
“Yeah, whatever,” he said. “I’ll see you around.”
I barely got a “thank you” out before he was gone. His aloofness didn’t help to calm my nerves. I had no idea whether he would actually keep my secret or if he was planning on sharing the nugget of information with his father.
There were so many things that could go wrong at the academy. I couldn’t even list them all in my head without losing track.
I returned to the comforting library until it was ten o’clock then thought it was wise to go to bed. Cress and her roommate Claire were already asleep when I curled up on the floor of their dorm room. I fell into sleep easily from sheer exhaustion.
If I dreamed, I didn’t remember any of them. It felt like very little time before morning came. I could have done with several more hours of sleep.
It was Cress that awoke me. She reached over me to grab some clothes from her closet. One of her academy uniform shirts fell on me.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” she whispered.
I sat up and brushed my bird’s nest of hair from my face. “It’s okay. It’s your room. Thanks again for letting me crash here.”
“Have you thought about applying for a new room?”
“The dorms are full,” I replied. If only it was as easy as completing a form. Rosa had seriously screwed me over by kicking me out of our room. “It’s okay if you don’t want me to stay here anymore. I’ll understand.”
“No, it’s not that,” she said quickly. “I just feel bad for you.”
“Believe it or not, being homeless is actually one of the lesser problems I have right now.” I tried to joke but it did sound a bit pathetic. My life right now would have been so much different had my grandmother not caused her lineage to be cursed.
Cress let that comment go. “Where were you yesterday?”
Her roommate had already left so I could speak freely. “My grandmother visited me.”
“She came here?”
“Yeah. We took a drive together. She told me why I’m currently in the position I’m in.” Even though we probably couldn’t be overheard by anyone, I hated admitting my lack of magical power out loud. Especially now I knew about the curse and how a whole coven would love to know about me.
“I want to hear everything,” Cress said.
I explained the whole saga without leaving out any of the details. Cress listened intently the whole time, never asking any questions until I finished the entire sorry tale.
“How do you undo the spell that cursed you?” she asked.
“That’s the million dollar question. My grandmother said she would work on it—now she knows for sure it is real. Until then, I have to pretend like nothing’s wrong.”
“At least you don’t have to worry about the Black Cloaks reading your aura.”
“Yeah, that’s one less thing to worry about,” I agreed. The Black Cloaks could look at my aura all they’d like and they wouldn’t see any telltale black flecks.
One problem solved, only a couple hundred more to go.
Chapter 3
We went to class via the dining hall and said goodbye at the classrooms. Cress was going to learn about using all her senses and not just her nose while I was going to learn about Elements.
Professor Monroe set a grueling pace as he rambled on about utilizing the element of air to carry the words of a spell long distances. Witches and warlocks could then do all their evil bidding from the comfort of their own room.
However, it would only apply to certain spells. Most spells could be incanted in one location and still work elsewhere. A few had to have the witch present and could therefore use wind to send it on its way.
All of this didn’t matter to me. I could be an ace at incantations but still not have any effect. Without magic and with my powers bound, I was as dangerous as a ladybug.
I took copious notes and hoped they would somehow help me get through the course. When it came time to do some practical magic, I was screwed. But at least I would have fantastically full notebooks.
My next class was Coven Fundamentals with Madame Darkness. Grandma told me to be wary of her, just in case my mother had told her she was the daughter of Samara Oakford. If they were best friends all those years ago, there was a good likelihood she had.
I sat in the middle of the class and tried to be invisible. I took more notes and spent a lot more time looking down than I did at her. I needed to be boring and unmemorable. It shouldn’t have been too hard to do.
“Eden, can you tell me how a coven chooses a leader?” Madame Darkness asked. And here I thought I could go unnoticed.
At least I knew the answer. “Every member of the coven must vote. The winner must be elected by everyone. They will keep voting until there is consensus.”
“Excellent, and how can they get consensus?”
“If someone doesn’t want to vote the same as everyone else, they can choose to leave the coven,” I replied, grateful my mother had drilled those rules into me. “Nobody is forced to be led by somebody they don’t fully respect and agree with.”
“Correct. Very good.”
She moved onto other people but kept flicking her attention back to me. Or maybe I was just being paranoid, I couldn’t tell. It always felt like all eyes were on me. But Madame Darkness did seem to glance my way many times.
I wished I could ask her straight out if she knew my heritage. Besides Liam, she could be the only one at Shadow Academy that could tip off the coven that cursed my grandmother. Then it would be all over for me.
It felt like I was wearing a huge flashing billboard over my head that read ‘Imposter Here’. Only one wrong person had to see it for my secret to be exposed.
Maybe I was looking at it all wrong. Madame Darkness was my mother’s best friend when they were in school. Perhaps she would feel obliged to look out for me? So even if she did know, maybe she would keep it a secret so I remained safe on behalf of her friend.
All the toing and froing was doing my head in. I could think about the situation and imagine hundred
s of scenarios but that didn’t make any of them right. It was all conjecture and I needed some proof.
As Madame Darkness was writing on the whiteboard, a thought occurred to me. Maybe I could get some proof because it might have been staring me right in the face.
Last week a note had been left in my locker. It threatened to expose me as a roach. I kept it hidden in my pencil case, tucked away so nobody could find it. I discreetly slipped it out and opened it.
I know you’re a roach and I’m going to expose you.
Such ugly, hateful words. They still sent a shock of fear through me when I read them. So far I’d ruled out Cress and Liam as the authors. That only left another, say, thousand suspects at the academy.
The note was handwritten with cursive letters. I compared the note with the writing on the whiteboard. While the threatening note was slanted and fancy, Madame Darkness’s was not. She wrote in clear letters with not a curve or accent in sight. Her handwriting was so neat it was almost like a computer font.
Maybe I could write her off the suspect list for who wrote the note. Surely she wouldn’t think of disguising her handwriting just so she could threaten me anonymously. Why go to that much trouble?
In fact, why would anyone go to that much trouble? It had been a few days since I’d received the note and nobody had come for me yet. How long did the author want me to sweat before turning me in? Were they getting some kind of sick pleasure from threatening me?
Why would someone tell me they would expose me and then not do it? It wasn’t like they were blackmailing me in order to get some kind of advantage—unlike Rosa. At least she was straight out with demanding something from me. Homework for her silence was actually preferable to not knowing.
Rosa had also said she didn’t write the note. She had no reason to lie to me so I guessed I could also write her off the list. That made, what, four people now? Great, I was seriously getting somewhere.
The alarm sounded for the end of class and we were allowed to leave. I packed up my things quickly and hurried to get out in case Madame Darkness wanted another private word with me. I didn’t want to have to tell her that my parents disowned me so I couldn’t say hi to my mother for her.
In all my rushing, I ran straight into a guy that was trying to come into the classroom. Everything in my arms went crashing to the ground. My books, pencils, and notes, all went sprawling across the floor in ten different directions.
I landed on top of it all with a spectacular face plant. My nose took the brunt of it as pain shot up through the bridge and exploded through my temples.
If that awful fail wasn’t enough, the first face I saw belonged to Liam. He crouched down to pull me up into a sitting position.
My hands clasped my nose and came away wet. I was pretty sure it wasn’t broken but it was definitely bleeding. Bright red blobs started dropping onto my lap.
It would have been great if the floor opened up and swallowed me whole. I was doing a really, really great job of blending in at the academy. If I kept going on that way, I wasn’t going to make it another week.
“I’ll help you to the healer’s office,” Liam said as he started gathering the contents of my bag. I went to do it myself but got woozy just with reaching. “It’s okay, I’ve got it. You just take a few deep breaths and tip your head back.”
I was pretty sure I needed to tip my head forward to stop the nosebleed but really didn’t care at the moment. I just needed the pain to stop. Maybe I had broken my nose. If the pain level was any indicator, I was surprised it was still attached to my face.
“Deep breaths,” Liam said. “No need to—”
He stopped mid-sentence. I looked up to see what had caught his attention. Crinkled in the palm of his hand was the threatening note I’d found in my locker.
He was reading it.
Chapter 4
“What is this?” Liam asked as he waved the note at me.
I shrugged. What was I supposed to say? Someone was threatening to expose me as a roach. It was pretty obvious what it was.
Liam looked around to make sure we didn’t have an audience and then shoved the note into the pages of my notebook. He quickly shoved the rest of the items into my bag and helped me to stand.
Blood was still pouring from my nose and collecting on my sleeve now. Liam placed an arm around my shoulders and hurried me along the corridor.
I tried to ignore all the people staring at us like I was the new freakshow in town. I didn’t just fall over, I had run into someone. A guy that was very keen to get into the classroom when I was trying to get out. What happened to him?
“What, have none of you ever seen a bloody nose before?” Liam said loudly to the students gaping at us as he hurried me along.
“It’s okay,” I said in a nasally whisper. “I can find the healer on my own. You need to get to your next class.”
“Right now all I have to do is help you.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I know. Isn’t that what makes me so great?” he asked with a touch of sarcasm. He was being very nice to me considering I had literally ran away from him when he kissed me.
The hallways were a labyrinth as I tried to keep up with where we were. Liam knew every inch of this place like the back of his hand but I was still clueless. The map they provided to new students barely had anything marked on it.
He ushered me into the healer’s office while my head was still spinning. The healer was a witch with kind eyes and warm hands. She was shorter than both of us with dark hair and very dark eyes.
“What have we got here?” she asked.
Liam answered before I had a chance to. “Girl versus floor and the floor won.”
She tsk-ed. “You shouldn’t be taking on opponents you can’t handle, little miss. Is it just the bloody nose or are there any more exciting injuries?”
“Just the nose,” I replied. The blood was starting to blot in my nose, making everything in my nasal cavity clog. All I could smell was the metallic stench of my blood.
“Take a seat and I’ll get something to help. You’re a witch, yes?”
“Yes.”
“Good, good. That should make it easier.”
Liam helped me onto the sterile bed as the healer started rifling through drawers and containers. She had to have at least three dozen jars of various dried herbs. Other things vaguely resembling shriveled rodents were also kept in the glass containers.
She combined a few of the ingredients into a mortar and pestle and ground it into a paste. She then added water from a decanter and stirred until it was a dark brown.
The healer held it up for me to see. It looked disgusting. “Drink this.”
“Do I have to?” I asked. Because I was certain drinking that concoction would be far worse than waiting for the nosebleed to stop.
“Yes, you do. Are you a healer with thirty years of experience?”
“No.”
“Then do as I say. It will stop the bleeding, prevent any infections, and assist the bones and cartilage to heal super fast. Can you think of anything else that can do that?” she said matter-of-factly.
She’d made a good argument. One I couldn’t counter and talk myself out of. I accepted the glass of dirt-looking water and tried not to gag. At least I couldn’t smell it so that was a plus.
Liam helped me to bring the glass to my mouth and I gulped it down while thinking of something else. I was back at home with my human friends, eating pizza on a Friday night and making plans for the exciting weekend. In my mind I was anywhere but there.
The liquid tasted as bad as it looked, a cross of dirt and what I imagined sweaty feet to taste like. If it didn’t work I was going to be massively pissed off.
The healer took the glass away. “Very good. You should return to your room and rest for the remainder of the day. I will ensure your professors are notified of your absence.”
“I’ll stay with you,” Liam said as he helped me to stand. The world around me swam in
front of my eyes for a few moments. I wanted to vomit so badly.
“No, you need to get back to classes,” I replied. I couldn’t have Liam discover that I was actually homeless. He’d already read the threatening note and I didn’t want him seeing any more of my weirdness.
“I’m sure the healer will let my professors know of my absence too,” he said with a raised eyebrow at the healer.
She tsk-ed again. “I suppose so. It would be beneficial to have someone watch over her. Sometimes the healing potions can have…side effects.”
What?
“What kind of side effects?” I asked, instantly regretting downing all the liquid without reading the fine print. I had been too quick to agree to all the terms and conditions without knowing them.
The healer didn’t seem the least bit worried as she smiled. “Don’t worry, you’ll know it if you have them. Now, off to bed to rest. Try not to move your head around too quickly.”
I really wanted to insist on knowing all the details but I was suddenly very sleepy. I wondered if that was one of the side effects but I was too tired to ask. It was as if my body had been drained of energy and I was turning into a puddle on the floor.
Sleep.
I needed sleep.
“I’ll take you back to your room,” Liam said once we were in the corridor again.
I had to argue about something. What was it again? Oh yeah, I didn’t have a room.
“Can I go back to your room instead? I hate my roommate.” All my words slurred together so it sounded like just one long one.
It must have been clear enough for Liam to decipher. “Yeah, okay. It’s closer anyway.”
Another few corridors that spun me around in a circle. If it wasn’t for Liam taking all my weight as I leaned against him, I wouldn’t have gone anywhere. My legs weighed a ton each. My arms were like spaghetti. My head was a cloud that floated above it all but it didn’t feel tethered to anything.
Blue spots started to dance in front of my eyes. My fingertips tingled. My tongue was so big it was going to knock all my teeth out. I felt like a walking monster that was made out of heavy dough.
Magic Bound (Shadow Academy Book 2) Page 2
