Shadowborn Academy: Year One (Dark Fae Academy Series Book 1)

by G. Bailey

  It’s a nasty secret, one I never want the world to find out.

  But now someone knows and they want me to get revenge for them.

  Ethan Remington, Josh Dedican, Hunter Cross, Nathan Cross and Lucas Georgian are my targets, and they just so happen to rule the little town of Holly.

  I have to end their rule at the local academy I’ve just moved into or else my secret is out.

  That cannot happen.

  I’ll do whatever it takes to keep my secret safe—even if that means taking down my unlucky victims one by one.

  Don’t feel sorry for them.

  They did bad things too, almost as terrible as me.

  I’m going to be their worst nightmare imaginable.

  And the best part?

  They don’t get to wake up from it.

  If I’m going to hell, they are coming down with me.

  Welcome to Holly Oak Academy, where money talks more than education and the rich boys do very bad things. Now they’ve met their match—me—and I’m bringing them down no matter what it takes. I have to, or else I’m a goner.

  18+ RH Bully Romance.

  There is something so terribly addictive about lying. You know it’s bad, appalling really, but sometimes you can’t help the words that escape your lips.

  Sometimes it even feels good to say them.

  I should feel awful for the lie I just told, the lie that adds to the hundreds I’ve already told my parents.

  To everyone.

  But I don’t.

  “I’ve told you, Mother, I didn’t know him very well,” I tell her, the words swiftly leaving my lips with little effort at all.

  Maybe I spoke too soon, but that is the only way she could tell I am lying. My mother and father are judges for the courts. They can smell a lie before it’s even uttered. They brought me up to never lie to family because it always gets you trouble. They never told me what to do once you are already in trouble and have no other option because your family can never find out.

  “I’m just concerned about his disappearance—”

  “Mother, I’m fine,” I cut her off before she can say anything more; I can’t talk about this with her.

  It’s another lie, of course, because I’m not fine, not one little bit, and I know she can tell. Sometimes it’s like she sees straight through my pale blue eyes and reads my every thought.

  Thankfully, she can’t do that, or she might be a tad horrified by what she finds.

  “Fine, fine. Are you looking forward to seeing the new boarding school?” she inquires casually, her eyes drifting to the front of the limo just briefly enough to let me know she likes this driver. It’s always the drivers for my mother—usually the handsome young ones with dark hair. As for my father? It’s the pretty secretaries that strut around with their peroxide blonde hair and augmented breasts. My parents love their affairs and the revolving door of drivers and secretaries. They don’t love the people they fool around with, of course, just the thrill of the chase and the sex.

  Love is for the lower class and the weak.

  That’s what they both say if you ask them why they bother staying married. Everything is about money and appearance. It’s why my light brown hair is perfectly cut, straight and highlighted blonde. My peach dress fits my body like a glove. I have a strict diet and fitness regime to make sure I stay in control of my figure. No junk food whenever I’m with my parents. My body is just an engine to them and they want to keep it running perfectly for as long as possible. It’s been this way since before I can remember and I’ve always hated it.

  Life must be more than this boring routine.

  It has to be.

  But not to my parents.

  “What was the school called again?” I ask her, because until this point I’ve been so scared of the past and my secret that I’ve hidden away in it. The future was never really important to me. Now, things have changed, and I need to focus on the future. Every mile we get away from my old boarding school, the more I can relax and actually breathe in this tight dress.

  “Holly Oak Academy,” my mother answers me, her eyes still busy checking out the driver. “It is one of the most prestigious schools in England and only the best go here. Honestly, I have no idea why we sent you to that school by London in the first place.”

  “Because you work in London and it meant I could see you often?” I dryly respond. “And it meant I could carry on my other training in secret.”

  Mother looks at me for a second, her gaze reminding me that I shouldn’t have brought up the training. Assassins never talk about their past, after all. Not that I’m an assassin. At least not officially. In the eyes of the Veil Council—the syndicate of lords that rule the criminal world—I’m not an assassin until my twenty-first birthday. Only after I present my sacrifice to the council during my Blood Oath am I considered anything of worth. Until then, I’ve simply been trained by my parents to be just like them: perfect on the outside, empty on the inside.

  Deadly to our enemies while living a picture-perfect life.

  My father wants me to take his place at the High Table. I’ll be the youngest member to ever be sworn into the Veil.

  Lucky me.

  “Oh, well, yes there was that. We all have busy lives,” she says, waving a hand at me, a signal to drop the subject.

  I bite back my retort and look out the window at the rolling hills. They’re covered in wildflowers and towering fir trees, and the sky is streaked in dark rain clouds, ready to erupt. I hope this isn’t a bad omen of some kind. I’ve had enough misfortune this past year to last me a lifetime. I lean back in my seat and watch the landscape slide by, allowing my thoughts to drift into mindless contemplation.

  “Do not slouch! We didn’t bring you up that way,” my mother snaps, nudging me in the ribs with her elbow.

  I automatically straighten in my seat. Sometimes I swear my parents hold the strings to my mind and body, and there is nothing I can do but obey them. It’s like I’m just their puppet. I follow their orders to the point that I hate my life, and the one time I tried to cut my string and do something for myself… Well, that was when it all went so horribly wrong.

  Now I’m lying to everyone, including myself. I can’t risk my parents, or anyone for that matter, finding out the truth. It will ruin us all.

  I watch my mother from the corner of my eye, the way she holds her head high and keeps her back straight in her perfectly tailored light blue suit. Her legs are crossed, her black heels have light blue on the bottom to match her perfect image.

  Perfect.

  Perfect.

  Fucking perfect.

  I hate it all, and there isn’t a damn thing I can do to escape it now. I’m stuck in this hell, like I have been since I was born. After all the things I’ve done…the lies I’ve told…there’s no way out. Even if there was an escape, the Veil would put an end to it.

  No one ever rescinds their Blood Oath and lives to tell the tale.

  “Ah, we are nearly here,” my mother sighs with relief, pointing at the window on her side.

  I look through the glass at the beautiful mansion on top of a hill in the distance.

  Holly Oak Academy has no idea who they have just let into their halls.

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  G. Bailey is a USA Today bestselling author of books that are filled with everything from dragons to pirates. Plus, fantasy worlds and breath-taking adventures. Oh, and some swoon-worthy men that no girl could forget. G. Bailey is from the very rainy U.K. where she lives with her husband, two children and three cheeky dogs. And, of course, the characters in her head that never really leave her, even as she writes them down for the world to read!

  About me?

  I love tea. (Maybe a little obsessed but what Brit isn’t?)

  Chocolate and Harry Potter marathons are my jam.

  I own way too many notebooks and random pens.

  Please feel free say hello on here or head over to Facebook to join G. Bailey’s group, Bailey’s P
ack! (Where you can find exclusive teasers, random giveaways and sneak peeks of new books on the way!)

  Scarlett Snow comes from a big family in a small Scottish town and has always strived to prove that if you are passionate about something, no one can stop you from chasing your dreams. She lives with her wolf dog and kitties and is unashamedly addicted to coffee.

  If you’d like to join her newsletter to be kept updated on her books, you can do so here: www.scarlett.katzesnow.com

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  (as mentioned in the book)

  Zoyra Kingdom

  THRONE OF LUNA

  Capital City: LUNA

  Ruler: Queen Naraah

  DEADLANDS

  Inhabits: Cimmerians, Draugers, Deserters, Bandits

  THE BLACK HARBOUR

  THE WISHING WELL

  SKULL CAVE

  aka Howling Hollow Cave, Statue of Aeon

  THE GORGON LAKE

  FAERIE POOLS

  DEVIL’S DROP

  SHADOWBORN ACADEMY

  SHADOWBORN PRISON

  DRACONIA

  Capital City: Emeria

  Ruler: King Cyrus, Naraah’s brother

  Queen Valessia

  Prince Drusus (triplet)

  Prince Draco (triplet)

  Prince Drakon (triplet)

  Princess Kaida

  ZORYA INN

  Helios Kingdom

  THRONE OF HELIOS

  Capital City: VASILI

  Ruler: King Ulric

  Princess Evangelina

  LAKE LUMEN

  HELIOS ACADEMY

  AURORA BAY

  PEGASUS TAVERN

  FAERIE POOLS

  KYLLAROS

  Ruler: Chiron

  Prince Elias

  STUDENTS

  Corvina Charles

  Sage Millhouse

  Zander Sabhain, Shadow Warden

  Jonah Vincent

  Jane Vincent, presumed dead

  Ronan Fairweather

  Izora Greene

  Willow Greene, Head Girl

  Kione Wringley

  WARDENS

  Zander, Shadow Warden

  Maddox, Keeper

  Rose, Keeper (former)

  John, Keeper (former)

  Inglis, Keeper (Gage’s former)

  TEACHERS

  Maximus Grehorn, Headmaster, Magical Defence, Dark Fae

  Aengus Lochlan, Basic Magic Control, Kelpie

  Professor Stonehart, Illusions of Magic, Gargoyle (molten)

  Professor Mune, History of Magics

  Professor Gale, Tryouts Mentor, Fox Shifter

  Gage Michaels, Therapist

  OTHERS

  Pitch, love interest

  Mirrian, Corvina’s mother, deceased

  Joseph, Corvina’s father, deceased

  Ambrose

  Rook, Crow, Wren—ravens

  Princess Evangelina (Eva) of Helios—King Ulric’s daughter

  GODS & GODDESSES

  Selena, Goddess of the Moon, Persephone

  Danica, Goddess of the Sun, Aphrodite

  Hades, God of Darkness

  Ares, God of War

  Aeon, God of Life

  Eris, Goddess of Chaos and Discord

  High Wardens—member of the High Table that govern certain fractions of the forest and human world (like mayors)

  Shadow Wardens—law enforcers, highly trained and skilled, powerful

  Junior Wardens—still powerful, will advance up to a Shadow Warden

  Keepers—protectors of Shadowborns and magic users, never really advance

  In the beginning…

  Aphrodite and Persephone decided to create a magical forest for all manners of creatures. They appeared in their natural form, unearthly beautiful and fae-like, and brought with them their favourite stars—the Morning Star and the Evening Star. They each placed them in the sky, and one became the sun and the other the moon.

  Aphrodite became known as Danica, Goddess of the Sun, and she created the Throne of Helios where she would reign over her part of the forest.

  Persephone became Selena, Goddess of the Moon, and she created the Throne of Luna, again where she would rule her half of the forest. To their kingdoms, they became known as the Zorya Sisters.

  As the Almighty Goddess of the Moon, Selena, walked through the forest at twilight, admiring her many creations, she came across a shard of glass gleaming on the forest floor. She used this to create the Fountain of Mene which allowed her to see whatever her heart most desired, and to guide her down whichever path she sought in darkness. Selena often used it to see her husband Hades and their children.

  The Dark God, Hades, used this fountain to send her a cloak of darkness on their anniversary, which Selena wove it into a blanket of stars that became known as the night sky. Now the moon had stars, and Selena told her people to use them as guides and sources of light within the darkness, for neither of them should be feared since they cannot exist without the other; just like how Selena’s kingdom cannot exist without Danica’s.

  Many decades later, a strange presence crept into the forest. Eris, Persphone’s half-sister, had grown envious of this Selena and Danica and she planned to spoil their New World.

  First, she unleashed monsters into the forest.

  Darkness.

  The creatures of dark spread like wildfire, breeding chaos everywhere and anywhere they could. Danica tried to chase them back whence they came, but Selena pitied and grew to love them. Some even became her loyal servants. While she became occupied with her new settlers, Eris sent Danica the golden Apple of Discord, a feigned gift from Ares, which poisoned her.

  Hearing of her sister’s illness, Selena rushed to her side. Nothing could be done to save Danica. Eris watched from the shadows as Danica’s light faded and her sun waned. But then Selena ripped out her own heart and pressed it into Danica’s chest. This allowed Danica to live, but Selena faded and died in Danica’s arms, before she joined the stars in the sky, and because of her sacrifice, she became one with the Evening Star and the Moon.

  When Hades learned of what happened, his anger shook the realms. He used the fountain as a portal and managed to kill Eris, but without his wife to bring out the good in him, Hades’ grief drove him to insanity. He partnered up with Ambrose, the God of Life, and they waged war on the kingdoms. Hades killed Eris, but now that Danica had her powers and her sisters, she was able to severely injure him so much that he had to retreat back to the underworld and was stripped of his ability to return.

  Peace settled among the forest for a time, and Danica gave the Throne of Luna to Ares, who was quick to succumb to the allure of darkness and he became the first Dark Fae—Queen Narah’s four-times great-grandfather.