by Laney Powell
“That’s strange,” Nicola said.
“What, are you ignoring me now, Nicola?” a rich, silky voice asked from behind us.
We both whirled around to see a guy who was tall, with brown hair that glinted red in the lights of the corridor. He was wearing the same uniform jacket and tie that I was, except on him, it looked… delicious. His hair was long, falling into his face, and he swept it back with one hand, the other in the pocket of his pants. He practically oozed sex appeal, and I found myself getting hot. My cheeks had to be red, the way they felt. This was what? Twice now, in less than twelve hours?
His eyes traveled over me, making me feel naked and wanting under his gaze, and the heat in my cheeks was joined by the heat blooming all over me. I wanted this guy, and the fact that I didn’t even know his name meant nothing. I wanted to… well, I wanted to know a lot more than his name. Were all the guys in this school so damn attractive?
“How could anyone ignore you, Xavier?” Nicola sighed.
“Who’s your friend?” Xavier practically purred like a cat.
Which was a weird ass thing to say about a guy, but he reminded me of a big, satisfied cat.
“This is Raven Nox,” Nicola said. “Raven, this Xavier Lasker, demon, and regular pain in my ass.”
“Hello,” I said, feeling my cheeks heat again. What was it about this guy? I spent my entire life around mostly guys. Even good looking ones. Xavier Lasker was different, and it bothered me that I couldn’t figure out why. Like Devin from last night. Hot guy with a bad attitude. But this—Xavier was a hot guy with exactly the right attitude. The fact that he made my pulse race also thrilled me even as I was annoyed I couldn’t keep it in my pants, so to speak. I wasn’t a teenager with a crush.
“Raven Nox,” Xavier said. “Bird of night. It is a pleasure.” He reached down and picked up my hand, kissing it.
What the hell? The touch of his lips on my skin made me blink, and for a moment, I couldn’t even form a coherent thought. Well, okay, I could be a teenager with a crush.
“Nice to meet you,” I said. My thoughts were racing, my panties were wet, my heart was pounding in my ears, and all I could think was that I wanted to go off somewhere private with Xavier Lasker. None of those things would help me here at my new school. But damn. Xavier just might be worth it.
“Xavier, where have you been?” A blond with her hair up in a bun sidled up to Xavier, her hand sliding across his front as she glued her bony ass to him.
An expression that indicated he was less than thrilled moved across his face so quickly I wasn’t sure it had even been there and then Xavier looked down. “Sorcha, where have you been?” he asked, his voice husky.
Sorcha looked at me, and I had the impression of dark eyes that flashed with anger. “Waiting for you. We always get together before classes,” her dark eyes looked down at me then, a condescending smile on her face.
“So we do. If you’ll excuse me, Nicola. Raven, I’ll see you later.” Xavier smiled as though it were just him and me standing there, and I felt my whole body go up in flames. Again. Whoa. I smiled, trying not to throw myself at him. That’s how strong my attraction was—I wanted to be with him, and to hell with the fact that we were in a public place, that some blond chick was angrily glaring at me, and anything else. It was just him and me.
“Doubtful,” Sorcha said, tossing her hair as Xavier turned away. “You’re so busy today.”
Whatever he said was lost as the two of them walked in the opposite direction.
“Wow,” I said softly.
Nicola laughed. “He’s a major fucking charmer, that’s for sure.”
“I think I made an enemy and I haven’t even been here a full day,” I said, remembering the look in Sorcha’s eyes.
“She hates everyone outside of the chosen few, so don’t take it personally,” Nicola said.
“What is she?” I asked.
“She’s a siren, like you and me,” Nicola said.
Of course she was. Fuck. That would make it harder to avoid her. “Great,” I said.
“She’s your typical mean girl. I ignore her,” Nicola said, brushing off the topic of Sorcha.
As the new girl, that didn’t make me feel any better. It was like high school all over again. I sighed, and straightened my shoulders. Maybe trying to stay away from the amazingly attractive Xavier would be for the best, even as my body felt like crying at the thought. But I had enough problems at the moment. I didn’t need to add sex, or a jealous girl, or anything else to my plate.
“So you don’t know what class of siren you are?” Nicola asked, continuing the conversation that Xavier had interrupted.
“I just learned I was part siren last night,” I said. “I don’t have any clue what you’re talking about with classes.”
Nicola looked at me, frowning. “That means you need to find that out first. Madame Perpetua asked me to take you to the head of the sirens here at Darklight—”
“Here at where?” I asked, stopping and grabbing her arm.
Nicola’s eyes flew wide.
I let go of her arm. “Sorry,” I said. “You surprised me. “What did you mean, here at Darklight?”
“This is Darklight Academy,” Nicola said, frowning even more. “You didn’t know that?”
“I thought this was called Underworld Academy, or something like that,” I replied.
“No. It’s called Darklight Academy. Although everyone who doesn’t go here calls it Academy of the Underworld. We’re not exactly popular with the rest of the supernaturals.”
“Why?” I was momentarily diverted from my original question.
“Because this is where all the bad supes go. The ones who feed on humans, or use them in some way—as if we’re all bad and terrible,” she rolled her eyes.
“Madame Perpetua said something about that,” I remembered my conversation with the headmistress the night before.
“Yeah, the Concilium feels like we all need to be in one place, so we can be taught.”
“How long do you stay here?” I asked.
“Three years. Once you’ve learned how to manage your particular skills—the Concilium won’t call them gifts,” she made a face, “You are tested to make sure you can control yourself, and you’re allowed out into the world. As long as you keep yourself current with the Concilium, and don’t fall off the map, or anything.”
Cornelius and Margiana had definitely not told me all of this. “That’s pretty shitty,” I said, as we walked down another corridor. I was never going to remember how to get around.
“It’s totally shitty,” Nicola said. “But it’s the way things are. Not worth dying over.”
“You mean getting harpooned?” I asked.
She turned to me. “They pulled the harpoon on you?”
I nodded.
“Asshats,” Nicola said, patting my arm. “I’m sorry. What a crap way to find out about all this. Even though the Concilium treats us like bombs about to go off, you’re safe here. We’re all in the same place—having to prove we’re not a danger. That’s the number one rule, by the way.”
“What is?” I asked.
“Don’t be a danger, and don’t let the humans know.”
“There’s a lot I wasn’t told,” I said slowly.
Nicola made a noise that indicated her disgust. “Figures. I’m going to take you to Sagara. She’s the head of sirens. She can explain it better. Come on, if we hurry we’ll get there before the first class starts.” Nicola moved faster, avoiding the other students, some of whom were looking at us curiously.
As I followed in her wake, I thought about what she’d said. This was Darklight Academy.
My mother had said, ‘Only Darklight can save you.’ What did that mean?
Chapter Five
Nicola turned down a hallway off the larger corridor we’d been walking down. The walls had a bluish hue, and when I looked at them, they seemed to be moving. Like waves.
“What—” I began.
&
nbsp; “Come on,” Nicola said. “I want you to have time to talk to Sagara.”
There were a few people—two girls and a guy—in the hallway, and they said hello to Nicola as we walked by. She muttered, “Hey,” and kept walking. When we got to a door that was dark and light shades of blue with streaks of green, she stopped and knocked.
“Come in,” a clear, high voice said from the other side.
Nicola pushed the door open. “Sagara?” she called out.
We stood in another hallway—which is what it seemed this place was made up of—and from an arched doorway on the left, a woman entered. Well, she drifted in. She had clothing that was blue and green and reminded me of the colors on the door. Her dress reached the floor, and the colors seemed to shift, again, like the sea.
“Nicola. I’m glad to see you,” she said. “Madame Perpetua said she’d be sending me a new student. Is this her?” The woman turned to look at me.
Her face was pale, and her eyes were light, like the green of a meadow. Her hair floated around her, a medium brown shade that had shifting highlights. Everything about her suggested motion, never ending, always constant.
“Yes,” Nicola said. “This is Raven Nox. She doesn’t know her class, and just found out she was a siren—”
“Half siren,” I interrupted.
“Last night,” Nicola finished.
The woman studied me, and then held out her hand. “I’m Sagara, the head of the sirens at Darklight.”
I took her hand. Her palm was smooth and cool. Everything about her suggested water and the sea, and I found myself being pulled toward her. Kind of like a wave.
But it wasn’t the same pull I’d felt when I met Devin the surly necromancer last night, or Xavier moments ago. This was different. This felt… right. And my panties were in no danger from this woman. Given my response to the guys, that was a good thing.
“Raven,” I said.
“Thank you, Nicola,” Sagara said. “I know you need to get to class. I’ll take it from here.”
Nicola smiled, and then turned to me. “I’ll be around during lunch. I’ll find you, okay?”
I nodded. “Thanks,” I said.
With another smile, Nicola left. Which left me with this strangely appealing woman.
“Breakfast!” I said.
“I beg your pardon?”
“We were supposed to go to breakfast, and then we got distracted,” boy did we ever, with Xavier Hottie Lasker, “and we never went to the cafeteria or whatever.”
“Come with me,” Sagara said. She walked through another arched doorway in front of us. “I’ll have something sent up from the dining hall. But while we’re waiting,” she gestured at the room in front of us.
The room was set up like a living room. There were couches and chairs, and it was all done in blues and greens and whites. Even though the colors were cool, I felt calm just being here. Calmer than I’d been since I’d driven my bike off the jetty.
It was like being in the sea. Which made sense—given that she was the siren connection for the school.
“So how do you figure out what I am?” I asked, thinking about Nicola and her questions about what kind of siren I was. Did I have to do something? This would be over fairly quick if so. I had no idea what I was supposed to be able to do as a siren.
Sagara turned to look at me. “We’ll do a test.” She laughed at the expression on my face. “What did you think we’d do?”
I shrugged. “This whole thing is new to me, so I had no idea.” I was trying to focus, but I found that I was thinking about Sorcha, the girl who’d sneered at me, and Nicola. I wondered if she might be a friend. I didn’t have a lot of friends in New Castle, but I had my dad, and the Nox’s Knights. I wasn’t lonely. I’d been here less than a day, and I could feel that I would be very lonely. I hadn’t met anyone else other than—other than two of the most attractive, sexiest guys I’d ever seen. Devin and Xavier. Devin was grouchier than anyone I’d ever met, with an air of gloom around him that was palpable. But Xavier—jeez, that guy melted panties with his voice and a look or two. My panties had nearly melted. Even under the gaze of Sorcha the snide. And Xavier had been interested. I could tell that despite all the distractions. I’d been around men more than women most of my life, and I could read them fairly well.
I smiled at myself. Well, I thought I could read them. Within twenty-four hours, my life had gone completely apart. Nothing I’d counted on was the same—even my dad. I wondered if he knew about Mom.
How could he not? How had he missed it? How had she kept such a big ass secret?
“All right, I need you to sit down,” Sagara said, breaking into my thoughts.
“What? Oh,” I said, taking a seat in the chair she’d indicated, a plush, sea-foam colored chair. She sat across from me in a similar chair, and there was a small table covered in shells and glass between us. Sagara waved her hand, and a basin floated from behind her and landed onto the table with a bump. While I watched, the basin filled with water, giving off a silvery glow.
“Whoa,” I said, impressed. “Can I learn to do that?”
“Sure,” Sagara said. “Once we figure out where to put you, and teach you a bit.”
“So how do you figure it out?”
“There are three classes of sirens. Like most creatures, we were created with a purpose,” Sagara said. “We were created by the old gods. Not all creatures have the same origin, but that’s ours. We came to be out of sea foam, from the island of Capri, in what’s known as the Blue Grotto.”
“I’m never going to remember all this,” I shook my head.
“That’s all right. You’ll be hearing it over and over until you do.” Sagara had a calm, serene manner but the grin she gave me was anything but. Almost as though she was laughing at me. “Back to the lesson. You’re either an Olympian, an Origin, or an Ordeal siren.”
“Only one of those sounds like it’s any good,” I said.
“Have you heard anything about sirens?” Sagara asked, the laughter gone now.
I shrugged. “They lounged around on rocks, and sang to sailors so that they’d jump into the sea and drown?”
She sighed. “Yes, that’s the one that stuck. There’s more to it than that. We’re more like a messenger service.”
Now it was my turn to laugh. “That’s better somehow?”
“Better than being a murderer, absolutely. The Olympians were created by Zeus, and they help guide souls to the heavens. The Origins are more nurturing—”
“That’s definitely not me,” I interjected.
“And they help souls who are wishing to create life.”
“What, they’re like swimming matchmakers?” I asked.
She made a huffing noise. “You really need to take this seriously. We need to discover where you should be, and more importantly, why there are no records of you.”
Her words stopped all my laughter. “Why does no one know about my mom?”
Sagara shook her head. “That’s an excellent question, and one I wish I had an answer to. To continue, the Ordeal sirens guide souls to Hades, and allow them to repent, if that is what is wished for. Otherwise, the souls will stay in Hades. Ordeal sirens often work with reapers.”
“That’s cheerful,” I said.
“It’s necessary. None of these are bad.”
“So why am I at a school for the bad guys?”
Her eyes were sad. “Because that’s the perception of the rest of the world. We’re all creatures that prey on humans in some way, so we have to be kept together, and kept track of.”
“That’s just a bunch of bullshit,” I said.
“I agree, but I’m not here to debate that with you. This school is a good thing. It allows the creatures of the Underworld to learn how to control their power, how to make the choice to be more than just a label.”
“Not everyone is a saint,” I said, thinking of Sorcha and her gaggle of mean girls. I could spot those types a mile away.
“No
, they’re not. But we try. Now, let’s see what you are,” Sagara leaned forward over the basin. “Give me your hand.”
I stretched my hand out. Before I could say anything, she took it, and ran her nail along my palm. I jumped as a thin red line appeared on my hand and then two drops of blood fell into the silvery basin.
“You couldn’t have warned me?” I hissed at her.
“Shush. You’re fine,” Sagara dipped her finger into the basin and ran the wet finger along the cut.
As I watched, it healed, sealing itself over as though it had never been there.
“Yes, you’ll learn that, too,” Sagara said. “Watch.” She nodded at the basin.
The blood floated toward the bottom of the basin, and then right before it landed, the water began to swirl. The blood moved with the water, stretching out into a thin, red line. Faster and faster it swirled, and then the water itself took on a dark hue.
More colors appeared. Around the edge of the basin, it stayed dark. In the middle of the water, there was a golden glow, and between the light and dark colors, there was a soft blue. Glancing at Sagara to see what this meant, I felt alarm at the expression I saw. Her brows furrowed, and when she looked up, her eyes were troubled.
“What?” I asked.
“This isn’t clear,” Sagara said.
“What do you mean?”
She gestured at the basin. “There should only be one color. There are three.”
“Which means?” I asked.
“You could be any one of the three,” she said with a frown.
“So you don’t know what I am?”
“You’re a siren. And you have aspects of all three classes.”
“Does that mean I get to go home?” I felt a surge of hope.
“No. It means we will need to insure that you are schooled in all of the classes.”
Great. Just fucking great. I opened my mouth and got more work.
Sagara sighed. “I’ll put together a schedule for you that allows for this.”
