“I could give you a lot of reasons. But it all comes down the fact that the supernatural community is scared of them.”
“Scared, why?”
“Animages are the strongest, and also the most volatile of the supernaturals. As you know, keeping the supernatural community secret is important. Animages, especially young ones, can’t always control their magic. They also can’t all mix well into society. Faeries have their own lands and ways to remain secret, but animages aren’t a cohesive group and everyone’s afraid everyone else is going to be what brings us out into the open.”
“Then why do we live that way? Why are we so scared of being out in the open?”
“Because of the alternative. Before the Secrecy Act, life for the supernaturals was hard and scary. We were scattered, there was no community, and we were hunted relentlessly.”
“So how do we stay protected?”
“That’s where you, and I come in. Dragons have powerful protection magic. We can hide things, deal with memory magic, and we can—uh—suggest things for others to believe. Your magic might manifest differently than mine, but 100 years ago my power was used to develop a spell that to this day helps keep the supernatural world a secret from humans. It’s why I’m the Chancellor of the Council. And why you will be Chancellor one day, too.”
For the first time I wished Simon had been accepted to Animage Academy instead of me. I never thought I would miss being the unseen twin, but there I was. Regular magic school sounded like paradise. I could have my phone and my hair dryer, and no one would care about what I did. I plopped down on a bench and cradled my pounding head in my hands. A shadow loomed over me. I looked up to see Drew staring down at me.
“Mind if I join you?” He asked.
“Not at all.” My inability to speak around Drew had ended after the night of the Immortal’s Club, but his presence still made my stomach do flip flops. He sat down next to me and stretched his long legs out in front of him on the sidewalk.
“You look like you’ve got the weight of the world on your shoulders.” I chuckled. If only he knew. I wanted to say, ‘I just learned the fate of the entire supernatural community is up to me.’ But instead I said, “I’m bummed I missed my friend’s first shift today.”
“You haven’t been back to the meeting place.” I arched an eyebrow at him and didn’t respond.
“Still feeling a little put out over the first adventure?”
“Not how I would describe it.”
“I told Penelope it was stupid, but she insists on these huge initiations. Yours was definitely the most elaborate. Kylee was pretty convinced you wouldn’t try to save her, or be able to save yourself.” I rolled my eyes.
“Of course.”
“Bad blood between you two?”
“Let’s just say she’s not my biggest fan.”
“Did you tell your friends about that night?”
“No.”
“Why is that?” I didn’t answer.
“I know why.”
“Oh you do, do you?”
“Yeah. It’s because they’re not like us. They’re not immortal.”
I crossed my ankles and rubbed my back against the brick building behind me.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Sure, you do. I’m sure your friends are all perfectly fine people. But this is something you can’t share with them.”
“Maybe I will tell them.”
Drew chuckled. “You might be a dragon, but not even you are brave enough to go against the rules. You know the penalties for breaking the law.”
“You think I’m brave?” The words just slipped out.
“Of course. You’d only shifted once before and you managed to save yourself, your friend, and get some of the strongest and most experienced students of Animage Academy on the run.”
“My temper may have gotten away from me.”
“Don’t apologize for being true to your animal, little dragon,” The bell for the end of lunch rang. Drew stood and dusted off his pants. “We meet every night. Same time, same place. This journey we are on is hard. It doesn’t have to be lonely. I hope you come back.” He walked off and faded into the rest of the students that emerged from the cafeteria heading to their next class.
Midnight found me sneaking out of the dorm again. I was annoyed at myself for even bothering, but I couldn’t resist the siren song of getting the chance to talk about being immortal. I told myself I was going because I wanted to give Immortal’s Club another chance, not because Drew had told me he wanted me to. I was not some air headed schoolgirl who made decisions because a boy she liked smiled at her. At least, I didn’t think I was.
Sneaking out this time was as easy as the last. I could see as clear as daytime and I could hear every little noise around me. I made it to the pond right at midnight. Drew was waiting for me.
“I was hoping you’d come,” he said. He was dressed in tight jeans and an even tighter black t-shirt. His wings were translucent in the light of stars. The butterflies in my stomach started acting up again.
“Yeah—uh, figured I might as well check it out. What do we do now?”
“Follow me and I’ll show you.” I followed him past the pond to a grove of trees. We walked until we were in front of a large tree in the middle.
“Put your hand on the trunk,” Drew said. The trunk lit up underneath my hand. Strings of light fanned out across the dark brown bark until an outline of a door appeared. The light disappeared, but the door remained. I gave it a push, and it swung inward silently. There was nothing but blackness beyond.
“Only an immortal can open the doorway. Welcome to the Club,” Drew said behind me. I turned to look over my shoulder and he nodded at me. We stepped inside.
As soon as Drew and I were both in the door to the tree shut behind us. Drew’s muscular body pressed up against my back. The heat from his breath warmed the back of my neck. It was wonderful and completely terrifying. I was too nervous to even breathe.
After a minute, the surrounding area lit up. We were in some sort of entryway. The walls were rounded like the trunk of a tree, but it was much larger than the tree was outside. The room had the look of an old English estate with lush carpet and dark walls. Ahead of us, a hallway curved to the left. I heard voices, but the wall curved out of sight. Drew scooted around me and made his way down the hall.
“You coming?” he called over his shoulder. Around the curve the tree opened up even more. We entered a large room where all the members of the Immortal’s Club—minus the black cloaks—were gathered. Penelope stood up from a couch as we approached.
“Sophie, I’m so glad you’ve decided to return.” I could see everyone now. Besides Penelope, Kylee, and Drew, there was Charlie the vampire, Margaret from shifting class, and four more students I hadn’t met before. Penelope draped her arm around my shoulder and walked me around introducing me to everyone and telling me their animal. I shook everyone’s hand and tried to commit all their names and animals to memory.
“I had no idea there were so many immortals here at the Academy.” Everyone sat down and I picked a place at the end of a couch. To my surprise, Drew came and sat down next to me.
“There are more now than there have been here at the school in ages. I’ve heard there were only a couple in our parent’s generation.”
“Guess that just means we are more powerful than our parents,” Penelope said.
“So, what do you guys do here every night?” I asked.
“Oh, this and that.” Drew leaned back and draped his arm along the back of the couch. The back of my neck grew hot again. He was just relaxing, not putting his arm around me, I tried to convince myself silently.
“We mostly hang out. Practice our shifting and practice magic. Talk about what it’s going to be like being immortal.”
“Did you know you might be immortal?” Robert asked.
“Me?” I asked. “Definitely not. My dad never mentioned he was. If he had, i
t would’ve been to Simon, my twin brother. Dad always believed he would be the next dragon. Truth be told, even when I was revealed as an animage and Simon wasn’t, I never even considered I would be a dragon.”
“How do you feel about knowing?” Drew asked.
“You know,” I said slowly, considering the question. “I’m not entirely sure. It’s kind of scary thinking about living forever. Also isolating. It’s hard carrying around this big secret and keeping it from your family and friends. Dad told me I wasn’t even allowed to tell Simon, and he’s my twin.”
Drew patted me on the knee, “Most of us felt that way at first. Until we found out about the club, that is. Now you don’t have to be alone. For better or worse, we are all in this together.”
Chapter Eight
With October came a chill that never left the air. Hudson, Gracie, Willa, and I were marching across campus, late for breakfast one morning.
“Sophie, quit tugging at your tights, they’re going to rip,” Gracie told me as I stopped to twist them around my leg one more time.
“I can’t help it; they’re driving me crazy. Who even wears tights anymore? Where do I file an official complaint? Just give us pants already.”
“You can wear my pants; I’ll wear tights and a skirt every day.” Hudson’s comment got a laugh out of Gracie and Willa, but I just glared at him. “You enjoy my torment.”
“A little bit.” The cool weather positively delighted Gracie.
“Sophie, I don’t know why you’re so grumpy. Does the chill in the air just make you want to dance?” She grabbed my hands and twirled me around in a circle, almost running me into a group of students going the opposite direction before I could tug my hands away. She was unperturbed.
“The cold weather means Christmas is almost here!”
“It’s barely even October,” Hudson pointed out.
“Exactly! I can’t wait to get home and help Mom decorate the tree. We have a huge fir tree in our front yard that we decorate each year. My siblings and I hand make all the decorations. I just love stringing the popcorn and making the paper chain.” She sighed wistfully. “Are you guys going home for Christmas?”
Hudson and I both nodded. Gracie turned to Willa and prodded her with a slender finger.
“What about you? You’ve been so quiet this week I’m going to start calling you a grumpy Gus like Sophie.” Willa was never much of a chatterbox, but Gracie did have a point. She had been especially reserved lately. Even with Gracie prodding her, Willa just shrugged.
“I’m not sure where I’ll be yet,” was all we could get out of her.
We had our trays and were walking to our table when Drew motioned to me from the long table where he and the others from the Immortal’s Club held court every day.
“Over here.” He patted the seat next to him. He wasn’t talking to me, was he? I almost looked over my shoulder to see if there was someone else he was calling.
“Sophie, come sit with us,” Penelope said from Drew’s other side. So, they were talking to me. I looked back at my friends.
“Want to go sit with them?”
“Looks like they’re just talking to you,” Hudson said.
“Nonsense, there’s plenty of room for everyone.” We made our way over to the long table. I sat down beside Drew.
“Everyone, this is Willa, Gracie, and Hudson,” I said. All three waved, but they were still giving me weird looks.
“I have defense class with Drew and Penelope,” I told them. It was a lame explanation, but since I couldn’t tell any of my friends, I was immortal or that I belonged to a secret club, it would have to do. Kylee was a few seats away. I ignored her like I usually did when I snuck out to the club every night. I still wasn’t happy my initiation ceremony had been her idea.
After our late start, we made it to shifting just before the bell rang. I was grateful I didn’t have my weekly responsibility on lecture with my father that day. As usual, Professor Atkins addressed the class as soon as the echo of the bell faded away.
“No birthdays today, so no new shifting. Head on out to the field. Like usual, spend the first two hours of class in your animal form. Now that many of you have been in your forms for a month or more, I expect you to start trying to connect more with your magic.” We heard the same basic speech every day. I crossed my arms as I waited, energy already coursing through me. My dragon knew she was going to be released soon. The more I shifted, the closer she was to the surface all the time.
“We meditate every day so you can do it anywhere, even when you’ve shifted. Think about your animal, what they’re good at, what they’re capable of and let your animal lead you to your magic. For those of you who haven’t shifted yet, you know the drill. Meditation.” Someone let a groan slip out. Professor Atkins was unperturbed.
“It may seem boring now, but you will thank me one day. Now get on with it.”
He finally stopped talking and my friends and I trudged out into the middle of the huge field. I had to hold myself back from running the whole way.
“You know, you guys don’t have to follow me out here every day. You can stay closer, if you want.”
“It’s good to get exercise,” Willa said. She had shifted for the first time in the beginning of October. Her animal was a doe. “Besides, if anything crazy happens I’d like to be close to you and Hudson. Gracie and I won’t be much help in a battle.”
Gracie nodded. “What on earth is a butterfly going to be able to do? I haven’t even discovered any super special butterfly magic. ‘Just be your butterfly, Gracie. Feel your butterfly within you and let her speak to you,’” she said in a great imitation of Professor Atkins. “How am I supposed to feel a butterfly? What is so special that a butterfly can do?”
“Guys, nothing crazy is going to happen. I swear all animages talk like we are in some kind of war or something.” I shook my head at the thought. An idea occurred to me. “Gracie, you can still use your faerie magic, right? At least you don’t have to have a spell for that, I have to use a spell for everything I do,” I said. Willa nodded emphatically beside me.
“Yeah, I can, but I’ve never had very strong magic. The best thing I could do with my faerie magic is grow flowers. That’s not very impressive.”
“What if you try to grow flowers while you’re a butterfly?” I asked.
“And what about the thing you can do where you can tell what kind of supernatural someone is by touching them? Maybe you can find out more things in your butterfly form?” Willa suggested.
“Those are great ideas, guys! I’m not sure why I never thought about trying that before. If I can tap into my faerie magic while I’m a butterfly, then maybe that will help me tap into my animage magic!” She leaped forward and hugged me. She was so much taller than me, my face was squished by her neck. It made me giggle. Willa backed away before Gracie could do the same to her.
“Okay, let’s shift,” Hudson said. “Professor Atkins is going to be out here in a minute if we don’t. You know he hates getting his shoes wet if he has to walk out here.”
Hudson had a point. I put more space between myself and my friends. My dragon took up more space every time I shifted. She was already twice the size of an elephant and I suspected she wasn’t done growing yet. Even though a rumbling purr was audibly emanating from my chest now, I held myself back and waited for my friends to shift before I went.
Gracie changed into her extra-large butterfly. She was as big as a cat. The butterfly began flying circles around a spot on the ground. Delightful purple flowers began to sprout.
Hudson and Willa shifted into his wolf and her doe simultaneously. There was something beautiful about animages shifting and becoming one with their animals. I couldn’t help but notice the irony of a wolf and a doe standing side by sad. Hudson wagged his tail at me.
“I didn’t know wolves were so friendly.” He lifted his lip in a fake snarl. I shook my head at him. It was my turn to shift.
As soon as I reached for my dra
gon she was there, waiting to be released. I cried out as she surged through me, taking over my body. Before the flash of light faded, I was completely in my dragon shape. My dark gray scales rippled as I sucked in a breath. I’d never shifted so fast before. My friends now looked like dolls below me. Willa’s tail had flown up in alarm, but she stayed where she was. The first time we shifted together her doe ran across campus in fear. It was hours before she came back. I lowered my head, so I was eye level with Hudson and lifted my reptilian lip in my own snarl. He put both of his front paws on my nose and licked me right between my scaled eyes. I snorted and jerked my head back. Yuck.
My senses tingled when I felt more eyes on me. I glanced up toward the rest of the class. Professor Atkins had his eyes locked on us. When he noticed me watching, he tapped his wrist like he was wearing a watch. The message was clear: quit fooling around and get on with it. I nodded my head. Message received, Professor.
I was too wound up to focus on magic. Instead, I opened my wings and flapped them a few times. The gust of wind from my huge wingspan blew Gracie a couple of feet away from her plot of flowers. Oops. The apology I tried to give came out as a growl in my dragon form. I always forgot I couldn’t talk like this. I stretched like a cat, pushing back on my front legs and then all the way through my back and tail. I slammed the spiked end of my tail into the ground and tugged. A huge hunk of dirt came flying out and soared across the field. I purred happily. Destroying things gave me great satisfaction.
Birds soared overhead, and I watched them. Deep longing filled me. How nice would it be to soar away? Somewhere warm with sun and sand. At least as a dragon I wasn’t cold anymore. The fire inside me warmed my body all the way to my silver clawed feet.
Dad’s words from my last lesson echoed through my head unbidden.
“You really need to start focusing on your magic, Sophie. Flying, and spitting flames, and tearing stuff up is always fun but there’s more to being a dragon animage than just the physical parts.”
Dragons and Destiny (Animage Academy Book 1) Page 10
