by Avery Cross
“That is something she is going to have to figure out, as are you.”
“But why? I mean, this is my senior year,” I said quickly.
He locked his fingers together on his desk and stared at me intently over the top of them.
I suddenly felt like I was in trouble with no idea what I did. “I just meant, she doesn’t seem exactly happy to be here, and I’m worried about her… fitting in.”
Hooke said nothing and the only sound in his office was the fluttering of pages overhead, and the scratching of quills. Even Sphinx fell silent in my lap before she hopped down and went to lay by the hearth behind Hooke’s desk. I looked anywhere, but his face, fighting the urge to fidget. Fidgeting was a sign of weakness, and that was not how I wanted him to think this situation made me.
Weak. Aggravated, that’s really what I was. And confused. I was busy studying the photographs lined up haphazardly on the wall behind Hooke when my eyes zeroed in on the face of one individual. My question was on the tip of my tongue, but I never had a chance to ask it.
Hooke clapped his hands loudly with a smile that felt off. “You’ll just have to see that she is able to find her way here, Zach. I have faith in you.”
“I’m glad to hear it, sir,” I forced a grin while inside I ranted at him. Why did he have to do this to me my senior year? Who was Briar Shroud to him, because she was clearly not a normal newcomer.
He picked up a pen and started jotting notes on his desk calendar.
I started to rise, sensing I was being politely dismissed, but I stopped short. “Headmaster?”
“Yes, Zach?”
“I heard something the other day, and I thought I should ask you about the matter instead of spreading rumors.” I picked my words carefully. I might not get along with Briar, but I wasn’t about to throw her under the bus. Yet. My gaze darted to that photo on the wall again before I continued. “Did any students ever go missing from Academy?”
I expected him to get angry with me for suggesting such a thing happening here, but instead, he set his pen down and sighed. “I have heard these rumors before, but I can assure you, as long as I have been Headmaster, no student’s life has ever been at risk.”
“And before?” I asked without thinking.
His lips thinned, and his eyes narrowed. I was pushing my luck, that’s exactly what that look said. “No student has ever gone missing from Academy, Zachary. I suggest you keep yourself busy with your classes and other activities and not give in to these rumors. Do we understand one another? We do not need to spread panic.”
“Yes, sir, of course.”
I stood and left Hooke behind in his office. When I reached the secret door, it opened without my having to do anything, and I hurried out into the hall. Ivan was no longer there at least, and I didn’t stop walking until I was out of the main building and reached the stairwell leading up to my quarters. Everyone else was probably still eating. My stomach growled, but I ignored it, running through my brief and strange conversation with Hooke.
I should’ve left it alone, not said a word, but then why was he so concerned with how Briar was going to do here? Or how I was going to do being her mentor? He was testing me for some reason, that had to be it. Maybe he merely sensed our incompatibility and wanted to see how it I was going to handle this difficult situation.
But if that was the case, why the hell was there a photograph of her on his wall already?
Briar said nothing about her family and I was fairly certain she would’ve mentioned if she had an identical twin running around. Especially if that twin was already a student here. Maybe it hadn’t been her, a relative of some kind? It happened, where other members of the family didn’t divulge what they were to others, but my gut said that was crap.
And the disappearances. He hadn’t given me a straight answer. For the last three years of my life, I’d been here at Academy, preparing to serve as all the other members of my family did before me. They did it without any doubts in their mind that who we guarded with our lives, and who we fought to keep secret and safe from the rest of the world deserved our loyalty. Now, for the first time since I was a kid, I wasn’t so sure anymore.
“Great, now you sound like a crazy person,” I muttered to myself as I started climbing the steps. “One day with her and you’re thinking there’s a damned conspiracy happening here.”
I was still mumbling to myself about what an idiot I was being when I reached my door. My hand was on it, ready to use my magic to open it, no keys needed for magical locks, when someone grabbed my shoulder.
I jumped with a yell, whipping around to find Hunter bent over double, laughing hysterically.
“Damn it,” I snapped. “I’d really like not to die my first week back.”
Wiping a tear from his eye, Hunter shrugged. “You’re usually not so jumpy, man. What’s going on? Hooke scare the crap out of you or something?”
“Something like that.”
Hunter, my friend since we were kids and my roommate the entire time I’d been at Academy, reached around me and flattened his hand on the door. The lock clicked, and he opened it, waving me inside.
“Really though, what did he want?”
“To see if I had everything ready for this year,” I said, not sure I wanted to go into all the details. I grabbed a bottle of water from the mini fridge in our room, feeling Hunter staring at me. “What?”
“What? Man, come on, we’ve known each other a bit too long for you to lie.”
“Not lying,” I tried, but he leaned on the kitchen island and tapped his fingers, loudly. “Fine, be a pain in my ass. He asked about the newcomer I’m supposed to mentor.”
Hunter stopped tapping. “Really? Is she a legacy or something?”
“He said she wasn’t, but…” I set my bottle down and gave up trying to hide anything else. He wouldn’t stop bugging me until I told him anyway. “When I was in Hooke’s office, I saw a picture on his wall of a past student.”
“And?”
“And she looked exactly like Briar, down to the gold flecks in her eyes,” I mused.
I planned on having a little conversation with Briar as soon as I could, but that picture threw me off. The next few days, I’d have to help her through orientation, but how was I supposed to ask her if she mistakenly neglected to tell me about her identical twin?
“You like her, don’t you?”
I choked on my water, and he helpfully smacked me hard on the back. “What did you say?”
“Come on, ever since last year when you and what’s her face broke it off, you’ve been a bit lonely. Let me guess, this new girl, she’s got a mouth on her? Not your typical rich witch, right? Tell me I’m wrong.”
I ignored him and trudged down the short hall that led to our two rooms, veering right.
“You’re not even going to answer?”
“Night, Hunter.” I yelled then closed my door.
I rubbed a hand over my face and told myself to shake all the uneasiness off.
Senior year.
One more year and then I’d be out of Academy, at least for two years until I decided what I wanted to do. Stay with the military or find another use for my talents. Aura readers were in high demand. All I had to do was get through this year without any problems.
Too bad I had a big one staring me in the face, and her name was Briar Shroud.
Chapter Seven
Briar
To say I slept horribly would be an understatement. My bed was comfortable enough, and Nyala was not a loud snorer, but I kept imagining someone coming into our room in the night and stealing us away. Not sure why, not like there was anything weird about our room or the dorm.
The building was old, and there were no lights, though at least we had outlets for laptops and phone chargers. Lanterns. Everything was lanterns. And a fireplace, that was a nice touch and not something I was used to, after growing up in Texas. Oh, and magical locks on the doors. We simply pressed our hands against them, and click, they opened right up.
It was a neat trick, and I no longer had to worry about losing a key.
Nyala had wanted to talk most of the evening, and I let her talk about herself and her family, avoiding all her questions the best I could. I was not exactly in a sharing mood.
When my alarm went off at seven, I groaned and was ready to hit the snooze button, but Nyala was awake, and already bouncing excitedly around the room, talking about our orientation week. Her optimism was contagious, and I found myself grinning tiredly as she bustled around our room, searching for the perfect outfit.
“What does that mean anyway?” I asked through a yawn, running my hands through my messy hair. “Orientation. Boring lectures on clubs and stuff?”
“We’re at Academy, remember? Today is going to be all about magic.”
“Right, magic.”
How could I forget I was a witch? My cell buzzed with a message, and I leaned over to see it was from Jake, asking how my first day was. I’d meant to text him yesterday, but the whole magic exists thing threw me off a bit.
I swiped the message away and threw the covers off. It was chilly. I wasn’t used to being chilly. Nyala had her shower kit in hand and was waiting for me by the door. Communal bathrooms. Oh goodie. I picked up my towel and kit, happy at least that had been on the list of items to bring and followed her out the door. The hall was colder than our room, and I shivered as my feet touched the cold stone.
“You’re not used to this are you,” Nyala said with a laugh.
“I’m a Texas girl,” I reminded her, adding an extra bit of drawl. “Why would I be used to cold? Any kind of cold? And whose idea was it to have this place inside a mountain?”
“When I called my parents last night, they told me this place has a history, goes back centuries, even before the country was founded.”
“Wait, seriously?”
“Yep. But they didn’t give me any details,” she said, pouting. “Said it was more fun to find all that out for myself.”
That wasn’t helpful, but I’d get answers soon enough. More students were slowly trickling out of their dorms and moving toward the bathroom. It was huge and appeared to be for our entire floor. I was about to disappear inside with Nyala and the other girls when I heard that voice. The voice that infiltrated my dreams last night trying to drive me crazy. Giving me lectures and telling me I was going to fail.
Zach.
I turned, hoping he didn’t see me, but then his gaze shifted, and he stopped, right in the middle of the hall, to stare at me. The guy next to him, also extremely handsome with longer, brown hair and dark brown eyes, waved at me wildly until Zach elbowed him and shoved him along down the hall. I expected him to follow, but instead, he weaved easily through the growing mass of students and stood before me.
“Shroud.” He said my name like it was a curse and I considered kicking his shin.
But I was barefoot and remembered what happened yesterday with my hand.
“Zach.”
His eyes did a quick survey and inwardly groaned as my neck grew hot. I was wearing a crap t-shirt and sleep shorts, not something I wanted a guy I regrettably found attractive to see me in.
“You want something?”
“Just to hear your lovely drawl before breakfast,” he said with a wink, and I scowled at him. “Don’t be late today. Orientation week is just as important as when classes start.”
“Won’t be late if you stop bothering me,” I pointed out with a charming grin of my own that seemed to catch him off guard. He swallowed hard, but that tic was back in his jaw. He shoved his hands in his pocket and his brow wrinkled. “Something else you want to lecture me on? Maybe how to turn the shower on?”
He grumbled something under his breath, I caught the words, “pain in my ass,” and then he stormed away. His friend had waited for him and leaned in close, probably asking all about little ole me.
“You are lucky,” Nyala said as we finally stepped into the bathroom and found two empty shower stalls. “He’s a handsome devil.”
“Devil, yeah, that’s him,” I muttered and disappeared into my shower stall.
As I washed my hair, listening to the happy chattering of the girls around me, I wondered about Zach. He was confusing as hell. One second, he seemed concerned about my fitting in and the next, he was ready to hate me all over again, and for what? He wanted to say more before, but then seemed to think better of it.
“Uh, hey Briar? You okay in there?” Nyala asked from the stall next to mine.
“Yeah, why?”
“Think your feet are on fire again.”
“Huh?”
I glanced down and cursed, stomping the fire out with my feet as steam and smoke filled my stall. Cursing vividly, increasing the laughter around me, I rinsed out my hair, grabbed my towel and clothes, and hurried out of there before I caught something worse on fire. Hair dripping down my back, I marched back to our room when my wet feet slipped on the stone floor.
I started to fall, everything happening in slow motion as I realized just how bad this was going to be. And on my first day.
Then two hands reached out, and suddenly I stopped falling. Thankfully, my damned towel stayed in place, too.
“Thanks,” I said and lifted my gaze. “Oh, uh, hi.”
“Hi,” the guy replied with a smile and quickly let go of my arms. “Sorry, didn’t mean to still be holding you. Just didn’t want you to smack your head on the floor.”
“Yeah, thanks,” I replied, confused by what I was feeling. Half of me was grateful this guy stopped me from falling, and my heart sank to find it hadn’t been Zach ready to rush in and rescue me.
I blinked, my smile freezing on my face. Where the hell had that thought come from?
“Oh, I’m Carter.” He held out his hand.
“Briar.” I shook it.
“Texas, right? Your accent and all.”
“Born and raised,” I said as I tried to check him out without checking him out. But to be fair, I was standing in front of him in a towel.
Zach was more of a rugged handsome, and Carter was smooth, with dark, green eyes and lean shape. He had a dimple on his right cheek that made him look younger than he probably was, and he shuffled his feet, a bit shy, which seemed odd to me.
“You’re a newcomer, right?”
“Something like that. You?”
“Nope, third-year,” he said proudly. “But I remember my first few days here. It wasn’t rough, but it was definitely different. If you need someone to talk to, give you some tips, you can text me or what not.”
“Thanks, that’d be appreciated actually.” I was about to reach for my pocket, but remembered I left my cell in my room. “Crap, do you have a pen?”
He stared at me curiously but pulled one out of his pocket. I took it and jotted down my number on his hand while he laughed. “What, don’t like doing things old-school?”
“No, just takes me back to the days of girls’ numbers on my hand.”
“Bet you had a lot of them,” I said, handing him his pen back.
“Nope, rare occurrence. I’ll text you, so you have my number, too. See you around, Briar, and good luck with orientation week.”
I wasn’t sure I liked the sound of that. Why would I need luck for orientation? Carter strolled off down the hall, whistling a bit off key as he went. I smiled, thinking I might find a friend in Carter, or more, definitely someone to distract me from my depressing thoughts of Jake with Heather.
I turned around to head to my room and froze. There at the end near the stairwell looking like he was helping direct newcomers, was Zach. He was glaring, but not at me.
At Carter.
His gaze didn’t break until a student walked up to him with some papers in hand, probably asking for directions. He blinked and was back to his charming smile, but his eyes remained cold.
“Do you hate Carter or are you jealous?” I mused aloud before ducking into my room and shutting out the noise of the hall.
My first day here was turnin
g out to be interesting, to say the least.
After I dressed, I waited for Nyala and told her about Carter, leaving out Zach’s weird reaction of course. Once she was ready, we left together, but Zach was nowhere in sight. The dorm was easy to navigate at least, and we followed the flow of students heading to the main building for breakfast. Walking by those statues gave me the chills again, but Nyala either didn’t care, or didn’t notice how they seemed to shift and watch us enter.
Dinner last night had been incredible, and breakfast was no different.
“If we eat like this every day, I’m going to get fat,” she complained with a smile as we loaded up our plates with eggs, bacon, and toast from the line of food laid out already on the tables filling the hall.
“I’m not about to complain about free food.”
I was never starved in any of my foster homes, but there’d been limited food to go around. Being with Mom was another story, and I remembered all too well those horrible hunger pains. Here, I could eat basically anything I wanted, and every bite of bacon was like a godsend. Nyala giggled when I mumbled my excitement.
“I would’ve thought you had a lot of that back home,” she said.
“What, bacon?”
“Just big plates of food and what not,” she said. “Everything’s bigger in Texas and all that.”
I shrugged. “Yeah, well, didn’t have a lot of bacon back home.”
“You haven’t mentioned anything about your family yet.” She picked at her eggs.
I silently begged for her to leave it alone, at least on our first day of orientation.
“You not get along with your folks or something?”
I thought of Mom and all the times we got along. I could count them on one hand. Not like I knew anything about my dad so had nothing to say about him. “Something like that.”
“You can talk to me about it you know, if you need to.”
“Thanks, I’m sure I’ll get there, just focused on getting over all of this, you know?” I motioned to the hall at large. “Finding out I’m a witch is not exactly what I expected to deal with my first week of college, or whatever this is.”
