by G. Bailey
“Sage, who is it?” I ask, trying to get her attention by grabbing her arm.
Big mistake.
The second I touch her, I’m lifted into the air and go flying across the room, blasted with a searing burst of dark magic that hits me in the stomach like a car hitting me at full speed. I roll to a stop at the other end of the hall, gasping for air, the inside of my body feeling like it’s on fire.
Students scream and shout as they rally around me. One dickhead stands on my leg and I cry out in pain. I lift my head just in time to see Sage blast the teacher with the spell I taught her on the night we snuck out to a high school party and got extremely drunk. Well, the spell that Pitch taught me and that neither of us should really know.
The teacher doesn’t expect it as the purple magic hits him like a tornado, swirling him up into the air before slamming his body onto the floor with a shattering thud that makes the walls tremble. Dark magic swirls around Sage like a drug that she’s completely addicted to and there’s no one to turn it off.
That’s exactly what it does.
It’s addictive because it feeds on your darker emotions. The more fucked up you are, the more powerful you are.
And if you ever lose control, well, there isn’t a way back.
The magic just won’t let you.
“Use that temporary stop spell that I taught you,” Pitch all but whispers into my ear. “Before you lose your friend to the dark magic you hate so much.”
“Why did you do it?” Sage screams in pain, her magic fluttering like a living being around her in waves, crackling across the floor like bolts of lightning. Her hair lifts on its own, the mix of the bright pink strands and purple magic a truly stunning sight to behold. “You destroyed everything! You changed everything!”
The teacher crawls up, straightening his ripped shirt and wiping the blood from his mouth. “It was you,” he hisses at her, the shock on his face evident as his eyes widen into saucers and he turns a little green around the gills. “It was not my fault. It was an accident!”
What the fuck is going on here?
Sage doesn’t seem to give a shit as she starts creating another spell. This time I recognise the fiery symbols as a powerful curse that is way too strong for her to cast alone. I tried once and it knocked me out for three days. We both promised not to try it again until both of us are much older. Pitch didn’t teach me another spell for two years after that one. Apparently, I wasn’t ready, and I highly doubt that Sage is with her emotions literally projecting out from her body as a dark cloud.
The teacher is quick to counteract the curse with a spell of his own. It manifests as a long snake and he uses it as a whip to lock around Sage’s hands. But he isn’t as strong as she is. In mere seconds, she breaks his hold, destroying his spell like a game.
“Stop this right now before I am made to do something you will regret!” Mr Greyhorn bellows from somewhere behind me, where all the rest of the school are hiding.
I can tell by the murderous look on Sage’s face she has no intention of stopping.
Not until she buries this teacher six feet into the ground.
“Sage, there best be a damn good reason for this,” I mutter under my breath as I hold my hands out, knowing if I don’t stop my best friend, no one will.
Closing my eyes, I lift my fingers into the air, making the symbols I know all too well—the ones Pitch taught me in the middle of the night.
The spell I really, really shouldn’t be casting in public let alone even know.
I open my eyes just as the spell transforms into an enormous pentagon around me. The shape cackles and hisses with amethyst fire, forging a cross down the middle that curls around the edges of the pentagon.
I quickly make a second pentagon, and holding both my hands out, I throw the symbols at Sage and the teacher. The spell hits their chests like a vicious wave, neither of them noticing me since they were too busy fighting. My dark magic booms across the room, knocking every person in the hall off their feet, including Sage and her opponent.
The room erupts into horrified screams as I crawl to my feet and run over to Sage. She’s lying prostrate on the floor, though her eyes are still pinned on the teacher she clearly despises with an utter passion. I’ve never seen Sage like this.
“Who is he?” I demand, grabbing her hand as my spell slowly releases her from its hold, but it won’t give her any access to dark magic for a few hours. It’s the reason why I chose it.
Sage straightens onto her feet, her incinerating eyes still latched onto the teacher. “He’s the fox that bit me and destroyed my life.”
Sitting in the headmaster’s office on my first day was not in my plan.
I’m sure it wasn’t in Sage’s, either. Who knew miss goody two shoes would get us in a load of shit and not look the least bit sorry about it?
If anything, she looks proud of herself as she keeps her sharp glare pinned on the teacher sitting beside her. He wisely chooses to avert his gaze and look at anything but her. The headmaster’s office is old and dated, full of worn scrolls and objects that haven’t been dusted in years. The ceiling is high but there are no windows, making the room extra stuffy and claustrophobic. The only source of light comes from the sconces on the walls, their dim flames flickering. Even the towering bookshelves looming over us cast shadows around the room, the threat of their books falling out seeming more likely by the second.
Sage and I claimed two of the four leather chairs that face the headmaster’s mahogany desk. The leather is worn and ripped in places and not the least bit comfortable to sit on. On the other side of the desk sits a high-backed chair that looks more like a throne with its gold fabric and fancy embroidery. I thought Mr Greyhorn’s office would be the worst thing to bear right now. It turns out the tension between Sage and the teacher is far worse, and so thick I could cut it with a knife.
After I managed to stop the fight, we were all sent here to wait for Mr Greyhorn. It’s been ages now…and I just want to get out of here.
“How did you know it was him that bit you?” I quietly ask Sage, though in the tense room, I might as well have shouted it.
“I never forgot the dark pink eyes,” she whispers, her gaze permanently fixed on the side of the teacher’s face.
I did always wonder why Sage liked to dye her hair pink with magic dye.
Maybe there was some subconscious, messed-up reason for it.
“So Mr Fox Who Bites Kids, what is your real name?” I turn and ask him. I’ve clearly pissed him off with those words, as his eyes narrow on me for the first time. “Wait, I have a better question. Is your shift pink like your eyes?”
“Professor Gale,” he tensely answers, ignoring my second question entirely, but his eyes never drift from Sage’s face. She doesn’t even glance at him, her focus permanently fixed on the headmaster’s vacant chair. “I was only fourteen years old myself when I bit Sage and it was an accident. I was a scared shadowborn myself back then.”
With a humourless laugh, Sage whips her head in his direction and sneers: “I was eight and you nearly killed me!”
“My fox liked you because you saved me from that trap. I had no control over my shift back then, and I still don’t…” He pauses, rubbing a hand over his smooth dimpled chin. “I’m fucking sorry, Sage. I really am.”
“It’s not enough,” Sage growls, glaring at Professor Gale, who’s busy tugging out a small purple flask from his pocket.
He knocks the lid off and takes a long sip, closing his eyes ever so briefly.
I’m willing to bet that isn’t milk in there.
The door slams open, and I nearly jump out of my skin.
Mr Greyhorn marches over to his desk, and I hear Professor Gale whispering, “I’m well aware,” under his breath, but the words don’t seem to have an effect on Sage, who huffs and turns her gaze from him.
“I don’t know where to begin,” Mr Greyhorn starts, settling on his throne with a look of clear disgust on his countenance. “But expelling you both is
high on my list after the stunt you just pulled. On your first day, no less. Have you no respect?”
Before I can open my mouth, Professor Gale jumps in. “It was my fault, sir. I instigated the attack.”
“Instigated?” He looks between Sage and the professor. “You instigated a year one to try to take the life of a member of my faculty in front of my school?”
Professor Gayle shifts somewhat uncomfortably in his seat. “As a child, my fox bit Miss Millhouse and turned her into a shadowborn. Her reaction today was completely natural, sir, under the circumstances. As the law stands, my family made sure I didn’t get locked up in the Shadowborn Prison but Miss Millhouse paid the price.”
A deafening silence stretches between us as we wait for Mr Greyhorn’s decision.
He turns his steely eyes on Sage. “Are you sorry for the attack, Miss Millhouse?”
She glances at me from the corner of her eyes.
Say yes, for the love of Selena, say yes.
“Yes,” she bites out and I know she’s only sorry she didn’t get a chance to torture the professor for longer.
Mr Greyhorn huffs, not quite buying her answer. “Regardless of the reason behind your attack, use of magic in that way is forbidden at my academy. Both you and Miss Charles will have detention this weekend, and every weekend until I decide otherwise.”
Great. Just great.
“And Miss Millhouse, after your detention on Sunday, you will personally be helping Professor Gale as he goes into the enchanted forest to find mushrooms for the science department. The mushrooms take about five hours to find. Plenty of time for you to air out your…differences.”
Professor Gale seems to choke on his own spit. I don’t think he likes the idea of spending time with the girl he nearly killed. The same one that could have killed him if I let her.
“Very well,” Professor Gale agrees.
Sage and I push off our chairs, hoping for a quick escape, but of course it’s never that easy.
“Professor Gale and Miss Millhouse, you are dismissed,” Mr Greyhorn states curtly, before turning his icy eyes back onto me. “Miss Charles, I would like a word with you in private.”
“Why?” Sage takes the question right out of my mouth, but I shake my head at her.
We’re in enough trouble as it is and Mr Greyhorn doesn’t scare me.
Without an answer, Sage follows Professor Gale out, and the door slams shut behind them as I dug my nails into the leather seat. Mr Greyhorn leans back ever so slightly, his eyes drifting over me like I’m an apparition he doesn’t know what to do with.
“How did you know that spell?” he asks, cocking his head to the side. “Or better yet. How is it possible you successfully used a year four hex with no tutoring?”
“I found the spell in a book I stole from a visiting warden. I’m self-taught,” I quickly lie, thankful I’m well self-taught at lying.
Folding his arms, he watches me closely. Too closely. “And you taught Miss Millhouse some of these spells?”
“Yes,” I answer stiffly.
“I must confess that I am a little impressed,” he surprises me by saying.
I nod once, not sure how to reply to that as he stands and goes to the bookcase directly behind him. His long fingers slide over the dusty books before he pauses on the one at the end. He tugs it out of the case, causing the books at its side to collapse into the space it left.
He walks around the desk and hands the book to me. “This is a fae bound book, one given to the academy many years ago. I usually only let teachers read the fae bound books since they hold such difficult spells. But I feel you might have the control needed to understand them. I knew there was something different about you from the moment you turned up at the academy. Something unique and powerful.”
“Thank you,” I reply, looking down at the object in my hands. The book has leaves pressed into the leather, and the leaves are all different colours. There is a little gold symbol in the corner, but in this dim light, there is no way I can see what it is. I run the pad of my thumb across it anyway, feeling the little groves.
“Now get out,” he orders, waving a dismissive hand. I quickly get up and walk to the door, but just as I hold it open, he states one more thing. “A word of advice, Miss Charles. In my academy, we do not help our friends when they are on a path of destruction if we want to survive.”
“But what is surviving if you never save those you love?” I’m quick to argue, and I don’t wait for his answer as I leave the room.
It’s official.
The headmaster is a dick, and thanks to the book in my hands, I now owe him.
Fan-fucking-tastic.
“What’s that?” Sage asks as I close the headmaster’s door behind me.
I lift the book, admiring it closer in the light streaming through a gap in the cave wall. “Some kind of book.”
“I gathered that,” my best friend snorts, pushing off her chair which is one of two outside the office. “What’s it called?”
I shrug at her, flipping the book around to check for a title, but there is none. “I’m not sure. I’ll let you read it once I’m done, though.” Looking around the empty corridor, I’m relieved to find the professor is nowhere to be seen. “So. Mushroom foraging with Professor Gale on Sunday. That’ll be fun.”
Sage nudges me playfully. “You have detention with us, too, Buzzie.”
I scrunch my face up, sliding her a mock glare. “You fail to shift into a bee one time and then you’re forever known as Buzzie. I hate that I love it.”
“Well, I don’t think I’ll forget the yellow and black stripes on every bit of my hair I was left with for a week.”
“Dude, you looked like a traffic sign.”
We both pause and stare at each other before bursting into laughter.
I wipe the tears from my eyes, my stomach aching from all the laughing. “Anyway, only we’d get detention when we haven’t even unpacked yet.”
“Keeper Maddox will be positively delighted,” Sage remarks, rolling her eyes. “The professor said the dorm rooms are in the Upper Half of the castle.”
“Cool. Do you know where that is?”
“Not a fucking clue. I suppose the Upper Half is the part of the castle that’s above ground.”
We chuckle, looking both left and right down the hallway. As if by sheer luck, a group of students are busy pulling heavy trunks behind them. We turn left and follow them. To my surprise, it doesn’t take long to reach the common area. That suggests the headmaster’s office is situated right in the middle of the Upper and Lower Halves of the castle. I guess it’s the perfect spot for him to spy on all levels.
The common room is a stark contrast to the Lower Half of the castle. The walls are a dull grey with ebony sconces and oval-shaped windows that stretch up to the completely transparent ceiling. I’m a little surprised by the gaming machines and consoles hooked up to flatscreen TVs mounted on the walls. Even the furniture is more tastefully modern than I expected, particularly the white leather corner sofa nestled around a crackling fireplace made of solid white marble. I never expected to encounter ‘human’ things here. Quite honestly, shadowborns are the dregs of magical society. We aren’t considered human anymore because of the darkness inside us. That’s why I’m shocked by all the human stuff.
But the most shocking thing of all, or rather, the most impressive, is the way the furniture seems to be built around the trees. Sunlight pours in from the windows, casting everything in a warm amber glow, and in the middle of the floor stands the most beautiful of trees, with its white flowers in full bloom and its branches seemingly holding up the ceiling. There’s a distinct earthy feeling above all the luxury and I’m a little surprised by how much I like it. I can see myself and Sage hanging out here a lot, reading books and bathing in the sun. Practicing forbidden magic once everyone has gone to sleep.
We follow the other students gathering around the tree. A girl with hair as white as snow and lips as red as blood face
s everyone with an almost impatient look on her pretty face. She’s one of the few people wearing a school uniform, minus the cloak I noticed many others wore in the assembly hall. She also has her white shirt tucked into her high-waisted black skirt, and her red tie is tucked into the front of her waist, the colour blending with the crimson crystal hanging around her long thin neck.
Unlike the other girls, she isn’t wearing dark socks pulled up to her thighs or a simple pair of black shoes. No, this gal obviously wants to stand out, because she’s wearing scarlet stilettos and looks every bit the sexy secretary with her hair clipped back and winged glasses framing her dark eyes. Judging by the lack of pigment in her hair, I suspect she’s part fae. She looks almost like she could be the headmaster’s spawn, though her skin is bronze instead of deathly pale.
“How much do you wanna bet she’s the Head Girl?” I mutter in Sage’s ear, who just manages to suppress a laugh.
The girl slides Sage a distasteful glance before clearing her throat. “Year Ones, I’m Willow Greene, the Head Girl here at Shadowborn Academy. What that means is that there are rules set in place here—rules that I’ll be ensuring you all adhere to. Rule number one is going to be quite obvious: no one leaves the common area past curfew. Boys are forbidden to enter the girl’s dormitory, at all times, and it is the same for girls. Illicit use of magic is also forbidden.” Shooting me a generous glare, she adds rather sharply: “Keep your fancy tricks for in the classroom.”
I return her glare just as dispassionately, but the sound of someone clapping distracts me.
“Well said, Miss Greene. Now please do get off your high horse and let me do my job.”
A man steps forward from the crowd, wearing distinctly different clothes to everyone else. His pale pink shirt is tucked in and rolled up at the sleeves, and he has leather braces stretching over his chest, connecting to the black trousers hugging his lean waist. His tie is the same burnt-orange as his messy auburn hair.
When he shoos Willow away and takes her place by the tree, he looks like he’s not long graduated from here. There’s a youthfulness in his light brown eyes that makes my heart flutter in its cage. Well, hello there, handsome.
