CONVICTION OF THE DAMNED: SUPERNO ACADEMY BOOK ONE

by Tierney Storer

  I blinked a couple times to see straight, only to find myself face to chest with a pissed off Heir, holding me like a damn child. His broad shoulders and chest were caging me in, his strong arms filling the air around me as he moved as though to hold me up right like I was too weak to hold myself. I didn’t realise I was about to faint until I tried to stand without shaking violently.

  “Back off stronzo.” I balked to Xavier. “Get the fuck off me.”

  The idea of another man touching me forced all my senses back into place. Without the Vampire leeching off my blood my head was clearing enough to realise how much I hated our altercation. And the voices in my head returned with a vengeance. Whatever stupid magic Caleb had placed on me had vanished as soon as I was free of his fangs and now, I was nothing more than a pissed off girl slowly coming undone.

  Xavier carefully retracted his hands as he cocked his head to the side, his blue eyes looked almost pitch black as they burned into me with a fierce fire I could not comprehend. He was the quietest of his lot, and yet I couldn’t help but find that silence even more intimidating than the physical attacks of his friends.

  The quiet ones have the most rage; I should know.

  “You could have killed her you idiot.” Ember growled quietly, his hands wrapped around Caleb and forcing him away from me even more. I hadn’t seen him the entire night yet here he was, apparently saving me from death.

  “I don’t know what happened; I didn’t expect her to have so much power in her blood.” Caleb replied. Both of their voices were too low for the other students to hear but somehow, I managed to pick it up.

  Ember had saved me from Caleb’s clutches, but it was too little too late in my opinion. Surely someone should have intervened before the little bloodsucker stuck his teeth in my neck. The kids that had watched our exchange were laughing smugly, the sight of my weakness making their pathetic day. I didn’t know what kind of messed up place this was, but it was nowhere I wanted to be. The quicker we could get our money and get out of here the better.

  Laina grabbed my hand, silently telling me she was there, and things were okay now. I clung to her like she was a life raft as I desperately tried to stay calm. My body was weak, and my legs struggled to keep me standing. My fathers voice drifted into my head, promising all manner of violence if I dared stumble or fall.

  “Come on girls, I’ll show you to your dorm.” Ryder said, warily offering me a hand as he too appeared out of the shadows.

  I may have been unsteady on my feet, but there was still no chance in hell I would allow him to touch me on top of everything else. But I let the other Vampire touch me? Or at least I didn’t fight back.

  “I got her.” Dari said to Ryder unkindly, pushing past to hold her arm around me. “You okay?” She whispered in my ear, but I was too conscious of the Vampire staring at me to respond to her.

  Caleb seemed shell-shocked; his icy eyes bored into mine with a mix of wonder, fear and if I wasn’t mistaken, lust. It made me want to hurl. The demons in my mind were racing to the surface again, clawing at my resolve in a pathetic attempt to escape. But I would not lose my cool here, surrounded by people who would love nothing more than to revel in my failure.

  Clearly the Vampire had put some sort of spell on me, removing my boundaries and wit. But that mistake wouldn’t happen again. Cross my heart and all that jazz. I was better than that.

  “I need air.” I muttered to Dari, who nodded her head in understanding without needing any more from me. Laina and Tory were right behind us as we hurried out the building back into the courtyard.

  We were completely alone outside and even Ryder had yet to follow. Shuffling out of Dari’s grasp I shook my head, spitting out curses and allowing my sharp tongue to share my anger with the star-lit night. I paced relentlessly, letting the buzzing irritation inside me come to life with each step. A needed a minute alone to release my frustrations properly was all I needed, and then I would be okay again. Well, as okay as I could be.

  Ryder and the Heirs slowly headed out the Green Room towards us, quickly taking away any opportunity I had for regaining control. I had no choice but to try something rash and fast, but there wasn’t much space for me to do anything without a distraction.

  “What’s that over there?” I asked Tory, pointing at a giant glass building in the distance that looked like a mini pyramid.

  Just as I predicted Tory began excitedly explaining about the lessons held inside that building, and my sisters listened keenly. As soon as the three backs were turned, I yanked my knife out my pocket, clutching the sharp blade in my palm as my hands hid behind my back. The sweet release that followed tempered my spirit and as my blood dropped down to the gravelled floor, I felt my control coming back to me slowly but surely.

  I didn’t get much time before I had to slide the blade into my back pocket, but it was just enough that I would be able to last until I was alone. If I could get myself into a secluded space within the next half an hour or so, then my head would stop hurting. Let’s hope Ryder doesn’t force us to do a bunch of shit before he takes us to our dorms.

  Tory finished explaining about the potions class we would be taking as Ryder finally appeared, his gang of assholes in tow.

  “Follow me.” Ryder said, barely glancing our way. All five Heirs gave us a wide berth, sticking to their own little gang as far away from us as possible.

  Ryder’s hooded gaze only took in Dari for the briefest second as she glared back at him in disgust, clearly not impressed with him either.

  “Where too?” Dari snapped, folding her arms as we remained in place, “I'm not just going to follow you blindly stronzo, not when you have not been the most trustworthy of people so far.”

  Ryder sighed deeply, like Dari was the most frustrating thing in the entire world to him and pinched the bridge of his nose.

  “I'm taking you to your dorms in the Royal quarters. So, unless you plan on sleeping outside tonight, you’ll need to follow me.” He didn’t allow any room for protest and continued going his merry way.

  If I had any strength left inside me, I would have kicked rocks at the Heir’s ridiculous heads. But as it stood I was death on my feet and all plans of revenge would have to wait. Until tomorrow then Vampiro.

  Laina

  Kaida was having a rather bad day, Dari was in a stubborn mood, and I was happier than I had ever been in a long time. It was a rather odd combination of feelings in my family and there were no signs of things improving. I understood how violated Kaida felt and wished more than anything I could help her, but I couldn’t stop myself from grinning at the display of magic I had performed not so long ago.

  The voices in my head had promised me new power if I followed their orders and I had; running to the bar in the midst of the Heirs conversation and antagonising the Vampire just like they told me to. I knew Caleb would attack me, and the idea had thrilled me more than anything ever had before.

  The voices had shown me how to project my magic, just enough that golden light covered my skin from any wayward fangs. I was impenetrable and powerful for the first time in my life. I would never dare admit to my sisters that the entire event had been intentional; I wasn’t after an ass kicking from either one and there were no doubts my sisters wouldn’t forgive my mistakes so easily this time. I hadn’t seen Kaida being dragged into my fight, but I still should have known better than to instigate it anyway and now her rage was on my hands.

  I had no choice but to keep the smile off my face as we all walked in silence behind Ryder, following along down winding gravel paths surrounded by hundreds of gorgeous trees that filled the sky. Living in a city meant we had never seen much nature but here it was like we were in the middle of the Shire, blessed with more greenery than my tired eyes could take. The first chance I got I was going to go exploring in these forests.

  The Green Room took up the rest of our view in the courtyard but as soon as we were free of it, I could make out more of the school with ease. Tory gave us all a litt
le tour as we went, and I found myself once again thanking the stars we had found her today.

  Allie had been nice too, but she was a little too much for me to truly feel comfortable near her; she was more Dari’s speed than mine. I was more than happy even if Tory ended up being my only friend here. One friend was far more than I had ever had before so I would be grateful.

  The Green room had been the central starting point and opposite it was vast woodland with winding trails called the Whispering Woods. It was aptly named for the screams that could be heard in the wind during the night, and the fact that students often got lost in there for days on end if not careful, and no matter how hard you tried your voice would never be heard inside. You would be trapped if you didn’t know your way through those woods.

  Somewhere through them was a giant lagoon, complete with a custom-built cave that housed changing rooms, showers, and a stadium for games of something called Waterball. Tory offered to show us what it was during the week and promised it was gory and thrilling enough that we would care – none of my sisters nor me were huge fans of sport apart from Dari liking European Soccer.

  All that was left on that side of campus were the regular dorms, staff apartments and a small tower block of classrooms for the more menial subjects like Human History and Class one-oh-one.

  I pretended to know what Tory was on about as she spoke of the lessons but truthfully every subject, she named was something I had never done before and I needed a look at our schedule before I could comment. We were used to things like maths and science, not learning how to kill a Werewolf.

  To the left of the Green Room, and the way we were headed, was the giant glass pyramid called the Greenhouse that Kaida had pointed out earlier on. Further along into the woods were the Armoury tower and outdoor space for combat training.

  Dari was more excited to see the weapon selection Tory mentioned that her own bedroom and I couldn’t say I blamed her.

  “I think we have combat first thing tomorrow afternoon. And the Guards dorms are right behind the back of the field for that lesson.” Tory laughed. “If you’re lucky you might get to watch some of them fight without shirts on.”

  If she likes shirtless men then she probably won’t be too interested in me…

  “Great; I can’t wait to kick some magic ass.” Dari gave a pointed look to the back of the Heirs heads as I tried to hide my snigger. “And shirtless men don’t bother me; it takes a lot more than a six pack for me to even consider looking in their direction.”

  The combat lessons were magic free, meaning that everybody had to wear a bracelet that hindered their magical capabilities and effectively rendered them completely human. That meant that we were graded purely on our skill as opposed to any help we would have had from our class type. The second Dari discovered this fact she was ecstatic, promising under her breath about the royal ass-kicking she was going to provide.

  Tory said the Heirs were all well trained, and they had already been here for two years before us, but that didn’t mean much to my sister. She had to fight to survive on more than one occasion; going against a couple of spoilt brats who had never had a real beating in their lives was easy as pie.

  “Dibs on the Vampiro.” Kaida muttered, careful to keep her voice low enough that Caleb might not hear her.

  As we debated who could deal out what justice we arrived at what I could only describe as a miniature castle. There were five stories of solid stone complete with a giant balcony that ran across the top floor.

  There were more windows than I could count, each made of colourful glass and wooden frames. Ryder unlocked the front door with his hand, showing us that only our handprints would allow people inside, and ushered us onto the ground floor. It explained why Principle Novak’s assistant had done that weird magic thing to our arms earlier.

  There wasn’t much on this level except lockers for each of us for mail, a bulletin board, school map and a wide dark wood staircase leading us upstairs. There were a couple pegs and things in the back corner that I presumed were for dirty coats and boots if it happened to rain but nothing much else of interest.

  The Heirs didn’t wait for us and stomped up the stairs, not bothering to hide their disdain at us behind them. I didn’t like the idea of having to share a building with them but if we had different floors, I would be happy.

  Unfortunately, fate was not smiling on me once again today.

  “First floor is the bathrooms on the left; they’re mixed gender.” Ryder opened the door of the room for a quick glance whilst Kaida mumbled curses under her breath at how long this would take.

  There was a lot of pure white marble and mirrors, but nothing more that I could see without a proper go around.

  “And Bette’s room is also on this floor down the corridor, but I suggest you avoid that at all costs because werewolves like to have a lot of sex with their pack or partner, and that is not something for the faint of heart to accidentally see.” Ryder shuddered.

  “Oh but you like to watch non-werewolves having sex then? How interesting.” Ryder didn’t respond to Dari, but I could see the essence of a smirk pulling up the corner of his lips.

  Ryder pushed us up the stairs telling us Mikel’s room was also next door to Bette’s but as we would never go there none of us particularly cared. We climbed to the second floor and found the Heirs sat around a giant TV on the wall, each one relaxing on a large grey couch and armchair. The room itself was generically normal, oak floorboards and tall white walls. With a large fireplace underneath the TV that I knew I would love to curl up by with a book.

  I doubted I would spend much time in here if it was a shared space. I wasn’t a fan of hanging out in large groups.

  “Second floor is the common room; you have a small kitchen because Xavier didn’t want to have to walk too far to get a drink.” Xavier swore as Ryder pointed out a fridge and small marble counter section, but he didn’t take his eyes off the PlayStation game he was playing.

  Ryder pointed a finger towards the back end of the room, motioning down a corridor.

  “Dari your room is down there, next to Caleb’s.” Dari scowled as she voiced her displeasure at the idea of a Vampire sharing a wall with her.

  “Don’t worry each bedroom is soundproof.” Ryder smirked with a knowing glint in his eyes. “You can scream as loud as you want, and nobody will be able to hear you.” Oh jeez.

  I was desperate to find what my room looked like, but it would have been rude to not finish seeing where my sisters were sleeping too. Like a dutiful sibling I nodded my head at Ryder pretending to care where the Heirs slept and about all the areas we were forced to share with them.

  The third floor was like the first, but instead of a bathroom there was a supply cupboard.

  “Everything you could need for school like notepads and pens, but it is also where you can place orders for things you want delivered. Like new clothes or books.”

  The room itself had rows upon rows of shelving filled with drawers, each one labelled perfectly. A large computer stood in the middle which I presumed was where we ordered things as soon as we managed to get our hands on some money.

  “Laina and Tory, your rooms are down the corridor, your names are on each one so I'm sure you can show yourselves in when we’re done.” I wonder how they decorate the rooms.

  The final floor was basically the same, except the three bedrooms were slightly larger and each one apparently had a door out to a balcony.

  “I know it seems like favouritism, but Xavier built the balcony for himself and Ember as they both need space to fly.” I stuttered at the mention of flying. “It was honestly random that Kaida got given the spare room next door.”

  I didn’t much care for heights and neither did Dari, so no complaints from either of us there. We were happy to have our own rooms anyway.

  “When you say fly, you mean with like actual wings or sort of like superman?” Dari asked.

  “With wings.” Ryder replied, chuckling at our aghast
expressions.

  Ryder opened Xavier’s door briefly to point at the exit to the balcony and all I saw was a ridiculous amount of red and gold, before the door snapped closed again.

  “Your Portals should have all the information you would need on them about your schedules and things like that. Your uniforms are in your closets, and your bags are in your rooms.”

  Ryder checked off a mental checklist in his head as he nodded to himself.

  “Your Portals will be waiting in your rooms, and they’ve already been set up for you, though I suppose you will want to change your names.” He tapped his hand against his thigh. “I think one more quick chat with you all then I’ll leave you to it.”

  Ryder motioned us back down to the common room, making the boys pause their game when we arrived. Bette seemed to be missing but from the little hangout, but Ryder had said she was the type of girl to wander off as she pleased anyway. Werewolves were not creatures who often did anything they didn’t want to do, and Bette preferred being outside than in here.

  Caleb yawned at the intrusion and Mikel sighed, running a hand over the edges of his dreadlocks. Only Ember seemed polite enough to care for Ryders’s speech.

  “Listen up fuckers!” Ryder shouted, not bothering to use his manners like every other member of staff had. He was either friends with the Heirs or didn’t care if they came after his head.