CONVICTION OF THE DAMNED: SUPERNO ACADEMY BOOK ONE

by Tierney Storer

  Big scary demon things who want to eat my heart and destroy the world; cool.

  “You okay down their Princess or do you prefer being on top?” Ryder whispered; quiet enough that only I would hear him.

  “I have no preference really Vampiro.” I breathed, not bothering to hide the smile on my face at his insinuation.

  I didn’t feel the need to pretend not to like it. Flirting with anybody I found remotely good looking was something I had done for a long time and wouldn’t be changing even in this stupid magic world. It was fun. There was no harm to it.

  Ryder grinned evilly for a moment, and then flipped me over to my front in the blur of an eye. I was left face down on the floor with him on top of my back, the knife in his hand once again pressed against my skin with the tiniest amount of pressure, nowhere near enough to break skin.

  Oh, I definitely like this. What the hell.

  “I think you’d like this way more. You seem that type of girl.” He whispered again, my body shivering involuntarily at his proximity.

  “I'm going to get you back for this stronzo.” I giggled. He laughed, riling me up a little, and removed himself.

  I took his outstretched hand and hopped back to my feet, returning to my sisters at the side-lines and pretending not to notice the fact I was blushing like mad. I have such shitty taste in men, why can’t I be celibate or at least have some standards.

  Kaida raised her brow at me but said nothing, and Laina was far too busy talking to Tory to even notice my red cheeks. Allie was here too but she was in such a deep conversation with one of the ass-licking guards that I doubted she even knew what was going on around her.

  Just my luck, for the rest of the session Ryder was our teacher’s assistant, along with some of his Guard friends whose names I immediately forgot. I was a little preoccupied with the promise of violence and the fit guys all hitting each other to listen to something as meaningless as a name.

  I was a simple girl to please, and had no objections gawping as Ryder fighting men twice his size. He was lethal and had no trouble landing every hit in anybody who stepped in the ring with him, and it was seriously fun to watch even if he was the friend of my potential enemies. Plus, there was the added benefit of seeing exactly how he liked to fight so I would know how to brutally murder him should the need arise.

  Or I could fuck him and then kill him as soon as I’m done, bet the little leech would never see that coming.

  “Everybody will get a chance to fight each other today, but as we want to see what skill level you are all at, I figured it would be best to start with our newcomers so we can thoroughly assess how far behind they are.” Long interrupted Ryder after the fourth spar, just as the Heirs decided to turn up to class. Bette seemed to be missing but that had been a trend with her so far.

  Professor Long complained to them half-heartedly and ushered the boys to stand with us, pairing everybody off with each other and wrongly deciding to start with us.

  “Laina, if you and Tory could go to mat one, please.”

  Bet Lainy will love that the little minx.

  “Girls, if the two of you could come to mat two, please and spar each other. I need to figure out how best we can start your training and hopefully make you decent enough before you get killed.”

  Long meant to be nice, and I could see he hadn’t intended any harm, but the fact he thought we would be useless aggravated me enough to give him a small taste of my attitude. When the Heirs started laughing and Ryder joined in, it only pissed me off even more.

  In my experience people, especially men, never took girls that looked like me seriously. All they saw was the flirty smile, short skirts and lack of size and presumed that I was nothing more than a pretty face with attitude. It was frustrating as hell.

  Kaida gave me a look and stepped back; letting me deal with the first disagreement of the afternoon as she shot death stares to Caleb. It wasn’t that I went looking for arguments, I just didn’t shy from them if they happened to present themselves.

  Even people who were nice to me, or those who were supposed to command respect, could not escape my temper.

  “I'm not fighting my sister.” I said bluntly, ignoring the snickers around me. “Not a chance stronzo.”

  “It’s not really fighting; more of a low-level spar so I can see if you can throw a punch or not.” Long replied, smiling at me despite my tone. “And I'm not an asshole thank you very much.”

  “Tu parli Italiano?” You speak Italian?

  Long nodded his head, confirming he understood me.

  “Yes but what you call Italian, we call Caledonian. As it is the original language from the Kingdom of Caledon, and where your Italian came from.”

  “Wait that’s kinda cool.” I muttered.

  “Very cool. Now please can you spar, I need to move on to other things.” I took another step onto the mat and folded my arms across my chest.

  I reckon I could take him if he wore one of those bracelets.

  “I don’t care; I'm not laying a hand on Kaida. Pick someone else. Please.” I was a little nicer this time. The professor sighed and asked for volunteers instead, no doubt not caring enough to waste time arguing with me.

  Half the class and Guards raised their hands in offering, including Ryder who was instantly picked; fate really was after me with a vengeance.

  “I'm not going to take it easy on you Princess, just so you’re aware.” Ryder said, pulling his long blonde hair into a tighter bun.

  “I wouldn’t expect anything less piccolo.” Babe. I replied, getting into a fighting stance opposite him and trying not shake the memory of him on top of me from my mind.

  When I had first met Ryder, he had controlled me with ease, but only due to his Vampire gifts that I didn’t know about and couldn’t stop. But here there was no magic allowed, which meant I had every advantage he did and could thoroughly get him back for his mind control against us and his general asshole behaviour the last day. He was definitely cocky, and I couldn’t have him going around thinking that he had any sort of power over me for a second longer.

  Both my sisters could defend themselves; I had been insistent on it this last year. Kaida had even been doing kickboxing since she was a kid, and I had been in more bar fights than most of America combined. We would be fine, more than fine.

  Watch out little Vampire. I’m going to show you which one of us wears the metaphorical pants in this sort of friendship.

  “Ready?” Professor Long asked and Ryder nodded.

  “Good Luck.” I said sweetly, nodding at the Professor too.

  “Kick her ass dude!” Mikel yelled.

  The whistle blew and Ryder immediately lunged for me, hoping for an easy win. But I was too quick for him and dodged his hands with ease, spinning around him as I did and kicking him roughly in the back with enough force to make my knee wince.

  Ryder stumbled slightly and his eyes narrowed before he came back again, this time aiming to hit rather than just pin me. I moved out of his attack each time, his limbs barely doing more than skimming my skin occasionally. I couldn’t stop the giggle from escaping my lips as he became more and more frustrated with me.

  After a couple of minutes of watching him sweat I became bored, figuring I would stop defending and try to hurt him instead. I waited for him to try grabbing me again and instead of moving away I leant in, wrapping my hands around his neck, and throwing him to the ground with a satisfying thud.

  Ryder hit the mat with a groan, and I was on top of him, my legs straddling either side of his hips as Professor Long blew the whistle to signify my win.

  “Told you I’d get you back Vampiro.” I purred, trying not to think about the fact I seemed to like sitting on top of him just as he had said earlier. Damn fool.

  “You can have this one Princess.”

  Ryder grinned and I could have sworn his eyes darted to my lips and back again, before sneakily removing the bracelet from his wrist. He used his vampire speed to flip me off him, pinni
ng me face down on the mat once more and enticing laughter from the crowd of watchers who now presumed he had been taking it easy on me.

  His strong hands held me in place, and I couldn’t move an inch as he leant down to my ear, his hot breath tickling my face and the fierce burn of lust screaming at me.

  “But the next one is all mine.” He whispered, jumping back to his feet, and helping me to my own.

  This is going to be such a good class.

  Kaida

  I was going to kill Caleb. I hadn’t made a conscious decision to do it until I had arrived to my first afternoon class, my hidden blade pressing against the tight material of my gym leggings. But now that I was here, I knew what I had to do. When he had bitten me again today it had ruined all the progress I had made the last day, and sent my demons hurtling to the surface with a war cry.

  What’s the time? Does it look obvious that I have a knife? I wonder what Dari will think. I hate him. No amount of smashed mirrors or screaming into my pillow had helped calm me down and all I could concentrate on was the fierce desire to watch Caleb’s blood spilled by my hands. I needed to make him hurt just as much as he had me.

  I knew he hadn’t done much, and in all reality a few incidents was probably not enough for most people to get so upset. But the first time he had sunk his teeth into my neck I was transported back to the last time a man had hurt me, and the memories of that fateful evening came bulldozing through my guards and straight into my mind.

  That had led to my childhood PTSD being triggered, and my father’s voice had been barrelling through my head with his whispered insults and thoughts. I had barely slept last night from the nightmares, feeling the filthy touch of my demons crawling across my damaged skin.

  It was bad enough that Caleb had stopped to speak to me at lunch, when I was already on edge from the crowd of busy students eating far too loud. But when he chose to attack me again that was the last of the truly short straw. I couldn’t look anywhere without spotting my ghosts hiding in the distance, waiting for their chance to drag me back down to my personal hell. It was tortuous and couldn’t go on; I wouldn’t allow it.

  I knew that people who hurt others wouldn’t stop after one time, they would continue to push your buttons and take it as far as they wanted to go. Letting things slide was not the answer, and the only other option I knew was violence.

  So no, other people may not have understood my bloodlust, but I did, and that was enough logic for me.

  “Any volunteers to spar Kaida?” Long asked the crowd, but I didn’t let him choose for me. Caleb had raised his hand in offering and that was all I needed to see.

  I'm going to make him bleed.

  “I'm sparring Caleb.” I barked, stomping over to the mat Dari had just been on. Watching her flirt with Ryder only made my blood boil more. I loved her, but she was an idiot when it came to men and her fraternizing with the enemy was a foolish move even if there was no intent behind it. Ryder was a leech like his brother and that would never end well.

  Caleb headed towards me on the mat, chuckling as he told me how to throw a punch. It was annoying to be underestimated but if I was being honest it helped. The number of times people had paid no mind to me, presuming I was a waste of their time, had been far more valuable than being fear ever could. Nobody expected me to be able to defend myself.

  Caleb’s cocky smile burned into my mind and as the whistle blew, I wasted no time. I lunged for him with the force of a grenade, slamming my fist into his jaw in a right hook that Dari would be proud of. He stumbled and swore as the crowd around us gasped, the idea of me hurting him not even a possibility in their narrow minds.

  Kill him. Hurt him. Ruin him. Make him feel your pain.

  The dark laughter of my sisters was enough to spur me on and I continued my attack with a tackle worthy of a pro footballer. My arms wrapped around Caleb’s waist, and I dragged him to the floor, pinning him underneath me as I waited for Professor Long to call time on our fight, knowing I wouldn’t have much time to act before he did. Kill him. He should die. I want him dead.

  The kids here may have been magic and far stronger than me on a normal day, but when facing human rules, they didn’t stand a chance. I had spent my entire life fighting just to stay alive and no amount of sparring with their spoilt rich kid friends would ever let these people match up to me. Not when I thrived on the only thing, they could ever give me; pain.

  The first round took less than a minute for the professor to end, but I refused to stop. Caleb was lying on the ground beneath me ripe for the taking and I was not going to pass up this opportunity for anything. With a snarl I began pummelling his face and body with my fists, ignoring the people telling me to stop.

  He needs to die. He hurt me. Kill him. He needs to bleed. I want him broken. I want him dead.

  To my surprise Caleb made no attempts to block me and he lay there letting me make him bleed like he was doing me a favour. It only pissed me off more when people didn’t fight back, and as I heard the satisfying snap of his ribs breaking I took the chance to yank the knife out into my hand, letting my demons free at last. YES. Do it. Kill him.

  Caleb’s ocean eyes widened as he realised what I intended, and my hand came screaming down above his heart before he could respond. I was an inch away from victory when a boulder ran at my side, flipping me off Caleb and pinning me to the ground beneath them, knocking the knife away from me. NO!

  “Sei fottutamente stupida?” Are you fucking stupid? Dari growled, as she used all her strength to hold me down. “Walk it off Kai.”

  I swore at her a couple times but made no move to disagree. The shadows darkening my thoughts were pushed back, my sister’s presence holding them at bay like a barrier of light. I was still desperate to cling to my power, but I could feel it slowly slipping away from me. The element of surprise was gone, and I would never get it back again.

  Dari let me back up and I was mad at her, but I knew she was right. Killing Caleb in front of so many witnesses would never have ended well, and I should have known better than to let darkness cloud my judgement. She silently slid the knife back into my pocket and I hoped her, and Caleb, had been the only ones to see it.

  I didn’t know why but I had the feeling Caleb wouldn’t grass on me for the attempted murder, he seemed like the sort of fae to want to fight his own battles and would relish the chance to hurt me for this later.

  Let him. He will learn who he’s messing with soon enough.

  “Fucking hell sweetheart, who taught you how to fight?” He asked, surprisingly looking less annoyed than I thought he would be as he removed his bracelet and his Vampire healing kicked in.

  “Myself. You’re not the first stronzo I’ve had to deal with who doesn’t know the meaning of consent.” I snarled back, preparing myself for the second round. “And make no mistake, next time I won’t stop.”

  The last part I whispered just for him. Just because he wasn’t mad about having his ass handed to him didn’t mean he wasn’t still a horrible person that I wanted to hurt.

  “I told you to walk it off.” Dari snapped, shoving me in the back away from the class.

  “L'ha iniziato, cazzo.” He fucking started it.

  I stormed off, ignoring the mutters of the people behind me. I didn’t care about them or their opinion; I had made Caleb bleed and that was all I had wanted. Of course, it would have been better if he hadn’t been able to heal himself within seconds of it, but knowing he still felt the bitter pain of someone breaking him did make me the tiniest bit better. Next time I'm going to make it last.

  My mood was still vile, and I needed a little extra help to be okay, but as long as I concentrated on the sight of Caleb’s eyes scared of me, I could stop the demons from doing too much to my head. His blood coating my hands and the sting of my knuckles was even better a release. I had made him fear for his life, which meant that I had been on the right track for how I could kill him.

  I didn’t know where I was going to go, but I kne
w I didn’t want to go back to class. The lessons hadn’t become part of my routine yet, so I was fine with ditching. I would be okay with doing something else now, which meant now I had a full afternoon to hang out with myself away from all the noise and bullshit.

  Without meaning to I headed down the path towards the Green Room, not knowing if it would be busy with students or if everybody else would be in lesson.

  “Katarina.” A voice spoke from behind me, startling me out my own head.

  “That’s not my name ragazzo uccello.” Bird boy. I snapped, spotting Xavier appearing out the bushes with his shirt in his hands.

  He was topless again, a thing that seemed to be a strong theme whenever I saw him, and his body glistened with a layer of sweat. No doubt caused by the thick flaming wings that was protruding from his back. He was hiding them away somewhere, but I could still see the bright red feathers that were covered in a layer of red hot fire.

  “Holy shit.” I breathed, ignoring the question on his face. “You have wings.”

  Xavier looked at me a little puzzled, before remembering that I had never seen a creature like him before. His head was so far up his ass that he had no idea that other people had different life experiences to him. Arrogant dick.