Nova dragged herself off the bed. “Guess it’s time for your meet and greet.”
I groaned. “If the rest of them are anything like the bitch I met in the elevator, then I think I’ll just hide out here.”
“Good idea. Show them your scared, and you’ll be fish-bate for the rest of eternity and damage my plan of supreme rulership.”
I laughed as I grabbed my school bag and threw it over my shoulder. “Come on. Let’s get this over with.” I waved my hand toward my wardrobe and my suitcase, casting a spell over both to keep anyone other than me out of them.
Making our way into the hallway, it was obvious we were both outcasts. Everyone stared, sneered, or purposely bumped into us, and it took everything in me not to give them all exploding diarrhea. Well, at least I wanted to. But the wards around this place made it impossible to do bad magic to other students, unless our lives were under immediate threat. It was one of the founding principles. Sneers counted as life threatening, right?
Apparently, not. My spell went unfulfilled, just as I knew it would. But I would’ve been stupid not to try, and I was pretty sure every single person in the hallway had just tried a spell on me because the disappointment on their faces was a replica of mine.
We made our way down to the first floor, shoving our way into the first available lift as per rule number three, never show fear.
Crossing the small lobby, we headed toward the hall when I halted at the sound of my name.
I spun around and locked eyes with my sister, my heart jumping into my throat when I saw the terror in her gaze.
5
Without Kayla having to speak a word, I knew what worried her so much. It wasn’t that anything was wrong with her; she was scared for me.
Breaking away from the Dark pack, I raced over to Kayla and threw my arms around her.
“Holy shit. I was so worried about you.” She pulled away as she ran her gaze over me, making sure I was still in one piece.
“I’m fine,” I assured her. “At least physically.”
She held onto my hands. “When you didn’t come through the Light’s doors, I tried to come back for you, but they wouldn’t let me. I don’t even understand what’s going on.”
The second bell rang. “You better go before you get in trouble for being late.”
“Fuck class,” she said, surprising the hell out of me. Kayla was the one who never wanted to go against authority, whereas I was… Well, I didn’t like being told what to do.
“Okay, Miss Rebel. Not sure I want to be the reason you get kicked out of this place.”
She shook my hands. “Be serious. This is serious. I’ve been going out of my mind worrying about you and what…” She leaned forward and whispered, “They’ve been doing to you. I mean, you know how bad my overactive imagination can get.”
Sighing, I smiled at her, grateful she was there with me now. “I’ll be fine. They’re not all as bad as I thought they would be.” When she looked at me dubiously, I added, “I’ve even made a new friend.”
I glanced over my shoulder, ready to introduce her to Nova, but she was nowhere to be seen. So much for my new friend.
Kayla raised a brow. “Friends of the imaginary kind don’t count.”
I rolled my eyes, as I bit down on my smile. “Very funny. But being reals for a moment, I have a nice enough roommate, Nova. She has three Familiars on her body, and get this, her mother is a Dark and her father is a Light.”
Her brows shot up. “No way.”
I nodded. “Can’t believe any Light would go there with a Dark.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I looked around for Brody.
“Ah… Brody had to get to class. But he was really worried about you, and he’ll be stoked I saw you and pissed he didn’t stick around with me.”
Biting my lip, I nodded again, turmoil building in the pit of my gut.
“So, what’s your first class?” I asked, hoping we were together.
“Arts,” she said. “What’s yours?”
I groaned. “Faction education—Dark History. Like we haven’t already heard it all before.”
Kayla hooked her arm with mine, as we began walking down the hall. “I don’t know. Maybe they have a different version of events than what Mom and Dad taught us growing up.”
“Yeah, they’ll most likely paint us as the bad ones…” I sighed, realizing my error. “You, not us.”
She scowled at me. “You are still one of us—even if the wards state otherwise.”
I scoffed. “I’m not sure how welcoming the rest of the Lights will be toward me now that I’m the black sheep of the flock. Hell, I’m not even part of your flock. I’m the wolf… Okay, so maybe not a wolf—those things are disgusting—but you get my point. I’m now the bad guy waiting to devour you all.”
Kayla laughed. “You? A bad guy? You are one of the kindest, most caring people I know.”
“You have to say that because I’m your sister.”
“Our shared DNA has no bearing on our relationship. You could be a real dick, and I’d still love you because you’re my sister, but that doesn’t mean I would have to like you.”
I stopped and drew her into a hug. “Thanks. I needed to hear that I’m not a monstrous, evil Witch now I’m no longer a Light.”
“You could never be.” She pulled back and smiled. “Catch up at lunch?”
I nodded. “You better get to class before they mark you absent.” I smiled when I saw the fear in her eyes. She was so predictable.
Before she had a chance to tell me she didn’t care about class and I was more important, I said, “See ya,” then strode down the hall and headed into the classroom, with a gigantic lump in my throat.
Looking around the room, I was met with stares and hushed whispers, taking all my focus off my surroundings and putting me in defence mode. Rule number one: always be on guard.
Spotting Nova on the far side of the room, I walked over to her and slid into the seat beside her. “Thanks for saving me a seat.”
“I didn’t. No one wants to sit next to the freak.”
“I think you may not be the freakiest anymore.”
She scanned the faces of the other Darks in the room, shrugging. “There’s a whole lot of hate directed this way. Who knows which one of us is the lucky one?”
We both knew.
Thrumming my nails against the wooden desk, I nervously glanced around the room. “Where’s the teacher?”
Nova shrugged. “Probably couldn’t be bothered showing up for such a stupid class that we’d all pass in our sleep. We all know the history of how the Lights stole our power and painted us as the evil side.”
My eyes bugged out in a mixture of astonishment and confusion. “Lights stole your power? What the hell kind of crap is that?”
The corner of her lips tipped. “Sounds like you were never told the full story.”
“Of course she wasn’t told the truth,” the bitch from the lift said, interrupting our private conversation. “Those fucking Leaches wouldn’t know the truth if it hit them in their face.”
I frowned. “Is that why you guys call us Leaches?”
“You think we call you that because you’re bloodsuckers?” She barked out a laugh. “You’re not good enough to be vampires, but you do suck all the same.”
“I hope so,” a boy sitting in the back of the class said.
I screwed my face up in disgust and was about to give him an earful when another guy said, “Better rethink that. Looks like she would eat you alive.”
I wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or not. “What makes you think you’d even stand a chance?”
“You wish, bitch.” The first guy blew me a kiss.
I shook my head, focusing my attention back on Nova and ignoring the rest. “So, what is the supposed real story?”
“History,” the guy from the back said, making his way toward us.
He stopped in front of the teacher’s desk and turned around to face me. “The Lights stole
our source of power because we sided with the creatures of the dark—the wolves and the vampires—when the Lights wanted to destroy them all. The Lights stole a huge amount of our power from us, leaving us unable to protect them. So, we did what we needed to do. We sought magic from the parts of this world the Lights had been terrified of since the great massacre of 1897. We grew stronger, fought back, and now we’re the monsters of the Witch world, but it was them who started this all and forced our hand.” He leaned back against the desk. “But that’s just a legend. There’s no way the Lights would lie, right?”
The look in his eyes as he returned to his seat revealed the Darks’ battle against the Lights was legendary, not a legend. And I felt sick to my stomach.
The lift bitch snickered. “Of course they lie. You parasites do nothing but lie, then pretend you’re the do-gooders of the world.”
“Now, now, class,” a man said, as he walked into the room. He was in his mid-twenties and definitely had a teacher vibe going on. “That’s not the way to treat a newcomer to our class.”
The mean girl slid into her seat in the row in front of me. “We were just telling her the true history between our houses. Not the garbage the Lights have made up.”
I frowned. “If what you’re saying is true, then why is this the first I’m hearing about it? I mean, if you and the other factions are buddies, then why not tell everyone what really happened?”
“That’s an excellent question, Zalia,” the teacher said, placing his bag on top of the desk. “And you will find all the answers to the questions you seek in this class.”
Great. He knew my name, and now every single person in the class did, too. I guessed that’s what you got for being the new kid.
He moved in front of his desk. “Now, for those who don’t already know me, I’m Seth, your teacher for the year. And yeah, at first it might seem a little weird calling your teachers by their first name, but we’re all adults here, and it’s time you start getting used to being treated like one.” Leaning back against the desk, he asked, “Now, who can tell me where the origin of magic came from?”
Already knowing the answer to that question, I tuned out, as I tried to wrap my head around what everyone had just told me. My mind was blown, but at the same time I wasn’t sure I could trust what they said was the truth. Even if the teacher agreed with them, I was pretty sure the history teacher for the Lights wouldn’t give the same story.
No matter how much I tried to convince myself these Darks were lying to me, something rang true. Lights always saw themselves as the superior faction, above every other supernatural creature. We hadn’t socialized with the others until we were made to, when the council decided to open the school. And if the Darks version of history was the truth, then I didn’t understand why the Lights would agree to us attending Night Shade, if there was a chance the truth would come out.
This was all blowing my mind.
I snorted to myself.
This was probably all some sick joke they were playing on me, the newly discredited Light they hated with a passion.
Picking up my pen, I chewed on the end as I further contemplated everything I’d learned, trying to work out if there were any truths in what they said—and if I really wanted to know more.
Before I knew it, the bell rang, signalling the end of class. Everyone filed out as fast as they could, heading to their next class. Or to talk about the girl who believed their lies.
I groaned as I gathered up my things and was about to leave with Nova when Seth stopped me. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
I nodded.
Once Nova left the room, he said, “I know you must be thinking that what we’re telling you is a load of shit, but I want you to know I’m not here to play with your mind. I’m here to teach history—the true history, even if it’s not what you were taught.” He picked his bag up from where he had placed it on the floor and put it on the desk. “I want you to know that if you have any questions or want to meet up outside of class to discuss everything in more detail, then I’m more than happy to go through this without all the other students being there to torment you.”
“Thanks,” I said, unsure if I wanted to agree, but not sure if I really had a choice.
“Well, the offer is always there. And I want you to think about what they told you in class today. After all, how many times do the human history books lie about what really happened.”
All. The. Time.
6
Of course I didn’t take Seth up on his offer for tutoring. He may have appeared to be honest, but I didn’t trust anyone, anymore. Well, I still trusted my sister, Brody, and my family, but that was about it. Something was going on, and I was no longer sure I was on the right side of the fight.
My stomach churned as I made my way toward the gym located at the end of the building. The distance I had to travel between classes was enough exercise. I didn’t need any more. However, it was part of the curriculum, and I had to suck it up and build up some sweat. That meant I was going to have to talk to the Darks and join whatever team sport we were going to play.
The thought of being anywhere near the Darks made me feel sick, not just because I was brought up to be disgusted by them, but because I had a sneaking suspicion they weren’t entirely lying about their truth.
So far, Nova was the exception.
I opened the door to the gym and stopped in my tracks, trying to work out what I was seeing. Two guys stood in the middle of the gym floor, going blow for blow against each other with everything they had, including magic.
Dark magic.
Battle magic—against each other.
That was the one thing we were banned from doing while we were at NSA. Yet, there they were, using it despite the wards that were supposedly up, protecting us from one another.
At least forty people sat in the bleaches around them, cheering them on, roaring with excitement when the bigger guy sent a bolt of energy resembling lightening at the little guy, who ducked out of the way just in time to avoid a trip to the infirmary.
I turned around to leave because I’d clearly walked into the wrong room when I came face to face with a guy who took my breath away. He was a good foot taller than me, with dark hair, blue eyes, broad shoulders, and one hell of an arrogant look about him. “Get out of my way,” I growled.
“No can do.” He grabbed my wrist, pulling it toward him, turning my palm face up, and then slashing a blade across my skin before I noticed what he was doing.
“Motherfucker,” I said, my eyes going wide with rage, as I tried to pull my hand away, but he was too strong.
Lifting my other hand, I was about to punch him with magic that would put him through the wall behind him and also the next, but someone grabbed my other hand, twisting it behind me, making me incapable of performing the spell. “What the hell are you doing?” I asked, glancing over my shoulder at the burly guy who’d incapacitated me.
“What’s necessary.” Blue Eyes pocketed the blade then smashed his already sliced hand against my bleeding palm. “Intra circulum ligare.”
My heart stopped as his words registered in my mind. I had read that spell before. Never used it, but definitely read about it. Again, it was not something the Lights allowed. He’d just made it impossible for me to tell anyone outside the walls of this room what happened on the inside.
It took pinky swear to a whole other level.
The hulking guy behind me released his grip on my other wrist at the same time as Blue Eyes let me go.
I yanked it against me, wiping the blood off on my top, grateful I’d worn black and wouldn’t have to explain how or why there was blood smeared across my clothes.
Opening my palm, I stared down at the slice across my skin then muttered the spell that would close over the wound. Within seconds, it was no longer bleeding, but it still hurt like a bitch. I didn’t have any spell that would alleviate the pain. Apparently, that was something all Witches had to feel. There was no getting around it.
At least it was no longer bleeding, and I could carry on without having to worry about it. And carry on I did.
Raising my gaze to the pretty boy standing before me with a smirk on his face, I threw my hands toward him. He flew into the wall behind him, just hard enough to crack the plaster.
Unfazed, he stood and brushed the plaster dust from him. “Okay, I deserved that.” He strode closer to me, his blue eyes locked on mine. “But if you ever do that again—”
I took a step toward him. “You’ll do what?”
A grin played on his lips. “I’m sure you can use your imagination.”
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to kick him in the balls or ask him on a date. Because that grin…
No.
No date.
I was in Dark territory, and he was a Dark.
And I had a boyfriend.
Who for the life of me, I couldn’t remember his name.
There was something so alluring about this guy standing before me, his intoxicating scent tugging at a primal part of me that wanted to lay claim to something that was not mine.
I released a shuddered breath, trying to get him out from under my skin.
I was not primal. I was a Light, not a Dark.
And I needed to remember how I was raised. I needed to be better than this. He couldn’t be trusted, and it seemed I couldn’t be trusted around him, either.
He leaned down and whispered, “Are you going to move?”
I scowled. “I’m not moving for you. Go around.”
He chuckled then had the audacity to wrap his hands around my waist and physically move me. And once again, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to kick him in the balls or melt into a puddle. But I didn’t have time to contemplate my dilemma when I was reminded of why I wanted to get out of this gym in the first place.
Standing in the middle of the gym were two new people, one guy and one girl, ready to fight. The blood drained from my face when the teacher blew the whistle, and the two of them attacked, using magic and their bodies to knock the shit out of each other.
Night Shade Academy Page 3
