by Jaymin Eve
The halls were bustling as we walked through, new year enthusiasm at an all-time high. It would die down as the year got underway and the hard work started, but for now there was excitement in the air. Especially for the first years, who were stepping up into this new school. Sure, most of them had come from the junior school nearby, but the Academy was so much more. The big leagues.
“What classes do you have this morning?” Larissa asked as we crossed the huge commons area. Plenty of students were already ordering breakfast, chatting with friends. It was noisy.
I pictured my Wednesday timetable. “Sports Bonding at nine,” I said with a frown. I hadn’t chosen that, so it must be mandatory.
Larissa nodded. “Oh yeah, everyone has that this year. It’s Dad’s new bonding exercise. Literally. There will be exercise and team activities and … a bunch of things.”
She didn’t look that happy about it, but I loved physical activity. I was pretty good at most sports and was somewhat excited to see what this would bring.
“Even third and fourth years?” I asked. My guys were a year older than me, in their third year.
Larissa nodded. “Yep. The Atlantean-five will be there as well, don’t worry. This is absolutely mandatory for all students.”
She muttered something under her breath like We’ll see how long that lasts, which had me chuckling.
We were almost at Princeps Jones office, so I quickly rattled off my other classes today. “Before lunch I have Sword and Sorcery and after I have Advanced Attack and Defense.”
Larissa’s eyes got very wide. “Oh, girl! You chose A and D. That’s very badass of you. Let me guess … Ilia suggested it.”
“Uh, yeah,” I said hesitantly, wondering if I’d made a mistake.
Larissa chuckled, holding the door open to her father’s office. “No, seriously. It’s an amazing class, but it’s also very full-on. Students train and fight against each other. You will learn how to take care of yourself and your safety.” She paused. “Come to think of it, with your life, it’s probably the perfect class for you.”
She wasn’t wrong.
“Maddi,” Princeps Jones said, stepping forward with his arms outstretched. “How are you? Please come in.”
As I moved further into his wood-lined office, a smile already on my face for the handsome vampire, I noticed the second figure in the room.
“Louis!” I shouted, hurrying forward and throwing my arms around the powerful sorcerer.
In some ways I owed Louis my life. I definitely owed him my freedom. I’d been a prisoner to my insane powers until he’d fashioned a pendant strong enough to keep me from blowing shit up.
“How’s your power?” he asked as we pulled back. “Had any problems with it?”
I shook my head, dropping my satchel down by the chair. “No, it’s actually been really good. I mean, occasionally if my emotions get too heightened I start to feel my control slipping, but so far the necklace is working.”
He dropped his eyes to the wave-like stone that rested against my skin, and he nodded. “That’s great to hear. I haven’t forgotten about your training—don’t worry, but that’s not why I’m here today.”
I hadn’t been worried. So far his pendant was working perfectly, and I didn’t really want to leave school for weeks or months to learn to control my power, so I wasn’t going to push him.
“What are you here for, then?” I asked.
His purple eyes glittered, his grin amused. “By the way, I love the purple hair,” he said instead of answering my question. “Maybe I’ll look into that as a future color for me.”
Pink stained my cheeks, and I wondered if he knew that his eye color—and everything he’d done for me—had factored a little into the color for this new year. “So far, the year of purple has started out perfectly,” I told him. “Couldn’t recommend this color more.”
His grin widened, and again I was struck by how handsome he was. Not like Asher. Louis was more … refined—in a supermodel kind of way. It wasn’t my preference, but teamed with his power, it packed a punch.
“So, the fact that you’re here usually doesn’t mean good news,” I said, taking a seat across from Princeps Jones. Larissa sat next to me, and Louis remained standing. “If it’s not my training, then it has to be about Atlantis?”
Louis dropped his grin completely, and my stomach was immediately in knots. Oh shit.
“It is about Atlantis,” he said.
I wasn’t surprised. Atlantis rising again was the biggest news in the supernatural world. Our school had been flooded with hundreds of supes, all of them requesting information from me and my guys. They all wanted to know what had happened when we’d been down there and what we’d learned from the different Atlanteans we’d met. Eventually I’d magically recorded my information so that Princeps Jones could just hand it out.
The supernatural world didn’t really have media the same way humans did, but they still reported the news around their communities.
“Has it risen?” I asked Louis, unease tinging my words. My fate was irrevocably tied to this world, and not knowing what that meant was killing me. “Have you seen it?”
Louis shook his head. “It hasn’t risen yet, and that’s the issue. I’ve spoken to Connor and what’s left of the Arterians—they’re basically living on a houseboat near the alleged site—and he has no idea what’s causing this delay. It should be above the surface by now.”
I swallowed roughly. “Is it a bad thing if it doesn’t rise?”
Louis was thoughtful. I liked that before he answered he actually considered all the information he possessed, piecing together the many, many thoughts in his head. “There’s no stopping the rise,” he finally said, “that much is clear. With that in mind, the delay is concerning me—that’s an awful lot of energy and magic and history stuck there between worlds. I’m worried how this is going to affect the ley lines … how it’s going to affect the supernatural communities … how it’s going to impact Faerie. Because that land, more than anything else on Earth, was closely tied to Atlantis. Ever since last year, I’ve been gathering information on Atlantis, but there’s very little in the wider community.”
I shook my head, frustration gripping me. “We need the library.”
“Are you any closer?” he asked.
“No,” I said shortly. “No one can figure out its location.” A sigh escaped. “I’m starting to wonder if Asher’s family didn’t move it again when he was born for some reason, and it’s not on Academy grounds at all.”
Louis looked thoughtful but didn’t say anything else about the library.
“I told Connor there was no point in you heading to the site yet. If Atlantis has not risen, you would just be wasting time waiting. Best that you stay here and continue your education.”
I was more than a little relieved by this news. “He can contact me if something happens,” I said, and Louis nodded.
“Yes, he’s agreed to those terms.”
We wrapped up the rest of the meeting quickly, and I was glad for the update—however small—about Atlantis. Now it was time for me to enjoy my first day of the new year at school.
For the first time in my life, school excited me.
6
Larissa and I made it into the commons with twenty minutes to spare before the first assembly. We wouldn’t have long for breakfast, but it would be enough time to eat something. I’d grown pretty accustomed to my four square meals a day—second breakfast was totally a thing—I needed at least a snack.
It was packed this morning as we made our way to the table the Atlantean-five had claimed—apparently since their first day of year one. It was unspoken, but everyone knew not to sit there. Everyone except me back on my first day. Jesse had schooled me, and I’d schooled him right back. Which apparently was enough for him to put me in the “interesting” category. Shifters loved fire, and I had it in spades, but Jesse didn’t make my heart race like Asher. No one I’d ever met made me feel like Asher.<
br />
“Feels like a lifetime ago I first sat at this table,” I said, shaking my head at the memories.
Larissa laughed. “So much has changed. Remember how big of an asshole Rone was?”
My eyes almost rolled out of my head. “God, I could have throat punched him twice the moment he first opened his mouth.”
“Not talking about me, are you?” Rone’s deep voice came from right behind us and I jumped about a foot in the air. Larissa, on the other hand, just swung around and shoved him hard. “Don’t use your vampire skills to sneak up on Maddi. She doesn’t have our advantage with that.”
It warmed my heart when she stuck up for me. Family. It was my theme for this year.
Rone’s hands wrapped around Larissa’s tiny biceps and he yanked her closer to him. “You didn’t mind my vampire ‘skills’ last night.”
My jaw dropped open and I looked between the two of them. As far as I knew, nothing had happened between Larissa and Rone outside of her massive crush on him. Her cheeks were pink, but she didn’t smile. “He’s joking,” she said through gritted teeth. “The only thing we did last night was join in the hunt.”
Rone shot me a toothy grin, a hint of fangs there. I was used to that and his cold energy now. All the vampires had a similar feel, but Rone’s was very strong. “She wasn’t complaining when I saved her from a snowdrift. It would have completely covered her.”
Larissa jerked herself back before turning and stomping off. Rone watched her, a confused expression on his beautiful golden face. He was all golds and blonds and silvers, except for his clothing. There he stuck to the clichéd black outfits.
“You’re an idiot,” I told him. “Just don’t be sad if you wait too long and she finds someone who appreciates her.” His face morphed into a scary scowl, but I wasn’t done. “The old pulling-a-girl’s-pigtails-to-get-their-attention is not a good look. Be the supe she needs. Fight for your girl or fuck right the hell off and let her go.”
I swung around and left a clueless and bewildered Rone standing in the middle of the commons. Idiot. Men were such idiots at times.
Larissa took a seat next to Axl, who had multiple books open in front of him. Axl never stopped studying—advancing his magic. He was the smartest supe I knew, and I often wondered why he was still in school when he’d tested out of every single class here.
No doubt he stayed to be near his brothers.
“What ya studying?” I asked him, dropping into the chair across from him.
Calen, who was at the table also, threw an arm around me, giving me a lazy hug. “He’s calculating the magic that changes the weather in here,” he answered for Axl, who was too wrapped up in his books to even look up. “Apparently he’s hypothesizing that it’s fueled by the magic of the students and teachers in the Academy.”
“It’s far less volatile during the holiday periods,” Axl murmured, jotting more numbers and figures into his book. “I think I can figure out how to stop it completely, but it would require a mass evacuation of the school.”
Apparently a weather spell went awry many years ago, and now there was volatile weather inside the Academy grounds at all times. The weather often changed hourly … sometimes even more frequently. Today it was raining, and the shield was up over the commons, keeping us dry. It was freaking freezing though, and I wished I’d worn my heavier jacket.
Leaving Axl to his experiment, Larissa and I ordered something that would be quick and easy—French toast for me and bagels for her—before we settled back to wait.
Jesse ran up a minute later and took the other seat beside me, boxing me between him and Calen. “What did Princeps Jones have to say this morning?” he asked, locking me into his green-eyed gaze. “Bad news?”
Love for him rose up inside of me. He cared so much. Shifters—he was a lion—were pack creatures, and they loved fiercely. Sometimes too fiercely.
“No, it was mainly about Atlantis. Louis was there. He told me that it’s not rising like they expected. It’s … stuck or something. They’re investigating, but at least I don’t have to visit the site yet. Nothing to see and therefore no reason for me to make an appearance.”
“Does Connor know?” Jesse asked in a rumble, and I was forcibly reminded that he was a predator. I could practically see the lion in his eyes.
I nodded. “Yep. Connor is going to contact me whenever it starts moving again. Louis bought me time, which means I get to go and enjoy school for a while.”
“Second year is challenging,” Axl said, still absentminded but clearly listening as well. “It’s quite the step up from the beginner classes. It’s good that you won’t be missing these early lessons.”
It wasn’t the first time I’d heard how challenging the second year was. “Now that my powers are unlocked, surely that’s going to make it easier on me.”
Axl finally lifted his head and I stared into the silvery gold of his eyes. They were piercing and uniquely stunning. “You’re strong, powerful, and determined. But your powers are very new and you don’t practice using them enough. You still fear them. That’s going to be an issue as you get into more advanced magic.”
The conversation around the table dried up. I tried not to let that depressing thought sink into my soul. “Way to help her confidence,” Jesse growled. “The last thing she needs is to worry about shit that hasn’t even happened yet.”
Axl’s features twisted in confusion. “Uh, I didn’t … that wasn’t what—shit.” He cursed a few more times under his breath. “I’m so sorry, Mads.” Axl didn’t always understand social cues and norms. His brain was very factual; that’s how he presented information to the world. Sometimes it was blunt and hurt, but he was rarely wrong.
I also accepted him as he was and would never ask him to change.
I patted his hand. “Don’t even worry about it. The truth is always the most important thing you can give me. Keep doing you.”
He shot me a grateful smile that faded as his eyes locked on something above us. Something to do with the weather no doubt, since that was his current obsession. He was back to writing in his book again, and I joined in the conversation, eating my breakfast and trying my best not to worry about the future.
After the quick meal, we made our way to the large hall where the assembly was held. It was a room I had only been in once before—at my first year welcome assembly.
“Your Attack and Defense classes will be here this year,” Larissa said. “They stack all the chairs up and use the whole space for sparring and training.”
“I’m pretty excited for that class,” I admitted. “I hate that I’m behind in fighting.”
Most supes learned from near birth how to fight and defend themselves.
Jesse wrapped his heavy-ass arm across my shoulder, yanking me into his side. “You’ll be kicking ass in no time, Mads. You’ve already got power and athletic ability. You just need to learn the techniques.”
I hoped he was right, because this was a dangerous world, and I couldn’t keep relying solely on my powers.
“You wanna sit near the front?” I asked Larissa. She liked to be close to her father—moral support and all that.
Calen cleared his throat. “Yeah, nah. Front row is for first years.”
Rone made a low rumbling sound from behind us, a mix between a growl and a snarl. It was almost his calling card, he made it so often. “We can make an exception for Larissa,” he said with soft menace … his “don’t fuck with me” voice.
Calen lifted an eyebrow and, when Rone wasn’t looking, exchanged a grin with me. I was trying hard not to laugh, because apparently Rone had decided that he was no longer wooing Larissa by pulling her metaphorical pigtails. He was taking my advice.
I couldn’t wait to see how the rest of the year unraveled.
7
Just as Princeps Jones walked onto the stage, my phone buzzed in my pocket. Wondering if it was Ilia, I pulled it out.
Asher: Finished with my meeting. Be there in five.
&nb
sp; It was almost embarrassing how excited that made me.
Me: We’re sitting in front. Much to Calen’s disgust.
I added a bunch of rolling eyes and laughing emojis. Those stupid little faces were almost my favorite thing about phones.
Asher: Save me a seat. Right. The fuck. Next to you. If Jesse is there, tell him to move his ass.
Oh God, I could practically hear his rumbly voice in that message. Jealous bastard.
He had absolutely nothing to worry about though.
Me: Maybe we should ditch school for the day. You can be as close as you want then…
I was tempting the devil when I really couldn’t ditch, but teasing Asher was a new favorite game of mine.
Asher: I can still taste you. Hear that sound you make when I run my tongue along your wet pus—
“Welcome! Welcome!” Princeps Jones shouted, interrupting me while I was about to combust in my seat. Asher was getting better with sexting, but seriously, I could not have an orgasm right here. So I put my phone away.
“I’m delighted to welcome first years and all the rest of you back for another year at the Academy.” The princeps waved his hands inclusively.
With my face flaming red, I tried to focus on the stage. Most of the Academy teachers were gathered behind him, and I was so happy to see many familiar faces. Striker, my first year Sword and Sorcery teacher, stood a good head above everyone else, looking badass as always. Quark, one of the rare demi-fey that taught here at the Academy, stood near the front. He was a troll, so he was short and stocky, his features unusual enough that you’d never mistake him for human. But he was blunt and cool—one of my favorite teachers.
Princeps Jones remained center stage. “Normally I’d go over the rules, explaining what to expect over the next twelve months at the Academy, but this year … well, a lot has changed.” He paused and took a moment to look across the almost silent auditorium. “Many of you will be aware that rumors of Atlantis rising are racing across the supernatural world. None of us know what this will mean for the supernatural communities … if it will change the dynamics of our races.”
