Dude, really fucking glares daggers at me. Instantly, all previous inappropriate thoughts evaporate.
What’s his problem?
I’m shocked for a second but break out further into giggles. When he’s within talking distance, I hear him say, “in your dreams, sweetheart.”
Those four words stop me in my tracks. “Sweetheart?”
“You heard me,” he says in a tone that bites back.
I glance forward to verify that Josh is still oblivious before looking pointedly at his small cloth and replying with as much venom as I can muster given the circumstance, “I think I’m good, Sweetheart.”
At first, I don’t think he heard, but when his gaze meets mine again for the briefest moment, contempt is written all over his face.
I have the strongest urge to yell more hurtful words at him, but we’re all saved from that embarrassing display when the Jeep surges forward. I watch as that asshole is picked up by his brothers like he’s crowd surfing, just to throw a middle finger my direction—which I gleefully return—before he’s tossed into the shallow end of the small decorative pond across the road.
Hope you can swim, Sweetheart.
THE END
Thanks for reading Campus Tour! If you enjoyed this prequel in the University of Fae series, Nova’s story continues in book one, Rush Week, available here: https://books2read.com/u/bPXMox
About Bre Lockhart
Bre Lockhart is an Urban Fantasy and Sci-Fi author who lives in Tulsa, OK with her devilishly-handsome husband, two kids who are too clever for their own good, and a small pack of furry family members. Bre loves the outdoors and traveling and can’t wait to live near real mountains again one day. As an ENTJ, she’s convinced that networking is her superpower and she’s pissed that she didn’t get something cooler—invisibility, for example.
Bre also writes poetry and adventure mysteries under two pen names, but you’ll have to follow her on social media to get more info about all those secrets…
Connect With Bre Lockhart
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/authorbrelockhart
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Also By Bre Lockhart
UNIVERSITY OF FAE SERIES
Campus Tour (Prequel)
Rush Week
Pledge Class (Coming Soon!)
* * *
USERS & NONS SERIES
Releases 2021
* * *
BRIMSTONE PR SERIES
Releases 2021
* * *
NON-FICTION
Eating Authors: 100 Writers’ Most Memorable Meals
*All proceeds from this non-fiction anthology benefit the Science Fiction Writers of America Emergency Medical Fund and cancer research
Atherna Academy: Cycle Zero, The Inheritance
Zelda Knight
Blurb
Goddess-in-training, Paloma Jing, waited all her life for the day she’d be swooped up by Messengers and delivered to Atherna Academy’s celestial gates. But, when the day comes on her eighteenth birthday, dread, not euphoria fills her heart.
With her pet owl Nyx by her side, Paloma registers for cycles, hoping to become an immortal. Only then will she determine the fate of her world. However, things don’t go as planned. Not one but two Zodiac Knights are assigned to her unit, the Gemini-aligned rebel celestials Ramses and Adonis!
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“Atherna Academy: Cycle Zero, The Inheritance” is a new adult sci-fantasy reverse harem academy romance short story, the prelude to an exciting new series set at the premiere institution for gods and goddesses-in training.
1
Paloma
Tonight, I become a star.
It is said every twenty-thousand years, a child is chosen from the human world as an offering to the gods destined to ascend to the highest rank there is in the universe—immortal. I am that child. I was groomed for this day, stowed away in my human mother’s basement to be handed over to the winged men that flank our front door now, blocking out the setting sun.
Messengers will come for you, Paloma, anoint you in stardust, and deliver you to your eternal Father where you will rule Earth as a goddess from the heavens. That’s what Mother whispered into my ear every night since I could remember. I was born for this very day, bred for it even like the cattle and sheep and pigs that live on the farm with us in our tiny slice of paradise. But, the last six years have been the worst in my life, preparing my mind, body, and spirit for four arduous years at Atherna Academy where the fate of the world would be decided. Every lesson drilled into me by Mother was all in the hopes that I would be selected, that I would become a Goddess, and that I would curry favor with All to save my home here on Earth. My destiny was written in the stars before I even took my first breath, cultivated day in and day out in absolute seclusion. So why am I so overcome with fear that words leave me, and I can barely stand? Why do I cower behind my mother like I’m still a little girl as the Messengers step forward and grab me to summon me back ‘home’ in the realm above ours?
“Calm down, Paloma. Calm down! Accept your destiny, my child! You were selected! You were chosen over every other little girl! You did it, Paloma! You’re going to save the world!” Mother yells at me as I struggle in their firm arms. Both men are taller than any human I’ve ever encountered, though I can count all the other humans I have ever seen other than Mother and me on my fingers. Even so, I know they are giants, the elaborate bone-white ram-shaped horns on their golden helmets scraping the ceiling. I can’t see their expressions. A thick slab of speckled stone reminiscent of granite covers their faces. Even their eyes are hidden away, though I know deep down they can see me. Would I see contempt in their gaze if I could remove their face shields, immortals sent to a tiny farm on planet Earth to take me away? Or would I see compassion for the impossible situation I’m in? I don’t know, and I will never know, as one Messenger hoists me up by both arms and holds me suspended in the air.
A pail filled with freshly squeezed milk splatters on the wooden floor. I squeal in shock as one giant flings me over his shoulder while the other watches. Or, at least I think he does as he comes to face me on the other side. He reaches upward, waving the palm of his hand in front of me in intricate semi-circles and sharp, hard lines. A spell, perhaps? I assume as much as he parts my thick dark blue hair and places his thumb on the center of my forehead. I flinch, coughing, choking, and then sobbing as the anointing ceremony ends as soon as it begins. He pulls away, murmuring in some ancient tongue unknown to me, and walks away. Then, to my surprise, Mother appears in front of me, taking the Messengers place, and she is...crying?
“M-mother?” I whisper, ashamed of my own tears for some reason I can’t name. I desperately want her to save me from them, to pull me into her arms and demand I stay on Earth with her. What are the odds I can truly become a goddess if I enter Atherna Academy? Slim to none, basically nonexistent. The last human woman to ascend to goddesshood was over forty-thousand years ago! It’s impossible for me. They’ll never select me! I won’t make it to the end of the last cycle, maybe not even the first cycle, and then what? A fate worse than death if my limited textbooks are to be believed.
But instead of compassion for me, or even a glimmer of determination to set me free, I see a manic glee take over Mother’s dark brown eyes, the same distorted expression I had become so used to over the years. She is crying. That is true. Her tears leak onto her dingy, faded yellow sundress and stain it clear. But when I look past her tears, I see her true emotions. Joy, satisfaction, vindication, even. No one thought I could make it, not even Mother at times. But the Messengers are proof that she succeeded where all else had failed—she had prod
uced an heir worthy of selection to become a goddess-in-training. Her inheritance was bestowed upon me, in my blood, as a direct descendant of the last goddess to come from Earth. At least, that’s what I’ve been told.
As Mother cups my face with her shaky hands, whispering to me all sorts of encouragement and affection I missed for six long, bitter years of my childhood, devoid of much joy and stripped of even my name, an emotion I never felt before rises up from my gut and consumes my whole body and heart. Hate! At this moment, I hate Mother. I hate Earth! I hate the gods and goddesses, and all other celestial beings in-between! And most of all, I hate the promise of Atherna Academy that has robbed me of even the small joys I had in life since I was twelve and would rob me of four more years if I survived that long. My head hangs low, and I close my eyes, blocking out Mother and the Messengers, my raging emotions and creeping despair. I feel confused, afraid, and enraged, and so many more emotions that swirl around in the pit of my stomach until I don’t feel anything anymore. I am empty, and so alone.
Mother removes her sweaty palms from my tear-stained cheeks, voice curt and hostile as she speaks in a strange language with the giants who have come to hand deliver me to Atherna. Gone is the glimpse of my old mother. This is Mother, the one who has disciplined me to think that the only worth I have is in the arms of an immortal. As the Messengers begin to leave, taking me with them, I suddenly find my backbone and my voice, and I speak. I won’t leave without the only thing that’s still important to me.
“Wait!” I shout, struggling in the giant’s arms once more whose flaming yellow hair cascades down his backside in waves. His partner pauses, ebony skin shimmering with what can only be compared to diamonds, shoulder-length curly jet-black hair waving in slow motion.
“Speak,” they say at once in English. I tremble with fear, uncertain if I should be making any demands. But when I take one look at Mother as the Golden Messenger with translucent skin sets me back down on my feet, I find my nerve again.
“Not without Nyx, Mother,” I demand, glowering first at her and then up at them. “I won’t leave without him.”
2
Ramses
Tomorrow, I will find a way to destroy the universe and all the wretched beings in it. But first, I have to register for my last cycle and continue my charade as a servant of the gods and goddesses, as a perfect student. I walk meticulously up a stairwell that spirals downward for what feels like an eternity, lower than anything even my eyes can process. On either side of the stairwell are twin shards of magick—one black and one white—representing the balance of power in our galaxy. I have walked on this path, and flown it when I was tired, for as long as I can remember. Since my creation, I have had one task, to protect the Great Cosmogram and the gods and goddesses that uphold the order of the universe. That same Cosmogram groans under the weight of Time below, a swirling pool of aether that makes up the building blocks of All. It is the heart of the universe, the source of its patrons and patroness's power, and of our unique magick too, born of it like a child through the prayers of the immortals. But their time is coming to an end, and that of the Cosmogram itself. And with the help of my fellow Messenger, Adonis, that time when we usher in a new universe can be sooner rather than later.
As if he can hear my thoughts through the void, he swoops down and lands beside me on my journey back to the surface of our realm. Removing his helmet, he shakes his head, and his flaming locks of golden hair cool until they are pale yellow. He looks to me, blue eyes shining with mirth. I grin over at him, his good mood infectious. Despite the war ahead, I do feel as happy as he looks. It’s been too long since I had anything close to free will, and for once, I am making a choice to move in my truth.
“We should’ve never signed ourselves up for the Order of the Capricorn. These guys are way too hardcore!” Adonis whines, throwing his arm over my shoulder as his wings recede. “How about we stop for some nectar of the gods before we head over to the academy, hm? It won’t hurt to unwind before we’re assigned to some overdressed brat desperate to become an immortal like us.”
I shake my head no, even though I can’t resist laughing. Getting wasted before our first combat trials of the cycle is a bad idea but getting wasted when we’d soon have an inexperienced godling to babysit is even more so. “No, Adonis. You know there’s a chance we’ll be assigned a god or goddess to look after soon.”
He sighs dramatically, white wings popping back out as he jumps off the steps and takes to the air. I shrug, dive off the edge of the stairwell, and fly after him, black wings catching the wind emitted from the aether. It's a by-product of eternal magick that's quite useful when you're running late for your first day like we are.
“Tell me again why we have to pretend to be normal trainees at Atherna if we’re going to blow the whole thing to bits anyway?” Adonis shouts over his shoulder, never one to be discreet even in the midst of planning an uprising.
“Lower your voice!” I shout back at him, even though I'm one-hundred percent certain no one can hear him. With all the new trainees surely flooding into the academy, our individual thoughts and words will be scrambled up with thousands of godlings and go unheard, just like the billions of prayers offered from the humans down below on the dying planet called Earth.
“Whatever you say, Ramses! But if we’re to continue playing the dutiful Messengers, the least we can do is not be late!” He yells back, speeding away, far above the horizon as we breach the pit where the Cosmogram is located, emerging in a field of rolling clouds and bright stars.
I catch up with him with some effort, sweat rolling down my black skin like a filthy human. The flight is excruciating. My wings feel heavy and my body like lead. Ever since returning to the celestial realm from Earth, I have felt this way, absolutely drained. But Adonis is right that we shouldn’t be too late. For over twelve cycles, we have never been paired with any godling, simply training for the day that we would. We have always strived for excellence and delivered. But the wrong godling can throw off our carefully laid plans on the cusp of coming to fruition. The chances are slim. But, if on the off chance this cycle, we are paired and potentially separated, it would be best to leave a good impression. We’ll need it to foster a champion, or champions, to reclaim what was lost and then stolen by the gods.
The stage is set for our revenge. Our time is now. And a naïve godling to train into a force of nature would just be a bonus if we can mould them in our image. But why do I have the sneaking suspicion that something isn’t quite...right? I feel strange as we soar over the celestial gates and land in front of the main entrance to Atherna Academy. Unlike gods and goddesses-in-training, Messengers like Adonis and I have special clearances to enter the academy without going through the gates. We are its guardians, after all, sworn to protect those within it, and our potential immortal god or goddess most of all. The whole system makes me sick, forced to risk our lives for some ungrateful being from a faraway realm vying for power, only to be cast aside when they fall into the arms of another. But soon, that will all come to an end. With Adonis’s help and that of the Constellation Coalition, the old ways will give way to the new.
“Ramses, look,” Adonis says, astonished, tugging at my wrists as we make a beeline for registration. I turn to face what he’s looking at, surprised to see what appears to be an owl pecking at various godlings. But on closer inspection, I see why Adonis’s voice lifts in confusion. The magickal animal wouldn’t be out of place here, where so many creatures that make up the Milky Way’s myths are created. Yet I know this owl is the very same owl that human woman requested.
“What was her name again, Adonis?” I ask him as we walk in the direction of the frantic crowd fleeing the owl's sharp talons. Just as we’re about to reach her, I pause, time itself slowing to a crawl. There’s no mistaking her blue hair so dark it appears black, or her ivory skin and beautiful misty silver eyes. It’s her, the direct descendant of the Moon! The girl we took from Earth to bring to the academy! Without the re
straints of the Order on me to block out her magick, it is clear to me that doomsday is coming, but not in the way I was thinking. Because this girl could spell the end to all of our carefully laid plans. Because this godling, Paloma, may be our fated mate. And if so, I cannot bear to see her die in the reckoning to come. Not because I love her. It is too soon to speak of anything like 'love.' But because of the gods' damned magick, I am drawn to her as surely as Adonis is, a lovesick pup who'll defend their owner no matter what. If she is our goddess, and we are meant to serve her, we cannot go against her every wish and command. And who would wish for death in the coming war?
3
Paloma
The celestial gates of Atherna Academy are less stunning than I was led to believe or imagined them to be. In my dreams, the gates were taller than the tallest mountain peaks I saw in my geography textbooks, and more glorious than all the wonders of the world combined and then some. Atherna’s gates are indeed taller than my mind can even wrap around, a beautiful shimmering silver color that’s almost blinding. But face to face, they pale in comparison to the palace beyond it, even more mesmerizing than anything in my wildest imagination. It glows every shade of the rainbow, perfectly balanced, a delicately controlled chaos. Colors I can’t even describe are reflected in the unique stones that make up the academy. The tidal wave of color is already overwhelming, made even more so by the elegant uniforms of the other trainees entering the gates alongside me.
Starlight & Shadows: A Limited Edition Academy Collection by Laura Greenwood, Arizona Tape, Juliana Haygert, Kat Parrish, Ashley McLeo, L.C. Mawson, Leigh Kelsey, Bre Lockhart, Zelda Knight Page 33
