Daring Provocation (Shadow Veil Academy Book 3)

by Heather Renee

  Lyssa was with us until we arrived at her floor, just one below ours, but I didn’t pay attention to anything they may or may not have been chatting about on the way up. Instead, I did my best not to have a panic attack.

  When we no longer had an audience, Enzo’s face appeared right in front of mine. “What’s wrong?” Lines creased his forehead, and he shook with barely contained power.

  “I can’t go with you. I can’t go to the next class,” I murmured in hopes of calming him down some.

  “What do you mean? Are you sick?” His hands roamed my body, seeming to be searching for something, but there was nothing to find. Nothing physical, anyway.

  Whatever was wrong with me was on the inside.

  Instead of asking more questions when I didn’t answer, Enzo grasped my hand, surprising me by not picking me up, and led us inside the dorm. Once we were seated on the couch, he twisted both of us, so we were facing each other.

  “Please explain whatever has you so scared, so I can fix it,” he pleaded.

  My head shook. “You can’t fix this. Whatever is wrong is inside me. The gardens won’t let me in without trying to kill me.”

  This caused his lips to turn up, but he did his best to hide his amusement at my statement. “I don’t understand. The gardens only ward out evil, and there is nothing sinister about you, Love.”

  “Except for the fact that I was created by Malina,” I countered. “The gardens were one of the first places I tried to explore my first year here. When I entered them, everything was fine for a moment until it wasn’t. I couldn’t breathe as my skin burned from the inside out. I used every bit of strength I had to throw myself back outside the gates before the torture completely consumed me.”

  “Why didn’t you ever tell me this?” he asked softly, finally seeming to take me seriously.

  “I never told anyone. I was ashamed. I’m made from evil, and those gardens proved it.”

  He cupped my face. “No, Raegan. There is nothing evil about you. Malina had a hold on you then that she doesn’t now. Malina wasn’t born evil, and neither were you. Her dark magic probably set the defense systems off in the garden. I doubt it will happen a second time.”

  “But we can’t be certain, and I’m not willing to let the rest of our friends see what I truly am: a creation of darkness.”

  He sighed heavily, giving in to the fact that there was no convincing me otherwise. “What if we show up before everyone else and try? If you still can’t enter the gardens, I’ll teleport us back here before going to class to tell the others we need to move the location.”

  His idea was a good one, and while I was still afraid of the outcome, I nodded in agreement. I needed to move past my fears if I wanted any chance of defeating Malina, and this was a bigger one than I realized.

  “Perfect. Now move your ass into the shower before I toss you over my shoulder.” He winked as he pushed me up.

  When I stood, he followed right behind, but there was no time for fooling around. If he wanted to test his idea, then we needed to hurry, so I shut the door in his face when I entered the bathroom first and ignored his complaints as I took the fastest shower ever.

  Instead of the skirt I’d chosen earlier, I dressed in workout clothes and decided to keep the braid I had recently become fond of. Enzo sped through getting ready as well. He had decided to keep his hair short after cutting it off last fall, and I wasn’t complaining at all, especially when he decided to grow some facial hair. The scruff only added to his sex appeal that I already admired.

  “Ready?” he asked as he tossed a shirt over his head.

  “As I’ll ever be,” I replied, trying to keep my nerves in check.

  Once we were outside of his room, he zapped us to the garden area, which I appreciated; my emotions were frazzled, and I didn’t feel like running into anyone who might want to chat.

  The iron gates of the garden entrance loomed before us, taunting me with their presence. The view of inside was still as stunning as before, but I knew that beauty packed a punch, and I wasn’t sure if I was ready to handle the blow.

  Enzo tugged on my hand. “Come on. I know you can do this. If anything starts to hurt, I’ll be right by your side to bring you back outside the gates.”

  His words were sweet and sincere, but they didn’t make me feel better. Thankfully, I was made of tougher stuff and decided to let go of my fears. Now that Malina no longer had her connection to me, I had to figure out what would happen.

  “I got this,” I said more to myself than Enzo.

  His hand stayed on my back as we stepped through the gates. My body tensed as I felt a wave of magic flow through me, but nothing hurt like before.

  “See? I told you it would be fine. There is nothing evil about you,” Enzo said proudly.

  “Yeah, that’s what I would have thought the last time I was here as well.”

  Before I could really process the fact that everything was okay and the garden wasn’t going to try to kill me, Gemma and Talon appeared.

  “Hey,” Gemma called out, waving enthusiastically.

  When they entered the gardens, I gave her a hug while Enzo and Talon did some weird bromance handshake. They’d grown closer over the summer, finding a common interest in being overprotective brutes to me and Gemma.

  Gemma and Enzo at least got along all the time now. There had been a long while when I was worried he might never live up to her standards for me, but all was forgiven at some point, and I didn’t question it. Instead, I enjoyed a life filled with very little drama within my small circle.

  “This class better be better than the last,” Talon grumbled.

  Gemma elbowed him in the ribs, or possibly the hip. Talon was quite a bit taller than her and made her look ridiculously short when they stood next to each other, even though she wasn’t. He must have been at least six-and-a-half feet tall, which would make almost anyone feel tiny around him.

  “Just because you’re an overachiever at almost everything else, doesn’t mean Phox’s class before was bad. Quit being a baby, deal with the fact that you’re not perfect, and accept that it’s okay,” Gemma droned.

  Well, I guess we all knew what they chatted about during our little break.

  Enzo decided to join in and began to stick up for his friend, but I paid their bickering no attention. Instead, I stepped away from the group and took in the gardens for the first time.

  There was trickling water I could hear in the distance, along with willow trees I badly wanted to curl up and read a good book underneath. The sight of butterflies caught my attention, a couple of them fluttering their wings before landing on a grouping of yellow lilies.

  Phox appeared at my side, but I didn’t let her pull me from the magic I felt pulsing from all of the living resources within the garden.

  “I saw something,” she said quietly, and gone was the tranquility I was beginning to soak up.

  “Are you going to tell me what that was?” I asked calmly.

  “I haven’t decided yet. I need to speak with Ophelia. Technically, I need her permission to disclose any vision until she retires.”

  My head turned toward Phox. “And if she doesn’t give consent?”

  “Well, then you’ll know how much I like to push my luck when I make my choice. I’ll have to go back to Drakken, so I’ll be gone for a couple of weeks.”

  “What about our training?” I asked. We’d only had one training session. It wasn’t like we could do it ourselves when a portion of our class couldn’t even do what she’d asked of us earlier in the day.

  “Marek will take over the first one, and Alistair will share this class with Marek. You’ll meet your other teacher later today after lunch.”

  I nodded. “Sounds like you already have it all worked out.”

  She smirked. “Well, not quite yet, but that’s how it will work out when I tell the headmaster I have to go.”

  Laughing, I rolled my eyes. “Pretty sure that was just you telling me a vision.”


  “Eh. The small ones don’t count. Anyway, no more slacking. We have work to do. I need to cram two weeks’ worth of torture into two hours.”

  My groan was audible enough to draw Enzo’s attention, and he was at my side in a split second. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing, Dear. Professor Phox just has exciting plans for us.” My voice dripped with sarcasm as Phox walked away laughing.

  As I went with Enzo back to the group, I realized everyone else had arrived while I’d been talking with Phox, which meant whatever she had planned for us was about to start.

  “Follow me, peasants.” Phox waved her hand as she walked farther into the gardens.

  We’d been going for a solid five minutes, and I began to wonder just how big the area was, so I asked as much.

  Lyssa was the first to answer. “The gardens are about as big as Central Park, right around eight hundred acres. The entire outside of the area is cloaked, so you can’t tell the true size unless you’re inside it.”

  Huh. So, it was like the inside of the academy with all its levels and rooms you couldn’t see from the outside.

  Another ten minutes passed before we finally arrived in an open meadow area surrounded by looming pine trees, completely blocking out the rest of the gardens. The grass beneath my feet was thick and short like it was constantly landscaped, but I didn’t even bother asking. Just like when I first arrived at Shadow Veil and the answer to all of my questions was magic, I assumed the care of the gardens was the same.

  “Everyone, remove your shoes and take a seat,” Phox announced.

  Nobody argued with her, and we sat in a semicircle, waiting for further instructions.

  “As some of you realized earlier, magic is a lot more than what you were born with. Even humans could tap into it if they knew what they were doing. In the mornings, you will continue to push your limits beyond the possible, and while you’re here, you’ll learn how to draw power from what’s around when you’re weakening.”

  Nobody said anything; we all just sat there in shock. There had to be some sort of twist. Professor Phox made it all sound so easy when I knew it would be nothing but.

  “How are we going to learn to draw power?” Finley asked, finally breaking the minute-long silence.

  “You’re going to become one with nature.” Phox smirked, and I knew this was where things would get complicated.

  “And how do we do that?” Finley continued to push for more information.

  “I get to bury each of you within the earth, and you have to work your way out before suffocating to death.”

  Phox certainly knew how to keep those around her on their toes. While I wasn’t looking forward to having dirt in all crevices of my body, I was curious about how it felt to become “one with nature,” so I raised my hand and volunteered first.

  She wouldn’t actually let me die.

  At least, I hoped not.

  But the look of terror on Enzo’s face told me he didn’t have the same confidence.

  Oops.

  Chapter 4

  Professor Phox made a hole in the ground with a flick of her hand. When I approached it, nerves finally began to slam into me as my hands shook and sweat broke out in all the normal places.

  “Jump in,” Phox said casually.

  The hole looked like a gravesite, but shallower, about three feet deep and seven feet long. When I didn’t immediately step in, Phox took the liberty of shoving me in.

  “The dirt doesn’t bite, but I do, so move your ass,” she murmured.

  Considering I was putting my life into her hands, I decided it was best not to counter back with my own smartass reply. Instead, I lay down and prayed I wasn’t about to make the biggest mistake of my possibly short life.

  “Alright, class. Pay close attention. Raegan has never done this before, and she’s going to have to learn quick or suffer the consequences. Learn from her mistakes and you can suffer less. Got it?”

  They weren’t close enough that I could see any of them from where I lay, but I heard the rumble of Enzo’s chest and knew he wasn’t happy with any of it. Though, I was really proud of him for not interfering. His progress, while slow, was coming along nicely.

  Phox turned back toward me and peered down with a sinister grin on her face. “Raegan, I’ll only give you these instructions once, so listen up. As soon as I begin, take a deep breath, close your eyes, and when you’re covered, send your magic through the dirt. Don’t blast through it, or it will bury you deeper. You need to become one with the earth and move through it gently. Take too long and you’ll suffocate, so make smart choices and good luck.”

  “That’s it? You’re not even going to tell me how to connect with the earth?” I asked with trepidation.

  “Nope, you’re a fourth-year student. You should already know how to bond with energies around you.”

  My eyes rolled as far back as they could go in my head. “Did you forget I missed most of last year?”

  “Nope, and if you’d attended my class like you were supposed to, then you’d have learned this. Maybe this will teach you to show up for class more often.”

  Before I could respond, dirt started raining down on me, and even though I was pissed the hell off, I remembered her instructions and did as she said—one deep inhale and closed my eyes.

  Once there was no more light shining through my closed eyelids, I could hear yelling from above, but I didn’t focus on that. I knew I had a limited amount of time and needed to heed Phox’s words carefully.

  So, instead of letting my panic rise and claustrophobia set in, I focused my energy on becoming one with the dirt.

  I’d love to say I could help you, but it wouldn’t be in the way Phox wants, so I’m going to stay nice and quiet, Chelle chimed in.

  She’s trying to kill me, I complained.

  I’d say she’s trying to make you stronger.

  Damn it, Dragon. You’re supposed to agree with me and be my support system.

  Her echoing laugh was the end of that short conversation.

  Deep down, I knew Phox was only trying to help, but she was a complete psycho in the ways she did it, which made doubt filter in.

  Once Chelle’s presence completely receded, I knew what I had to do. I might not have taken most of Phox’s classes last year, but I had a shit ton of training about connecting with my dragon, and I was going to approach this the same way.

  My only hope was that it didn’t take near as long as it did when I finally bonded with Chelle. Otherwise, they’d just need to dig a little further down, because I wasn’t getting up without doing this the right way.

  Sending my magic out was the easy part, but since I had never done it with dirt, I paid close attention to everything my power touched as it swirled around me. There were ants and spiders everywhere. Those freaked me out more than the cool dirt pressing against my skin, but I tried not to be concerned with the bugs. Instead, I went with the old mantra: they were more scared of me than I was of them.

  The ground was definitely on its own frequency level, continually moving and changing around me. I never realized it before—everything always seemed so stationary—but the earth right beneath our feet was a constantly moving entity.

  With a renewed determination, I made my first attempt to get out. Gentle movements and I could get out. Force would only push me down further. Those were the two things I needed to remember most. What I sensed below me was hot, and I was pretty sure Phox had chosen this spot because it was directly above some sort of hot spring or something similar.

  Pushing out, I spoke to the dirt like I did with Chelle, trying to communicate as if it was a person above anything else.

  Alright, little dirtlings. Unless you want our Earth to turn into chaos, you need to help me out here.

  Okay, maybe that had sounded more like a threat, but whatever. Air was beginning to become precious, and I wasn’t sure how much longer I could hold out, supernatural powers or not.

  There was a shift in energy
around me, but my body didn’t budge, so I tried again.

  Pushing out a little more energy of my own, I sought out that of the dirt. It was different from my own, but as I learned during my summer of running away, magic came in all shapes and forms.

  Just as I was making progress, I made the mistake of opening my mouth even just the tiniest bit when air became harder to find within my own body. Dirt tumbled into my mouth, but my eyes had thankfully stayed closed, so nothing actually hurt. It just tasted like crap and filled my mouth with a mud paste.

  Gagging on the taste, I forced the dirt down my throat and refocused myself. Come on, I’m running out of time. Work with me here and show me just how powerful the earth really is.

  A shock rolled through my body as my energy pushed out and then fear rolled through me as I sensed bugs getting a whole lot closer.

  Not funny, dirtlings. Get me out of here.

  A full wave of panic was setting in, and I was ready to fail Phox’s test and just break through. I knew I wouldn’t actually die in the ground; I could just as easily shift and be free, but I wanted to do this the way Phox instructed.

  I wanted to be a stronger me.

  Air was now nonexistent within my body, and my head was becoming fuzzy, so I only had one more shot at success. Pushing through my panic, I sent my energy out one last time and found the earth’s presence again.

  Calming my mind, I reached out to it, moving around the magic it held, trying to approach the energy with a patience I didn’t really have.

  I need your help. Can you please assist me by lifting my body from the dirt? I asked, wondering if I’d actually get an answer and feeling like a complete loon for expecting one.

  Thankfully, I was just thinking crazy, and the dirt didn’t talk back, but it certainly did listen. Slowly, I began to move up as the earth around me shifted, so I wasn’t actually pushing it out of my way, but we worked around each other.

  I still hadn’t opened my eyes, but light shone down on my eyelids making me really want to lift them. Though, I didn’t dare since I could still feel dirt remnants around my face and really didn’t want my eyes to experience the ground like my mouth had.