Rebirth: The Sacred Isle Series

by K. E. Miller

  Rebirth

  The Sacred Isle Series

  K.E. Miller

  Copyright © 2020 Kayla Miller

  All rights reserved

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

  ISBN-13: 9781234567890

  ISBN-10: 1477123456

  Cover design by: Art Painter

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2018675309

  Printed in the United States of America

  To Megan,

  because I promised.

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Afterword

  Acknowledgements

  Prologue

  Sophia

  My life was about to end. As I stood, gazing out the window, I knew it was possible I would never see my beloved home again. The mist-covered mountains and the green seas called to me as the sun set over the land. This would be my last memory. I’d planned it that way.

  The future terrified me. The darkness was so close to destroying everything. Even if my death protected my people, there was no guarantee that good would prevail. Evil could still win.

  A familiar presence entered the room. I took a deep breath to steady myself before turning to face one of my dearest friends, the long gown I wore swirling around my feet. Nolen looked at me with deep sadness and resignation. I trusted him to keep my people safe. He trusted the future I had seen.

  Opening the hidden door in my bookcase, Nolen and I entered a dark spiral stairwell. The stone steps comforted me as we made our way down to the depths of the ancient castle that had been my home my entire life. I could sense Nolen’s fear, but my resolve held. Together he and I would save two worlds. At least, I hoped we would.

  Chapter 1

  Shaylee

  Walking through the halls of Ardara Prep was like walking through a battlefield. Every step brings a different danger. In some ways, I was a lone soldier facing an army of enemies. In other ways, I was just on a different battlefield than everyone else.

  There were plenty of times that I saw other students being bullied by the popular crowd. In particular, the instigators and ones to watch out for were always a scary group of Seniors. The group changed every year of course as the students graduated, but every fall there was a new group ruling the school like royalty. When I had transferred to the school as a freshman, I’d thought they didn’t like me because I hadn’t grown up at the school with everyone else. Since then, I’d seen several other students transfer in from all over the world, but no one ever seemed to get the amount of disdain and attention that I did. It didn’t matter how well I kept my head down and avoided eye contact. It was inevitable that I would catch someone’s attention.

  On this particular day, I had seen Madalynn Calder, a beautiful senior with platinum blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, shove a junior into the wall and scream at a freshman for walking too close to her. Since I was her favorite person to torture, avoiding her seemed to be my best chance at escaping her current foul mood.

  Keeping my head down, I watched the grains of the polished hard wood floors. Letting the other students dart around me on their way to dinner. I was going against traffic on my way towards the Student Dormitory. The other students complained as they went around me since I was hindering their progress towards the Dining Hall. It would have been much smarter for me to blend into the mass of people all moving in the same direction, but I knew Jaden was waiting for me in our room and I didn’t want to brave the Dining Hall without her.

  Keeping my head down was usually a safe policy, but it did have its drawbacks and as I walked around a corner, Kenneth Fairman slammed into me. My books flew out of my hands, scattering across the floor.

  “Oh, sorry,” he said without missing a step.

  He continued on his way, as though he hadn’t just knocked the wind out of me. I bent down and picked up my books, grateful that was the extent of our interaction. My face reddened as onlookers openly laughed at me. As I ignored the laughter, I wondered briefly what had Kenneth so distracted that he had actually apologized for running into me, instead of blaming me for it.

  I practically ran from the Academic Wing over to the Student Dorm, trying to limit my exposure to the cold December air. Ardara was a large school, considering how few students actually attended. Buildings were scattered across the campus, with the younger students in their own buildings. The imposing structures were all gothic revival and reminiscent of another time. The dark stone and tall arched windows created sinister looking buildings that seemed to have eyes of their own. They were always watching, judging my every step, just like everyone who lived within those walls.

  I trudged up the stairs to the third floor, where my room was located. I walked into my room and tossed my books on my desk. My roommate, Jaden, flipped through a magazine on her bed. Her dark purple comforter was pulled up to her pillow, giving the impression that she’d made her bed. Her black and purple side of the room was a huge contrast to my pastel pink and lime green. The only item in the room that looked like it didn’t belong was the navy-blue futon.

  Jaden threw her magazine on the nightstand that stood between our two twin beds. Why she read so many beauty magazines was a mystery to me. Her olive toned skin and raven black hair made her an exotic beauty that my pasty pale skin and dull blonde locks could never compete with. Jade was my one and only friend. We had bonded sophomore year after she had a falling out with Madalynn. I never really understood what happened between the two of them or why the rest of the school suddenly started hating her, but I was grateful that Jaden had been my friend ever since.

  “Awesome! Let’s eat,” Jaden said.

  “I don’t know, Jade. Maybe we should just stay in tonight,” I replied, trying to sound casual.

  “I’m not staying locked up in here starving all night and I’m not going to wait until dinner is almost over and get all the cold leftovers.”

  Jaden pulled on a sweater and I sighed.

  “It’s just that Madalynn seemed to be in such a bad mood today,” I told her, already knowing that wouldn’t be enough to convince her to avoid dinner.

  “Did she touch you?” Jaden growled.

  “No,” I replied. “I stayed out of her way, but I saw her go after some others.”

  “It’ll be fine, Shay,” she said and led the way down to dinner.

  I followed Jaden into the Dining Hall. I followed Jaden’s confident steps to the food line without looking around the room. We got our food, Jaden piling food onto her tray while I grabbed a salad and some fruit. I knew it would be less fun for Madalynn or her friends to dump my food on my head if it wouldn’t make a huge mess. I practically ran after Jaden as she walked to our table. For the last three years we had sat all the way off to the side of the room. I told myself it was because we had such a nice
view of the courtyard outside, but really it was because we didn’t attract as much attention sitting so far out of the way.

  As soon as I sat down, I began shoveling my salad into my mouth, knowing if things went bad, I would be forced to abandon my food. Jaden also wasted no time and started eating.

  “I’m starving,” she said around a mouthful of food. “Eighth period kicked my butt.”

  Jaden had Tae Kwon Do as her eighth period elective. She’d been studying self-defense and martial arts her whole life. Her constant desire to exercise meant that she was great shape, unlike me.

  After that we fell silent and I took the opportunity to glance around the room, hoping to see any trouble headed our way long before it arrived. I noticed right away that Madalynn’s table was a whirlwind of activity.

  “What do you think is up with them?” I asked Jaden.

  She turned and watched them for a minute. Madalynn had rearranged their normal seating arrangement and had pulled up an additional chair that she had carefully placed between Kenneth and herself. Everyone at their table looked tense and they were all busy whispering to each other.

  “It’s probably about the new transfer,” Jaden said, turning back to her food.

  “Transfer?” I asked, always the one out of the loop.

  “Yeah. I heard a rumor in seventh period that some kid is transferring from a school in London. Super rich parents. They’re in politics or something.”

  “That’s a lot of excitement for just another rich kid,” I noted. “Almost everyone in this school has money.”

  Ardara Preparatory School was populated by the children of wealthy elitist families who wanted a top education for their children. Nearly every student was from a family that had the kind of wealth most only dream of. Every student except for me. That was a big reason they hated me. I was the orphaned charity case, only here because my guardian happened to be one of the teachers.

  “Maybe he’s famous?” Jaden suggested, her words obscured through her mouth full of food.

  We continued eating, neither of us saying anything to continue the conversation. When the Dining Hall suddenly became silent we both noticed immediately. I looked up from my salad and saw that Jaden’s eyes were glued to the main door. I turned to see what had her attention.

  A man stood just inside the door. He looked around with a serious expression and seemed hesitant to enter the room. His light brown hair was cut short. He was tall and thin, but with a muscular build. He was attractive enough that I fully expected every girl he looked at to swoon. The longer I looked at him the more it became obvious that his serious expression caused him to look much older than he was. It seemed perfectly obvious to me now that he was my age. There was also something weirdly familiar about hm.

  His gaze settled on Madalynn and Kenneth’s table where all the students were standing. He walked across the room towards their table. His shoes echoed in the large silent room as they came into contact with the ceramic floor. When he reached their table, Kenneth offered his hand and the stranger shook it. Kenneth gestured to the empty chair and the newcomer sat. The rest of their table followed suit and conversation slowly resumed throughout the hall.

  I turned back to Jaden and said, “That as weird. Who is he? He looks familiar.”

  Jaden’s face was red with anger and she glared at the back of the new guy’s head. She mumbled to herself, too low for me to hear.

  “Jade, you okay?” I asked.

  “Yeah, fine. Whoever he is he’s clearly one of them so don’t get too close. I hate this place.”

  Jaden picked up her tray.

  “Let’s get out of here before I puke,” she said.

  I glanced at my half-eaten salad and sighed. It was rare to have a meal where we were so ignored that we could eat in peace, but I wasn’t about to sit by myself. I pushed my heavy wooden chair away from the table and stood. I followed Jaden over to the trash, placing my emptied tray on top. Jaden threw open the door and stomped out into the night.

  I reached out to keep the door from slamming shut and held it open, pausing for a moment. For reasons I can’t explain, I turned back towards the students still enjoying their dinners and glanced at the mysterious new student. His familiar green eyes staring into mine was the last thing I saw before Jaden pulled me out into the night.

  ***

  The next morning, I struggled to get myself out the door. Jaden had disappeared to get breakfast after her daily run while I was in the shower. I was starving, not having eaten anything since my half-eaten salad the night before. I grabbed my books and a granola bar on my way out the door. I had finished my granola bar by the time I’d made it down all three flights of stairs, but it was not enough. My stomach growled at me as I walked to class with trepidation.

  The hallways weren’t very busy yet as there was still fifteen minutes before class started. The walk seemed endlessly long given my disdain for first period. Anatomy was my least favorite class. I had no lab partner and Mr. Downey enjoyed making my life miserable. He was a short, stout man, with thinning hair. He constantly pointed out my every mistake, never taking into consideration that every other person in class had a lab partner and I did not, meaning I had to do twice the work.

  I trudged into the classroom. As usual, I was the first person to arrive. I made my way to my lab table in the very back of the room. I took out my notes and sat reading over them, attempting to study my way to a half-way decent grade that I would most likely never receive from Mr. Downey.

  Slowly, students began to arrive. I ignored them and continued looking over my notes. Luckily the other students tended to leave me alone in class since most of the teachers hated me just as much as everyone else and it seemed to be entertaining enough to watch me be tortured that way.

  I heard Mr. Downey enter the classroom, his nasal voice carrying over the other students’ chatter. The bell rang and I sighed, already ready for the class to be over.

  A high-pitched squeak caused me to jump as the stool next to mine was suddenly moved. I looked up to see the mysterious new student sitting down next to me. I stared at him, speechless.

  His eyebrows rose at my expression and he gave me a curious look before facing the front of the room. I forced myself to look away as my face heated and I already assumed that he thought I was weird.

  Mr. Downey began talking about the assignment for the day, which was based off the previous day’s lecture. I should have been looking forward to finally having the lab partner I’d always wanted, but instead I sat there wishing he was sitting somewhere else, or I had the ability to disappear.

  Mr. Downey passed out the assignment sheet and I wrote my name at the top. I slid the paper over to my new partner, along with my pencil since it seemed that he didn’t have any school supplies. I watched as inconspicuously as possible as he wrote ‘Aaron Tremain’. I was glad to finally have a name to go with the new face.

  We got to work and said as little as possible. I was actually the only one who spoke and it was primarily to check that he was okay with the answer I was writing down. All he did was nod. I don’t know what I’d been expecting from him, but it wasn’t the silent treatment. There had been something so approachable about him when I’d seen him at dinner, now it was like the world around him didn’t exist.

  When Mr. Downey came around, he barely glanced at our work before saying, “Ah, Mr. Tremain. Welcome we are so pleased to have you join us.”

  Aaron just nodded to Mr. Downey. He seemed totally unimpressed with the Anatomy teacher and I was secretly glad that it wasn’t just me he was giving the silent treatment to.

  Seemingly unaffected by Aaron’s disinterest, Mr. Downey continued, “I am so sorry about the seating arrangements. Unfortunately, this is the only seat left for the semester as the lab partners are already established. When we return from the holidays, I will be sure to assign you a much more competent lab partner.”

  Mr. Downey sneered at me as he spoke. I looked down at the worksheet, hiding my
self in my long hair.

  “I’ll make do,” Aaron said.

  “Yes. Yes of course,” Mr. Downey replied and went back to walking around helping students with the assignment.

  I finished the assignment without asking Aaron’s opinion on any of the remaining questions. I could feel that my face was still bright red with embarrassment. Once again, I was unsure what I had ever done to make myself the school pariah.

  When the bell finally rang, Aaron stood and slipped out of the room before anyone else had even gotten out of their seats. I picked up my things and turned in the assignment, grateful that class was over.

  The hallway was bustling with activity. I kept my head down and made my way to English as quickly as I could. English was one of my better classes. Mrs. Collins tended to leave me alone and graded me fairly. I sat down in my usual seat in the back of the room and took my notebook out. When the bell rang, I sighed in relief that Aaron Tremain was not in this class. The only empty seat was the one next to me and spending yet another class sitting next to him was not something I wanted to do.

  I doodled on my notes as Mrs. Collins lectured on old Celtic legends and their importance to modern literature, grateful for my invisibility.

  From there I was on to European History and boredom. It was the last class I had to sit through before Italian, which was my favorite class. As I tried to focus, I forgot about my new lab partner and the changes he’d brought in his first few hours at the school.

  My mood improved greatly as I walked through the door for my Italian class. There were only eleven of us in my class. Most students only took the first required year of foreign language and then moved on to other electives, but with Mr. Hastings as the teacher there was no place I’d rather be. Since the class was so small, I was able to sit in the middle of the room while still technically being in the back.