by S. L. Morgan
“Go on.”
“She is the one who is creating the sinister energy at the academy. So long as the Immortal Academy keeps her damaged soul fed with immortal blood, she grows stronger.”
“Feeds her? What the hell did they turn her into?”
“Watch your language in front of me, child.”
“Sorry. Immortal Academy is starting to cure me of the foul mouth part. I guess you’d like that part then. That place is a creep show, and I’m still not one hundred percent sure you’re not a part of it.”
“I am a part of it. The Immortal Academy was designed to create strong immortals, to bring the strongest bloodlines together in hopes they would procreate. More importantly, its students are groomed to go out and police all supernaturals to help them coexist with humans. The humans owe the Immortal Academy a debt of gratitude for ensuring vampires don’t drink humans dry, or fairies and witches don’t use their powers on the planet to serve themselves. The academy has seen brighter days. Those days subsided when your mother was placed there to consume, at first, only the strongest immortals—for the Maddison coven. They were building her up to be what you are since they couldn’t have you.”
“Oh my God.” I sat there, my mind flooded with emotions. “They turned my mom into a monster. What happened to this coven? How do we end them and get her back? Innocent people are dying at that school, we thought it was the dean. My friends are stoned out on something in the air there, people are being placed in dungeons…”
“Stop rambling. Listen, you’ve bonded with a powerful wolf from House Braeclaw. Mark Rossi’s boy. This has triggered your powers, and you may or may not start getting the memories back that I had to block for your safety. You and that boy, Dominic Rossi, have the power to end this, but it will take time. This curse that has fallen on the academy has gone on too long with no one strong enough to stop it.”
“You took my memories away?”
“Like I said, I had to hide you from yourself. All of this was done to keep you hidden, child. After they burned your house, your father barely managed to bring you to me so I could do a vanishing spell on the both of us. I took you across the globe from South America all the way to the States where I knew it would be the last place they looked for you. When your immortal blood revealed itself to the Immortal Academy board, I knew you were reaching the age where I couldn’t shield you from them any longer. You have done well in allowing the bond to happen between you and the Rossi boy. The Rossi’s—or the family better known for being House Braeclaw’s founders—are a strong line of immortals. Their owl shifter has lent me his eyes and has offered himself as your protector, I see. Ethan is a very intuitive child, beloved to me. We owe a debt of gratitude to the Braeclaws and their family for your safety.”
“Where’s my father?” I asked. I was being slammed with an info dump, and I felt the clock ticking away. “Maybe he can help me get my mother back.”
“Your father was the first immortal ever murdered by the darkness the Maddison coven created. Your father was your mother’s first victim.”
“I think I’m going to barf.”
“You’re stronger than that,” she insisted. “Now, listen to me. You must return to the academy. Dean Edgewater serves the Maddison coven. It is his job to ensure no one questions anything about that school or escapes it. He is the one who selectively picks immortals to be used to give your mother more power. The dungeons you’ve been warned about do not exist. Tales about the dungeons were only created to cover up the fact that immortals were going missing. The school is a very, very dark place. Do you understand me?”
“Yes. There are shadow creatures that walk through the dorms. I’ve seen them,” I offered up.
“I don’t doubt that.”
“Why are Dominic, Ethan, and I the only ones who haven’t been affected by whatever these witches have the dean doing to everyone at the school?”
“Ethan, come here, child.”
Ethan stepped around the corner and smiled at me. “Jenna Silvers.”
“E?” I looked at him, shocked that he was here. “Why are you here? How did you know about this lady?”
“Jenna, do not be rude. Your godmother has helped me protect you. Thank her.”
“Thank you,” I said with fear. “What do I do? How do we stop it all?”
“Everyone who has fought the Maddison coven has been delivered to the beast in the water. No one is strong enough, not even my owl friend.”
“You and Dominic will one day destroy the beast, Jenna. Not now,” Ethan said in his matter of fact tone.
“I can’t let Dominic go back there then. I have to get help and get the kids out of that place.”
“No one can leave unless they die. A dark spell is injected into the supernatural being, liquefying their insides, and then they are fed the immortal to the beast in the water.”
“Ethan, I get it. We have to stop that. We have to take out the dean then. We stop him, we find this coven of witches, and we all work together to destroy them and send them back to hell where they came from.”
“It is not an easy event. Child, so many have gone up against this coven. They cannot defeat them without being drawn to them by their own alluring spell. Your friend—Vannah, is it?”
“Yes,” I gulped, “What about her? Can her coven help?”
“How is she faring at Immortal Academy?”
“Stoned out with the others. Maybe we can get her coven to create something to snap her out of it.”
“Her coven has merged with the Maddison coven. Every single supernatural who has fought these dark witches has fallen victim to them. You, the Rossi shifter, and Ethan are the only ones who have not. There is a reason for that.”
“Lusa fell to the academy on the blood lust quest. She drank the blood with the curse of the academy in it. These spells I can help reverse, but we cannot just so easily wage war with a coven and risk you—unprepared—being lured into their world. Don’t you know they believe that one day you will try to come for them? Do you think it is worth that risk?” Ethan said.
“No.” I grit my teeth together. “How do I prepare to take them all on?”
“Dominic Rossi said something very interesting before you took it upon yourself to wander dangerously out into these woods, looking for an escape. Do you remember what that was?” the woman asked.
“Fight them together. Stay with my friends and not leave.”
“The boy is wise. Now, you will do as he suggests. Once the dean is exposed for the deaths of the children, he must not be killed. He must not die at that school. The beast in the water—your mother—will take his dark energy and gain more strength.”
“How do we expose the dean when we can’t leave the school without dying? How do we do any of this?”
“I am sending a group from House Braeclaw, House Mage, House Draugar, and House Fae to Immortal Academy. We meet in a day from now. As soon as you went into the water with your mother, I knew it was time to call the headmasters of the houses. You will expose the dean with evidence of his dealings at the school, and we will remove him. The Maddison witches will not know anything has happened until your mother—the beast in the water—is starved. Perhaps this will be the end of her and her feedings. She will die peacefully, and I will work with House Mage covens to ensure your mother’s spirit finds rest.”
“And how do we expose him?”
“You must stop him, child. Find a way to get him to unlock the trees that harbor their secrets. Enchant House Fae to reveal all that’s transpired. He feeds a starving monster once a week now. It will soon come down to once a day.”
“The dean is already hunting for us. We’re his fugitives.” I said, defeated. “Why can’t I just kill him?”
“Taking out the darkness that fell on the Immortal Academy years ago doesn’t happen by snapping your fingers. You must keep your true identity a secret. This is why you are a Silver from House Silvers, the extinct monarchy in the supernatural realm. You must
work to remain hidden from all beings until you are ready to defend yourself from any one of them should they get greedy and take you and try to turn you dark. If that happens, all of this was for nothing.”
“I am not sure how to do any of this.”
“When I send you back you will return to a time period where you can work to stop the dean from taking the younger immortals’ lives such as he has done this year. He is turning as dark as the school and must be stopped. Do not think for a second he hasn’t already reported you to the Maddison coven. He was too excited about the miracle that happened between you and the Rossi shifter.”
“So we’re going back in time. Will everyone remember…”
“You and Ethan will be the only ones who remember, but Dominic will help you. He knew something wasn’t right during that time. He also was starting to fight his wolf feelings off for you. The moment you didn’t answer his alpha, his wolf knew you were his. Ethan will work with him, and Dominic will work with you. You will also need Lusa Rossi to help as well. This will not be an easy takedown. No one should be trusted at that school. The darkness will reveal itself easier to you now that you carry some of Dominic’s power in you.”
“Dominic will sense you carrying his wolf powers, Jenna,” Ethan reassured me. “He has never loved anyone. Dominic and his wolf love you and will know you even if we go back in time.”
I half smiled at Ethan. “Okay,” I said, feeling totally tripped out and trying not to think but one step at a time. “After the dean’s out, when do we kill the monster in the freaking water?”
“Like I said, you don’t carry all your power yet. It will take time. Do not rush this, or you will fall victim to the Maddison coven and give them all the power they have ever wanted. You must promise me that you will climb this mountain slowly. If you rush it, you will doom much more than just the students at that school.”
“Got it,” I said. “Take me back. And then,” I looked at her, “I want to know more. I need you at that school or something.”
“You do not need me at the school.” She smiled. “Though I am always keeping a watchful eye on you. Trust your wolf. You haven’t been listening to her or following her lead. Trust your newfound powers, and don’t fear them. Above all, trust yourself, and have patience in this endeavor. All humanity and supernatural of all kind are depending on you to have patience. Once the dean is gone, you will remain at the school as its protector. Dominic Rossi will be your protector, and Ethan will protect both of you. As your relationship moves deeper, you will both get stronger. You must understand that.”
“I feel like the weight of the world is on my shoulders, and now I get to pull Dominic into this crap with me. It’s my evil mom who has caused countless—”
“Dominic is your mate. His memories of you may stay when she brings us back to before Jess’s death. Do not begin to direct his fate, Jenna,” Ethan demanded. “His fate is with you.”
“Take out the dean. That is your objective,” she said.
“I will be helping to guide you, Jenna.”
“I hope so, Ethan Carter. This is the most you’ve said since I’ve met you, you know. If Dom isn’t with me due to time travel memory loss, I’m going to need you.”
“We’ll fix this,” he promised.
“Now, let’s get you all back to the day of the Ageless Ball.”
Wait…It was too late. The info dump, Jenna’s entire life is a screwed-up, dark lie conversation abruptly halted, and I was walking into the Ageless Ball dressed in the Queen of Sparta’s outfit I swore I would never wear again in my life. Oh my God, how was I going to pull all of this off? I needed to know where Jess was instead of marching the steps with my best friend into the dean’s mansion. Damn it, I had no idea where to start.
Chapter Thirty-Five
“Gah, I have to pee,” I said to Vannah, knowing I needed to break away from her.
“Seriously?” she laughed. “We just got here.”
“I drank too much water.”
She eyed me with a smile, “You’re too much sometimes. I’ll see you inside.”
“Alright. Don’t be too surprised if I manage to weasel my way out of this too. I’m not really down for this ball thingy or this revealing outfit.”
“You’re not chickening out on me, girl. Get back here.”
“You’ll forget about me once you see your man.”
“True,” she gripped my arm.
“Yeah,” I managed with the best smile of encouragement.
She gathered up her dress and walked up the steps like Cinderella, heading off to meet her prince. Students passed me as I swerved my way away from the Dean’s mansion, looking for clues of where the heck to start. I knew I was on a time crunch and had a sneaking suspicion Jess was already in trouble, if not dead.
I had to find those buildings that were hidden from the enchantment of the alluring buildings at the front of this place. I stopped in my tracks. Lusa and Dom seemed to show up late, and Ethan never made it to this ball, which was why I’d initially thought Ethan was mixed up with the deaths. I had to find him, maybe he was already tripping out, and Lusa and Dom had him somewhere.
I raced back to my dorm and heard a noise before I turned the corner. I had no idea where Dom’s room was, but I was guessing that the loud Shhh’s and the chants going off in the far corner were coming from Ethan, Dom, and Lusa. This might be where Ethan was compelled to calm down due to what had happened or was currently happening to Jess.
I walked toward the door, seeing shadows moving in the light underneath it, and I knocked. The silence and feet shuffling stopped.
“Just get the door,” I heard Dom say in a hushed voice.
Lusa opened it, and her eyes widened when she saw me.
“Jenna,” she said in shock. “Why are you here?”
“I was looking for my date. Someone told me he was here.”
“Scott?” she answered. “That’s shocking.”
“Don’t know what’s so shocking about it,” I said, trying to see around Lusa as she stood guard at the door. I shoved the door open and moved into an immaculate and massive corner dorm room. Nice suite, Dom!
“What is she doing in here?” Dom had his hand covering Ethan’s mouth, and he kept it there as he looked past me to Lusa. “Don’t you have manners?” he glared at me. “You think you can just bust into—”
“Let Ethan go,” I said, walking over to my frantic friend.
“He’s tripping out. You shouldn’t be here. We need to calm him down, or he’ll shift,” Dom said.
I sat next to Ethan, where Dominic had him on the couch. “E, it’s me, Jenna. Do you remember what we need to do?”
“Danger. Immortals will die,” he chanted out before Dom covered his mouth again.
He sternly looked at me. “What are you talking about? You’re making this worse. Lusa?” he called to his sister who was walking in behind me. “You need to compel him and calm him down.”
“No!” I demanded. “We need his help. Don’t you remember?” I asked Dominic, feeling that weird void as if I lost the shifter I had just connected with.
“Remember what? If you have something to say, say it and then get out of here.”
“Jess is in trouble. Ethan knows it. Whatever darkness is at this school is screwing with his mind. I need his help, and I need your wolf.”
“You know nothing about this school, Ethan, or my wolf.”
I’d forgotten what a jerk he was in the beginning. “I know your wolf feels mine. I know your wolf is sensing more right now, just looking into my eyes.” I felt a strong alpha force in me. It was the connection I took with me from him. “Your wolf is urging you to accept this, but you won’t because you’re an arrogant, stubborn jerk. I need you to get over yourself and trust me.”
“You’re talking crazy.”
“Please,” I reached for Dominic’s hand, and we both froze. I absorbed the feeling I got from being in contact with him again, and I could sense that he was sho
cked and trying to process the feeling of being shot back in time. “Just trust me, if I’m wrong, you can move me off your unit, or make me do pushups until you feel I’ve been punished enough.”
Dom’s eyes narrowed at me. “What are you doing to me? Why do I feel like you and I have made this connection before? It’s like Deja Vu or something.”
“I don’t have time to go into all of that. All I have time to do is convince you that bad stuff is about to go down…if it already hasn’t.”
Dom looked at Lusa. “Find a way to make some dumb excuse as to why I got sick tonight,” he grumbled.
He looked at me, his eyes still trying to figure out what he felt with my touch. I could sense it coming off of him, and it’s only because I took that part of him with me before that Godmother of mine sent me back to this moment in time. “Tell them I am dealing with my sick cousin if they ask my whereabouts. Just pull off some coverup as to why I’m not showing up at this ball tonight.”
“I’ll come up with something.” She looked at both of us. “Are you two experiencing the same thing my instincts are trying to tell me?”
“Yes.”
“No,” Dom said.
“I’ll explain later.” I looked at Dom, “We need Ethan.” I ran my hand on Ethan’s arm, “I need you to remember what that godmother lady put in your head. You’re my only hope, Ethan Carter. Dom doesn’t remember.”
“You and Dominic are true mates.”
“Gah,” I said in frustration. “No. Not about us, Ethan, I’m talking about Jess and what they’re going to do to her. It’s what you’re flipping out about. You have to take Dom and me to her. We have to save her.”
“Save her from what?” Dom snapped.
“It would be better if you trusted me and let me take the lead. I know you’re sensing that in me. I know your wolf is begging you to do it, so do it. Stop arguing with me and asking questions, or I won’t be able to get Ethan to focus.”
