Immortal Academy- The Complete Series

by S. L. Morgan

  “Alright, girls, I’ll show you later. I’ve gotta go!” Melanie nearly squealed from behind me. “Hey, Jenna,” she said.

  Damn it, I was so mean to the chick, and she really did seem like a sweet and charming, stupidly-beautiful, dumb fairy. I had to give her some credit for being friendly even though all I ever did was virtually flip her the bird when I was around her.

  Bradley watched Melanie prance past him and over to where Dom stood. “Wow, she’s in an awesome mood. You’d think she got laid or something,” he teased.

  I glared at him. “Really? That was a crappy comment, and I can’t even stand the chick.”

  “It probably was,” he answered.

  “Hey, Bradley,” Dom politely greeted the shifter without using his last name, oddly enough. “Do you mind if I have a minute alone with Jenna?”

  I watched Leprechaun girl, glancing over her shoulder like fifty million times, her excellent mood killed, and all because she was deflated that Dom wasn’t waiting for her, but for his ex-girlfriend. Now, I really did feel kind of bad for her, but not too bad—she was a freaking leprechaun. Those suckers were tricksters and nasty little things when you pissed them off. Hopefully, Dom never took it to a level of pissing off the school president’s daughter.

  “Yeah,” Bradley said. “I guess I’ll see you later.”

  “He’s a nice guy,” Dom said, slipping his hands into his pockets as we started to walk. “You two an item now, eh?”

  “Let me guess, Kat filled you in on everything.”

  “First of all, I have ears,” he grinned down at me, “and Tanner made it pretty obvious you and Bradley don’t just study together.”

  “God, Dom,” I looked up at the god-like face I missed even more now that he was close to me. His woodsy and fresh scent didn’t help me to keep my composure either. “I didn’t ask for this.”

  “I know, Jen,” he stopped, and we faced each other. “I want you to know, I’m okay as long as you’re okay, but that’s not why I’m here.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “It’s Ethan,” he said somberly. “The kid is as sharp as a tack, and he can’t get over us being apart like this. I’m not sure what to make of it all. I’m obviously struggling with losing my mate, so that’s distracting me.”

  “You’re asking for my advice?”

  “I’m asking if you think he’s right about it being wrong that you’re with the bear shifter. Do you feel like it is? I’m only asking because I need to get Ethan off this and out of this mindset. If he’s warning us, then my judgment can’t be clouded when I insist he leaves it alone for his own good.”

  “I get it,” I answered. “Until I saw you again, I started believing what you told me, that we were over and it was all emotional for me. I tested it out with a kiss or two with Bradley, and that all seemed to be moving in the direction of where you and I were before my wolf broke the bond off.”

  “And now?” he asked, pulling the shades off his eyes. “How is it with me around now?”

  “I don’t know?” I answered.

  Dom glanced around and swallowed hard. “If I kissed you…” He closed his eyes. “You know this is how we feel these emotions, making that intimate connection if only through a kiss.”

  “I wouldn’t be pissed at all if you kissed me,” I said, seeing that Melanie was obviously waiting for Dom to finish up with me.

  “Damn it,” he said in a growl. “I can’t do this to you or that bear shifter. Listen, I’m going to keep Ethan settled and let him know we’ve talked and we’re okay. I don’t want to screw up anything between you and that shifter—it’s not fair to either of you.”

  I rubbed my forehead in anger. “I hate this all, you know? If it were up to me—if it was not about what my stupid shifter nature decided—it wouldn’t be like this. I still want to talk to you…to see you.” I glanced around, knowing we didn’t have much time. “Maybe we can talk later at the rainbow trees and catch up? We owe ourselves that much. Did I say I hate this? All of this?”

  “Yes,” Dom brushed his finger over my nose and smiled. “I know. I see it in your eyes, and I love every second of standing here and feeling how much you want us back, but it’s not healthy if it’s not what you and your wolf need. I’ll always love you, Jen, always. I’ll see you tonight then, at the rainbow trees, and we can talk for a few.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  Except I wasn’t. It was lights out, and I was on the ground next to my bed with the headache of all headaches, fighting a constant body spasm of pain. I wanted to throw up and die all at once. Good God, I needed help. The demon’s laugh was loud and more present than it had ever been. I started shivering and felt my wolf snarling inside me. It was coming out of its cage and going for her first. Oh, holy shit, we were toast.

  “Jenna?” I heard Kat scream octaves higher than the demon’s creepy growl. “Oh, thank God, Vannah! Dom!” I felt hands in my hair. “Something’s wrong. Who do I call?”

  “Move!” Dom growled.

  “You won’t tell a soul about this, or your soul is mine, Kat! I have that spell down to a science,” Vannah threatened as I felt my body in muscular arms.

  “Oh my God, tell me this is the first time this has happened.”

  “Dom, we haven’t had a…”

  “Son of a bitch!” Dom growled. “I can hear the damn demon! I can hear the wolf.”

  “You know where to take her. I’ll handle Kat.”

  “Get Ethan on this too and quick!”

  That’s all I heard before I faded out, hoping Dom had a way to fix this. I had to hold onto hope for something because I felt like death was literally marching my immortal life’s way.

  Chapter Nineteen

  I felt tapping on my face, and my eyes opened to see Dom’s fierce ones. We were in the earth, and the fresh smell of the grounding force was so soothing to me and my wolf, who had been pacing the imaginary room I had the demon locked up in.

  “Thank God,” Dom said as he pulled me up into his arms. “You’re okay for now, but I need you to shift. I want your wolf to take it from here.

  “I can’t shift right now.” I reached for his chiseled face, “I feel like it’s trying to break loose or something.” I exhaled, feeling weaker than I should have.

  I’m so happy to see this face.

  “You have no idea how happy I am to see your face, Jen. I wish it were under better circumstances, though.”

  “Did you hear my thoughts?”

  Dom grinned. “I’ve heard the wolf since that demon thought it had her. She’s been calling to my wolf since you knocked out for a little bit.” He kissed my forehead while he cradled my head close to his lap. “How’s it going inside your mental lockdown for that thing?”

  “I feel like I’m getting stronger and more powerful. It’s like our wolves were getting reacquainted, and you’re lending me your strength.”

  He licked his lips. “I am.”

  “Dom?” I shot up out of his arms to face him. “Does this mean—”

  He nodded. “I feel her—and you. It came from out of nowhere. I have a feeling that demon inside you is playing games it will regret.”

  “I am here,” Ethan announced, sliding down into one of the many dens Dom had dug out around the area.

  “Sit tight, Jen.” Dom stood and walked toward Ethan. “I’ve got to go back and set this all up. I need you to get Jenna out of here. You know the spot, right? Vannah showed you.”

  “Dominic,” Ethan peered around at me, hunched over and unable to stand upright in the cave. “I can’t.”

  “E,” Dom’s voice lowered. “She’s not evil. You won’t harm her.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Ethan, it’s Jenna,” Dom’s voice rose. “It won’t be Jenna if you don’t get her out of here to somewhere we can help her. Do you understand?”

  “I understand. Dominic, I can kill her.”

  Dom stepped out of Ethan’s way. “Do you want to kill her now? That t
hing is alive and well. I hear it past what her wolf is hearing, so I know you hear it. Do you want to hurt Jenna because you can hear it?”

  “I love Jenna.” Ethan looked at me with indifference. “She is your mate, Dominic. She can’t die.”

  “No, she can’t die.” Dom stood next to Ethan. “You have to protect her. For me. Can you protect my mate, Ethan?”

  The spasm came back in my stomach like Dom was pissing the demon off again.

  “Oh God! This…”

  “Jenna, I’m here,” Ethan said, holding his hand to my forehead. “I have to take you somewhere safe.”

  “I’ll meet you both there as soon as I get it all set into motion.”

  “Go,” Ethan ordered Dominic in a voice I didn’t recognize.

  Dom was gone, and Ethan dragged me out of the den. The next thing I knew, the great gray owl was in front of me and reaching his talons down to take me out of here. I had no idea where Dom instructed E to take me, but all I hoped now was that demon didn’t break loose because if it did, I would be dead. Ethan’s owl would rip my wolf and me to shreds if I went dark, and if I survived it, I would be fully possessed by a demon. A demon with a vengeance, to be exact—out and pissed and looking to lock my butt up.

  Ethan’s owl soared above the treetops, banking in each direction, then over a mountain range. The demon stopped my stomach spasms, but now I was dealing with hanging from the owl’s claws, gliding over God knows where and through a heavy air pocket. That’s when the owl’s wings flapped harshly and gently released me to the ground. Dom’s wolf was amazingly right behind the owl’s landing and leaping up through the window of a familiar cabin’s window.

  The door opened, and Dom was there in black shorts, easing my pain a little just by taking in the perfection of the man’s chiseled frame.

  “I’ve got her E. They’re on their way. Go shift back. I need you. Your clothes are behind the tree.”

  “What are you going to do?” I asked, cradled in Dom’s arms again. “I can walk, you know.”

  Dom smiled at me. “I’m sure you can.”

  “Oh shit.” I rubbed my forehead. “Not again.”

  “I’ve got you, Jen,” he said with determination. “We’re going to fix this.”

  I couldn’t answer. I felt him set me on a soft bed that helped ease the aching agony that was present in every muscle and bone in my body. I groaned, unable to resist the reaction to this pain that made it feel like my body was trying to implode.

  “Who the hell are you?” I heard Dom lash out, my eyes closed while panting through the most excruciating pain I’d ever experienced.

  “I’m the one who is going to fix this problem.” I heard the familiar voice of that godmother lady.

  “You,” Dom’s voice was lethal and questioning. “You’re the one who wiped our memories and forced me to another school. You’re the one who messed us both up.”

  I felt a hand caress my forehead. “Ventulama shulimon velasoui.” I heard the weird incantation, and then I was paralyzed, but thank God the pain left the second she said that last weird word. “She’s at peace. This will help her transition to her life beyond the veil.”

  “What the…” Dom growled, and I heard shuffling in the room. “Beyond the veil?”

  “I must end this now, or she will turn into the monster I predicted to her parents. I should’ve done this long ago with her mother, but I felt as you do right now, young Dominic Rossi.”

  “Really? You felt like you were going to kill the person trying to take an innocent’s life?”

  “I had hope,” she said. “I hoped that this gifted child would never succumb to the darkness, and she would be the one to free her mother of the curse she’s under. I was wrong. Lives have been lost due to my hope and lack of better judgment.”

  “You won’t touch her. She can be saved,” Dom argued.

  “There is no saving Jenna with that powerful entity inside her. Can’t you sense the power? How it grows and how it’s played games this entire time with her and with you—her true mate?”

  “So, that was it? This spawn messed with both of us?”

  “Yes. The only way to destroy this powerful force is to kill the host that keeps it alive. It can’t be expelled.”

  “Bullshit!” Dom seethed. “I’ll kill the bastard. You’re not going to lay a finger on her. You’ve already screwed with both of us and nearly destroyed what fate had planned.”

  “For both of your protection,” I heard her voice grow angrier. “Her mother may feed on the souls of the immortals and gain diabolical strength from that, but the entity in Jenna, it’s far stronger than what took over her mother.”

  “Who do you work for?” Dom questioned. “How do you know all of this, and how could you erase our memories?”

  “I belong to a group that doesn’t serve the dark matter the creature who took your mate serves. I know this is hard, Dominic, but it must be done, or countless lives will be lost.”

  “I won’t allow this.”

  “My young owl oracle will arrange for you to leave,” she said in a dismissive tone. “We’ll talk later about who I am and why, as an immortal being, I age every time I make an appearance around this powerful child.”

  “I don’t give two shits about who you are, lady. I don’t care if you age and shrivel up and die right before my eyes! You’re not touching Jenna. My wolf and I will handle that creature. Then,” he took a slow breath, “you will explain why you referred to my cousin as a damn oracle.”

  “Enough. She’s in a trance. She’s ready to leave the body I must destroy. Now, leave, boy.” Her voice became wicked.

  “Ethan,” Dom’s voice was more deadly than I’d ever heard it before—making the Master Dominic voice sound like a child. “Get in here, now.”

  “Dominic, I can kill her,” Ethan said.

  “He will kill her, and it will be more painful than the spell I’m going to do to free her from the evil,” the woman argued.

  I wanted to scream to Dominic not to give up. I felt the demon laughing in the background, listening to the battle, then I felt its aching to fight with the godmother lady who seemed to have appeared from out of nowhere again—this time to take me out.

  God, Dominic, please don’t give up on me. I can kill it.

  I hoped he heard my thoughts.

  “Get out of here!” Dom said slowly and resolutely. “If I can’t take this thing out, then we’ll talk about killing the person who innocently took on all of this shit to save all our asses.”

  “Dominic,” Ethan said in a challenging voice. “It will kill you too.”

  “Then, Jen and I will be in the veil together. You going to help me or work for this psycho who is here to kill my Jenna?” he asked Ethan. “Answer me or leave.”

  “If you can do this,” Ethan’s voice was shaky, “I will help you.”

  “Then, that’s that,” Dom said. “Tell Vannah I need both of you.” The silence grew for a second after I felt movement on the bed next to me. “Lift your paralysis so I can help her, and get the hell out of here unless you’re going to save yourself from me going after you after I take care of the demon.”

  “You are truly her mate. The only way you can do this is to unite the wolves and your souls,” she answered him. “If this is a task you believe you can take on, I’ll give her temporary peace, but you must work quickly to unite the power you both may have when joined, body and soul.”

  “You think this comes down to sex, old woman?” Dom’s voice sounded like if he could kill the godmother oracle, he would. “Release her, and I’ll handle the rest.”

  “The only way—if her inner wolf even accepts yours given that demon is now in control of them—is through true mateship. Your wolves will never find that power together without it.”

  “Release Jenna from the damn hold you have her under, and get the hell out of the room. I don’t have time for this!” Dom spat.

  “Fine,” the woman said. “You’re just like her fath
er when he argued to save Jenna’s mother, Julia. He was killed soon after I took the child from them both.”

  “Get her out of here, E,” Dom said.

  I felt a wave of energy return to me and the demon silenced.

  “I’m still me,” I said, looking into Dom’s wolf eyes. He was totally wolfed out, and he hadn’t even shifted into the large alpha wolf yet. “I can kill it.”

  Dom forced a smile onto his face. “I need you to focus,” he said, lying next to me and bringing me to face him as his arm caressed my side. “I need you to feel me again. I need you to feel everything you felt when our bond was calling our wolves together. I will not lose you, do you understand?”

  “Got it. So, we’re having sex, then?”

  Dom’s lethal look fell, and surprisingly, he smiled. “Oh, I promise you’re going to enjoy every minute of that, but now’s not the time for sex, Jen.” He let out a breath and ran his hand over my stomach and exhaled. “I feel it trying to consume all of you,” he said with his eyes closed before they snapped open and he looked into my eyes. “Wait. Do you feel any of that energy right now?”

  “I feel normal again. Like nothing happened.”

  “The woman must really be helping you and me then.” His eyes roamed over my lips. “God, this isn’t right. It shouldn’t have to be this way.”

  “You’re going to take me out? Kill me?” I asked, scooting away from him.

  “Never.” He ran his hand under my shirt and over my side, sending sparks like lightning radiating throughout my body. “I’m going to fix this and get you back, babe. I love you more than anything in this world. I need you to trust me—to accept my wolf and me. Do you feel the bond trying to form between us?”

  That’s when it all hit me, everything I’d felt when I accepted him and his wolf the first time. His wolf was instantly opened up to me, and I saw its massive strength virtually clawing through Dominic to come through and save his wolf mate and me.