Immortal Academy- The Complete Series

by S. L. Morgan

  I filled my thoughts with images of him, allowing the wolf to gain peace from it. That’s when I was suddenly falling to my death—a brilliant trap—I thought as my wolf flipped over and over until I landed on all fours on the lawns of House Braeclaw.

  “Silvers, you actually fell for the trap set by a leprechaun. Can’t get too caught up in the beauty and wonder of things,” Professor Samson said as he patted my wolf’s back. “That’s where a fairy will get you every time.”

  “I love that she couldn’t tell it was created by a fairy,” Melanie’s high-pitched, excited voice said, causing my hackles to stand up on my back.

  I lowered my head at the gorgeous redhead, sensing she had deeper feelings for Dominic than I’d caught on to before. I bared my teeth at her when she treated me like I was some dog she wanted to put on a leash and walk around the school.

  “Take it easy, kid,” Professor Samson said to me. “She set a realistic human world up by herself. It’s not her fault you fell for it. Quest is over.” He turned back to the group that had apparently been rooting for the stupid leprechaun.

  Good grief, is this what went down when the fairy’s all wanted to see if they could trap a shifter? Way to keep us all working together, IA! Now, I wanted to get back into my regular form, punch the leprechaun in her little pointed nose, and break her heart when I told her Dom was mine again.

  I shook off the unwanted feelings. These jealous feeling were the dangerous ones I needed to keep in check. This girl reeked of needing to see Dom again, and I had to get out of here before my wolf acted on instinct.

  “Go and shift, Jenna,” Professor Samson said. “Ah! Lusa, Vannah!” I heard in the background as I was leaving Samson. “You all saw how the wolf couldn’t even see the fairy enchantment, right? This is a phenomenal breakthrough for the fae!”

  Too bad you have no idea what really happened and how shit’s about to break loose between that leprechaun you love so much and your shifter family, Samson, I growled the thought as I trotted back to the gym to shift and change into my school uniform.

  Why the hell was Samson cheering on a fairy who was beating out his own shifters? Such crap! Now, I had to deal with a leprechaun who had an ego the size of the mountain range she’d created, waiting for Dom to come back and discover he and I were in a relationship again.

  Shit.

  This was going to be the dead giveaway. Dom and I couldn’t get back together from out of nowhere. She would be onto everything being a lie and see right through us.

  Good God, did Dom think using a leprechaun through? Why couldn’t he have used one of Lusa’s fairy friends to set the trap? Why the president of our school’s daughter? Why a young and very smart leprechaun?

  The demon haunting this school would probably be more forgiving than a leprechaun scorned. I needed to shift back, shower, and change. Lusa and Vannah were back, and we needed to have a little talk about what my wolf picked up as a big potential problem for Dominic and me.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  It was pretty cool, watching the shifters who were on the quest that Dom arranged last minute. Through the hawks, we were able to see every exciting aspect of their quest downloaded onto a large, holographic, fairy-created screen set right in the middle of House Braeclaw’s lawns.

  Thank God Dom had worked out that my quest wouldn’t be monitored by the hawks.

  I had been out of the shower, had eaten dinner, and now found my entertainment through Dom’s wolf, marching along with the seventeen shifters who had lasted this long.

  The only distracting thing—besides the fact that they’d all shifted back and the spying hawks seemed to love that Dom was shirtless—was when they came into an agility area, and when someone fell to their death, they’d appear in a spot off to our left. It was pretty cool, though, watching them die and then instantly showing up right here.

  My eyes were drawn to where Bradley and Dom were interacting, hoping Dom wasn’t going to pull any alpha moves on the guy I sort of needed to break up with now. I was impressed, knowing what Dom was going through after we chose not to merge the wolves. He was in total control of himself and was out there in Master Dominic mode with all the shifters under him and the masters.

  “Dom is doing well.” I forgot the leprechaun was here until she spoke up. “I thought for sure I’d get him on that one obstacle.”

  Professor Samson laughed. “There’s a reason he spotted Jenna on her Master’s Quest and is our best shifter at this school. He’s a lot like his father was at that age, uniquely strong.”

  “Yes,” she finished, hanging onto that word like she was forming some plan to trap him when he got home.

  “That’s all for the night. The remaining shifters you see on the screen are at the return zone. They’ll be home by lunch, and your classes resume at their usual times tomorrow morning. I’m glad this all worked out and look forward to doing it again,” Professor Samson said, dismissing us to lights out.

  “Haven’t they done this before? Watched the quests on that screen?” I asked Vannah, who was attached to my hip since getting back.

  “No,” the giggly leprechaun said, approaching my right. “It was actually mine and Dom’s idea.”

  I looked at her and forced a fake smile for fear of what my expression would be in hearing her have some weird possessive tone as she said Dom’s name. “Cool. Looks like you and he had fun with all of this.”

  “Well, he insisted that the school watch the students. It was my first quest, and after the school wanted to see how strong a leprechaun I really was,” she flipped her red hair over her shoulder, “Dom said it would be an awesome idea for everyone to watch it on screen through the hawks. Of course, it was a simple quest, nothing like I hear the masters go on. Dom told me a little about those, and they’re impressive.”

  “Yeah, the masters are all pretty hardcore,” I said, remembering the quest I went on when Dom and I first realized we were fated to be together.

  “Bummer you and Dominic didn’t last, right?”

  I craned my head to Vannah, gritting my teeth. The girl’s tone and the way she talked grated on my nerves like she was Kat, walking with us and drooling on about something Dominic related. Vannah shrugged, most likely realizing this chick was going to be more trouble than Dom’s plans to use her were worth.

  “Right?” she pressed when I didn’t answer her.

  “Right.” I wasn’t quite sure how Dom and I were going to slowly break the school back into us being an item, so I didn’t know how to handle his new groupie. “Though, he stepped in while I was on my quest, and well—”

  Vannah elbowed me in warning, so I knew I had to withdraw my jealous wolf who was ready to take a leprechaun out in an instant. The girl was oozing her fascination with our mate, and it was thoroughly annoying.

  “You okay?” she asked.

  “Yeah, what were we talking about?”

  “You and Dom out on the quest together? He wasn’t supposed to have contact with you, so I’m curious as to why he did.”

  “Wouldn’t you be?” I withheld my glare to her.

  How has it this five-minute walk suddenly felt like we were on a fifty-minute hike?

  “I can’t believe he would intentionally work to fail you. Weird.”

  “Yeah, weird, and guess what? I failed anyway, didn’t I? Poof! Fell right into your perfect human-world trap,” I said dismissively.

  “I have to wonder if Dom was helping that trap be successful though, you know? It was pretty obvious your wolf wasn’t paying attention when it fell. I’d love to take the credit for your wolf loving the scenery, but now, I’m sort of wondering if Dom served as a distraction?”

  “What in the hell would make you conclude that?” I snapped and turned to face the redhead who stopped when I did. “Go on, fairy, why would you think Dom would help you kick my ass in that quest?”

  “Jenna, let’s go before we get busted,” Vannah insisted.

  I shook Vannah’s arm off me. “Answ
er me.”

  “Well,” her eyes got wide, and I knew it was my wolf peeking at her through my eyes, me allowing the wolf to, of course. “He and I are just good friends, and I know you two had some history together. He told me it was nothing, but maybe it meant more to you than him?” She cringed like she was saying all the wrong words, which she was. “I don’t know. I just think it’s cool he helped me take out a strong shifter, and now I’m going to remain at IA and run some of the House Fae projects.”

  “Glad Dominic could help you achieve all that,” I said after taking some anti-shifting, rip a leprechaun’s throat out, breaths. “He’s a good guy like that.”

  “Wow, so a clean break between you both?”

  “Listen,” Vannah interrupted. “We need to get to bed, thanks for hooking up the entertainment for all of us.”

  “You were on that quest with Dom’s sister, right? Assignments from House Mage and House Draugar to watch Jenna and study the shifter?”

  “Yes, I think the entire school knows that,” Vannah lied.

  “Were you both cool that Dom interacted with Jenna when she was supposed to figure it out on her own?”

  Vannah let out a laugh. “You just won’t quit, will you?”

  “None of my business?”

  “None!” Vannah and I said in unison.

  “Sorry if I crossed any lines. Dom just made whatever relationship you had with him seem like it was nothing. I’m surprised he intervened, and I’m sort of hoping it was to help me.”

  “You need to go to bed before—” I bit my tongue. “Before we all get busted for being out here.”

  “Alright, can’t wait until they all get back tomorrow,” she said and then bounded up the steps like her feet had springs in them.

  “That…” Vannah started.

  “Is going to be as big a problem as the evil lurking at this school,” I seethed. “Why in the hell would he use some immature teenager? A damn leprechaun of all creatures?”

  “There’s a reason he needed her help. All eyes would be on her, not him doing this entire last-minute quest. He knew she already had the eyes of the school on her and used that to his advantage.”

  “She seemed to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. If she managed to pull off this quest and have everything activated when Dom said go…” I trailed off as I looked at Vannah.

  “We warned Dom that we saw her attaching pretty quickly to him,” Vannah said, “But Dom was too focused on keeping the school’s eyes off you. In a way, she definitely achieved that. No one is questioning Lusa and me, going on some research quest that Dom wanted our feedback on.”

  I rubbed my forehead. “Tell me you’re sensing how powerful this leprechaun is? Creating a quest that quickly…everything!”

  “I know she’s strong, but it’s nothing Dom can’t smooth over. He already said she would accept you two getting back together. He doesn’t care what anyone thinks about it.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I hope he can handle her. It’s bad enough I have to break things off with Bradley because it wasn’t me who was attaching to him.”

  “How do you feel about Bradley now?” Vannah asked as we resumed our walk back to our dorms. “Just curious.”

  “I saw him on the screen, and he seemed just like a cool shifter. There was nothing else. My eyes were drawn to Dom over him like they should be when I know who my true mate is.”

  “How do you think you’ll handle breaking up with him or whatever you’re going to do.”

  “He’s such a nice guy,” I sighed. “Sadly, I fell for him because of that thing inside me, and I can’t even tell him that was the reason. God, even if that didn’t sound crappy enough, I don’t have the heart to tell him a demon was the reason I found him attractive and sparked up a relationship with him.” We walked into the room. “I guess I’ll handle it as it comes when he gets back. Shifters get back together all the time.”

  “Oh. My. God!” Kat’s voice reminded me why I hated the shifter as much as Dom’s new leprechaun friend. “Do not tell me that you and Dom are back together. How horrible for sweet Bradley.”

  “Good to see you again too. Oh, and thanks for helping and showing you actually do have a heart when I crashed out in here the other night.”

  “What are you talking about?” she looked at Vannah and me like we were possessed.

  “It’s nothing. Some crazy mind manipulation House Mage did to her on the master’s quest. They altered her mind to see a different reality.” Vannah fake laughed and nudged me in the arm. “You almost got zapped with that one, huh? Good thing it was all fake and it never even happened.” She slowly let the words fall from her lips as she hinted that she did some spell for Kat to forget me going down that night with the demon.

  “Right.” I turned to throw on my pajamas. “Well, between the awful embarrassment of falling to a leprechaun’s simple trap today, and it just being a long few days altogether, I’m looking forward to sleeping in my bed again.”

  “It’s been nice and quiet,” Kat remarked.

  “Well, your vacation is over.” I looked at Vannah, slipping on her light blue nightgown, “Any chance Kat gets kicked out anytime soon, or are we bunking on top of each other in here now?”

  “I think Lusa has a transfer in for her to bunk down the hall. They opened up a new wing. Apparently, IA is running out of room with keeping seniors another year and a lot of new students coming in next year.”

  “Awesome.” I leaned to the side to see pink-nightmare Kat. “Hey, you’re out of here pretty soon, so enjoy us while you have us.”

  “You’re in too good of a mood. You and Dom are back together.”

  “Yep,” I slipped into bed, “and if you think you’re going to spread that news first thing tomorrow? Then I think Dom told me he’d deal with you.”

  “Well, I hate the guy. I should’ve known he was leading me on this entire time.”

  “Yeah, probably shouldn’t have second-guessed us feeling out whether or not we were true mates.”

  “You’re a horrible person, Jenna,” she snapped.

  “Despicable, right?”

  “Go to bed. Do whatever with Dom.” She turned her back to me.

  “Oh, I intend to and goodnight.”

  Vannah and I gave each other the obvious smirk and eye roll over Kat’s pettiness, but Kat wasn’t really our problem, the leprechaun who had all the tricks up her sleeves was my problem. This girl could shut me down hard and fast, and no one would see it coming—not even me. With that thought in mind, I looked at Vannah and mouthed, “I need to figure out my powers, or I’m screwed.”

  Vannah quietly mouthed, “yes,” with stern eyes in return. It was easy to see that I needed the powers to protect myself from a very powerful leprechaun. If Dom was going to go with the who gives a damn what anyone thinks about us back together approach, I needed to be prepared to protect us both from whatever the leprechaun threw our way.

  I could see why Dom used the chick, but did he really think he was getting off easy after she figured out she was old news? The girl seemed to radiate with an obsession over him, and that was what I picked up on by being in her presence, not listening to the way she talked about him.

  Hopefully, Dom could pull off a miracle and let her down easy because she was extremely powerful for her age. She proved that by fashioning that obstacle course, insisting on the way we watched them in a live-action environment—all of it. The chick was good. It’s what made her scare the shit out of me and also what made me think we definitely could use her on our side when the school went south again.

  The evil firing up was a matter of time. I could feel the energy already nudging its way back. So, yeah, I guess I was all about pulling a leprechaun into our upcoming war against evil…but, in all honesty, I couldn’t give this chick too much credit. Leprechaun’s had a tendency to go dark and fuel evil powers if they got angry enough—and instead of being at a school that should be teaching them to stay away from the darkness, we were
at a school that possessed its students with darkness…that’s if it didn’t kill them first.

  Chapter Thirty

  I was heading up to House Fae when Bradley found me.

  Finally, they’re all back!

  The bear shifter was definitely easy on the eyes, but the only reaction that was surfacing from me and my wolf was that this meant Dom was finally back.

  Soon after Bradley hit me with his unforgiving smile, I sensed Dom’s wolf, prompting me to glance around for him. Nothing? Okay, this was a new reaction to my mate…sensing him close by, but not seeing him. Instantly, the desire and unparalleled need to be in his arms and feel his closeness hit me like a ton of bricks. I took a breath, controlled my wolf, and finally returned Bradley’s friendly smile.

  “Hey, there,” he greeted me by wrapping his arm around my shoulder.

  “Hey,” I managed, trying to hush my wolf from her reaction of this being totally wrong. I eased myself out from under his subtly romantic gesture and sighed at his look of confusion. “You survived the quest. That’s awesome.”

  “Yeah,” he stopped, and I turned to face him. I guess we were doing this break up right here and now. “Kind of a crappy move on Dominic’s part.” His eyes bore through mine. “You know, requesting we all go on a random quest out of the blue. It’s like he was determined to watch us all fail.”

  “You know Dominic doesn’t operate that way,” I responded. “He’s always been about success. He’s never been one to amuse himself with others’ failures. That’s obvious in the way he trains us differently than the other masters do.”

  “You’re defending him?” The shifter was definitely picking up on Dom being his competition again.

  “I’m stating a fact.”

  “Well, only ten percent of us survived his sincere desire for our success,” he said with sarcasm. “So, I’m not entirely convinced that quest wasn’t designed to surprise us to make us all look dumb. He and his little leprechaun girlfriend…” He watched me as he slowly said that last word that grated on my nerves. “They worked together to put the display on for the school to watch us fail too. That was a nice touch.”