Shadow Academy Read online

  And that was only day one.

  I excused myself from the dining hall and retraced my steps back to the dorms. I walked all the three flights of stairs to get to the third floor.

  Standing in front of the door to my room, I saw the sign hanging from the doorknob. Do Not Disturb. Did Rosa think she was staying in a hotel or something? I wasn’t going to take the trash she was going to throw at me.

  I moved to storm in, a whole speech forming on my tongue and ready to be unleashed in her direction.

  The door was locked.

  Nobody had given me a key and I hadn’t thought to ask for one. It was a magical academy, the doors should be protected with charms and spells, not mundane human keys. I didn’t see anyone walk around with a keychain or use one to enter anywhere.

  Still, the door wasn’t going to budge without one. I banged on the wood and waited. Silence. The only attention I was garnering was from other students as they wandered the halls.

  “Rosa!” I yelled as loudly as I dared. “Let me in! This is my room too.”

  Silence.

  This wasn’t going well.

  I banged for another minute solid but got nowhere. If my wonderful roommate was inside, she wasn’t going to let me in. If she was out, then it would be an infuriating wait until she returned. If she returned.

  Slumping against the wall, I looked around and realized just how many people were watching me in the hallway. There had to be more than a dozen girls. It wasn’t the kind of attention I wanted to attract.

  I shrugged and addressed the hallway at large. “I guess I forgot my key. I’d lose my head if it wasn’t firmly attached to my neck.”

  Nobody laughed and a few pretended to be looking at something else. I’d somehow managed to make the situation even more awkward.

  Walking away was difficult but I did it anyway. I made sure to take my time and not let the frustration show. If I was any kind of a witch, I should have been able to unlock the door with a spell. It might not have worked—the lock could also be in place with a spell—but at least they would have seen me try.

  At least they didn’t know what kind of supernatural I was supposed to be. Werewolves, vampires, seers, and shapeshifters wouldn’t have been able to open the door with magic either. Maybe they assumed I was one of them.

  I wasn’t believing my own lie.

  Pulling the crumpled map out of my pocket again, I tried to work out where I should go. There were too many people back in the dining hall and too many opportunities for others to notice me.

  There was only one place that would offer some kind of solitude—the library.

  It was back in the main building and also on the third floor. I was able to find the bridge from the girls’ dormitories to the other building. I was standing in front of the massive library doors before I could get too lost.

  The doors opened automatically with a long and drawn out creak. What they revealed was every book nerd’s idea of porn.

  Long rows of books went back as far as I could see. Oversized armchairs dotted along the paths and looked exceedingly comfortable. The lighting was dim but desks were placed in sets of four around the room with old fashion green bankers’ lamps sitting above them.

  That was my idea of heaven. I walked down the rows as my gaze slid over the shelves. Most of the books looked ancient, like they should have been in a museum rather than here for us to touch and read. I was worried they might crumble if I picked one up.

  Eventually I got to the back of the rows where many armchairs were gathered together in a circle. They must have meetings there sometimes. Book club, maybe? I laughed at the idea of a bunch of witches or vampires sitting around while they talked about Jane Eyre and what the moors really symbolized.

  I walked another three aisles before my gaze landed on a smallish book on the bottom shelf. Witch Folklore was the title. Everything I knew about my heritage came from my parents. They would enthrall me with stories about how my great-grandmother ran a coven in London and all the antics they would get up to. Or how my great-great-great—times ten—uncle was once arrested for openly performing magic in a time when it was banned by both supernaturals and humans.

  My knowledge was formed with stories and battle wounds. I’d never actually read anything formal. Perhaps if I knew more about the fundamentals of my kind, I could find a reason why I hadn’t inherited any abilities.

  I picked up the small book and found a comfortable chair beside the window. It was dark outside but I loved seeing all the stars twinkling so far away. I flicked on a lamp and settled in.

  The book started at the beginning with the first witches. They were blessed by a goddess name Aurodite and then tasked with looking after all the goodness of nature. They were to draw their powers from the earth and use that to tend to plants, trees, and flowers. They were the original guardians of the earth.

  Witches weren’t exactly portrayed as good things in the human world. I wondered how they had received such a bad rap when they had started out with such a beautiful role in the world. They protected flowers for goodness sake. How could they have turned into wart-infested wicked women?

  It took me two hours of reading before I found anything that might help with my current situation. A small passage in the book read: Those born without magic shall be shunned and silenced. For the danger they pose is far greater than the value of the life.

  Great. If I had been looking for some inspirational quote that would get me through the next three years I wasn’t going to find it in that book. I may as well go drown myself now.

  Unfortunately, there was nothing beyond that little nugget of information between the old and yellowed pages. All it really meant was that I couldn’t have been the only one born with no magic, despite my parents’ heritage. That might have been a tiny bit comforting.

  I could have added a little bit more information to the book. These days, the magic-less witches were called roaches. We scurried about like an infestation and were as worthless as the crawling bugs themselves. Unlike cockroaches, we wouldn’t survive a nuclear attack. Any attack. All roaches were to be exterminated the moment they were discovered.

  Sure, the powers that be still touted that we were to attend reeducation rather than a gas chamber. But everyone knew what really happened. I didn’t know why they didn’t just come right out and say it. Nobody trusted a roach and it was better for everyone if we weren’t around.

  All supernaturals received their ‘gift’ on their eighteenth birthday. It was supposed to be a really exciting time. All that power flooding into your body and completing you in a way you never realized you were missing. Some even went so far as describing it as euphoric.

  On my eighteenth birthday, I woke up so excited and ready to be a full witch. I rushed to the mirror to see if I looked any different. Would having magic at my fingertips change me in any way? Would I be able to just click my fingers and have something appear? What would my first spell be?

  I was so full of hope but I looked the same in the mirror. I felt the same too. Nothing appeared to have changed…because it hadn’t. I was still as non-magical as I had been the previous day. I even double checked my birth certificate to make sure I hadn’t made a mistake with the date.

  My mother appeared in my doorway at that moment. She had a present in her hands that was wrapped in silver paper. Her smile was the biggest I’d ever seen it.

  “Happy birthday, my darling baby girl,” she cooed. “I’m so proud of you. How do you feel?”

  I didn’t want to admit to her that everything felt the same. “Great! I can’t believe today’s the day.”

  “Here, take this.”

  I accepted the gift and tore into it with excitement. The little paper cube could fit in my hand and held a red velvet jewelry box. Inside was a pendent shaped into a leaf. It matched the one my mother had always worn for as long as I could remember.

  “It’s beautiful, thank you,” I said.

  “Here, let me put it on.” She g
ently brushed my long hair to the side and clasped the necklace for me. I felt the metal against my skin and smiled into the mirror. I looked a lot like my mother, especially now.

  “Is Dad up yet?” I asked.

  “He went out early.”

  “Where’d he go?”

  Her lips quirked into a smile. “That’s a surprise. You’ll find out soon enough.”

  That surprise my mother had been so happy about was a surprise party for me. But it wasn’t my friends that were invited, it was their coven. I was going to be welcomed into the witch world later that night with a big celebration in the garden.

  I’d gone most of the day and tried really hard to conjure something. I’d uttered numerous spells and tried to summon magic with various spices and leaves. Nothing worked.

  My mother found me crying in my bedroom mid-way through the party. I thought nobody would miss me if I slipped away. But, of course, my mother had.

  “What’s wrong, honey?”

  The last thing I wanted to do was confess I was magicless. Yet if I didn’t come clean to her, then I was going to be digging a very large hole for myself. “I’m a roach,” I sobbed.

  I’ll never forget the look of disappointment on her face. She had big dreams for me and the part I would play in her beloved coven. That face would haunt me forever.

  My father practically disowned me. He never called me his little girl again. I think he would have been far happier if I’d just disappeared. No daughter of his was going to be a roach. He’d rather forget about my existence.

  At least they kept my secret.

  My mother worked with me for weeks as she tried to ignite some spark of magic in my blood. It had to be there, she said it just needed a helping hand. Nothing she did made any difference. I was as good as a limp noodle.

  The enrollment letter from Shadow Academy had struck fear into my very soul. I knew it was compulsory to attend a supernatural academy and there was nothing I could do to avoid going there. The good news was that I’d been accepted into my preferred choice. It was my dad’s alma mater.

  “You’ll just have to pretend,” Mom had said.

  The hurt on her face in that memory was the last thing I thought about before nodding off to sleep in the library’s armchair.

  When I awoke in the morning, an alarm was blaring in the building. I startled, sitting upright and looking around. All that noise had to be for something important.

  It took me a few moments to realize where I was and who I was supposed to be. The library looked completely different in the morning. Gone were the shadows and starlight, replaced with sunbeams with little pieces of dust dancing in the daylight.

  I didn’t have time to explore. The alarm was still blaring from the speakers. Something was wrong at Shadow Academy.

  Chapter 3

  I raced outside and looked around, searching for any clue about what the alarm was supposed to be about. My neck was sore as I looked left and then right. The armchairs in the library might have looked comfortable but after seven hours’ worth of sleep they did their damage.

  Nobody in the corridors seemed too concerned with all the noise. It stopped suddenly but my ears continued to ring for a few more moments afterward.

  I checked my watch—eight a.m. It wasn’t an alarm that had blared, but the bell for first period. Although, the word bell did not do the sound justice. I had trouble thinking about it as something so innocuous. It would always be an alarm to me.

  I was late for my first class. Way to go, Eden.

  There wasn’t time to get back to my dorm room and collect my things. I would have to borrow a pen and piece of paper from someone in class. This was all Rosa’s fault. If she hadn’t locked me out of my own room, I would have set my alarm clock.

  I silently cursed my roommate the entire way to Elements class. Thankfully, I’d committed some of my schedule to memory and had the map in my pocket. I tripped over my own feet as I ran through the corridors and down the staircases to the first floor.

  The door to the classroom was closed, I almost ran into it. That wasn’t how I wanted to make my first impression. I was supposed to be mediocre. So boring that nobody remembered me or paid me any attention. It was stupid of me to be in that position and I was doing a great job of beating myself up about it.

  I took a breath and opened the door. All thirty faces of my peers looked up and watched me as I slunk to the only spare desk in the first row. The professor glared at me the whole way.

  “Sorry, I overslept,” I muttered.

  The professor sighed and continued with the lecture. He was a man in his fifties. His gray hair did not make him a silver fox. He looked more like a badger, a tired one at that.

  I leaned over to the girl beside me and borrowed a single piece of paper and a pen. That was all she would begrudge me. It earned me another pointed sigh from the professor.

  For the next twenty minutes, I was the perfect student. I took notes like a boss and nodded along with the professor. Today would be the only day I would give him cause to remember me. After this class, everything would be smooth sailing.

  My life depended on it.

  “Who can name all the elements?” the professor asked. I slunk down in my seat so he wouldn’t pick on me.

  He pointed to another girl one row back. She didn’t hesitate. “Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water. All four elements that we can draw upon to enhance our powers.”

  “Very good, Miss Velvet.” He nodded and continued on.

  Miss Velvet was obviously a pet already. Today was everybody’s first day. How did she manage that in what, half an hour? She was definitely someone I needed to avoid while there.

  We were told to find partners after the different elements were drilled into us. Each one could be used in different ways that I found genuinely interesting. We could draw upon the earth for stability or wind for power. As long as we didn’t abuse the elements, they would work with us.

  Which would have been great if I’d actually had any magic. As it was, they were just wild fantasies. I could learn all that stuff but nothing would change my lack of abilities.

  I was lamenting on that fact for too long. By the time I looked around for someone to pair up with, everyone was already matched.

  All except one person.

  Liam stood near the window, giving me a resigned wave. I guessed nobody wanted to work with him either. Two rejects, I guessed we deserved one another.

  He took his time coming over. “I hope you know your stuff,” he said in greeting.

  “I hope you know yours,” I retorted. I wasn’t going to get lost staring into his eyes again. This was about survival and I couldn’t let him see that I actually had no powers. Not when he had a direct line to the principal.

  We read the instructions together when they were placed on the desk we were now sharing. My heart sank. Apparently we were going to need our powers from day one. We were to light the paper on fire and use the element of wind to make it dance three feet high. Then we were to use earth to stamp it out.

  “This is easy,” Liam said. “I expected more for our first day.”

  “I guess not everyone is as adept at using their skills as you are,” I replied. That was the argument I was going to use, anyway.

  He shrugged and got started. Whispering one little spell underneath his breath, the paper instantly caught on fire. Another second and Liam had it rising up toward the ceiling. He far exceeded the three feet and finished closer to five.

  Not only was Liam the principal’s son, he was also a great warlock. Good to know. I was so totally screwed if he found out about me.

  “You’re quite an overachiever, aren’t you?” I tested the waters, trying to see whether he would bite or not.

  “Some might say that,” he immediately shot back.

  “I guess when you’re the son of the academy’s principal, you start off a step above everyone else.”

  He shook his head. “Maybe because I’m the son of the academy’s pr
incipal I have to start above everyone else.”

  I was taken aback by his answer. I wasn’t expecting something so honest. A sarcastic comment, a snide remark, anything other than what he gave me.

  He made me feel a little…sad for him. He’d shown me he was vulnerable, even if it was just a tiny little glimpse. Perhaps there was more to Liam than I first thought.

  He took a deep breath and his mask returned. “You want to do the honors of putting it out?” Liam asked.

  I had a mild stroke as I silently panicked inside. “You may as well finish what you started.”

  He didn’t argue. With a flick of his wrist, the fire fizzled out, leaving nothing but a thin line of smoke in its wake.

  “You want to try?” he asked.

  “No more paper. I’ll get it next time.”

  “I can get you a piece.”

  “It’s okay. Wouldn’t want to show you up,” I joked through my tightening throat.

  “Fine.”

  He stalked back to his own desk while I wiped away the pile of ashes. I wasn’t going to be able to bluff my way through classes for very long. It was only a matter of time before I had to admit I couldn’t do any magic. The noose around my neck was getting tighter sooner than I expected.

  The bell couldn’t come fast enough. Now I knew it sounded like a terrifying alarm, I could cope with it much better. I returned my borrowed pen and hurried to get to my next class where I would have to mooch off someone else.

  The next subject was Ethics. In that class, there would be a mixture of supernaturals. We only had to split up for gift-specific subjects. Vampires didn’t need to know about elements, Werewolves wouldn’t care about vampire history. And nobody cared about spells except witches and warlocks.

  I felt a wave of happiness when I saw Cress enter the room. Finally, a friendly face. I hurried to sit next to her before someone else could.

  Hers eye lit up when she saw me. “I hoped we would have some classes together.”

  “Introduction to Ethics,” I replied. “I guess we all have that in common. Isn’t the motto ‘To do no harm’?”