Monster Academy for the Magical, #1 Page 4

  Pretty…

  As I continue to stare at him, attempting to figure out what he is, his lips tug into a cocky smile, revealing his perfectly straight … fangs?

  I blink in shock, which elicits a chuckle from him. Then he runs his tongue along his teeth, and his eyes flash red as if he's hungry.

  Blood hungry.

  Holy effing hell. Is he a vampire?

  This has to be a dream…

  I almost pinch myself again, but I’m too busy staring.

  “Stop trying to scare her, Phoenix,” a guy sitting beside him mutters. “We were warned about tormenting the newbies.”

  His angelic voice should help me relax, except the guy looks anything but angelic, dressed head to toe in black, chains dangle from his belt loops, leather bands cover his wrists, and his inky black hair hangs in his stormy grey eyes that are currently locked on me.

  He briefly assesses me with mild curiosity before fixing his attention on the front desk.

  “She looks too old to be a newbie,” Phoenix remarks, glancing at the guy next to him.

  “Yeah, well, maybe she’s a late enrollment because she looks way too scared not to be new,” he says in a bored tone.

  I’d take his words offensively, but I’m too stuck on the fact that shadows are starting to ripple across his skin.

  “Maybe.” Phoenix fixes his gaze back on me. “Are you a newbie?”

  It takes me a moment to realize he’s talking to me.

  I’m about to reply when another guy comes rushing by me and plops down in the throne beside the guy with shadows on his skin.

  He looks around the same age as the other guys, has short, blonde hair, pale blue eyes, and a shimmery glow radiates from him.

  “You’re late, Ollie,” the shadowy guy informs him with a heavy sigh.

  Ollie trades an amused smile with Phoenix then reclines back in the throne. "Sorry, boss," he jokes with a smirk. "But I promise it was for a good reason." When the guy with shadows on his skin stares him down, his head bobs back and lets out a groan. "Roman, chill out. No one noticed I was a few minutes late." A smile plays at his lips. "Besides, it was for an excellent reason."

  “Hooking up Debbie G. in the janitor’s closet isn’t a good reason,” The guy with shadows on his skin—Roman replies with a shake of his head.

  “Actually, it was Debbie G. and Stephanie S.” Ollie smirks, tucking his hands behind his head and seeming pretty pleased with himself.

  But that pleased look morphs into confused curiosity as his gaze zeroes in on me.

  He leans forward, resting his hands on his knees. “Well, well, what do we have here?” His pale blue eyes skim up and down my body then his smile grows. “Fresh meat.”

  And just like that, the spell I seem to have fallen into is broken.

  Fresh meat? Is he kidding me?

  “Actually, we were just trying to figure that out,” Phoenix tells him while grinning at me. “She never answered my question, though.”

  “Just leave her alone,” Roman mutters, pinching the brim of his nose. “You should both realize by now that messing around with newbies only leads to clinginess.” He throws them both pressing looks.

  Ollie sighs. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” He glances at me again. “Such a shame, though. Those eyes and those legs…” He bites down on his bottom lip.

  “She’s easily tranced too,” Phoenix adds with a grin. “So either she’s weak or stupid. I can’t figure out which one.”

  And that's about when I become aware that I've been standing in the same place for who knows how long, listening to these guys talk about me as if I was watching a show. And as I realize that, a haze begins to lift from me, my mind clearing, and everything they said sinking in.

  I blast them with a dirty look. "Screw you. I'm not stupid. And I'm not weak." It might be the boldest thing I've ever done.

  If only that sort of bravery existed while I was in the… Well, wherever I was before I came here.

  Wanting to latch onto that confidence, I lift my chin and step away, catching a glimpse of their shocked expressions. Why they’re the ones who are shocked, though, I don’t have a clue. They’re the ones who seem perfectly comfortable in this place that screams of nightmares.

  Haven

  By the time I arrive at the front desk, I feel like I just got high and am coming down. I have a suspicion it has to do with those guys… Or whatever the hell they are.

  The fire demon greets me with an amused smile as I wander up to stand beside him. “I see you’ve met Phoenix, Roman, and Ollie.”

  “Yeah… Well, not really met… Just stared at them.” I have the craziest urge to peek over my shoulder at them, but resist the temptation. “How’d you know?”

  He grins, smoke slipping from his lips. "Because you look a little dazed, which can mean only one of two things. One," he holds up a finger, "You accidentally smoked some dream smoke, which is currently restricted here. So that only leaves option number two," he holds up another finger, "And that's that you got hazed by the Death Triplets. Although they're not really triplets. But that's the nickname they've been given."

  My brows rise. “The Death Triplets? For reals?”

  “Yeah, it’s what everyone around here calls those three over there.” He points in the direction of the guys, but I still don’t glance at them. “Not that most don’t mind getting hazed by them. They’re ridiculously hot.” He dazes off with a dreamy look in his eyes.

  “What does hazed mean exactly?” I ask. “Like hazing in college?”

  "Nah, it's just a thing they do. They're all considered alluring creatures so when they combine their powers, they can basically trance creatures into a lust stupor. Or a haze, hence the nickname."

  “I…” I shake my head as my brain struggles to process what he just said.

  Frowning, the fire demon’s lips part. “I think…” He sighs as the secretary with orange hair returns to the other side of the desk.

  Her lips are as orange as her hair, and her eyes are like a cat's, black in the center with a shimmering gold ring around the pupils.

  “All right, Jude, I’ve been told that you should bring her back to the office,” she informs the fire demon—Jude.

  Then her cat eyes shake to me, and she eyes me over with puzzled intrigue.

  Jude thrums his flame-tipped fingers against the desk. “Do they have an idea of why a human would end up here? Not that I actually believe she’s human. Not with those eyes. Plus, she smells like magic. But she says she came from the human realm.”

  My eyes…

  Wait… I smell like magic?

  I sniff myself, but can’t smell anything.

  The cat-eyed secretary chuckles. Or well, more like purrs.

  "No monster can smell their own scent," she says with a smile but then frowns. "Even a newbie should know that unless she doesn't know about our realm."

  Jude frowns. “How would that be possible, though?”

  "I'm not sure, but if she's been in the human realm for long enough, her powers may have been dormant. Or someone made them dormant. But if that's the case, then we're talking about a whole other set of problems." She fiddles with a bracelet on her wrist as she studies me quizzically.

  And me? I just stand there stupidly, confusion swirling through me. And yet, beneath all the puzzlement, something is starting to click into place.

  Is this why I’ve always felt so different and out of place?

  “Yeah, you’re right,” Jude murmurs, observing me. “Tell me Haven, while you lived in the human realm, did you experiencing anything magical?”

  “Other than the giant vortex that appeared and sucked me here?” I reply with a shrug. “Although, I’m still pretty convinced that was just a dream—that this whole thing is.”

  “Oh honey, this is very much reality.” He taps his finger against his lips, making the flesh sizzle. “But the question is, how do you fit in here? And why did you end up here?”

  “Well, if I�
�m not dreaming, then a woman with pink hair pushed me into the vortex,” I explain. “Or well, according to her, she was a witch.”

  The cat-eyed woman's expression plummets. "A pink-haired witch sent you here?"

  I nod, adjusting the handle of my backpack higher onto my shoulder. "Or well, she pushed me into the vortex that led to here… Wherever here is."

  “I already told you, you’re at Monster Academy for the Magical,” Jude murmurs, lost in deep thought. He glances at the woman with cat eyes, a frown etching across his face. “If Annabella sent her here, then more than likely…”

  "She needs to be protected," she finishes for him. "But the question is: why?"

  They grow quiet, their gazes dissecting me. I have no idea what they’re looking for, but it’s making me very squirmy.

  Eventually, Jude sighs. “Come with me, lovely grey-eyed Haven,” he says. “And we’ll figure out the mystery of your appearance here.”

  I expect him to walk to another door, but instead, he snaps his fingers, and a cloud of purple smoke encloses around me.

  Nope. Not encloses around me.

  Grabs me.

  And just like that, I’m back in the darkness again.

  Haven

  I gasp, stumbling forward as the smoke releases me. “Holy crap, that was…” My words fade as I get a glimpse of my surroundings.

  I'm no longer in the main dungeon, but a small, dark, and dingy room. With the cement walls, lack of windows and lighting, and muggy air, I assume Jude has finally taken me to a real dungeon.

  “You don’t need to be afraid.” Jude materializes beside me in a puff of smoke, his fire-like eyes illuminating against the darkness. “This is just the headmistress’s and headmaster’s office.”

  I raise my brows. “It looks an awful lot like a dungeon.”

  He chuckles. “You’re amusing, Haven. You really are.”

  Glad he thinks so, but I wasn’t really trying to be amusing.

  “What’re we doing here?” I ask as Jude strolls around the room, eyeing the crooked paintings on the wall that are covered in cobwebs.

  "Trying to figure out what you are and why you're here." He glances at me from over his shoulder. "I know you said that you don't know anything about this realm, but I can't help noticing how calm you are, so—and please don't take this personally—but…" He turns to face me, scrutinizing me with his smoldering eyes. "Are you sure you don't know what you are or why Annabella sent you here? Because it's okay if you do. I'd just rather know now instead of finding out later that you're lying."

  I wonder what he’d do if I said I had been lying this entire time, that I know why I’m here, what I am…

  What are you? The pink-haired witch—Annabella had said to me the first time I ran into her.

  I had always wondered the same thing.

  “I’m not lying,” I tell him. “And honestly, I’m half-convinced this is all just a dream. That really, I’m asleep back in my bed. Or in a trance in the basement…” I bite down on my tongue, not wanting to talk about that.

  His brows furrow. “Trance in the basement… what do you mean by that?”

  I shrug, staring down at a puddle on the ground. “Nothing really. It’s just that sometimes I go into trances. It doesn’t always happen while I’m in a basement, though. That’s just where I was the last time it happened.”

  Concern masks his expression. “So you’ve gone into trances a lot?”

  “It’s happened a handful of times.” I lift my gaze to him. “I’m not crazy, though. I swear I’m not.”

  “I never said you were, honey.” He stares at me like I’m a complicated puzzle he desperately wants to solve. “What happens during these trances?”

  I lift my shoulder. Usually, I'd keep my lips zipped, fearing I'll sound crazy. But this place… Well, it seems like the sort of place where crazy might be more accepted than sane.

  "I zone out," I admit. "And then it's like… Well, like darkness grabs hold of me and then I black out."

  “Do strange things happen to others around you when you go into these trances?” he asks cautiously.

  I pick at my fingernail, shrugging. “I’ve been told I mumble words in a language no one seems to know, and my eyes go black, but…” I wrap my arms around myself. “The last time it happened, when I woke up, my foster father was cowering under the stairway, rambling in a weird language. And it happened another time when I was six, only that time it was my foster mother it happened to.”

  The crease between his brows deepens. “I’m assuming your foster parents were near you when you entered the trance?” he asks and I nod. “What events happened that lead up to you going into a trance?”

  I smash my lips together and shake my head. “I don’t want to talk about that.”

  Sympathy fills his eyes. "That's perfectly fine." He gives a brief pause. "I can tell this is bothering you, so I'll let the subject drop for now, but I just want to ask you one final question. And it's very important that you answer honestly, okay?" He waits for me to nod before continuing. "Did anything else happen to your foster parents while you were in a trance? Like did their skin get covered by flames or something like that?"

  “No, nothing like that happened. But the last time… my foster father had these black lines covering his flesh.”

  The moment the words leave my lips, every flame and ember on his body fizzles, leaving him looking like a shadow.

  “Oh dear Gods,” he breathes out.

  Puzzlement webs through me. I'm about to ask what's gotten him so worried when a man and woman materialize in the middle of the room.

  The man is freakishly tall with hair and eyes as grey as ash. He's wearing a floor-length white cloak that trails behind him, and red lipstick stains the collar. Coincidentally enough—although, probably not coincidentally—the woman beside him has the same shade of lipstick smudged around her lips. Her hair is the same shade as the lipstick, along with the horns sprouting out of her head, and the red pops against the all-black outfit she's sporting.

  “Good afternoon, everyone.” The man claps his hands together, causing an eerie glow to orb around the room. A smile spreads across his face until he glances around. Then he frowns. “I thought this was a meeting?” He looks at the woman standing beside him.

  “Not a meeting. There’s an issue we need to address.” She looks from Jude to me, her expression unreadable. “I’m assuming you’re it.”

  Uncertain how to respond, I just shrug.

  She frowns, a drop of annoyance flickering in her eyes.

  “Sorry, Sage, she’s a little confused,” Jude tells her as he steps toward me. But then he abruptly slams to a stop, tension rippling through his body as he stares at me.

  And that’s when I notice it. That same fear I sometimes see in people’s eyes after I’ve had one of my trances.

  “Confused how?” Sage asks Jude.

  He clears his throat then looks at her. “Did Camille fill you in on what happened?”

  “No,” the man replies, adjusting the collar of his cloak. “We’ve been busy with—”

  Sage reaches over and squeezes his hand, her gaze remaining on Jude. “I’ve been made aware that an accidental arrival occurred and that the creature isn’t certain why she’s here.”

  "Creature?" I don't mean to say the word aloud, and the noise draws all of their attention.

  "Yes, creature," Sage says to me with either annoyance or curiosity in her tone—she's difficult to read in a very creepy way. "Or were you not aware of that either?"

  “She wasn’t,” Jude answers for me. “She’s not aware of a lot of things.”

  Sage glances at him with her brow raised. “Then why is she here?”

  “That’s what I wanted to find out.” Jude faces her with his hands behind his back. “It’s why I asked for you to meet me here—so I could get your help trying to figure out why she’s here and what she is. However, after talking to her for the last couple of minutes, I may have arrived a
t a conclusion.” He grows stiff then, the flames in his body flickering.

  His reaction causes tension to pour through me. I'm not sure what he's about to say if I even believe any of this or not, but I have a feeling something terrible is about to occur.

  Now might be a good time to run.

  I sneak a glance around, searching for an escape, but the room doesn’t even have a door.

  “I think… Well, considering some of the stuff she said…” Jude opens and flexes his hands. “I think she might be a maddening.”

  I don’t know what I expected him to say, but that wasn’t it, that he’d say some word I don’t know the meaning of. But Sage and the man seem to understand, both of them stiffening, their gazes sliding to me.

  “You think she’s a maddening?” the man questions in a low, tremulous tone, his grey eyes shadowing over.

  Sage clutches onto his hand. “Mor, please calm down.”

  His gaze snaps to her, and black-feathered wings suddenly snap out from his back, causing feathers to scatter through the air.

  I gape at him.

  Wings?

  This dude has wings?

  Then he seems to grow twice his size, his body stretching taller the more his anger builds. "Calm down!" he shouts, and I stumble back, tripping over my feet and landing on my ass. "A maddening has been brought into the academy, and all you can say to me is calm down!"

  I have to give Sage some credit as she stands there looking completely calm and maybe even a little bored.

  “Oh, quit throwing a tizzy fit,” she says with a roll of her eyes. “She clearly doesn’t know what she is, which probably means her powers are mostly dormant.”

  Mor’s nostrils flare as he gets in her face. “Mostly dormant or not, we don’t allow her kind in this academy.”

  Sage crosses her arms. “That might be true, but the fact is she’s already here, which means she’s not going anywhere for the next year.”

  “Wait, what?” I ask, getting to my feet and looking at Jude.

  He offers me an apologetic look. “It’s the rules of the academy. Once you start the school year here, you’re stuck with us for the next year, whether you want to or not. It helps keep the attendance rate up, which keeps the funding amount up.”