Nightworld Academy: Term One(Nightworld Academy #1)(16)

I turn back to the pathway.

The whimpering is replaced by a howl of pain and my stomach twists at the sickening sound as injured yelping follows. I've been an animal lover my whole life, and however hard I try, I can't fight my need to investigate in case something needs help.

I flatten myself against the wall as I follow the sound and inch along until I'm able to peek around the corner.

I'm right. A shaggy black dog around the size of a Labrador lies on the ground whimpering. After a quick study of my surroundings, and satisfied they're empty, I approach. The dog lifts its head and whines at me before attempting to stand. The poor thing struggles and collapses back to the ground.

I cautiously approach then crouch with a hand out. "Hey, boy. You're okay, let me look at you." He doesn't growl but cowers instead, allowing me to inch closer.

In the dark, it's difficult to see any visible injuries. Touching a strange dog isn't the wisest move, but I can't help myself. His fur is rough and body hot.

"You're okay. I'll find someone to help," I say and stroke his head.

The dog leaps to its feet and I fall onto my backside as he moves. He's bigger than I thought, more Alsatian-sized, and his eyes shine bright yellow in the dark.

Crap.

Sometimes, I have zero smarts.

I wait for bared teeth. An attack. This has to be a sick joke if whoever did this is setting me up for injury. But the dog turns its head and sprints into the darkness. Another sound comes from behind, and I scramble to my feet. Three cloaked figures approach, tall, shrouded by the night.

"Very funny!" I call. "What did you do to the dog?"

The figures continue to approach, silently, and I waver between holding my ground and running back towards the building.

No. This is a set up and I refuse to be the laughing stock—Maeve, the frightened new girl who ran away.

They're too slender to be Clive or Ash, and most in Gilgamesh are built more powerfully than the figures heading my way. I bet they're from Petrescu.

I cross my arms. "Is that you, Katherine? Or Andrei? Both?"

Nobody responds.

"Come to frighten me?" I continue. "Because it's not working."

I dart a look around, for the nearest exit, but there's a wall behind me and I need to pass them to reach the cloisters.

"You can't hurt me," I say as much to myself as them.

I jump half out of my skin when the dog nearby howls. The figures pause and turn their heads to each other. I dip my face to try to see their faces, but the hoods hang forward completely obscuring their features.

"What a cliché," I continue. "Mysterious people in long cloaks. This has to be you, Andrei."

The dog nearby barks, the sound echoed back by howls from elsewhere. I've not seen any dogs on campus, but there are stables and other buildings edging the property, where I think one or two of the teachers live. Maybe they have dogs?

I march over and attempt to grab one figure's hood, ready to expose his or her face. The figure shoves me hard and I land spread-eagled in front of him or her. Scrambling to my feet, I back off again, aware the space between them and the cloisters is narrowing.

As the dog continues to howl and the figures continue to advance, my cockiness leaves. Especially when hands emerge from beneath one of the cloaks holding a rope. Male hands pull the length of the rope taut and lifts it upwards in front of him.

My blood chills. Is he going to strangle me?

No. Nobody would hurt me. They're just trying to scare me.

"Let me past, you arseholes!" I shout and plunge forward to run past them, elbowing my way through the bodies. I'm not strong, but I'm agile, and if one of them touches me I'll demonstrate what I learned in my school's self-defence classes.

I don't make it past. One grabs my arms and before he can take the other, I reach out to pull down the hood of another. If they hurt me, I'll describe to the teachers exactly who the hell these people are.

I seize the thick material and reveal a face belonging to a man much older than a student. He's middle-aged with hair swept back that's greying at the temples. His sharp features and thin-lipped smile are filled with malice as he stares back at me. My assailant seizes my other arm, and the man in front jerks his head at the hooded figure holding me but doesn't speak.

I'm lifted from the ground and I let out a scream as loud as the dog's howl. I haven't met every teacher, but this couldn't be one. If they were involved in hazing a student, that would be a disciplinary offence, surely.

Before he pulls his hood back up, I memorise the man’s face from the high forehead and sharp cheekbones to the scar below his eye. Unable to move my arms, I'm slung across a man's shoulder like a father picking up a misbehaving toddler.

I scream again, louder, and the sounds bounces off the stone walls into the darkness.





Chapter Ten





ASH



I demanded that nobody in Gilgamesh house should prank Maeve. I'm still shocked that she has no idea where she is, and each time I see her, the less confident she looks. Everybody must swear allegiance to their house, but Maeve shouldn't have to deal with the initiation pranks from students that follow the ceremony. Normal students know to expect this and can fight back with their powers. Maeve won't expect anything and doesn't know what she's capable of if frightened.