Supernatural Academy: Year One (Supernatural Academy #1)(22)

“All included,” Princeps Jones assured me. “Food, lodging, uniforms, and any excursions you might have to undertake for the school. The allowance is just for extras: clothing, dinners in town, movies, and such. We want you to learn, but also to enjoy your life. You’re only young once, and this is not a prison. It’s a highly regarded, state-of-the-art learning facility.”

And I’d been chosen to be here—literally hunted down. I almost couldn’t believe it.

“Have you made any leeway into figuring out her race?” Larissa asked her father, and I was grateful she remembered to ask that.

His lips thinned. “Not really. Your power is too locked down. You definitely have some magic user in you,” he said, fingers forming a steeple in front of him. “You might be a pure mage, or … there’s a possibility of a mixed race. If that’s the case, you could actually be any of the other three: shifter, vampire, or fey. Clearly your supernatural side has been suppressed for some reason. For now, let’s not rule any race out.”

“Half fey, half mage makes the most sense,” Ilia piped up from behind.

The princeps nodded. “That does make sense, but I’ve never sensed any affinity for elemental magic in Maddison’s energy, and it’s usually quite strong.”

“You sensed it when my magic flared occasionally?” I asked.

He nodded.

Elemental. Well, I definitely didn’t do anything cool with fire or water. Except swim like a fish, but I decided not to mention that, because it felt like misleading information. That was a skill, not magic.

“I’ve sent out a request for a very strong sorcerer to visit soon,” Princeps Jones said. “Hopefully he will be able to figure out why your energy is locked down.”

As scary as it was to think of a sorcerer messing with my magic, I was more than ready for answers.

“Until then, the teachers are aware of your unique situation,” Princeps Jones added. “They’ll give you leeway and then we can reassess everything once your magic is unlocked.”

Larissa and I stood, and I shook the princeps’s hand. “Thank you for this opportunity,” I told him seriously. “You’ve already changed my life.”

Thank you, pink hair.





10





We left the princeps’s office early enough to grab a quick breakfast. The first meal of the day was my favorite, so there had to be a damn good reason to miss it. After we’d ordered from the magical hologram screen again—French toast with blackberry syrup for me—the three of us got down to some hardcore gossip.

“So I heard a rumor, Maddi,” Ilia said, leaning in close to me, “that you caught the attention of the Academy kings. What happened last night after I left?”

Larissa shot me a knowing smirk and I wrinkled my nose at her. “What exactly did you hear?”

Ilia’s smile broad. “Well, apparently Calen was all over you on the main floor of the magic dorms, and I heard you rejected him. Straight-up badass style.”

God, supe-whispers was as bad as human-whispers.

“Then last night at dinner, you took off when they got close.” She lifted her eyebrows at me. “Everyone was losing their minds, because it’s the Atlantean-five. No one runs from them.”

I groaned, resisting the urge to drop my head in my hands and hide. It was exactly what Larissa had laughed about last night. “I think the rumors are greatly exaggerated,” I said.

Her grin got wider, and I felt my own lips twitching in response. “It’s not funny,” I snorted. “I barely know shit about this world. I really need to focus on catching up. The last thing I want is to deal with this drama on my second day.”

“There’s something about you, Maddi,” Ilia said, leaning back in her chair, arms open on either side of her. “It’s what we talked about yesterday, and it was something I felt from the first time I started tracking you. Your energy, for lack of a better word, draws supernaturals to you.”

My face must have gone very pale, because she shook her head and chuckled. “Not in any crazy way, girl, don’t freak. But … it might have been enough to grab their attention. Only time will tell.”

Our food appeared then, looking fresh and delicious. I tried not to think about what Ilia had said, focusing on shoveling the amazing food in my mouth. I didn’t really believe her, because this was no high school soap opera. I wasn’t an amazing, beautiful, funny girl who was going to snag all the guys.

I was a bit of a mess. A lot of a loner. And mostly … invisible. I mean, dinner last night and now breakfast with Ilia and Larissa was the first time I hadn’t eaten alone in years.

She was wrong. There had to be another explanation.

After finishing our food, we started to walk. I hadn’t gone beyond the commons and my dorm yet, and I focused as the girls explained the layout of the Academy. “The school is set out in a circular pattern and there are four main sections or quadrants,” Larissa said. “There are also four dorms, which are scattered around the outside of these quadrants.”

She pointed toward one massive building. “This section is where all the sit-down classrooms are, any class that requires book work. Your history class will be there. Along with Pronunciation of the Fey Language, Demon Mythology, and a few others that you’ll have during the rest of the week.” She turned and pointed to another building, one that soared a lot higher in the sky than the classroom section. “This is the herbalism quadrant, where all the plants are. Best that you don’t venture into any unknown rooms there. It has a forest in the center, and around it are lots of specialized herbalism and healing rooms. It’s a really cool, Zen sort of place.”