Supernatural Academy: Year One (Supernatural Academy #1)(25)

Larissa shot me a wry smile. “He tries his best,” she whispered, leaning in close, “but there’s only so much he can do.”

Yeah, humans were hard to control. I imagined supes were near impossible.

“Rule number two: do not venture into the herbalism wing of the school unless you know what you’re doing. The same with the water world. Both of these quadrants are dangerous to the unsuspecting.”

Second time I’d gotten that warning, and I was definitely intrigued and slightly freaked out by what might be in those quadrants.

“Rule number three,” Princeps Jones continued, “respect your teachers. We are here to guide, not raise you. Having reached this age, we expect you to already know the basics of common decency. Of common sense.” He waved a hand toward the people standing behind him. “Each of these supernaturals has life and race experience that would take you decades to learn on your own. Use their wisdom to push yourself further than you’ve ever been before. Supernatural Academy is here to set you up for the rest of your life … do not waste this opportunity.”

For some reason I was half on the edge of my seat. His speech was compelling...

“Is he using that compelling thing?” I whispered to Larissa.

She tried to cover her laugh. “Nope, that’s just how he gets.”

I shut up as he finished. “Finally, every year I get the same question about why we enforce uniforms, and it’s as simple as this: the supernatural world will try its best to divide us by race … to keep magic users away from vampires and so on. We even have to do it to some extent in classes, because there’s no point focusing on race attributes you don’t have. The uniform is one way to unify all of you. You’re all Supernatural Academy students. Under one banner. One uniform. No segregation.” He clapped his hands together and straightened his broad shoulders. “That’s enough with the rules. If you have any questions about our expectations here at Supe Academy, just come and speak to me.”

This time when the clapping started, it picked up in intensity.

And I knew I’d never forget this first day of my new school.





11





After Princeps Jones finished, some of the other teachers made short speeches, noting things like the term dates and holiday times. We learned that there were twenty-five hundred students enrolled this year, and that there was a waiting list of over double that who didn’t make the cut.

This freaked me out, because I had no idea why I’d made it in. We didn’t even know what my race was or if I’d be powerful yet.

“So,” Larissa said as we stood, preparing to file out and head to our first classes, “you now know how many students are here.” She fluttered her eyelashes at Ilia. “Or did you miss that again?”

Ilia waved a hand. “Caught it this time, thank you, smartass.”

When we made it outside, there were students everywhere. We had to push our way through the crowds to make it into the rooms where my morning classes were held.

“Basics of Magic is a practical class,” Ilia said, using her elbows to move students who were in her way. “So you’re in this quadrant.”

This was my first trip into the practical magic section, and I was surprised to see how open and airy it was inside. We walked past a ton of different environments. The first one was a desert, and I could feel heat wafting off it. “Some magic users like to work under intense conditions,” Larissa explained. “There’s a desert and ice land here.”

The ice land sent literal chills across my body, and I shivered all the way past it. Ilia and Larissa stopped at the next part of this quadrant. “This is your room,” Ilia said.

I peeked around the corner. The room was large and dimly lit; there were only a few soft lights glowing up high. The ground was covered in a dark brown bark, and when I stepped onto it, it was spongier than I expected.

“The bark is from the jujeniat tree,” Larissa told me. “It originated in Faerie and has amazing magical properties. It protects the students from spells that go awry, which as you might guess, is important when you’re learning new things.”

In my head, Faerie was this weird mythical world that had been mentioned a lot of times, but I still couldn’t quite get a clear image of how it all worked. I sort of pictured it sitting side by side with Earth, but in an alternate dimension. I’d enjoyed one or two superhero movies in my life, so I was well aware of multiverses. I had thought they were fiction, of course.

Along with vampires and witches…

Students pushed us further into the room, and my nerves decided to start a dance party in my gut. “I’m not sure I can do this,” I said, swallowing hard. “I mean, yesterday morning I thought I was human, and that magic was when you managed to wash, dry, fold, and put your clothes away in the same day. This is insane!”

My panic kicked in hard as I met a pair of serious green eyes. “Maddison Marie James,” Ilia said with a scowl. “I’ve watched you, one way or another, for years, and I don’t think there’s anything you can’t do.”

“How do you all know my middle name?” I said stupidly. Of all the things to focus on.

She ignored me. “You fought against huge odds to survive. You practically raised yourself. This is no different. So get it together, get your ass out there, and learn some fucking magic.”