Tales & Time (Lost Time Academy #1)(15)

“We were eleven, it hardly counts. None of us knew what we were doing,” I say, ignoring how he leans close, so close I can feel his warm breath across my own lips when I turn to look at him.

“Should we practise kissing again? I will make sure it counts, Madi,” he whispers seductively in a way that I’m sure most girls would fall for.

“If we follow that rule, I’ll have to kiss you all. As I remember having five first kisses,” I whisper back, and he grins in a teasing way.

“Touché, Sleepy,” he chuckles, crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat, making me feel like I can breathe again.

“I see you haven’t changed all that much since we were kids. You always teased me with things back then,” I reply, and he nods.

“Though I’m better at it now. How is Quinton?” he asks me, but I don’t get to answer him even though him just mentioning Quinton makes my heart ache and the smile on my lips disappear.

“So, class, we have a new student. Everyone, this is Miss Dormiens, and I’m Miss Cata,” she says, and I look away from Noah, thankful for the distraction. What could I tell Noah anyway? That I left Quinton just like they all did? That he is alone, and I miss him so much? “As we have a new student, I believe it would be best to have a refresher class on the very basics of our history. It will be good to see if any of you were listening,” she says, and there are several groans from other students around the room.

“Great. She does this every time someone new comes here,” Tavvy mutters next to me, crossing her arms and resting back.

“Who wants to go first?” Miss Cata asks, and most of the class sinks down further in their seats. Noah puts his hand up, and Miss Cata nods for him to speak.

“There are good and evil descendants, just like there are good and bad humans. We are descendants of the good fairy tales’ characters, though the villains in our stories are what are known as dark fairy tales. Every one of us has a dark fairy tale enemy whose powers can destroy us. Just like our powers can destroy them,” he says, and Miss Cata nods. In my fairy tale, there was an evil fairy who could transform into a dragon. That doesn’t sound good.

“Yes, and that is why the Masters’ army was created. The Masters’ army fights them every day to keep ourselves and humans safe. The Masters’ army is free for any descendants to join, but there are rules for joining. Does anyone want to say them?” she asks, and a guy near the front puts his hand up.

“Relationships are forbidden, you cannot leave once you have joined. The only way to leave the army is death or a great honour. Once you enlist in the Masters’ army, the army protects you no matter what, and you do whatever they tell you to do or face death,” the guy solemnly says. That sounds like a crap deal.

“Yes, all correct. Now can anyone tell me about the Masters themselves?” she asks, and another guy puts his hand up and leans back in his seat before he starts talking.

“The Masters are a group of five descendants from the strongest lines. The Masters control the army, the homes, the schools and everything we need to stay safe in our lives. Each Master has a council of five trusted descendants, and they pass judgement on everything in our community,” the guy explains, looking over at me for a second, and I smile at him. Something seems to spook him as he quickly looks away. I glance over at Noah who has his arms crossed, watching the teacher with a smirk on his lips. Strange.

“Very good. As most of you know, the Masters took control over two hundred years ago to stop the ongoing war between our races. Only, the dark ones didn’t want to stop the war, so the Masters ended up protecting us instead with a united front. They are the most powerful of our race, and their children will take their places when they retire at the age of fifty,” she says, looking over at us for a second before looking away. “Now everyone come and get a book from the front and continue reading for the next hour. I expect you to take notes because you will be tested on this. Miss Dormiens, you need to catch up, so you are expected to do reading in your personal hours. For now, start at the beginning.”

“That sounds like a lot of work,” I groan, meaning to say it quietly, but everyone hears, and there are a few snickers as Miss Cata narrows her eyes at me.

“I have every belief that you will catch up shortly,” she replies and claps her hands. “Come on, we do not have all day.” I quickly get up at the same time as everyone else and grab a book off the front desk before returning to my seat. I open the book to the first page, noticing how Noah and Tavvy open theirs to somewhere in the middle of the book before I start to read.

The book starts off with explaining how descendants hid their powers from the humans by magically blessing islands off the coast of Ireland, and over the years, the humans forgot the islands existed. The islands cannot be found by a human anymore, therefore they are a safe place for our kind to live. Most descendants choose to bring their children up off the island so they can have a normal life, but if a child is brought up on the island, they can be told about their heritage early. I frown when a ripped piece of paper is slid onto the page in my book, and I look up, checking the teacher isn’t looking before unfolding it.



Skip the next class with me? I want to spend some time with you. Alone. -Noah.





I look over at him and shake my head when he smirks at me. I’m not skipping any classes on my first day. I slide the note into my pocket before going back to reading about how the dark fairy tale descendants have their own island. I look over as Noah rips another piece of paper off a notebook he has on his table and quickly writes something on it. He grins at me as he slides it onto my book again. I roll my eyes at him before opening the note.