Reckless Souls (Saints Academy, #1)(11)

Not sure I’m fully believing what I see, I tuck my hands behind my back and pinch my forearm.

Much to my surprise, I wince with the sharp pain, and everything remains the same. Nope, not

delusional. Thank fuck for that.

Which means I’m officially in Paradise Heights, when mere moments ago I was in the back

alleyway of my apartment in Phoenix Valley. The reminder has me glancing over my shoulder,

expecting to see the perfectly shaped black fog, but there’s nothing there at all, not even the guard. Just

the outline of a forest in the distance. Talk about a mindfuck.

“How did I get here?” I find myself asking before I realize it, and the lady turns to me, offering a

sympathetic smile as she presses her thumb against an entry pad beside the gate. A hint of excitement

courses through my already anxious body, adding a slight tremble to my fingertips.

“Portal, dear,” she replies casually, like that makes any sense to me as the gates slowly begin to

open. I expect to hear a creak as it moves, but to my surprise, there’s no sound at all. Just an eerie

silence.

As she takes a step toward the opening, clearly just expecting me to follow without another word,

something in the air makes me pause. Squinting at the sky above the gates, I watch as a ripple effect

captures my attention. It reminds me of when I was a child at the orphanage on my birthday. If you had

been good, and not a problem child for the last twelve months, then you got a small tube of blowing

bubbles.

The way the sky shimmers so slightly, a tinge of colors mixing like a kaleidoscope, it reminds me

of a bubble, floating above me majestically like a dome, luring me in with the desperate need to pop

it.

“What’s that?” I ask, a finger reaching out toward the bubble in the sky, just like when I was a

child as I put one foot in front of the other and follow after the woman. “And what’s your name?” I

add, a hint of guilt at the fact that I haven’t asked already, but this is all a lot right now, and my basic

human 101 manners are still down in Phoenix Valley.

“My name is Noreen, I’m a receptionist at the school and your guide for this evening. While that

up there is a ward.” She waves her hand out in front of her, encouraging me to catch up as she steps

through the open gates, and I rush to fall into line with her. At least she’s not being an asshole like the

guard was. She seems to understand my confusion, my curiosity, my disbelief and is willing to help. I

don’t want to piss her off and have her shut me out. I need as many allies as I can find.

The bubble dazzles before my eyes, and I walk through it, just like Noreen, prepared for a distinct

pop sound to come, but it never does. Instead, it’s almost like the sound of a finger snap claps around

us, a jolt of electricity zaps through me as I look up at the ward.

It almost seems brighter, shinier, thicker from this side. How strange.

“What is it for?” I murmur, realizing it’s as if we’re inside the semi-bubble now.

“Do you always ask so many questions?” she replies, answering my question with a question. I

expect her to respond with a certain tone but there’s no snark, no anger, and no disinterest. If anything,

her voice has a hint of teasing to it, prompting a ghost of a smile to reach my lips.

“I can’t say I’ve ever been in a position where I’ve needed to,” I answer truthfully, my steps

slowing as she turns to face me. The insecurity I’m feeling begins to peck at my nerves and that

emotion is something I’m not used to experiencing.

I’m eager for her response, desperate to understand everything, but I can’t help but stare at the

grass around us. It looks like fields and fields of the lush green stuff, but nothing else. Literally

nothing else. As far as my eyes can see, there’s no Academy here which makes me a little suspicious.

“It’s to protect the Academy. A glamor and defense bubble all in one. The snap sound you heard

was the imprint or pulse of your magic linking to the ward, adding in another layer of defense to

protect what is sacred to us,” Noreen explains, my eyebrows reaching my hairline as she speaks, but

I’m far too speechless to respond.

Magic.

My magic?

I can’t stop my gaze from lifting up to the sky again, the buzz of electricity that seemed to jolt

through me earlier runs through my body again as a reminder, leaving me in utter disbelief.

“Where is—”

“Give it a moment, the ward is adjusting to you being here, and once it does the glamor will

drop,” she interrupts, apparently knowing what I was going to say before even I truly did.

I squeeze my eyes shut as I try to adapt to the feelings coursing through me. The sensation, what

must be my magic, is like nothing I’ve ever felt before. I had been hoping I would have recognized the

feeling before today but it’s completely foreign, before it’s suddenly gone.

She stands, tapping her right foot on the ground as she folds her arms over her chest, waiting

expectantly, and I take the moment to look the woman over, now that I’m not completely bewildered