Immortal Academy- The Complete Series Page 6

  “Thanks, Tanner,” I said as four more wedges of pie were placed in front of me. “Where’d these come from?” I asked, looking up and seeing the smile on my friends’ faces. Nick, the elf with blue hair—who I think might’ve had a thing for Vannah—smiled at me.

  “While you were gawking over there at that shifter and his groupies, we snuck you some pie. You don’t seem to be in the best mood tonight, Jenna.”

  “I’m just annoyed,” I said, inhaling my first slice of pie and heading to the second. “The shifter over there is with Master Scott, and Master Scott is a freaking jerk.”

  Tanner and Vannah laughed in unison, “Kicking your wolf’s butt finally?” Tanner winked.

  “No, and that’s what’s weird. I’m keeping up with his wolf, and he doesn’t like it. Usually, you’re coached up and rewarded for doing well when you bust your butt. That instructor doesn’t see it that way, and that’s not how you teach people,” I said.

  As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I made eye contact with the mysterious, statuesque shifter, watching his smile fade as his deep brown eyes focused on me, shoving pie into my mouth as if I were a pig shifter. If this shifter could hear me over all the commotion in the room, his hearing must’ve been hardcore.

  His expression was more authoritative than I’d ever encountered, even with my alpha wolf friends at my other schools. My inner wolf woke up instantly. She was at attention and wanting to give me her eyes to meet his with.

  Oddly enough, since I had stifled my wolf down to an hour a day, she and I seemed to be losing a bit of our intense connection. A chill ran down my spine as I remained locked with this shifter’s gaze.

  “He’s one of the masters,” I said, feeling my wolf give me better insight and something I should have easily known. “He’s our Master,” I said in a soft voice to myself.

  As soon as I said it, the guy’s chiseled features that were hardened with his death gaze at me, relaxed and his closed lips lifted in a knowing grin. I chewed on my bottom lip, trying to figure this shifter out, but the shifter was blocked off to me.

  “You gonna drool over Dominic Rossi or eat the pie?” Emma said with a chuckle.

  “I’m not drooling, I’m trying to figure him out is all,” I said, pulling my gaze away from him completely ignoring the fact he tried to pull some mental alpha crap on me, and it didn’t work. I should’ve been trembling with some fearful feeling right now, but instead, all I wanted to do was march up to him and slap him across his arrogant face for thinking he could try an alpha move on me.

  “You look upset,” Tanner said. “Did that shifter do anything to you? I swear—”

  “You swear, and you’re busted,” I said sarcastically. “Rules of this stupid school, remember?”

  “Just because things aren’t the way Jenna likes them, doesn’t mean you have to act like a spoiled brat,” Vannah said.

  I turned to my best friend, who I seemed to be growing more and more distant from thanks to this school managing to completely separate us. “You know that’s not it. This place is weird, and after today, I’m feeling the vibes that something is just off. I mean, look at us. We’re not supposed to be eating dinner from seven to eight, yet here we are. I swear this place changes like those magical little maps do when you enter a different building.”

  “You’re overreacting. They changed the hours because they had shifters returning from a quest training.”

  “Explains why my master over there is back, and apparently every girl is crushing on him,” I answered Tanner’s girl.

  “Dominic Rossi has a name at this school. If he’s your master, it’s a good thing, not a bad one.” She finished with a smile.

  “Well, seeing that he is in a joking conversation with his jerk friend, Master Scott, I’m not too sure it’s a good thing. I think these guys aren’t mature enough to be in positions to take on new students and train them.”

  “Master Finley is great with us. She’s over there chumming it up with Master Dominic and Master Scott,” Tanner stated.

  “Whatever. I guess I should be glad I have some nice eye candy as a master instead of the complete dii…..” I stopped, if I said it, I’d probably get a hard elbow to the ribs from Vannah.

  “Complete what?” Tanner taunted me.

  “Ding-a-ling?” I said slowly, finishing with a confident grin.

  That stupid comeback cracked us all up, but now, it was study time, and what would you know, Dominic was in the massive library and surrounded by women. Lusa sat for a few minutes with Tanner and me—Vannah was gone, as usual since witches really didn’t have to study. I needed to remind myself to head off with her during our free time tomorrow. I was curious as to where my best friend kept heading off to, leaving me alone with just Tanner. She split with the fairy crew, and it was like the shifters were the ones always in here studying because even though we were fast, fierce, and feared—brains on history really weren’t our thing. So the library was mainly the place for shifters.

  It sucked, Vannah was always my study buddy, and now—gone. Whatever.

  “Hey, girl!” Lusa brought my attention up to her radiant smile. “Sorry for ditching out on dinner again. Planning the Ageless Ball has been taking up all my time.”

  “It’s cool,” I responded. “You here to study?”

  “No, no time for that. I need to catch up with Dom, then get back to work. I’ll see you at lights out.”

  She waltzed over to Dominic, who I knew wouldn’t be able to resist her beautiful looks and charms, and when they laughed and hugged at their reunion, they were officially the most beautiful couple in the room.

  The severe and bad-ass look of Dominic faded as soon as she walked up to him. Their conversation was short, and it was no time at all before he was back to looking at the floor to ceiling bookshelf again.

  Later that night, I was in bed, staring at the ceiling. All the lights were out, but I heard Lusa exit her bathroom and sigh with exhaustion as she sat on the edge of her bed and braided her long, black hair.

  My vampire friend was exhausted? Come to think of it, shifters didn’t typically wake up feeling like they needed a pot of strong black coffee to get their day going, but I had been dragging butt every morning. I was drained of energy, and it took doubling up on carbs to try to stay energized.

  Who knew what that was about. All I knew was that tomorrow was my first day with Dominic as my master, so sleep needed to come and quick.

  Just as I was drifting off to sleep, a cold burst hit my room. I spotted a shadow figure out of the corner of my eye, and it felt like it was checking in on us. The dark energy I felt was bone-chilling, but I got up to check the hallways anyway. Freaking ghosts didn’t exist, but dark, created beings did, and if something like that was going to try and come for the vamp and me, I was definitely blowing the whistle on someone using blood magic at this school.

  The halls were clear, but the cold energy remained. What the heck was going on? I climbed into bed, not letting my guard down, and pretty much screwed myself by staying awake all night. Maybe Ethan could shed some light on this. If there were dark magic around, an owl shifter would immediately pick up on that crap.

  Either way, the clock was ticking, and in no time at all, it would be time to meet Master Dominic. Well, if Master Scott told him I was some crazy chick shifter that kicked his butt at every exercise we did, then Master Dominic would learn tomorrow his friend was a liar because I would be lucky if I could do three pushups when it was time for physical training.

  I was screwed, but with this energy still looming in my room, I knew I would be more screwed if I shut my mind off and fell asleep. I knew something was up with this place, and I was probably going to go insane, trying to figure it all out.

  Chapter Eight

  I didn’t sleep a wink and was totally freaking annoyed because I shouldn’t have been this tired, but the fact that I was stuck at this prison academy and forced to learn to survive without my wolf probably played a factor i
n that. Regardless of my wolf, I was a supernatural being. My wolf wasn’t my only source of energy so…what the hell was going on?

  “You’re up early,” Lusa said as I finished pulling on my combat boots.

  “Didn’t sleep much and now I have to train with my new master.” I stood and tightened my low ponytail.

  “Why not?”

  “You were too busy snoring to notice,” I started as I planted my hands on my hips and stared over at the doorway, “but some shadow creature was creeping on our room last night.”

  Her eyes widened. “Dark magic?” she questioned. “Jenna, if something like that is happening, you know we have to—”

  “Report it, I know,” I answered. “But I’m not really sure anymore. Maybe I’m delusional at this point. I mean, don’t you think the dorm master or someone else would have noticed?”

  “Dom and E are on this floor, both would have noticed,” she said, curious. “Jenna, you look horrible.”

  “Thanks for the compliment, Miss Immortal Academy!” I teased with a yawn.

  Lusa was cool, but she and I didn’t really know each other well enough for me to confide in her about my concerns with this place. We were roommates, and that was it. Even though I was learning to understand that the other supernaturals weren’t my enemy, I went with gut instincts and clamped my mouth shut.

  I rubbed my forehead and sat back on the bed as soon as I got super light headed. Gah! I need some freaking energy, or I’m not going to last today! I seethed to myself, practically begging my entire being to snap out of this state.

  It wasn’t a moment later that I suddenly felt what I can only describe as a jolt of energy. It was as real as if Vannah had juiced me up with one of her witchy spells, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. The haze of exhaustion lifted, and I was ready to go. I glanced at the clock, seeing I only had five minutes to spare.

  As I started to dash out of the room, Lusa’s slender fingers caught me by the bend of my arm.

  “What just happened to you?” She stood in front of me and took each of my shoulders in her hands, studying my face. “You look like…” she swallowed hard, interrupting herself. “It’s like you’re glowing. How did you do that?”

  “I have no idea, but trust me, I’m really going to need it because I have to sprint to Braeclaw lawns. I can’t be late for my new instructor.”

  AKA: Your boyfriend.

  “Maybe we’ll see each other at lunch?”

  “Yeah, we’ll see what happens with your party planning,” I said, rushing out the door.

  She always seemed to try and meet up for lunch, but she never made it. Lusa and a few other second-year students had been busting their butts to plan the Ageless Ball. It seemed to take up every last second of her time. The ball wasn’t just one of your run of the mill school dances, it was a gala, it was an IA tradition, and unfortunately for me, it was mandatory.

  “Silvers,” my new friend, Justin, said as I slipped in the back of the group. “You’re late, not cool. You already upset Master Scott, now you’re starting off on the wrong foot with our real trainer.”

  We were in our formation—four rows, ten shifters wide—waiting on Master Dominic to bring his muscular butt over here to start running drills with us. I could use a good run after the energy burst I’d conjured up earlier, which I was definitely telling Vannah about when I saw her.

  “I called an order, Silvers,” a deep voice resounded through my head, snapping me out of my train of thought.

  Crap! I instantly dropped and started doing push-ups with the group.

  “Now, get up. Jacks!” Master Dominic snapped.

  We were up and loosening up our muscles, jumping legs in and out, arms up and down. Master Dominic walked with his hands behind his back, examining his group. His face was expressionless as he monitored us.

  Once we got our warm-ups done, I was expecting Master Dominic to call me over and chew me out for not pushing when he called out the order. A shifter with a wandering mind wasn’t a freaking shifter at all. I was prepped for whatever lecture he had or grueling exercise punishment he was going to deliver, but instead, nothing.

  Then, as if that wasn’t strange enough, Master Dominic didn’t have us take the usual ten-mile run; instead, the brawny shifter ran his hand through his loose charcoal locks on the top of his head and studied us as we stood at attention.

  “Get into battle mode,” he commanded. “We’ll do fight drill rotations. No one stops until I say. Now, get to it.”

  We started with our partners next to us. This was a fun exercise, and I definitely enjoyed it. We went through each partner, running fight drills with each of them. Master Dominic used this drill to study us further, correcting those who were out of form with their jabs, uppercuts, or any other move.

  The fox shifter, Jessica, was in the middle of drilling with me when I planted my back foot, locked my leg, and went to do a surprise high kick for her to deflect. Foxes were stealthy and fun to spar with, especially Jessica. Her eyes drifted down to the leg I was going to use for a high kick, and that’s when I felt a heel against the side of my knee.

  “Lock a leg out like that again, Silvers, and I’ll break it,” Master Dominic’s low smooth voice ordered. “Get back to it.”

  I didn’t have time to look, but I could sense that screwing around wasn’t going to be on the agenda today. Not even having the tiniest bit of fun. Master Dominic was checking out his group, and although we’d all had gotten to know each other, he hadn’t had a chance to learn anything about his trainees.

  “Step outside of your fight circle. You’re going to push until the exercises are over,” Master Dominic singled me out.

  Way to go, Jenna, you’ve got his judgmental eyes on you, and he’s watching every stupid mistake you make now.

  My eyes met the dark shades of the black glasses Master Dominic wore.

  “You would have been killed at least seven times fighting a fox shifter,” he said as he looked me up and down, unimpressed. “What’s with the sloppy formation and fighting technique? You are a wolf shifter, correct?”

  I squared up, pulling my shoulders back to stand at attention. He tightened his hands behind his back, practically taunting me. My sleepy little wolf—for the first time—decided to perk up and peek through my eyes, sizing up his wolf.

  “Take a run,” he ordered the group, his eyes never leaving mine. I went to take off with my class. “Not you, Silvers,” he said in a commanding tone.

  “You know what, I’m having a rough damn day, so if you could cut me some—”

  A smile played on his full, tightened lips. “Profanity directed at your instructor?” He cocked his head to the side. “Not starting off the right way with me. I’m curious,” he took his glasses off, “why didn’t you respond to my command to start pushing earlier?”

  “My mind was drifting off…long night,” I answered truthfully.

  “No, I called an alpha command that you should have instantly responded to whether or not you were daydreaming.”

  “With all due respect, Master Dominic,” I lifted my chin, “I wasn’t daydreaming—”

  “I asked you a question, and I want an answer. Why didn’t you—as a wolf shifter—follow my alpha command?”

  My wolf was snarling inside me now, wanting a piece of this jerk for herself.

  “I don’t freaking know. I have no idea. Maybe because this stupid school is snuffing the wolf side of me out?” my voice rose as I spoke.

  “Listen, insult the school on your own time and outside of my presence, but know this,” his brown eyes were beautiful, but terrifying in their severity, “I am not here to bend you, Silvers, I’m here to break you. My unit will be the best, they always have been and always will be. That wolf inside you that doesn’t want to find its place with an alpha, I’ll break her too. Don’t expect this to get any easier between you and me.”

  I pinched my lips together tight in frustration. I felt the rage ripping inside of me, an
d my wolf was battling to come out and have it out with Master Dominic. I didn’t know why I didn’t follow an alpha’s orders. That sort of thing never happened. If he said jump, I should’ve asked how high.

  The most troubling part to me was that shifters never became alpha or beta until we reached our full maturity at age twenty-five, so how was this joker able to give me an alpha command? He was a master. Masters were students. Honestly, I wouldn’t be able to tell if the guy was twenty-five or a hundred and twenty-five, but his role with this school didn’t fit his ability to give me an alpha command in the first place.

  Then his words came hauntingly back to me—he’s going to break me? Break what? What the heck was this school really after?

  “You can push until the others get back,” he said after both of us finally ended our stare down.

  I dropped and started hitting the pushups, faster and faster. I needed to get this anger out of me and keep the wolf silent. I had no idea why I was filled with rage. I pushed my instructor to pop on me, so I knew I had it coming.

  Lunchtime was going to be spent in a corner with Vannah. I needed to know if her witchy senses were picking up on stuff going down. There was no way this was happening to me and no one else. I had a shadow creature in my room last night and now an alpha wolf up my butt—oh, and let’s not forget the surge of witch magic that soared through me this morning too.

  I had to get a grip because if I didn’t, I felt like reality would start slipping right through my fingers like sand. I wasn’t going to lose my mind in this place, if anything, I was going to figure out what the hell that thing was last night and what exactly was going on.

  This alpha thing had to ride back seat, but Dominic was right about one thing: an alpha command should have made me immediately obey, and it didn’t. Now, my inner wolf was pissed, and I was about to go straight into my shifter class, completely spun out like a wild animal.

  Chapter Nine