by Jaymin Eve
I really needed to ask about unicorns.
For the rest of class I took notes like my life depended on it, and was already planning on reading ahead in the text she’d given us. I needed to know everything about the races. I needed to catch up on the education I should have had from birth. “It’s not so bad,” Simon said as we left the class. “A lot of us learned from being around the races, but I really didn’t know that much about shifters. My parents are snobby and think that magic users are the only important race in our world.”
I smiled at him. “Thanks for making me feel better, but … we both know I’m behind.”
He shook his head. “Nah, seriously, you’re thinking like an American. You start school so much earlier than us, and they try and shove you out in the world so young. We do things differently here. We also tend to stick very close to our own races. This sort of mixing you’re seeing here, this is not how supes like to exist in the real world.”
We wandered into the commons. There was a relaxed feel to the afternoon as students lazed about, their classes finished for the day. “You can change out of your uniform before dinner,” Simon told me.
“I still have another class,” I said.
“That’s fine. Any elective subjects outside of the main day allow casual dress.”
As much as I enjoyed the uniform aspect, having never been to a school that had one before, it was nice to think I could go back to my usual clothes.
“I’ll see you later,” I said to Simon, and he gave me a wave as I took off to the magic users’ wing.
14
In my old life, before the year of pink hair, I’d have lingered in my room, exhausted after a day of new experiences and cramming information in my brain. Such was the life of an introverted extrovert. I needed the downtime and then I could function again. But today I just wanted to get back out there. A small part of me could not shake the fear that if I stepped away from this fantasy world for too long, it would disappear on me and I’d never find it again.
So after a quick bathroom break, redoing my hair, and fixing the smudged makeup, I made my way through the magic users’ wing. I wore torn-up whitewashed jeans, a black tank, and a denim jacket. My faithful Chucks were on my feet, and I wondered if I’d stand out even more now that I was mixing my old life and new together.
The sky was dark in the commons, not like nighttime dark but dark with a hint of green about it, like those clouds were about to sleet the world. Mage lights, which I now recognized from class—woot, go learning—were sprinkled above our heads, giving everything a romantic, if somewhat eerie feeling.
“Maddi!” Ilia shouted, standing to wave at me. I hurried closer and it looked like she was alone. Sliding into the chair next to her, I shot her a broad smile. “I’m starving, and considering I’ve already eaten two full meals today…”
Ilia shook her head. “Humans eat three meals a day, most supes eat four or more. We have faster metabolisms, and you’ll never have to worry about getting fat. It’s really difficult.”
“I’m not worried about getting fat,” I said with a snort. “I’ve spent too many years hungry to be afraid of gaining a bit of weight. I’d welcome it.”
Could more curves ever be an issue?
“But I would like to start swimming again,” I said, reaching out to touch the crest. I was excited to see what new offerings there were for dinner. “It’s the best stress reliever I know.”
Ilia leaned in closer and we both stared, mesmerized by the meals sliding past our faces.
“You’ll have to chat with Princeps Jones,” she murmured, and I thought I saw a little drool escaping her mouth as chicken parmesan flashed up. “He gives permission for pool access and such. You should get a good view of the facilities during Water Magic tonight.”
I was strangely excited for water magic, and I really couldn’t figure out why; I’d shown no great skills in any of my classes today. Until my energy was unlocked, I was pretty much going to be useless. But I was loving the learning way more than I expected.
Deciding to go for a light meal so that I wasn’t sluggish and tired later, I chose a Caesar salad with chicken and garlic bread croutons. Ilia went for the parmesan. Surprise, surprise.
Larissa rushed up as soon as we’d finished ordering, dropping into the chair across from me. “I’m so freaking hungry I could die,” she moaned, holding her stomach. She’d changed out of her uniform too, wearing a lovely mauve knit dress with dark brown ankle boots.
“I love your outfit,” I told her. “You look so pretty.”
She grinned, her hands pressing against her cheeks. “Oh, thank you. I … decided to branch out … take some risks and dress the way I like. I spent so much of last year alone. This year will be different.”
I related. She had no idea how hard I related.
Another chick dropped into the chair across from Ilia, and the three of us stared for a beat at the newcomer.
I chuckled. “Dee,” I said, recognizing her mane of white-blond hair. “Nice to see you again.”
She waved both hands, her crazy enthusiasm not at all dimmed from when she’d entered my room this morning. “I said we’d have dinner together, and you seriously have to tell me everything about humans.”
Ilia and Larissa both shot me a look, silently asking who the heck she was. “Guys, meet Dee. She’s a third-year magic user who has a low-key obsession with humans.”
Larissa screwed her tiny nose up. “Why? I mean, humans are fine and all that, but … why?”
Dee shrugged. “No idea. It’s been this way since I was young and managed to watch One Tree Hill secretly. My parents didn’t like human television, it was banned in our house, but that was my guilty pleasure.”
I shook my head. “Real life is not really like that. Like … way less in the way of hot guys and bikinis and high school drama.”
Dee pouted, and Ilia threw her head back to laugh. “Says the chick who somehow managed to end up at Asher Locke’s table for lunch. In his hands.”
I shot her a warning glare and she shut up, but the damage was already done. Dee had some sort of wide manic eye thing going on and she was frantically opening and closing her mouth. Spotting Simon, my perfect distraction, I jumped to my feet and called his name. His face lit up, curls bouncing as he hurried toward us. He dropped into the seat beside me, and I loved that I almost had enough friends to fill a six-seat table and chairs. That was a first.
“Hey, Maddi,” Simon said, and I quickly introduced him to the rest of the table.
At this moment, Ilia’s and my food arrived, and everyone else got to ordering. I ate slowly, not wanting to be finished long before everyone else was. Ilia had no such qualms, devouring her food with gusto. Just when she was almost done, our sixth and final seat was taken by Josh.
“Want to switch?” I asked him, because he was staring at Ilia like he wanted to eat her for dinner.
He shook his head. “Nah, it’s okay. I’m not going to steal her away from her friends.”
I shot Ilia a swoony face, which hopefully he didn’t see. Dude had some charm. At least on the surface. Ilia certainly seemed to be firmly in lust with him.
Dinner passed by so fast that I was almost certain my watch was broken. We ate and laughed and I answered Dee’s million and one questions about the human world. Unfortunately, my experiences were nothing to make a television show about, but I didn’t seem to deter her enthusiasm.
By the time we were done, I had to hurry to Water Magic. It was not a class any of my new friends had taken, so they had no advice for me, and I had no idea what to expect. I didn’t bring a notepad, figuring I’d be okay for the first class. Most of them so far had been fairly introductory, and if it involved water, paper seemed kind of useless.
Based off Ilia’s directions, I left the commons and turned along a path I hadn’t taken before, heading the opposite way to the classrooms. Before I even saw the water I could smell it—one of those weird oddities of mine. I could tell
if water was salty, chlorine, poisoned, or stale. I knew water almost better than I knew anything, which had to be part of my supernatural side.
Maybe I was fey, but outside of the water thing, the rest of the elements meant nothing to me.
As I entered the first hall of the water world, a shiver of excitement trailed along my arms. A bunch of students, dressed casually like me, were on this same path, but I didn’t recognize any of them. The further we walked, the darker and damper it grew. A briny scent filling my nose told me that there was water very close. I could almost feel it lapping against the walls either side of me.
Rounding the corner, I gasped. The hallway walls were no longer solid, transforming into glass or thick Perspex, and surrounding us completely, sides, bottom, and top, was water. It was as if they’d built an enclosed glass walkway right through the middle of the ocean or a large lake.
Some of the students faltered, and I could admit it was a little freaky stepping across the clear panels and not being able to see anything but water below. But it was also the coolest thing I’d ever experienced, and I had to stop for a moment just to take it all in.
Pressing my hands to the chilled walls, I stared out into the expanse of blues and greens. There was nothing else in sight, no creatures or sharks to freak me out. Above us there had to be magical sunlight or artificial light, because the sparkle of color in this water was like that of the Mediterranean on a perfect summer day. Nothing like the weather back in the commons.
When the last of the students ventured past me, I decided I’d better follow. Happiness added a bounce to my step, and I almost skipped to join the large group gathering at the end of the glass walkway.
The moment I caught sight of a familiar face at the head of the class, my smile immediately disappeared. “For fuck’s sake,” I swore under my breath.
Asher straightened from where he’d been leaning casually against one of the glass panels. “Welcome,” he said, projecting his voice. Like Jesse, he had the faintest of accents, which I wanted to call British, but it wasn’t quite right. “I’m Asher, and I’ll be your teacher for Water Magic. If you’re a first year, step to the right.” He held an arm out to indicate where. “If you’re in the advanced classes, head on through. Your teachers are already back there.”
As I shuffled to the right, I barely noticed the students peeling off the main group and sliding past Asher to disappear into the darkness behind him. There was about two dozen first years left. And ninety percent of them were female.
Something told me that Asher being the teacher for Water Magic was not a secret. Personally, had I known, I probably would have avoided this class altogether. Why the heck was he a teacher as well as a student? Water Magic needed to come with a warning label.
“Before we start, I’ll give you a little background on this class,” Asher continued, and even though I was trying to edge behind one of the other students, it still felt like he was staring right at me. “Water magic is one of the lesser known branches of magic for all races except fey—they’re used to elemental classes. Here we’ll explore the power that lives within this element. An element that can shape worlds … and destroy them. We’ll take the natural power of water and we will wield it with our own sorcery.” He turned and waved a hand. “First test to pass, though, is stepping through the barrier.”
I was confused about what that meant, because I’d just seen a ton of advanced students run through there with ease. Students pushed to the front, and I ended up near the back of the line waiting my turn.
The line started to move, but as more students fell in behind me I realized that no one was making it through. They had their turn, failed, and then rejoined the line.
When there were about five in front of me, a slender redheaded chick spun around, practically vibrating with excitement. “He’s insanely gorgeous. If I pass out when I get close to him, promise you’ll catch me.”
I laughed at her frantic expression.
“Promise,” I said, reaching out and shaking the hand she offered.
She shot me a grateful smile, and then it was her turn. Stumbling forward, she stopped near Asher. He leaned down, whispering softly to her, and her creamy skin went stark white. I already had my hands out ready to catch her, but she didn’t faint.
She stepped forward and closed her eyes, and where she should have crossed the threshold, her body bounced back, like she’d been rejected. Asher didn’t look surprised, he just gestured for her to head to the back of the line and then waved me forward. I was the last student to have a first attempt at crossing the barrier, and since I’d been relatively shit at everything I tried today, I wasn’t holding out much hope.
“Has anyone crossed?” I asked, when I reached his side.
He didn’t smile, but there was amusement on his face. “I’m still the only first year to ever make it through on a first attempt.”
I glared, because there was something endearingly arrogant about him.
“I could be tempted into giving you a hint at how to make it across,” he added, his lips tilting minutely so the dimples came into play. I wondered if I should have followed the redheaded chick’s advice and worked out a safety for if I fainted.
Asher was lethal to females everywhere. And probably half the males.
“No, thanks.” No one did favors without wanting something in return, and I also had too much pride to cheat when everyone else had to do this the hard way.
He shrugged, inclining his head toward the doorway. “Well, off you go, then. Be one with the water.”
I narrowed my eyes on the smug bastard, turning my focus to the doorway.
Sucking in a shaky breath, I stepped forward. Only half my attention was where it should be though, because Asher was standing infuriatingly close, and his scent … goddamn. I’d noticed it when I crashed into him at lunch, a sunshine, salt water, endless summer days and cocktails on the beach sort of smell, and it was intoxicating and…
Shit.
Damn him and his sexy smell.
As I shuffled forward again, I tensed at the exact place the girl before me had bounced back, but I didn’t hit a hard wall like I’d expected; instead it was spongey as my body molded into it.
Panic overtook me when my breath was cut off; I felt like I’d just been dropped in a vat of jelly. Gasping, my mouth filled with a salty gelatin mess, I jerked myself backward, spitting and gagging as I went.
Asher was staring at me with the oddest expression as I leaned forward choking and coughing. “What the fuck?” I gasped again, my throat burning.
His lips twitched, and he no longer was casually leaning against the wall. Instead he was watching me like I was the most interesting thing he’d seen in a long time. “What the fuck indeed,” he murmured, before tilting his head and running that silvery gaze across me. “Looks like I might have some future competition for this job.”
I glared, my heart still pounding hard against my ribs.
Before he could tell me to move, I took myself to the back of the line, and tried to calm the hell down. “What happened?” the redhead asked. “You all but disappeared, and then suddenly you were back again, coughing and choking.” Her eyes got really wide. “What’s on the other side? Is it sharks? Octopuses?”
I snorted, my throat aching less, thankfully. “Octopuses and sharks? No sea creature between those two that scares you?”
She shrugged. “Sharks for obvious reasons, and octopuses have all of those legs. I mean, what the hell do they need so many legs for? It’s not natural.”
She made a fair point there. “It was soft, almost sponge like, and then jelly went in my mouth, and I freaked out because I couldn’t breathe. It was majorly uncomfortable, and I’m not sure I’m ready for a second attempt.”
Her head jerked back, and she narrowed rich, chocolate brown eyes on me. “It felt like I hit a brick wall. There was nothing soft or spongy about it, that was for sure.”
I shook my head, having no answers for either of
us.
Our line started to move again as Asher gestured for everyone to step forward. “This doorway,” he said, “is protected by Sonaris, our god of the water. He lets only those worthy to wield the magic of water step through. If you can’t find a synchronicity with the water, you’ll never make it through the doorway. Don’t despair though … the first task is almost impossible for newbies. You have a year to prove your worth. If you don’t figure out how to push through the water energy without assistance by the end of your first year, you’ll no longer be eligible to take this class.
Sonaris. I’d never heard his name before, but there was a familiarity in that unfamiliar word that I didn’t understand. Asher waved his hands across the barrier, murmuring something I couldn’t hear, before he nodded in the universal gesture for us to get our asses inside. Confusion filled me, and I still couldn’t figure out what had happened when I tried to cross the barrier. Clearly that was not the same thing everyone else had experienced, but … why? I wanted to ask Asher, but I also didn’t want to. Because asking would require me to stand close to him and talk to him and breathe in that stupid, amazing scent of his.
I wasn’t strong enough to handle that right now.
Which was why I didn’t even look his way when I crossed the now barrierless entry, stepping into the dark world beyond.
15
I’d had no idea what to expect on the other side, but a circular room with three arched doorways was probably not it. Slightly anticlimactic.
“Through here,” Asher said, pointing to the door on the right. “Don’t take the other two paths without guidance. They’re for advanced students, and there are creatures and environments back there that will kill you.”
His warning did nothing except intrigue me, but I decided not to be stupid today and just followed him along the safe path. As we moved forward, there was a distinct sound of crashing waves. I’d never spent much time at the beach—only twice in my life—but I’d never forget that noise.