Page 5 of Broken Destiny

“Yeah, but I still can’t touch anything,” Kodi grumbles and crosses his arms over his chest. I can see why he’d be upset. They’re tethering him to the real world, but he still can’t manipulate it. It’s like a form of slavery, and it doesn’t bode well for whatever we’re facing.

I glance out the windows, and my mouth pops open, my jaw almost dropping to the floor of the vehicle. “What the…?”

There’s no explanation for what I see except that we’d somehow been transferred to Transylvania in my sleep. There aren’t any gothic castles in the northeast, as far as I’m aware. The turrets and towering arches would look far better in the English countryside. Ivy crawls along the brick walls, eerily green among the watered-down brick and sandstone tones of the school. The car door opens, halting my gaping fascination and giving me a broader view. The staircase immediately looms in my sight - more than the eight steps of the orphanage and far steeper with no railings. The braces aren’t what hinder me; it’s just the way my legs bend. Steps are my nemesis.

“We’re here,” a singsong voice announces. I sink back into my seat as the impossibly gorgeous woman appears. I don’t know where they’ve been the whole time, but she eagerly motions Benny out and helps Rene. When Kodi stands up to follow, she sneers.

“Not you two,” she corrects him. “You’ll be going to a different entrance.”

Kodi regains his seat, and I swear I can feel the material give a little. I want to poke him again, but he’s too busy getting over the fact that he won’t walk under those beautiful arches into the fabled academy he’s actually heard of. Good thing I didn’t get my hopes up. I knew better. There’s no happy ending for this orphan suddenly found by supernaturals. I snort. Too bad. That would have made a good book.

“What are you snorting about?” Kodi asks sullenly.

“Just not surprised that this isn’t some remake of Annie,” I respond honestly.

“Maybe they’re just taking us somewhere you can get in easier,” he mutters as the door closes and the car moves again.

I feel a little sorry for him. He’s not that much older than me. Did he have hopes of becoming a student at this elite school in his life? How had he ended up at the orphanage if that was the case? Benny the monster was accepted, though, and I thought he’d be better suited for the pound; there’s no accounting for taste.

I watch Rene walk away, supported by the beautiful Geena, and wonder where Ansel is. I swallow the thought almost immediately. I don’t need to know where the man with the deadly ring is. My heart stops beating as we pass by another building that looks entirely made of man-sized stones and towers above the car. There, above the door, is that same symbol, the one that haunts my dreams and my mostly hidden memories.

“What does that mean?” I ask hesitantly.

Kodi is still pouting, but he glances up and then down again. “It’s one of the Houses. There are three. That’s the House of Beasts. Everyone who’s graduated from that House wears the symbol.”

My breath stills in my throat. “And how many would that be?”

“How many what?” Kodi snaps.

“How many graduates?”

“Thousands.” Kodi looks at me anew. “Why does it matter?”

I don’t answer him. I suppose I’d always intended to look for whoever stole my childhood and left me crippled for life, but the symbol is the only clue I had. Now that I know it belongs to thousands of supernaturals, those hopes are dashed. I’ll never find revenge. Maybe it’s for the best. I’m not really a vengeance type of girl. Give me three meals a day, enough books to read for the rest of my life, a soft bed, and I can be entirely happy with my lot in life. Laziness and shirking responsibility could definitely extend to plans of vengeance. I’ve had enough excitement for a lifetime, even if I can’t remember it.

Still, though, my insides clench as we make our way past the towering building. I’m finally in a position to solve the mystery of my tormenter. Will I really throw away that opportunity?

Chapter Three

Zosia

The car bumps along a couple more barely paved, winding roads before coming to a stop in front of a building thatspeaksto me. I swear I can hear it whispering as the door opens again, and Ansel appears from nowhere like the lady did before. Did they fly behind us? There aren't any other cars. By the state of the road, I don’t believe it’s meant for cars, but I’m grateful for the ride. The campus is vast, and I assume I’ve only seen a small section of it.

I’m still gaping when Ansel directs us to get out of the car. The building is washed sandstone; it looks almost pink in the fading sunlight. I don’t know how far we’ve traveled, but the day is winding down. The trees surrounding the back of the building are still familiar, though, so we haven’t left the northeast. Massive, intimidating gargoyles perch on the ledge above the grand entrance, and I shiver as I imagine their eyes watching me. Hell, maybe they are. This is a magic school, after all. I’ve never met a gargoyle before.

The building is meant to look foreboding with its large bricks, menacing protectors, and the creeping ivy that manages to wrap half the building in its embrace, but I feel only awe. Even the steps don’t appear foreboding, although there’s a nice stack of seven waiting for me.

“I thought you’d like this place,” Ansel murmurs, and I realize I haven’t moved from my gawking state. Kodi is laughing at me again, although he manages to keep it to himself this time. I shake off whatever spell the inanimate stone has managed to place over me and stumble from the car. I never do anything gracefully, and I don’t try anymore. When Ansel acts like he’s going to help me, I shrug him off. He’ll learn I don’t like to be touched without permission. Just because I have these crutches doesn’t mean anyone, humans or supernaturals, can break into my personal bubble under the pretense of helping. I imagine pregnant women feel something similar.

“Ghost,” a voice demands. The old man, Faustus I believe, waits impatiently. He walks and stands like he has a stick up his ass, and I feel a return of the slithering guilt from dragging my only friend with me. “You’re with me.” Kodi’s head jerks as if the collar is pulling him. My guilt increases.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper quietly. The ghost shrugs, adopting the devil-may-care attitude I’ve come to expect from him. I imagine his eyes flash with color (is that green?) before he turns away.

“I’ll see you soon,” he murmurs. I hear it as a promise, a small measure of rebellion against the man who holds the ghost’s leash. Kodi doesn’t deserve to be a slave, not like Benny, that little monster. Instead, Benny is probably being introduced to the academy as a promising young shifter, or whatever he is, while my dead friend and I are relegated to serving positions. I hope that’s the worst I can expect. I haven’t allowed myself to focus on more dreadful ideas, even though they’re running through my mind like a horror movie marathon.

Once Kodi is marched away, I turn back to Ansel, straightening my back and wishing again that I’d had time for a shower. His perfection is off-putting, making me realize everything that’s wrong with me and everything that places me under his level.

When we’re alone, Ansel lowers his gaze to mine. “This is the Academy Library. It houses all the knowledge of the academy and some secret tomes that no one except the appointed librarian is privy to.”

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