Page 5 of Escaping Hallow Hill Academy
They die down, and my heart is pounding erratically in my chest. I look back up at my Lady and smile.
My Lady, the subtle queen of darkness.
I know what I have to do.
* * *
The next morning, sunlight hits the gleaming card in my hand with an intensity that makes it hard to read the fancy black letters.
But the address is there. It matches the numbers on the bricks that stand tall before me. The metal gate that encompasses the space is the same glowing glint of gold as the business card. The engraved swooping words across them tie the richness of this fucking place together like a bow on top of a Ferrari in the middle of Buckingham Palace.
Hallow Hill Academy
Est. 1894
All I hear is the sound of my blood pumping through my ears as I consider turning around and striding right back to my apartment downtown. Are money and a safe haven really worth changing my entire life? I like my life. It’s a good fucking life. I don’t have to socialize with coworkers. I don’t have to fake-smile at a desk all day. And Monday morning small talk? Fuck that.
I get to kill bastards on my own schedule. I get to go home afterwards and watch anime until the early hours of the morning without alarms blasting in my ears.
The sword at my hip pulses, and I can almost sense its eye roll at my meek little existence.
It’s a good life! A fine life . . .
A . . . lonely life.
I swallow hard, and my hand lifts slowly. One by one, my fingers skim over the sleek gold bars of the gate. The shine of it oddly intensifies wherever my skin touches metal.
Then . . . the doors slowly glide open. They are soundless and drifting at a casual speed, but they scare the fuck out of me.
My big eyes stay glued to the open gates for several seconds . . .
And then I walk right in.
Trees with long hanging vines reach down and kiss the pebbled driveway on either side of me. The leaves sway in the cool breeze, and the sound of it is pure and harmonious with the crunch of my black-heeled boots against the ground. I’m out of place in my tight jeans and leather weapon harness around my thigh. Out of place and yet, fitting all at the same time. I can’t explain the sudden magnetic surge in the air. The blade at my hip purrs from it. The tattoos along my arms glint with the heat of magic stinging the air.
This place, it’spowerful.
The road winds with the swooping vines and the shadows dancing across my body as I walk on with a stiff spine and careful steps. It’s all a little too peaceful. For a normal person, it might seem beautiful. But I know life isn’t peace and beauty. Everything comes at a price.
And this fucking nirvana, this place has a price tag I’ll never be able to afford.
I should turn around. Now.
I halt in my steps to do just that, when the drifting vines give way, the shadows dissolve, and an enormous white-bricked building shrouds over me. Magic is all in the timing. Had the magical veil pulled away a moment later, I wouldn’t have noticed. I would have run out of this place like a gold medal sprinter.
Magic and life are all about timing.
My gaze drifts higher and higher along the structure to find the sharp peaks of the rooftop glittering with golden caps as well.
Holy Lady of Death. Spare some fucking gold for the rest of us.
“Miss Lucero, I’m so pleased you’ve decided to join us,” a cryptically pleasant voice says.
Baker.
My attention settles on the man now filling the space above me on the Academy stairs like he popped in out of nowhere. He looks down on me from his high ground like a god without judgment. With only acceptance.
I don’t like it.
