Page 2 of The Ever Legacy
The Ever family was the founding family of Everdale, and had lived in the castle since… forever. It was across town from Ethereal Prep. Already part of the supernatural community here. Everdale had been a haven for those with gifts since the early 1600s. The world knew magic was real and that witches existed, but they didn’t know about everything else.
It had been over forty years since the Dark Times. That was when the mundane found out magic was real and the witch hunting began. The Council wouldn’t allow it to happen again, not after what happened before. The lower half of their country was still in rough shape, looking like something out of an apocalyptic time. Perhaps it still was, for those living down there. Major cities in the lower half didn’t exist any longer. There might as well be a wall separating the country.
The Council wanted to start small for the first year. Twelve individuals had been selected, herself included, and had started moving in the day before, right down the hall. If all went well, they planned on doubling the number the following year. The grounds were more than big enough to hold that many, with room to grow.
Ella took in a deep breath, exhaled, then lifted her head high as she moved to walk past him. In less than seventy-two hours, the first day of Sunstone University would begin.
“Not yet.” He grabbed her arm as she moved to walk next to him. His nose buried into her hair at her neck. “You enjoy watching me.”
He’d never touched her before. They’d never been this close.
She jerked her arm out of his grasp. “You seem to already be making yourself at home. I was simply making sure you weren’t destroying property.”
He laughed. “If that’s what you need to tell yourself, princess.”
Her jaw ticked. She held her breath as she left the gym and headed up the stairs to the main hall. She stopped before she got to a crowded area, pulled one portrait to the side and slipped inside the hidden path.
It wasn’t until she was farther along one of the hidden corridors that she was able to breathe steadily again.
Ella wasn’t sure why she was so nervous. It was highly likely she would know at least a few of her classmates. There were bound to be some that also attended Ethereal Prep. She just hadn’t been expecting to see him.
Tyler Sutton.
He was a whole category on his own. She wasn’t completely antisocial. The problem was that she hadn’t gotten close to anyone in school. It wasn’t like anyone picked on her, and there were clubs for everyone at the private school. There had been a place for everyone and every type of creature that continued to pop up in the supernatural world.
Except for her.
There were a few clubs that interested her. Ones she should have taken the time to explore, looking back on it. It was too late for that now.
As stereotypical as it sounded, Ella wasn’t like other girls. She wasn’t like anyone—ever. There was not a soul like her, even in the past. Her family searched as she grew up. They were dumbfounded how she came to possess two abilities. She wasn’t the first person to have a shifter parent and a witch parent. It was incredibly common for those unalike one another to be fated.
Fate worked in mysterious ways, matching up every combination the supernatural community could think of. The offspring were always the same, they would take after one parent. Rarely would they not take after either and have zero supernatural abilities.
Not her.
Ella couldn’t live a simple life like that. She had to take after both, creating the first hybrid in existence. She was a witch—like her mother—who could control all the elements. She was also like her father, a wolf as black as night. Her mother’s coven accepted her. Her father’s pack embraced her. Only they wanted her to choose, and she’d been running away from having to make that decision.
Why couldn’t she belong to both? Shewasboth.
It didn’t help that she would be the last Ever. Her aunts and uncles didn’t have any children, and didn’t want any. Her parents stopped trying for more after learning of her dual gifts.
Ella knew the truth though.
Her family had been cursed. She was cursed.
It was the only explanation.
CHAPTER TWO
TYLER
He remembered the first time he heard about Ella.
News doesn’t travel as fast as one would think in the supernatural community. They love their secrets. Unless it’s urgent, of course. The Council deems what they consider to be important or not. The first hybrid in history was definitely a secret they held close for a few years.
It took little convincing for his parents to send him to Ethereal Prep when he found out that was where the girl was. All he knew was that she was a hybrid, close to his age, and at Ethereal. His parents had talked to him about going to school there before, a few times, but he never had interest in walking its hallowed halls.
Not untilher.
