Page 18 of Fortune Academy: Year One
Don't be a Dud
“Everyone please find a seat,” came a soft but authoritative female voice. I looked around the room for speakers to explain how clearly I’d just heard that voice, but didn’t see any.
Then I spotted the source. Every eye in the room went to the beautiful woman who glided up the steps to the top of the center stage. Her silver hair was so striking that it might as well have been a diamond crown atop her head. Her glistening blue eyes swept over the gathering as she put on a fond smile that made even my heart warm. She came off as genuine, caring... and powerful.
Her words crashed over us with a wave of what I realized was magic... raw magic.
“Some of you may know me already,” she said, spinning us all into a spell with that smile again and I tried to remember where I’d seen her before, “but for those of you who don’t, I am the dean.”
Whoa, that was the dean?
Then I remembered. Guinevere Lancelot. I’d thought the name was a joke, but that was the dean. She was an ancient immortal and she had a short bio page on Fortune Academy’s website about her history of clashing with humanity and her mission to bring supernaturals safely into the human world. After the Second Echo of Calamity and the merging of supernatural realms with Earth, there wasn’t much sense in hiding the supernatural realm from humanity anymore. She’d been just as genuine and kind in her bio as she was now, although the image online hadn’t nearly done her justice.
“When we speak in person, you may call me Gwen.” She grinned and scanned the room. Briefly, her gaze caught mine and every muscle in my body froze, but the moment passed and she took a moment to make every student feel the force of her presence. I wondered if it was magic that made it feel like she was talking directly to me and not to anyone else. “Today’s orientation is to be led by none other than our prized professor Merlin. He’s been a mentor and guide to me as long as I’ve been alive?,”—she covered her mouth to poorly hide a chuckle—“which I will admit has been a long time.”
A low murmur of approving laughter rolled through the auditorium and I cleared my throat hesitantly. I spotted a white-haired professor behind her in a navy blue suit, although if he was Merlin, he didn’t look a day over thirty. I guessed that if Guinevere and Merlin were really immortal supernaturals, they wouldn’t age.
She pointed to the end of the hall and the crowd turned to follow. “This Academy was founded by Evelyn, Queen of the Royal Covens, and Renee, Keymaster and Fate Witch.” Two looming statues stood over us. The marble made their eyes look like they glowed. It was easy to pick out which one was Evelyn. The statue was impeccably carved, displaying fine dark lace that covered her body and a neat little crown atop her head that glistened with multiple gems, each representing a different witch coven. The woman beside her, Renee, held a staff in one hand and a deck of cards in the other. “If you are capable enough to find yourself among the graduating class, you will get a personal sendoff by the founders,” Gwen added, leaving a ripple of excitement to pass through the crowd.
I was trying not to get caught up in the hype of being a member of Fortune Academy given my very illegal admission, however I couldn’t help but picture myself among the graduating class getting to talk with such powerful supernaturals. If I could prove to myself that I wasn’t a danger and could be helpful, maybe I did have a place here.
It was wishful thinking.
“Are you buying this?” a low male voice asked and I flinched to find Logan standing next to me. I hadn’t seen him with clothes on before, not that his sloppy uniform could be called clothes. He wore a blazer without an undershirt and a tie dangled from his neck. The long line of fabric gave my eyes a guide to follow down the hard lines of his naked chest to the loose waistband that hung precariously low around his hips. When he chuckled, I snapped my eyes up to his and glowered.
“Why are you bothering me?” I whisper-yelled. I hadn’t had enough time to make a decision regarding Logan and his wolf friends. I figured if I made alliances they would be hard to undo and what enemies did the wolves have? Other than... chasing giant cats around campus.
He jerked his chin, indicating a glowering Melinda I hadn’t noticed until now. “Muse bitch has been trying to compel you the entire speech and she’s getting pissed off it’s not working.”
Startled, I glanced at her, and indeed the bitch was shooting dagger glares at me. “How do you know she’s trying to compel me?” I asked, lowering my voice.
He glanced behind us. “Looks like you deflected the compulsion and... well, look.”
I’d been so engrossed with Gwen’s speech which I was now missing that I hadn’t even noticed the growing pile of bodies behind me. A group of girls had curled up into the fetal position and fallen asleep right in the middle of the floor, many of them sucking their thumbs.”
Was that my fault?
I glared back at Melinda who flipped me off and turned her attention back to the speech as if she hadn’t just wiped out a pile of students with compulsive magic to regress into a baby state.
Having been introduced during my silent exchange with Melinda, Merlin took the stage. He gave a fond smile to Gwen, then braced himself on the podium and surveyed the crowd. He frowned at the litter of passed out bodies, but glossed over it as if supernatural pranks were to be expected even on orientation day.
“Today is the most important day of your lives,” he began, his voice booming like Gwen’s had over us, but with less subtle fondness. He took a moment to glare at Melinda who curled in on herself. A wave of smugness swept over me. At least he’d noticed. “Today you accept your role and responsibility as a supernatural,” he said, giving her a moment of his attention before he addressed the group, “even if you don’t know what that all means quite yet.” His gaze seemed to fall on me, this time pinning me with accusation as if no one else in the room mattered. “We will start by having you break off into teams. Those of you who have already formed alliances please keep within your established groups of three or more. A maximum of ten is allowed for this exercise. We will proceed with the placement ceremony, after which you will be assigned your counselor and class schedule.” He waved his hands in dismissal. “Let’s begin!”
Logan grabbed my hand before I had a chance to see what everyone was going to do. “You’re with me!” he announced with a bark to his voice, making him sound like an excited puppy.
“Wait!” I cried, but Logan yanked me hard and we dove through the crowd.
He dragged me through clamoring bodies as the students paired off into groups. I spotted the silver crown of Gwen’s hair as she made her way across the stage and waved her hand, forming a basin out of thin air like the one in front of my dormitory. A shiver ran through me. I hoped that this assessment wouldn’t require blood or else my cover would be blown before I even had a chance to take my first class.
I reminded myself that Dante and Kaito had set this all up so that I could join orientation as an official student. They wouldn’t have gone through all that trouble to keep me a secret unless they knew what the assessment entailed, so I tried not to get myself worked up about it.
Just when my wrist felt like it was about to pop off, Logan jerked us to a halt. “I brought her!” he announced cheerfully.
Three distinct groups glowered down at us. When I gave Logan a raised brow, he offered me a toothy grin, his teeth still having those wolfish sharp points to them. “These are my allies. If you were on the fence about it, I wanted you to meet the most powerful supernatural entities in Fortune Academy! Trust me. You want to be my ally.”
I looked back at the groups. On the far left stood students with disturbing dark eyes as if their pupils had overgrown the irises. Even their uniforms were dark and their leader stood out from among them. I recognized his voice immediately.
“Are you Lily? Logan has been talking about you all morning.”
