Page 9 of Fortune Academy: Year One
Black as Night
Icould tell that Kaito wanted to go with us, but Dante insisted that he take me to the dorms alone. With orientation in the morning the majority of the students would be preparing for the big day, either getting a good night’s rest or doing the opposite, staying up and getting to know one another and making alliances.
“Unfortunately Fortune Academy is known for its cliques,” Dante informed me, keeping his voice low as we moved through the streets lit by soft aura lights that matched a new color for every building. Dante said I’d get a color-code sheet in the morning for what each one meant. The colors would help me find which classes I need to go to next and I needed to be careful about because some buildings were reserved for specific magical power development courses. I didn’t want to blunder into a class I wasn’t ready for. “You’ll have to find one where you fit in,” Dante continued, “especially if you want to keep your head low. It’s the outcasts that get the most attention.” He gave me a once-over. “Have you displayed any supernatural powers yet, besides strength?”
A cool breeze played with my hair and I pushed the strands away as we walked at a leisurely pace. My fingers ran past the badge that Kaito had pinned on me and my touch lingered on the rough fabric. I was really here, but every instinct told me to run. I glanced up at the windows, unnerved to see the silhouettes of people inside when it felt like we should be in hiding. We’d entered the dorms and I didn’t feel ready for this at all.
“I am not aware of any supernatural powers,” I admitted. I hadn’t even noticed strength being one of them until I’d resisted Dante’s attempts to manhandle me. Was not taking any shit a superpower?
“Don’t worry about it. They have programs for bringing out your powers.” He winced. “Which, might not be a great idea. We can’t have anyone finding out about the binding runes Kaito put on you.” He glanced down at my arms and I turned my wrist over, noting that the mark had faded, but the cool sensation still kissed my skin. The bind was still there.
“So what are the cliques?” I asked, more trying to make conversation than anything else. I highly doubted I’d fit into anything considered a clique. Being an outcast sounded pretty good to me.
“Most of the cliques are separated by supernatural species, but the Academy frowns on that, so they take in the oddball here and there to avoid getting separated.” He held up his fingers and silently started counting off. “I don’t know all of them, kind of out of the whole popularity contest bullshit since I graduated, but I can name a few. There are the Mages, the Mindfreaks, the Demis...”
I tuned out as Dante rattled off names that didn’t mean much to me. Instead of trying to fit in with a group of supernaturals I hadn’t even met, I was more interested in keeping to myself. Watching from the sidelines and learning was what I did best. I missed my cellphone, but this would be so much better than social media. I just had to keep my head down and not piss anybody off.
Should be easy, right?
Dante saidwe needed to make a pitstop to talk with Hendrik first.
“The guy who spelled your dagger?” I asked, trying to keep my cool. “You sure you can trust him?”
“Hell no,” Dante said without hesitation. “I don’t trust dark mages any more than I do the monsters I hunt. They were classified as a branch of warlocks when the Academy was founded so the bastards weaseled their way into the dean’s good graces, but the students know better.” He shrugged. “At least they’re good at spells without asking too many questions.” He squeezed my arm. “Hendrik doesn’t know why you’re here yet and we’re going to keep it that way, all right? He saw you in a vision, but his visions are blurry and fast. The only way he’ll recognize you is if you’re up close, and even then he’ll need some sort of confirmation. As long as you keep your distance, you’ll be fine.”
I nodded, partly relieved that I wasn’t going to have to meet the dark mage, but at the same time apprehensive that Dante seemed like he’d broken so many rules to get me on school grounds without anyone knowing. How the hell was I going to get through tomorrow?
We paused at a building that glowed with ominous black aura lights, making the sleek exterior look cold and uninviting. I wrapped my fingers around my elbows and shivered, and not just because another uncharacteristically cool breeze swept over us. “I really don’t want to go in there.”
“Good, because you’re not,” Dante announced and placed his palm on the reader pad, initiating the doors to open.
“What?” I screeched and latched onto his arm. “You’re just going to leave me out here by myself?” I glanced up at the building again, this time taking in the creepy gargoyles and statues that lined the pillars. “You can’t be serious.”
He peeled away my fingers and patted my hand. “I’ll just be a few minutes. Hendrik needs to recharge this thing if I’m going to get you into the dorms, okay? We have a room set up for you, but we need to attune the pad to your magical signature. It’s normally done during the registration process, but...”
“I’m not officially registered,” I finished for him. “Fine. Go ahead, but if I get eaten by a gargoyle then you’re to blame.”
Dante grinned, making those delicious dimples reappear, and then he disappeared into the building’s shadow, leaving me alone.
I didn’t consider myself a patient person, and it was even worse knowing that I was in a strange place with no allies or friends. What if a dark mage came out of this building right now and demanded what I was doing here? What would I say? Oh, sorry dark magic dude, I’m just waiting for my bounty hunter to return with his dagger juiced up again so that he can take me back to the dorms. Yeah, that just sounded like a horrible pickup line.
Instead of waiting in the shadows to be picked off the street by the next wandering dark mage, I took in a deep breath and leaned in closer to the touchpad. It hummed at my proximity, growing fainter when I crouched.
If the Academy asked for a blood sample as part of the application process, maybe that’s because blood was what contained the magical signatures that secured this place. Testing out my theory, I pulled my shirt over my head, ignoring the cool air that snaked around my bare skin protected only by a flimsy bra, and rubbed the fabric on the bloodstains still soaked in my jeans. When I was satisfied enough of the red smear had transferred to the fabric, I held the shirt up to the pad.
Click.
The door slid open with a satisfyingwhooshand I grinned. “That’s right. Can’t keep me waiting outside like some sort of pet.”
Dipping inside before anyone saw me, I paused to gain my bearings. Only a few black aura lights illuminated the long entranceway and two spiral staircases that led upstairs. The creep-factor wasn’t much better inside than it was outside, and it was even more freezing if that was possible.
My breath frosted in front of my face and I grimaced. Probably not the best idea to follow Dante into a building filled with dark mages, but it was a little too late to have second thoughts now.
I didn’t want to reveal myself to Hendrik, but I did want to hear what he and Dante were talking about. Just because I’d trusted Kaito and Dante this far didn’t mean that I was stupid. I stayed still and concentrated, trying to listen for any sign of life and grinned when Dante’s low drones filtered through the air.
“Gotcha,” I whispered, then scampered up the left staircase as quietly as I could. I felt like a right and proper ninja, until I reached the top step and fell flat on my face. “Oomph!”
I stayed on the ground and waited to see if anyone would come barreling out of the long corridor of doors, but no one seemed to have noticed my abrupt intrusion. I curled my fingers into velvet carpet and let out a sigh. “Okay, Lils, you can do this. Slow and steady.”
