Page 15 of A Curse So Cruel (Fated Mates of Shadowbone Academy #1)
Chapter Ten
~ Shade ~
W hen we exit our dorm, the corridor is filled with students.
Like Kenzie, they’re all wearing dark leathers with multiple weapons strapped to them.
I get more than a few looks as we walk, but no one says a word.
That is, until a tall, dark-haired girl steps out from a room a little further up.
She twists her head, her long, glossy hair falling over her shoulders, and her eyes travel over me as she scrutinizes my outfit.
“Looks like we’re getting nighttime entertainment,” she snickers to the girl who exits the dorm after her.
“And here I thought they only chose the best to attend Shadowbone. They must be lowering their standards if they’re enlisting strippers now.
” Her gaze slides to Kenzie, the cruel glint in her eyes at odds with her soft smile.
“I can see why Professor Thane stuck the new girl with you. You rejects deserve each other.”
Whoa. I stare at her, stunned by the venom she just spat out. Did she wake from a nap or something? I know sometimes I’m cranky when people wake me, but then it clicks. “Ohhhh, I get it.” I grin broadly. “You’re the head mean girl.”
“Shade,” Kenzie hisses in horror.
“What? She is though, right? You know, the one who thinks she’s all that, and treats everyone else like dirt, but no one actually likes her.”
I realize after, that I shouldn’t have stupidly said that out loud. You’d think self-preservation would have kicked in by now. Oops.
When I stare back at the girl, her left eye is twitching. “How dare you!” she seethes.
Giving her a sheepish smile, I lift my hands in a placating gesture. “Or not. I’m new here and could be completely wrong.” I’m willing to bet I’m not, though.
Kenzie drags me away, probably trying to stop me from making it worse, and the tall girl gapes at me as we move down the corridor, her mouth opening and closing like she’s speechless for the first time in her life.
“Satine is not hated by all. People love her!” the girl’s roommate finally calls after us, but going by her delayed reaction, I’m sure I hit some truths.
I don’t feel bad about it.
Beside me, I can tell Kenzie isn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. When we round the corner, the first option wins and she bursts into laughter. “What was that? Are you crazy!”
I give her a quizzical look. “Possibly?”
Satine and her friend come up behind us, shoving past and storming down the corridor. Kenzie abruptly stops laughing, holding it in until they’re out of sight, then she bursts out laughing again.
“I don’t know whether to be impressed or mortified,” she tells me. “You’re going to have to watch your back.”
I wince. “It wasn’t that bad, was it?”
“No one speaks to Satine like that, and that girl is in a constant foul mood. I’d say you just rose high on her list of targets.”
Great going, Shade, I chastise myself.
“But we’d better move faster,” she adds, “because right now Satine isn’t the one you should be worried about. We need to get to the dining hall before the professors.”
“Wait, what do you mean the professors?” My heart skips a beat. “I thought this dinner would only be for the students?” What I really want to ask is if a certain four professors are going to attend, but I keep that to myself.
“They don’t always come,” Kenzie explains, “but rumors were circulating about you during my last class. In an academy where people can command shadows, things don’t stay secret for long.”
That makes me pause. “People were talking about me?”
Kenzie nods. “According to what I’ve heard, all of the professors will be in attendance tonight because they want to see the new student before classes begin.
AKA you. The professors don’t always attend our dinners, but when they do, you can’t be late.
” There’s an undercurrent of fear in her last words, so I don’t argue, and I hurry along with her, half stumbling down the corridors.
I try to remember the patterns on the ceiling as we move through the academy, but the dark blobs all look the same, and I don’t have enough time to try and memorize the marks.
We’ve made it down two more corridors when I can’t help but ask, “Why did she call you a reject?”
Kenzie doesn’t immediately answer, and I’m about to tell her she doesn’t have to when she lets out a heavy sigh.
“I’d like to say it’s just because Satine is a bitch, but she’s not completely wrong.
I… I’m the only one who still hasn’t connected with a shadow creature.
It makes me an abandoned one. Forsaken by the shadows. ”
“What? How long have you even been here?”
“A few months, but most students connect with a creature in the first few weeks. Gray was the last one to connect with a shadow creature two weeks ago. Now there’s only me.”
“Okay, but that’s not so bad. That means it could still happen, doesn’t it? It doesn’t mean you’ve been forsaken or whatever.”
She looks doubtful. “Maybe…but it gets worse. I haven’t exactly been the most popular around here since Leira.”
“Leira?”
“Yeah.” She turns her attention to the corridor again as sadness makes her eyes glassy. “She was my roommate, and we were…close. She went missing a few weeks back.”
“Missing?” I frown, thinking of how Thane had warned me not to get lost in the academy. “Did she lose her way in the building somewhere?”
“No. Leira had,” she clears her throat, “ has an incredible memory. She’s always been great at puzzles and figuring things out. She loves the academy and memorized most of the corridors on the first night.”
“Okay, now I’m impressed. So what do you think happened to her?”
Kenzie jerks to a halt. Her gaze darts to the walls, and I wonder if she’s looking for Elgyn and Tarlaz, but when she doesn’t see whatever it is she’s scanning for, she leans closer to me and whispers, “Honestly, I think Leira discovered something she wasn’t supposed to know, and she was removed from the academy. ”
I blink slowly. I don’t know what I’d been expecting her to say, but it wasn’t that.
When I don’t answer, Kenzie pulls me along again, ducking her head as she leads me further down the corridor.
“Leira became obsessed with the idea of figuring out the secrets of this place,” she whispers.
“She wanted to know everything about it, and on the night she disappeared, she’d said she’d figured something out… something about the missing students.”
“Missing students?” I strain my ears, interested in what she has to say.
“Leira was about to tell me what she’d learned, but she was called away in the middle of the night by one of the professors.” Guilt fills Kenzie’s eyes. “I’d begged Leira to let me go with her, or to at least walk the corridors with her, but she had assured me she would be back soon.”
My heart sinks, because I can already tell where this is going. “And she never came back?”
“No,” Kenzie replies sadly. “Before she left, Leira had said Satine had been summoned as well, so when I saw Satine the next night, I tried asking her about it, but she couldn’t seem to remember anything, and she got angry when I kept pressing.
In the hours that followed, word went around the academy that Leira had asked to be sent back to the human realm.
That she uttered the words to cancel her enrollment.
” Kenzie lets out a frustrated breath. “Rumors spread saying that she wanted to get away from me, but none of it makes sense.”
I feel sick, and I wrap my arm around Kenzie’s shoulders. She stiffens for a moment before leaning into me.
“Okay firstly, that’s terrible, and I’m so sorry you had to go through that,” I say, squeezing her. “And secondly, we’ll find out what happened to Leira. I promise.”
Kenzie doesn’t look convinced, but she gives me a tight smile anyway. “Thanks.”
We both know I can’t really promise that. I can barely find my way around the academy as it is, but a part of me wonders if Leira’s disappearance might be linked to my lack of memory. To my past. Either way, I fully intend to figure out what’s going on in this place.
My roommate sniffs, and I release her, letting her have her space.
“So are you going to tell me your story?” she asks me. “I was one of the last students to arrive a few months ago. They say cohorts are usually selected in batches, and it’s really unusual to have new students arrive in the middle of the year.”
I decide to give her the most truthful answer I can right now. “Honestly, I’m still confused about it all, but they gave me a choice: die or come to this academy. So here I am.”
She regards me like she knows there’s way more to my story than that, but the haunting music stops playing and panic takes over her features.
“Shit. We’re late!” Grabbing my hand, she yanks me forward, and I stumble, trying to keep up.
Twice she stops me from falling, and we make it to a set of double doors, our chests heaving.
Before we enter, she lets go of my hand and pulls her shoulders back, her soft features hardening like she’s preparing for war. “Stick close and try not to stare anyone directly in the eyes,” she warns me.
“You’re making it sound like they’re wild animals.”
“Then I’m doing my job correctly.”
I grin, thinking she must be joking, but her face remains serious. “Oh, you’re not kidding.”
“Wish I was,” she replies grimly. “Come on.”
I follow her into a massive dining hall, and all at once, hundreds of eyes turn my way. It’s not until people start whispering and looking disgusted, that I remember what I’m wearing. Or more so, what I’m not wearing. Oh yeah. I’d forgotten about that.