Page 24 of A Curse So Cruel (Fated Mates of Shadowbone Academy #1)
Chapter Sixteen
~ Shade ~
“ Y ou need to eat faster,” Kenzie tells me as I play with the scrambled eggs on my plate, rearranging them with my fork.
“They take punctuality seriously around here.” She scrunches her brow in thought.
“Well, Professor Galen isn’t as strict as some of the other teachers, but it’s probably not the best idea to be late for your first class. ”
Sighing, I slide my plate away from me. I can’t eat anyway.
All I can think about is the night before, and my weird dreams. I can still picture the giant shadow spider that had captured me, and I can’t shake the thought that I’d come close to dying.
I shiver, my stomach churning. I can’t be sure how I managed to escape the creature.
The last thing I remember is seeing Blake’s face, and when I woke in the early hours of the morning, I felt like myself again, no longer weak and drained.
Unable to sleep, I sat by my dorm window, sketching the spider and trying to recall the memory I’d seen in one of its eyes. That cell…
“Are the nightmares like that every night?” I ask Kenzie, dread already forming in the pit of my stomach.
“The dreamcrawlers mainly visit students on their first night,” she replies, but going by her expression, I get the feeling she’s just trying to ease my worry.
“Mainly? So it could visit me again tonight?” It’s more of a statement than a question.
Great. Without letting her answer, I nod absently and stand, dusting off my hands and pushing my chair out.
“Okay, I’m ready.” Truthfully, I’m not ready at all, but as far as the classes go, starting the day with a history lesson taught by Professor Galen doesn’t sound so bad.
If anything, considering I hardly know much about the shadow realm, I’m actually interested in finding out information and filling in some of the blanks.
Kenzie doesn’t comment on my full plate. She simply leads me from the dining hall and along a series of corridors. Students stream around us, each heading to their own classes, but quite a few are moving in the same direction as us.
It’s not until we reach a large, heavy-set door that Kenzie speaks again. “Before we go in, you should know, Professor Galen has a…reputation.” There’s a strange look in her eyes, and I smile when her cheeks start to redden.
“He’s not my type,” Kenzie splutters, “but the professor?—”
“Has slept with a lot of the students in the class?” I say, ignoring the way my stomach twists at the thought. “That’s not surprising. You already told me he and Raith like to share, and the guys have serious daddy vibes.”
Kenzie makes a face. “Daddy vibes? Well, I don’t know about that, but I figured it’s worth warning you.
The professor seems to have a particular fondness for the students who do well in his class.
He has been known to invite students to his rooms for uh, extension lessons.
I think the students believe getting with him will increase their chances of graduating earlier, but I have no idea if that’s true. ”
“His rooms?” That piques my interest. I rub my thumb over my forefinger which is still missing the ring Blake gave me. The ring Galen stole. “And do you know where his rooms are?”
Kenzie gives me a strange look. “Well yeah, but you’re missing the point. I’m trying to warn you because I don’t want you getting hurt or used, or whatever.”
Kenzie is sweet, but her comment almost makes me laugh.
I haven’t dared tell her that I think Galen and the others are connected to me.
Especially now that it’s obvious I was completely wrong about them, and they’re not my mates.
My chest aches. The men have already hurt me, though I doubt they realize it or even care.
I wonder then if maybe I was simply another student in the past who had fallen in love with the professors and had been discarded.
Maybe that’s why they seem special to me.
Because I’m picking up on some lingering feelings.
Some past infatuation I had for them. But if that was true and I had been a student here, then why don’t they remember me?
I try not to let the thoughts distract me from my other epiphany.
Kenzie knows where the professors’ rooms are.
If I can get to Galen’s rooms, I might be able to find my portal ring.
Sure, the magic of the ring likely won’t work while we’re on academy grounds, but it would still be nice to have it.
Besides, it would give me a way out if I needed it.
All I’d have to do is leave the grounds and use the ring to summon a portal to Blake.
That’s way better than losing my memories and being sent back to the human realm.
With any luck, Blake could hide me from the professors, and maybe we could find a way to keep me alive.
Grinning, I smooth my hair with my fingers, feeling a little better about everything.
After the night I’d had, I hadn’t been willing to access shadow magic and change outfits, so I’m still wearing the strange black feather bikini, which I have to admit, I’m actually growing fond of.
Sure, it’s breezy, but now that I have a human body, I’m happy to show it off.
“Why are you grinning like that?” Kenzie asks.
“Because you just admitted to knowing where Galen, ahem I mean Professor Galen, sleeps.”
She stares at me suspiciously. “And you want to know that because…why? Did you not hear what I said about him bedding everyone within reach?”
“I did…” I trail off, contemplating my next words.
I hardly know Kenzie, but I suppose she hasn’t tried to kill me, and she’s the only real friend I have in this place right now.
I scan the corridor making sure no one else is around, then I lean close.
“I’m smiling, because you’re going to help me break into Galen’s chambers. ”
“I what?!” she answers way too loudly.
“Sshhh,” I hiss.
She gives me a sheepish look and peers around us nervously. “What makes you think I’ll do that?” she whispers back. “Do you know what would happen if we were caught sneaking into a professor’s rooms?”
I’m not new to torture. I saw enough while I was in the demon realm, but I know the professors would do worse. They’d wipe my memory and send me back to the human realm to die.
I bite my bottom lip, wondering how much to tell her. “Okay, so you see, Galen took something of mine when he found me in the human realm, and I intend to get it back.”
Shock flares on her face. “If he has it, then it’s gone. We’re not allowed possessions from the human realm here, anyway. If you think?—”
Before she can finish, Satine and her minions round the corner, glaring as they strut toward us.
When they’re close, Satine pushes past me, shoving her elbow into my shoulder.
I move back, and when she reaches the door, she turns, her top lip curling in disgust as she stares at us with disdain.
“Oh look, if it isn’t the reject and the academy’s new embarrassment.
I guess I bet wrong. I’d wagered you wouldn’t last the night. ”
Yikes. Keeping my cool, I smile sweetly at her, thinking about how my old friend Blake probably would have put her on her ass by now.
“What can I say, disappointing people seems to be my specialty lately.” I keep my expression sunny, even though my chest hurts a little because there’s some truth in that.
I get the feeling Knox, Galen, Thane, and Raith are all disappointed that I’m here.
What had Knox called me? Their little problem.
Satine makes a face and her gaze drops, traveling down my body as she assesses my outfit, her eyes narrowing on my breasts, which look incredible right now if I don’t say so myself.
“If you think you can sleep your way to graduation, don’t even bother,” Satine snickers. “The professors don’t let students progress before they’ve proven themselves, and they’re certainly not going to waste their time with someone like you. There are standards around here, you know.”
“Are there?” I reply, because I’m genuinely curious as to what these ‘standards’ are. Honestly, I’m just as surprised that I’m here, but Satine must think I’m implying something about her, because her temple pulses with irritation.
Sniffing, she glowers at me. “I mean it, reject. The professors are off limits.” I don’t miss the threat in her words, but before I can answer, she shoves through the doors to the auditorium.
Her minions follow after her, and when they’re gone, Kenzie stares at me, her face pale.
“You need to lay low. Satine doesn’t kid around.
She might be mean to me, but she’s never tried to take me out.
I’m luckier than some. You don’t want to make her mad. ”
“What’s her obsession with the professors?”
Kenzie shrugs. “Same as a lot of the other students. Despite what she just said, she thinks if she gets them to favor her, she’ll be able to graduate early. And even after that, I think she’s hoping the professors will put in a good word with the queen.”
“The…queen?”
“Queen Krosia of the shadow realm,” Kenzie explains. “The graduates live in the city around her palace, and the top graduates get the more favorable positions. I’ll bet Satine is hoping for a prestigious position in the queen’s court.”
“Huh.” It made sense.
“But we’d better get inside,” Kenzie says, abruptly leading the way forward. She doesn’t mention Galen’s chambers again, and I don’t push it. Now isn’t the time.
When we enter, the auditorium is nearly full. Rows upon rows of students fill the chairs that angle upwards, pale light streaming from the high windows behind them as torch flames flicker along the walls.
Kenzie finds us a couple of seats in the back row, and I happily sit tucked away like a crow perched on the top branches on a tree.