Page 6

Chapter

Five

Bloom

Forsaken Academy

T he gates closed behind us with a finality that resonated in my bones. This place didn’t just accept me; itconsumed me. Like a seed dropped into hungry soil, part of me recoiled while another, deeper part sighed in recognition.

I twisted to look back. The fog had swallowed the road whole, erasing any trace of skeletons or demons. But the prickling at my nape said they were still there. Watching. Waiting.

The jeep halted before a courtyard of polished black marble, its surface so flawless I could see my pale reflection staring back at me like a ghost.

Orren offered his hand. I let it hang in the air between us. Kidnappers didn’t get courtesy.

Then I looked up—and forgot to breathe.

Three distant towers speared the sky, their obsidian peaks forming a perfect triangle around the academy, their spires clawing at the sky in jagged pinnacles.

Between them sprawled a nightmare of Gothic splendor: Victorian buildings carved from gleaming black stone, their tinted windows swallowing the light.

Slate roofs shimmered like raven feathers, and each gargoyle’s grin seemed to widen as I stared.

I’d tumbled into a world of living shadow.

Sunlight dared not touch certain corners of the academy. Shadows spread like spilled ink, thick and permanent, yet instead of fear, they pulled at me, a whisper in my veins saying remember. It was like I’d come home, even though this was far from home.

My gaze fell on the central building. Its onyx facade drank the sun whole, leaving only the illusion of windows: four stories of stained glass glowing with amber light, their midnight-blue patterns swirling like trapped spirits.

It was alluring, sinister, and splendid all at once.

I should have recoiled. Instead, my pulse thrummed in recognition.

A staircase of black marble led to double doors, flanked by dark cypress on either side. My gaze locked on the crest carved above the doors:

A porcelain mask, shattered.

Twin tears of blood streaking its cheeks.

An icon of torment.

My fingers dug into my chest as if I could restrain my pounding heart. The other hand twitched toward my inhaler. After demons and skeletons, what fresh nightmare awaited me behind those onyx doors?

“So,” I asked in a shaky voice, “this is the prestigious institution worth kidnapping me over?”

Orren’s grin was all teeth. “Welcome to Forsaken University, Bloom.”

My former captors fanned out around me, their gazes tracing the spires with what almost looked like nostalgia.

“It’s like a gothic fever dream,” I muttered.

Dante snorted. “You’ll acquire the taste. That’s Founder’s Spire. Headmistress Stardust’s office is on the top floor. Avoid her. Avoid everyone.” His crimson-tinged eyes flicked to me. “Except Nero.”

Nero.The name burned in my mind like a brand. When I met him—and Iwould meet him—I would…

Well, I hadn’t figured that part out yet. But it would be spectacular. And painful. For him.

I scanned the deserted courtyard, my survival instincts flaring.“Where’s the student body? Am I the only sacrifice here?”

Orren chuckled.“All the vicious little shits are in class.”He checked a nonexistent watch.“Any minute now.”

“You three look barely older than me,”I said, voice thin.“Shouldn’t you be in class? Or is nabbing unsuspecting victims your extracurricular?”

A bell tolled, deep and sonorous, like a funeral dirge.

The twin domed black buildings vomited students.

One breath, the courtyard was empty. The next, it seethed with bodies, all muscle, all motion, all glaring like they’d been raised on broken glass and battle cries.

I shrank back.

Forsaken Academy would devour me whole.

The trio’s earlier dismay made awful sense now. Among these battle-hardened students, I was a wounded fawn in a den of wolves. Then an electric current slammed through my chest, and I froze.

Morrigan gripped my elbow.“Dorm. Now.”

Too late.

An invisible cord yanked at my ribs, pulling me toward…

Silence.

The courtyard’s chaos died mid-breath. Every head turned in unison toward the figure silhouetted against the doors of Founder’s Spire. He stood atop the onyx stairs like a dark god surveying his realm, power rolling off him in waves.

But it wasn’t just his dominance and his male beauty that stole my breath.

Somethingansweredinside me. A dormant engine sputtered to life, sending vibrations through my marrow.

Pleasure prickled along my skin even as my lungs seized—not from asthma, but from the sheerwrongnessof this craving. My heartbeat stuttered against my ribs, a frantic prisoner desperate to reach him.

And he wasn’t just any man.

He was the one who bit me and gave me my first and only orgasm…in my dream.