Page 1 of Stormbringer (Tracthesian Academy #1)

C learly, the universe was playing a joke on her. The sun was shining, birds were singing, and there was a pleasant breeze in the air. Nothing, absolutely nothing, indicated that Tracthesian Academy was anything else but a high-end, ridiculously expensive university.

No shadows lurked where they shouldn’t. The grass was evenly cut, the hedges were immaculately trimmed, and the stone buildings gleamed like they were washed and polished daily. No sign of bird crap anywhere despite the insistent chirping she kept hearing.

Neutral ground, at least in theory. A place that accepted all the realms, species, and factions equally. Exempt from all territory claims, wars, and the treaties that eventually followed.

Wave Stormwell stared up the stairs and frowned at the dragon statues guarding the entrance. Would they burn the flesh from her bones and deny her entry? Were they spelled against any ill intent? She had gotten past the main gates unsinged when the taxi dropped her here. Maybe that was a sign.

A car door slammed shut behind her and shook her from her stupor. Wave hefted up her bags, all two of them, and started up the stairs. Her whole life could fit into a backpack and a small suitcase. Wasn’t she lucky?

“Move,” someone snapped behind her and Wave quickly stepped aside.

“Sorry,” she mumbled under her breath, keeping her temper in check. She didn’t need to borrow trouble before she even got in.

“Don’t be a jerk, Jarred,” another voice called out, but the owner of the first just grunted and pushed past her. His arm brushed against hers, and Wave had to stifle a moan.

Shit. Not now. Or ever.

She was here to learn all she could about her father’s death, and because she couldn’t let the lies stay buried. She was here to hone her powers, to learn control and balance. She was not here to get into trouble because her siren was starved for touch before she even got past the front door.

Wave focused on her shields. The innermost was the most important, and firmly in place, containing her siren powers and protecting her mind. Mother had trained and drilled the importance of that into her since her first breath.

Her second shield was also always up, and it compressed her aura and stormbringer side. As a side effect, those shields protected her from most external threats to some degree, but clearly they weren’t hard enough if only a brush of a hand sent her into a dizzy spiral.

Gritting her teeth, Wave forced a third shield up. This one was purely for protection. Usually, she needed to protect others from herself and hide what she was, but apparently, Tracthesian was a different playing ground, and she needed a better arsenal to survive.

She was so focused on her efforts to control her siren side and shields that she completely missed the male at the top of the stairs. That was, until he wrapped his arms around her before she could walk face-first into a polished stone column.

“Whoa, careful there,” he said, and Wave could hear the laughter in his voice.

Slowly, after making sure her shields would hold no matter what she laid eyes on, she looked up. And up. The man holding her was a golden god. Or maybe a demi-god. There had to be something divine in his blood. Good thing she had added that third layer to her shields.

“Hellion, stop flirting with the new girl and let’s go!” the voice that had told her to move snapped again.

Blinking, Wave tore her gaze from Hellion’s bright blue eyes and met an annoyed pair of deep brown ones glaring at her. For a jerk, the man looked way too delicious, and Wave had an urge to run her fingers under his tight-fitting t-shirt to test if the ridges she could see below it were real.

“Sorry,” she mumbled again, and tried to move away from the temptation.

“Not so fast, little bird,” Hellion said, and stopped her from stumbling into the same column again. “It is easier if you go around the columns, not through them,” he leaned in to whisper into her ear. Then he moved Wave smoothly so that she had a clear path toward the entrance.

“Thanks,” she managed to say.

“Hellion!” Jarred hollered halfway down the hall. He most certainly didn’t have anything divine in his bloodline. Wave sighed slightly when Hellion turned to follow Jarred and another man that she hadn’t noticed was with them.

She scolded herself not to look, but how could she not? Even if Jarred exhibited some serious jerk genes, he had dark hair, he was tall, his skin was tanned from the sun, he was fit—very fit—and overall just annoyingly handsome. A cliché, really. She probably looked like a pale ghost next to him.

And his companion was equally tall and handsome, from what she could see, but crowned with black, short hair, a perfect complement to Hellion’s blond ponytail. For just a moment, Wave let herself imagine how Hellion’s hair would feel in her hands.

“You going to stand there the whole day?” A woman with shining brown hair and light brown skin asked with a smirk while she walked over. “Not that I blame you. Three of the Powerhouses at one glance are a sight. Although I feel it is my duty to warn you that there are twelve of them.”

“Twelve?” Wave choked out.

“Yep.” The woman sighed. “Those three are Hellion, Hazard, and Jarred. And I’m Angie, by the way.”

“Wayla,” Wave replied, thankful that she remembered to use her fake name. “Hazard is the one with short, dark hair? What do you mean by Powerhouses ?” Wave couldn’t help but ask.

“Oh, right, you’re new. Yes, that’s Hazard, and Powerhouses are a group of very powerful males who all live in a house. I know, whoever came up with the name wasn’t very original. The point is, they’re a mix of heirs or future heirs, or are just ridiculously powerful in their own right.”

“Like a fraternity?”

“Not exactly. More like a brotherhood. Go against one, go against all, kind of deal.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound so bad.” She fiddled with the strap of her bag, eager to get going. Angie, on the other hand, seemed determined to share the gossip, and really, knowing who to avoid was handy information.

“Unless you’re in their way, it’s not. They don’t have time to play stupid games, most of the time.”

“Just sometimes,” Wave said, not really making it a question.

Angie shrugged. “They are powerful males. They always play games, just not the stupid, petty ones. Most of them teach or do research here, or act in some political position. They do as they please, and there’s not a lot that anyone has to say to that.

As long as you are not a threat to their authority, or don’t have plans to become Mrs. Something or other, you should be fine. ”

“Oh, I’m nobody—with no such plans,” Wave said with a self-deprecating smile.

“Good. Now, do you need any help finding your way around?”

Wave gave one last glance after the trio disappearing behind a corner before she focused back on Angie and smiled. “If you could point me toward the administration office, I’d really appreciate it.”

“Sure thing. I’m heading in that direction anyway, just follow me,” Angie said. “And because I think I like you, new girl, I’m going to give you another friendly warning. Those twelve live by the hit it and quit it motto. Just keep that in mind.”

“Thanks. I’ll remember that,” Wave promised. That wasn’t the feeling she had gotten from the Jerk or the God. But what did she know? Her track record with men wasn’t exactly stellar. In fact, it was quite catastrophic.

Wave resisted the urge to rub her wrists and check her neck. It was better to take her new best friend Angie’s warning to heart and stay the hell away from their radar. That shouldn’t be too hard, right?

Together they walked through the door, and Wave was immediately thankful for Angie’s help. The building was huge, and there were so many signs and directions to this and that office that she would have spent an hour just reading them.

Angie nodded knowingly. “It’s a bit overwhelming, but you’ll get used to it.”

She led them out from one of the side entrances, and Wave was confronted with more immaculate hedges and flowerbeds that dared not to have a single wilting flower in them. She didn’t recognize half of them, probably imports from another realm.

“You don’t say,” Wave muttered.

“That’s the new student admin,” Angie said and pointed at a dark brown building on the other side of the lawn. The walls were made of more polished stone, and black marble columns stood next to the door. The marbling looked geometric from a distance, unlike any marble she had seen before.

“Thanks for the guidance,” Wave said and adjusted her bag. “I really appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome. See you around, Wayla.” Angie waved her goodbyes and continued in the other direction. Wave looked at the lawn, filled with narrow, paved paths laid out in a spider web pattern, and picked her best guess which one would lead to her destination.

The administration building was just as grand up close as everything else she had seen so far in Tracthesian.

Wave pushed past the double doors and into a large lobby.

Huge windows let in the light and gave the place a bright and welcoming feel.

A young man, who couldn’t be much older than Wave—although looks could be deceiving—glanced up from behind his desk with a placid smile.

“How can I help you?”

“Hi. I’m Wayla Spinwell. I should have a meeting with Mrs. Smith at nine a.m.?”

“Take a seat, Ms. Spinwell. I’ll let Mrs. Smith know you’ve arrived,” he replied and picked up the phone.

Wave looked around for a seat, but the only thing even remotely resembling a chair was an antique-looking sofa by the windows.

Surely, he didn’t mean that she should sit there?

Sofas like that were made for looking, not sitting.

“Mrs. Smith will be here shortly,” the man, Tony, according to his name tag, said when he noticed her still hovering by the desk.