Page 3 of Stormbringer (Tracthesian Academy #1)

T he only word that could describe her new dorm room was cream.

Everything was just that shade of off-white that said absolutely nothing about life.

The walls, creamy white, the curtains, just a degree different shade of creamy white, the carpet, well, that one was almost beige, and the bed was made with white linen.

Not pristine, shiny white. No, it was that two-shades-warmer white.

The one that made her question if they ran out of bleach, even though she knew it was supposed to feel warm and inviting.

A wooden bed frame was visible behind the linen, and the only other color in the room came from the matching wood desk. Thank gods she had landed a single room; it was tiny, but there was only one bed in it.

Though, come to think of it, did Tracthesian Academy even have shared bedrooms? Considering the tuition cost, students might have higher expectations than those of a shared room. The common room had three other doors besides hers, maybe they were all singles.

Wave stepped into the room and turned a full circle to take everything in.

Bookshelf, tall and imposing, already had some of her course books.

The bed was single but not too narrow, and the desk was wide enough for two.

Or maybe wide enough for her laptop and the pile of books she was expected to wade through.

And then there were two closets built into the wall.

Who had that many clothes? Not someone who needed to be ready to run at a moment’s notice.

No point wasting time. Wave unzipped her backpack and unloaded her laptop, notebook, sketchbook, and the rest of its contents onto the desk. She managed to fill maybe one-third of the space. She doubted she would do even that well with her clothes, and she was right.

Two jackets hung pitifully next to her one and only summer dress—wrinkled—unlike Mrs. Smith’s skirt, and Wave’s shirts and jeans didn’t take up more than two shelves. Maybe she could use the other closet to hide a body if need be?

Grinning at her absolutely stupid idea, Wave rushed to her notebook.

She wrote “Mean Girl Storage” neatly on the paper, dotted the “i” with a little skull, and then taped the note inside the closet door.

There. She had personalized her space. After a moment of contemplation, she marched back to her notebook and wrote “Jerk Storage” on another piece of paper, then taped that note under the first one. Perfect.

Wave wondered what she should do for the rest of the day.

She could go over all the routes in and out of the campus, that’s what Mother would do.

Or she could go over the list of her father’s old colleagues, see if any still worked here.

What she would do if they did, she didn’t know.

It wasn’t like she could go to anyone and announce their connection.

So, maybe she should panic over everything that could go splendidly wrong with her plans and presence here.

Groaning, Wave rubbed her eyes. She wanted to text her mother, but that wasn’t part of the deal.

Wave could come to Tracthesian Academy, but that meant no contact with her mother for that time or for five years after.

If she were caught, she couldn’t expose Mother even under torture, since Wave wouldn’t know anything.

After five years, Mother would contact her. Provided that they were both alive and free—the chances of Wave being imprisoned or dead were quite high. Mother had done the math. Wave couldn’t disagree, but she had still chosen this.

Wallowing on any of that didn’t help, and she didn’t feel like running around the campus quite yet, so Wave looked at the pile of papers on her desk.

Going through the material Mrs. Smith had given her seemed like a safe choice.

Or she could look up the places Mrs. Smith had mentioned were looking to hire someone.

She could use the money. Having an easily explainable source of income would deter unfortunate questions.

Besides, she’d rather eat garbage than touch the money in her trust fund.

The flash of hatred burned in her veins and made Wave grit her teeth.

She actively tried to avoid thinking about her extended family because of the pain, anger, and loathing it evoked.

Strong feelings were not good for her self-control, and she couldn’t lose it. Not here.

Job hunting it was then. Wave shook herself and picked up the papers, leafing through them until she found the page Mrs. Smith had marked with open positions. A café looking for a barista, IT support, lifeguard for the campus pool, and an array of assistant positions. Wave rubbed her temples.

Pulling off the requirements for the lifeguard position would be easy for her, but that could risk exposure.

She didn’t look strong, and while her affinity for water wasn’t a secret, her scholarship was based on her water manipulation.

She didn’t feel like bringing it up either.

Manipulating water and being able to swim through it like nothing was a separate skill set.

Reading the list over again, she gasped. Library!

Wave didn’t even bother to read what they were looking for. She grabbed the campus map and looked for the library. The campus had… five. Well, damn. She frowned and looked over the listing again. The library listed in the advertisement wasn’t any of them.

And the ad wasn’t overly informative otherwise either.

‘Library assistant, varied duties as needed.’

What did that mean? Wave looked at the contact information again and rubbed her temples. Her eyes watered and warped the words.

She wanted to give up and rub her eyes, but something stopped her. Were the letters moving? Wave stared harder, straining her eyes, until it felt like her head was splitting with blinding pain. Arrive… no, advice . Wave unconsciously murmured the word.

A blink and her vision cleared. The pain disappeared. A spell. The advertisement held a fucking spell? And she just broke it. Breathing in deep, Wave read the ad and then read it over again. Once the words truly sank in, she laughed.

T he library entrance was imposing and shrouded in darkness.

Shadows swirled behind every column, and Wave stopped to take in the way the light seemed to skitter away from the entrance.

In itself, it was just a normal door, and the building didn’t differ in any way from its surroundings, immaculate and polished, but it had a feeling to it.

For a second, Wave hesitated. Maybe there was a reason this opening offered flexible hours and high pay.

Fuck it.

Crumpling the piece of paper in her pocket, Wave forced her feet to move.

The door opened easily and led her into yet another lobby.

This one wasn’t light and airy, though, more like a warm hug filled with the smell of books.

The lights were muted, and the color scheme was full of deep browns and greens.

Classic library décor, in Wave’s opinion.

A middle-aged woman looked up from behind her wooden desk.

She wore a pair of red rimmed glasses, and her brown hair was in a neat bun, very much like Mrs. Smith’s hair had been.

In fact, this woman could be her older sister from the looks of it.

They even shared the same bluish undertone in their skin that Wave had wondered about earlier.

“Can I help you, dear? This is a faculty-only library,” she said with a polite smile.

“I’m here for the open assistant position,” Wave replied and stepped forward.

“Oh!” For one moment, the mask slipped from the woman’s face, and her surprise showed clearly before she got herself back under control. “I haven’t seen you before, dear. Are you a new first-year student? I thought the orientation didn’t even begin until tomorrow.”

“Third year, actually. I’m transferring,” Wave explained quickly. More unease vanished from the woman’s face.

“Ah. And you specialize in protection spells?” It was a question, but came out more like a statement.

“Um… I’m a generalist for now.”

The woman frowned and looked over at her again. “We are dealing with spell books in this library. I was really thinking about someone with a focus on spell casting…”

Wave could feel the opportunity slipping between her fingers and gulped. How much could she say without jeopardizing herself? She squared her shoulders and faced the woman’s look steadily.

“It took me less than a minute to crack your job advertisement, if that’s something you are looking for,” she said.

The woman’s eyes widened. “And what spell did you use to do that, dear?”

“Focus,” Wave replied. It was close enough to the truth. She had used her raw power to focus , not a focus spell, but the end result was the same. The woman seemed to mull that over for a moment and then nodded to herself, clearly coming to some decision. Wave just hoped it was in her favor.

“Let me tell you a little bit more about the position, and then we’ll see how you feel about it. How’s that?”

“Thank you.”

The woman laughed slightly. “Don’t thank me yet.

We haven’t been able to keep an assistant for more than half a semester in decades.

I’m afraid the books have become quite unruly in that time, and the faculty…

don’t get me started on teaching assistants messing up what little order we have remaining.

I’d gladly ban them all from the premises. ”

Wave bit the inside of her cheeks to stifle her smile. This woman clearly had some very strong opinions on the matter.

“I’m Mrs. Riverson,” she said and held out her hand for Wave to shake. Wave took it and squeezed firmly.

“Wayla Spinwell.”

“Well, come on, and I’ll show you around. See how you fare in the stacks.”