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I felt suddenly uncomfortable around a man whom I’d known for years. I could tell he was already looking at me differently, and it made me want to crawl out of my own skin.
This is such bullshit. I just want my old life back.
Sure, it’d been kinda shady, and I’d been constantly behind on rent, but I’d liked it. It’d been mine, and I had been the master of my fate.
Now that I had magic, everything was going to change.
It’d been a nice gesture for Oberon to give me an entire week to get my life in order, but the reality of it was, I had very few friends, no family, and almost nothing to pack. So it was an easy week for me.
I didn’t feel comfortable going out, what with my dimly glowing aura and the possibility that I could unleash an accidental spell on some unsuspecting passerby. So I lounged around, slept a lot, and played with my new power a little. And when I say a little, I mean I tried it out once, broke the sink, and decided that I needed to wait until I got some proper training to try again.
By the time the week was over, I was more than glad to be moving on to something else. At that point, I didn’t care what it was as long as it got me out of my apartment. Thirty seconds before the designated portal time, I grabbed my bag and made sure I had all the essentials. Mostly just clothes, an envelope full of the last of my cash, and all my fight gear. I threw a couple of books in there that had been sitting on the shelf for months, even though I knew I’d probably never read them. I felt better having something in my bag.
I tightened the straps on my beat up duffel, not really sure what to expect when walking through a portal. In my mind, I kept picturing Alice falling down the rabbit hole. I watched the clock on the wall as the second hand ticked by one small click at a time. When it hit the exact moment, I squared my shoulders and readied myself.
I expected a huge torrent of wind and wild colors to come racing toward me… but there was nothing.
After standing stock still for a few more seconds, I began to think they had forgotten me. A wild hope bloomed in my chest as I tapped my foot and kept my eyes on the clock. Maybe I’d gotten my get out of jail free card after all.
Almost as soon as I had that thought, there was a loud crack, and vibrant colors began swirling in front of me. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to step through, but the whole thing didn’t look very safe. As I waited, the colors began to fade, and I could almost see through to the other side. It was strange, like looking through a mist into another world.
Suddenly, a head popped through the thin veil. It belonged to a middle-aged woman with cat eyeglasses and a big grin. She was wearing a button-up collared shirt, and her overly friendly appearance instantly put me on edge.
“Come on in.” She raised her eyebrows, her smile never wavering. “Just walk straight through.”
I puffed out my cheeks and hefted the duffel higher on my shoulder, muttering under my breath. “Here goes nothing.”
The moment my body breached the semi-transparent portal, I felt a suction that pulled me right to the other side. The woman caught my arm so I didn’t fall to the floor.
“Careful there! It can be a doozy the first time, but you’ll get used to it quickly. Welcome to Magic Blessed Academy. Thank you for being on time to your portal. And only people who have a portal attuned to them can travel directly to our school, so you don’t have to worry about anyone finding you here.”
I looked down at myself, wondering if she was saying that because I was dressed in tight black jeans with holes in the knees, combat boots, and a black wife beater. I shook it off, figuring she said that to everyone.
Half a second later, a portal opened up next to me and someone else came through. He stumbled forward and caught himself, laughing as if he’d just stepped off the best rollercoaster he’d ever ridden. Straightening, he pulled down the hem of his tight black T-shirt and stuck his hands in the pockets of his attractively beat-up jeans. Thick leather bands decorated his wrists, his forearms were covered in tattoos, and I was sure there were more decorating parts of his body currently obscured by clothing. He looked like a rock star. In fact, he looked really familiar.
The woman glanced at him, her cheeks flushing slightly. When she spoke, her voice had dropped into a slightly lower register and become a little breathy. “Trace Murphy. Welcome back.”
Oh, so this guy was a returning student. Oberon had told me this was a three year training program, so maybe he was a second or third-year.
“Ah, Aria. I’m glad you made it.” A familiar voice spoke up as the man it belonged to walked forward from the back of the room.
Oberon smiled widely, looking just a little less FBI this time and lacking his entourage. He nodded at the guy next to me, whose name was apparently Trace. Then he shifted his attention back to me.
“Welcome. The opening convocation for the school year will take place soon, and then this admin office will be your best friend for the next couple of days. You’ll get all your class information here, and they will assign your dorm room. This is Miss Avery—she’s in charge of student affairs. She’ll take you right over to the ceremony. My department is recruitment, so now that you’re officially a student here, our paths likely won’t cross again, but the staff here will take excellent care of you.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the guy next to me watching our exchange. He was kind of distracting—not because he was doing anything attention grabbing, but because he was hot as fuck. His black hair flopped over his forehead, and his eyes were bright, icy blue. He looked exactly like the kind of guy I might’ve taken home after a fight back in my old life.
I pushed the thought out of my mind, reminding myself not to trust anyone in this strange new place.
Miss Avery walked past us and opened the door. “Well, come on, we’re late. You two are the last ones to arrive, and the dean will be waiting for you to take your seats before she begins.”
Trace grinned
at me and went first. The crooked curve of his lips made him look even more handsome, but I kept my face stony as I followed after him, glancing around at the stone hallways that led through whatever castle-like structure we had fallen into from the rabbit hole. We took so many twists and turns I wasn’t even sure how to get back to the last hallway we’d been in, much less to the admin office.
“I’m gonna have to get a damn GPS to navigate this place,” I muttered, and the tattooed man laughed.
“It’s not so bad,” he told me, interest gleaming in his eyes as he leaned down to speak to me.
