Home > Nightworld Academy_ Term Five (Nightworld Academy #5)

Nightworld Academy_ Term Five (Nightworld Academy #5)
Author: L.J. Swallow

Chapter One

 

 

ANDREI

 

I’ve seen some weird shit in my life, but this is surreal.

The eaves from the farmhouse cast shadows to hide in as I flatten myself against the wall, chest tightening with fear. I can see everything, but struggle to hear the voices muffled by the magic barrier surrounding Maeve, Tobias, and the two other people.

Magic freaking barrier.

I’m bloody glad that I didn’t chase Jamie when he stupidly ran to Maeve—I caught a glimpse of the figures on the edge of the woods moving towards the house just as he stepped into the open. Nobody else saw, so I shrank back around the corner. Tobias separated us for a reason; at least one of us should hold off rushing into whatever the hell is happening.

Maeve ran out when Vince shot at Jamie, and I almost bolted over to grab her but Tobias got to her first. And then everything stopped—their actions paused like a TV show—and I backed off to where I am now. I’ve never witnessed temporal magic, but only one coven can cast spells that alter time. The Blackwoods.

Holy fuck.

I know who Anastasia Blackwood is, and she’s here. I saw her once as a kid when I visited the Blackwoods with my mother, before she left us. At the time, they tried to influence me by talking shit about the Confederacy—they told me their leaders kill anybody deemed a threat. As a blood-born vamp, I’m unusual, but not a dangerous hybrid. No, there’s only one reason the Confederacy targets me. My mother.

Anastasia’s focus remains on Maeve and she pays no attention to the surroundings. Anastasia cast the spell when a bullet was inches from Jamie’s heart—she's bargaining for something. Why else would she pause reality for everybody inside her magic bubble if she didn’t have a reason?

The bullet. At first, I expected blood to pour from the motionless Jamie’s chest, but nothing. There’s little light from the pin-prick stars, so I can’t be a hundred percent clear where the bullet went. Considering the way Vincent waved around the gun, I’m impressed he shot straight.

When the spell hit, I waited for Ash to run from the barn too, but he didn’t. Is he hiding like me or hurt by his brother?

Resting my head on the bricks, I watch in despair, swearing because I can’t hear a bloody thing.

But I see everything. Anastasia’s magic. Maeve bleeding. Tobias’s protection of her. As I scramble to keep up with what I’m witnessing, my whole body jumps as the surroundings light up in an explosion of magic, momentarily as bright as summer daylight. The luminescence drops away as quickly as the magic manifested and the intensity dims my eyesight. I can’t see anything for a few moments, and when my vision clears, the space that held everybody on the edge of time is empty.

Apart from one person.

“What the hell happened?” Jamie stands in the place he was frozen moments ago, turning in a slow circle with a hand in his hair.

I stay where I am, listening. Is Jamie the only one left?

“Maeve? Andrei?” Pausing, Jamie looks down at his chest, palms against the place the bullet aimed for, face filled with confusion.

I’m bloody confused too. He’s unharmed.

Where the fuck are Maeve and Tobias? I step from my hiding place and into the empty space to take a closer look. Jamie steps back as I do and although he relaxes when he sees it's me, his stunned fear remains on his face. “What’s happening, Andrei? Where is everybody?”

The guy’s tone edges on panic—there’s no way I can tell him the truth yet. I start walking across the driveway. “Ash is in the barn.” He must be. I haven’t seen him leave.

“What about Maeve and Tobias?” Jamie asks as he trails after me towards the open barn door.

I don’t answer.

The dark doesn’t pose a problem to me, and I stride in and dart a look around the surroundings. Ash sits on the floor in the dirt, behind wooden boxes, elbows on his knees and head in hands. Crouching down, I place a hand on his shoulder. In a reflex move, he knocks me back, and I sprawl on my backside.

“Oof! Watch it, Ash,” I snap.

Ash looks up, holding the side of his head, then focuses on me and where Jamie stands to my right. “Sorry. Thought you were Vince. Did you see him?”

Blood cakes the right side of Ash’s face, but I can’t tell how serious. I pull myself upright and step back. Shifter blood doesn’t appeal as much as witches, but it’s still blood.

“Vince hit you?” I ask.

“Yeah, like a fucking truck.”

“Did you see him fire the gun?” asks Jamie hoarsely.

“What?” Ash’s dull eyes widen.

“He shot me. I mean, I think he did but...” Jamie runs a hand down his face and looks at me. “Andrei. What happened? Did you see?”

I watch, chewing on my lip as I wait for him to repeat the question I don’t want to—and can’t—answer.

“Where did the bullet hit?” interrupts Ash, taking a deep breath as he winces with pain.

"That's the thing. I'm not hit." His confusion continues as he pats his chest. “Shit! The pendant.” Jamie peers down, as if looking would make it reappear. “Where did that go?”

"But you said he shot you,” says Ash. "Where are you hurt?"

“Nowhere!” says Jamie.

As their bewilderment continues, I ready my explanation, but before I can, Ash interrupts me. “Maeve and Tobias. Are they with you?”

I shake my head.

Swearing, Ash struggles to his feet, leaning heavily on the barn wall. “Where are they?”

I don’t know. “They, uh... left.”

“Where?” Ash attempts to walk and stumbles before catching himself on a low beam. Jamie reaches out to help. “Why would they leave?"

“Did you see Tobias and Maeve go, Andrei?” demands Jamie. “Why aren’t you explaining anything?”

“Did they follow Vince?” asks Ash. “Shit.”

The confusion in the barn grows as their questions tangle in my head along with the events I witnessed. If I’d taken Lix, I'd swear I’d hallucinated everything. “No. Come back to the farmhouse. I'll explain.”

But how? I don't understand what I saw. I don’t have any answers.

Ash moves from the wall and knocks into a box. His brow pinches as he points at the ground. “Where did the hunter go? He was there.”

“Hunter? I never saw anybody leave the barn apart from Vince,” I say. “Come on. Farmhouse.”

Jamie supports Ash, who still holds his bloodied head, as we cross back to the house. I repeat events in my head as I push open the door. Everything is insane. Although I never saw anybody walk back into the house, I scout the place quickly as the guys follow me in.

Ash slumps onto the sofa opposite the cold hearth, and I take the same position by the window as earlier. Maybe the blow to the head stops Ash freaking out as much as Jamie, whose constant questions are now replaced by a vacant stare.

“I saw everything,” I say flatly. “Vincent. Maeve and Tobias. The Blackwood witch—"

“The what?” Jamie interrupts and moves towards me until his body almost touches mine. “What witch? You said there wasn’t anybody in the house when we searched.”

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