Deviant Descendants (Descendants Academy #2) - Belle Malory Page 0,23

tension, Lev stepped away. I lowered my voice so neither he nor anyone else around us could hear. “I know what you did, Riley. To Dad. If we fought right now, I couldn’t stop myself from killing you.”

An emotionless, cool smile pulled at her lips. “It wouldn’t be the first time you’ve tried.”

“This time I might succeed.” I ground my teeth together, infuriated at her for pushing this hard. In the open, no less, with a class full of spectators.

She stared at me for several long seconds, until it became clear she wasn’t backing down. I couldn’t fall prey to her tricks. I had to wait for Grandpa and Dad, so we could work this out as a family. Until then, I would do everything in my power to stop the curse from manifesting.

“Go away.” I turned my back on her.

As I left, several groans of disappointment sounded. I ignored them, telling myself it wasn’t worth the fight. Besides, everyone knew about the mermaids. They knew I wasn’t weak.

After class, I tried approaching Xander again. His blue eyes drifted over me for the briefest of seconds. “Are you okay?” He must be referring to last night.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I forced a breath. “Your sister patched me up.”

“Good.” He swallowed. “But hey, I’m late for my next class. I’ll catch up with you later.”

Frowning, I nodded. “Okay.”

My shoulders slumped as he rushed off. I couldn’t blame the guy. I’d probably avoid me too.

I tried not to worry over it.

If that were possible.

9

The rest of the day passed too slowly for comfort, and my mind wandered in different directions.

Zack was late getting to the gateway room for our Mirror Realm period. Idly drumming my fingers against Petra’s package, I sat alone on the stone floor, surrounded by endless mirrors serving as portals between realms. In one of them, my subject, Mia, listened to a Physics lesson. Much like myself, she fidgeted in an antsy, restless manner.

I stopped drumming and looked away from her, figuring I might as well open the package. Otherwise, I’d never give Mia and Ben the attention they deserved.

I pulled at the string and tore the lid from the box. Inside was a leather-bound notebook with a black quill attached. I opened the book, flipping through the pages. All were blank.

“Haven’t seen one of those in years.” Master Themus’s deep, bellowing voice startled me, causing me to nearly jump up off the floor. The elderly gatekeeper often lurked in the shadows, preferring to stay out of sight and away from students. Since I first started coming here, he hadn’t spoken more than a few words to me.

I swallowed, narrowing in on his dark, hunched silhouette. “Do you know what it is?” I asked him.

“Course I do. It’s a parchwyn.”

“A what?”

“It allows two people to communicate through writing. You pen your message, and the other scribe replies. Their words appear in your book, yours in theirs.”

“Ah.” I grasped the basic mechanisms. “In the human world, we have texting for that.”

“The book carries your words in secret. No one else can read what you have written, and the same goes for the receiver. Many used them during the Uprising. Back then, they were worth their weight in gold.”

“Interesting.” I picked up the quill, wondering how it could write without ink.

“You must prick your finger,” Master Themus instructed me. “Allow a few drops of your blood to bleed onto the page.”

I nodded. “Like a security code.”

Master Themus shrugged, then disappeared behind a mirror.

I looked down at the book again. Zack still hadn’t arrived. I had some time to kill. Before I could overthink it, I grabbed the quill and pricked my index finger. Several drops of red blood fell onto the page, disappearing instead of leaving a stain.

I blinked. After a few seconds, words appeared. Blurry at first, and then they sharpened as if they were being written before my eyes.

* * *

Hello Daughter,

I hope this parchwyn finds you well. It has come to my knowledge that your sister enrolled at Arcadia. While my first instinct was to act swiftly, I have had time to reflect on your feelings. In fact, I have thought many times over about how we left things. I don’t like that we parted on bad terms.

I know you don’t want to end Riley’s life, but at the same time, I fear for yours. Everything I sacrificed was for you to have a better one. It pains me to think it could all be for nothing. That being