Dragon Fire Academy 1 First Term an RH academy romance - Rachel Jonas Page 0,43

and Catherine who met him with a hug before fastening a brass pin to his lapel.

The room settled again, and the same process repeated. One by one, other co-eds stepped forward, stating their names and letting Spirit guide them toward their Domains. They would step aside and receive their pins, and then return to their seats so we could move on to the next. Row after row was called, until we were nearly halfway finished.

Eventually, a delegate moved to call Blythe’s row forward, and I was proud of myself for suppressing the eyeroll I nearly gave. They were so smug, her and the three minions who hung on her every word.

Several were brought to the pendulum before Blythe. She eventually stepped to the base of it where she’d been instructed to stand and gave her name. The few necessary seconds passed while Spirit read her, and the medallion swung back and forth before stopping rigid in the middle, pointing downward toward the purple stone. It indicated what those of us from Seaton Falls already knew—Blythe was a witch.

As pure and rotten as they came.

“Please, come receive your pin from Domain Akaasha,” Alani instructed. Soon after, she called forward Blythe’s crew as well.

Things continued to move along, as nearly everyone in the whole row had received their pins. Throughout the process, I’d fought the urge to steal a peek at my mentors for about as long as I could, finally giving in when the feeling overwhelmed me.

There they stood, a brood composed of the hottest dragons I’d ever seen. Much to my dismay, they were watching me, too, which made it harder to deny something I had become painfully aware of. Despite them being major douche-knuckles, I was attracted to them.

All of them.

And … dare I say, I got the feeling they might have felt something similar. I mean, don’t get me wrong, they held no affection for me or anything. This was purely physical.

Straight up biology and pheromones.

Because when it came down to personality, there wasn’t much to like about them as far as I could tell. Also, it was unconventional not being able to distinguish which I was more drawn to, but I didn’t beat myself up about it too bad. Mostly because I would never go there with any of them.

“Stand please,” Ms. Audrina whispered with her usual bright smile when she approached our row. Apparently, she’d been appointed as our delegate.

“Finally,” Marcela mouthed when I glanced her way.

Smoothing the pleats of my skirt, I followed the others out into the center aisleway, and then we trailed Ms. Audrina to the stage. It was different watching those who had gone before me, compared to making this walk on my own. At first thought, I was certain I’d be labeled a witch for now, but I did wonder if one of my shifters might step forward instead, which would be interesting. There had been a few others who were only nineteen like me and hadn’t transitioned yet. In each case, their shifter was already identifiable. The same had held true for the dragon-wolf hybrids who’d gone forth. Each time, their most prominent shifter stepped forward and made itself known to Spirit.

So, in a way, my turn was a bit of a tossup.

Would I simply be labeled a witch, or would my wolf or dragon prove to be stronger?

Chapter Twelve

Noelle

“Your name please?”

I peered around Toni’s shoulder when Tristan was called forward, sporting the worst case of bed-head I’d ever seen. I smiled as he stepped up on the platform, more nervous than I’d seen him in nearly four months, since we first met.

“Tristan,” he rasped. “Tristan Montgomery.”

Waiting to be given the all clear to stand before the pendulum, he ran his nails across the gold-toned scruff on his jaw.

“Thank you, Mr. Montgomery. Please step forward.”

While the rest of us watched and waited in silence, Tristan did as he’d been instructed, preparing to be guided by Spirit.

He stood there, the Overseers waited while the medallion swung, and then came to a dead stop over the Domain Akaasha emblem.

The entire room was suddenly alive with conversation, chatter from those who weren’t yet aware that we had the only warlock in existence—as far as I was aware—right here at Dragon Fire Academy.

Tristan had kind of a smirk set on his face, gripping the back of his neck as he turned to us. “It’s always fun being made to feel like a freak.”

He’d only spoken loud enough for us—his friends—and the nearby staff to