Dragon Fire Academy 1 First Term an RH academy romance - Rachel Jonas Page 0,71

the people I believed would be disappointed by this, no one could have been as disappointed as me.

***

“This is a huge mistake.”

Toni hadn’t been shy about sharing her opinion about me leaving as she paced the length of our room. In fact, this was about the tenth time she said it while I got myself ready to face the Admin.

“Trust me, Toni, if I thought there was another way, I’d jump on it in a heartbeat,” I assured her.

An exasperated sigh left her mouth. “For all we know, you’ll shift, and things will be fine.”

“Or they won’t,” I countered. “If I’m home, and something goes wrong, my family will be there to handle it.”

“And what? You’re alone here?” There was no missing the offense in her tone. “You have support here, too, you know. Me, the twins, Tristan, your guardians.”

I heard her loud and clear, but the fact still remained that I wasn’t their problem to deal with. Not that I wanted to be a burden on my family, but they had some of the most powerful witches in existence at their disposal. And there were also the Elders, and cells spelled so strong they could hold the devil himself. There, I at least had peace of mind knowing I couldn’t hurt anyone.

Here, my friends—and everyone else on this island—were in danger.

“Coming here was selfish,” I admitted. “There was always a chance things could go wrong. I was just in denial.”

Right up until the Darkness revealed itself to me.

Falling back onto her bed, Toni breathed out a frustrated breath.

“Just seems like a hasty decision.”

“I imagine it does,” I replied, “but I’ve been thinking about this a while.”

“Isn’t there a spell of protection we can do as a failsafe? Would you feel better knowing there was a plan B should you start to hulk out on us?”

I smiled listening to her brainstorm ways to keep me here.

I hadn’t shared this, but I had a failsafe of my own, although I didn’t fully trust myself to use it should things go from bad to worse. Thinking of it, I thought of my chosen spot in the woods, where I kept it buried. It even crossed my mind that, should I chicken out myself, I could trust one of my friends to pull the proverbial trigger. However, if they knew what would happen when they did, I was certain they wouldn’t follow through either.

So, the best idea was to head home.

My eyes shifted toward the clock. “I need to get going.”

Toni’s gaze landed on me when I stood to head toward the door to exit our room. Fresh tears pooled in the corners of her eyes, but they didn’t fall until she blinked.

“You’re making a mistake, Noelle,” she insisted one final time.

However, to protect my heart, and to maintain my will to leave, I had to tell myself she was wrong about that, convincing myself that leaving was my gift to her and the others.

***

Rayen was on overnight duty, so I only had to explain why I was leaving in the middle of the night to one of my guards, instead of four. Even then, I only told him I had an appointment in the Administrative Office, not that it was in regards to my departure.

He walked me, but then waited outside like I asked him to.

My knee bounced like crazy as I sat in the reception area, waiting to be called. I was the last appointment for the evening, so it was just me and an old pot of coffee in the small, quiet space.

What if this is a mistake?

Will they let me return once I’m stable?

Is my entire future ruined?

Was coming here a complete and total waste of time?

“Noelle?”

I stopped breathing and peered up when my name was called. The tall woman who stood waiting wasn’t a stranger to me, but we’d only spoken once or twice before this. She was Ms. Long—a Sanluuk native. Her plain face was void of expression as she watched me cross the room to the entrance of a narrow hallway, and then gestured for me to follow. We stopped at the open door at the end, but when I entered, my heart skipped a beat.

I hadn’t expected to see anyone else inside.

Peering at me from the other side of Ms. Long’s desk, a man I hadn’t met before sat with a smile I couldn’t quite read.

“That will be all, Alma,” the man said, prompting Ms. Long to nod in a way that conveyed the respect