Shadowborn Academy_ Year One (Dark Fae Academy #1) - G. Bailey Page 0,19

and the door slams shut behind them as I dug my nails into the leather seat. Mr Greyhorn leans back ever so slightly, his eyes drifting over me like I’m an apparition he doesn’t know what to do with.

“How did you know that spell?” he asks, cocking his head to the side. “Or better yet. How is it possible you successfully used a year four hex with no tutoring?”

“I found the spell in a book I stole from a visiting warden. I’m self-taught,” I quickly lie, thankful I’m well self-taught at lying.

Folding his arms, he watches me closely. Too closely. “And you taught Miss Millhouse some of these spells?”

“Yes,” I answer stiffly.

“I must confess that I am a little impressed,” he surprises me by saying.

I nod once, not sure how to reply to that as he stands and goes to the bookcase directly behind him. His long fingers slide over the dusty books before he pauses on the one at the end. He tugs it out of the case, causing the books at its side to collapse into the space it left.

He walks around the desk and hands the book to me. “This is a fae bound book, one given to the academy many years ago. I usually only let teachers read the fae bound books since they hold such difficult spells. But I feel you might have the control needed to understand them. I knew there was something different about you from the moment you turned up at the academy. Something unique and powerful.”

“Thank you,” I reply, looking down at the object in my hands. The book has leaves pressed into the leather, and the leaves are all different colours. There is a little gold symbol in the corner, but in this dim light, there is no way I can see what it is. I run the pad of my thumb across it anyway, feeling the little groves.

“Now get out,” he orders, waving a dismissive hand. I quickly get up and walk to the door, but just as I hold it open, he states one more thing. “A word of advice, Miss Charles. In my academy, we do not help our friends when they are on a path of destruction if we want to survive.”

“But what is surviving if you never save those you love?” I’m quick to argue, and I don’t wait for his answer as I leave the room.

It’s official.

The headmaster is a dick, and thanks to the book in my hands, I now owe him.

Fan-fucking-tastic.

“What’s that?” Sage asks as I close the headmaster’s door behind me.

I lift the book, admiring it closer in the light streaming through a gap in the cave wall. “Some kind of book.”

“I gathered that,” my best friend snorts, pushing off her chair which is one of two outside the office. “What’s it called?”

I shrug at her, flipping the book around to check for a title, but there is none. “I’m not sure. I’ll let you read it once I’m done, though.” Looking around the empty corridor, I’m relieved to find the professor is nowhere to be seen. “So. Mushroom foraging with Professor Gale on Sunday. That’ll be fun.”

Sage nudges me playfully. “You have detention with us, too, Buzzie.”

I scrunch my face up, sliding her a mock glare. “You fail to shift into a bee one time and then you’re forever known as Buzzie. I hate that I love it.”

“Well, I don’t think I’ll forget the yellow and black stripes on every bit of my hair I was left with for a week.”

“Dude, you looked like a traffic sign.”

We both pause and stare at each other before bursting into laughter.

I wipe the tears from my eyes, my stomach aching from all the laughing. “Anyway, only we’d get detention when we haven’t even unpacked yet.”

“Keeper Maddox will be positively delighted,” Sage remarks, rolling her eyes. “The professor said the dorm rooms are in the Upper Half of the castle.”

“Cool. Do you know where that is?”

“Not a fucking clue. I suppose the Upper Half is the part of the castle that’s above ground.”

We chuckle, looking both left and right down the hallway. As if by sheer luck, a group of students are busy pulling heavy trunks behind them. We turn left and follow them. To my surprise, it doesn’t take long to reach the common area. That suggests the headmaster’s office is situated right in the middle of the Upper and Lower Halves of the castle. I guess it’s the perfect spot for him