Shadowborn Academy_ Year One (Dark Fae Academy #1) - G. Bailey Page 0,33

me.

“You’re right, Corvina. Trust does have to be earnt. I look forward to earning yours.”

I hesitate before walking over to the door. Just as I wrap my hand around the handle, his voice catches me again, and I look back at him.

“But for the record, you have my trust already. You had it the second you stepped in and saved your best friend in the welcoming ceremony. Only good people save others. Remember that.”

Oddly, his words make me smile as I step out of his office.

There is a first for everything, it seems.

The next morning, Sage arrives outside our room with two cups of coffee and a brown paper bag.

“This is why I love you,” I say, happily taking them from her and peeking inside the bag. She even remembered to add ketchup. “Bacon sarnie. The best!”

“I’ll never not love the way you say sandwich, Buzzie.”

A light blush creeps into my face. I take a small bite of the roll and close my room door. It’s funny how I struggle to remember much about my childhood but I know my English mother used to call sandwiches sarnies. I can’t recall how she said it—her voice is just a distant memory now—but I do know she used that word because it stuck with me. When I first arrived at the foster home, the other kids used to laugh at me when I said it.

“So, what class do we have now?” I ask over a mouthful of food.

“Illusions of Magic. I heard Professor Stonehart is a molten gargoyle all the way from Luna. How neat is that?”

I swallow my food down, nodding as we step out into the common area. “Pretty neat. But please do not tell me the classroom is at the other end of the castle. It’s too early to walk down all those stairs.”

Sage pats me on the head, slightly messing my French braid. “Hate to break it to ya, but—”

“It’s at the very bottom of the Lower Half. Couldn’t get any farther, really.” Ronan interjects, appearing at my side, also stuffing his face with food. He throws a grape into the air and catches it with his lips. He sideglances me and flashes a wolfish grin. “But you’ll be glad to know we can use the West Tower this time, and it has an elevator.”

“Praise the fucking goddesses,” I exclaim, raising my hands in mock prayer before cramming the last of my breakfast into my mouth. “Ummm, which is west again?”

I always hate when people use words like north and west when giving directions because my stupid ass has no idea what they mean.

Outside of the common area, Sage points down the corridor. “I’m guessing it’s where everyone else is headed.”

We follow the rush of students buzzing through the hallway. Thankfully, not many are aware of the secret passageway yet, and when we reach the elevator tucked away in a dark corner of the western tower, only half a dozen students are waiting there.

The morning light fades the deeper we drop into the earth. At the bottom of the tower, the doors ping open and we step out into the other side of the courtyard Greyhorn had walked me through upon my arrival. Pixies fly between the gigantic mushrooms and the flowers, whose petals seem to breathe softly as we walk by them.

We leave the academy doors and cross the courtyard to the outbuildings. I like this part of the Lower Half, because even though we’re hundreds of feet below ground, there’s still light pouring in through the cavern. It makes everything that little bit less claustrophobic.

Outside the middle building, I spot Izora sitting by the firepit, enchanting the flames to dance for her. I smile at her as we walk into what I’m assuming is the right classroom. The dark wooden desks are laid out in pairs, each of them facing the front where the teacher’s imposing desk stands before a mountain of bookshelves. A narrow staircase spirals up to an archway in the upper right corner of the room.

Claiming the vacant desks at the back of the room, I sling my bag over the back of my chair and watch as Sage plops down beside me and pulls out her books. I bring out my own things too, including my Book of Zorya. Quills and ink have already been provided and placed on the desks with a little spellbook. My heart clenches when I glimpse Sage pulling out her own personal quill. Its beaded, golden feather