Shadowborn Academy_ Year One (Dark Fae Academy #1) - G. Bailey Page 0,37

past it. I can’t really blame her.

I turn around and find Ronan with Jonah already, both of them arguing.

Sage follows my gaze. “Teamwork, huh?” Jonah shoves a hand into Ronan’s chest. Ronan raises a fist covered in icy magic. “More like we’re all going to kill each other before anything gets done.”

“We should stop the idiots,” I mutter. If they can’t get along, we are never going to get this prize, and I know I want it. I don’t want a more shitty job for me and Sage when we leave this place. We go over and I move in the middle of Jonah and Ronan, who steps away with Sage.

“Can we call a truce in this class?” I ask him, crossing my arms.

Jonah smirks, leaning in closer. “I don’t need your useless help to win. You can follow me like a good little puppy,”

“Is that stick up your ass cutting off your brain skills?” I spit out, cocking an eyebrow. “We need to work together to win this or we will all lose. I don’t want to lose and I don’t think you do either, so suck it up, cupcake. We have a prize to win.”

Jonah doesn’t get to give me some snarky reply as a loud whistle carries through my ears, and we all turn to look at the professors as they wait in the clearing.

The headmaster steps forward. “Good luck, new students. Remember this: nothing in this world comes without risk. Jump the leap that looks too far, eat the berry you’re unsure is poisonous or not, and fall into the well even though you are aware you could drown. ” He looks directly at me as he speaks and I know his choice of words is not random. “May Selena guide your dark souls. Now go. You have exactly three hours.”

Jonah runs off into the forest, leaving us with no choice but to run after him.

This is going to be a long day.

“Maybe next time you could actually be useful, team,” Jonah snaps, storming past us into the academy.

“Maybe if we didn’t have to chase your stupid ass around in circles the entire day, we would have!” I shout at his back and he puts his middle finger up at me as he walks off.

“What a dick,” Sage grumbles, pausing on the spot. Ronan headed in the other direction a while ago to go back to his room, looking as exhausted as we all feel inside. It’s just me and Sage now. “I’m going to the library to research something I saw in the forest. You know they said the tryouts last all year? I wonder if something in the forest changes in the different seasons.”

“That’s smart, but we can look tomorrow if you want to rest,” I suggest over a yawn.

“It’s okay. I’m still buzzing from today and I want to check it out! See you later,” she says, briefly hugging me before walking away.

I cross my arms and walk back to our room. As I open the door, I can’t help but feel a little guilty about not going with her, but I’m exhausted after all the arguing and running.

“Pitch, are you still mad at me?” I question, dumping my bag down onto my bed.

Considering he’s been silent ever since I met Zander in the forest the other day, I’m not surprised to get more silence in return. There’s something off with him. He’s never given me the silent treatment before.

I lift my shirt up and sniff it, smelling the stink of the forest and sweat from running around in it all day. I eye the bath in the middle of the room, knowing I haven’t used it yet and Sage is going to be a while anyway. I strip off my clothes and chuck them in the laundry bin in the corner of the room, which somehow magically cleans our clothes overnight and hangs them up in the wardrobes for us.

I’m certain the academy is hiring some of the forest creatures to do little jobs around the academy like this.

I sink into the bathtub and the water feels amazing as it surrounds me. I hold my breath to dip my head underwater, and that’s when Pitch floats out of my soul, appearing in the water opposite me. His messy black hair floats around him as he stares at me, letting me in again to feel his pain. I break out of the pool, gasping for air, and I wipe my hair out of