Shadowborn Academy_ Year One (Dark Fae Academy #1) - G. Bailey Page 0,50

and look up at Zander hovering over me, his body perfectly lined up with mine.

Protecting me.

“I don’t need protecting,” I breathlessly warn him. What is going on with us? Desire and a longing I shouldn’t have for some guy I can’t have blasts through me until it’s all I can focus on. My eyes betray me as I flicker my gaze to his soft, pink lips and back up again.

“From yourself? Yes, you do,” he whispers, and then he kisses me.

I don’t expect it.

Especially not the way his lips seek and explore mine like we’re meant to always find each other.

His hands sink into my hair, pulling me against him as we kiss like two lovers starving for each other’s touch. I can’t get enough. His tongue explores my mouth, sparring with my own as I grip his shirt with one of my hands and ball the material, moaning against his lips.

“NO!” Pitch shouts in my head, making me cry out from the pain.

Zander pulls back instantly, his pupils blown. “Shit, did I hurt you?”

I shake my head. “It’s just my hand. I forgot about it for a second there,” I lie and pray he can’t tell the difference yet. Pitch’s jealousy and anger burn through me, and I feel bad for a moment. I don’t want to hurt Pitch…and yet I want to kiss Zander again.

“So did I,” Zander grumbles, climbing off me. “Do you think it worked?”

I chuckle as I look up and see a flying frog/cat/bat hovering in the air by Zander’s head.

“Yeah, it worked. There’s only one problem. Echo can fly now.”

Breathless, I stare in awe as Corvina casts a necromancy spell on the fledgling demon. Her hair lifts around her like a wave, and the magic makes her skin glow an ethereal silver mixed with tints of purple.

It’s a clue about who she is…to those who know what she is.

The foolish Warden watches her in rapt awe, his intelligence clouded by lust, like many of the males around her. She has the allure and charm of a fae.

The magic of one too, it seems.

The creature’s pathetic body combusts into fire, or at least that’s what it looks like on the outside, before coming back to life. I’m glad I sneaked into the warden’s room last night and snapped the creature’s neck. It was a test to see if Corvina would lose control of her magic in a burst of anger, but instead, there is this glorious reward.

Next time, I think I’ll take something bigger than a creature.

Maybe I can take a friend of hers, and then we’ll see what this Corvina is truly made of.

The Devil’s Drop is a landform that got its name from the monsters that first crept out of its depths when Eris sent them to the Enchanted Forest. Now it’s just a place where students like to hang out, throw parties, and get drunk on the weekends.

“Izy, didn’t you mention that a pack of Gossamers still nest here?” Sage asks, falling into step beside me, Ronan and Izora, leaving Professor Gale behind. I’m still not sure why we agreed to break curfew and attend a party with a teacher, but there you have it, we are doing just that. No thanks to Sage.

“They did up until about a year ago,” Izora answers. “Zander and his pathetic Junior Wardens flushed them all out. That’s why they were loitering around the school in the first place, then Stonehart roped Zander into teaching part-time rather than going to the royal courts to serve the queen or king like all Shadow Wardens do.”

For a minute, as we walk towards the Devil’s Drop, I think I see Gossamers moving through the shadows, little sparks of light blinking like stars. But it’s just an illusion from the pixies fluttering between the trees.

When we emerge from the clearing, a powerful wave of magic ripples through the air. I can feel it lifting the hairs on my arms and the nape of my neck, sending a static chill through my body. By the scent of burning leaves alone, I know it’s a containment spell, probably one to keep the sound suppressed so the academy can’t catch wind of it. Smart, if not for the fact that Professor Gale is Sage’s plus one.

We step over the magical line, and the instant we do, the clearing changes.

The trees are filled with crystal lights and floating orange lanterns. Blaring music rustles the leaves, people are dancing and laughing, and the air is