Shadow Girl (Shadow Academy Book 3) Read online

  “I don’t have any time for being tutored. Between my work here in the stables and training with the scholarship group, I’ve barely got time to go to class.”

  I wouldn’t mention my plan to find his mother. Not yet. Not until I found out if it was even possible to find her.

  “I’ll give you half my allowance too.”

  Ren shook his head. “I don’t want anything of my father’s. Don’t you understand that?”

  “I don’t want it either.”

  He wiped his brow with the back of his hand.

  “Well, keep the money in the bank for your college education or give it to the poor or just burn it. Do what you want with it, just don’t try to give it to me.”

  I sighed. That hadn’t worked at all. I wanted to help Ren. He couldn’t spend forever working in the stables. Although, I’d assumed he wasn’t cut out for heavy work and it looked like I’d been wrong about that.

  “I’m not joking about the tutoring. We’ll find time. Because you’re going to need good marks now. You’ll need a scholarship to go to college now your father isn’t paying for it.”

  Ren shrugged again. He didn’t look at me. He didn’t even react.

  “Maybe I don’t want to go to college. I’ve got options now. So many options. And maybe college isn’t for me.”

  I dusted my hands on my butt and straightened myself up. I wouldn’t argue with Ren now but he had to see sense eventually. I’d make sure I tutored him and I’d find his mother and get him back the things that were rightfully his. He could be all stubborn now but he had no idea what being poor, being really poor, was like.

  Before I got out of the stables, Ren called to me. I turned back.

  “Cherry, thanks.” With that, he went back into the stall.

  Chapter 3

  I GOT TO CLASS THE next morning. heading for my usual seat. Then I remembered I didn’t sit there anymore. Lucas and I didn’t sit together. Lucas and I didn’t talk. Lucas and I weren’t friends any longer. My stupid chest could stop paining over that. Lucas had been a jerk and he needed to make the first move if he wanted to repair things between us.

  I didn’t need friends. I’d survived all my life without them. But then, Lucas had Britney now. Maybe she was enough for him.

  What I wasn’t expecting was to see Ren sitting in my old seat next to Lucas. The two of them had their heads together, laughing about something and didn’t even look at me as I sat down.

  Angela slid into the seat next to me.

  “Did you think any more about our study group?” She smiled. I didn’t like that.

  I shook my head. I wanted quiet so I could listen in on Lucas and Ren’s conversation.

  Lucas hated Ren. The whole reason our friendship was on the rocks was that I’d chosen to help Ren. Now the two of them acted like best buddies and ignored me.

  I scrunched up my fists, not wanting to think too much about that.

  Oscar strode across the classroom and plonked his butt on Angela’s desk. Yikes. Not only would I have to deal with Angela but him as well. My flesh crept from Oscar’s closeness.

  Oscar’s best friend Blake glared at him from across the room. Were they on the outs? Did I even care?

  “What are you doing on the weekend?” Oscar asked.

  I didn’t look up. Theirs wasn’t the conversation I wanted to eavesdrop on. Why wasn’t super hearing one of my powers? It’d be mighty handy right now.

  Angela elbowed me in the ribs. “I think Oscar is asking you out.” She hissed in one of those stage whispers that everyone around was meant to hear.

  I laughed. Yeah, like Oscar would ask me out. Oscar considered me low-grade trash and I considered him worse than pond scum. Our relationship consisted of him bullying me and me kicking his butt. I saw no reason to change that, especially the “me kicking his butt” part of it. But he had a look of expectation on his face.

  “I’m going to the village on Saturday. I thought you’d like to come along.”

  I jolted, knocking my textbook to the floor. Oscar had asked me out. Oscar. I’d have been less shocked if my textbook had asked me out. Figuring he’d laugh and tell everyone he’d made a great joke, I bent down to pick up my book.

  “I... um... I think I’m busy.”

  I’d planned to go into the village with Britney on Saturday and now I’d have to scrap that plan in case he saw me. Why hadn’t I just told him to get lost? His offer shocked me so much I couldn’t think fast enough.

  Before he returned to his desk, he winked at me. I gasped, my stomach churning and not in a good way. He’d actually winked.

  “Oscar likes you,” Angela hissed.

  I made a mental note to talk to Mr. Norton about the possibility of someone having cast a spell on both Oscar and Angela. Because, if the pair of them were being nice to me, it was either witchcraft or them lulling me into a false sense of security before they played some kind of nasty trick.

  My watch buzzed, tickling my arm. That watch was a special hi-tech device given to all us scholarship students. When it buzzed, it meant get your butt to the scholarship room, asap.

  I jumped up at the same as Ren and Lucas. That buzzing meant some serious trouble in the school. I didn’t care. Demon, vampire, other horrendous beasts, any of them would be less scary than Oscar’s wink.

  “I’ll let Mr. Sampson know you’ve got scholarship business.” Angela smiled and again, creepy.

  The three of us rushed out of the room.

  Britney waited for us in the foyer near the scholarship room. She must’ve been in art class because that department was close to here. The others hadn’t arrived yet.

  Britney smiled, a smile so bright it was almost blinding, and I grinned back. In all the madness lately, Britney seemed to be the only person in this school who treated me the same as always. Nothing complicated about our friendship at all. Even Lucas being cold to me didn’t affect her. She wasn’t the type to let her boyfriend’s opinion influence her.

  “Time to fight some monsters.” She pumped the air, all excited for the fight.

  Tarragon raced down the hallway, skidding to a stop. “Ren, my man.” He slapped Ren on the back.

  The others joined us and Mr. Norton arrived with weapons.

  Knives not stakes.

  “So, no vampires this time?” I wasn’t sure where I stood with vampires. Spirit vampires had helped me escape death at the hands of Mr. Worthington, so I was no longer as anti-vampire as I’d once been.

  Mr. Norton shook his head. “Demons, we think. I’m not sure how they’ve gotten through the defenses into the school grounds but patrol the woods just to be sure.”

  I moved closer to Britney. The two of us could patrol together. I needed some girl talk time about the Oscar situation. But Lucas rushed over, knocking me out of the way.

  Tarragon grabbed hold of Ren. Drats. That left me with Nova the incubus. My heart sank. I didn’t want to patrol with him. Putting my life in the hands of an incubus seemed mighty dangerous. All those sex charms would mean jack with a demon. And even though I was now immune to his incubus powers, I was still embarrassed about the way I’d acted around him the first time we’d met.

  “Cherry, you pair up with Ren. Nova with Tarragon.”

  Sometimes I loved Mr. Norton. Even if things were awkward with Ren, the two of us fought well together.

  We walked through the back of the school together. I didn’t want to mention what had happened the day before. Ren would come around to my way of thinking but not if I nagged him.

  I wanted to ask him about his mother, too. He’d told me he knew she was still alive because he’d overheard some of their servants talking. If I could find out who’d talked, I could maybe go to the Worthington mansion and interview them. Not that I knew vital facts like where the Worthington mansion was or how to get there but they’d been super rich. I’m sure that information could be easily Googled.

  Then I thought of something. “Do you need to go back to your house? You
must have personal stuff back there. They can’t stop you from getting that. Semester break is coming up.”

  Hopefully Ren hadn’t taken all his stuff to school with him.

  Ren kept his head down, watching his shoes instead of looking at me. “I probably do but I don’t want to go back.”

  “Trust me, staying at school in the break is no lark. It’s kinda creepy being in this building when it’s deserted.”

  We walked on without Ren talking. I poked around in some bushes but not too hard, not wanting to disturb any critters.

  “Maybe Oscar will invite you to his place for the break.”

  I snorted.

  “Oscar? What’s with that guy anyway? He winked at me.” I made a fake vomiting action to emphasize my point. “Anyway, if you want to go home for the break, I’m happy to go with you. For moral support, and maybe there’s someone I can talk to about this money I’m getting.”

  Ren scrunched up his face. “I’ll think about it.”

  I hoped so. I’d be much more likely to get answers if I went with Ren rather than just turning up out of the blue. Talking to a lawyer or someone about this money thing had been a throwaway comment but I should actually do that as well.

  A scream interrupted us.

  “Mark.” Ren seemed sure about that.

  We both ran through the woods. Ren knew the direction. His bond with the rest of the group had developed awfully fast. Mine still was shaky at the best of times.

  Mark lay on the ground with his pants ripped and an awful lot of blood oozing from his leg. I turned away, hating to see the gore.

  “Demon. Seth’s gone after him.” Mark nodded his head in the general direction.

  Ren took off his blazer and used it to stem the bleeding.

  “You keep doing that, I’ll track the demon.” Fighting demons beat dealing with injuries any day.

  I raced off in the direction Mark had pointed. A thudding through the undergrowth gave me a general idea of where to head but I wasn’t sure if the noise was the demon or Seth. I figured it was the demon since Seth could be pretty stealthy.

  I swung toward a guttural rumbling from the left of me.

  The demon had Nova on the ground, ready to attack. I needed to get close enough to stop it before it did that.

  Chapter 4

  DEMONS ARE STRONG BUT they aren’t too bright. I had no idea how this demon had even gotten Nova to the ground. It had a human form but was the size of a small, fat child. With vivid green, scaly skin. The thing made little squeaky noises. No, wait. Those noises came from Nova. That demon smothered him, leaving Nova squirming beneath it.

  Rushing over, I grabbed the demon by the shoulders using the beast’s own momentum to pull it off Nova. The demon rolled before crashing into a tree. That was definitely no Class A demon. It could barely get to its own feet.

  “Are you okay?” I shouted to Nova, looking back over my shoulder as I rounded on the demon.

  Nova nodded. Vivid green gunk covered the front of his shirt. No amount of soaking would bring that out.

  “Hey, demon buddy,” I called.

  The little beast spat green gunk at me.

  Nasty.

  Oh no you don’t.

  I slammed my fist into the demon’s face. “That’s for stupid Oscar asking me out.”

  The demon’s head pounded into the tree behind it. It screwed up its face, working up another spit.

  “Stupid Ren and Lucas.” I slammed my fist into its gut. “Stupid Principal Murphy.”

  I still had a whole long list of people I was angry at. I could do this all day.

  “Ch-ch-cherry... just kill it.” Nova’s voice quavered.

  Yeah, I guessed a quick kill is a good kill.

  I reached into my boot, wrapping my fingers around the handle of my knife. This little sucker didn’t stand a chance. I’d dice it and slice it into a demon salad.

  Grabbing its throat, I raised my knife.

  Then stopped.

  The blood lust pounded through my veins, screaming for me to rid the world of this nasty, spitting beast.

  But the new, improved Cherry didn’t feel blood lust. The new, improved Cherry didn’t get angry. The new, improved Cherry had no darkness inside her.

  Seth and Tarragon couldn’t be far away. I’d just hold this beast until they returned, the edge of my blade pressing into its throat. They could finish the job.

  I inhaled, letting the darkness seep from me.

  “Where are Seth and Tarragon?”

  Nova shook his head. He’d gone awfully white and his body trembled. That guy would pass out before they returned. I knew the signs of shock.

  “Listen, buddy, I’m not sure it’s a good idea for you to hunt demons. I know you are great with the smexy stuff but —”

  The demon squirmed beneath my blade, trying to get loose. A big glob of green spittle narrowly missed my face. I pressed the blade tighter against its throat. But I couldn’t kill it. I just couldn’t.

  Until Nova jumped up. Smashing into my hand. Thrusting my blade into the demon.

  And, bam —

  The demon exploded, covering the pair of us and the surrounding trees in stinky green gunk.

  Then Nova fell to the ground, the green color of his face not just from demon slime.

  “Never killed a demon before?”

  “Never.”

  “You’ll get used to it.”

  Hopefully, there was only one demon. I’d had my share of demon killing for one day. Anyway, I needed to get Nova back to the school before he fully went into shock, and I really needed a shower.

  Nova rushed behind a tree, making loud retching noises. I put my hands over my ears and waited for him to return.

  “I’m not sure I’m cut out for this work. I’m a lover, not a fighter.”

  I snorted. Yeah, that went with the whole incubus territory. I’d told Mr. Norton in the first place, we didn’t need an incubus on the team. But Nova was one of us now and I remembered how I’d felt after my first demon kill.

  Nova leaned on me, his legs unsteady. I wanted to keep him talking so he didn’t fade out on me. If he passed out now, I’d have to carry him back to school and he was one heavy guy.

  “Things between you and Angela seem to have died down.” If I needed to keep him talking, I might as well get the good gossip out of him. “What happened there?”

  Nova gave a slight nod but even that seemed like too much exertion for him. “She was sweet at first. Sweet and succulent.”

  Okay, did I really want to know about this?

  “You mean her energy?” I really hoped so.

  “Her energy, yes. I thought she’d be a sweet source for as long as I needed her. But then something turned sour and bitter.”

  I stumbled on a log in my path and the both of us nearly toppled over.

  “There’s definitely something rotten in her soul.”

  “Sure is.”

  As we emerged from the woods, Ren and Mark ambled over to us. Mark leaned heavily on Ren’s shoulder, causing him to slump.

  I called out to them. “Need any help?”

  “I’m fine,” Ren said.

  As soon as Nova saw Ren and Mark, he took his weight off me and stood on his own feet, like he didn’t want to be seen being weak in front of his bros.

  “Nova killed a demon but I don’t know if there were others.” I took Mark’s other side even if Ren said he didn’t want help. “I hope Tarragon and Seth are okay.”

  “They are.” Ren nodded. “They’re headed back now too.”

  “Strange, a demon getting so close to the school.” I hoisted Mark up. “Vampires I can understand but the wards should work better on demons. Demons are a lot weaker than vampires and that guy back there was as weak as they come. But anyway, Nova killed it. Dead. Splat. Nice work, Nova. I just had to stand back and watch.”

  I glanced at Ren to see if he registered that I hadn’t been the one to make the kill but he didn’t even register what I’d
said.

  When we got inside, Mr. Norton took one look at Mark and ordered him to the infirmary.

  “Ah, what about Nova?” I pointed at the incubus slumped against the wall, the color washed out of his face.

  Mr. Norton gave a sharp nod. “Him too.”

  Seth and Tarragon burst through the door. “Everyone okay?”

  Tarragon stared at Nova and I. “You two look very... ah, green.” He blocked his nose. “And, phew, you stink.”

  Like Tarragon hadn’t been worse. Stink and slime were two of the drawbacks of being a hunter.

  “Yeah, it was a stinky beast but not too strong.” I grimaced. “You’d think a demon that weak would have trouble getting through the wards.”

  “Strong enough to injure Mark, though,” Tarragon said. “And he’s got a hide like a buffalo.”

  Inside, I screamed for Tarragon to shut up. I didn’t want to be seen as someone who could take down a fierce beast, someone with blood lust raging through her veins.

  “It was gruesome,” Nova spluttered, now fully sprawled on the floor. “Horrible.”

  “But you killed it.” I grinned. “You killed it dead.”

  Nova scrunched his face but didn’t argue.

  Chapter 5

  “TAKE THESE TWO TO THE infirmary,” Mr. Norton nodded at Mark and Nova. “Then meet back here for the debriefing.”

  “Where are Britney and Lucas?” Ren asked.

  Heck, the two of them should’ve returned with the others. I hadn’t even noticed they weren’t here.

  “I’ll go look for them.” I jumped up, feeling guilty that I’d temporarily forgotten about them.

  “Let Ren go.” Mr. Norton sat on the edge of the table. “We can talk while he’s gone.”

  As much as I hated the woods, I’d have preferred that to talking. I’d been on time for all the scholarship meetings this week and I hadn’t blown anything up. Not for ages.

  I bet he wanted to talk about my feelings. Urgh. There was nothing I hated more.

  “Are you sure you want me to go?” Ren stood in the doorway, hesitating. “I need to talk to you in private.”