Diamond in the Rough: Semester One: Jewel Academy Book One Read online

She shook her head. “The Coven school wouldn’t know what to do with you. Here at the Jewel Academy, we’ll teach you how to control your impulses to use your magic for selfish purposes.”

  I flinched at her words.

  “Come with me.” Magee gestured and the heavy gates silently opened for her.

  Taking a shaky breath I said, “You’re really missing out on first impressions. You should let them get a little rusty, so they creak ominously. Maybe hang a few spider webs for effect.”

  “We save that for Halloween,” Magee said walking through the gates. “We go all out for the locals.”

  As soon as we passed through, the gates swung silently shut. But the clicking of the lock being engaged was loud in the twilight.

  Chapter Two

  I swear something was watching us from the bushes. I saw a pair of red eyes and another pair of yellow eyes. The gargoyle statues were creeping me out too. I could only hope that they weren’t real. Even the shrubbery looked like it was about to come alive and snatch me off the path.

  “So now that I’m safe behind bars, could you remove these?” I held out my hands to her.

  “Not just yet. You’ll need to prove yourself first.”

  Rolling my eyes, I sighed. “How long will that take?”

  “That’s up to you.”

  I love cryptic non-answers.

  Instead of going up to the looming mansion, Magee turned down a path.

  “Where’s my stuff?” I asked.

  “I sent it to your room. It’s safe there. Right now, I’m going to have you join our night session.”

  “You want me to go to school on a Friday night?” Could this get any worse?

  “Our curriculum is a little more fluid than you’re used to. I want to get you integrated as soon as possible.”

  “I don’t have a pen or notebook. All my stuff when sailing off into the great beyond.” I gestured to the mansion.

  “You won’t need them. We have a magical demonstration tonight from one of our professors. In addition to watching that tonight, you’re going to observe the factions and mingle among the students.”

  “Factions?” Maybe I had heard wrong and she had said fractions. I was pretty good in math.

  “The vampires, the werewolves, the witches,” Magee ticked off on her fingers. “And of course, the Enforcers.”

  Enforcers? “Why would you have mage killers here?” Suddenly, the hungry bushes didn’t seem so terrifying.

  “The Enforcers do more than kill witches. The execute all supernatural criminals. And as for why they are here, well, we train them.”

  “You train people to kill your own kind? It’s bad enough the mundanes wanted to neuter all of us without you helping people hunt us down and kill us.”

  “If it helps,” Magee said. “The us you’re referring to is law abiding supernaturals and the them are the supernaturals who want to watch the world burn.”

  “Who gets to decide if we’re law abiding or not?”

  “Why, you do, of course. Your actions define you.”

  Guilt flashed through me. “Everybody makes mistakes.”

  “I agree. And everyone should be allowed to learn from them, make amends and atone for them.”

  I nodded. “But there are still Enforcers here.”

  “As much as I would like it to be different, not everyone chooses to move on from their mistakes.”

  I swallowed hard. I might not even make it to Yule. If my mother even wanted me to come back.

  “I knew your father,” Magee said.

  My head snapped up.

  “He was a good man and I was so sorry to hear about his death.”

  “How did you know him?”

  “I was his Headmistress when he went here.”

  I stopped in my tracks. “Hold the phone. My dad went here?”

  Magee nodded. “I’m surprised they didn’t tell you.”

  “My dad didn’t talk much about his childhood. He was the best thing he could say about it was that it was over. Mom might not have even known.” And if she had, would she still have wanted her to come here?

  “You can probably find his old term papers on file in the library and I’m sure there were some shots of him in the yearbooks.”

  I had to hurry to catch up with her. I didn’t care how many Enforcers there were. I was going to stay here until I could find all I could about my father’s past. I knew nothing about him before he married my mom. He would never speak about it. The thought of seeing a picture of him or reading his words again made me all misty eyed. I would not cry on my first day at school.

  I had been so absorbed in our conversation I hadn’t realized that we had come to a clearing. Up ahead was a football field, lit up with fey lanterns—balls of magical light that hovered in the air. There were all ages of students wandering around, but most stayed in clusters.

  Of course, the first thing I did was try to pick out the Enforcers. I only spotted one. He stood alone in the middle of the bleachers glaring out at everyone. He was a big guy, probably a football player in addition to training to kill magical beasts and other prey.

  Other prey, meaning people like me.

  He had shoulder length chestnut hair and a strong jaw. He could be a model for outdoor life and rugged clothing. He held himself preternaturally still, coiled to strike. And he looked wound real tight. As if he sensed me staring, he turned his head and I saw a flash of gold sheen over his eyes.

  Shapeshifter.

  Great. Just great.

  Magee raised her arm and one of the girls peeled herself away from a pack of giggling witches. At least I assume they were witches. They gave off a familiar feel. It was the best I could do with these stupid bracelets on. When the girl got close, she recoiled away from me. Away from the null magic of the bracelets. Yeah, that was going to make her popular with this crowd. Stand next to me and have your powers weakened.

  “Lola Bragg, this is Priscilla Walton. She’s going to be your roommate for the rest of the semester.”

  “I’d shake your hand…” I started to say, with a half laugh.

  Priscilla made a face. “Please don’t.”

  Great. They were off to a pleasant start.

  “I’ll leave you in Priscilla’s capable hands.”

  I hoped that Magee would mist off into the night, but she drifted over to a group of boys who were probably vampires. At least, I think they were vampires. Magee had been the first vampire I’d ever met, but I thought I saw one of the boys flash a fang at me. It could have been a smile of welcoming. It could have been, I vant to suck your blud. He was cute. Not my type. I liked boys with a pulse. But for an undead fiend he had it going on. He had short black hair cut close to his skull and dark eyes. He also had a killer smile—literally.

  “Don’t stare at the vampires.” Priscilla sighed in annoyance.

  I tore my gaze away from the boy and forced myself to look at Priscilla instead. She looked like a rich girl who belonged in the Coven school instead of a sketchy place like this. “Why?” I asked.

  “Duh, because they can roll your mind and make you do things you don’t want to.”

  I hid a snort. I’d like to see him try it. My father had been very proud of my mental shields. Of course, I only tried them out on mundanes and him. Back in New Haven, we had a local werewolf pack, but they didn’t go to human schools so I didn’t interact with them very often. And vampires were only out after dark and my curfew was strict, so I never ran into one.

  Agent Fines had pushed right into my mind as if my shields weren’t even there, though. Maybe other supernaturals could too. I resisted the urge to look back at the vampires. I needed to get these bracelets off first.

  “So what are you in for?” Priscilla asked.

  “Mind control.”

  She flinched back from me again.

  I was just making a better and better impression with each passing moment.

  “Why don’t we go over here?” Priscilla walked away from her
friends and headed towards a table filled with snacks.

  My stomach grumbled. I could eat. At least they weren’t going to starve me.

  “What are you in for?” I asked, filling up my plate with fried chicken and a heaping pile of French fries. At least if I had to be here on a Friday night, I could treat myself.

  She made a face. “I burned the house down.”

  I paused with a chicken leg halfway to my mouth. “Come again?”

  “We have others,” she said, using tongs to scoop up some rabbit food.

  “Other…?”

  “Houses, duh.” Priscilla stabbed at her salad with a fork. “It wasn’t even my fault. The building wasn’t up to code.”

  “Why did you burn down the house?”

  “I didn’t mean to. I got angry and fire shot out of my fingers.”

  And she was my roommate.

  “Does that happen a lot?”

  She shrugged one shoulder and went back to picking at her salad.

  Great. I’d have to sleep with a fire extinguisher.

  “So, I’m kind of new to a school full of supernaturals. I’ve been mostly home schooled for magic. I’d really like to fit in here. What can you tell me about all the …factions?”

  Priscilla perked up a bit at that. I got the sense that she liked to talk about people. I’d have to watch what I said around her. Otherwise she’d be sharing all my secrets too.

  “Well you’ve had the standard safety courses, right?”

  “Not really,” I said.

  “Okay, real quick. Don’t go near the vampires if you have an open wound. Bandage it up. Otherwise the younger ones might go into bloodlust and kill you before a teacher can stop them.”

  “Important safety tip.” I put my plate back down. I was no longer hungry.

  “Then, there’s the shifters. They hang around in packs, obviously. The Alphas tend to be arrogant assholes, but if you have a problem with one of their gang take it up with the Alpha. Don’t try to handle the problem on your own.”

  “What if I have a problem with the Alpha?”

  Priscilla laughed as if I told a joke. I had been serious, but I smiled like I meant it that way.

  “I don’t have to school you on the witches. Stay out of our minds.”

  I held up my bracelets. “No choice.”

  “No black magic outside of the classroom.”

  I strove to keep my face neutral. Black magic. My homeschooling had been a little lax in that area. It had been regulated to one word. No.

  “If you have a ritual in the dorm, everyone needs to be invited and coed rituals can’t be skyclad.”

  Naked.

  “Good to know.”

  When Priscilla continued to nibble on her salad, I prompted her. “What about the Enforcers?”

  She shrugged. “Stay out of their way and they’ll stay out of yours.”

  “How do I recognize them?”

  “Duh, they wear black uniforms and have weapons. It’s not fair. We don’t get to have weapons.”

  My gaze slid back to the Enforcer on the bleachers. He was wearing a red baseball jacket and jeans.

  “Why isn’t that Enforcer wearing a uniform?” I gestured with my chin, but it caught his attention anyway and we regarded each other again. The golden sheen rolled over his eyes and I shivered, feeling like a doe in headlights.

  “Oh Goddess no.” Priscilla yanked my arm, forgetting that I had on a magic null object on and twirled me so my back was to the Enforcer. She marched me over to her friends and nearly threw me into the middle of their circle.

  They all recoiled from my bracelet.

  “I can’t help it,” I said as an apology. “I hate them too. What’s the big idea?” I turned back to Priscilla. “Are we not allowed to ask questions about the Enforcers?”

  “That’s not an Enforcer,” Priscilla hissed at me, keeping her voice low. She snapped her fingers and the rest of the group started humming. I recognized the background noise as an anti-eavesdropping spell.

  “That’s Stefan Harte.”

  One of the girls hid a small shriek in the spell. Priscilla frowned at her. “No excuse for sloppy spellwork, Maya.”

  “Okay, pretend this is my first day and I don’t know anyone here,” I said sarcastically.

  “He’s a lion shifter.”

  Lion?

  I wanted to whirl to check him out again, but Priscilla had shoved me in the middle of the circle and I couldn’t see over the anti-eavesdropping field they had erected.

  “He’s crazy,” Maya whispered.

  “Like totally unbalanced,” one of the girls maintaining the spell said. She wore a gold necklace that spelled out her name, Betty.

  “Rumor has it, he killed a kid for teasing him,” another girl added.

  “Killed?” I said. “As in murder?”

  “No one knows. He hasn’t said a word since it happened,” Priscilla said.

  “He’s a freak,” Maya said.

  “And dangerous,” Betty added.

  “So needless to say, don’t look at him either. Don’t talk to him,” Priscilla warned.

  “He won’t say anything back anyway,” Betty said. “No one has ever heard him speak. He just glares at you with his amber eyes and turns away.”

  “Be that as it may,” Priscilla said, glaring at Betty for interrupting her warning. “If you see him coming towards, don’t run away. You’ll only trigger his prey drive. Walk briskly to a teacher or an Enforcer.”

  “I’m not going near an Enforcer.”

  “Trust me,” Priscilla said. “Stefan Harte is much worse. Have you ever been chased by a full-grown lion?”

  “Can’t say that I have.”

  “You don’t want to. And I don’t want to lose another roommate.”

  “Wait,” I said. “What happened to your other roommate?”

  Priscilla waved her hand. “It’s not important now. The demonstration is about to start.”

  Chapter Three

  The demonstration was about teleportation and even though I wanted to search the crowd for Stefan Harte, I was fascinated. My toes tingled to attempt the spell, but I wasn’t able to reach the well of my magic. The stupid bracelets blocked me. But at least it didn’t cause me any pain. I only got zotted when I tried mind magic. This felt like trying to breathe through a stuffed-up nose.

  Priscilla and her group moved closer so they could do the hands-on exercise. I looked around for Magee, but I didn’t see her. Since I couldn’t do anything, I just wanted to go back to my room.

  “Are you a diamond?” a husky voice said in my ear.

  Goosebumps broke out all over my arms and I turned to see the vampire boy from earlier standing way too close. I looked into his eyes before I remembered not to, but I didn’t feel any compulsion. Maybe I wouldn’t. Maybe it would be like what I did to my Mom and I would never know I’d been manipulated. Maybe I deserved that.

  He raised an eyebrow at me and I realized I was still me. He wasn’t trying to hex me.

  “What’s a diamond?” I said.

  “It’s what we call low level magic users here.”

  “Diamonds? Is that because low level magic users are rare?”

  “No. Diamond aren’t rare. No matter what the television commercials tell you. Have you ever seen a diamond?”

  “Yeah,” I said. "Of course, I have."

  “Are they in every mall in the country?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Common.” He snapped his fingers.

  “But expensive,” I pointed out.

  “That’s just marketing.”

  “I didn’t catch your name,” I said, folding my arms over my chest.

  “Andrei Vanlinger.” He gave a little bow and clicked his heels.

  “How did you wind up at the Jewel Academy?” I asked.

  “It’s impolite to ask that question,” he said with a scowl.

  Huh, that made sense. No wonder Priscilla led off with it. “Sorry,” I said. “I’ve
been here less than two hours. I’m still trying to find my way.”

  “It is polite to reciprocate when someone offers their name.”

  I was going to snap at him that I didn’t need an etiquette lesson, but apparently I did. “Lola Bragg.”

  “Lola, would you take some advice from a stranger?”

  “As long as it’s free,” I quipped.

  “Nothing is free.”

  “Then save it. I’ll figure things out on my own.”

  Andrei nodded. “Good. You might survive your first week after all.”

  And he was across the field next to his friends in the next blink. I guess there would be no outrunning the vampires either. It was a half hour more before Priscilla remembered me.

  “I guess I should show you to our room,” she said.

  “Thanks.” I was beginning to come apart at the seams and I just wanted to get away from all the inquiring eyes and lie down in bed.

  I got in line as all the students filed into the main part of the mansion. The foyer was done in gleaming white marble with gold accents. The ceiling was so far away and at the far end of the room were three spiral staircases, each leading up.

  "The red staircase is for vampires. The black for the shifters. And ours is the golden one. You're not allowed in the other faction's dormitories. It's for our own safety." Priscilla rolled her eyes. “There are ways around that. If you’re discreet, no one cares.”

  "Where do the Enforcers sleep?"

  "Their dorms are outside, but they are posted everywhere. In the lobby. In the woods. In the classrooms. There's always an Enforcer patrol awake."

  Good to know.

  I trailed after Priscilla going up the seemingly endless staircases and landings. I looked over my shoulder to see if I could see Stefan or Andrei, but they were lost in the crowd of students.

  "Girls’' dorms are on the even numbered floors. Boys are on the odd numbered floors. They're spelled not to let someone of the opposite sex in. But..." She winked at me. "There are ways around that too."

  I didn't want to know. At least, not until I had a boyfriend or something. But it was comforting that I probably didn't have to worry about coming out of the shower and being face to face with a member of the opposite sex.

  “Bathroom is at the end of the hall. All thirteen of us on this floor share it, so get used to showering at night or you’re going to be late for classes.”