Page 30 of Shadowed Fate

I wasn’t doing any of that, it was all the shadows.

Laria mistakes my reaction as fear of her, which admittedly she’s not wrong— I’m not all that eager to go toe to toe with a bitchy vampire. She takes a threatening step towards me, icy cold fingers grabbing my wrist and yanking me closer.

“Ms. Delacorte," the professor's stern voice interrupts. "There are better ways to spend your time here."

She drops my wrist. “Watch your back,” she says, her lips curled in a snarl that mars her lovely features.

As Laria stalks away, I get a glimpse of Marius. He's watching me with interest.

I shudder, unsettled by Laria and by Marius's predacious gaze. Something about him makes me feel off balance, yet I can't look away. His dark eyes seem to pull me in, like black holes threatening to swallow me whole.

A prickling sensation at the back of my neck breaks the spell.

I glance back behind me, catching sight of Lochan at the top of the stairs. His eyes bore into me, narrowed with suspicion.

Great. Another guy who looks like he wants to eat me alive, just not in the fun way.

I force myself to look away, focusing on Professor Azaeron as he lectures about something called Ghost Frost. It’s all like a foreign language to me, I can’t understand any of it. But the hairs on my arms stand on end. I can feel Lochan’s hostility from here.

Loud whispering nearby catches my attention. "Did you hear? They’re saying someone actually saw him."

I turn to see two students behind me, heads bent close together.

"Who?" the other asks.

"The Raven King," comes the reply, voice hushed.

"Professor," the one closest to me says, "do you know anything about the Raven King rumors going around?"

The room falls silent. Even the dust motes seem to freeze in the air.

Professor Azaeron's face tightens. "Gossip and idle chatter," he says. “Indulging in either will not save you in the Harrowing.” There's an edge to his voice.

I turn to Eira. "Who's the Raven King?"

Eira's eyes widen, her face paling slightly. She glances around before answering, "He's... not someone we talk about, really." She hesitates, then continues, speaking quickly and so low I can barely hear her. "Long ago, the Raven King led a rebellion, and it started the Shadow War. He wanted to spread his darkness everywhere."

I shiver at hearing the words.Shadow War. "What do you mean?"

“If it wasn’t for the quick thinking of the Fae King and the formation of the Council, the Raven King and his rebels would have killed everyone,” Eira explains, her fingers fidgeting with the edge of her notebook. “After the war the Council made sure shadow magic was gone for good, and anyone who supported the Raven King. For the good of the realm.”

I don’t really understand what she’s just told me, but my pulse races.Shadow magic. Like mine.Ravens.

"What happened to him?" I ask, more calmly than I feel.

"A group of our bravest warriors sacrificed themselves, sending him into the void,” Eira says. "They vanquished him. At least, that's what the stories say. I wasn’t around back then. A lot of the Fae remember it, though.”

None of this sounds good.

Vanquishing?

Am I somehow connected to that world?

I’m so confused, there more questions every minute I’m here, and never any answers. I have no idea what I even am, and no one who might know will tell me.

The bell rings, startling me out of my thoughts. Students start getting up to leave around me, but I'm frozen in place.

"You okay?" Eira asks, concern evident in her voice.

---