Page 17 of Shadow City: Silver Wolf

"No." He shook his head. "It's all supernatural based, but to maintain appearances, we allow humans to apply. We have a thorough screening process to weed them out from actually being accepted. We want this to be a college where supernaturals get the kind of education they need for their future, whether that’s leading, fighting, healing, and so forth."

"So there aren't any humans in Shadow Ridge either?" Being around only supernaturals unsettled me. All of my experiences visiting the small town near my pack’s home had involved a human presence, and any other supernaturals who might live or visit the town always had to be careful to not ask certain questions. Here, it would be harder to keep my heritage hidden. I couldn’t risk running in animal form because, if anyone had even a vague memory of silver wolves, they would peg me easily. Staying human was going to suck because I was used to shifting daily. It was part of our training regimen, to fight in both wolf and human form. But I'd manage.

I had to.

"No humans live here, but tourists come into town." He pursed his lips. "It's good for businesses since they spend a lot of money, and having them around helps us remember our human side."

His wording seemed odd, but I let it go. The buildings were growing closer, and I could see now that a wrought iron gate circled the campus.

As we approached the wrought iron fence that served as the main entrance, I could see the emblem of a city etched into it with the words Shadow Ridge University underneath.

"Is that a drawing of Shadow City?" The emblem had modern buildings with a paw print and a symbol attached to the top.

"Sure is."

"So you've been there?" If he had a way into the city, maybe I could figure out another person to contact. I could find out who’d replaced Atticus.

"Oh, no. There’s a large wall and dome that keeps the city from view. In order to get in, you need permission from one of the council members. They’re letting residents out freely now, but it’s still hard to get inside if you don’t already live there." He slowed the truck as we approached a guard shack sitting between the entrance and exit lanes. "But I've been told that’s the skyline of the city."

The gates to the university were closed, and Killian rolled down his window as he stopped.

The guard took a step toward us even as Killian pulled out a card key and swiped it against the reader. The gate clicked and slowly opened.

"Doesn't traffic get backed up if everyone has to stop and scan in?" I glanced over my shoulder to find no one behind us.

What time did classes start? It was almost nine in the morning. I’d figured this place would be a lot busier.

"Half the students stay in the dorms here." He accelerated and rolled up his window. "The other two hundred or so, like yours truly, live off-campus either in Shadow Ridge, Shadow Terrace, or Shadow City itself."

“Shadow Terrace?” I’d never heard of that city.

“Yeah, that’s the city on the other side of the river. We didn’t have a large enough population at first to protect both sides, so the vampires took it over.” He shrugged. “The wolves protect our side for Shadow City since all the shifter council members are wolves. The vampires need human blood, and protecting the other side helps them stay under the radar and funnel blood in for the residents.”

“Wait…” The thought turned my stomach. “Are you saying you all allow the vampires to kill humans?”

“No.” He shook his head. “Not at all. They compel visiting humans to donate blood under the ruse of a local blood bank. They aren’t allowed to directly feed from humans since that eventually makes them lose their humanity and can bring the kind of attention we don’t want to our area. The whole point is to blend in.”

There was so much I didn’t know. “So only wolves are on the council?” That seemed surprising with all the races that lived there.

“No, there are twelve representatives. Three of each race,” Killian explained. “Three vampires, three angels, three witches, and three wolves who represent all the shifter races.”

I mulled that over as we drove down the tree-lined road, straight toward a large brick building that had to be at least a hundred yards long and two stories high. In front was a grassy greenway where a few students were sitting with breakfast and books while others were walking into the building.

As we got closer, the road bore to the right toward a large parking lot that looked mostly full.

This was more along the lines of what I'd been expecting.

Killian pulled into the parking lot and parked underneath a tree. "I have a ten o'clock battle strategy class, so let's haul ass to the coffee shop."

"How far is it?" I didn't want to complain, but these shoes weren't the most comfortable.

"In that building." He nodded to the building beside us. "It's toward the back, so not far. I want to be there to introduce you to the coffee shop manager, Carter. He’s one of my pack members, and he owes me for helping him out on his English paper." He got out of the truck.

At least it wasn't across campus.

I turned to open my door and found Killian already there. He opened it and held out a hand to me.

"What are you doing?" I was more than capable of getting out of the truck by myself.

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