Page 77 of Shadebound
Just like since I died.
Field Journal — Entry #1048 - Classified
I feel them in my head. All of them. The monsters and the dark.
I feel them twisting me.
Turning me.
I feel it all.
Chapter Twenty Three, Sickness
Slop for breakfast was an uneventful, yawn-filled thing. It didn’t matter how much the dining hall buzzed with noise, or how werewolves that weren’t in our dorm tried to make conversation or bustled about with each other. I just sat there, staring into my bowl of grey sludge, wishing more than anything it was a real meal and not just nonsense flavoured like cherry pie.
I didn’t even like cherry pie. But when the hooded and miserable server behind the counter asked for my flavour, I blurted out the first thing that came to my head. And sure, it didn’t taste that bad. And I did enjoy heaving sometimes, just to mix up my day. But not when I was extremely tired. And my eyes were dry from having not blinked for at least a few hours.
On the dark side, I made it to my first lesson without anybody irritating me too hard. But as I took a single look at Professor Varl, I knew that wouldn’t last for long.
The sky above the beach was its usual sickly grey, storm clouds rolling in the distant hills. The black ocean churned a few feet away from where the class stood, most of them dithering in the sharp breeze and smattering of raindrops that hit the sand and our faces with a violent kiss.
“This is delightful,” I muttered at no one in particular.
Students hurried to form a semi-circle, boots crunching on the slightly frosted black sand. Zayden cuddled up next to me—close enough that I could feel the goosebumps on his inked-up arms, and the tremor in his bones that I presumed was his inner wolf wanting to shift and come out.
Werewolves were more immune to freezing temperatures, and I felt sorry for the poor beast having to deal with the flesh suit of the mortal who controlled him.
“What are you thinking about, Heartache?” He whispered. “You look like you’ve got lots of thoughts buzzing behind those pretty eyes.”
I tilted my head, fighting a yawn. Unluckily for me, that was the same moment the wind shifted and tendrils of pink and black hair blew into my mouth, almost choking me. I spluttered as he chuckled under his breath.
“Real smooth,” he said.
I glared at him through my lashes as I rubbed a hand over my chest, the familiar weight of my necklace back in its rightful place—the only thing that calmed me from my slight embarrassment.
“I was thinking about how I felt sorry for you,” I muttered. “That it must have been awful for your wolf to be dealing with the cold you’re feeling. But now I’m thinking I might actually just chuck you in the ocean and see how much you like to swim.”
To my right, a very sleepy Maya chuckled under her breath. Her eyes flashed with magic, and the waves nearest us slowlycrept along the sand toward Zayden’s boot. She looked at me with a wink.
“Say the word, J. I’ll take him.”
Her water crept higher, circling around his ankles. And though they were friends, I knew without a doubt that if I gave the order, she would’ve yanked his sorry ass back into the freezing ocean and laughed as he struggled to doggy paddle his way back to shore.
“Hm.” I folded my arms over my chest as Professor Varl stomped across the sand toward us. “I’ll see how Zayden behaves in this lesson. If he’s a good boy and stays quiet, then maybe we don’t have to drown him.”
He held up both hands. “I’m always a good boy for you, Heartache. You know that.”
He grinned, the picture of false innocence—as though he didn’t have violent tattoos all the way up his throat. Or a devious smirk and a filthy tongue.
Luckily for him, I had no time to respond.
Varl clapped his hands together, silencing any lingering conversation. The clouds above darkened at his presence, and I knew I was not in for a good time even more.
My hand drifted toward the cuff, tugging on it slightly. I waited for the sharp stab of pain from the jagged spires within my flesh before I stopped and remembered this was real life. I wasn’t asleep. I hadn’t slept in far too long. Okay, it had only really been about a day, but it was too long for somebody who enjoyed sleep.
The professor raised his hands, static spinning between his fingertips as he manipulated the lightning spirit witches were known for. Oddly enough, even though I enjoyed electrocuting people and was partial to something fun like a taser myself, spirit witches were still my least favorite kind of witch. There was something so delightful about fire ones, something sopeacefully destructive about water, and most of the others were nothing of note to me. But nature witches would always be my favorite—even if pretty flowers and colorful plants made me break out in hives.
Varl shot his lightning into the sky, sending it careening down toward us. It hovered like a dome above our heads, one, maybe two feet away. Far enough that it didn’t hurt anyone, but close enough that most of our hairs started to lift. He glared around at us all.
