The Legend of the Eight: The Charmed (Book 4)

4: Good Intentions

FOUR: GOOD INTENTIONS
AUGUST 30
CHLOE LAWSON

CHLOE LAWSON'S LIFE HAD TAKEN a dramatic turn in the last two weeks. It started when her long search for her biological father turned up a lead. A twenty-six-year-old half-brother appeared on her door step and he introduced himself as Damon Donovan.

Like Chloe, Damon grew up in the Mortal World as an only child of a single, mortal parent. His mother passed away when he was young and he was raised by his step-father. Damon called him Greg. Also like Chloe, Damon grew up knowing that magic existed and that he was a wizard.

After showing up and explaining their familial ties, Damon explained that he was returning to his alma mater as a personal favor to the King. It was during that same meeting that he extended an invitation for her to join him there, where she was promised the very best magical education in the Three Realms.

It was her senior year and she was thrilled to finally attend a school with like-skilled people. Her mother, Vera, called wizards charmed people. She said they were as skilled with their spells as they were with their personalities. That was half the reason Vera fell for Chloe's father—a man named Jeremiah who had been Banished to a prison realm, the Shadow Lands, years ago.

That Sunday was Chloe's last day of summer before she would move into the Academy and she was equal parts excited and anxious. Excited, because it was the Academy and she's been studying on her own for years in hopes she'd get to go. But anxious because of, well, everything else. It was a new school, in a new Realm, and for the first time in her life, she would be away from her mom.

Chloe moved in with Damon to his loft apartment in the World of Magic shortly after meeting him and due to her mother's mortal status, she did so alone. During that week, Chloe called her mom twice a day and a large reason for that was the loneliness she faced. The only person she knew in the World of Magic was her brother and he spent most days between the hours of seven am and nine pm at the palace, working with King Walter Diamond. As a result, Chloe spent most of the day alone in the loft, reading about her new home on the online tabloid, WoMOnline.

Most of the stories were about the Royal Trio—Prince Leonardo and his younger sisters, Wilmarie and Katarina. Stories about Prince Leo focused on his longtime relationship with his girlfriend, Mariella Bradley, and his recent choice to grow out his hair. Princess Katarina (also called Princess Kate) was mostly written about in regard to her charitable work and her relationship with fellow Academy student, Cam Miller. But at last night's People's Gala, he was nowhere to be seen, leading to speculations of a breakup. The other Diamond sister, Wilmarie (or Wil as she was more commonly known), was portrayed as a wild child who'd only recently done a complete 180 and cleaned up her act. Chloe took an extra interest in Princess Wil partly because she was the most interesting of the three siblings and partly because in the information packet Chloe received for the Academy, Her Royal Highness Wilmarie Diamond was listed as her roommate.

She couldn't have been more anxious.

"CHLOE, ARE YOU IN HERE?" Damon called when he entered the loft later that evening, well past dinnertime which was when he said he'd be home. "Sorry I'm so late. Walter wanted to go over these last-minute things before Move-In Day tomorrow."

"In here!" Chloe called from the back hall where her luggage was stacked neatly. She was going through everything one last time with a checklist, nervous that she'd forgotten something.

"You know," she said as Damon made it back to her. "I thought the whole point of me coming to live with you before school was so that we could get to know each other better. I've seen the Thai delivery guy more than I've seen you."